Donald Trump

Spain denies cooperating with US in West Asia, contradicting White House

A diplomatic tussle between the United States and Spain over the war in Iran intensified on Wednesday when the governments exchanged contradictory statements over the possible use of Spanish military bases by American armed forces for operations in the Middle East. Moments after a White House spokesperson said that the Spanish government in Madrid had agreed to help the US, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares came out and flatly denied that the European government had changed its position. "I can refute (the White House spokesperson)," Albares told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. "The position of the Spanish government regarding the war in the Middle East, the bombing of Iran and the use of our bases has not changed one iota." The disagreement broke out on Tuesday when US President Donald Trump had threatened to cut off trade with Madrid, hours after the Spanish prime minister said that his government wouldn't "be complicit in something that is bad for the world." Albare

US judge orders refunds for companies after Trump tariffs struck down

In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that companies that paid tariffs struck down last month by Supreme Court are due refunds. Judge Richard Eaton of the US Court of International Trade wrote that "all importers of record'' were "entitled to benefit'' from the Supreme Court ruling that struck down sweeping double-digit import taxes President Donald Trump imposed last year under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Supreme Court found those tariffs to be unconstitutional under the emergency powers law, including the sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs he levied on nearly every other country. The majority ruled that the president could not unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress. In his ruling, Eaton wrote that he alone "will hear cases pertaining to the refund of IEEPA duties.'' The ruling offers some clarity about the tariff refund process, something the Supreme Cou

'Doing very well': Trump rates war efforts against Iran 15 out of 10

Trump pointed to the impact of past actions, pointing to the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and what he described as "complete obliteration of their nuclear potential" by US bombers

Trump likely to raise US tariff rate to 15% this week, says Bessent

"That's likely sometime this week," Bessent said Wednesday on CNBC in response to a question about when the increase to 15 per cent would be implemented

In a world without order, India must build economic, military strengths

Building economic and military strength at home and securing trade deals abroad are vital

US killed Iranian official in alleged Trump assassination plot: Pentagon

Hegseth did not name the individual but said the operation took place on Tuesday

How much Trump's military adventure in Iran has cost the US so far

Economists have cautioned that the direct cost of military operations represents only one part of the broader financial impact, with overall cost expected to exceed direct military spending

US President Trump escalates confrontation with banks over crypto agenda

It was his most direct public rebuke of the banking lobby on crypto policy, and comes as the administration pushes to establish the US the world's capital for digital assets

Iran-Israel conflict: UBS on where to invest in stocks, gold, silver, oil

UBS sees further upside for broad commodities in 2026, driven by primarily by metals, their analysts said in a recent note.

US will escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz if necessary, says Trump

Trump said he had directed the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide political risk insurance and guarantees to ensure the financial security of all maritime trade

Trump threatens to cut trade with Spain over lack of support on Iran attack

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end trade with Spain, citing a lack of support over the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the European nation's resistance to increase its NATO spending. "We're going to cut off all trade with Spain," Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "We don't want anything to do with Spain." The US president's comments came a day after Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said his country would not allow the US to use the bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the United Nations' charter. Albares noted that military bases it jointly operates with the US were not used in the weekend attack on Iran. It is unclear how Trump would cut off trade with Spain, given that Spain is under the umbrella of the European Union. The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of all 27 member countries. "If the US administration wishes to review the trade agreement, it must do so respecting the

Someone from within Iranian regime may be best choice to take power: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said "someone from within" the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the US-Israel campaign is finished. In an exchange in the Oval Office, Trump said Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's toppled Shah, is not someone that his administration has considered in depth to take over. "He looks like a very nice person, but it would seem to me that somebody that's there that's currently popular, if there's such a person... we have people like that," Trump said. He noted that "some people like" Pahlavi but that he was not someone the administration had thought about too much as Iran's next ruler. As far as possible leaders inside Iran, "the people we had in mind are dead," Trump said. The president told reporters at the White House that in addition to that group of people that he says the US had been eying for leadership, "We have another group. They may be dead also." Trump said there is a "third wave" coming in but "we don't kn

Trump vows 'whatever it takes' as war with Iran widens in West Asia

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rejected the idea of an "endless" war with Iran. But President Donald Trump later insisted there was no fixed timeline

Dow drops 1.8% as global stocks slide, oil leaps as Iran war intensifies

A sell-off for stocks is slamming Wall Street after careening from Europe and Asia, and oil prices are leaping even higher as rise that the war with Iran is widening and may do more sustained damage to the economy than feared. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% in early trading on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 880 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.8%. Crude oil prices jumped more than 8% as Iran struck the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia, part of a widening of targets that's also including areas critical to the world's oil and natural gas production. Treasury yields rose.

'Too late' to talk now: Trump as US-Israel strikes on Iran continue

Trump said Tehran's air defence, air force, navy, and leadership had been effectively dismantled, adding that any effort to reopen negotiations was "too late"

UAE and Qatar urge allies to help Pres Trump find Iran off-ramp

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement rejecting what it called "false and misleading claims published by Bloomberg"

Trump sends official notification to US Congress on Operation Epic Fury

In his letter Trump said that the strikes were conducted at his direction on February 28 to protect US interests

How Trump weighed diplomacy, then decided to go to war against Iran

President Trump's embrace of military action in Iran was spurred by an Israeli leader determined to end diplomatic negotiations; few of the president's advisers voiced opposition

Why Trump is embracing US military power after years of caution

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq offered a stark lesson in the limits of military force. The Iran attacks suggest an era of postwar wariness is over

Anthropic's Claude AI suffers 'elevated errors' amid surge in popularity

Anthropic's Claude suffered an outage across its website, mobile app, and API in several parts of the world, as the company continues to draw attention amid its fallout with the US administration