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Updated at 2:11 p.m. ET President Trump blamed "a political hack job" for reports that a whistleblower has charged he had an improper conversation with a foreign leader. The Washington Post on Friday reported that the conversation in question involves Ukraine. Trump dismissed the reporting as a "ridiculous story" and said he did not know the identity of the whistleblower, "but I hear it's a partisan person." Trump said it was a "totally appropriate conversation. It was actually a beautiful conversation," although he did not specify with whom. Asked if he mentioned former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe...

Feb. 20 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump has named U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as acting Director of National Intelligence. Trump named Grenell the new DNI on Wednesday, saying he represents the United States "exceedingly well." "Ambassador Grenell was confirmed to his role as ambassador by the Senate in April 2018, and he has years of experience working with our intelligence community in a number of additional positions, including as special envoy for Serbia-Kosovo negotiations and as United States spokesman to the United Nations," the White House said in a statement Thursday. "He is committed to a non-political, non-partisan...

On Tuesday, Joe Maguire, one of two editors in charge of markets coverage at Reuters, handed his bosses the galleys of his new book, “Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter.” On Wednesday, Mr. Maguire discovered he would have plenty of free time to promote his book, which comes out this week. Neither side in this dispute would say that he was fired. “There was a difference of opinion about the approval I received to write this book,” Mr. Maguire said. “I thought I had met the conditions, and proceeded accordingly. As a result, I no longer work there.”...

Navy SEALs Caught Up In Drug Sweep U.S. being forced to transfer some units More than a dozen sailors, including eight SEALs, are being investigated after testing positive for illegal drug use, the Navy confirmed yesterday. Seven sailors assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Command, including five SEALs, failed drug tests in early May while they were on a training exercise in Thailand. Other sailors reported seeing the commandos using drugs in Pattaya, a Thai beach resort. That was enough for Rear Adm. Joseph Maguire, the Naval Special Warfare commander, to order a drug-testing sweep of 3,300 of the 4,600...