Page 6 - Donald Trump Administration

Elizabeth Holmes asks Trump to shorten prison sentence for Theranos fraud

White House is sifting through thousands of clemency requests, including a pardon bid by Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang, who was convicted over the collapse of his $36 bn family office

Trump backs lower loan rates, investor ban to make homes more affordable

President Donald Trump 's plans for bringing homeownership within reach of more Americans involve pushing for lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards, and banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. In his address Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump outlined four policies his administration is pursuing in a bid to make homeownership more affordable. Each had been previously mentioned by him or his administration in recent weeks, part of a broader push to address affordability generally, a hot-button issue with voters heading into the midterms. The US housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. The combination of higher mortgage rates, years of skyrocketing home prices and a chronic shortage of homes nationally following more than a decade of below-average home construction have left many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market. Sales

Can't rule out US military invasion; be prepared: Greenland PM to citizens

Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has warned of possible risks amid Trump's takeover remarks and said the government will form a task force and advise people to store essential supplies

Trump calls out Britain's 'great stupidity' over Chagos Islands handover

In a Truth Social post, Trump argued that such decisions make it necessary for the US to acquire Greenland

US control of Greenland necessary for global security, says Donald Trump

Trump also posted two pictures suggesting full control over Greenland. One of the photos showed Canada, Greenland and Venezuela as part of the US

US-Europe have 'never been closer', says Bessent despite Greenland crisis

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said America's relations with Europe remain strong and urged trading partners to take a deep breath and let tensions driven by the Trump administration's new tariff threats over Greenland play out. I think our relations have never been closer, he said, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10 per cent import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his stepped up calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous territory of Greenland. Trump has insisted the US needs the territory for security reasons against possible threats from China and Russia.

Trump heads to Davos to pitch how he'll make housing more affordable

President Donald Trump plans to use a key address Wednesday to try to convince Americans he can make housing more affordable, but he's picked a strange backdrop for the speech: a Swiss mountain town where ski chalets for vacations cost a cool $4.4 million. On the anniversary of his inauguration, Trump is flying to the World Economic Forum in Davos an annual gathering of the global elite where he may see many of the billionaires he has surrounded himself with during his first year back in the White House. Trump had campaigned on lowering the cost of living, painting himself as a populist while serving fries at a McDonald's drive-thru. But in office, his public schedules suggest he's traded the Golden Arches for a gilded age, devoting more time to cavorting with the wealthy than talking directly to his working-class base. At the end of the day, it's the investors and billionaires at Davos who have his attention, not the families struggling to afford their bills, said Alex Jacquez, .

Trump flips position to attack UK's Starmer over Chagos Islands deal

Diego Garcia, largest island in the Chagos archipelago, is a remote Indian Ocean island almost 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the coast of East Africa and is home to a US and UK military facility

Trump shrugs off EU resistance, presses Greenland claim ahead of WEF

Trump brushed aside EU resistance on Greenland, confirmed a call with Nato's Mark Rutte and raised the prospect of tariffs, testing European unity ahead of Davos

US judge refuses to block Trump admin's 7-day notice rule for ICE visits

A US federal judge Monday refused to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing a new policy requiring a week's notice before members of Congress can visit immigration detention facilities. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington concluded that the Department of Homeland Security didn't violate an earlier court order when it reimposed a seven-day notice requirement for congressional oversight visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. Cobb said she wasn't ruling on whether the new policy passes legal muster. Rather, she said, plaintiffs' attorneys representing several Democratic members of Congress used the wrong "procedural vehicle" to challenge it. The judge also concluded that the January 8 policy is a new agency action that isn't subject to her prior order in the plaintiffs' favour. Plaintiffs' lawyers asked Cobb to intervene after three Democratic members of Congress from Minnesota were blocked from visiting an ICE facility near Minneapolis ..

European leaders question US security as trust fades a year into Trump 2.0

Intimidation," threats and blackmail are just some of the terms being used by European Union leaders to describe US President Donald Trump's warning that he will slap new tariffs on nations opposing American control of Greenland. European language has hardened since Trump returned to the White House 12 months ago. Now it's in reaction to the previously unthinkable idea that NATO's most powerful member would threaten to seize the territory of another ally. Trade retaliation is likely should Trump make good on his tariff announcement. A year into Trump 2.0, Europe's faith in the strength of the transatlantic bond is fading fast. For some, it's already disappeared. The flattery of past months has not worked and tactics are evolving as the Europeans try to manage threats from an old ally just as they confront the threat of an increasingly hostile Russia. Trump's first term brought NATO to the brink of collapse. I feared that NATO was about to stop functioning, former Secretary-General

Trump floats 200% tariff on champagne if Macron snubs Gaza peace board

'Well, nobody wants him because he's going to be out of office very soon,' Trump told reporters after being informed Macron would decline his invitation

Trump has an offramp on Greenland, but shows no interest in taking it

The strategic importance of Greenland is growing, and Nato has underinvested in Arctic security, but President Trump, intent on ownership, is rebuffing deals with Europe to solve the problem

Prez Sheinbaum addresses concerns over US military activity near Mexico

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum quelled concerns on Monday about two recent movements of the US military in the vicinity of Mexico that have the country on edge since the attack on Venezuela. On Friday, the US Federal Aviation Administration urged US aircraft operators to exercise caution when flying over the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing military activities. The president said her administration waited a couple hours until the US government provided written assurance that there would not be any US military flights over Mexican territory. She said the US government had not given Mexico a heads up about any military operations. The US government provided precise coordinates for where it was operating and Mexican authorities issued a statement saying the FAA advisory had no implications for Mexico. Then, images of a US military transport airplane on the tarmac at Toluca's airport about 63 kilometres west of Mexico City began

US sends aircraft to Greenland base amid tensions over Trump's takeover bid

NORAD routinely conducts sustained, dispersed operations in the defence of North America, through one or all three NORAD regions (Alaska, Canada, and the continental US)

Trump links Greenland threats to Nobel prize snub in letter to Norway's PM

Trump rattled Nato allies over the weekend after threatening to impose tariffs on a group of European members of the alliance if he doesn't get control of Greenland

Trump must take Greenland as Europe too 'weak' to ensure security: Bessent

Trump's latest salvo to wrest control of Greenland from Denmark - a Nato ally and EU member - slaps a 10 per cent tariff on goods from eight European countries on Feb 1, rising to 25 per cent in June

US to get 50 mn barrels of oil worth $5.2 billion from Venezuela: Trump

After Maduro's capture, Trump had made it clear that Washington would "run" Venezuela during a transition and needs "total access... to the oil and to other things in their country"

World Bank's Ajay Banga, Marco Rubio named to Trump's Gaza 'Board of Peace'

Indian-American President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the leaders named to the 'Board of Peace' for Gaza redevelopment under President Donald Trump's comprehensive plan to end the conflict. The White House on Friday released a list of appointed members to the founding Executive Board of the Board of Peace, which it said comprises leaders with "experience across diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy". Besides Banga and Rubio, the Executive Board includes US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, private equity firm Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and US Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel. Each Executive Board member will oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, ...

National Guard troops to remain in Washington, DC, until year-end

National Guard troops will be on the streets of Washington, D C, until the end of the year, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press. The memo, signed by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and dated Wednesday, said the conditions of the mission warranted an extension past the end of next month to continue supporting President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to restore law and order. Meanwhile, Trump said this month that for now he was dropping his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, which had provoked legal challenges. He also backed off a bit Friday from his threat a day earlier to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops to quell protests in Minnesota. In Washington, troops have been charged with patrolling the streets and picking up trash. Trump has asserted repeatedly that crime has vanished in the city. Two National Guard troops from West Virginia that were part of the mission in D C were shot the day before Thanksgiving.