Page 35 - Donald Trump Administration

Kennedy Jr grilled in Senate on vaccine policies; Trump says he means well

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, facing pointed bipartisan questioning at a rancorous three-hour Senate committee hearing on Thursday, tried to defend his efforts to pull back Covid-19 vaccine recommendations and explain the turmoil he has created at federal health agencies. Kennedy said the fired CDC director was untrustworthy, stood by his past anti-vaccine rhetoric, and disputed reports of people saying they have had difficulty getting Covid-19 shots. A longtime leader in the anti-vaccine movement, Kennedy has made sweeping changes to agencies tasked with public health policy and scientific research by laying off thousands of workers, firing science advisers and remaking vaccine guidelines. The moves -- some of which contradict assurances he made during his confirmation hearings -- have rattled medical groups and officials in several Democratic-led states, which have responded with their own vaccine advice. Medical groups and several Democrats in Congress have called for

Trump signals upcoming talks with Putin after call with Zelenskyy

US President Trump was asked by a reporter during the tech leaders dinner whether he planned to speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the near future after talking to Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy earlier Thursday. He said, I will be, yeah. We're having a very good dialogue. At the tech leaders dinner at the White House, Trump was seated at the centre of a long table between first lady Melania Trump and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Melania Trump chaired a meeting of the White House's new Artificial Intelligence Education task force on Thursday afternoon. The event was planned to be the first in the newly paved Rose Garden but moved to the White House State Dining Room because of rain. Trump asked the tech leaders to say a little bit about their companies and talk about their investments in the United States. Zuckerberg estimated that his company would be spending roughly USD 600 billion through 2028.

Trump admin scraps Biden-era plan of airlines paying for flight disruptions

The Trump administration on Thursday said it is abandoning a Biden-era plan that sought to require airlines to compensate stranded passengers with cash, lodging and meals for flight cancellations or changes caused by a carrier. The proposed rule would have aligned US policy more closely with European airline consumer protections. It was proposed last December in the final weeks of then-president Joe Biden's administration, leaving its fate in the hands of his Republican successor. In a document posted on Thursday, President Donald Trump's Transportation Department said its plan to scrap the proposed rule was consistent with Department and administration priorities". Industry trade group Airlines for America, a vocal critic of the proposal, said it would have driven up ticket prices for consumers. We are encouraged by this Department of Transportation reviewing unnecessary and burdensome regulations that exceed its authority and don't solve issues important to our customers," the gr

Appeals court stops order to wind down operations at 'Alligator Alcatraz'

A federal appeals court panel on Thursday put on hold a lower court judge's order to wind down operations of the immigration detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz". The three-judge panel in Atlanta decided by a 2-1 vote to stay the federal judge's order pending the outcome of an appeal, saying it was in the public interest. US District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami issued a preliminary injunction last month ordering operations at the facility to be wound down by the end of October, with detainees transferred to other facilities and equipment and fencing removed. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' administration in late June raced to build the facility on an isolated airstrip surrounded by wetlands to aid President Donald Trump's efforts to deport people in the US illegally. The governor said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it ..

Imposed tariffs on India over Russian oil imports: US govt to Supreme Court

The Trump administration has told the US Supreme Court that it imposed tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products "to deal with a preexisting national emergency regarding Russia's war in Ukraine and as a "crucial aspect" of the President's push for peace in the country. Trump has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, with effect from August 27. In a 251-page appeal to the Supreme Court, submitted Wednesday, the Trump administration said that the President recently authorised IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products, to deal with a preexisting national emergency regarding Russia's war in Ukraine, as a crucial aspect of his push for peace in that war-torn country. The appeal further states that the stakes in this case could not be higher. The President an

New Polish President Nawrocki to visit White House for talks with Trump

Poland's new president Karol Nawrocki is set to visit the White House on Wednesday, looking to strengthen his relationship with President Donald Trump and make the case that the US needs to maintain its strong military presence in his country. The visit to Washington is Nawrocki's first overseas trip since taking office last month. It comes after Trump took the unusual step of involving himself in the elections of a longtime ally, Poland, and endorsing Nawrocki, the nationalist Law and Justice party candidate. Now in office, Nawrocki, a former amateur boxer and historian, is hoping to deepen his relationship with Trump at a fraught moment for Warsaw. Trump is increasingly frustrated by his inability to get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sit down for direct talks aimed at ending the more than three-year-old war between Poland's neighbours. Trump last month met with Putin in Alaska and then with Zelenskyy and several European leaders a

US court blocks Trump's use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gangs

A federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump cannot use an 18th century wartime law to speed the deportations of people his administration accuses of membership in a Venezuelan gang, blocking a signature administration push that is destined for a final showdown at the US Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country, in a 2-1 decision agreed with immigrant rights lawyers and lower court judges who argued the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was not intended to be used against gangs like Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan group Trump targeted in his March invocation. The administration deported people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador where, it argued, US courts could not order them freed.

TSMC joins South Korean rivals, loses US fast-track export status for China

TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have, until now, benefited from exemptions to sweeping restrictions that the US has imposed on chip-related exports to China

Trump to ask US Supreme Court for expedited ruling to save tariffs

Trump told reporters that the US would appeal to the high court for relief as soon as Wednesday because "it would be a devastation for our country" if the appeals court ruling was left in place

House committee releases some Epstein files as survivors meet lawmakers

The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday publicly posted the files it has received from the Justice Department on the sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, responding to mounting pressure in Congress to force more disclosure in the case. Still, the files mostly contain information that was already publicly known or available. The folders contained hundreds of image files of years-old court filings related to Epstein and Maxwell. They also included video files appearing to be body cam footage from police searches as well as recordings and summaries of law enforcement interviews with victims detailing the abuse they said they suffered. The committee's release of the files showed how lawmakers are eager to act as they return to Washington after a monthlong break. They quickly revived a political clash that has flummoxed House Republican leadership and roiled President Donald Trump's administration. House Republican Speaker Mike

Trump ties to reforms: Mexico's first female prez reviews a year in office

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum celebrated her government's handling of its tumultuous relations with the Trump administration, progressive gains and controversial judicial reforms in her first state of the nation address Monday. Sheinbaum, who is nearing the end of her first year in office, notably left out some of the major problems still simmering in Mexico, including ongoing cartel violence plaguing much of the country and democratic concerns over wider concentration of executive power. Mexico's first female president took office in October and has led the Latin American nation of 131 million at a time of radical global shifts. Despite that, the 63-year-old progressive leader has enjoyed soaring approval rates between 70% and 80% in Mexican polls. Things are going well, and they're only going to get better, she promised. Here are some of the top takeaways from Sheinbaum's State of the Nation address. Navigating the Trump era Chief among Sheinbaum's challenges has been ...

Trump's policies spark protests in multiple US cities on Labour Day

Protesters took to the streets in multiple US cities on Labor Day to criticize President Donald Trump and demand a living wage for workers. Demonstrations in Chicago and New York were organized by One Fair Wage to draw attention to the struggles laborers face in the US, where the federal minimum wage is USD 7.25 an hour. Chants of Trump must go now! echoed outside the president's former home in New York, while protesters gathered outside a different Trump Tower in Chicago, yelling No National Guard and Lock him up! Large crowds also gathered in Washington D.C. and San Francisco. In New York, people gathered outside Trump Tower, which has become a magnet for protests and remains a prominent symbol of the president's wealth, even though the president hasn't lived in the Manhattan skyscraper for years. Demonstrators waved signs and banners calling for an end to what they said is a fascist regime. In Washington, a large crowd gathered with signs saying Stop the ICE invasion and an ...

Trump plans hefty tax on imported drugs, risking higher prices, shortages

President Donald Trump has plastered tariffs on products from almost every country on earth. He's targeted specific imports, including autos, steel and aluminium. But he isn't done yet. Trump has promised to impose hefty import taxes on pharmaceuticals, a category of products he's largely spared in his trade war. For decades, in fact, imported medicine has mostly been allowed to enter the United States duty-free. That's starting to change. US and European leaders recently detailed a trade deal that includes a 15 per cent tariff rate on some European goods brought into the United States, including pharmaceuticals. Trump is threatening duties of 200 per cent more on drugs made elsewhere. Shock and awe' is how Maytee Pereira of the tax and consulting firm PwC describes Trump's plans for drugmakers. This is an industry that's going from zero (tariffs) to the potential of 200 per cent.' Trump has promised Americans he'll lower their drug costs. But imposing stiff pharmaceutical tariffs

Brahmins profiteering off Indians: Trump adviser Navarro justifies tariffs

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro alleged Indian refiners profit from Russian crude, calling India a 'laundromat for the Kremlin'

Samsung, SK Hynix drop as US revokes chip equipment permits for China

Trump administration's move would revise what's known as the validated end user, or VEU, rules, handicapping the ability to make chips in China and jeopardizing it's access to certain technologies

PBS, NPR stations struggle with Trump's funding cut; scramble for support

Coping with a sudden loss in federal funding, PBS affiliate KSPS in Spokane, Washington, faced a surprise extra hurdle. Many of its contributing members at one point almost half lived in Canada, and they were withdrawing support out of anger at President Donald Trump's desire to make the country the 51st member of the United States. When Congress decided this summer to eliminate USD1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting, it left some 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations, each with unique issues related to their communities and history, to figure out what that means. Many launched emergency fund drives and are heartened by the response. The national NPR and PBS networks are reducing expected dues payments, and a philanthropic effort focused on the hardest-hit stations is taking shape. No stations have shut down, but job and programming cuts are already beginning. In Spokane, KSPS has always tried to keep its requests for member donations separate from appeals for public funding. Not

Trump's Nobel ego trip and 50% tariff penalty: What hurt US-India ties?

A testy Trump-Modi phone call over Pakistan ceasefire and Nobel claim may have strained India-US relations, according to a report by the New York Times

Japanese minister halts visit after Trump demands Japan buy rice from US

Japan has cancelled a planned visit to Washington amid tensions over US demands for Tokyo to increase American rice imports

US envoys spark diplomatic tensions, White House not doing much about it

Do not antagonise one's opponents unnecessarily, a basic principle of diplomacy says. But as the United States faces a trade war with China and various tensions overseas, President Donald Trump's emissaries are increasingly ticking off allied countries and being called to account. Just this week, no fewer than three US envoys scrambled to extricate themselves from diplomatic hot water. Denmark's foreign minister summoned the top US diplomat in the country to answer for reports that at least three people with connections to Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland, a Danish territory. France summoned the US ambassador, Trump in-law Charles Kushner, over his letter to President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country has not done enough to fight antisemitism. And the American ambassador to Turkiye, longtime Trump friend Tom Barrack, apologised Thursday for using the word animalistic while calling for a gaggle of reporters to quiet down during a press confere

What happens to Trump's tariffs now that US appeals court calls it illegal?

President Donald Trump has audaciously claimed virtually unlimited power to bypass Congress and impose sweeping taxes on foreign products. Now a federal appeals court has thrown a roadblock in his path. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Friday that Trump went too far when he declared national emergencies to justify imposing sweeping import taxes on almost every country on earth. The ruling largely upheld a May decision by a specialised federal trade court in New York. But the 7-4 appeals court decision tossed out a part of that ruling striking down the tariffs immediately, allowing his administration time to appeal to the US Supreme Court. The ruling was a big setback for Trump, whose erratic trade policies have rocked financial markets, paralysed businesses with uncertainty and raised fears of higher prices and slower economic growth. Which tariffs did the court knock down? The court's decision centres on the tariffs Trump slapped in April on almost all US tr