Category Archives: Donald Trump

Trump says the economy ‘went to hell’ under Biden. The opposite is true

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By standard measures such as job and GDP growth and the stock market, the US economy was in excellent shape

Donald Trump keeps saying he inherited a terrible economy from Joe Biden and many Americans believe him, even though that’s not true. During his White House marketing event for Tesla on Tuesday, Trump said the US and its economy “went to hell” under Biden. Last week, in his national address to Congress, Trump said: “We inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”

But the truth is that by standard economic measures, the US economy was in excellent shape when Biden turned over the White House keys to Trump, even though most Americans, upset about inflation, told pollsters the economy was in poor shape.

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Farage reportedly met Cummings for ‘friendly chat about the general scene’

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Pair recently met to discuss Donald Trump, Elon Musk and other political matters, Sunday Times says

Nigel Farage has reportedly met Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s adviser turned nemesis, after the Vote Leave founder suggested voters should back Reform UK at the local elections.

Cummings, who was once a sworn enemy of Farage during the EU referendum as he battled to keep control of the leave campaign, is reported to have met the Reform leader to discuss Whitehall changes, which allies said was the strongest sign yet that Farage was taking seriously the idea of becoming prime minister.

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Australia’s trade minister warns Trump tariff war could raise price of Big Mac in US

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Don Farrell points out most Australian beef exported to US goes to fast food giant McDonald’s

Donald Trump’s trade war could raise the price of American hamburgers, Australia’s trade minister has warned, amid fears that tariffs could be extended to beef and other agricultural products.

The trade minister, Don Farrell, said most of Australia’s beef exported to the United States went to fast food giant McDonald’s, and any new tariffs on our goods would inevitably increase the price Americans pay for their cheeseburgers or Big Macs.

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US airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthis kill at least 31

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Up to 100 injured after Trump orders strikes in response to shipping attacks

The US has launched airstrikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, killing at least 31 people and injured up to 100 more, in Donald Trump’s first such use of US military might in the region since he took power in January.

US officials have said the airstrikes, which aim to punish the Houthis for their attacks against Red Sea shipping, may continue for weeks.

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The big question on Ukraine: is Trump ready to push Putin into peace? | Shaun Walker

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Russian leader’s antagonism to Zelenskyy and lack of interest in a ceasefire leaves colossal task for US

On paper, everyone is in agreement: Donald Trump says he wants a ­ceasefire; Kyiv’s ­negotiating team has already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire ­proposal at marathon talks with the Americans in Jeddah; and Vladimir Putin says he accepts the idea, albeit with a few “nuances”.

But Putin’s so-called nuances are bigger than mere wrinkles, and at the end of an intense week of diplomacy around Russia’s war in Ukraine, a ceasefire – never mind a sustainable peace – still looks to be something of a distant prospect.

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Rocket blasts off to bring stranded US astronauts home from the ISS at long last

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Launched by Nasa and SpaceX, the Falcon 9 is picking up Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight days on board the International Space Station became nine months

A long-awaited mission to return stranded US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station has been launched by Nasa and SpaceX.

The pair were due to spend eight days on the ISS in June, but technical problems with the experimental spacecraft that took them there have left them stuck on the orbital laboratory for nine months.

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Trump sharpens attacks on US media as Voice of America employees put on administrative leave

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President denounced CNN and MSNBC as ‘illegal’ and instructed VoA’s parent agency to be eliminated

Donald Trump expanded on his threats to the media on Friday, suggesting actions of the press should be deemed illegal and subject to investigation.

“I believe that CNN and MS-DNC, who literally write 97.6% bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat [sic] party and in my opinion, they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal, what do they do is illegal,” the president said during a contentious speech at the Department of Justice.

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Elon Musk faces week of harsh setbacks amid Tesla selloff and Doge backlash

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After a SpaceX rocket exploded, investors offloaded Tesla shares and Doge hit legal roadblocks, the world’s richest man saw his fortune sink by $100bn

Elon Musk began the week of 10 March with a friendly sit-down interview on Fox Business to talk about his work with the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) and the state of his businesses. Already, it had been a trying few days for the world’s richest man, who was facing a Tesla stock selloff and fierce backlash over his attempts to radically overhaul the federal government. His net worth declined over $22bn on Monday alone.

After Musk jokingly brushed off initial questions about the mounting pressure, host Larry Kudlow asked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO how he was managing to run his numerous companies amid the chaos.

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US official heading Ukraine peace plan has history of empathizing with Russia

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Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy, has written op-eds and reports questioning Ukraine’s role in negotiations

A retired US general charged with helping sell the Trump administration’s Ukraine peace plan wrote a string of op-eds and reports for a rightwing thinktank in which he repeatedly questioned whether Ukraine had a legitimate part to play in peace negotiations.

Keith Kellogg also blamed the war on the machinations of a US “military-industrial complex” and “[Joe] Biden’s national security incompetence” rather than Russia’s 2022 invasion, which has been condemned across the globe and resulted in a war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

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‘Trump tariffs are reshaping our politics’: Canadians on their election

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Voters reflect on their priorities and mood shifts in their communities before a crucial contest

When the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, resigned in early January, after months of pressure to quit, the approval ratings of the progressive firebrand had dropped from their peak of 65% in September 2016 to 22%.

At the end of last year, the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, described by many as “Trump Lite”, was the clear favourite to win Canada’s next general election, and the top pick of 45% of Canadians for prime minister. At the time, the three biggest issues for voters were all economic: reducing the cost of everyday items, inflation and interest rates, and access to affordable housing.

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Australia will not revise critical minerals-for-tariffs exemption deal rejected by Trump administration

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Resources minister says she is ‘sad’ the US did not embrace a more reliable supply of minerals for renewable energy and battery technologies

The Australian resources minister was saddened the US did not accept an offer of guaranteed supply to critical minerals in return for steel and aluminium tariff exemptions, and has warned the package will not be improved.

Australian diplomats proposed a more reliable supply of critical minerals – which are essential for renewable energy, computer and battery technologies – as they sought exemptions from a 25% tax on steel and aluminium imports.

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UK steel industry calls for capped energy prices amid Trump trade war

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British steelmakers lobby for government to set limit to compete with France and Germany

The British steel industry has called for capped energy prices for heavy industry in order to match France and Germany, as companies grapple with the fallout from Donald Trump’s trade war.

UK Steel, a lobby group, has proposed the government set a maximum price for energy through a contract for difference (CfD), before an announcement of a new steel strategy.

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Blockers, checkers, bats and chainsaws: don’t talk like Musk, Starmer is warned

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PM has been urged to ‘get a grip’ on messaging after railing against the ‘flabby’ state and the civil service’s ‘tepid bath’

Keir Starmer has been warned against adopting the language of Elon Musk after railing against “blockers and checkers” and the “flabby” civil service this week.

Gus O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, was one of those urging the prime minister to “get a grip” on his messaging, telling the Institute for Government podcast: “My God, he has mishandled the communications on this terribly.”

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The new reality dawning in Australia: it can no longer rely on the US

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For all the fraternal rhetoric, the alliance has always been asymmetric. It seems Washington under Trump sees it as immaterial

It’s not really about the tariffs.

Not for Australia the brutal humiliation meted out on camera to Ukraine in the Oval Office. Nor Canada’s escalating war of invective and retaliatory sanctions.

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Schumer decision to vote for Republican funding bill a ‘huge slap in the face’, says AOC – US politics live

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Senate working to avert partial government shutdown before midnight deadline

Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen rejected on Friday president Donald Trump’s latest remarks about annexing Greenland, saying the Danish autonomous island could not be taken over by another country.

“If you look at the Nato treaty, the UN charter or international law, Greenland is not open to annexation,” he told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

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Tesla tells US government Trump trade war could ‘harm’ EV companies

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Letter from Elon Musk’s firm to US trade representative warns of ‘downstream impacts’ of tit-for-tat tariffs

Elon Musk’s Tesla has warned that Donald Trump’s trade war could expose the electric carmaker to retaliatory tariffs that would also affect other automotive manufacturers in the US.

In an unsigned letter to Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, Tesla said it “supports fair trade” but that the US administration should ensure it did not “inadvertently harm US companies”.

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Ed Davey calls on Keir Starmer to back Canada against Trump attacks

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Lib Dem leader says PM should make public show of support for ally against ‘shocking attacks’ on its sovereignty

The leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrats has called on the prime minister to publicly support Canada and oppose the “shocking attacks” on Canadian sovereignty, as the Trump administration further escalates its global trade war against longstanding allies.

Ed Davey, who leads the third largest political party in the UK, has called on Keir Starmer to travel to Canada in a show of support to the nation’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, as the commonwealth nation faces a generational crisis under Trump’s tariff war and suggestions that the country might become the 51st US state.

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Almost 100 arrested during protest occupying Trump Tower over Mahmoud Khalil

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Demonstrators led by Jewish Voice for Peace demanding release of Palestinian activist stood in US president’s New York City building

Protesters organized by a progressive Jewish group occupied the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian Columbia University student held by US immigration authorities, and nearly 100 were arrested.

Chanted slogans included: “Free Mahmoud, free them all” and: “Fight Nazis, not students.”

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Crypto reaps political rewards after spending big to boost Trump

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America’s biggest crypto companies are riding high. Plus, can the left reclaim techno-optimism?

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. In this week’s edition, the crypto industry’s political investments pay off in spades, the left attempts to reclaim an optimistic view of our shiny technological future, and your memories of Skype.

SpaceX’s Starship explodes in second failure for Elon Musk’s Mars program

Musk tells Republicans he isn’t to blame for mass firings of federal workers

Musk survives as fellow of Royal Society despite anger among scientists

White House to overhaul $42.5bn Biden-era internet plan – probably to Musk’s advantage

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Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on nearly C$30bn worth of US imports

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Canadian government says it will follow ‘dollar-by-dollar’ approach and institute 25% tariffs on US imports

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on nearly C$30bn worth of American imports after US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports went into effect on Wednesday.

The Canadian government said it will be following a “dollar-by-dollar” approach and institute 25% tariffs on American imports, including steel, computers and sports equipment.

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