Four African-American individuals kidnap a mentally disabled white man in Chicago, Illinois and livestream their torture of him on Facebook, shouting "Fuck Trump" and "Fuck white people" while doing so, prompting widespread reactions on social media. The four suspects are later arrested and charged with a hate crime.[2]
January 11 – Donald Trump holds his first press conference since being elected president, wherein he derides the American news media for running what he considers to be false stories against him, particularly a January 10 CNN report stating that classified documents briefed to President Trump and Barack Obama contained presently unsubstantiated allegations that Russian operatives possess "compromising personal and financial information" about Trump that could be used as blackmail.[16][17][18]
The Playboy Mansion is put up for sale however the terms of the sale state that the company's founder Hugh Hefner must live there until he dies.
As an act of reassurance to NATO allies, the Obama administration deploys over 3,000 American troops to Poland to ensure protection from any possible future aggression from Russia, who subsequently call the act a threat to their national security.[20]
January 13 – The Justice Department concludes its 13-month investigation into the Chicago Police Department and finds that the department regularly violated citizens' civil rights through the use of excessive force, particularly toward African-American and Latino individuals.[22]
January 17 – Three days before leaving office, President Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's sentence for leaking documents to WikiLeaks.[24]
January 19
Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo is extradited to the United States to await trial.[25]
Outgoing President Obama commutes the sentences of 330 prisoners, most of them nonviolent drug offenders. It is the highest number of commutations ever given in a single day by a US president.[26]
January 21 – 2.9 million people attend the Women's March in opposition to the inauguration of Donald Trump, making it the single biggest protest in U.S. history.[28]
The Trump administration freezes all new research grants and contracts for the Environmental Protection Agency and temporarily bars its employees from posting press releases or updates to the agency's social media accounts and from speaking to the press.[32][33]
January 26 – A 2007 interview is released in which Carolyn Bryant, for whom African-American teenager Emmett Till was accused of making verbal and physical advances on, leading to his lynching death in 1955, admits that she fabricated that aspect of her testimony against Till.[37]
January 27 –
President Trump signs an executive order banning the entry of refugees of the Syrian Civil War into the United States indefinitely, and banning the entry of all nationals, regardless of visa status, of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen to the US for 90 days. The order prompts international criticism, a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, the detainment of legal Muslim travelers at several international airports, and Iran announcing a ban on entry of US citizens into the country until the ban is lifted.[38][39][40][41]
February 14 – It is reported that President Trump's election campaign aides and other associates had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.[54]
NASA announces that TRAPPIST-1, a star system 39 light years away, has been found to contain seven Earth-sized planets. At least three are in the habitable zone, but all seven have the potential to support liquid water.[56]
February 25 – Democrat Stephanie Hansen wins a special election, ensuring her party retains its 44-year control of the Delaware Senate. Democrats across the country, motivated by antipathy to Trump's presidency, raised over a million dollars for her campaign, a record amount for an election to the Delaware legislature and any special election in the state. Former Vice President Joseph Biden also went door-to-door with her.[58]
In an embarrassing gaffe, La La Land is thought to be the winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, before the envelope is shown to reveal Moonlight as the actual winner.
March 6 - President Trump issues Executive Order 13780, replacing Executive Order 13769. This new order removes Iraq from the list of banned countries.
March 16 – Sebastian Gorka, a top advisor to President Trump, faces calls to resign after he is revealed to be a member of a Hungarian Nazi group.[63][64]
March 27 – President Trump calls to investigate any ties with Hillary Clinton and Russia.[68]
March 28 – President Trump signs the Energy Independence Executive Order, intended to boost coal and other fossil fuel production by rolling back Obama-era policies on climate change and the environment.[69]
March 30
Michael Flynn offers to testify before Congress in exchange for immunity from prosecution in relation to alleged Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election.[70]
April 6 – In response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town, the U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an "aggression", adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties.[74]
April 9 – David Dao, an Asian physician, is physically assaulted and dragged off a United Airlinesflight from Chicago to Louisville by police, prompting worldwide reaction.[76]
April 13 – a large non-nuclear bomb known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), is dropped by the United States in the Nangahar's Achin District in eastern Afghanistan to destroy tunnel complexes used by ISIL.[77] It is the first time the weapon is used in a combat role.
April 14 – Angelo Colon-Ortiz, 31, a suspect in the death of jogger Vanessa Marcotte, who disappeared on August 7, 2016, in Massachusetts and was later found dead, is arrested.[78]
April 15
Hundreds of President Trump's supporters clash with anti-Trump protesters in Berkeley, California. 21 people are arrested.[79]
Protests erupt in cities across the country, most notably at Mar-a-Lago with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators demanding President Trump release his tax returns.[80]
Federal judge Kristine Baker in Arkansas issues an injunction halting the execution by lethal injection of nine inmates, calling this method unconstitutional.[81]
Shooting of Robert Godwin: 74-year-old Godwin, a retired foundry worker is shot and killed while walking on a sidewalk in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio by 37-year-old Steve Stephens, who posted a video of the shooting on his Facebook account.
April 17
Vice President Pence visits Camp Bonifas near the DMZ, unexpectedly deviating from his security plan and walking all the way to the military demarcation line, sending nearby security personnel scrambling.
President Trump, Melania and their son Barron kick off the 139th Annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House.
A State Department official warns of a "significant international response" if North Korea were to mount another nuclear test.[82]
39-year-old Kori Ali Muhammad kills three people in shootings in downtown Fresno[86]
Shooting of Robert Godwin: Murder suspect Steve Stephens is found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a brief police pursuit in Erie County, Pennsylvania.[87]
15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas from Middle Tennessee is found safe in Northern California and 50-year-old kidnapper Tad Cummins is arrested after a four-week manhunt.[93]
FBI chief James Comey is fired by Trump for mishandling of the Hillary Clinton email controversy. However, critics accuse Trump of attempting to subvert the ongoing FBI investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.[100]
An 18-year-old woman is killed and 22 other people injured after a car plows into pedestrians at Times Square in New York. The driver, a 26-year-old former U.S. Navy member, is arrested.[108]
A 1982 painting, Untitled, by the late Jean-Michel Basquiat, sells for $110 million at Sotheby's, becoming the most expensive work by an American artist ever sold at an auction.[109]
May 20 – Trump makes his first foreign visit as president, to Saudi Arabia, where he signs deals worth more than $350 billion. This includes a $110 billion arms deal – the single biggest in U.S. history.[110]
May 26 – An anti-Muslim stabbing attack aboard a Portland, Oregon commuter train kills two people and injures a third.
May 27
President Trump attends the G7 summit, where the six other leaders reaffirm their commitment to the Paris climate accord, but Trump says he will delay a decision on the agreement until the following week.[112]
June 8 – Former FBI director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee about conversations he had with President Trump and whether he pressured him to drop an investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.[117]
June 11
The 71st annual Tony Awards are held at Radio City Music Hall. Dear Evan Hansen wins six awards including Best Musical and Best Leading Actor for Ben Platt.
The Golden State Warriors defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win the series 4–1 and win their 5th NBA championship and their second in three years, winning the title with the best postseason record in history going 16–1. Warriors forward Kevin Durant won his first NBA title and won the NBA Finals MVP award.
June 14
House of Representatives Majority Whip Steve Scalise and his aides are hit by gunfire during a baseball practice in Virginia. The shooter is killed by a security detail.[120]
The Federal Reserve raises its key interest rate by 0.25%, to a target range of 1 to 1.25%, the second increase of the year and its highest level since 2008.[121]
Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. announce on Twitter that they will fight on August 26 after heavy anticipation at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the event being dubbed as The Money Fight.
It is reported that special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating President Trump for possible obstruction of justice and whether he tried to end an inquiry into his sacked national security adviser.[122]
A shooting at a UPS facility in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood leaves four dead, including the shooter, and six injured.
June 16
Michelle Carter of Massachusetts is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend Conrad Roy to take his own life. She had sent a number of text messages encouraging him to kill himself and as a result Roy died of carbon monoxide poisoning inside his vehicle in 2014.[123]
July 9 – It is reported that President Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., met with a Russian lawyer after being promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.[126]
July 11 – Donald Trump Jr. releases email transcripts, via Twitter, showing he was offered "sensitive" information about Hillary Clinton from a Russian contact, and replied "I love it".[127][128]
July 15
Police officer Mohamed Noor murders Australian woman Justine Damond near her home in Minneapolis, Minnesota after she called 9–1–1 to report a nearby assault. The police officers did not have their body cameras turned on and the reason for the shooting is unclear, prompting protests in the city.[129]
July 22 – In a tweet, President Trump asserts his "complete power to pardon." This follows reports that he had been discussing his ability to pardon people under investigation for possible ties between his campaign and Russia meddling with the 2016 election.[134][135]
The US Senate votes to start debating a new Republican healthcare bill to replace Obamacare.[138]
The US House of Representatives votes to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, despite President Trump objecting to the legislation.[139]
July 26
The President tweets that transgender people cannot serve in "any capacity" in the US military.[140]
The first gene editing of human embryos in the USA is reported to have taken place, using CRISPR.[141][142]
The United States men's national soccer team defeats Jamaica 2–1 in the final to win the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup title, their 6th overall.
The FBI raids the home of Paul Manafort, a former chairman of the Trump campaign, regarding potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.[143]
July 27
Jeff Bezos briefly becomes the world's richest person, surpassing Bill Gates with a net worth of just over $90 billion. He loses the title later in the day when Amazon's stock drops, returning him to second place with a net worth just below $90 billion.[144]
In a 235–192 vote, the House passes a $788 billion spending bill that combines a $1.6 billion down payment for President Donald Trump's controversial border wall with Mexico and a large budget increase for the Pentagon.[145]
A third attempt to repeal Obamacare fails after it is voted down by 51 votes to 49. Three Republicans – John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski – vote against the bill.[146]
President Trump removes Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director, just ten days after his appointment.[148]
It is reported that President Trump personally dictated his son Donald Trump Jr.'s statement on his talks with a Russian lawyer during the election campaign.[149]
August 1 – A top EPA official, Elizabeth "Betsy" Southerland, resigns in protest at the direction of the agency under the Trump administration.[150][151]
August 2
Grandmaster Flash member Kidd Creole is arrested in New York on murder charges after a homeless man is found with multiple stab wounds to his torso.[152]
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirms in her daily briefing that two supposed phone calls to President Trump never actually took place – the first from the Boy Scouts, who Trump claimed had praised him for the best speech ever delivered in the organization's 100-year history; the second from Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who Trump claimed had complimented his border control efforts.[153]
August 3
Transcripts from a phone call released by The Washington Post show that President Trump had urged Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to stop saying he would refuse to pay for the proposed border wall. Another transcript is released of a heated argument between Trump and the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.[154][155]
The special counsel investigating claims of Russian meddling in the US election begins using a grand jury in Washington.[156]
West Virginia governor Jim Justice announces he is switching parties from Democrat to Republican at a rally with Trump.
August 4
Martin Shkreli is found guilty in federal court on three counts of fraud related to two hedge funds he ran, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare.[157]
In a letter to Darwin Life, Inc. and New Hope Fertility Center, the FDA warns that the "three parent baby" technique should not be marketed in the U.S.[158]
After reports that North Korea has produced a nuclear warhead small enough to fit inside its missiles, President Trump warns that the country "will be met with fire and fury" if it threatens the US.[164]
August 12 – The Unite the Right rally, a gathering of alt-right, white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and neo-Confederate groups protesting the removal of the Robert Edward Lee Sculpture and other Confederate monuments and memorials from public spaces, is held in Charlottesville, Virginia.[168] Violent clashes break out between attendees and counter-protesters; 32-year-old Heather Heyer is killed and many others are injured when a car ploughs into a group of people; and two Virginia State Police troopers are killed when their surveillance helicopter crashes, prompting Governor Terry McAuliffe to declare a state of emergency.[169]
August 14 – After several days of public pressure, President Donald Trump explicitly condemns the white supremacist groups involved in violent clashes at Charlottesville.[170]
August 15
President Trump is criticized by leaders in the Republican and Democrat parties for backpedaling on explicitly condemning the white supremacist groups involved in the Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' rally.[171]
Following a week of escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un opts to wait on attacking Guam.[172]
August 16
President Trump disbands two of his business councils after multiple members resign in response to the President's handling of the Charlottesville incident.[173][174]
Former president Barack Obama's Twitter response to the Charlottesville rally, in which he posted a quote from Nelson Mandela, receives over 4 million 'likes' and becomes the most 'liked' tweet ever.[175]
Regarding the earlier violence in Charlottesville, former presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush call upon incumbent President Trump to "reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms."[176]
August 19 – Up to 30,000 people gather on Boston Common to protest a right-wing rally, motivated in part as a response to the recent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.[183]
August 20 – An oil tanker collides with the USS John S. McCain near Singapore, injuring five US Navy sailors and leaving ten missing.[184]
August 21 – A total solar eclipse takes place. It is the first total solar eclipse of the 21st century for the United States, the first visible from the continental U.S. since February 26, 1979, and the first to span the entire continental U.S. since June 8, 1918. Totality occurs along a path curving from Oregon to South Carolina, and lasts at most for 2 minutes and 40.2 seconds. The location and time of "greatest eclipse" is on the western edge of Christian County, Kentucky, at 36.9715 degrees north and 87.6559 degrees west, occurring at 18:25 UTC.[185]
August 22 – At a "Make America Great Again" rally in Phoenix, Arizona, President Trump says he will close down the US government if necessary to build his wall along the Mexico border.[186]
August 23 – The science envoy for the State Department, Daniel Kammen, resigns following President Trump's response to the rally in Charlottesville. In his resignation letter addressed to Trump, the first letter of every paragraph spells out "impeach".[187]
Right-wing protesters and thousands of far-left counter-protesters clash in Berkeley, California. 11 people are injured and 21 are arrested.[198]
August 28 – President Trump signs an executive order allowing police to acquire and use military-style equipment.[199]
August 29
Following North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile over northern Japan, President Donald Trump warns that "all options are on the table" in terms of a response to North Korean aggression.[200]
Both the Addicks Dam and Barker Dam in Houston begin overflowing due to Hurricane Harvey, worsening flooding hazards.[201] A curfew is imposed in Houston to help prevent looting of evacuated homes.[202]
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive in Texas to survey the damage of Tropical Storm Harvey.[203]
September 4 – Governor Rick Scott declares a state of emergency for Florida as Hurricane Irma approaches from the Atlantic.[207]
September 5 – The Trump administration announces that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy, which was set by the Obama administration in 2012, will be scrapped.[208]
September 10 – Millions of homes are left without power as the center of Hurricane Irma hits mainland Florida, just south of Naples.[210]
September 12
Seattle mayor Ed Murray resigns after facing multiple accusations of child abuse, rape and sexual molestation, including some from family members and children under his care. He denies the accusations.[211]
September 18 – Toys "R" Us files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating the move will give it flexibility to deal with $5 billion in long-term debt and invest in improving current operations.[213]
September 19 – President Trump makes his first appearance at the United Nations, during which he claims the US may 'have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea'.[214]
September 20 – Hurricane Maria makes landfall in the US territory of Puerto Rico with maximum sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph).[215] Millions of people are left without power.[216]
September 21 – American thriller film 1 Buck is released.[217]
September 22 – During a political rally in Alabama, President Trump criticizes NFL football players kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality against African-Americans, saying that team owners should "fire" them for doing it. The comments spark widespread condemnation and increases in protests from players during the national anthem.[218][219]
Former US football star and actor O. J. Simpson is freed on parole after serving nine years of a 33-year sentence for armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and 10 other charges.[222]
An exposé is published in The New York Times accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment spanning three decades, involving a number of actresses and female production assistants, temps and other employees.[226][227] Further allegations emerge in subsequent days, that Weinstein had assaulted or harassed 13 women, and raped three of them.[228]
October 6
The Trump administration issues a ruling that allows employers to opt out of providing free birth control to their employees.[229]
October 8 – October 2017 Northern California wildfires: The deadliest week of wildfires in California's history occurs, killing at least 35 people and leaving devastation across hundreds of thousands of acres.[230]
The USA soccer team plays the last match against Trinidad and Tobago in qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be played in Russia, the Americans had to win to qualify for the World Cup but lost 2 to 1 leaving them eliminated by first time in its history cutting a positive streak of 7 consecutive classifications to the world championships.
October 11
President Trump threatens to shut down News Media for report his criticise in media.[231]
It is announced that the Boy Scouts will allow girls to join for the first time in the program's 117-year history beginning in the fall of 2018.
October 12 – The US announces its withdrawal from UNESCO, accusing it of "anti-Israel" bias.[232]
October 13 – In a speech at the White House, President Trump condemns Iran as a "fanatical regime", proposes new sanctions, and states that he will refuse to continue certifying the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a landmark nuclear deal.[233]
October 26 – Nearly 3,000 files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy are released, while President Trump orders others to be withheld, citing national security concerns. The documents were scheduled for release in a 1992 law.[234]
October 27 – The first charges are filed in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged Russia interference in the 2016 US election.[235]
October 30 – Actor Kevin Spacey issues an apology over an alleged sexual advance made towards a child actor 30 years previously.[236] It is announced that Netflix will end the popular TV show House of Cards, in which Spacey has played the leading role.[237] Further allegations arise in subsequent days.[238]
The New York City news websites DNAinfo and Gothamist are shut down by owner Joe Ricketts one week after the publications' employees voted to unionize.[243]
November 3
The latest National Climate Assessment, a 477-page report by 13 federal agencies, concludes that global warming is "extremely likely" (with 95 to 100% certainty) to be human-caused, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels. This contradicts statements from the Trump administration that carbon dioxide is not the primary contributor to global warming.[244]
November 4 – President Trump begins his first visit to Asia, a 13-day tour that will include Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.[245]
November 5
26-year-old Devin Kelley kills 26 people and injures 20 in a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. It is the 5th deadliest shooting in United States history, and the deadliest in a place of worship.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is revealed by the Paradise Papers to have business links with Russian allies of President Vladimir Putin who are under US sanctions.[246]
November 6 – Entrepreneur Andrew Yang announces his candidacy for U.S. president in 2020.[247]
November 7 – In Virginia, Danica Roem becomes the first openly transgender person to win an election to a state legislature and serve her term, beating Republican Bob Marshall.[248]
November 9 – The New York Times publishes allegations from five women who said they were sexually harassed by Louis C.K. between the late 1990s and 2000.[249]
November 10 – XCom Global telecommunications company announces "the closure of its USA operations."[250]
November 12 – After North Korea denounces President Trump's Asia trip, calling it a "warmonger's visit" and describing the president as a "dotard",[251] Trump responds on Twitter: "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old", when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!"[252]
November 13 – The FDA approves "Abilify MyCite", the first drug in the U.S. with a digital ingestion tracking system that records when the medication was taken, via a sensor embedded in the pill.[253][254][255][256]
November 27 – Matt Lauer, one of the most famous TV news anchors in the US, is fired from NBC following accusations of sexual assault.[268]
November 29 – President Trump's Twitter account retweets three inflammatory videos from far-right group, Britain First.[269]
November 30 – It is reported that, during the summer, President Trump tried to pressure a number of top Republicans to end the Senate investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.[270]
Emails, interviews and court documents involving senior Trump transition team officials, reported by The New York Times, suggest that Michael Flynn did not act alone, both before and after he spoke with Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.[274]
The Supreme Court allows President Trump's travel ban on six mainly Muslim countries to go fully into effect.[276]
December 6 – In a speech at the White House, President Trump announces that the US now recognizesJerusalem as Israel's capital.[277]
December 7 – A magnitude 4 earthquake happens in California.
December 8 – A state of emergency is declared in California as the worst wildfires on record devastate homes and businesses in the region, forcing the evacuation of 200,000 people.[278]
December 12 – Democrat Doug Jones defeats Republican candidate Roy Moore to win the Senate seat for Alabama, the first time a Democrat has won the state since 1992.[280]
December 13 – The Federal Reserve raises interest rates by a quarter percentage point, to a range of 1.25–1.5 percent, the third rise of 2017.[281]
The Washington Post reports that staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been forbidden by the Trump administration from using the words "vulnerable", "entitlement", "diversity", "transgender", "fetus", "evidence-based" and "science-based" in any official documents being prepared for next year's budget.[284]
John Skipper resigns as president of ESPN to deal with his substance addiction. Former network president and executive chairman George Bodenheimer is announced as the acting chairman for the next 90 days until a replacement is found.[289]
December 19 – The FDA approves Luxturna, the first gene therapy for an inherited condition in the U.S., for patients with a form of retinal dystrophy.[290][291]
Papa John's founder John Schnatter steps down as CEO of the pizza restaurant chain and will be replaced by chief operating officer Steve Ritchie on January 1.[292]
December 22 – Everitt Aaron Jameson, a 25-year-old former marine, is arrested by the FBI on suspicion of planning a terror attack in the Pier 39 area of San Francisco over Christmas.[295]
^"NWS Damage Survey for 8/6/17 Tornado Event". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.