Tag: Trump

– Mr Trump insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to negotiate and issued an ultimatum to Mr Zelensky

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has fiercely criticised U.S. President Donald Trump, describing the angry White House encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as beyond belief.

“Diplomacy fails when negotiating partners are humiliated in front of the world,” Mr Steinmeier told dpa on Saturday during a flight to Uruguay.

“The scene at the White House yesterday took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would ever have to defend Ukraine from the United States,” Mr Steinmeier said, eschewing his usual diplomatic subtleties.

Mr Steinmeier said Europeans remain committed to freedom, democracy and the rule of law. “We must prevent Ukraine from having to accept subjugation,” he said.

Mr Trump on Friday accused Mr Zelensky of recklessly endangering global security by refusing to negotiate a peace deal with Russia, warning that he was “gambling with World War Three” and the lives of millions.

He dismissed Ukraine’s position in the war started by Russia, arguing that Mr Zelensky did not “have the cards” to dictate how Washington should engage with Moscow. He also described Mr Zelensky as “disrespectful” and ungrateful.

Mr Trump insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to negotiate and issued an ultimatum to Mr Zelensky: either Ukraine made a deal, or the U.S. would withdraw its critical military support, leaving Ukraine to “fight it out” on its own.

Mr Zelensky, visibly frustrated, countered that “there would be no compromises with a killer on our territory” and accused Mr Trump of jeopardizing both Ukrainian and U.S. security with his approach to Russia.

Reuters

By Alexander Cornwell

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks as Kash Patel, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the FBI, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

Summary

Bipartisan group of US senators in Israel

Senators dismiss Trump’s plan for Gaza

Arabs have also denounced Trump’s plan

TEL AVIV, Feb 17 (Reuters) – U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham dismissed on Monday President Donald Trump’s proposal to seize Gaza and force out the Palestinians, while Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal said he expects Arab states to put forward a workable alternative.

The prominent lawmakers were among a bipartisan group of U.S. senators who earlier met in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Sunday repeated his backing for Trump’s controversial vision for Gaza.

Israeli officials have latched onto Trump’s proposal, with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructing the military to prepare a plan that would allow for Palestinians in Gaza to leave voluntarily.

But Graham, a longtime ally of Trump and a key Republican in Congress with influence on foreign policy and national security matters, told reporters there was little appetite in the Senate “for America to take over Gaza in any way, shape or form.”

Blumenthal simply said the plan was a “non-starter.”

Trump’s proposal has been widely denounced by Arab officials, while some critics have said it equates to ethnic cleansing. Netanyahu as recently as Monday said that the Palestinians in Gaza should be given the choice to leave.

Katz said on Monday that he would establish a directorate within the ministry for the voluntary departure of Palestinians from Gaza.

“The one thing that President Trump has done, he started a discussion that was long overdue,” Graham said, saying that Arab states had “woken up” to finding a better alternative for Gaza.

Saudi, Emirati, Jordanian and Egyptian officials are expected to meet as soon as this month to discuss the future of Gaza, hoping to devise a plan to counter Trump’s proposal that has rattled nearly all Arab capitals after 16 months of war in Gaza.

Blumenthal said Jordan’s King Abdullah had convinced him that Arab states would present a plan that covers normalising ties with Israel, self-determination for the Palestinians, regional defense arrangements and security for Israel.

“If those components are part of a realistic plan, it could be a game changer for the region,” he said.

President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, has announced his administration’s plans to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that this would form the basis of his first meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Xi of China.

He said he hopes the US, under his watch, Russia and China, could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half.

Trump fielded questions from journalists in the Oval Office on Thursday, where he decried the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in rebuilding the nation’s nuclear deterrent.

The President said he hopes to gain commitments from China and Russia to cut their own spending.

“There’s no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons. We already have so many,” Trump said.

“You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they’re building nuclear weapons.

“We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive,” Trump said.

Trump said he sees China catching up with the US in their capability to exact nuclear devastation “within five or six years”.

He fears that peradventure these weapons were ever called to use, “that’s going to be probably oblivion”.

“One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say: ‘Let’s cut our military budget in half.’ And we can do that. And I think we’ll be able to,” he said.

During his first tenure as the President of America, Trump tried to bring China into nuclear arms reduction talks but it amounted to nothing.

It was the same period when the US and Russia were negotiating an extension of a pact known as New Start.

Russia suspended its participation in the treaty during the Biden administration.

Nuclear weapons: We can destroy the world 100 times over – Trump announces talks with Russia, China

State parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) have condemned President Donald Trump’s sanctions against the institution.

Trump accused the world’s first permanent international war crimes court of taking “illegitimate and baseless actions” against the US and its ally, Israel.

In response, he imposed financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their families who assisted the ICC in investigating American citizens.

The ICC recently issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The ICC said it found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant acted as civilian superiors and intentionally directed attacks against a civilian population. A Hamas commander was also subject to an arrest warrant.

In Thursday’s order, Trump accused the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants at the same time.

Tomoko Akane, ICC president, said the order harmed the court’s independence and deprived millions of innocent victims of atrocities of justice and hope.

 On Friday, she urged the court’s 125 state parties, civil society, and the international community to defend the institution.

Hours later, 79 state parties released a joint statement reaffirming their support for the ICC.

“As strong supporters of the ICC, we regret any attempts to undermine the Court’s independence, integrity, and impartiality,” the statement reads.

“We are committed to ensuring the ICC’s business continuity so that the Court can continue to carry out its functions effectively and independently.”

Countries that signed the statement include Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Ghana, France, Gambia, and South Africa. Others include Poland, Denmark, Spain, Namibia, Luxembourg, Jordan, Finland, Sierra Leone, and Mexico.

The US and Israel are not ICC member states.

WASHINGTON, (Xinhua) /Flowerbudnews– U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that will let the United States withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the text of the executive order published by the White House, it was Trump’s second attempt to exit the WHO, as his first try in 2020 didn’t materialize after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump’s decision is again based on his claims that the WHO failed “to adopt urgently needed reforms” and that it “continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments,” as stated by the executive order.

Flowerbudnews

US President-elect, Donald Trump has criticized Ukraine’s strikes deep into Russia using Western-supplied weapons, saying that they only escalate the conflict between Kiev and Moscow.

Trump made the statement on Thursday, December 12, 2024 in an interview with Time magazine, which named him the 2024 Person of the Year.

“I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?” he asked rhetorically.

According to the president-elect, such attacks are “just escalating this war and making it worse.”

“That should not have been allowed to be done… And I think that is a very big mistake, very big mistake,” he said of strikes deep into Russia’s internationally recognized territory.

Trump returned to the issue later in the interview, saying that “the most dangerous thing right now” is the fact that “[Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky has decided, with the approval of, I assume, the President [Joe Biden], to start shooting missiles into Russia.”

“I think that is a major escalation. I think it is a foolish decision,” he stressed.

The US president-elect’s comments came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian forces had fired six US-supplied ATACMS missiles at a military airfield near the southern city of Taganrog.

Two of them were shot down and the rest were diverted using electronic warfare during the attack, the ministry said. The fallen debris resulted in some injuries and minor damage to two buildings and several vehicles, it added.

–

By Lawal Sale

At the trilateral meeting in Paris between presidents Trump, Macron and Zelensky that looked like an arranged meeting by Macron using the occasion of the reopening of the refurbished cathedral took place, the yet to be inaugurated president Trump reiterated his stand on ending the war in Ukraine.

President-elect Trump is the man of his words and in my opinion, the only method that will ensure ceasefire and bring an end to the crisis in Ukraine is for the U.S to stop pumping cash into Zelensky’s hand.

The moment U.S stops funding the war, ceasefire will become automatic. U.S under president Biden has been the backbone of Zelensky and is the one making him audacious.

Europe with its economic challenges cannot continue to dole out money to Kiev.  France for instance, as one of the top Zelenky’s backer cannot fund the war as it has its own internal political and economic challenges coupled with its loss of influence in Africa.

Germany that used to be the largest Russia’s trading partner in Europe is also having serious challenges with its economy.

The rest of the NATO members are just accessories that cannot make any impact in the war without the U.S’s resources, logistics and Intel.

It is worthy to acknowledge that even before his victory at the elections, Trump has repeatedly said he will end the war the moment he becomes president.

With his commitment, foresight and America first slogan, I don’t think anyone from anywhere will make him change his position.

-(- Lawal Sale is Abuja based Global Affairs Analyst based in Abuja.)

Security measures are getting a high-tech boost at Mar-a-Lago, with cutting-edge robotic surveillance on the scene.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to re-enter the White House, his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, has ramped up security with the United States Secret Service’s latest tool – a Boston Dynamics robot dog. Marked with “USSS TSD,” the robo-dog is deployed under the watch of the Secret Service’s Technical Security Division (TSD), a specialised unit responsible for advanced surveillance and counter-surveillance technology to protect high-profile figures.

The robot dog, known as “Spot,” was observed patrolling the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, its sleek, mechanical frame navigating between palm trees with the message “DO NOT PET” displayed on its side. “Safeguarding the President-elect is a top priority,” a Secret Service spokesperson told the New York Post. “While we cannot get into the specific capabilities, the robotic dogs are equipped with surveillance technology and an array of advanced sensors that support our protective operations.”

What is the Technical Security Division?

The Secret Service’s Technical Security Division (TSD) is dedicated to integrating advanced technology into its protective operations, particularly for the security of key figures like the President and President-elect. This unit employs sophisticated tools such as audio and video surveillance systems, counter-surveillance mechanisms, and now, robotic units like Spot, to enhance situational awareness and threat detection. TSD’s work often involves deploying surveillance assets that can operate discreetly and respond to potential security risks in real-time. The division also collaborates with technology leaders like Boston Dynamics to tailor equipment to the evolving landscape of digital and physical threats.

In this context, Spot provides TSD with mobile surveillance capabilities, allowing it to monitor hard-to-reach or exposed areas and deliver real-time data to human operators without risking personnel. Equipped with high-definition cameras, night vision, and a suite of sensors, Spot can detect and assess possible security risks, making it an invaluable addition to TSD’s toolkit.

Boston Dynamics’ “Spot”: A High-Tech Guardian

Spot, developed by Boston Dynamics, has made waves in the security and public safety sectors for its versatile capabilities. It can operate on various terrains, navigate obstacles, and even perform tasks autonomously in hazardous conditions. Deployed by law enforcement agencies like the NYPD, as well as in disaster zones by the FDNY, Spot’s agility and adaptability make it a top choice for enhancing security protocols. At Mar-a-Lago, Spot’s presence not only increases the physical security of the estate but also serves as a high-tech deterrent to potential intruders.

The Secret Service has already integrated Spot with enhanced capabilities that allow it to support perimeter control, identify potential threats, and respond to security risks in ways that traditional cameras and human patrols cannot. According to insiders, the robo-dog can quickly deploy to any area within the grounds, offering live feeds and real-time data to Secret Service agents, who monitor the estate’s security through a central command centre.

Real Security for President Trump

A robotic dog from ‘Boston Dynamics’ patrols Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence amid a heightened security presence at his home following his election victory.

Heightened Security for President-Elect Trump

The introduction of Spot follows Trump’s recent election victory and coincides with his plans for a return to the White House. Since his electoral success, security measures have been escalated, with the Secret Service and TSD deploying resources including Coast Guard patrols, drone surveillance, and now robotic assistance.

The adoption of robotic dogs is part of a broader trend in modern security practices for high-profile figures, with organisations worldwide recognising the potential of robotic technology to enhance safety while reducing human risk.