Presidential candidate Donald Trump says two of his children feel guilty about missing a voter registration deadline, meaning they will not be able to vote for him next week in New York’s Republican primary.

With US Republicans sharply split over a front-runner they cannot unite behind, a new group is trying to push the country’s top elected Republican, Paul Ryan, into the White House race.

EVEN if you leave aside the absurd fact that an American presidential race where the two frontrunners — Jeb Bush and Hilary Clinton — represent long-tailed dynasties that have already had their feet under the Oval Office table for two decades, the tremendous sums committed to succeeding President Barack Obama hardly show democracy, or at least American democracy, in an inspiring or reassuring light.

Money still talks in US presidential elections, as political kingmakers think nothing of writing multimillion-dollar cheques to back their favourite candidates, writes Bette Browne.

Billionaire, Donald Trump’s bargain basement purchase of Doonbeg golf resort, in Co Clare, is already paying off rich dividends with the businessman placing a price tag of $25m (€23m) on the resort.

If Republicans win the Senate, it would almost certainly spell the end of immigration reform plans — and dash the hopes of some 50,000 Irish living illegally in the US, writes Bette Browne

President Barack Obama will have competed in the two most expensive US elections in history as the polls close this week.

President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies scored a financial victory in August over Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his backers, as Romney’s team hit snags in the money race.

In a US election dominated by multimillion-dollar donations, Democratic President Barack Obama’s campaign is about to give small donors a new weapon by starting to accept text message donations for the first time in history.

A major donor to Barack Obama has been accused of defrauding a businessman and impersonating a bank official, creating new headaches for the US president’s re-election campaign as it deals with the questionable history of another top supporter.

Republicans raised and spent money for the presidential race at a frenetic pace in January, according to financial disclosures that also show why Democrats are concerned about the flagging Super PAC that supports President Barack Obama.

DUBBED “super PACs” and flush with millions of dollars, outside groups backing and attacking Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich include a hotel magnate, a casino mogul and former partners at Romney’s private equity firm.

Embattled Republican US Senator John Ensign of Nevada announced that he will resign amid an ongoing ethics investigation, a move that could spare him from the continued embarrassment of the closely watched probe.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama is likely to announce plans next week to run for re-election and file campaign papers with the Federal Election Commission as early as today, Democratic officials said.

One of America's wealthiest men was arrested on the day he was due to fly to London over a £15.6m (€17.11m) insider trading case.

DEMOCRAT Barack Obama will leave the White House trail tomorrow to head to the side of his gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother in Hawaii, just 11 days before the election.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised more than $150m in September, a stunning and unprecedented eruption of political giving that has given him a wide spending advantage over rival John McCain.

The cost of the US presidential election could break the billion-dollar barrier for the first time in history this year, experts said.

REPUBLICAN Senator John McCain raised nearly $12 million (€8m) in January, propelled by victories in New Hampshire and South Carolina, solidifying his place as the leading candidate for his party’s presidential nomination.

A Los Angeles appeals court denied a bid to reinstate Senator Hillary Clinton as a defendant in a lawsuit that claims she, her husband, ex-US president Bill Clinton, and others induced a former supporter to finance a 2000 fund-raising gala.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor whose popularity soared after his response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, moved closer to a fully-fledged campaign for the Republican US presidential nomination today.

Rap mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs is being investigated by America's Federal Election Commission after the organisation received complaints surrounding his 2004 Vote Or Die/Citizen Change campaign.

FIRST Veteran: I served with John Kerry.

PRESIDENT George Bush and his election challenger John Kerry were last night preparing for their third and final live televised debate.

President George Bush and his election challenger John Kerry were tonight preparing for their third and final live televised debate.

THE campaign teams of US President George Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry have tentatively agreed to three face-to-face debates, it was reported yesterday.

Attacks on John Kerry’s war record may be beginning to have an impact, polls suggest, amid raised voices and new TV ads on a subject at least temporarily dominating debate in the close US presidential race.

Catherine Zeta Jones has made a contribution to the election campaign of George Clooney's father Nick, who is standing for Congress in the US.

President George W Bush’s re- election campaign raised less money than Democrat John Kerry for the fourth consecutive month as Kerry worked to boost his fundraising ahead of his party’s national convention next week.

President George Bush’s record fund raising approached €187m as July began, leaving him with tens of millions in the bank and several weeks of private donations to come before he accepts a government cheque for his election campaign in early September.

US president George Bush says he will return a Republican campaign donation from an Iraqi-American who had business dealings with Saddam Hussein’s government.

DEMOCRATIC challenger John Kerry raised more campaign cash than US President George W Bush last month and spent more too, but started June with millions less on hand than the incumbent as a summer of campaigning begins.

President George Bush launched his re-election bid today, formally filing papers to seek a second term with his post-war popularity soaring despite a sluggish economy.

Republicans and Democrats battled for control of Congress today in mid-term US elections clouded by terrorism, the threat of war and a shaky economy, with voters marking ballots for governor from Maine to California.

FEARS of a repeat of the 2000 presidential election fiasco are expected to delay results from yesterday’s crucial mid-term vote that could shift the balance of power in Washington.

Fears of a repeat of the 2000 presidential election fiasco are expected to delay results from today’s crucial mid-term vote that could shift the balance of power in Washington.