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In an exclusive interview with Tom Llamas, President Trump discussed the impact of striking nuclear sites in Iran and whether in his view Tehran is trying to restart the nuclear program.

The man convicted of attempting to kill PresidentDonald Trumpwhile he played golf in Southern Florida has been sentenced to life in prison.

RyanWesley Routh, 59, was found guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump at one of his golf courses in West Palm Beach in the fall of 2024.

A federal jury on Sept. 23, found Routh guilty of trying to kill the then presidential nomineeat Trump International Golf Club. A Secret Service agent spotted the gun and shot at Routh chasing him off.

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Routh, who is originally from North Carolina.

Routh's attorney suggested a 27-year sentence would be punishment enough for the crime citing no one was hurt in the melee, but prosecutors disagreed.

The incident took place onSept. 15, 2024, just months after a bullet grazed Trump's ear in anotherattempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Jurors convicted Routh of attempted assassination (which carries a maximum life sentence by itself), assaulting a federal officer and several other firearm offenses.

Prosecutors described the assassination attempt as a narrowly averted, while Routh suggested his actions were a peaceful protest, the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network reported. During the trial inU.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Routh told jurors he was incapable of pulling the trigger and had been guilty only of "caring too much."

"To merely have a weapon in the presence of another is not intent," said Routh, who fired his attorneys ahead of the trial and had represented himself.

After his conviction, Routh tried tostab himself in the neck with a pen. Routh had asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for a "just punishment," in hopes of avoiding life in prison.

Contributing: Hannah Phillips with the Palm Beach Post,part of the USA TODAY Network

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Ryan Routh sentenced to life in prison

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government lawyer who told a judge that her job "sucks" during a court hearing stemming from the Trump administration's immigration enforcementsurge in Minnesotahas been removed from her Justice Department post, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Julie Le had been working for the Justice Department on a detail, but the U.S. attorney in Minnesota ended her assignment after her comments in court on Tuesday, the person said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter. She had been working for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before the temporary assignment.

At a hearing Tuesday in St. Paul, Minnesota, for several immigration cases, Le told U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell that she wishes he could hold her in contempt of court "so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep."

"What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks. And I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need," Le said, according to a transcript.

Le's extraordinary remarks reflect the intense strain that has been placed on the federal court system since President Donald Trump returned to the White House a year ago with a promise to carry out mass deportations. ICE officials have said the surge in Minnesota has become its largest-ever immigration operation since ramping up in early January.

Several prosecutors haveleft the U.S. Attorney's officein Minnesota amid frustration with the immigration enforcement surge and the Justice Department's response to fatal shootings of two civilians by federal agents. Le was assigned at least 88 cases in less than a month, according to online court records.

Blackwell told Le that the volume of cases isn't an excuse for disregarding court orders. He expressed concern that people arrested in immigration enforcement operations are routinely jailed for days after judges have ordered their release from custody.

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"And I hear the concerns about all the energy that this is causing the DOJ to expend, but, with respect, some of it is of your own making by not complying with orders," the judge told Le.

Le said she was working for the Department of Homeland Security as an ICE attorney in immigration court before she "stupidly" volunteered to work the detail in Minnesota. Le told the judge that she wasn't properly trained for the assignment. She said she wanted to resign from the job but couldn't get a replacement.

"Fixing a system, a broken system, I don't have a magic button to do it. I don't have the power or the voice to do it," she said.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Le was a probationary attorney.

"This conduct is unprofessional and unbecoming of an ICE attorney in abandoning her obligation to act with commitment, dedication, and zeal to the interests of the United States Government," McLaughlin said in a statement.

Le and the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Kira Kelley, an attorney who represented two petitioners at the hearing, said the flood of immigration petitions is necessary because "so many people being detained without any semblance of a lawful basis."

"And there's no indication here that any new systems or bolded e-mails or any instructions to ICE are going to fix any of this," she added.

Denny Hamlin is going to race injured in 2026.

Hamlin, 45, told reporters on Wednesday ahead of the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium that he re-injured his right shoulder but will put off surgery until after the season because of the lengthy recovery timeline. Hamlin had surgery on his right rotator cuff after the 2023 season and dealt with the injury in the latter weeks of that season.

He said that he found out the muscle in his shoulder was re-torn after he fell going through debris at his parents' house. Hamlin's father Dennis died from injuries sustained in the fire on Dec. 28 in Stanley, North Carolina, and his mother, Mary Lou, was seriously injured. Hamlin said Wednesday that his mother's condition was improving.

Dennis Hamlin had been in declining health before the fire. Denny Hamlin had said during the 2025 playoffs that he believed that it was his dad's last opportunity to see him win a championship.

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Hamlin did not get that title despite dominating the final race of the season at Phoenix. He led 208 of the race's 319 laps, but a late caution for William Byron's tire failure set up a green-white-checkered finish and Hamlin's team's four-tire pit stop strategy backfired as Kyle Larson finished ahead of Hamlin for the title.

It was a tumultuous end to 2025 — to put it mildly — for Hamlin. His 23XI Racing team also settled its lawsuit with NASCAR in December over the sanctioning body's charter system. The settlement was a win for 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, the plaintiffs in the suit, as NASCAR relented on its previous stance and granted teams permanent charters.

Hamlin, who is arguably the best NASCAR driver to not win a title, finished fifth in 2023 as he dealt with his shoulder injury. A crash at Homestead effectively ended his hopes for a championship in the 34th race of that season.

This season, the title format will be much different. NASCAR has re-implemented the cumulative 10-race Chase after using a multi-round elimination format since 2014. The winner-take-all title race is gone, as the driver who has the most points at the end of the playoffs will win the title.

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has received a temporary restraining order to potentially allow him to play for the Volunteers in 2026.

Aguilar filed a lawsuit against the NCAAin Knox County (Tennessee) Chancery Court on Monday to try to play next season even though he's officially out of eligibility. On Wednesday,Aguilar got a TRO in his favorahead of an injunction hearing Friday.

If Aguilar gets the injunction, he's likely to be on Tennessee's roster in 2026. If he doesn't, his chances of getting that extra season of eligibility are a lot lower.

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"This outcome — after the plaintiff withdrew from a federal lawsuit and separately filed a lawsuit in state court with the exact same facts — illustrates the impossible situation created by differing court decisions that serve to undermine rules agreed to by the same NCAA members who later challenge them in court," the NCAA said in a statement after the TRO was granted. "We will continue to defend the NCAA's eligibility rules against repeated attempts to rob high school students of the opportunity to compete in college and experience the life-changing opportunities only college sports can create. The NCA and its member schools are making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes, but the patchwork of state laws and inconsistent, conflicting court decisions make partnering with Congress essential to provide stability for all college athletes."

[Get more Vols football news: Tennessee team feed]

The former Appalachian State quarterback officially began his college football career in 2019. He redshirted at a community college in 2019 before his school's 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He then played two seasons at a different junior college before he transferred to App State ahead of the 2023 season.

After two seasons with the Mountaineers, he transferred to UCLA for the 2025 season. However, he left the Bruins after just a couple months when former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA. Aguilar ended up at Tennessee in what was essentially the first trade in modern college football history.

Aguilar has cited Diego Pavia as an example in his lawsuit. The former Vanderbilt QB played his final season of college football in 2025 after he successfully argued that his junior college time shouldn't count against his NCAA eligibility. However, Pavia's college career began in 2020, a year after Aguilar's did.

Like Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss, Aguilar filed his lawsuit against the NCAA in state court — ostensibly in an attempt to get a more favorable permanent ruling. Chambliss, who transferred to Ole Miss from Division II Ferris State, is seeking a sixth season of eligibility to play for the Rebels in 2026 after leading Ole Miss to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff in 2025.

Neither Tennessee nor Ole Miss has a solid backup plan at quarterback if the legal maneuvering falls short, either. The chances of each team contending in the SEC hinge largely on their starting quarterbacks returning for the 2026 season given that neither the Vols nor Rebels added an experienced quarterback in the transfer portal.

The championship rings for the Texas softball team have a heartwarming detail.

Ahead of the2026 college softball season, theLonghornsunveiled their Women's College World Series title rings. Texasbeat Texas Tech in three gamesto secure the first title in program history.

Hidden on the underbelly of the ring are the words "20 years in the making" and the final score of Game 3 (10-4). There's also a single black diamond. The diamond is in honor ofpitcher Teagan Kavan's grandmother, Anna Lukehart, who died on May 31, 2025, during the team's WCWS run. Lukehart was 97 years old.

Kavan's grandmother was an inspiration to her and the reason the pitcher wears number 17.

"She was born on November 17, and so I wear that number in honor of her. She was my biggest fan in everything,"Kavan said. "She knew everybody's name. She knew everyone's nickname. She would ask me all about them, and they all loved her, too. It was super special for them to also get to know her and love on her. It made it even more special during the [Women's College] World Series [that] they were able to rally around me during a tough time when we lost her."

Texas begins its 2026 season on Friday, Feb. 6, against Nebraska in San Antonio at the UTSA Invitational.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Texas college softball championship ring honors pitcher's grandmother

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Authorities in Cyprus said Wednesday a body discovered last month on a beach along the country's southern coastline has been identified as the former chief executive of Russia's largest potash company who had been detained in Belarus in 2013 on charges of harming the Belarusian economy.

Police on a British military base in Cyprus said DNA analysis confirm the body is that of Vladislav Baumgertner, 53, who went missing from his home in the coastal city of Limassol on Jan. 7. Baumgertner's body was found a week later on Avdimou beach.

An investigation into the circumstances as well as the cause of Baumgertner's death is ongoing, according to the British Sovereign Base Areas police. Baumgertner's relatives have been notified. Avdimou lies inside one of two military bases on Cyprus that the U.K. retained after the island gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960. The bases have their own police force and courts.

Baumgertner was the CEO ofUralkali when Belarusian authoritiesplaced him under house arrest in September 2013 after a dispute between his company and its Belarusian trading partner escalated.

He was released two months later and extradited to Russia where prosecutors launched a criminal probe against him on abuse of office charges.

At the time, analysts had attributed Baumgertner's arrest to retaliation for Uralkali's decision to pull out of a joint venture.

Uralkali and state-owned Belarusian Potash Co. had been exporting the commodity — a key ingredient in fertilizer — through a joint venture that at the time accounted for about a quarter of the world's potash.

Uralkali pulled out of the trading venture after accusing the government in Minsk of allowing the state-owned company to export potash independently.

Uralkali's withdrawal left Belarusian Potash Co. with virtually no qualified staff and raised fears of a price war. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Uralkali and Baumgertner's actions harmed his country's economy.

Baumgartner had been living in Cyprus for several years. He had reportedly been staying in an apartment above his place of business in Limassol that thousands of Russian expatriates have made their home.