Page 38 - Donald Trump Administration

Zelenskyy, European allies seek clarity on Trump's peace talks with Putin

Unease hangs over the allies, which have few options for pushing back on demands from Trump that Ukraine may oppose, and are skeptical that Putin really wants peace

Trump runs into the difficulty of Putin diplomacy, ending long war

President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening severe consequences and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine. Instead, Trump was the one who stood down, dropping his demand for a ceasefire in favour of pursuing a full peace accord a position that aligns with Putin's. After calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump wrote as he flew home from Friday's meeting in Alaska that it had been determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up. It was a dramatic reversal that laid bare the challenges of dealing with Putin, a cunning adversary, as well as the complexities of a conflict that Trump had repeatedly boasted during his campaign that he could solve within 24

Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Aug 18 after US-Russia summit secured no deal

US President Donald Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska and also was talking with NATO leaders early Saturday, the White House said. Trump secured no agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine even after rolling out the red carpet for Putin. Trump said that there's no deal until there's a deal, after Putin claimed the two leaders had hammered out an understanding on Ukraine and warned Europe not to torpedo the nascent progress. During an interview with Fox News Channel before leaving Alaska, Trump insisted that the onus going forward might be on Zelenskyy to get it done, but said there would also be some involvement from European nations. Trump did not speak to reporters on his flight back to Washington. When his plane landed, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump was on the phone with NATO leaders after a lengthy call with Zelenskyy. There was no immediate comment Saturday fr

Trump repeats claim of resolving India-Pak conflict on day he met Putin

On the day of his summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump repeated multiple times his claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan, while also commenting on New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil. New Delhi has been maintaining that India and Pakistan halted their military actions following direct talks between their militaries without any mediation by the US. I've negotiated five wars to their end, and the wars that were tough. India, Pakistan..." Trump said in an interview with Fox News a couple of hours after his high-stakes summit meeting with Putin ended in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday. The meeting between the two leaders concluded without any agreement on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. In the same interview, Trump again spoke about resolving the conflict between India and Pakistan, as well as others, including between Congo and Rwanda, Thailand and Cambodia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan. Look at India. Take a look at India and

Trump says Xi assured him China won't act on Taiwan during his presidency

The US has long sought to deter Beijing from any military action seeking to unify the self-governing island of Taiwan with China by force

Trump admin partially retreats from a takeover of Washington's police

Federal troops are patrolling the National Mall and neighborhoods across Washington while President Donald Trump's administration exerts extraordinary power over law enforcement in the nation's capital. But the administration backed down from an attempt to take over the city's police department by installing its own emergency police commissioner after a federal judge indicated she would rule against it. The partial retreat interrupted one aspect of the most sweeping uses of federal authority over a local government in modern times. How it will play out and whether the federal government will use this experience as a potential blueprint for dealing with other cities remains up in the air. Here's what to know about the situation and what might come next: Why is Trump taking over the police in DC? The Republican president this week announced he's taking control over Washington's police department and activating National Guard troops to reduce crime, an escalation of his aggressive ...

Judge strikes down Trump-era ban on DEI programmes in schools, colleges

A federal judge on Thursday struck down two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programmes at the nation's schools and universities. In her ruling, US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland found that the Education Department violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI initiatives. The guidance has been on hold since April when three federal judges blocked various portions of the Education Department's anti-DEI measures. The ruling Thursday followed a motion for summary judgment from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association, which challenged the government's actions in a February lawsuit. The case centres on two Education Department memos ordering schools and universities to end all race-based decision-making or face penalties up to a total loss of federal funding. It's part of a campaign to end practices the Trump ...

Trump admin's lawsuit against Maryland federal judges critised in court

A judge on Wednesday questioned why it was necessary for the Trump administration to sue Maryland's entire federal bench over an order that paused the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removals. US District Judge Thomas Cullen didn't issue a ruling following a hearing in federal court in Baltimore, but he expressed skepticism about the administration's extraordinary legal manoeuvre, which attorneys for the Maryland judges called completely unprecedented. Cullen serves in the Western District of Virginia, but he was tapped to oversee the Baltimore case because all of Maryland's 15 federal judges are named as defendants, a highly unusual circumstance that reflects the Republican administration's aggressive response to courts that slow or stop its policies. At issue in the lawsuit is an order signed by Chief Maryland District Judge George L. Russell III that prevents the administration from immediately deporting any immigrants seeking review of their detention in a ..

Leaving top Trump admin post? President may have ambassadorship for you

Diplomacy may be soft power, but in President Donald Trump's administration, it is also lately a soft landing. National security adviser Mike Waltz was nominated as United Nations ambassador after he mistakenly added a journalist to a Signal chat discussing military plans. Trump tapped IRS Commissioner Billy Long to be his ambassador to Iceland after Long contradicted the administration's messaging in his less than two months in the job. And Trump last weekend named State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce as deputy representative to the UN after she struggled to gel with Secretary of State Marco Rubio's close-knit team. The new appointments can be viewed as consolation prizes for leaving a high-profile post in the Trump administration following rocky tenures. But they also reflect the degree to which Trump is trying to keep his loyalists close, even if their earlier placements in the administration were ill-fitting. Breaking with the reality TV show that helped make Trump a ...

Trump tariff impact: US kids to see higher price tag on Christmas toys

Majority of US retail firms put their orders on hold due to uncertainty in tariff situation

Alaska's Russian ties in spotlight as Trump, Putin meet in the 49th state

When US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska on Friday, it will be the latest chapter in the 49th state's long history with Russia and with international tensions. Siberian fur traders arrived from across the Bering Sea in the first part of the 18th century, and the imprint of Russian settlement in Alaska remains. The oldest building in Anchorage is a Russian Orthodox church, and many Alaska Natives have Russian surnames. The nations are so close Alaska's Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait is less than 5 kilometres from Russia's Big Diomede that former Gov. Sarah Palin was right during the 2008 presidential race when she said, You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, though the comment prompted jokes that that was the extent of her foreign policy experience. Alaska has been US territory since 1867, and it has since been the location of the only World War II battle on North American soil, a focus of Cold War tensions and t

US July budget deficit up 20% Y-o-Y despite record Trump tariff income

The US budget deficit in July climbed 20 per cent this fiscal year compared to the last despite the US taking in record income from President Donald Trump's tariffs, according to Treasury Department data released Tuesday. The US saw a 273 per cent increase - or USD21 billion - in customs revenue in July over the same period last year, the data showed. A Treasury official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the data said overall increased spending is in part due to a mix of expenditures, including growing interest payments on the public debt and cost-of-living increases to Social Security payouts, among other costs. This comes as the federal government's gross national debt creeps up to the USD37 trillion mark. Even as Trump talks about America becoming rich because of his import tax hikes, federal spending keeps outpacing the revenues collected by the government. That financial picture might change as companies exhaust their pre-tariff inventories, forcing them to ...

Trump admin calls out human rights records of countries accepting deportees

The Trump administration on Tuesday released human rights reports for countries worldwide, which eliminate mentions of discrimination faced by LGBTQ people, reduce a previous focus on reproductive rights and criticise restrictions on political speech by US allies in Europe that American officials believe target right-wing politicians. The reports, which cover 2024 before President Donald Trump took office, reflect his administration's focus on free speech and protecting the lives of the unborn. However, the reports also offer a glimpse into the administration's view of dire human rights conditions in some countries that have agreed to accept migrants deported from the United States under Trump's immigration crackdown. This year's reports were streamlined for better utility and accessibility in the field and by partners, the State Department said. The congressionally mandated reports in the past have been frequently used for reference and cited by lawmakers, policymakers, academic ..

Baloch rebel group on US terror list: What Uncle Sam sees in Balochistan

The US designation of the Balochistan Liberation Army as a 'foreign terror group' signals growing ties with Pakistan. But there's more that Trump administration is eyeing in the region

US tariff hikes slash diamond jobs in Gujarat, hit Rajasthan gems trade

Nearly 100,000 workers in Saurashtra lose jobs; Rajasthan's gems and jewellery sector also braces for slowdown as Donald Trump's 50% tariffs hit Indian industries

Trump's DC police takeover echoes historic racist urban crime narratives

President Donald Trump has taken control of the District of Columbia's law enforcement and ordered National Guard troops to deploy onto the streets of the nation's capital, arguing the extraordinary moves are in response to an urgent public safety crisis. Even as district officials questioned the claims underlying his emergency declaration, the president promised a "historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse." His rhetoric echoed that used by conservative politicians going back decades who have denounced American cities, especially those with majority non-white populations or led by progressive politicians, as lawless or crime-ridden and in need of outside intervention. This is liberation day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back, Trump promised Monday. Trump's action echoes uncomfortable historical chapters But for many residents, the prospect of federal troops surging into the district's neighbourhoods represent

Trump says he'll quickly know if Putin seeks Ukraine peace deal in talks

President Donald Trump said Monday that he expected to determine mere moments into his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week whether it would be possible to work out a deal to halt the war in Ukraine. At the end of that meeting, probably the first two minutes, I'll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made, Trump said at a White House press conference that he called to announce plans for a federal takeover of Washington's police force to help combat crime. He said he thought Friday's sitdown with Putin in Alaska would be "really a feel-out meeting". Trump added that it'll be good, but it might be bad and predicted he may say, "lots of luck, keep fighting. Or I may say, we can make a deal. Putin wants to lock in Russia's gains since invading Ukraine in February 2022 as Trump presses for a ceasefire that has remained out of reach. Trump's eagerness to reach a deal has raised fears in Ukraine and Europe about such an agreement favouring Russia, without sufficient .

Trump meets Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan days after calling for his resignation

US President Donald Trump meets Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan days after calling for his resignation over alleged China links amid US chip industry scrutiny

Trump's tax law squeezes poor, boosts income for wealthy, says CBO

Earners in the middle of the distribution will see their annual resources grow by about $800 to $1,200 on average, according to the analysis

Trump takes control of DC Police, deploys National Guard in historic move

In a first since DC's 1973 Home Rule Act, Trump invokes emergency powers to federalise policing and send troops into the capital's streets