2026 controversies in the United States

The Super Bowl LX halftime show, officially known as the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show for sponsorship purposes, took place on February 8, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. It was headlined by Bad Bunny and featured guest appearances from Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and Los Pleneros de la Cresta. The performance marked the first time a Latino solo artist headlined the Super Bowl halftime show and the first halftime set performed almost entirely in Spanish. Martin is the first openly gay male Super Bowl halftime performer.

On 28 February 2026, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was assassinated in Tehran as part of a series of Israeli airstrikes aimed at high-ranking Iranian officials. Khamenei's death was confirmed by the Iranian government on 1 March. His death occurred as part of a wider joint operation by the United States and Israel, using strategic locations intelligence from the US's Central Intelligence Agency to determine the whereabouts of several leaders. Satellite imagery suggested that Khamenei's residence in the city was severely damaged during the attack.

Since 2025, the second Donald Trump administration of the United States has sought to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, triggering an ongoing international diplomatic crisis. This escalated in early 2026 after Trump refused to rule out the use of military force to annex Greenland and threatened a 25% import tax on goods from several European nations unless Denmark ceded Greenland. Trump's statements sparked a confrontation with Denmark and the EU, reigniting earlier concerns of a US–EU trade war. On 21 January, Trump reversed his position at the 2026 Davos conference, pledging not to use force or tariffs to annex Greenland.

Renée Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old American woman, was fatally shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross, on January 7, 2026. Good was in her car, stopped sideways in the street, which led Ross to circle her vehicle on foot. Other agents approached, and one ordered her to get out of the car while reaching through her open window. Good briefly reversed, then began moving forward and to the right, into the direction of traffic. At this point, Ross was standing at the front-left of the vehicle and fired three shots, killing her, as her vehicle passed him, turning away from him. The killing sparked national protests and multiple investigations.

Eric Michael Swalwell is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from California from 2013 until his resignation in 2026. A member of the Democratic Party, Swalwell served on the Dublin City Council from 2010 to 2013.

US immigration operation

2026 Iran war bombing

2026 federal trial of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores

US commemorative holiday on March 31

The Epstein files comprise over six million pages of documents detailing the activities of American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. So far about three and a half million files have been made public with redactions, among them 180,000 images and 2,000 videos.