Page 11 - Trump Administration

Trump's covert Venezuela strike raises new questions on next steps

The attack is likely to inject additional energy into heated discussions in US Congress about the strategy toward Venezuela, and the debate about how far Trump can go without seeking authorisation

US commits $480 mn to Ivory Coast health sector under 'America First' pact

The United States and Ivory Coast signed a health deal Tuesday requiring the U.S. to commit USD 480 million to the West African nation's health sector as part of America First global health funding pacts that mirror the Trump administration's foreign policy. The signing in Ivory Coast's capital of Abidjan covers areas such as HIV, malaria, maternal and child health, and global health security. It is the latest agreement the U.S. has entered with more than a dozen African countries, most of them hit by U.S. aid cuts, including Ivory Coast. U.S. aid cuts have crippled health systems across the developing world, including in Africa, where many countries relied on the funding for crucial programs, including those responding to outbreaks of disease. The new health pact is based on the principle of shared responsibility with Ivory Coast committing to provide up to 163 billion CFA francs (USD 292 million) by 2030, representing 60% of the overall commitment, according to Ivorian Prime ...

Who is Ranjit 'Ricky' Gill, Trump official awarded for India-Pak ceasefire?

Ranjit Gill, a senior NSC official and special assistant to Donald Trump, received a Distinguished Action Award amid US claims of brokering an India-Pakistan ceasefire denied by New Delhi

US returns to WTO reform debate, but on terms that unsettle the system

The US' memorandum is revealing of the various ways in which Washington now believes - to an extent across parties - that the WTO is not working properly

Share of Indian-borns in US naturalisations fell to 9-yr low in FY24

As the Trump administration pushes denaturalisation targets, US citizenship trends show a decline in Indian naturalisations and longer scrutiny of immigrants

Trump's top adviser says children of immigrants a 'problem' for US

These comments come as the US administration is asking the Supreme Court to back Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship

Vance lashes out at commentators for derogatory remarks against wife Usha

US Vice President J D Vance has lashed out at commentators for remarks against his Indian-origin wife Second Lady Usha Vance. Vance's remarks came in response to comments by right-wing podcaster Nick Fuentes, who used an ethnic slur to describe Usha and had referred to the Vice President as a "race traitor" on one of his livestreams. let me be clear: anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat shit. That's my official policy as vice president of the United States," Vance said. "And my attitude towards anybody, again, who is calling for judging people based on their ethnic heritage, whether they're Jewish or white or anything else, it's disgusting. We shouldn't be doing it, he said in an interview to UnHerd over the weekend. Antisemitism, and all forms of ethnic hatred, have no place in the conservative movement. Whether you are attacking somebody because they're white or because they are black or because they're Jewish, I think it's disgusti

SC keeps Trump's National Guard deployment blocked in Chicago, for now

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area to support its immigration crackdown, a significant defeat for the president's efforts to send troops to US cities. The justices declined the Republican administration's emergency request to overturn a ruling by US District Judge April Perry that had blocked the deployment of troops. An appeals court also had refused to step in. The Supreme Court took more than two months to act. Three justices, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, publicly dissented. The high court order is not a final ruling, but it could affect other lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump's attempts to deploy the military in other Democratic-led cities. At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois, the high court majority wrote. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he agreed with

Venezuela seeks to criminalise tanker seizures as Trump ramps up pressure

Venezuela's parliament on Tuesday approved a measure that criminalises a broad range of activities that can hinder navigation and commerce in the South American country, such as the seizure of oil tankers. The bill introduced, debated and approved within two days in the National Assembly follows this month's seizures by US forces of two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil in international waters. The seizures are the latest strategy in US President Donald Trump's four-month pressure campaign on Venezuela's leader Nicols Maduro. The tankers are part of what the Trump administration has said is a fleet Venezuela uses to evade US economic sanctions. The unicameral assembly, which is controlled by Venezuela's ruling party, did not publish drafts on Tuesday nor the final version of the measure. But as read on the floor, the bill calls for fines and prison sentences of up to 20 years for anyone who promotes, requests, supports, finances or participates in acts of piracy, blockades or other

Trump approves deployment of 350 National Guard members to New Orleans

The Trump administration is deploying 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans ahead of the New Year, launching another federal deployment in the city at the same time that an immigration crackdown led by Border Patrol is underway. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Tuesday that Guard members, as they have in other deployments in large cities, will be tasked with supporting federal law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Parnell added that the National Guard troops will be deployed through February. Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry, a Republican, praised President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for coordinating the deployment and predicted the Guard's presence would have a positive impact. It's going to help us further crack down on the violence here in the city of New Orleans and elsewhere around Louisiana, Landry said in an appearance on Fox News' The Will Cain Show. "And so a big shoutout to both of ...

Need Greenland for security; Russian, Chinese all over the place: Trump

Denmark and Greenland have said that Greenland belongs to its people and the US cannot take it, even in the name of 'international security'

US DOJ restores Trump's previously removed photo from Epstein files

A photo of Donald Trump removed from Epstein-related files was restored after the Justice Department found no evidence that Epstein's victims were depicted, following a court-mandated review

Epstein files reveal famous names worldwide, but Trump notably missing

The department released only a partial tranche of the Epstein-related documents in its possession on Friday with much of the information within them redacted

US forces stop oil tanker off Venezuela coast as Trump ramps up pressure

US forces on Saturday stopped an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro. The pre-dawn operation comes days after Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of the South American country and follows the December 10 seizure by American forces of an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the US Coast Guard with help from the Defense Department stopped the oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela. She also posted on social media an unclassified video of a US helicopter landing personnel on a vessel called Centuries. A crude oil tanker flying under the flag of Panama operates under the name and was recently spotted near the Venezuelan coast, according to MarineTraffic, a project that tracks the movement of vessels around the globe using publicly available data. It was n

16 files disappear from DOJ webpage on documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein

At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department's public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein including a photograph showing President Donald Trump less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public. The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Lines from Lolita, Bill Gates, Chomsky: What new Epstein photos show

House Democrats released 68 photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estate showing Bill Gates, Noam Chomsky, passports and Lolita excerpts, ahead of a wider Trump-era file release deadline

Justice Department faces deadline to release files on Epstein investigation

The Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and wealthy financier known for his connections to some of the world's most influential people, including Donald Trump, who as president had tried to keep the files sealed. The records could contain the most detailed look yet at nearly two decades worth of government investigations into Epstein's sexual abuse of young women and underage girls. Their release has long been demanded by a public hungry to learn whether any of Epstein's rich and powerful associates knew about or participated in the abuse. Epstein's accusers have also long sought answers about why federal authorities shut down their initial investigation into the allegations in 2008. Bowing to political pressure from fellow Republicans, Trump on November 19 signed a bill giving the Justice Department 30 days to release most of its files and communications related to Epstein, including information about the ..

US military strikes on alleged drug boats kill 5 in eastern Pacific

The US military said Thursday that it had conducted two more strikes against boats it said were smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing five people. US Southern Command posted on social media, Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations, though it did not provide evidence. It posted videos of each boat speeding through water before being struck by an explosion. The military said three people in one vessel and two in the other were killed. The attacks brought the total number of known boat strikes to 28 while at least 104 people have been killed, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the US is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels. The administration is facing increasing scrutiny from

Trump's handpicked board votes to rename Washington performing arts centre

President Donald Trump's handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington's leading performing arts centre as the Trump-Kennedy Center, the White House said. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote on social media, saying it was because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation. Trump, a Republican, often refers to the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, which is named for a Democratic predecessor, as the Trump Kennedy Centre. Asked on Dec. 7 as he walked the red carpet for the Kennedy Centre Honors program whether he would rename the venue after himself, Trump said such a decision would be up to the board. Earlier this month, Trump talked about a big event on Friday at the Trump Kennedy Centre before saying, excuse me, at the Kennedy Centre, as his audience laughed. He was referring to the FIFA World Cup soccer

Trump signs executive order to reclassify marijuana as less dangerous drug

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and open new avenues for medical research, a major shift in federal drug policy that inches closer to what many states have done. The switch would move marijuana away from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. Cannabis would instead be a Schedule III substance, like ketamine and some anabolic steroids. Reclassification by the Drug Enforcement Administration would not make it legal for recreational use by adults nationwide, but it could change how the drug is regulated and reduce a hefty tax burden on the cannabis industry. Similarly, the Justice Department under Trump's Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, proposed reclassifying marijuana to a Schedule III substance. Unlike Biden, Trump did not have open encouragement from across his party for the move. Some Republicans have spoken out in opposition to any changes and urged Trump to ..