Page 53 - Donald Trump

Trump hikes tariffs on South Korea to 25% over inaction on trade deal

President Donald Trump said Monday he is increasing tariffs on South Korean goods because the country's national assembly has yet to approve the trade framework announced last year. Trump said on social media that import taxes would be raised on autos, lumber and pharmaceutical drugs from South Korea with the rate on other goods going from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. The US president previously imposed the tariffs by declaring an economic emergency and bypassing Congress, while South Korea needed legislative approval for the framework announced in July and affirmed during Trump's October visit to the country. "Our Trade Deals are very important to America. In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to," Trump said. "We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same." The threat was a reminder that the tariff drama unleashed last year by Trump is likely to be repeated again and again this year. The global economy a

Europe cannot defend itself without US support: Nato chief Mark Rutte

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte insisted on Monday that Europe is incapable of defending itself without US military support and would have to more than double current military spending targets to be able to do so. "If anyone thinks here... that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can't," Rutte told EU lawmakers in Brussels. Europe and the United States "need each other," he said. Tensions are festering within NATO over US President Donald Trump's renewed threats in recent weeks to annex Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. Trump also said that he was slapping new tariffs on Greenland's European backers, but later dropped his threats after a "framework" for a deal over the mineral-rich island was reached, with Rutte's help. Few details of the agreement have emerged. The 32-nation military organisation is bound together by a mutual defence clause, Article 5 of NATO's founding Washington trea

US appeals court blocks limits on ICE tactics against Minnesota protesters

A lawsuit filed in December alleged that federal officers violated the constitutional rights of six protesters, including boxing in a civilian's car and pointing a rifle inside

US aircraft carrier arrives in West Asia as tensions with Iran remain high

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying warships have arrived in the Middle East, bringing a renewed potential that President Donald Trump could opt to order airstrikes on Iran over its crackdown on protesters. The carrier, along with three destroyers, "is currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability," US Central Command said Monday on social media. The strike group was in the Indian Ocean, Central Command said, and not in the Arabian Sea, which borders Iran. It will bring thousands of additional service members to the region, which has not had a US aircraft carrier since the USS Gerald R Ford was ordered in October to sail to the Caribbean as part of a pressure campaign on then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Trump told reporters last week that the ships were sent to the region "just in case". "We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won't have to use it," he said. Trump earlier had threatened

Venezuela releases dozens of prisoners in 2 days, hundreds still detained

Venezuela's leading prisoner rights organisation said Monday that dozens of prisoners were released over the weekend, as the United States continues to pressure the acting government to free hundreds of dissidents jailed during the administration of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, said in a post on X that 266 "political prisoners" had been freed since January 8, when Venezuela's acting government promised to release a "significant number" of prisoners in what it described as an effort to promote national reconciliation. Maduro was captured by the United States in a raid on January 3, and was replaced by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, a longtime ruling party insider, who is now the nation's acting president. According to human rights groups, prisoners released this weekend included an opposition activist, a human rights lawyer and a journalism student who was imprisoned in March after he published complaints about his hometown's sewage system,

Death toll from US strikes on suspected drug boats rises to 126 people

The death toll from the Trump administration's strikes on alleged drug boats is up to 126 people, with the inclusion of those presumed dead after being lost at sea, the US military confirmed Monday. The figure includes 116 people who were killed immediately in at least 36 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, US Southern Command said. Ten others are believed dead because searchers did not locate them following a strike. Eight of the presumed dead had jumped off boats when American forces attacked a trio of vessels accused of trafficking drugs on December 30, the military said. The number was not released previously, though the military said when announcing those strikes that the US Coast Guard had searched for survivors. The two other people presumed dead were on boats that were attacked on October 27 and last Friday. President Donald Trump has said the US is in "armed conflict" with cartels in Latin America and has justified the

Republic Day greetings pour in as Trump, Xi underline India's global role

From Washington to Beijing, global leaders congratulated India on its 77th Republic Day, with messages from Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reflecting democratic values, regional cooperation

Trump sends 'border czar' Tom Homan to Minnesota after fatal ICE shooting

Trump designated Tom Homan as his administration's "border czar" in November 2024 to oversee immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts from 2025 to 2029

US-India share historic bond: Trump extends wishes on 77th Republic Day

Earlier on Monday, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Monday extended greetings on the 77th Republic Day celebrations of India

Asia faces $621 bn tariff risk as US expands national security trade curbs

As the Supreme Court reviews Trump's tariffs, the US is expanding Section 232 duties that could affect $621 billion in Asian goods, raising risks for allies and rivals alike

'Vance, Navarro, even Trump stalled trade deal with India': US Senator

In a leaked recording, Cruz warned donors that Trump's tariff policy could seriously harm the US economy and even put the president at political risk

'Don't stoke violence': Trump targets Guv Walz over immigration enforcement

The US president accused Democratic governors and mayors of fuelling violence by resisting immigration enforcement, after a fatal ICE shooting sparked protests in Minneapolis

Canada holds firm on trade pivot as energy minister heads to India

We need to protect and empower the Canadian economy and trade diversification is fundamental to that, says

No plans to pursue FTA with China: Canadian PM Carney amid Trump's threat

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday his country has no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China. He was responding to US President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America's northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing. Carney said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with tariffs. Trump claims otherwise, posting that "China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen. I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone! President DJT" The prime minister said under the free trade agreement with the US and Mexico there are commitments not to pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification. "We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy," Carney said. "What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last coup

Trump blames Democrats for 'chaos' after Minneapolis shooting sparks debate

The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a federal immigration officer touched off a fierce national debate and prompted some fellow Republicans to question President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration crackdown, but the president on Sunday night continued to blame Democratic officials. After remaining relatively quiet on Sunday, the Republican president in two lengthy social media posts said that Democrats had encouraged people to obstruct law enforcement operations. He also called on officials in Minnesota to work with immigration officers and "turn over" people who were in the US illegally. "Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos," Trump wrote on his Truth Social media network. Trump's refusal to back away from his pledge to carry out the largest deportation program in history and the surge of immigration officers to heavily Democratic cities came as more Republicans began calling for a deeper investigation and

'It's a wake-up call': Obama condemns killing of US citizen in Minneapolis

The remarks came after the 37-year-old man was shot and killed by federal immigration agents early Saturday morning (local time) in south Minneapolis

US used secret weapon to disable Venezuelan equipment in Maduro raid: Trump

President Donald Trump said the US used a secret weapon he called "The Discombobulator" to disable Venezuelan equipment when the US captured Nicolas Maduro. Trump also renewed his threat to conduct military strikes on land against drug cartels, including in Mexico. Trump made the comments in an interview Friday with the New York Post. The Republican president was commenting on reports that the US had a pulsed energy weapon and said, "The Discombobulator. I'm not allowed to talk about it." He said the weapon made Venezuelan equipment "not work." "They never got their rockets off. They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off," Trump said in the interview. "We came in, they pressed buttons and nothing worked. They were all set for us." Trump had previously said when describing the raid on Maduro's compound that the US had turned off "almost all of the lights in Caracas," but he didn't detail how they accomplished that. The president also indicated the US will con

With fresh tariffs, US automakers' foreign troubles extend to Canada

General Motors and Ford Motor - the two largest US-based car manufacturers - have been steadily losing customers in Asia, Europe and Latin America, as Chinese carmakers have gained ground

Trump admin's defence strategy softens tone on China, focuses on deterrence

The department's long-awaited National Defence Strategy, released Friday evening, directs the Defence Department to 'maintain a favourable balance of military power in the Indo-Pacific'

Trump's Greenland ambitions strain Maga ties with Europe's far-right

Tensions over US President Donald Trump's plans to take control of Greenland have driven a wedge in the once iron-clad link between MAGA and Europe's far-right. The rift seems to signal that ideological alignment alone may not be enough to temper worries among European nationalists over Trump's interventionism abroad. Far-right leaders in Germany, Italy and France have strongly criticised Trump's Greenland plans. Even Nigel Farage, a longtime ally of Trump and head of the Reform UK nationalist party, called Trump's Greenland moves "a very hostile act." During a debate Tuesday in the European Parliament, far-right lawmakers typically aligned with Trump overwhelmingly supported halting a EU-US trade pact over their uneasiness with his threats, calling them "coercion" and "threats to sovereignty." MAGA's trans-Atlantic partners -------------------------------------- Such a divergence between Trump and his European acolytes came as some surprise. Far-right parties surged to power in