Page 10 - Us President Donald Trump

Hegseth gets Senate nod, becomes defence secretary in a bow to Trump

Move by the Republican-controlled Senate was a testament to Trump's ability to maneuver his narrow control of Congress, as lawmakers voted 51-50 to back Hegseth

Trump appoints Indian-American ex-scribe as White House deputy press secy

US President Donald Trump has appointed Indian-American former journalist Kush Desai as his Deputy Press Secretary, the White House has announced. Desai earlier served as Deputy Communications Director for the 2024 Republican National Convention and Communications Director for the Republican Party of Iowa. Desai was also the Deputy Battleground States and Pennsylvania Communications Director at the Republican National Committee. In this capacity, he played a key role in messaging and narrative building in the key battleground States in particular Pennsylvania. Trump won in all the seven battleground States. The White House announced his appointment on Friday. White House Office of Communications will be overseen by Deputy White House Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary Taylor Budowich. Trump had previously announced the appointments of Assistant to the President and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Assistant to the President and Press Secretary Karoline Leav

Serious consequences for entering US illegally: WH as deportations begin

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the commencement of large-scale deportation operations, stating that 538 illegal immigrant criminals have been arrested

Ukraine war could have been averted if Trump's win was not 'stolen': Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin also affirmed that Moscow has always been ready for negotiations on the Ukraine problem

Trump, Vance join anti-abortion activists, celebrate 'March for Life' gains

President Donald Trump vowed to support anti-abortion-rights protesters in his second term as tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Washington on Friday for the annual March for Life. We will again stand proudly for families and for life, Trump declared in a pre-recorded video address. Protesters had come to the capital for decades to call for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which affirmed a constitutional right to an abortion. Now, with the repeal of Roe in 2022, they are now on the inside rather than the outside. With Trump's return to the White House and Republicans in control of Congress, the activists want to build on their victories. Our country faces the return of the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes," Vice President JD Vance told the crowd in his in-person speech. Vance hailed Trump's previous actions on abortion, saying the president delivered on his promise of ending Roe" and appointed hundreds of anti-abortion judges. Abortion was ..

Can hire his own: Donald Trump terminates Anthony Fauci's security detail

Anthony Fauci served in government for decades and was the nation's top infectious diseases expert for 38 years, Trump had also awarded him with presidential commendations

State Department halts new funding for nearly all US aid programmes

The State Department has frozen new funding for almost all US foreign assistance, making exceptions to allow humanitarian food programmes and military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue. The sweeping order threatened a quick halt to countless projects globally aiding health, education, development, job training and other efforts by the United States, the largest provide of foreign aid. It appears to begin enforcement of a pledge to eliminate aid programs that President Donald Trump judges not to be in US interests. The order sent in a cable to US embassies worldwide and obtained by The Associated Press prohibits new government spending, which appears to limit programs to running only as long as they have cash on hand. Some leading aid organizations on Friday were interpreting the directive as an immediate stop-work order for US-funded aid work globally, a senior aid organization official said. Many would likely cease operations immediately so as not to incur more costs, the ...

Donald Trump deploys military force as he launches crackdown on migrants

Defense Department said at least four military planes will also be used to help carry out deportations of about 5,000 detained migrants from El Paso and San Diego

Donald Trump says he plans to reach out to North Korea's Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump said in an interview that he will reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who he described as a smart guy. Trump was being interviewed on Fox News by Sean Hannity, who asked the president if he planned to talk to his North Korean counterpart. Trump said he would. I got along with him, Trump said of Kim. He's not a religious zealot. New statement from Hegseth's ex-wife continues to raise questions about his alcohol use A new statement by Pete Hegseth's ex-wife to the FBI continues to raise questions about the alcohol use of Trump's nominee for defence secretary. That statement by Samantha Hegseth, the nominee's second wife, is part of an FBI background investigation that was read to Senate Armed Services Committee leadership Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker and Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed Jan. 16. It said Pete Hegseth had and continues to have a problem with alcohol abuse, a person familiar with the FBI briefing and its findings told The Associat

Not sure if US should be spending anything on Nato, says Donald Trump

Washington finances 15.8 per cent of the 32-member military alliance's yearly expenditure of around $3.5 billion, joint-largest share, alongside Germany

Trump inks executive order to form internal working group on crypto

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to form an internal working group on crypto aimed at making America the world capital in crypto. It also prohibited the establishment of central bank digital currencies. Chaired by White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, the working group would be tasked with developing a federal regulatory framework governing digital assets, including stablecoins, and evaluating the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile. The other members of the group include the secretary of the treasury and the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prohibiting agencies from undertaking any action to establish, issue, or promote central bank digital currencies, the executive order revoked the previous administration's Digital Assets Executive Order and the Treasury Department's Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets which, the Trump administration claimed, suppressed innovation and undermined the US' ...

Just want level playing field: Trump condemns unfair trade ties with China

US President Donald Trump also criticised the Biden administration for allowing the trade deficit with China to go 'out of hand'

Trump pardons anti-abortion activists who blockaded clinic entrances

President Donald Trump has announced he would pardon anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances. Trump called it "a great honour to sign this". "They should not have been prosecuted," he said as he signed pardons for "peaceful pro-life protesters. The people pardoned were involved in the October 2020 invasion and blockade of a Washington clinic. Lauren Handy was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for leading the blockade by directing blockaders to link themselves together with locks and chains to block the clinic's doors. A nurse sprained her ankle when one person pushed her while entering the clinic, and a woman was accosted by another blockader while having labour pains, prosecutors said. Police found five fetuses in Handy's home after she was indicted. Trump pardoned Handy and her nine co-defendants: Jonathan Darnel of Virginia; Jay Smith, John Hinshaw and William Goodman, all of New York; Joan Bell of New Jersey; Paulette Harlow and Jean ..

Senate confirms Ratcliffe to lead CIA, giving Trump second Cabinet member

The Senate has confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving President Donald Trump the second member of his new Cabinet. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during Trump's first term and is the first person to have held that position and the top post at the CIA, the nation's premier spy agency. The Texas Republican is a former federal prosecutor who emerged as a fierce Trump defender while serving as a congressman during Trump's first impeachment. The vote was 74-25. At his Senate hearing last week, Ratcliffe said the CIA must do better when it comes to using technology such as artificial intelligence to confront adversaries including Russia and China. He said the United States needed to improve its intelligence capabilities while also ensuring the protection of Americans' civil rights. Ratcliffe said that if confirmed, he would push the CIA to do more to harness technologies such as AI and quantum computing while expanding use of human intelligence collection. "W

Trump's Cabinet picks: Where do they stand in confirmation process

It's been slow going in the procedure-heavy Senate since Monday's inauguration, with only two of Trump's top picks- Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe- confirmed

Putin must make a deal, Zelenskyy ready for talks: Trump on Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin "should make a deal" with Ukraine, US President Donald Trump has said and asserted that they would meet as soon as they can. Earlier, he warned his Russian counterpart to end the 'ridiculous war' in Ukraine or face high tariffs and further sanctions. Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, said this on Truth Social on Wednesday, a social media platform owned by him. Talking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, the president said, "I think he (Putin) should make a deal." When asked if he thinks that sanctions on Russia will force Putin to negotiate, he said, "I don't know." "Russia should want to make a deal. Maybe they want to make a deal. I think, from what I hear, Putin would like to see me. And we'll meet as soon as we can. I'd meet immediately. Soldiers are being killed on the battlefield," he said. "That battlefield is like no battlefield since World War II... and I have pictures that you don't

I know interest rates better than Fed chief Jerome Powell, says Trump

Trump's comments came hours after he delivered a video address to the world's elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he called for an immediate drop in interest rates

Americans will pay more if Trump imposes tariffs on Canada, says Trudeau

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday American consumers will pay more whenever President Donald Trump decides to apply sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that he still plans to tariff Canada and Mexico at 25% rates starting as soon as Feb. 1. Trump previously threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he took office but the tariffs weren't applied on day one. Trudeau said if Trump does go forward "whether it be back on Jan. 20th, on Feb. 1st or Feb. 15th as a Valentines Day present, or on April 1st or whenever Canada will respond with retaliatory tariffs and "prices for American consumers on just about everything will go up." We don't think he wants that, Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. By targeting America's second largest trading partner after Mexico, Trump risks upending the markets for autos, lumber and oil all of which could carry over quickly to consumers. T

Trump halts authorisations for renewable projects on federal lands, waters

President Donald Trump and his nominees have championed oil, gas and coal production while disparaging renewable power as unreliable

US to have only two genders, male, female; no more transgender rage: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US will have only two genders, male and female, and no men will be allowed to participate in women's sports. Days after assuming office for his second term, Trump addressed the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting here through video conferencing and said that transgender operations, which became the rage, will occur very rarely going forward. "I've made it an official policy of the United States that there are only two genders, male and female. We will have no men participating in women's sports," he said. On Tuesday, Trump signed executive orders rolling back protections for transgender people and terminating diversity, equity and inclusion programmes within the federal government. Both the executive orders are in line with Trump's campaign promises. One of the executive orders states that the federal government would recognise only two sexes: male and female. The definition will be based on whether people are born with eggs or sperm,