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Tag: trump

  • Melania Trump to visit Africa October

    U.S. First Lady Melania Trump will be travelling to Africa in October, but without her husband, President Donald Trump.

    Melania, who expressed excitement at her first travel to Africa, said in a statement that her visit would afford her the opportunity to appraise the issues facing children on the continent.

    The U.S. first lady also said that the visit would afford her the opportunity to learn about Africa’s rich culture and history.

    “This will be my first time travelling to Africa and I am excited to educate myself on the issues facing children throughout the continent, while also learning about its rich culture and history.

    “We are a global society and I believe it is through open dialogue and the exchanging of ideas that we have a real opportunity to learn from one another,” she said.

    The first lady plans to make stops in several African countries which would be announced in the coming weeks.

    Her visit comes months after Trump sparked global controversies in January about his alleged ‘shithole’ statement, claiming the U.S. was being flooded by immigrants from Africa and elsewhere.

    The trip through Africa would be the farthest she had travelled on her own since becoming the first lady in January 2017, reports said.

    She had visited many international destinations while accompanying Trump, which includes Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy, France, Poland, Turkey, China, South Korea, Japan, England and Belgium.

    Her only solo international trip was in September 2017 when she flew to Toronto for a day and joined Britain’s Prince Harry for an Olympic-style athletic competition he established for wounded service members and veterans.

    A visit in March by then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to five African countries, including Nigeria, was seen as repairing some of the damage caused by Trump’s comments.

    Trump, however, sacked Tillerson just as he was wrapping up the trip.

  • China condemns new U.S. defence act, to assess content

    China condemns new U.S. defence act, to assess content

    China on Tuesday condemned measures targeting it in a new U.S.
    defence act, saying it would comprehensively assess aspects that beef up the role of a panel
    tasked with reviewing foreign investment proposals.

    China’s complaints about the act come as the world’s two biggest economies engage in an
    increasingly bitter fight over trade, levying tariffs on each others’ products.

    U.S. President Donald Trump signed a 716-billion dollars defenxe policy act on Monday
    that authorises military spending and waters down controls on U.S. government contracts
    with China’s ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

    The National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), strengthens the Committee on Foreign Investment in
    the U.S. (CFIUS), which reviews proposals to determine if they threaten national security.

    That measure was seen as targeting China.

    China’s Commerce Ministry said it had noted the inclusion of CFIUS in the act and would “comprehensively
    assess the contents”, paying close attention to the impact on Chinese firms.

    “The U.S. side should objectively and fairly treat Chinese investors, and avoid CFIUS becoming an obstacle
    to investment cooperation between Chinese and U.S. firms,” the ministry said in a statement.

    Chinese and U.S. companies seek greater cooperation on investment, it added, urging the two countries’
    governments to heed the voices of their companies, and provide a good environment and stable
    expectations.

    Monday’s legislation also calls “long-term strategic competition with China” a top priority for the
    U.S., which should improve the defence capabilities of self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as a
    wayward province.

    In a separate statement, China’s foreign ministry said the U. S. passed the act in spite of China’s
    strong objections and it was dissatisfied with the “negative content related to China”.

    The ministry said that China urges the U. S. to abandon Cold War thinking and correctly and
    objectively view relations, and not implement the act’s negative clauses about China, so as to avoid
    harming cooperation.

    Taiwan thanked the U.S. for its consistent support.

    Taiwan would “continue to actively coordinate with the U.S. government to stably deepen the security
    partnership between Taiwan and the United States on a mutually beneficial basis”, Taiwan’s foreign
    ministry said.

    The U.S. has no formal ties with Taiwan but is the island’s strongest ally and sole foreign arms supplier.

    Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is visiting the United States this month, stopping off first in Los
    Angeles and then in Houston on her way to and from Paraguay and Belize.

    China has complained to Washington about the visits.

  • Melania Trump’s parents become U.S. citizens under rules her husband hates

    Melania Trump’s parents on Thursday received American citizenship under so-called “chain migration” rules her husband, President Donald Trump, has frequently derided.

    The first lady’s Slovenian-born parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, were sworn in in New York City, their lawyer Michael Wildes said, adding that the couple received no preferential treatment.

    Asked by the New York Times if the couple had become citizens through “chain migration,” Wildes answered “I suppose.”

    Wildes said the term was a “dirtier” way of describing “a bedrock of our immigration process when it comes to family reunification,” the Times reported.

    President Trump has frequently slammed the process under which legal U.S. residents can sponsor the admission of family members and other people who are not close relatives.

    In November, Trump tweeted that the process “must end now!”

    “Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE!” he wrote.

    Melania Trump was born Melania Knavs in what was then the communist country of Yugoslavia and later changed her surname to Knauss.

  • Trump claims ‘very nasty’ business deal with Mueller

    Trump claims ‘very nasty’ business deal with Mueller

    U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel probing into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.

    Trump, in a barrage of tweets, called on Mueller to disclose such “conflicts of interest” and alleged witch-hunt by the special counsel.

    “Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to President Trump, including the fact that we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship, I turned him down to head the FBI (one day before appointment as S.C.) & Comey is his close friend.

    “….Also, why is Mueller only appointing Angry Dems, some of whom have worked for Crooked Hillary, others, including himself, have worked for Obama…

    “And why isn’t Mueller looking at all of the criminal activity & real Russian Collusion on the Democrats side-Podesta, Dossier?’’ Trump tweeted.

    Alleged Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, in which Trump won by Electoral College but lost to Clinton by almost three million popular votes, led to the set-up of the special panel headed by Robert Mueller.

    Trump received 304 electoral votes and Clinton garnered 227 but while Trump polled 62,984,825 or 46.4 per cent of the popular votes, Clinton polled 65,853,516 or 48.5 per cent.

    However, Trump has repeatedly and angrily claimed witch-hunt by the Democrats and insisted that there was no collusion.

    The U.S. president had earlier tweeted about the unfair constitution of the members of the more than one-year-old panel, which he claimed were populated by Democrats.

    “There is No Collusion! The Robert Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt, headed now by 17 (increased from 13, including an Obama White House lawyer) Angry Democrats, was started by a fraudulent Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC.

    “Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an illegal Scam!’’ Trump tweeted.

  • Trump accuses Twitter of targeting Republicans, offers no evidence

    U.S. President Donald Trump accused Twitter on Thursday of restricting the visibility of prominent Republicans on its platform, and promised to investigate.

    Trump did not, however, provide any evidence to that effect.

    “Twitter ‘SHADOW BANNING’ prominent Republicans. Not good.

    “We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once!” the Republican president wrote in a Twitter post.

    On Wednesday, Republican party Chairperson Ronna McDaniel also condemned the practice saying that “the notion that social media companies would suppress certain political points of view should concern every American.”

  • Global Markets: Asian stocks up, oil rises after Trump, Juncker pledge cuts to trade barriers

    Asian stocks edged higher on Thursday, taking comfort from gains on Wall Street as Brent sweet crude rose to approximately 75 dollars.

    Asian stock was up after United States President, Donald Trump and European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to work toward eliminating trade barriers on industrial goods.

    U.S. crude was up 0.4 per cent at 69.54 dollars a barrel.

    Brent crude was 0.9 per cent higher at 74.61 per barrel dollars.

    At a news conference, following a meeting between the two leaders on Wednesday, Trump said he and Juncker had agreed to work to lower industrial tariffs on both sides.

    They also agreed to increase European imports of liquefied natural gas and soybeans from the United States among other measures.

    The meeting helped to extend a rally in global stocks into its fourth day, as investors took heart from a rare piece of good news amid global concerns over trade.

    Globally, markets also remain worried about the heated tariff dispute between the U.S. and China.

    MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 per cent.

    Australian shares fell 0.4 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei stock index was 0.2 per cent lower.

    On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.68 per cent to 25,414.1, the S&P 500 gained 0.91 per cent to 2,846.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.17 per cent to 7,932.24.

    S&P 500 E-mini futures turned lower Thursday morning in Asia, falling 0.2 per cent to 2836.25.

    News of the respite from trade tensions pushed U.S. Treasury yields higher, with the yield on 10-year notes touching six-week highs.

    Around 0012 GMT, it was at 2.9727 per cent, compared with its U.S. close of 2.936 per cent on Wednesday.

    The two-year yield, which rises with traders’ expectations of higher Fed fund rates, hit 2.6734 per cent compared with a U.S. close of 2.657 per cent.

    Earlier in the week, Treasury prices had slumped along with Japanese Government bonds on speculation the Bank of Japan may soon start to taper its massive stimulus.

    The BOJ is said to be considering, at next week’s rate review, changing the composition of exchange-traded funds it buys as part of its stimulus programme.

    The dollar dropped 0.2 per cent against the yen to 110.79

    The euro was up less than 0.1 per cent on the day at $1.1735, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, fell 0.2 per cent to 94.139.

    Gold moved slightly higher as the dollar eased while Spot gold was traded at $1233.01 per ounce.

  • CNN releases secret recording of Trump-Cohen on payments to adult-film actress

    The CNN broadcaster released on Wednesday an alleged recording of then U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s conversation with his former attorney Michael Cohen, where the two seem to be discussing payments to buy the rights to a adult-film actress’s story about her purported affair with Trump.

    The discussion reportedly took place two months prior to the 2016 presidential election and concerned payments for the story of model Karen McDougal, who said she had an extramarital affair with Trump some 10 years ago.

    McDougal sold her story for 150,000 dollars to the National Enquirer which refrained from publishing the story. McDougal has accused Cohen of making a secret deal with the head of the publication, who happens to be friends with Trump.

    According to the recording, Cohen proposes setting up a company to finance the purchase of the rights from American Media, which publishes the National Enquirer.

    When the issue emerges in the conversation again, Trump asked Cohen “What financing?” while Cohen said “We’ll have to pay.”

    Then Trump allegedly offers to “pay with cash,” yet the recording is muddled and it is uncertain whether he suggested paying with cash or not paying. Cohen replied “no, no.”

    Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has repeatedly said that Trump never made any payments on the issue.

    The recording was provided to the broadcaster by Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis, who, in a comment to CNN, accused Trump’s legal team of “falsely disparaging” his client and said that “they fear” that Cohen would “someday speak the truth” about the president.

    On April 9, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Cohen’s office, home and hotel room, seizing various documents related to several issues, including payments allegedly made during Trump’s presidential campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had an affair with Trump.

    The recording in question is also supposed to have been seized during the FBI raid.

  • Trump blames Obama for alleged Russia’s meddling in U.S. election

    U.S. President, Donald Trump, has again blamed former President, Barack Obama, for “not doing something” about alleged Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, while he was still president.

    Trump, in a tweet, also described the alleged election meddling as a hoax, saying it was the reason Obama did not act.

    He said Obama thought the Democratic presidential candidate and arch-rival, Hillary Clinton, was going to win.

    Trump tweeted: “So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didn’t he do something about it?

    “Why didn’t he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!’’

    The president took a swipe at the whole Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) warrant application, released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) against Carter Page, a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser.

    Trump described Page’s FISA documents as a scam, “which led to the rigged Mueller Witch Hunt!’’.

    Alleged Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, in which Trump won by electoral college but lost to Clinton by almost two million popular votes, led to the set-up of the special panel headed by Robert Mueller.

    The FBI on Saturday released a redacted version of the warrant application on Page, marking the first public disclosure of a highly sensitive FISA request.

    Trump said that the FISA documents “confirm with little doubt’’ that the Justice Department and the FBI “misled the courts”.

    Trump went on to allege that his campaign was potentially being “illegally” surveyed for “`the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC’’ (Democratic National Congress).

    “Looking more and more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC.

    “Ask her how that worked out – she did better with Crazy Bernie. Republicans must get tough now. An illegal Scam!’’ Trump tweeted.

    The U.S. leader bragged about having “a great meeting” with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, but blamed the media, which he described as “fake news” for trying to disparage the meeting.

    “I had a great meeting with Putin and the fake news used every bit of their energy to try and disparage it. So bad for our country!’’ Trump tweeted.

  • Trump invites Putin to Washington

    Trump invites Putin to Washington

    U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington for a summit in October, the White House has said.

    White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a tweet that Trump asked his National Security Adviser, John Bolton, to extend the invitation to the Russian leader.

    Sanders said: “In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs.

    “President Trump asked @AmbJohnBolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.”

    Sanders announced the invitation less than an hour after the Republican-led Senate effectively rebuked President Donald Trump for considering Russia’s request to question U.S. officials.

    The development followed growing criticisms over the Trump’s relationship with Putin following their summit in Helsinki on Monday.

    The Senate, in a resolution adopted 98-0 by senators across the aisle, called on the U.S. to refuse to make any officials available for interrogation by Putin’s government.

    Shortly before the vote was scheduled to begin, Sanders issued a statement rejecting the Russian proposal.

    “It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” Sanders said.

    The Senate’s vote is nonbinding but it marked a rare decision by Republican leader Mitch McConnell to take up a resolution written by top Democrat Chuck Schumer undercutting the Republican president.

  • Trump confirms release of detained American in Venezuela

    U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that Venezuela has released American Joshua Holt after nearly two years in jail in the leftist-ruled country.

    Trump, in a tweet, did not identify Holt by name but Utah Senator Orrin Hatch confirmed that the Utah resident had been freed.

    “Good news about the release of the American hostage from Venezuela,” Trump tweeted. “Should be landing in D.C. this evening and be in the White House, with his family, at about 7:00 P.M. The great people of Utah will be very happy!”

    Holt’s release came after Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met in Caracas Friday with President Nicolas Maduro.

    Senator Hatch said Holt was on his way to the United States and praised Corker’s “pivotal efforts.”

    Holt, a Mormon, was being held at a prison in Caracas known as the Helicoide where political prisoners are held by the Venezuelan intelligence service Sebin.

    He was arrested shortly after arriving in Venezuela nearly two years ago.

    He surfaced in a video calling on the US government to help get him out during a prison protest earlier this month by jailed opposition activists.

    On Friday, the government released 20 jailed activists held in the western state of Zulia amid moves by Maduro to ease domestic tensions.

    Maduro was re-elected to a six-year term in controversial elections May 20 that were boycotted by most opposition parties and rejected as illegitimate by the United States and other countries.