The Latest Breaking News from McClatchy Washington Bureau

OXON HILL, Md. — Former President Donald Trump on Saturday framed the 2024 GOP primary as a fight between populist conservatives like himself and the self-interested Republican establishment, telling a gathering of national conservatives that either he wins the presidential election or the country will be lost.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will travel to Iowa next week to make his long-awaited debut in the state that hosts the GOP primary’s first nominating contest, an aide to the governor confirmed.

Ugh, Texas.

Ghislaine Maxwell argued this week that the judge presiding over her 2021 trial prevented her from mounting a “meaningful defense” and that anonymity granted to several of the victims who testified against her turned the trial into “a form of Kabuki theater.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that a series of mysterious health incidents affecting U.S. personnel around the world since 2016 were unlikely to have been caused by a foreign adversary or by a directed energy weapon, after conducting what one intelligence official described as a “historic” investigation.

WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell returned from an overseas trip to Europe and the Middle East steeled in his conviction to plow more U.S. investment into defending Ukraine, at a moment when the vocal populist wing of the Republican Party is calling an open-ended commitment unacceptable.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Serious presidential candidates — especially ones competing against a ubiquitous media presence like Donald Trump — have to find ways to grab voters’ attention on the campaign trail or risk withering away.

A coronavirus infection may make it more likely for someone without an autoimmune disease to develop at least one in the months after the infection subsides, new research suggests.

The release of Ron DeSantis’ new book Tuesday is sure to spark a fresh round of speculation about the Florida governor’s political future, furthering the widely held belief that — no matter what the Republican leader says publicly — he’ll soon become a candidate for president.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration criticized Florida Republicans on Thursday for working to relax state gun regulations in the wake of a shooting spree near Orlando that left three people dead.

WASHINGTON — A week into her presidential campaign, Nikki Haley isn’t showing anyone the money.