“China has imposed retaliatory tariffs on the US, its embassy in Washington said on Sunday — hitting about $14bn worth of goods and dashing hopes that a trade war between the world’s two largest economies could be avoided,” the Financial Times reports.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think there’s any plans to invade Canada.”
— National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, on Meet the Press.
Kremlin Won’t Confirm or Deny a Trump-Putin Call
“The Kremlin on Sunday declined to confirm or deny that Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken with President Donald Trump, after the New York Post cited the US leader saying they’d discussed the war in Ukraine on a phone call,” Bloomberg reports.
CNN: Trump says he’s spoken with Putin as Russia’s war in Ukraine approaches third anniversary.
Trump Halts a Legacy of ‘Acting With Humanity’
“Funds from the world’s richest nation once flowed from the largest global aid agency to an intricate network of small, medium and large organizations that delivered aid: H.I.V. medications for more than 20 million people; nutrition supplements for starving children; support for refugees, orphaned children and women battered by violence,” the New York Times reports.
“Now, that network is unraveling. The Trump administration froze foreign aid for 90 days and has planned to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development to just 5 percent of its work force, although a federal judge paused the plan on Friday.”
“Given wars and strapped economies, other governments or philanthropies are unlikely to make up for the shortfall, and recipient nations are too hamstrung by debt to manage on their own.”
Trump Cuts Teams That Fight Election Interference
“The Trump administration this week eliminated much of the federal government’s front line of defense against foreign interference in U.S. elections,” the Washington Post reports.
“The move, which follows years of Trump and his allies disputing the role that Russian influence campaigns played in his first successful bid for president, alarmed state election officials and election security experts, who warned that safeguarding Americans from foreign disinformation campaigns will be difficult if no one at the federal level is doing that work.”
Trump Orders Halt to Aid to South Africa
President Trump ordered that all foreign assistance to South Africa be halted and said his administration would prioritize the resettling of white, “Afrikaner refugees” into the United States because of what he called actions by the country’s government that “racially disfavored landowners,” the New York Times reports.
Africa Reels as U.S. Aid Agency Is Dismantled
“For decades, sub-Saharan Africa was a singular focus of American foreign aid. The continent received over $8 billion a year, money that was used to feed starving children, supply lifesaving drugs and provide wartime humanitarian assistance,” the New York Times reports.
“In a few short weeks, President Trump and the South African-born billionaire Elon Musk have burned much of that work to the ground, vowing to completely gut the U.S. Agency for International Aid.”
CNN: Trump is gutting an agency that his daughter once championed.
Trump to Announce ‘Reciprocal’ Tariffs for Every Country
“President Donald Trump on Friday said he would be announcing tariffs next week that match the duties imposed by other countries, in an apparent shift from his previous threat to impose an across-the-board tariff on all imports from across the world,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “They charge us, we charge them. It’s the same thing, and I seem to be going in that line as opposed to a flat fee tariff.”
Trudeau Says Trump’s 51st State Threat ‘Is a Real Thing’
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit in Toronto that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to annex Canada ‘is a real thing,'” CBC reports.
Said Trudeau: “Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on…”
Then his microphone cut out.
Trump Considers Rod Blagojevich for Ambassador to Serbia
“President Donald Trump is considering nominating former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who served eight years in prison on corruption charges, to be U.S. ambassador to Serbia,” Politico reports.
“Blagojevich, whose sentence was commuted by Trump in 2020, is also a former Democratic member of Congress.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“We are witnessing one of the worst and most costly foreign policy blunders in U.S. history.”
— Former USAID Director Samantha Power, quoted by the New York Times.
Rubio Says Foreign Aid Is Hard to Defend
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told an official with the United States Agency for International Development that foreign aid was “the least popular thing government spends money on” and had become increasingly difficult to defend, the New York Times reports.
Reuters: Halt in US aid cripples global efforts to relieve hunger.
CBS News: USAID shutdown ripples through grassroots groups worldwide.
Panama Tells U.S. to Stop Lying About Canal
Panama President José Raúl Mulino said on Thursday the U.S. was spreading “lies and falsehoods” after the State Department claimed U.S. government vessels would be able to pass through the Panama Canal without paying, NBC News reports.
Nearly All Jobs to Be Cut at Aid Agency
“The Trump administration plans to retain only about 290 of the more than 10,000 employees worldwide at the U.S. Agency for International Development,” the New York Times reports.
Trump Disbands Task Force Targeting Russian Oligarchs
The Justice Department is disbanding an effort started after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin, The Guardian reports.
Netanyahu Says War Could End with Hamas in Exile
“”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a plan for ending the war in Gaza in return for Hamas giving up power and its leaders leaving Gaza,” Axios reports.
“Netanyahu has said he doesn’t see a path to a post-war plan for Gaza as long as Hamas is in control. If Hamas relinquishes power and its leaders go into exile, it could open the door for a day-after plan, possibly including President Trump’s ‘Gaza takeover.'”
Netanyahu Honors Trump with ‘Golden Beeper’
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu gave the “golden beeper” award to President Trump as “our greatest friend and greatest ally.”
North Korea’s Missiles See Marked Improvement
“North Korean ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine by Russian forces since late December have been far more precise than salvos of the weapons launched over the past year,” Reuters reports.
“At a time when Moscow’s burgeoning ties with Pyongyang are causing alarm from Washington to Seoul, the increase in accuracy – to within 50-100m of the intended target – suggests North Korea is successfully using the battlefield to test its missile technology.”
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 581
- Next Page »