(NEW YORK) — The U.S. economy slowed more than expected over the final months of 2025, federal government data on Friday showed.
The economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter in the government’s initial estimate, marking a cooldown from blistering-hot 4.4% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
The slowdown at the end of last year stemmed in part from a decline in the pace of consumer spending, the U.S. Commerce Department said.
The GDP report marks the latest distress signal for U.S. shoppers, who account for about two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity.
Retail sales data last week showed flat performance in December, suggesting possible weakness for shoppers during the holiday season. Meanwhile, credit card debt levels have climbed and consumer sentiment has remained glum.
The fresh reading of gross domestic product on Friday provided a key measure of the country’s economic health as policymakers continued to grapple with an ongoing bout of elevated inflation and sluggish hiring.
Inflation cooled in January, dropping price increases to their lowest level in nine months. While the pullback defied fears of a tariff-induced rise in overall costs, inflation continued to hover above the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.
Meanwhile, a recent jobs report showed stronger-than-expected hiring in January, even though an updated estimate released at the same time indicated a near-paralysis of the labor market last year.
A boost in consumer spending helped propel the surge in GDP over three months ending in September, the U.S. Commerce Department previously said.
Over the past year, hiring has slowed dramatically while inflation has remained elevated, risking an economic double-whammy known as “stagflation.” Those conditions have put the Federal Reserve in a difficult position.
The central bank must balance a dual mandate to keep inflation under control and maximize employment. To address pressure on both of its goals, the Fed primarily holds a single tool: interest rates.
The strain on both sides of the Fed’s mandate presents a “challenging situation” for the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in December.
The Fed held interest rates steady at its most recent meeting in January, ending a string of three consecutive quarter-point rate cuts.
Futures markets expect two quarter-point interest rate cuts this year, forecasting the first in June and a second in the fall, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
ICE agents leave a residence after knocking on the door on January 28, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues its immigration enforcement operations after two high-profile killings by federal agents in recent weeks. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — In the weeks after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota during a surge to apprehend undocumented immigrants for deportation, Americans oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics by wide margins and President Donald Trump’s approval on immigration has dipped to the lowest of his second term, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
Trump’s immigration rating hits new low for second term
Trump, who has focused much of his second term on the immigration crackdown, is now 18 percentage points underwater in how Americans rate his handling of immigration — with 58% disapproving and 40% approving — the worst ratings he has had on immigration in his second term, ticking down from his October ratings and almost exactly where he was in July 2019 when 40% approved and 57% disapproved of how he was handling the issue.
Despite his increasingly negative ratings on handling immigration since taking office, Americans don’t trust Democrats to handle the issue more. When asked who they trust to do a better job handling immigration, 38% say they trust Trump more, 34% trust congressional Democrats more and 24% trust neither.
And even though he’s underwater on handling immigration overall, Trump’s ratings on handling the immigration situation at the U.S.-Mexico border are a bit better, albeit still slightly negative, with 47% of Americans approving of how he is handling the situation at the border and 50% disapproving.
Americans on deportations and ICE
Americans are roughly split over whether the federal government should deport all undocumented immigrants living in the United States, but a growing share oppose expanded ICE operations — and by a 2-to-1 margin, they oppose ICE’s tactics.
The results come following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 — just weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
Half (50%) of Americans support the federal government deporting the about 14 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. and sending them back to their home countries while 48% oppose this.
Support was even higher for deporting all undocumented immigrants ahead of the 2024 presidential election, when 56% of Americans supported sending all undocumented immigrants to their home countries. By last February that dipped to 51%.
Most Hispanic (64%), Black (58%) and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (56%) oppose deporting all undocumented immigrants while 58% of white people support widespread deportation.
Even if many Americans want mass deportations, 58% say Trump is going “too far” in deporting undocumented immigrants, up from 50% who said the same in October. Just 12% say he is “not going far enough” and 28% say he is “handling it about right.”
Seven in 10 Americans do not think most immigrants deported since January 2025 were violent criminals, including 33% who say “hardly any” of those deported were. Only 7% of Americans say “nearly all” of the immigrants who were deported since the beginning of the Trump administration were violent criminals.
A slim majority of Americans oppose ICE’s expanded operations to detain and deport undocumented immigrants in the U.S., 53% now, up from 46% in October.
Opinion breaks down on partisan lines, with 88% of Democrats opposed to ICE’s expanded operations and 81% of Republicans in support. A 56% majority of independents oppose ICE’s expanded operations.
By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans oppose the tactics ICE is using to enforce immigration laws, 62% to 31%. Half of Americans strongly oppose ICE’s tactics, including 89% of Democrats and 53% of independents. Only 4 in 10 Republicans strongly support the tactics ICE is using to enforce immigration law, rising to over half among MAGA Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who call themselves MAGA.
By a 13-point margin, Americans oppose abolishing ICE, 50% to 37%. Opinions are polarized: 7 in 10 Democrats support abolishing ICE, while 8 in 10 Republicans oppose it. More independents oppose abolishing ICE (45%) than support abolishing ICE (35%), with 2 in 10 independents saying they have no opinion on the issue.
ICE was established in 2003 as part of the Homeland Security Act following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Previously, the Immigration and Naturalization Service under the Justice Department administered immigration laws. The Abolish ICE political movement gained national attention in 2018 during the previous Trump administration’s family-separation policy.
An ICE memo issued in May gave federal agents the authority to enter the homes of people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally without warrants signed by judges. A wide majority of Americans — including majorities across party lines — say that when federal law enforcement wants to forcibly enter someone’s home, they need to get approval from a judge; just 20% say getting approval from a federal agency is enough.
How Americans feel about Minnesota and personal impacts
Most Americans (54%) say they are either upset (17%) or angry (37%) over how immigration enforcement has gone in Minnesota, with 72% of Democrats saying they are angry. More than 4 in 10 Americans say they are “not concerned” or “concerned but not upset” over the situation in Minnesota.
Nearly half of Republicans, 47%, say they are not concerned over immigration enforcement in Minnesota, along with 32% who say they are concerned but not upset.
And while majorities of Asian and Pacific Islander (66%), Hispanic (59%) and Black Americans (61%) say they are upset or angry about how immigration enforcement has gone in Minnesota, that dips to 49% among white people.
There is a personal connection for many Americans — 42% say they are at least somewhat concerned that federal immigration enforcement agents could arrest or detain someone they know, including 33% who say they are at least somewhat concerned this could happen to a close family member or friend.
Hispanic (60%), Black (55%) and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (53%) are all more concerned that federal immigration agents could arrest and detain a close friend, family member or someone else they know than white people (32%).
Replacing Kristi Noem, sanctuary cities and the border
By almost a 2-to-1 margin, Americans support replacing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem amid the administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics, 44% to 23%, with 33% voicing no opinion on the matter.
Democrats are more aligned on replacing Noem than Republicans are. Three-quarters of Democrats support removing Noem, 7% oppose it and 18% have no opinion. Among Republicans, 45% oppose replacing Noem, 15% support it and a large 40% say they have no opinion on the matter. Among independents, 45% support Noem’s removal, 17% oppose it and 38% have no opinion.
By an 8-point margin, Americans oppose denying federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that limit their cooperation with ICE, 46% to 38%. Eight in 10 Democrats oppose this, over 7 in 10 Republicans support it.
Methodology — This ABC News-Washington Post-Ipsos poll was conducted via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel, Feb. 12-17, 2026, among 2,589 U.S. adults and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. The error margins are larger among partisan group subsamples.
Abortion rights protesters chant slogans during a gathering to protest the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health case on June 24, 2022 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Two bills having to do with abortion are making their way through the Wyoming legislature.
The first bill, HB0126, dubbed the Human Heartbeat Act, prohibits abortion if cardiac activity is detected in the fetus, which is around six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant.
If cardiac activity is detected, an abortion can only be performed in the case of a medical emergency, meaning if the life of the mother is in danger or if continuing the pregnancy would cause serious or irreversible impairment of a major bodily function, according to the bill, which does not include exceptions for women impregnated as a result of rape or incest.
Any person who intentionally or knowingly violates the act will be charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both, according to the bill.
“What this bill attempts to do is to provide a line in the sand,” Republican Speaker of the House Rep. Chip Neiman said at a Wyoming House Labor, Health & Social Services Committee meeting on Monday. “This gives the unborn child the right to be protected and the privilege of being carried to term after a fetal heartbeat is detected.”
The bill also asserts that “substantial medical evidence” shows that a fetus can experience pain by 15 weeks of gestation.
“The science conclusively establishes that a human fetus does not have the capacity to experience pain until after at least 24–25 weeks,” according to the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG).
The other bill, HB 117 or “Stop harm-empower women with informed notices,” requires medical professionals to give pregnant women written notices before performing an abortion.
The notice would include a description of the proposed abortion method, if there are medical risks associated with the method, alternatives such as adoption and parenting, and the medical risks associated with carrying the fetus to term
Patients who feel they’ve been coerced into receiving an abortion would be allowed to sue any providers for not less than $25,000.
The bill also includes text about the abortion drug mifepristone, including putting in the written notice that mifepristone alone is not always effective in ending a pregnancy. The written notice must also include that pregnant women should consult a health care provider if, after taking mifepristone, they regret their decision “to determine if there are options available to assist her in continuing her pregnancy.”
ACOG states that medication abortion “reversal” is not supported by science and that so-called reversal procedures are “unproven and unethical.”
Earlier this week, the Wyoming House Labor, Health & Social Services Committee recommended that both bills be passed. The bills will now go to the Wyoming State House for debate, amendment and voting.
Currently, abortion is allowed in Wyoming until fetal viability, which occurs at around 25 weeks of gestation, according to ACOG, defined as a fetus’ chances of surviving outside of the womb.
Only physicians are allowed to provide abortions in Wyoming, and they are required to submit a report to the Wyoming Department of Health within 20 days of any abortion procedure, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health.
In 2023, Wyoming passed two abortion bans. However, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled in January that the bans were unconstitutional, violating a “health care freedom” amendment to the state constitution that was passed in 2012 that states in part that “each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions,” and that “the parent, guardian or legal representative of any other natural person shall have the right to make health care decisions for that person.”
During his State of the State address earlier this month, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon suggested that voters should decide on the issue.
“There’s another arduous task that I bring before you, which is the issue of abortion,” he said. “Protecting life is the most serious responsibility entrusted to government. The question of abortion deserves careful deliberation and I urge this legislature to take up this issue earnestly and put forward a genuine solution to the voters of Wyoming that provides a clear, irrefutable, durable, and morally sound resolution to this fraught issue.”
Mug shot of Jeffrey Epstein, 2019. (Photo by Kypros/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — More than six years after the infamous financier and sex offender’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, the investigation into potential wrongdoing at Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling hacienda in New Mexico is being reopened, according to a spokesperson for the state’s Justice Department.
In its heyday, Zorro Ranch played host to a who’s who of Epstein’s prominent guests. It also became the site where multiple girls alleged that they were sexually assaulted. Among them: Annie Farmer, who offered key testimony during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial that she had been sexually abused at 16 years old by Epstein and Maxwell at the ranch in the mid-1990s.
The property, locally dubbed the “Playboy Ranch,” will now get fresh scrutiny over the many allegations of illegal activity on its grounds.
“Upon reviewing information recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Raúl Torrez has ordered that the criminal investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch be reopened,” Lauren Rodriguez, Chief of Staff for the New Mexico Department of Justice, said in a statement to ABC News.
While Epstein’s New York townhouse and his Caribbean island were raided as part of the case against Epstein, records now released by the DOJ indicate federal law enforcement never raided Zorro.
“We have not searched the New Mexico property,” said a Dec. 20, 2019, email from a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York to a lawyer for Epstein’s estate.
New Mexico’s prior investigation was “closed in 2019 at the request of the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York,” according to New Mexico DOJ’s Rodriguez. Lawmakers in New Mexico pushing for the renewed probe have also said there was no record of federal law enforcement searching Zorro.
But now, “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination,” Rodriguez said. “Special agents and prosecutors at the New Mexico Department of Justice will be seeking immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and intend to work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners as well as the Epstein Truth Commission recently established by the New Mexico Legislature.”
“As with any potential criminal matter, we will follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations, and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available,” Rodriguez added. “We are moving quickly and deliberately on this issue and will provide updates as appropriate.”
Bill Hader is set to make his feature film directorial debut. Deadline reports that the actor, who also directed episodes of his TV series Barry, will write, direct and star in a new horror film called They Know. The movie follows a divorced father who grows suspicious of the mysterious man his ex-wife is dating, believing he is having a strange influence on their children …
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has added some new faces to its cast. Variety reports that the Disney+ series has cast Ming-Na Wen as the Greek Goddess Hera, Jennifer Beals as the Greek Goddess Demeter and Hubert Smielecki as the Greek God Apollo for the upcoming third season …
Brendan Fraser and Andrew Scott star in the newly released official trailer for the upcoming film Pressure. The movie takes place in the tense 72 hours before D-Day when one decision changed the world. The film arrives in theaters on May 29 and also stars Kerry Condon, Chris Messina and Damian Lewis …
Eddie Vedder is just breathing a bit better after a conversation with an unlikely source convinced him to quit smoking.
As the Pearl Jam frontman revealed during an interview with the Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade, said conversation took place during the COVID-19 pandemic while on the phone with former SNL cast member Martin Short.
Vedder said that he started smoking again during the pandemic after initially trying to quit, and told Short that when the comedian called to check in on him.
Short then asked if Vedder was smoking cigarettes or pot. When Vedder said cigarettes, Short replied, “Oh, are you still waiting for more literature on that?”
“And that was the last time I ever had a cigarette,” Vedder said.
He added, “Maybe not really, but it makes for a better story.”
Also during the podcast, Vedder reminisced about Pearl Jam’s 1994 SNL performance, during which the band had the rare opportunity to play three songs instead of the usual two.
Parker McCollum performs on ABC’s ‘CMA Fest presented by SoFi’ (Disney/Larry McCormack)
Parker McCollum’s new single, “Killin’ Me,” is from the deluxe edition of his self-titled album, due out March 20. He says when he came up with the melody for the song he knew he had to, as he puts it, “chase it.”
Parker explains that his pals Randy Rogers and Monty Criswell were visiting him at his ranch for some hunting and “driving fast,” and then they’d write songs in the evenings.
“We were actually in the middle of another song and I started playing that melody, just kind of out of nowhere,” Parker recalls. “And I stopped both of them and I said, ‘This melody, I just don’t know where this just came from but we got to chase it.'”
Once they decided to do that, Parker says, “We kind of got into the ‘every move you make is killin’ me’ [idea] and just loved [it], whenever that just kind of fell out of my brain, and chased that whole idea.” He adds that it “turned out to be a great song on the record.”
As previously reported, the video for “Killin’ Me” stars Parker’s wife, Hallie Ray Light McCollum. The couple is expecting their second son this summer.
Meanwhile, Parker McCollum Deluxe Edition arrives the same day Parker plays his fourth consecutive show at the Houston Rodeo.
Poster for ‘Zak Starkey … Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation’ (Courtesy of Zak Starkey)
Drummer Zak Starkey is set to take the stage at New York’s Gramercy Theatre Friday for a one-man show, Zak Starkey … Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation. He’ll take fans through his life and career, which will likely include his almost 30 years playing drums for The Who.
Starkey tells ABC Audio that even though his dad is Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, it was seeing The Who that made him want to learn to play the drums. And it turns out his dad wasn’t much help with that.
“I asked my dad for a drum lesson, and he gave me one lesson,” Starkey says. “Then the next day he said, ‘Now try this.’ I said, ‘I can do that.’ He said, ‘Well, you’re on your own.’ And that was it.”
Starkey began playing with The Who in 1996, and he says it felt “amazing” when he got the gig after being such a fan.
And while he and The Who parted ways in 2025 following an onstage disagreement between Starkey and Roger Daltrey, Starkey says he still has a good relationship with both Daltrey and Pete Townshend. In fact, he recently talked to Daltrey, who wished him luck with the show and gave him some advice.
“He told me to be myself, everything would be fine,” says Starkey. He notes of the issues that led to his split with the band, “It’s just some crazy s*** got out of hand … but we were still friends all the time through it.”
The Who wound up going on a farewell tour of North America in 2025 without Starkey behind the drum kit. As for whether he thinks it really was The Who’s final tour, Starkey wouldn’t speculate.
“If you think you know what those two guys are going to do, they’ll do something different.”
Halle Berry stars as Sharon in ‘Crime 101.’ (Merrick Morton)
Halle Berry is a successful insurance broker who doesn’t get the respect she deserves in the new film Crime 101.
Her character, Sharon, finally has enough of the poor treatment. Late in the film she stands up for herself to her boss, telling him exactly how she feels before quitting. Berry opened up to ABC Audio about the many ways she resonated with Sharon and this particular moment in the film.
“I am a woman of a certain age down the path of life, and I have felt very much what Sharon has felt probably since I turned 40, 45,” Berry said. “I started to feel like my industry, that I love so much, was kinda lowkey kinda telling me, ‘We don’t really have a place for you. There are no parts. You’re not young. You’re not quite old enough to be grandma. So there’s no place for you.'”
The Oscar winner said that she “worked so hard to arrive to that place” of success in the industry.
“To feel that I would now be discarded was a painful realization,” Berry said.
Despite this, Berry said she made a conscious choice to not allow that to happen to her.
“There was some point in that period where I said, ‘No, screw this. I will not allow this to happen.’ And I pushed through, and I managed to not allow that to be my story,” Berry said. “I really related to Sharon deciding to stand up for herself.”
Berry feels other women who see the film will similarly relate to Sharon’s story.
“It was a moral question that she had to face, but I think in that moment she chose to do what was best for her and I really respected her for that,” Berry said. “I think women will feel seen, they’ll feel heard, and they will cheer for her.”
Crime 101 is available to watch in theaters everywhere.
