MON SIX

When exactly the incident occurred or what may have provoked Middleton's actions was not reported. Middleton scored a game-high 19 points for Dallas, his second-best point total since going to the Mavericks inthe blockbuster dealthat sent Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards.

Middleton, 34, soon thereafteropted to stay with Dallasrather than be bought out of his contract, despite reported interest from playoff contenders, including the Denver Nuggets. He will become a free agent after the season, butco-interim general manager Michael Finley saidthe Mavericks would like to re-sign him, calling him "a consummate pro."

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In 11 games with the Mavericks, Middleton is averaging 12.4 points and 4.3 rebounds and shooting 28% on 3-point attempts. Including his stint with the Wizards, Middleton has played 45 games this season, averaging 10.8 points, 4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 32% on 3s.

Middleton has played 14 NBA seasons, 12 of them with the Milwaukee Bucks. A three-time All-Star, he has a career scoring average of 16.3 points and 38% shooting from 3-point range. He wastraded to the Wizards last seasonfor Kyle Kuzma.

At 21-42, Dallas currently holdsthe 12th spot in the Western Conference, 8.5 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 10 seed and a berth in the NBA play-in tournament.

AfterFriday's 120-100 lossto the Boston Celtics (withJayson Tatum returning for Boston), the Mavericks continue their Eastern road trip Sunday versus the Toronto Raptors.

It will be Clark's first game play in about eight months since a multitude of injuries derailed herWNBAseason with the Indiana Fever in July.

"It'll probably take a me a second to knock a little bit of the rust off. I'll probably be a little bit nervous, which I usually don't get nervous but that probably comes from I haven't really played basketball in a while," Clark said Saturday. "I'm sure after the first minute of running around on the court, I'll be just fine. But more than anything, just really excited. I know how much work and how much time I put in to make sure my body's as healthy as it can be and to get back."

It's been quite a road back for Clark who played in 13 games last season. She had groin injuries and then a bone bruise in her left ankle. She's been in the gym getting ready, working with the Fever medical team and player developmental staff over the last few months.

"I've always been a person that's going to just rely on my work. I feel like it's certainly made me work harder," Clark said of the injuries. "But that's also probably the part that kind of stunk about it, is I felt like I put in so much time and so much energy going into last season, and then obviously, only appeared in about 13 games."

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Clark has fond memories of playing with younger USA Basketball teams. She recalled being in Colorado Springs in her teens and going into a room filled with jerseys of past American greats.

"My eyes were so wide, thought it was the coolest thing in the world of all," she said. "(To see) the senior national jerseys of great men's players and women's players. It's a 15 or 16 year old's dream of doing that one day."

Clark knows this is just her first step with the national team. There was an uproar when she didn't make the 2024 Paris Olympic team. She eyes playing on the World Cup team next fall and then in Los Angeles on the 2028 Olympic squad.

"There's a lot to get to that point," she said. "Obviously that's my goal, the World Cup before that. There's a lot for me to learn."

AP WNBA:https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Iowa, which has won three of the last four Big Ten Tournament titles, is led by sophomore center Ava Heiden. She is averaging 17.6 points and 7.7 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (25-5). Iowa, on a seven-game win streak, got back Hannah Stuelke from an elbow injury in the quarterfinals.

Michigan, which was ranked as high as No. 5 in theUSA TODAY Sports Coaches' Poll, has three players averaging double-figures in scoring. Olivia Olson leads the way with 19.6 points and 6.2 rebounds a game.

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Iowa has won six Big Ten Tournament titles. Michigan has never won.

What time is Iowa vs. Michigan?

• Date: Saturday, March 7

• Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

• Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Indianapolis)

The UCLABruinsplay the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first Big Ten semifinal game at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, March 7 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Iowa-Michigan will tip off after.

Iowa vs. Michigan: TV, streaming

• TV: Big Ten Network

• Stream: Sling TV

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:How to watch Iowa women's basketball vs Michigan in Big Ten Tournament

APTOPIX Italy World Cup Alpine Skiing

Vonn was the standout downhill racer through January but herseason-ending crash at the Olympicslast month left her too few World Cup points in hand with four races left in her favored event.

Pirovano is now the surprise standings leader because of a stunning and career-defining weekend on home snow in the Dolomites.

The 28-year-old Italian had never finished on the podium in 124 career World Cup races — untilher win Friday.

Pirovano followed up Saturday by edging inside Cornelia Huetter's time. Minutes later, the2022 Olympics downhill championCorinne Suter raced into third, 0.05 outside Pirovano's time having led for most of her run and touched close to 133 kph (83 mph).

They pushed the early leaderBreezy Johnson, the Olympicand world champion in downhill, down to fourth, trailing Pirovano by 0.64.

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Pirovano's 100 race points lifted her atop the downhill standings, 36 ahead of Vonn who was pursuing a remarkable ninth career season-long downhill title at age 41. Emma Aicher is in second place with one race left, on March 21 at Kvitfjell, Norway.

Aicher placed outside the top 10 Saturday and was set to lose more points if lower-ranked late starters beat her time that trailed Pirovano by 1.06. She had been runner-up Friday.

That unexpected result for Aicher also was good for Mikaela Shiffrin, whose lead in theoverall World Cup standingshas been cut back because she no longer races in downhill.

Shiffrin's lead over Aicher in the overall standings is still more than 115 points ahead of a super-G scheduled Sunday that the United States star could start.

The women's World Cup season now has seven scheduled races left as Shiffrin chases a sixth career overall title, and her first for three years.

AP skiing:https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Beyond the Republican president's vitriol in speeches and social media posts, his administration has launched a more systematic effort at the U.S. Supreme Court to diminish the power of the federal judiciary, a Reuters analysis shows.

The administration in the past year has raced to the Supreme Court with dozens of emergency requests to green-light policies impeded by lower-court judges who questioned their legality.

The administration includes in ‌its written filings multiple legal arguments, but to a remarkable degree it has used these requests to question the very authority of the judges whose decisions are being challenged.

Of the 31 emergency requests Trump's Justice Department has filed at the Supreme Court since February 2025, nearly all - 97% - claim the judge is improperly interfering with the president's ‌power under the U.S. Constitution and various laws, according to the analysis.

By contrast, in the 19 emergency requests filed by Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden's administration over four years, just 26% suggested judicial interference with presidential authority.

'MORE UNILATERAL POWER'

The Trump administration's approach reflects a concerted effort to diminish the power of judges to restrain the president and his agenda, according to legal experts and former judges.

The arguments go beyond outlining why a judge reached what the administration considers ​an incorrect legal conclusion, according to Payvand Ahdout, an expert on presidential power and the federal courts at the University of Virginia School of Law.

"The administration is attacking the ability of federal judges to question or review the executive actions," Ahdout said.

"As the administration seeks to assert more unilateral power, robust judicial review is a problem for them," Ahdout added.

Trump has aggressively tested the limits of presidential powers during his second term in domestic affairs and foreign policy, drawing hundreds of legal challenges on numerous fronts.

The Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices Trump appointed, has backed him in most of these emergency cases, letting him fire federal employees, take control of independent agencies, ban transgender people from the military and deport migrants to countries where they have no ties, among other actions. Unlike its usual work, the court typically handles emergency requests quickly, without extensive written briefing or oral arguments.

'NO SURPRISE'

A Justice Department official with knowledge of the legal strategy, speaking on condition of anonymity, said any suggestion that its arguments are unusual is misleading.

Pointing to its high win rate at the Supreme Court, the official noted that many of the department's requests involve areas where the justices traditionally have deferred to the ‌president, such as immigration and the federal workforce.

"It should come as no surprise that this department is more forceful in defending Article ⁠II prerogatives," the official said, referring to the constitutional provision vesting executive power in the president.

In addition to claiming judicial interference, Trump's emergency requests challenge the power of judges in other ways.

Among these requests, 68% argue that the judge had no power to review Trump's action or jurisdiction over the case, according to the analysis. Among Biden's emergency requests, only 16% made such an argument.

And 71% of Trump's requests argue the judge had no power to provide the relief - such as a court order freezing a policy - granted to the plaintiffs. Under Biden, that figure was 63%, reflecting frustration by ⁠presidents of both parties with judicial orders they consider overbroad.

The Justice Department under both Biden and Trump urged the Supreme Court to curtail so-called "universal" injunctions that blocked their policies nationwide. The court finally tackled that issue last June in a case brought by Trump, not Biden, handing him a landmark victory reining in judges.

Though that case involved Trump's bid to restrict automatic birthright citizenship, the ruling did not involve the legality of that directive. The court will hear arguments on that question on April 1.

LITTLE EXPLANATION

The Supreme Court's decisions in emergency cases often come with little explanation, making it hard to assess which of the administration's arguments, if any, have carried the day.

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For example, Trump sought Supreme Court intervention after judges at the district court level blocked his firings of multiple Democratic members of independent federal agencies, including two labor boards, a consumer-safety ​watchdog and ​the Federal Trade Commission. The Justice Department argued that those judicial actions intruded on the president's power and that courts cannot review the firings or reinstate the officials.

The court's conservative majority allowed the removals but provided ​little reasoning, briefly referencing in one of the cases its prior rulings endorsing a president's authority to fire agency officers wielding executive power.

In three ‌5-4 decisions in which they provided a rationale, the justices lifted decisions by lower courts that blocked federal grant cuts and Trump's use of an 18th-century law meant for use during wartime to speed deportations. In doing so, the justices appeared to agree with the administration that the judges lacked jurisdiction to review the dispute because it should have been before a different court.

The Justice Department's bid to undermine the power of judges comes amid concerns by Trump's critics and some judges that administration officials are sometimes defying district court orders, as well as continuing verbal attacks on the judiciary. Trump has even directed his ire at the Supreme Court, last month calling justices who ruled against his sweeping global tariffs "lapdogs" swayed by foreign interests.

"The administration's position stated in briefs and argument is for a very narrow view of judicial review and judicial power. And that then manifests itself in the public square as: if judges move out of that more limited role, they're crooks and corrupt," said Barbara Lynn, a former federal judge in Texas who retired last year.

"That is a sad, inappropriate development, and runs the risk of there being, essentially, no checks and balances in this country if that view prevails," said Lynn, an appointee of Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

'POWER GRAB'

The administration's claims of judicial interference variously describe judges as seizing, usurping or grabbing power rightfully belonging to the president.

For instance, in a case concerning Trump's effort to fire thousands of federal employees, the Justice Department warned of an "ongoing assault on the constitutional structure," telling ‌the Supreme Court: "Only this court can end the interbranch power grab."

When a judge blocked Trump's bid to cut teacher-training grants as part of his campaign against diversity initiatives, the administration asked the Supreme Court to end ​judges' "unconstitutional reign as self-appointed managers of executive branch funding."

A judge's moves restricting the administration's plan to deport migrants to countries where they have no ties were "wreaking havoc" and "usurping the executive's authority over immigration policy," the Justice Department said.

Some ​legal experts said it is not surprising that Trump's administration would seek to extend to novel disputes the kind of deference that the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice ​John Roberts, has already given to presidents in areas such as immigration, foreign affairs and firings.

"They are trying to accelerate things that the Roberts court itself had already started, which is to narrow judicial involvement in ... the president's management of the executive branch," said University of California, Berkeley law professor John ‌Yoo, who worked as a Justice Department official during Republican George W. Bush's presidency.

The administration's arguments reflect a change in approach for the ​Justice Department, Georgia State University College of Law professor Eric Segall said.

"They make it sound like ​every case is a five-alarm fire that will destroy the presidency of the United States if judges get involved," said Segall, who worked in the department during Republican George H.W. Bush's presidency.

Philip Pro, a retired federal judge from Nevada, said the administration's legal strategy appears to view judges as an obstruction.

"If I don't agree with you as a member of the judiciary, then you're an obstruction because I want to do what I want to do, whenever I want to do it, wherever I want to do it, and you can't tell me otherwise," said Pro, an appointee of Republican former President Ronald Reagan.

LISA COOK FIRING

In the case involving Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa ​Cook, the justices signaled the administration's views on judges may go too far.

Despite protections provided by Congress for Fed officials, Trump has sought ‌to remove Cook - an unprecedented move that threatens the independence of the world's most important central bank - based on unproven mortgage fraud allegations that she denies. A federal judge blocked the firing. The Supreme Court scheduled a rare oral argument in January before it decides Trump's emergency request to lift the judge's order.

During the arguments, ​some justices balked at the administration's contention that courts are limited in their ability to review Trump's stated cause for the termination, or to reinstate her.

"If there is any level of cause ... then you can't be right about the idea that courts can't order anybody who's been removed to be reinstated," Roberts told ​Solicitor General D. John Sauer, arguing for the administration.

A decision in the Cook case could come at any time.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Amy Stevens and Will Dunham)

A week into the conflict, congressional leaders, including the top Republican appropriators in the Senate and House of Representatives, have publicly said a request is almost certainly on its way. Yet exactly how much money the White House will want, when Trump will demand it and what Republicans may do to sweeten the deal are open questions.

One thing's for sure, though: If he wants more money, Trump will have to go through at least some Democrats.

See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Bahrain
Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Syria
Syrian children stand on the wreckage of an Iranian rocket that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces in the southern countryside of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, close to the town of Ghadir al-Bustan.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Iraq
A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. Loud explosions were heard early on March 1 near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Iraq
Members and officers from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Explosives Directorate inspect the fuel tank of a rocket that landed in a rural village in the Siyahi area near the city of Hilla in the central Babil province on March 1, 2026. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the U.S. and Iran, warned that it did not want to be dragged into the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Qatar
A prayer appealing to God for protection is projected on the dome of al-Hazm shopping mall in Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Qatar
Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bahrain
A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Saudi Arabia
The empty terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is pictured on March 1, 2026. Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the region into a new conflict. In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses U.S. military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
A food delivery bike drive close to a plume of smoke rising from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. Attacks have damaged tankers, and many ship owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Oman
Smoke billows from an oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, that was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Kuwait
Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the U.S. Embassy is located in Kuwait City on March 2, 2026. Black smoke was seen rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City on March 2 after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, an AFP correspondent saw,

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Saudi Arabia
A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Turkey
People make their way after crossing from Iran into Turkey at the Kapikoy Border Gate in eastern Van province,Turkey, March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Delivery persons ride motorcycles along a road as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Pieces of missiles and drones recovered after Iran's strikes are displayed during a press briefing by the UAE government held in Abu Dhabi on March 3, 2026. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across the Middle East on March 3, as the US president warned it was "too late" for the Islamic republic to seek talks to escape the war. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and U.S. embassies in the Gulf, Washington's ally Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jamaa Islamiya offices in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

See how the Iran war's fallout is hitting the Middle East

See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of thewar launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.BahrainSmoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

They already seem divided about what they could do. Some, including progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, are pledging to vote no before seeing any such ask, arguing the Pentagon is flush with cash after the passage of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" and anannual defense spending billof over $830 billion.

"The Republicans have already given $1 trillion to the military," Warren told USA TODAY. "No one knows how much money is sloshing around over there and where it's being spent."

Others, such as Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, have said they need to know more specifics before making a decision.

"I'd have to look at what they're asking for," he told USA TODAY.

The extent to which that split widens – or disappears – will be a crucial variable over the coming weeks in determining whether the all-but-certain supplemental funding bill could survive both therazor-thin margin in the House of Representativesand, more importantly, the Senate's 60-vote threshold (Republicans in the upper chamber hold 53 out of 100 seats).

The infighting among lawmakers will only grow more fraught as the regional war intensifies, potentially putting U.S. troops at greater risk and raising the stakes Congress to ensure they have the resources they need.

At the same time,polling showsAmericans are largely sour on the conflict. As it gets bloodier, public pressure may grow in the opposite direction, prompting lawmakers to push more fiercely toward de-escalation rather than reaching deeper into the government's coffers.

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It's all happening during a midterm election year, when votes taken by members of Congress are always heavily scrutinized.

Though it just started, the war could cost taxpayers as much as $1 billion a day, according tosome estimates, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, the most senior Democrat in the House, told USA TODAY. While he wouldn't telegraph how he'd vote on a supplemental war funding bill, he said that regardless of how much additional money the Trump administration asks for, it's "going to be a big number."

"I'm not going to prejudge what I'm going to do," he said.

A push to attach farm aid?

The extent of Democratic (and Republican) support for any war cash influx could hinge on how big the legislation becomes. Anytime a must-pass bill sweeps through Congress, it could balloon as other policy priorities are added to it.

A senior GOP aide told USA TODAY that Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, the Republican chair of the Senate committee overseeing agriculture, is looking to advance a farm assistance package that could be attached to a supplemental defense spending bill. Squeezed by Trump'ssweeping tariffsand broader market disruptions, producers of major crops have been pleading with farm-state lawmakers in Congress for help.

Read more:Republicans are beefing with Trump over beef

No potential add-ons are set in stone yet, though. House SpeakerMike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and other GOP congressional leaders are keeping their options open for how to approach additional defense spending as they await further direction from the Pentagon and White House.

"There are more details to be determined, of course, how long the operation goes and what the need is," Johnson told reporters on March 3 after a briefing on the situation in the Middle East.

In the halls of the Capitol the next day, he said a war funding bill would only pass "when it's appropriate and we have the right amount."

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Congress stands between Trump and emergency cash for the Iran war

March 7 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will host Latin American leaders in Florida on Saturday as his administration seeks to counter China's growing influence in the region, a diplomatic show just days after U.S. strikes on Iran ‌opened a new front in the Middle East.

The summit comes as Trump prepares for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing at the ‌end of March. The Trump administration hopes to pull Latin America closer to Washington after years of growing Chinese trade, lending and infrastructure investment in the region.

Saturday's gathering, dubbed the "Shield of the ​Americas," also gives Trump a chance to project strength closer to home even as the conflict in the Middle East leads to consequences he may not fully control, such as rising prices for oil and gas.

Kristi Noem will be special envoy for the "Shield of the Americas", Trump posted Thursday. Noem was Homeland Security secretary until Trump removed her from that post this week after mounting criticism of her from Congress.

The summit brings together conservative leaders aligned with Trump on security, migration and economics, reflecting a ‌broader rightward shift in parts of Latin America.

Among those ⁠expected to attend are Argentine President Javier Milei, Chile's president-elect Jose Antonio Kast and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whose gang crackdown, criticized by human rights groups, has become a model for parts of Latin America's right.

Politicians from across the region have toured ⁠Bukele's sprawling "mega-prison," where the United States last year deported more than 200 Venezuelans without trial.

Also expected are Honduran President Nasry Asfura, who narrowly won a disputed election with Trump's backing, and Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, who has echoed parts of Trump's economic agenda and recently announced joint operations with the U.S. in a military crackdown on drug trafficking.

Many ​of ​the leaders share Trump's hardline view of crime and migration, favoring crackdowns over deeper social ​fixes and private business over the state. Their rise reflects a ‌broader rightward turn in parts of Latin America at a time when the region is being pulled between Washington and Beijing.

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CHINA IN LATIN AMERICA

Ryan Berg, who heads the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote this week that the summit is the first time in Trump's second term that Washington has brought together Latin American leaders in this way.

He said the talks are likely to focus on security, drug trafficking, money laundering and China's role in ports, telecommunications and other infrastructure.

Berg said China's trade with the region hit a record $518 billion in 2024, with Beijing loaning more than $120 billion to governments across the ‌Western Hemisphere.

China's increased involvement in Latin America - from satellite tracking stations in Argentina and a ​port in Peru to economic support for Venezuela - has been an irritant for successive U.S. administrations.

China ​has expanded its reach through trade, loans and infrastructure, while the Trump ​administration has pushed governments in the region to curb Beijing's role in ports, energy projects and other strategic assets.

That pressure ‌was on display recently when Panamanian authorities moved against a Hong ​Kong-based firm tied to operations in the ​Panama Canal, a key global freight channel.

Washington has also taken more direct steps in the region.

The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and moved to seize control of the country's oil exports, and has tightened enforcement of the decades-long U.S. embargo on Cuba.

Several Trump ​administration officials have told Reuters that Trump's move against Maduro ‌was intended in part to counter China's ambitions, and that Beijing's days of leveraging debt to get cheap oil from Venezuela were "over."

(Reporting ​by Nandita Bose in Miami, Florida, David Brunnstrom in Washington and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis in Washington ​and Natalia Siniawski in Mexico City, Editing by Sergio Non and Himani Sarkar)