Page 11 - Us President

Trump expected to pick Brooke Rollins for agriculture secretary post

If confirmed, Rollins would lead a 100,000-person agency with offices in every county in the country, whose remit includes farm and nutrition programs, forestry, home and farm lending

US gathers allies to talk AI safety as Trump vows to undo existing policy

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal President Joe Biden's signature artificial intelligence policy when he returns to the White House for a second term. What that actually means for the future of AI technology remains to be seen. Among those who could use some clarity are the government scientists and AI experts from multiple countries gathering in San Francisco this week to deliberate on AI safety measures. Hosted by the Biden administration, officials from a number of US allies among them Australia, Canada, Japan, Kenya, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the 27-nation European Union began meeting Wednesday in the California city that's a commercial hub for AI development. Their agenda addresses topics such as how to better detect and combat a flood of AI-generated deepfakes fueling fraud, harmful impersonation and sexual abuse. It's the first such meeting since world leaders agreed at an AI summit in South Korea in May to build a network of publicly backed safety

Africans worry Trump will reimpose abortion 'gag rule' governing US aid

Carrying her infant daughter, 19-year-old Sithulisiwe Moyo waited two hours to get birth-control pills from a tent pitched in a poor settlement on the outskirts of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. The outreach clinic in Epworth provides Moyo with her best shot at achieving her dream of returning to school. I am too young to be a baby-making machine," she said. "At least this clinic helps me avoid another pregnancy. But the free service funded by the US government, the world's largest health donor, might soon be unavailable. As he did in his first term, US President-elect Donald Trump is likely in January to invoke the so-called global gag rule, a policy that bars US foreign aid from being used to perform abortions or provide abortion information. The policy cuts off American government funding for services that women around the world rely on to avoid pregnancy or to space out their children, as well as for heath care unrelated to abortion. Four decades of on-again, off-again ...

G20 Summit: Biden's legacy fades into rainforest at last major gathering

His trip to the region for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima and the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro was meant to reassure allies

Prosecutors oppose tossing Trump's conviction, may allow sentencing delay

New York prosecutors oppose any effort to dismiss President-elect Donald Trump's hush money conviction but expressed openness on Tuesday to delaying sentencing until after his second term. In a court filing, the Manhattan district attorney's office said Trump's forthcoming presidency isn't grounds for dropping a case that was already tried. But, citing "the need to balance competing constitutional interests", prosecutors said "consideration must be given" to shelving the case until after he's out of office. Prosecutors said they're OK delaying Trump's sentencing -- which had been set for November 26 -- while his lawyers fight to get the case tossed out. Judge Juan M Merchan has not said when he will rule on the fate of the first criminal conviction of a former, and now future, US commander-in-chief. But with the sentencing schedule now effectively on hold, Trump's lawyers are pursuing multiple legal paths to try to dispose of the case -- an effort that could reach the Supreme Court

Trump may pick Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick for Commerce chief

The Donald Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump adds Kevin Warsh, Marc Rowan to list of Treasury secretary candidates

Trump has not announced his nominee for the role, but Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, and investor Scott Bessent have been considered as top candidates

Biden to be first sitting US president to visit Amazon rainforest

Joe Biden will become the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in the Amazon rainforest during a brief stop Sunday in the Brazilian city of Manaus, coming as the US is expected to scale back its commitment to combating climate change under the incoming administration of Donald Trump. The massive Amazon it's about the size of Australia stores huge amounts of the world's carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas driving climate change, even as it's rapidly deforested. Biden is expected to take an aerial tour over part of the world's largest tropical rainforest, meet local and indigenous leaders and visit an Amazonian museum as he looks to highlight his commitment to the preservation of the region. The Biden administration announced plans last year for a $500 million contribution to the Amazon Fund, the most significant international cooperation effort to preserve the rainforest, primarily financed by Norway. So far, the US government said it has provided $50 million, according to a July

Kerry expects Trump to give orders, hopes leaving Paris Agreement isn't one

With President-elect Donald Trump set to assume office soon, former US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday suggested that he may issue "a series of executive orders" on day one itself, hoping that one of those will not be about pulling out of the Paris Agreement. During an interactive session at the HT Leadership Summit 2024 here, Kerry also said diplomacy requires a ripeness to be able to solve a problem, and given the circumstances, he thought Ukraine is a place where "things are ripe". Post the inauguration ceremony in January next year, Trump (78) will return to the White House for his second term after registering a resounding victory in the recently-held US presidential elections that paved the way for an extraordinary political comeback. "First of all, I think everybody in the world has learnt that it is very hard to predict anything about President Trump. There is no way to know with certainty exactly what will happen. And that unpredictability is something that he ...

Trump builds White House staff with Cheung as communications director

US President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that Steven Cheung will serve as his White House communications director and Sergio Gor will run the personnel office. Both have been advisers to the president-elect since his 2016 campaign, Trump said. Both positions could be influential in the new administration, helping to develop its public messaging and internal workforce. Cheung led communications for Trump's latest campaign, where he gained a reputation for combative and insulting attacks on the Republican's opponents. A native of Sacramento, California, he worked in Republican politics and for the Ultimate Fighting Championship before joining Trump's team in 2016. Gor ran Winning Team Publishing, which he started with Donald Trump Jr. The company has published books by Trump and his allies. Gor also led the super PAC Right for America. The Presidential Personnel Office will likely be a focal point of Trump's efforts to shape his administration's staff with loyalists. Trump .

Elon Musk meets Iran's UN envoy as Trump prepares for January takeover

US-Iran relations: Iranian diplomats described the discussions with the tech entrepreneur as 'positive' and 'good news'

Donald Trump picks North Dakota Governor Burgum for interior secretary

Interior Secretary will oversee policies guiding the use of 500 million acres (202.3 million hectares) of federal and tribal land, a fifth of the nation's surface area

US President Biden to bid farewell at APEC, G20 under Trump's shadow

Meetings over six days are not expected to yield any major new agreements, senior Biden administration officials said, even as they are likely to touch on trade, security and global alliances

Trump picks Robert Kennedy Jr as health secy, Doug Collins for Vet Affairs

US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday announced his decision to nominate former Democratic presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr. as his Secretary of Health and Human Services. The nomination for this top Cabinet position is subject to confirmation by the US Senate. Trump also announced his intent to nominate former Congressman Doug Collins of Georgia as Secretary for Veterans Affairs (VA). "I am thrilled to announce Robert F Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)," he said. For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it came to public health, the president-elect said, indicating the health policies of his second term beginning January 20, 2025. Trump said the safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everyone is protecte

Trump will pick up from where he left off with India: Ex-admin official

US president-elect Donald Trump, who enjoys very good relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is expected to build on the progress made during his first term and continue strengthening ties with India, his South Asia point-person at the White House during his first term has said. Speaking to PTI in an interview, Lisa Curtis, who served as deputy assistant to president Trump and as National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021, also said she expected the same bumps for India and the US, as in Trump's first term, including tariff, dependence on Russia over arms supply and oil purchase from Iran. "I think that President (elect) Trump will pick up where he left off with India. He clearly has good feelings, goodwill toward India, and I really see this as an opportunity to just continue building the relationship and really solidifying that partnership," Curtis said. During Trump's first term (2017-2021), there was an "elevation of the ...

Africa shows low expectations, some hope for second Trump presidency

African leaders may have been quick to congratulate Donald Trump on his election, professing a desire for mutually beneficial partnerships, but there are meagre expectations that his presidency will change things for this continent of over 1.4 billion people. In the wake of Trump's win, Kenya's William Ruto said his country stands ready to deepen its ties with Washington. Nigeria's Bola Tinubu spoke of a second Trump administration ushering in an era of earnest, beneficial, and reciprocal cooperation. Still, observers say African countries once described by Trump as shithole countries are definitely not going to be high on his to-do list. Low priority or not even a concern? U.S. foreign policy has not made Africa a priority for a long while beyond seeing the continent through the lens of countering rivals such as Russia and China, said Charles Ray, chair of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Africa Program. President Joe Biden talked about Africa as a key partner, said Ray

Trump spends 1st week as president-elect behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago

For a man who loves the spotlight, Donald Trump has been conspicuously out of view since his triumph in last week's presidential election. There have been no rallies, no press conferences, no speeches. Instead, Trump has spent most of his first week as president-elect behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, where he's working the phones, reconnecting with foreign leaders and building his new administration. Trump is hardly in seclusion. He's surrounded by advisers, friends and paying members of his club, who weigh in with advice as he selects people for top government jobs. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, whose companies have billions of dollars of federal contracts, has been a constant presence. Some see Musk as the second-most influential figure in Trump's immediate orbit after his campaign chief-turned-incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Very productive day of work by the transition team, Musk posted on X, his social media company, on Monday ...

The road to inauguration: Key steps before Donald Trump takes office

As Donald Trump prepares for his second term, here's a breakdown of the official steps leading to his swearing-in on January 20, 2025

Biden's WH invitation to Trump continues a tradition Trump shunned in 2020

Before he comes back for good on Inauguration Day, Donald Trump will return to the White House briefly at the invitation of Democratic President Joe Biden, who had hoped to defeat his Republican predecessor a second time and reside there for four more years. That may make for an awkward encounter, especially given that, after Biden ousted Trump in 2020, Trump offered no such White House invitation to Biden. Trump even left Washington before the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration, becoming the first president to do so since Andrew Johnson skipped the 1869 swearing-in of Ulysses S. Grant. Biden also has the unusual distinction of having beaten Trump in one cycle and running against him for about 15 months during this year's campaign. As he sought reelection, Biden constantly decried Trump as a threat to democracy and the nation's core values before leaving the race in July and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, who took on her own campaign and lost on Election Day. When the two meet in

'Resolution of Ukraine's war soon': Trump's secret phone call with Putin

In his first conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump urged the leader to end the war with Ukraine and bring peace to Europe