TheNewsGuru

Tag: Donald Trump

  • Trump goes to court, insists on travel ban on citizens from Syria, Libya, others

    United States President, Donald Trump, has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a freeze on the revised travel ban, after it was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

    The Trump administration, Friday, asked the Supreme Court to revive the president’s plan to temporarily ban citizens from six Muslim dominated countries.

    The countries are Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

    Justice Department lawyers asked the court to overturn a decision of the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that kept in place a freeze on President Trump’s revised ban.

    The government court filing late asks the justices to set aside the 4th Circuit ruling and accept the case for oral arguments.

    It also asks the high court to lift an even broader nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in a separate Hawaii case.

    A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which covers Hawaii, heard the government’s arguments in the case last month, but has not yet ruled.

    In its application, Justice Department lawyers said the 4th Circuit should have considered only the language of the executive order and not second-guessed the president’s motivations.

    The Supreme Court “has never invalidated religion-neutral government action based on speculation about officials’ subjective motivations drawn from ­campaign-trail statements by a political candidate,” Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall wrote in the government’s lawyers filing.

    Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores had on Thursday said that the administration is “confident that President Trump’s executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism.”

  • 2 top tech execs announces exit from Trump advisory councils

    2 top tech execs announces exit from Trump advisory councils

    Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Walt Disney Co CEO Robert Iger said on Thursday they would leave White House advisory councils after US President Donald Trump said he would withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

    Trump decided to pull the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement designed to fight climate change despite entreaties from US allies and corporate leaders in an action that fulfilled a major campaign pledge.

    “Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” Musk said in a Twitter post. He is a member of the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, a business advisory group, and Trump’s manufacturing jobs council.

    Musk said on Wednesday that he had done “all I can” to convince Trump to stay in the accord, and threatened to leave the presidential advisory councils if Trump announced a US exit from the accord.

    Iger wrote on Twitter that “as a matter of principle, I’ve resigned from the President’s Council over the #ParisAgreement withdrawal.” He is leaving the business advisory group.

    Uber Technologies Inc CEO Travis Kalanick quit the business advisory council in February amid pressure from activists and employees who opposed the administration’s immigration policies.

    Trump created the business advisory group in December before taking office to assist him in making policy decisions. The group is led by Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone Group LP and includes Indra Nooyi, the chief executive of PepsiCo Inc and Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co .

    Late on Thursday, BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink said he would continue to serve on Trump’s CEO Forum, despite reservations about the White House decision to withdraw from the Paris accord.

    “I accepted the invitation to serve on the President’s CEO Forum because I believe I can contribute to the policy dialogue in Washington and serve as a voice for investors,” Fink said in a statement.

    “I am a strong believer that our industry needs to have a voice with governments around the world,” said Fink, whose company is the world’s largest asset manager, with $5.4 trillion (roughly Rs. 3,47,69,610 crores) under management.

    “I do not agree with all of the president’s policies and decisions, including today’s announcement to exit the US from the Paris Agreement which I believe is a critical step forward in addressing climate change.”

    Asked about Musk’s resignation, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox News that “anybody who read the agreement and understood it would realize that this was not really about climate, this was about US money going to other countries and it didn’t solve the climate problem.”

    Musk has met with Trump several times and spoken with him about the long-term goal of his company SpaceX for flights to Mars carrying humans.

    The White House is planning to a hold a meeting with technology leaders on June 19, an administration spokesman said Wednesday.

    General Motors Co said Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra would remain on the presidential advisory panel, adding that her participation “provides GM a seat at an important table to contribute to a constructive dialogue about key policy issues.”

    In 2013, GM signed a declaration joining other major companies arguing that responding to climate change was good business. The automaker said on Thursday that despite the withdrawal it “will not waver from our commitment to the environment.”

    It was unclear whether Ford Motor Co’s new chief executive, James Hackett, would join Trump’s panel.

    Ford spokeswoman Christin Baker said on Thursday the No.2 US automaker believes “climate change is real, and remain deeply committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our vehicles and our facilities.”

  • Trump’s withdrawal from Paris Climate Accord a ‘great disappointment’ – UN

    The United Nations, UN, says the decision by the United States to withdraw from Paris Agreement on Climate Change is a disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security.

    Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told the media at the UN Headquarters in New York, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his country’s withdrawal from the Agreement.

    “The Paris Agreement was adopted by all nations in the world in 2015 because they recognise the immense harm that climate change is already causing and the enormous opportunity that climate action presents.

    “It offers a meaningful yet flexible framework for action by all countries,” Dujarric said.

    He added that the Secretary-General António Guterres remained confident that cities, states and businesses within the U.S., along with other countries, would continue to demonstrate vision and leadership.

    According to him, this can be done by working for the low-carbon and resilient economic growth that will create quality jobs and markets for 21st century prosperity.

    “It is crucial that the United States remain a leader on environmental issues,” the spokesman for the Secretary-General noted.

    Dujarric also said that the Secretary-General looked forward to engaging with the U.S. Government and all actors in the country and around the world to build the sustainable future on which the future generations depend.

    Trump had promised to make his decision known this week on the Paris Climate Agreement, which as at May, 195 members of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change had signed and 147 had ratified.

    In a nationwide broadcast, Trump announced: “to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord but begin negotiations to re-enter our way into Paris Accord.

    “Or in really entirely new transaction or terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people and its tax payers.

    “So, we are getting out but we will start to negotiate and we would see if we could make a deal that is fair and if we can, that’s great and if we can’t, that’s fine.

    “As President, I can put no other consideration before the wellbeing of the American citizens. The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States.

    “For the exclusive benefits of other countries, leaving American workers, who I love, and tax payers to observe the cost in terms of job loss, low wages, shattered factories and vastly diminished economic production.

    “Thus, as of today, the United States would cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris Accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country.

    “This includes ending the implementation of the nationally determined contributions and very importantly, the Green Climate Fund, which is costing the United States a vast fortune.”

    According to him, compliant with the terms of the Paris Accord and the onerous energy restriction that is placed on the U.S. can cost America as much as 2.7 million job loss by 2025.

     

     

     

    NAN

     

  • CNN sacks Kathy Griffin over ‘Decapitated’ Donald Trump

    CNN sacks Kathy Griffin over ‘Decapitated’ Donald Trump

    CNN has sacked Kathy Griffin from its annual New Year’s Eve broadcast. Griffin was slammed posing for photographs holding up the likeness of a severed head resembling US President Donald Trump.

    Griffin has appeared since 2007 as co-host of CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast from Times Square in New York with anchor Anderson Cooper.

    The media company announced the termination on Wednesday after earlier disapproving the photos as “disgusting and offensive”.

    Amidst public outcry, from Republicans and Democrats alike over the images, including condemnation from Trump, she videotaped an apology.

    “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself,” Trump wrote. “My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick.”

    Melania Trump, the first lady, said in a statement that the photo “makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it”.

    “As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong,” she wrote.

     

    The US secret service, responsible for presidential security, has opened an inquiry into the posting of Griffin posing with the severed-head replica, a spokesman in Los Angeles said.

     

    Meanwhile, Griffin, has apologized profusely in a video message posted on her official Twitter account late on Tuesday.

     

    She said that as a comedian she routinely seeks to “cross the line” but realized in this case, “I went too far”.

  • #covfefe: Donald Trump ridicules self with gibberish tweet

    Social media was trying to make sense of Donald Trump early Wednesday, after a nonsensical late-night tweet set off a storm of jokes about the U.S. president.

    The Twitter post, sent shortly before midnight local time, reads “inspite the negative press covfefe,” in an apparent reference to the press coverage that Trump has often derided as “fake news.”

    The post was still available more than three hours after it appeared on his feed and no clarification has been given.

    Using the hashtag “covfefe,” Twitter users speculated over the reasons behind the tweet. Was the president tired? Or drunk? Or had he perhaps just given away a secret nuclear code?

    Taking aim at Trump’s controversial relations with Russia, one woman on Twitter quipped that she had translated #covfefe into Russian, attaching a doctored image that showed the gibberish word to be a translation of “I resign.”

    Before long, the word had its own Urban Dictionary definition: “When you want to say ‘coverage’ but your hands are too small to hit all the letters on your keyboard.”

  • Trump attacks Germany in furious tweets

    US President Donald Trump responded on Tuesday to criticism from German Chancellor Angela Merkel with a new attack on German trade tactics and defense spending.

    Trump’s spokesman Sean Spicer insisted that the leaders “get on very well” but — as is often the case — his warm words from the White House podium were overshadowed by the president’s intemperate tweets.

    When Trump returned over the weekend from the first foreign trip of his presidency, his aides hailed the tour as a success and a sign of renewed and bolder US leadership on the world stage.

    But, while Trump received a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia and Israel, he left behind a bitter taste in Europe after the NATO summit in Brussels and the G7 get-together of the world’s richest powers in Sicily.

    European leaders were especially dismayed by Trump’s refusal to reaffirm US support for last year’s Paris climate change accord and his failure to publicly endorse NATO’s mutual defense pledge.

    Germany, until recently Washington’s closest partner in Europe, was particularly discomfited, and Merkel wasted no time in warning German voters that the United States can no longer be relied upon as before.

    Trump’s response came in the early hours of Tuesday when he took to Twitter to once again demand that Germany renegotiate the terms of transatlantic trade and boost its defense spending.

    “We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military,” Trump wrote, in his flamboyantly undiplomatic style. “Very bad for US. This will change.”

    – ‘Trump was not aggressive’ –

    German officials have repeatedly insisted that, as a member of the European Union, they cannot conduct bilateral trade talks with the US and that they are not ready to dramatically increase military spending.

    In January, the White House accused Germany of exploiting an undervalued euro to boost its trade advantage, despite Berlin’s long opposition to the European Central Bank’s loose monetary policy.

    And, even after he held a frosty meeting with Merkel in Washington in March and heard her explain Germany has no independent, non-EU trade policy, Trump continues to complain about Germany’s surplus.

    According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, Trump told European officials in Brussels last week that “the Germans are bad, very bad.”

    Spicer gamely tried to deny the report, insisting that European Commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker had confirmed that “Trump was not aggressive on German trade surplus.”

    But after Merkel and other senior German officials, who are campaigning ahead of September national elections in their own country, spent the weekend attacking Trump, the US leader returned to the theme.

  • Germany-US bilateral relations fading away

    Germany’s foreign minister launched a scathing criticism of Donald Trump on Monday, claiming the U.S. President’s actions have “weakened” the West and accusing the U.S. government of standing “against the interests of the European Union.”

    Just 24 hours after German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that Europe could no longer completely rely on traditional allies such as the U.S. and Britain, the country’s top diplomat, Sigmar Gabriel, went a step further.

    ImageFile: Germany-US bilateral relations fading away
    Donald Trump and Angela Merkel: Managing U.S.-Germany relationship

    “Anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk,” Gabriel said.

    “The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union. The West has become smaller, at least it has become weaker.”

    Germany and other European nations were unimpressed with Trump’s performance at both the NATO and G7 summits last week, where he refused to endorse NATO’s collective defense principle or the Paris climate agreement.

    Speaking on the sidelines of the third Berlin roundtable discussion on refugees and migration, Gabriel called on Europe to stand up to the current U.S. administration and not shy away from offering criticism.

    “The Trump administration wants to terminate climate agreements wants to enforce military action in crisis regions and won’t allow people from certain religious circles to enter the U.S.,” Gabriel added.

    “If the Europeans are not resolutely opposing to this right now, the migration flow to Europe will continue to grow. Those who do not oppose this U.S. policy are guilty.”

     

     

    CNN

     

  • Macron meets Putin, no fiery handshake, hold talks on Syria, Ukraine

    France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday vowed to improve the strained relations between their countries, while admitting to disagreements during talks at Versailles palace described by Macron as “extremely frank”.

    Their first meeting since Macron took office provided another test of the Frenchman’s diplomatic skills after his memorable first encounter last week with US President Donald Trump that Macron sealed with a vice-like handshake.

    This time the handshake was warmer but the tone guarded after an hour of talks on the 300th anniversary of a visit to Versailles by tsar Peter the Great.

    Putin admitted to some differences of opinion in the talks which covered issues including the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, but insisted that Franco-Russian ties withstood “all points of friction”.

    “We disagree on a number of things but at least we discussed them,” Macron said.

    “Our absolute priority is the fight against terrorism and the eradication of terrorist groups and Daesh in particular,” he said, using an alternate name for the Islamic State group that has claimed several deadly attacks in France.

    – “Organs of propaganda” –

    The newly elected French leader called for a stronger partnership with Russia on Syria, one of the sticking points in relations between the West and Moscow which backs the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Macron advocated “a democratic transition that preserves the Syrian state”, warning that “failed states” in the Middle East were a threat to the West.

    But in an apparent warning to Assad and Russia, he said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a “red line” for his presidency and would draw an “immediate response” from France.

    The pair discussed the Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its military involvement in Ukraine as well as allegations of Russian meddling in France’s election campaign.

    Putin declared that the sanctions were “in no way” helping to end the fighting between government forces and Kremlin-backed rebels in Ukraine’s east.

    The Russian strongman, who hosted Macron’s far-right rival Marine Le Pen for talks during the election race, also shrugged off allegations that Russian hackers infiltrated Macron’s campaign.

    “Maybe they were Russian hackers, maybe they were not,” he said, dismissing the claims as unsubstantiated.

    Macron, for his part, expressed anger at reports by pro-Kremlin media during the election questioning his sexuality and links to high finance.

    He took aim at the Russia Today broadcaster and Sputnik agency, calling them “organs of influence and propaganda”.

    – ‘No concessions’ –

    Putin’s visit comes after the 39-year-old French centrist made a successful debut on the world stage last week, holding his own against Trump at a NATO summit in Brussels and at a G7 summit in Italy.

    Ahead of the visit, Macron told a French weekly that he was not “bothered” by leaders who “think in terms of power dynamics”.

    He said he would make “not a single concession” to Russia on the long-running conflict in Ukraine, with he and his G7 counterparts saying they were prepared to strengthen sanctions against Moscow.

    Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2014, Russia has flexed its muscles with a series of war games involving tens of thousands of troops in areas bordering NATO Baltic states.

    Macron said he, Putin and the leaders of Germany and Ukraine would meet soon for talks, “which will allow us to make a complete evaluation of the situation”.

    – Modernising tsar –

    Western powers charge Russia with failing to honour its commitments under the Minsk accords framework for ending the violence in Ukraine.

    France helped spearhead the sanctions, which have seriously dented EU-Russia trade.

    Putin moved quickly after the French election to try to smooth things over, congratulating Macron and urging him to work to overcome their countries’ “mutual distrust”.

    Monday’s visit comes seven months after Putin cancelled a trip to Paris amid a row over Syria with Macron’s predecessor Francois Hollande, who had said Russia’s bombing of Aleppo could amount to war crimes.

    In Versailles, he and Macron inaugurated an exhibition marking the visit of Russia’s modernising tsar Peter the Great to France in 1717.

    The fervently pro-Europe Macron said his invitation to Putin aimed to showcase “a Russia which is open to Europe”.

    Putin was also later to visit a new Orthodox cathedral complex in central Paris.

     

     

    Mail Online

  • France President, Macron reveals intentions behind fiery handshake with Trump

    French President Emmanuel Macron has said his clenched handshake with Donald Trump was “not innocent” and was a “moment of truth”.

    The awkward encounter saw each grip the other’s hand so firmly that their knuckles turned white.

    Mr Macron told French media he had wanted to “show he would not make small concessions, not even symbolic ones, but also not overdo things”.

    The leaders met in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a NATO summit.

    As their vigorous handshake continued over several seconds, Mr Macron and Mr Trump also looked each other fixedly in the eyes until the US president attempted to disengage.

    Mr Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper his approach to the encounter had been about getting respect.

    “Donald Trump, the Turkish president or the Russian president see things in terms of power relationships, which doesn’t bother me,” he said.

    “I don’t believe in diplomacy through public criticism but in my bilateral dialogues I don’t let anything pass. That is how you get respect.”

    Mr Trump’s hand contact with foreign leaders has been closely scrutinised since he took power.

    In January he held UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s hand as they walked together – Mrs May later said he was “being a gentleman”

    He then yanked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand towards him in one of his signature moves

    But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prevented this by gripping Mr Trump’s shoulder during their encounter

    And in March Mr Trump appeared simply to ignore the offer of a handshake from German Chancellor Angela Merkel

     

    BBC

     

  • Merkel: Europe ‘can no longer rely on allies’ after Trump and Brexit

    Europe can no longer “completely depend” on the US and UK following the election of President Trump and Brexit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says.

    ImageFile: Merkel: Europe ‘can no longer rely on allies’ after Trump and Brexit
    German Chancellor, Angela Merkel

    Mrs Merkel said she wanted friendly relations with both countries as well as Russia but Europe now had to “fight for its own destiny”.

    It follows the G7’s failure to commit to the 2015 Paris climate deal, talks Mrs Merkel said were “very difficult”.

    President Trump has said he will make a decision in the coming week.

    “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days,” Mrs Merkel told a crowd at an election rally in Munich, southern Germany.

    The BBC’s Damien McGuinness, in Berlin, says the comments are a sign of growing assertiveness within the EU.

    The relationship between Berlin and new French President Emmanuel Macron had to be a priority, Mrs Merkel said.

    Earlier the German leader had described the “six against one” discussion about the Paris Accord during the G7 summit in Sicily as “very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory”.

    Mr Trump said he would abandon the Paris deal – the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement requiring countries to cut carbon emission – during his election campaign and has also expressed doubts about climate change.

    Speaking in Brussels last week, Mr Trump also told Nato members to spend more money on defence and did not re-state his administration’s commitment to Nato’s mutual security guarantees.

    BBC Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the mere fact that this is even in question shows just how uneasy the relationship is between Mr Trump and the organisation of which his country is the leading member.

    While in Belgium Mr Trump also reportedly described German trade practices as “bad, very bad”, complaining that Europe’s largest economy sells too many cars to the US.

    The US president has described his visit to Europe as a “great success for America” with “big results”.

    Polls in Germany say Mrs Merkel is on course to be re-elected for a fourth term as German chancellor at elections in September.

     

     

    BBC