TheNewsGuru

Tag: trump

  • Unforgettable Moments – Azu Ishiekwene

    There are many reasons why the world will not forget 2017. In just one year of his presidency, Donald Trump has changed the world beyond recognition.

    He has been compared to John Adams, Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and John Tyler – all 19th Century US Presidents whose gift of rage made some wonder if they were all right upstairs.

    But none of them was quite exactly like Trump. They were intellectuals or soldiers and had held elective positions before taking office. When Trump was sworn in on January 20, 2017, he was a barbarian occupying elective position for the first time ever.

    He was elected for the same reasons why a long list of candidates before him had gone to their early political graves – concealing his tax records; despising women, blacks, Latinos and Muslims; thrashing the liberal press and calling CNN and New York Times carriers of fake news, while at the same time, extending an unpatriotic hand of friendship to Russia, his country’s traditional rival.

    Before his first 100 days in office, Trump had started campaigning for his second term. His twitter handle was his staging post during his campaign. But even in office, it has been his mainstay and weapon.

    Trump is the world’s Twitterer-in-Chief. And those who thought that his reckless tweeting would end with the campaign, have been treated to some of Trump’s most memorable tweeter posts this year.

    Samples: “Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to a great show.” March 4, 2017

    “How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy.” March 4, 2017

     

    “Despite the constant negative press covfefe (sic).” May 31, 2017

    “How can a dummy dope like Harry Hurt, who wrote a failed book about me but doesn’t know me or anything about me be on TV discussing Trump?” July 15, 2017

    “@FrankLuntz is a low class slob who came to my office looking for consulting work and I had zero interest. Now he picks anti-Trump panels.” August 15, 2017

    “Truly weird Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky reminds me of a spoiled brat without properly functioning brain. He was terrible at the DEBATE!” August 15, 2017

    “Nobody has better respect for intelligence than Donald Trump.” August 10, 2017

    “Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me “old”, when I would NEVER call him “short and fat?” I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!”

    November 12, 2017

    “Crooked Hillary Clinton is the worst (and biggest) loser of all time. She just can’t stop, which is so good for the Republican Party. Hillary, get on with your life and give it another try in three years.” November 18, 2017

    There is someone else who would have matched Trump tweet-for-tweet, this year. If former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe were a tweeting man, he surely would have captured the unexpected and dramatic end to his 37-year rule in a marble of tweets.

    After boasting three years ago that he would tell the world when he decides to leave, 93-year-old Mugabe was nudged out of office in a palace coup which, quite frankly, might not have been significantly different if he staged it against himself.

    For days, the world was riveted on the drama in Harare such as had never been seen since General Prats disarmed rebel armed tanks trying to overthrow Chile’s Allende.

    Except that in Harare, everyone seemed to be on the same page, with the soldiers even seeing Mugabe off to a graduation ceremony from house arrest and, a few days later, assisting him to shuffle pages of a long rambling speech later followed by a notice of resignation.

    Mugabe has been paid off, and his former deputy and now successor, Emerson Mnangagwa, who instigated the coup, has even given the old fox a pass to Singapore for medical check up. The Harare palace coup template has left soldiers all around the world scratching their heads.

    Yet, this year, Nigeria has also thrown up its own memorable examples in profiles of bizarre leadership. Senator Dino Melaye was a shining example. While his constituents were struggling to put food on their tables, he was showing off his latest collection of exotic cars on social media or waxing his cringe-worthy chart buster, Aje ku iya.

    At a point, nuisance-weary constituents in Kogi signed up for Melaye’s recall, but that was not before Melaye passed on his gift of singing and dancing to his colleague, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

    Governor Ayo Fayose bequeathed the year with another kind of legacy. He created a huge following by just being a contrarian and betting, quite disastrously, that President Muhammadu Buhari was a dead man walking.

    When Fayose posed with Pastor Enoch Adeboye, he was the defender of the Pentecostal church and when he posed with Muslims during the Ramadan, he asked for a knife to kill the ram in sacrilegious defiance of common sense and tradition.

    But crowds loved him anyway, especially in the South East where he made friends with Nnamdi Kanu, that fugitive who probably never took his mother’s advice not to play with fire.

    Fayose has been looking at his watch lately. He’s nearing the end of his tenure and he can see from the writing on the wall that he cannot repeat the hubris of 2017 in 2018. My guess is that as he works out his exit plan, he would be shopping for the humble pie this Christmas. He’ll need tons of it next year.

    Of all the local newsmakers this year, none appears more worthy of the prize than the Imo State Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha. It was a regrettable accident of history that he met Barack Obama in the White House earlier, when he should have met his real cousin, Donald Trump.

    Where Trump uses Twitter as staging post, Okorocha uses statues, falling back on his creative ingenuity to invent an office for every member of his family at huge public expense.

    The newly created Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment in Imo State is perhaps the single most innovative idea since Spain appointed Edelmira Barreira as its first Minister of Sex in February this year.

    Perhaps the real disappointment for me is that in a year when the video of Bukar Abba Ibrahim having a twosome proved the prowess of the 67-year-old senator and former governor beyond a doubt, Okorocha appointed a commissioner with far less requisite experience for his new Happiness ministry. Isn’t there something that Bukar Ibrahim can still do in that Ministry?

    It doesn’t matter to Okorocha that workers’ salaries are unpaid and pensioners are pinning away in long, waiting lines. This is a year when Imo produced enough statues to feed the poor and also created enough ministries to keep Okorocha’s family members employed.

    The Chinese said this would be the Year of the (fire) Rooster, characterised by trustworthiness, a strong sense of trust and responsibility at work.

    The Rooster did not see Trump or Okorocha coming.

     

    Ishiekwene is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview and member of the board of the Global Editors Network

     

     

  • Israel: Pope, UN, EU, others criticize Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as capital

    World leaders have criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to officially recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the US President had on Wednesday declared that United States will henceforth deal with Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and directed the US Embassy in the country be moved Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

    However, a chorus of international leaders criticized the Trump administration’s decision on Wednesday to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as a dangerous disruption that contravenes several United Nations resolutions and could inflame one of the world’s thorniest conflicts.

    Secretary General António Guterres and Pope Francis both expressed alarm that the announcement would provoke new tensions in the Holy City, which is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims.

    Within minutes of Mr. Trump’s speech, in which he said the American Embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Mr. Guterres delivered what amounted to a diplomatic rebuke.

    Reading a statement outside the Security Council chambers at United Nations headquarters in New York, Mr. Guterres criticized “any unilateral measures that would jeopardize the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians,” underscoring the administration’s departure from decades of American policy.

    “Jerusalem is a final-status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties on the basis of the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, taking into account the legitimate concerns of both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides,” Mr. Guterres said.

    “In this moment of great anxiety, I want to make it clear: there is no alternative to the two-state solution,” he said. “There is no Plan B.”

    In Rome, Pope Francis prayed that Jerusalem’s status be preserved and needless conflict avoided.

    “I cannot remain silent about my deep concern for the situation that has developed in recent days,” Francis said at his weekly general audience at the Vatican. “And at the same time, I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to ensure that everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.”

    “Jerusalem is a unique city,” he said, “sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, where the Holy Places for the respective religions are venerated, and it has a special vocation to peace.”

    In especially strong language, the pope added, “I pray to the Lord that such identity be preserved and strengthened for the benefit of the Holy Land, the Middle East and the entire world, and that wisdom and prudence prevail, to avoid adding new elements of tension in a world already shaken and scarred by many cruel conflicts.”

    The European Union’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, expressed concern about “the repercussions this may have on the prospect of peace.”

  • UN chief urges caution as Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israeli capital

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday stressed that there was no alternative to the two-state solution to the lingering conflict between Israel and Palestinian.

    Guterres made the remarks in the wake of the announcement by the U.S. President Donald Trump recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    The UN chief stressed that Jerusalem was an issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the parties.

    “In this moment of great anxiety, I want to make it clear: there is no alternative to the two-state solution.

    “There is no ‘Plan B’, Guterres said while speaking to the press at UN Headquarters in New York.

    The UN chief stressed the need to realise the vision of two states “living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition, with Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Palestine, and all final status issues resolved permanently through negotiations”.

    According to him, it is only through that realisation that the legitimate aspirations of both peoples would be achieved.

    “I understand the deep attachment that Jerusalem holds in the hearts of so many people. It has been so for centuries and it will always be,” he added.

    He also noted that since he took up his post as UN Secretary-General, he had consistently spoken out against any unilateral measures that would jeopardise the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

    “For my part as the UN Secretary-General, I will do everything in my power to support the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to return to meaningful negotiations and to realise this vision of a lasting peace for both people,” he stated.

    Trump had while announcing his recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital, said his decision marked “the beginning of a new approach to conflict between Israel and the Palestinians”.

    He recalled that in 1995, Congress adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Act, urging “the federal government to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem and to recognise that that city – and so importantly – is Israel’s capital”.

    According to him, the act was also passed in Congress by an overwhelming bipartisan majority and was reaffirmed by a unanimous vote of the Senate only six months ago.

    For over 20 years, every previous American president has exercised the law’s waiver, refusing to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem or to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city.

  • Buhari condemns Las Vegas shooting, condoles with Trump

    The Federal Government has commiserated with the U.S. Government over shootings that claimed scores of innocent lives at a country music concert in the Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 1.

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama in a statement by his Spokesperson Dr. Tope Elias-Fatile on Tuesday in Abuja described the Sunday shooting as ‘senseless’.

    “This dastardly attack that led to the death of 59 persons and left 527 others injured has been reported as the deadliest shooting by a lone man in modern U.S. history.

    “Truly, it was an act of evil. Nigeria commends the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and others for their swift intervention by curtailing the incident, which would have claimed more lives.

    “Nigerian Government stands with the rest of the world in condemning, in the strongest terms, the killing of innocent people who have been deprived of their fundamental right to life.”

    He reiterated government’s conviction that no cause could justify taking innocent lives.

    He added that “the Federal Government commiserates with the families of the victims and prays that Almighty God grants them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

    “The Nigerian government also prays for the quick recovery of the wounded.

    “During this sober moment of tragedy and horror, Nigeria wishes to re-affirm its continued solidarity with the government and good people of the U.S.”

  • Las Vegas: Trump condemns shooting, calls it ‘an act of pure evil’

    President Donald Trump on Monday called for the nation “to find unity and peace,” in the aftermath of one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history, declaring, “Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence.”

    Speaking somberly from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Mr. Trump condemned the shooting as an “act of pure evil.” He said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with families of the victims, law enforcement officials and others who responded to the fusillade of gunfire that rained down on a country music festival on Sunday night.

    The president said nothing about the gunman or the circumstances of the attack. He instead saluted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, expressed condolences to the victims, and offered prayers for the recovery of the hundreds wounded.

    “We pray for the day when evil is banished, and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear,” Mr. Trump said, speaking from a teleprompter.

    Acknowledging the senselessness of the act, the president said the nation was understandably groping for meaning. But he urged people not to give in to despair. “Even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope,” the president said.

     

    “In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has,” Mr. Trump said. “We call upon the bonds that unite us, our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity.”

    Earlier Monday morning, Mr. Trump offered his “warmest condolences” in a Twitter post.

     

     

     

  • France says Trump method not best way to tackle North Korea crisis

    France says Trump method not best way to tackle North Korea crisis

    France’s foreign minister said President Donald Trump’s verbal jousting with North Korea was perhaps not the best method to handle the nuclear crisis and urged the U.S. to focus attention on raising diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.

    Bellicose statements by Trump and North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un in recent weeks have created fears that a miscalculation could lead to action with untold ramifications, particularly since Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.

    “Trump’s method is perhaps not the best, but at the same time we shouldn’t mix up the responsibilities,’’ Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFM TV.

    “The country that is breaking with nuclear international agreements is North Korea.

    “President Trump is reacting forcefully to this, but without a doubt there is a way to act in a different way by putting pressure and sanctions.”

    North Korean Foreign Minister, Ri Ho, on Monday accused Trump of declaring war on North Korea and threatened that Pyongyang would shoot down U.S. warplanes flying near the Korean Peninsula after American bombers flew close to it last Saturday.

    The North Korean minister was reacting to Trump’s Twitter comments that Kim and Ri “won’t be around much longer” if they acted on their threats toward the U.S.

    Drian repeated that a maximum amount of pressure needed to be placed on Pyongyang to get it back to the negotiating table, but warned there was a risk of an accidental military escalation.

    “The world is living in a dangerous period,” he said.

    “At the moment we’re at a verbal clash, but there could be an incident. We need to avoid incidents.”

  • Trump expands travel ban, adds Chad, North Korea, Venezuela to list

    …as Sudan is removed from list

    President of the United States, Donald Trump on Sunday ordered the inclusion of Chad, North Korea and Venezuela to the countries whose citizens are to face restrictions in entering the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Trump had recently placed a temporary ban on nationals from war troubled Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen pending the review of the vetting processes.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the new proclamation however removed restrictions that was earlier placed on Sudan.

    A statement by White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, on Sunday stated the new countries on the list.

    Trump said he had taken the steps to strengthen the security standards for travelling to the United States.

    “Our government’s first duty is to its people, to our citizens- to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values.” the American President said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the president’s original ban was highly controversial, as it was widely labelled a “Muslim ban”.

    It was subsequently abandoned by the administration after a series of federal courts blocked it on grounds it violated the US constitution’s protection of religious freedom.

    The addition of North Korea and Venezuela now means not all nations on the list are majority-Muslim.

    America and North Korea are engrossed in a face-off over the nuclear arms programme of the Asian country with which America’s ally in the peninsula, South Korea, remains technically at war since their partition.

    Venezuela, on the other hand, is facing political strife after President Nicholas Maduro conducted a referendum that stripped the opposition-controlled National Assembly of its powers.

    The criteria for the new ban list is now based on vetting procedures and co-operation, and the restrictions have now been “tailored” on a country-by-country basis.

    Ms. Sanders stated furthered that the proclamation would begin until the U.S. can conduct proper screening and vetting of those countries’ nationals.

    She said Trump had taken “key steps to protect the American people from those who would enter our country and do us harm.”

    Ms. Sanders also said the new development aims at ensuring American border and immigration security is adequate to protect the safety and security of the American people.

    ‘’Earlier this year, the President signed Executive Order 13780, which asked the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a new minimum baseline for how much information sharing with foreign nations is required to determine whether their nationals seeking entry into the United States present security threats to our nation,” she said.

    ‘’The new baseline furthers the aims of the Executive Order by ensuring our border and immigration security is adequate to protect the safety and security of the American people.

    “New requirements on issuing electronic passports, sharing criminal data, reporting lost and stolen passports, and sharing more information on travelers will help better verify the identities and national security risks of people trying to enter the United States,’’ she added.

    She noted that foreign governments will have to work with the United States to identify serious criminals and known or suspected terrorists, as well as share identity-related information and exemplars of documents such as IDs and passports.

  • Trump, Kim in hot exchange of words

    North Korea leader, Kim Jong-un, has said remarks by United States President, Donald Trump, have convinced him he is right to develop weapons for his country.

    In an unprecedented personal statement, Mr. Kim said Mr. Trump would “pay dearly” for a United Nations speech where he threatened to “totally destroy” the North Korea if the U.S was forced to defend itself.

    Mr. Trump responded that the “madman will be tested like never before.”

    The two countries have engaged in ever more heated rhetoric in recent months, the BBC reports.

    Mr. Kim ended his statement by saying he would “surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S dotard with fire.”

    China responded to the war of words, warning that the situation was “complicated and sensitive.

    “All relevant parties should exercise restraint instead of provoking each other,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang.

    Russia also urged restraint. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was “deeply concerned by an escalation of tensions”.

     

  • Just in: Trump delivers speech to UN General Assembly, says US wants harmony not conflicts

    US president Donald Trump on Tuesday addressed the general assembly, saying it is a “profound honor” to represent the American people from his home city while stressing that the US wants harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife.

    He expresses thanks to all the world leaders who have offered help and condolences in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Thankfully, he says, the US is doing well.

    The economy is at an “all-time high”. He says the country is experiencing job growth like it has not seen “in a very long time”.

    “Our military will soon be the strongest it has ever been,” he says.

    Trump says the United States will no longer be taken advantage of in deals it makes with other countries.

    “Our citizens have paid the ultimate price to defend our freedom,” he says. They have also fought to defend other countries represented in the room, he says.

    “It is an eternal credit to the American character,” that we have fought wars abroad but have not “sought territorial expansion” and not imposed our way of life on other people.

    “We want harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife,” he says.

    Details soon…

  • London bombing is enough reason to expand US travel ban – Trump

    President Donald Trump called on Friday for a “tougher and more specific” US travel ban after a homemade bomb exploded on a London train.

    In a flurry of early-morning tweets, Trump called the explosion another attack “by a loser terrorist” and suggested London police missed an opportunity to prevent it. He added that his travel ban targeting six mostly Muslim nations should be “far larger, tougher and more specific – but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!”

    The bomb exploded on a packed train during rush hour on Friday, leaving at least 22 people injured but no one seriously hurt. Police said the explosion was a terrorist attack, the fifth in Britain this year.

    “Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,” Trump tweeted. “These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!”

    Scotland Yard said it would not comment Trump’s suggestion that police could have prevented the attack.

    Trump told reporters Friday morning that he had been briefed on the explosion and said he planned to call British Prime Minister Theresa May. Asked about his tweet on the travel ban, Trump said “we have to be tougher and we have to be smarter.”

    Trump’s tough talk came a day after he drew conservative criticism for pursuing an agreement with Democrats on young immigrants who had been living in the country illegally.

    ‘Proactive and nasty’

    Trump said Thursday he was “fairly close” to an agreement that could protect these so-called “dreamers” while also adding border security, as long as his wall with Mexico would be separately addressed.

    The president has repeatedly criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the British capital’s first Muslim leader.

    In June, after attacks in the London Bridge area that claimed seven lives, Khan warned locals not to be alarmed by the large presence of armed officers on the capital’s streets. Trump accused the mayor on Twitter of suggesting there was “no reason to be alarmed” by the attack itself.

    On Friday, Trump again jumped into the fray, promoting his handling of extremist militants and saying the government should cut of the internet to such groups.

    “Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner. The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!” And he argued that his administration has “made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years.”

    Trump concluded: “Must be proactive & nasty!”

    Trump’s travel ban has been ensnared in the courts since Trump’s first attempt to enact the policy in January. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Oct. 10 on the legality of the bans on travelers from six mostly Muslim countries and refugees anywhere in the world.

    It’s unclear, though, what will be left for the court to decide. The 90-day travel ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen lapses in late September, and the 120-day refugee ban will expire a month later. The administration has yet to say whether it will seek to renew the bans, make them permanent or expand the travel ban to other countries.

    AP