Page 5 - Trump Administration

Early war goal was to install hard line former President as Iran's leader

An Israeli strike designed to free Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from house arrest in Tehran, US officials said, was part of an effort to bring about regime change and put him in power

US lost 42 aircraft, including fighter jets, Reaper drones in Iran: CRS rpt

The number of aircraft damaged or destroyed may remain subject to revision due to multiple factors, including classification, ongoing combat activity, and attribution, said report

Trump's settlement in IRS lawsuit includes dropping tax cases, audits

IRS was barred by the Justice Department from continuing any 'known and unknown' probes into his tax returns

Republican-led US Senate signals rising opposition to Trump's war in Iran

The 50-47 vote is a clear warning of eroding support for military action as Trump contemplates launching a new assault on Iran

US Senate passes resolution to limit Trump's powers to wage war on Iran

Senators approved a motion to discharge the resolution from committee in a 50-47 vote, with four Republican lawmakers joining most Democrats in support of the measure

Trump discloses thousands of stock trades in cos influenced by his policies

Call him the Trader in Chief. Recent presidents have stayed away from trading stocks in companies whose fortunes they could lift or scuttle with the stroke of a pen, but Donald Trump smashed that precedent in the first quarter of this year with more than 3,600 buy and sell orders, many of them involving companies whose profits have been directly impacted by his decisions as head of the government. Among the Trump trades in a recent report filed with a federal ethics agency was as much as USD 6 million in Nvidia, whose advanced chips Trump approved for sale to China last year. His portfolio also scooped up stocks of several US military suppliers impacted by the Iran war, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. "If he were defence secretary, he would be committing a crime," said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics adviser in the George W Bush administration and a big critic of congressional trading, too. "Technically he can do this, but it is ...

US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran-linked exchange firms, oil vessels

The action is part of the Trump administration's 'Economic Fury' campaign aimed at intensifying pressure on Iran amid the geopolitical standoff due to the conflict in West Asia

US State Secy Marco Rubio to visit India from May 23-26 ahead of Quad meet

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will undertake a four-day visit to India beginning May 23 to further cooperation in the fields of trade, defence and energy. The Department of State announced the visit that would take Rubio to Kolkata, Agrat, Jaipur and New Delhi. "Secretary Rubio will travel to India from May 23-26, where he will visit Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur, and New Delhi," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. The Secretary will discuss energy, security, trade, and defence cooperation during meetings with senior Indian officials, Pigott said. Rubio will travel to India from Sweden, where he will attend the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting on May 22. India is set to host a meeting of Quad foreign ministers next week that is expected to deliberate on pressing global challenges, including the fallout of the West Asia crisis. The New Delhi meeting is planned for May 26, and it is scheduled to be attended by Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign .

Trump admin targets Cuba's leaders, generals and spies with new sanctions

The punitive action is part of the president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's push to squeeze the island's economy, most notably through a de facto energy blockade

Trump wraps up China visit after talks with Xi Jinping on trade, Iran war

US President Donald Trump left Beijing on Friday ending his three-day visit, during which he held several rounds of talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on a host of issues including the Iran war and trade. Before Trump's departure, both leaders had a private meeting at Zhongnanhai, the well-guarded compound in Beijing where top leaders reside. However, deep differences seem to persist between the two leaders on the issue of Taiwan. Both leaders also held talks on Thursday, during which Xi warned Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could trigger "clashes and even conflicts" between the two countries, the Chinese state media reported. According to a readout of their meeting issued by the White House, Trump invited Xi and his wife to the White House on September 24, as both leaders agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy. During their farewell meeting on Friday Xi said Trump's visit was a historic and landmark one and the two

CIA Director John Ratcliffe meets Cuban officials, Raul Castro's grandson

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raul Castro's grandson during a high-level visit to the island, Cuban and US officials said. Ratcliffe met with Raulito Rodriguez Castro, Ministry of Interior Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services on Thursday and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the AP. Ratcliffe was there "to personally deliver President Donald Trump's message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes. According to official reports, the meeting served as a platform for Cuba to present evidence asserting that the nation poses no threat to US national security,'' the CIA official said. An official statement from Cuba's government noted the meeting "took place Thursday, May 14, against a backdrop of complex bilateral relations." While the US stressed the Cuba

DOJ accuses Yale medical school of illegally using race in admissions

The Justice Department on Friday accused Yale University of illegally considering race in admissions to its medical school - the second institution to face discrimination allegations by the federal agency this month. In a letter to a lawyer for Yale, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said a DOJ investigation found that Black and Hispanic students have a much higher chance of admission to the medical school than white or Asian students, despite having lower grade-point averages and lower test scores. "Yale has continued its race-based admissions program despite the Supreme Court and the public's clear mandate for reform," Dhillon said in a statement. "This Department will continue to shed light on these illegal practices, and demand that institutions of higher education comply with federal law." Yale officials and the attorney named in the DOJ letter, Peter Spivack, did not immediately return email messages seeking comment. Since President Donald Trump ..

Tulsi Gabbard's office denies CIA raid report after whistleblower's claim

Olivia Coleman, the Press Secretary for the Director of National Intelligence said that the news report of a raid was 'inaccurate'

US to persuade China to play 'active role' in resolving Iran crisis: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington hopes to convince Beijing during the talks between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart to play a "more active role" in resolving the Iran war crisis. Trump arrived in Beijing last night for a three-day visit during which he is scheduled to have several rounds of talks with Xi. Trump was welcomed by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng at the airport, a rare honour that broke with usual diplomatic protocol. Speaking to Fox News aboard Air Force One on the way to Beijing, Rubio said the Iran war was a "huge source of instability" and "threatens to destabilise Asia more than any other part of the world because it's heavily reliant on the straits for energy". "It's in (China's) interest to resolve this. We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they're doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf," he said, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on ...

'US is not doing serious diplomacy': Iran Dy Foreign Min Kazem Gharibabadi

Trump has discarded Iran's peace proposal plan and said that the ceasefire stands on 'life support'

Inflation, weak economy test Iran's ability to withstand war, US blockade

Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world's energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic's own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington's demands. Iranians have been hit by spiralling prices for food, medicine and other goods. At the same time, the country has seen mass job losses and business closures caused by strike damage to key industries and the government's monthslong shutdown of the internet. The economic cost of the war and the US naval blockade "has been very substantial and unprecedented for Iran," said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an Iranian economist and research fellow at Brandeis University. But Iran has withstood decades of economic pressure and sanctions, and its capacity to adapt has not been dismantled, Kahalzadeh said. "Iran can probably avoid a complete economic collapse or total shortage of essential goods, but at a very high cost," he said. "The main cost will be passed to

10,000 foreign students, including Indians, under ICE scanner for OPT fraud

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it has identified 10,000 foreign students, including several from India, who claim to be working for highly suspect employers by misusing the Optional Practical Training (OPT) component of their visas. OPT allows foreign nationals who enter the United States on a student visa to work in the US for 12, or in some cases 24, months. It also allows students to transition to an H-1B visa sponsored by employers. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons said the OPT component of the student visa programme has "become a magnet for fraud" and has been the subject of many investigations by the Department of Homeland Security. "We've encountered cases involving espionage, biological threats, intellectual property theft, visa and employment fraud, and even scams targeting elderly Americans, all perpetrated by individuals abusing their status as students," Lyons said. "Our nation will not tolerate security

'I don't trust Pakistan', says Trump's close political ally Lindsey Graham

The Senator's scathing assessment stems from allegations that Pakistan quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, possibly shielding them from American airstrikes

Stopping Iran's nuclear program outweighs Americans' economic pain: Trump

Trump framed his approach as a matter of national and global security, suggesting economic concerns were secondary to preventing nuclear proliferation

Trump set to meet Xi in Beijing as war, inflation weigh on his presidency

Trump said he had spoken with the Chinese leader and the meeting would be 'positive' as he embarked with a coterie of aides, CEOs and family members