Page 6 - Latest Updates on Donald Trump

Rubio defends Trump on Venezuela while trying to allay fears over Greenland

Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a full-throated defence Wednesday of President Donald Trump's military operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, while explaining to US lawmakers the administration's approach to Greenland, NATO, Iran and China. As Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee offered starkly different readings of the administration's foreign policy, Rubio addressed Trump's intentions and his often bellicose rhetoric that has alarmed US allies in Europe and elsewhere, including demands to take over Greenland. In the first public hearing since the Jan 3 raid to depose Maduro, Rubio said Trump had acted to take out a major US national security threat in the Western Hemisphere. Trump's top diplomat said America was safer and more secure as a result and that the administration would work with interim authorities to stabilise the South American country. "We're not going to have this thing turn around overnight, but I

Now, for an investment protection guarantee to signal India is serious

It will signal to the world that India is serious about being open for business

Al-Maliki stands his ground as Trump warns of ending US support for Iraq

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki expressed defiance on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw Washington's support for Iraq if he returns to power. "We reject the blatant American interference in Iraq's internal affairs and consider it a violation of its sovereignty," al-Maliki, who is nominated by the country's dominant political bloc to return to the premiership, said in a statement. Trump in a social media post Tuesday wrote, "Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos," adding, "Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq and, if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom." Washington has been pushing Iraq to distance itself from Iran and sees al-Maliki as too close to Tehran. His last term, which ended in 2014, also saw the rise of the Islamic State group, which seized large swaths of the ...

Massive armada heading to Iran, says Trump; urges Tehran to 'make a deal'

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said a "massive armada" was heading towards Iran, led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln

Outcry in Italy as US says ICE agents will join Olympics delegation

The Italian government said it had requested clarification from American diplomats after DHS said that ICE agents would help secure the US Olympic delegation next week in northern Italy

'India comes out on top in this': Trump administration on EU trade deal

India came out on "top" in the trade deal with the European Union and is going to have a heyday with this, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in the first reaction from the Trump administration on the free trade agreement. Greer was responding to a question on the trade agreement, billed as the "mother of all deals", sealed between India and the EU on Tuesday. "I've looked at some of the details of the deal so far. I think India comes out on top on this, frankly. They get more market access into Europe," Greer said in an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday. "It sounds like they (India) have some additional immigration rights. I don't know for sure, but President (Ursula) von der Leyen of the EU has talked about mobility for Indian workers into Europe. So I think on net, India is going to have a heyday with this. They have low-cost labour," Greeer added. He said that it looks like the EU is doubling down on globalisation when the US is trying to "fix some of the problems

'Another beautiful armada floating': Trump renews hard-line Iran stance

Speaking in Iowa, the US president pointed to a major military buildup near Iran even as he said Tehran has repeatedly sought negotiations

'We'll get it done one way or the another': Trump defiant on tariffs

The US president criticised judges blocking his tariff regime and said he would find other ways to impose duties if the court rules against him

Trump rejects 'pullback' claim as Border Patrol official exits Minneapolis

US President Donald Trump said the withdrawal of Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and several agents from Minneapolis was a routine adjustment, not a pullback

Carney says Trump's tariff threats are bluster ahead of US-Canada FTA talks

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday some of US President Donald Trump's threats should be viewed as prepositioning ahead of negotiations to renew the free trade pact between the two large trading partners. Carney noted they are entering a review of the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement this year and said he expects a "robust review". "The president is a strong negotiator, and some of these comments and positioning should be viewed in the broader context of that," Carney said. Trump threatened this past weekend to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America's northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing, something Carney said Canada has no interest in. Carney has said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with tariffs. In 2024, Canada mirrored the United States by putting a 100% tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. China had responded by

US court orders ICE chief to explain why detainees were denied due process

The chief federal judge in Minnesota says the Trump administration has failed to comply with orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants and ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear before him Friday to explain why he shouldn't be held in contempt. In an order dated Monday, Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz said Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, must appear personally in court. Schlitz took the administration to task over its handling of bond hearings for immigrants it has detained. "This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result," the judge wrote. The order comes a day after President Donald Trump ordered border czar Tom Homan to take over his administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota following the second death this month

Why did Trump back down on Greenland tariffs? | European Union | Nato

US President Donald Trump has withdrawn planned tariffs on several European allies after reaching what he calls a “framework of a future deal” with Nato on Greenland and Arctic security.

Trump sues JPMorgan: Allegations, JPMorgan’s response & more

US President Donald Trump has filed a $5 billion lawsuit against banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon, alleging unlawful closure of his personal and business bank accounts in 2021.

Fed likely to keep rates unchanged as chief Powell pivots back to economics

After two weeks of intense political and legal scrutiny, the Federal Reserve will seek to make this week's meeting about interest rates as straightforward and uneventful as possible, though President Donald Trump probably still won't like the result. The central bank's interest rate-setting committee is almost certain to keep its key short-term rate unchanged at about 3.6 per cent, after three straight quarter-point cuts last year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after December's meeting that they were "well positioned to wait to see how the economy evolves" before making any further moves. When the Fed lowers its short-term rate, it can over time influence other borrowing costs for things like mortgages, auto loans and business borrowing, though those rates are also affected by market forces. This week's meeting - one of eight the Fed holds each year - will be overshadowed by the bombshell revelation earlier this month that the Justice Department has subpoenaed the Fed as part of a ..

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