diplomacy

European Union resigned to 15 pecent US tariff

BY AURELIA END AND PETER HUTCHISON WITH EMMA CHARLTON IN BRUSSELS

  • Ireland, one of the EU's top exporters to the United States, said Sunday it welcomed the deal for bringing "a measure of much-needed certainty", but that it "regrets" the baseline tariff, in a statement by its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
  • The United States and European Union clinched a trade agreement on Sunday that will see EU exports taxed at 15 percent, in a bid to resolve a transatlantic tariff stand-off that threatened to explode into a full-blown trade war.
  • Ireland, one of the EU's top exporters to the United States, said Sunday it welcomed the deal for bringing "a measure of much-needed certainty", but that it "regrets" the baseline tariff, in a statement by its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The United States and European Union clinched a trade agreement on Sunday that will see EU exports taxed at 15 percent, in a bid to resolve a transatlantic tariff stand-off that threatened to explode into a full-blown trade war.
US President Donald Trump emerged from a high-stakes meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf resort in Scotland, describing the deal as the "biggest-ever". 
The deal, which the leaders struck in around an hour, came as the clock ticked down on an August 1 deadline to avoid an across-the-board US levy of 30 percent on European goods.
"We've reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody. This is probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity," said Trump.
Trump said a baseline tariff of 15 percent would apply across the board, including for Europe's crucial automobile sector, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
As part of the deal, Trump said the 27-nation EU bloc had agreed to purchase "$750 billion worth of energy" from the United States, as well as make $600 billion in additional investments.
Von der Leyen said the "significant" purchases of US liquefied natural gas, oil and nuclear fuels would come over three years, as part of the bloc's bid to diversify away from Russian sources.
Negotiating on behalf of the EU's 27 countries, von der Leyen had been pushing hard to salvage a trading relationship worth an annual $1.9 trillion in goods and services.
"It's a good deal," the EU chief told reporters.
"It will bring stability. It will bring predictability. That's very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic," she said.
She added that bilateral tariff exemptions had been agreed on a number of "strategic products", notably aircraft, certain chemicals, some agricultural products and critical raw materials.
Von der Leyen said the EU still hoped to secure further so-called "zero-for-zero" agreements, notably for alcohol, which she hoped to be "sorted out" in coming days.
Trump also said EU countries -- which recently pledged to ramp up their defence spending within NATO -- would be purchasing "hundreds of billions of dollars worth of military equipment."

'Best we could get'

The EU has been hit by multiple waves of tariffs since Trump reclaimed the White House.
It is currently subject to a 25-percent levy on cars, 50 percent on steel and aluminium, and an across-the-board tariff of 10 percent, which Washington threatened to hike to 30 percent in a no-deal scenario.
The bloc had been pushing hard for tariff carve-outs for critical industries from aircraft to spirits, and its auto industry, crucial for France and Germany, is already reeling from the levies imposed so far.
"Fifteen percent is not to be underestimated, but it is the best we could get," acknowledged von der Leyen.
Any deal will need to be approved by EU member states -- whose ambassadors, on a visit to Greenland, were updated by the commission Sunday morning. They were set to meet again after the deal struck in Scotland.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rapidly hailed the deal, saying it avoided "needless escalation in transatlantic trade relations".
But German exporters were less enthusiastic. The powerful BDI federation of industrial groups said the accord would have "considerable negative repercussions" while the country's VCI chemical trade association said the accord left rates "too high".
Ireland, one of the EU's top exporters to the United States, said Sunday it welcomed the deal for bringing "a measure of much-needed certainty", but that it "regrets" the baseline tariff, in a statement by its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The EU had pushed for a compromise on steel that could allow a certain quota into the United States before tariffs would apply.
Trump appeared to rule that out, saying steel was "staying the way it is", but the EU chief insisted later that "tariffs will be cut and a quota system will be put in place" for steel.

'The big one'

While 15 percent is much higher than pre-existing US tariffs on European goods, which average around 4.8 percent, it mirrors the status quo, with companies currently facing an additional flat rate of 10 percent.
Had the talks failed, EU states had greenlit counter tariffs on $109 billion (93 billion euros) of US goods, including aircraft and cars to take effect in stages from August 7. 
Trump has embarked on a campaign to reshape US trade with the world, and has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariffs if they do not reach a pact with Washington by August 1.
Asked what the next deal would be, Trump replied: "This was the big one. This is the biggest of them all."
burs-gv/tc/lb

tariff

US-China set to meet with extension of tariff pause on the cards

BY NIOUCHA ZAKAVATI WITH BEIYI SEOW IN WASHINGTON

  • For dozens of trading partners, failing to strike an agreement in the coming days means they could face significant tariff hikes on exports to the United States come Friday, August 1.
  • Top economic officials from the United States and China are set to renew negotiations Monday -- with an extension of lower tariff levels on the cards -- as President Donald Trump's trade policy enters a critical week.
  • For dozens of trading partners, failing to strike an agreement in the coming days means they could face significant tariff hikes on exports to the United States come Friday, August 1.
Top economic officials from the United States and China are set to renew negotiations Monday -- with an extension of lower tariff levels on the cards -- as President Donald Trump's trade policy enters a critical week.
Talks between the world's top two economies are slated to happen over two days in the Swedish capital Stockholm, and they come as other countries are also rushing to finalise deals with Washington.
For dozens of trading partners, failing to strike an agreement in the coming days means they could face significant tariff hikes on exports to the United States come Friday, August 1.
The steeper rates, threatened against partners like Brazil and India, would raise the duties their products face from a "baseline" of 10 percent now to levels up to 50 percent.
Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have already effectively raised duties on US imports to levels not seen since the 1930s, according to data from The Budget Lab research centre at Yale University.
For now, all eyes are on discussions between Washington and Beijing as a delegation including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meets a Chinese team led by Vice Premier He Lifeng in Sweden.
While both countries in April imposed tariffs on each other's products that reached triple-digit levels, US duties this year have temporarily been lowered to 30 percent and China's countermeasures slashed to 10 percent.
But the 90-day truce, instituted after talks in Geneva in May, is set to expire on August 12.
Since the Geneva meeting, the two sides have convened in London to iron out disagreements.

China progress?

"There seems to have been a fairly significant shift in (US) administration thinking on China since particularly the London talks," said Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures.
"The mood now is much more focused on what's possible to achieve, on warming relations where possible and restraining any factors that could increase tensions," she told AFP.
Talks with China have not produced a deal but Benson said both countries have made progress, with certain rare earth and semiconductor flows restarting.
"Secretary Bessent has also signalled that he thinks a concrete outcome will be to delay the 90-day tariff pause," she said. "That's also promising, because it indicates that something potentially more substantive is on the horizon."
The South China Morning Post, citing sources on both sides, reported Sunday that Washington and Beijing are expected to extend their tariff pause by another 90 days.
Trump has announced pacts so far with the European Union, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, although details have been sparse.
An extension of the US-China deal to keep tariffs at reduced levels "would show that both sides see value in continuing talks", said Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
US-China Business Council President Sean Stein said the market is not anticipating a detailed readout from Stockholm: "What's more important is the atmosphere coming out."
"The business community is optimistic that the two presidents will meet later this year, hopefully in Beijing," he told AFP. "It's clear that on both sides, the final decision-maker is going to be the president."
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said both countries' willingness to meet was a "positive development". 

Far from ideal

For others, the prospect of higher US tariffs and few details from fresh trade deals mark "a far cry from the ideal scenario", said Denamiel.
But they show some progress, particularly with partners Washington has signalled are on its priority list like the EU, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.
The EU unveiled a pact with Washington on Sunday while Seoul is rushing to strike an agreement, after Japan and the Philippines already reached the outlines of deals.
Breakthroughs have been patchy since Washington promised a flurry of agreements after unveiling, and then swiftly postponing, tariff hikes targeting dozens of economies in April.
Denamiel warned of overlooking countries that fall outside Washington's priority list.
Solid partnerships are needed, he said, if Washington wants to diversify supply chains, enforce advanced technology controls, and tackle excess Chinese capacity.
nzg-bys/sst

trade

What is the status of US tariff negotiations?

BY BEIYI SEOW WITH JULIEN GIRAULT IN TOKYO

  • The twice-postponed deadline for duties to take effect is now Friday, August 1.
  • US tariff negotiations with key trading partners have shifted into high gear as economies race to avoid steeper duties before an August 1 deadline.
  • The twice-postponed deadline for duties to take effect is now Friday, August 1.
US tariff negotiations with key trading partners have shifted into high gear as economies race to avoid steeper duties before an August 1 deadline.
Many of these tariff hikes were part of a package first announced in April, under which dozens of economies were due to face higher levies -- up from a 10 percent level -- over their trade surpluses with the United States.
The twice-postponed deadline for duties to take effect is now Friday, August 1.
But Washington has expanded its group of targets coming up against these tariffs, while announcing agreements with the European Union, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
A deal with the European Union unveiled on Sunday sees a 15 percent tariff imposed on European exports to the United States, down from the 30 percent that Trump earlier threatened.
Where do other US trade talks stand?

South Korea: Heightened pressure

Seoul is racing to reach a deal with Washington, as Tokyo's success in landing an agreement has "amped up the pressure for South Korea," a government source told AFP.
Local media reported that Seoul was preparing to propose more than $100 billion in investment as part of a broader agreement, with expected participation by major firms such as Samsung and Hyundai Motor. The South Korean government did not confirm this.
But South Korean officials have outlined proposals to deepen collaboration in sectors like shipbuilding, semiconductors and batteries.
National Security Advisor Wi Sung-lak has told reporters that the two countries are in "the final and most crucial phase of negotiations" to avert Trump's proposed 25 percent duty.

India: Cautious optimism

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Bloomberg Television Thursday that he was optimistic his country could reach an agreement with the United States to avert Washington's 26 percent tariff threat.
Goyal insisted there were not any sticking points in the US-India relationship or in trade talks, and clarified that immigration rules —- including those around H-1B visas for skilled workers -- had not come up in negotiations.
Despite Goyal's remarks, local media reported the prospects of an interim deal before August 1 had dimmed.

Taiwan: Working hard

Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai said Thursday that officials are "working hard" on negotiations, amid worries that an unfavorable tariff level could hit the self-ruled island's economy.
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said Taipei's negotiating team was "working almost 24 hours a day to achieve trade balance and Taiwan's industrial interests, and even to further deepen cooperation."

Canada, Mexico: Deal unclear

Although Canada and Mexico were spared from Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs announced in April, goods from both countries entering the United States generally face a separate 25 percent duty if they fall outside a North American trade pact.
This figure stands to jump to 30 percent for Mexico come August 1, while the level for Canada was set at 35 percent.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration was "doing everything" possible to avert the duties and that she would speak with Trump if necessary to try to reach a pact.
Trump told reporters Friday there was no deal with Canada so far.

Brazil: Political nature

Brazil is girding for a virtual trade embargo on its planes, grains and other goods if Trump's threatened 50 percent tariff on its exports takes effect on August 1.
The United States runs a trade surplus with Latin America's biggest economy, which was not originally expected to face steeper tariffs under Trump's "reciprocal" duties plan.
Trump has not attempted to hide the political motivation in targeting Brazil, citing a judicial "witch hunt" against his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, when he unveiled the tariff rate.
The political nature of the spat makes a last-minute deal appear less likely.
burs-jug-bys/sst

tariff

State of play in Trump's tariffs, threats and delays

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • - Global tariffs - US "reciprocal" tariffs -- imposed under legally contentious emergency powers -- are due to jump from 10 percent to various steeper levels for a list of dozens of economies come August 1, including South Korea, India and Taiwan.
  • Dozens of economies including India, Canada and Mexico face threats of higher tariffs Friday if they fail to strike deals with Washington.
  • - Global tariffs - US "reciprocal" tariffs -- imposed under legally contentious emergency powers -- are due to jump from 10 percent to various steeper levels for a list of dozens of economies come August 1, including South Korea, India and Taiwan.
Dozens of economies including India, Canada and Mexico face threats of higher tariffs Friday if they fail to strike deals with Washington.
Here is a summary of duties President Donald Trump has introduced in his second term as he pressures allies and competitors alike to reshape US trade relationships.

Global tariffs

US "reciprocal" tariffs -- imposed under legally contentious emergency powers -- are due to jump from 10 percent to various steeper levels for a list of dozens of economies come August 1, including South Korea, India and Taiwan.
The hikes were to take effect July 9 but Trump postponed them days before imposition, marking a second delay since their shock unveiling in April.
A 10 percent "baseline" levy on most partners, which Trump imposed in April, remains in place.
He has also issued letters dictating tariff rates above 10 percent for individual countries, including Brazil, which has a trade deficit with the United States and was not on the initial list of higher "reciprocal" rates.
Several economies -- the European Union, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines -- have struck initial tariff deals with Washington, while China managed to temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties.
Certain products like pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber are excluded from Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs, but may face separate action under different authorities.
This has been the case for steel, aluminum, and soon copper. Gold and silver, alongside energy commodities, are also exempted.
Excluded too are Mexico and Canada, hit with a different set of tariffs, and countries like Russia and North Korea as they already face sanctions.

Canada, Mexico

Canadian and Mexican products were hit by 25 percent US tariffs shortly after Trump returned to office, with a lower rate for Canadian energy. Trump targeted both neighbors over illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking, also invoking emergency powers.
But trade negotiations have been bumpy. This month, Trump said Canadian goods will face a higher 35 percent duty from August 1, and Mexican goods will see a 30 percent level.
Products entering the United States under the USMCA North American free trade pact, covering large swaths of goods, are expected to remain exempt -- with Canadian energy resources and potash, used as fertilizer, to still face lower rates.

China focus

Trump has also taken special aim at China. The world's two biggest economies engaged in an escalating tariffs war this year before their temporary pullback.
The countries imposed triple-digit duties on each other at one point, a level described as a trade embargo.
After high level talks, Washington lowered its levies on Chinese goods to 30 percent and Beijing slashed its own to 10 percent.
This pause is set to expire August 12, and officials will meet for further talks on Monday and Tuesday in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
The US level is higher as it includes a 20 percent tariff over China's alleged role in the global fentanyl trade.
Beyond expansive tariffs on Chinese products, Trump ordered the closure of a duty-free exemption for low-value parcels from the country. This adds to the cost of importing items like clothing and small electronics.

Autos, metals

Trump has targeted individual business sectors too, under more conventional national security grounds, imposing a 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum imports which he later doubled to 50 percent.
The president has unveiled plans for a 50 percent tariff on copper imports starting August 1 as well and rolled out a 25 percent tariff on imported autos, although those entering under the USMCA can qualify for a lower rate.
Trump's auto tariffs impact vehicle parts too, but new rules ensure automakers paying vehicle tariffs will not also be charged for certain other duties.
He has ongoing investigations into imports of lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals that could trigger further duties.

Legal challenges

Several legal challenges have been filed against the tariffs Trump invoked citing emergencies.
The US Court of International Trade ruled in May that the president had overstepped his authority, but a federal appeals court has allowed the duties to remain while it considers the case.
If these tariffs are ultimately ruled illegal, companies could possibly seek reimbursements.
bys/des/mlm

politics

Trump's Turnberry visit puts British Open back on agenda

BY PETER HUTCHISON

  • Turnberry in 1977 hosted what is widely considered one of the greatest British Opens ever when Watson pipped Jack Nicklaus to the Claret Jug.
  • Donald Trump's visit to Scotland's picturesque Turnberry underlines the US president's long-held desire to host golf's illustrious British Open at the famous course, despite numerous stumbling blocks.
  • Turnberry in 1977 hosted what is widely considered one of the greatest British Opens ever when Watson pipped Jack Nicklaus to the Claret Jug.
Donald Trump's visit to Scotland's picturesque Turnberry underlines the US president's long-held desire to host golf's illustrious British Open at the famous course, despite numerous stumbling blocks.
When the golf fanatic purchased the storied resort in 2014, he would have been forgiven for thinking he would finally achieve his dream of seeing a men's major championship played at one of his many courses.
But 2009 remains the last time Turnberry has hosted golf's only non-US major, with organisers the Royal and Ancient (R&A) citing logistical challenges and fears that the event could become the Trump show.
"The players all want to be at Turnberry," Trump told reporters after landing at Prestwick Airport, just north of his course, on Friday night, declaring it "the best course anywhere in the world".
Following the storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters in January 2021, the R&A said the Open would not return to Turnberry until "the focus will be on the championship" rather than the course's proprietor.
New chief executive Mark Darbon struck a much softer tone earlier this month when he stressed that the R&A had "explicitly not" removed Turnberry's Ailsa course from its rotating pool of venues.
But he added that upgrades to road, rail, and accommodation infrastructure around the site on Scotland's windswept west coast would be needed for any return. 
Darbon also revealed that he met Trump's son, Eric, earlier this year but denied UK media reports that the British government has been pressuring the R&A to put Turnberry back on the rota.
"We love the golf course but we've got some big logistical challenges there," Darbon told reporters covering the 153rd British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, which ended last Sunday.
Almost 280,000 fans were at Portrush, more than double the 120,000 at Turnberry in 2009, when journeyman Stewart Cink deprived veteran Tom Watson of a fairytale sixth Open title.
Turnberry in 1977 hosted what is widely considered one of the greatest British Opens ever when Watson pipped Jack Nicklaus to the Claret Jug.
The scenic course, instantly recognisable to golf fans due to its shimmering lighthouse, also hosted the Open in 1986 and 1994, when Greg Norman and Nick Price triumphed.
Two-time major winner and Trump ally Bryson DeChambeau recently backed Turnberry to host golf's oldest major again.
"It's one of the best golf courses in the world, and I'd love for it to be a part of the rotation," the 31-year-old told reporters at Portrush.
DeChambeau, who hit chips on the White House lawn during a visit in June, sought to allay fears that the president would overshadow the event, as he did when he landed his helicopter near the course during the 2015 Women's British Open.

Protests

Organisers will also be wary of possible protests. The site, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Glasgow, was vandalised in March when protesters sprayed "GAZA IS NOT 4 SALE" across the grass, referring to Trump's suggestion of turning the Palestinian territory into luxury real estate.
Trump has made much of his love for golf, using it for business and diplomacy, and even political one-upmanship.
He often lambasted Barack Obama for regularly taking to the course during his time in the White House, before going on to play frequently himself as president.
According to online trackers, Trump has played golf about 20 percent of the time since returning to the presidency in January. During his first term he played several times with late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Last year, Trump and Joe Biden sparred over their respective golf abilities during a television debate.
Trump's handicap -- the mark of a player's skill -- has been listed as a mightily impressive three, but that and claims he has won 18 club championships has raised eyebrows, as documented by American golf writer Rick Reilly in his 2019 book "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump".
The Trump Organization began acquiring golf resorts in 1999 and lists 16 operational globally on its website, with more to follow.
His Bedminster course near New York had been scheduled to host the 2022 PGA Championship, but organisers moved the major after the Capitol riots, sparking an angry response from the Trump Organization.
And despite his deep passion for the game, it is highly unlikely that Trump will witness a major at Turnberry before his second presidential term ends in 2029.
pdh/jw/nr

bank

US Fed poised to hold off on rate cuts, defying Trump pressure

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • When mulling changes to interest rates, the central bank -- which meets on Tuesday and Wednesday -- seeks a balance between reining in inflation and the health of the jobs market.
  • The US central bank is widely expected to hold off slashing interest rates again at its upcoming meeting, as officials gather under the cloud of an intensifying pressure campaign by President Donald Trump.
  • When mulling changes to interest rates, the central bank -- which meets on Tuesday and Wednesday -- seeks a balance between reining in inflation and the health of the jobs market.
The US central bank is widely expected to hold off slashing interest rates again at its upcoming meeting, as officials gather under the cloud of an intensifying pressure campaign by President Donald Trump.
Policymakers at the independent Federal Reserve have kept the benchmark lending rate steady since the start of the year as they monitor how Trump's sweeping tariffs are impacting the world's biggest economy.
With Trump's on-again, off-again tariff approach -- and the levies' lagged effects on inflation -- Fed officials want to see economic data from this summer to gauge how prices are being affected.
When mulling changes to interest rates, the central bank -- which meets on Tuesday and Wednesday -- seeks a balance between reining in inflation and the health of the jobs market.
But the bank's data-dependent approach has enraged the Republican president, who has repeatedly criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not slashing rates further, calling him a "numbskull" and "moron."
Most recently, Trump signaled he could use the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation project as an avenue to oust Powell, before backing off and saying that would be unlikely.
Trump visited the Fed construction site on Thursday, making a tense appearance with Powell in which the Fed chair disputed Trump's characterization of the total cost of the refurbishment in front of the cameras.
But economists expect the Fed to look past the political pressure at its policy meeting.
"We're just now beginning to see the evidence of tariffs' impact on inflation," said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics.
"We’re going to see it (too) in July and August, and we think that's going to give the Fed reason to remain on the sidelines," he told AFP.

'Trial balloon'

Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed a 10 percent tariff on goods from almost all countries, as well as steeper rates on steel, aluminum and autos.
The effect on inflation has so far been limited, prompting the US leader to use this as grounds for calling for interest rates to be lowered by three percentage points.
Currently, the benchmark lending rate stands at a range between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent.
Trump also argues that lower rates would save the government money on interest payments, and floated the idea of firing Powell. The comments roiled financial markets.
"Powell can see that the administration floated this trial balloon" of ousting him before walking it back on the market's reaction, Sweet said.
"It showed that markets value an independent central bank," the Oxford Economics analyst added, anticipating Powell will be instead more influenced by labor market concerns.
Powell's term as Fed chair ends in May 2026.

Jobs market 'fissures'

Analysts expect to see a couple of members break ranks if the Fed's rate-setting committee decides for a fifth straight meeting to keep interest rates unchanged.
Sweet cautioned that some observers may spin dissents as pushback on Powell but argued this is not necessarily the case.
"It's not out-of-line or unusual to see, at times when there's a high degree of uncertainty, or maybe a turning point in policy, that you get one or two people dissenting," said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller and Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman have both signaled openness to rate cuts as early as July, meaning their disagreement with a decision to hold rates steady would not surprise markets.
Bostjancic said that too many dissents could be "eyebrow-raising," and lead some to question if Powell is losing control of the board, but added: "I don't anticipate that to be the case."
For Sweet, "the big wild card is the labor market."
There has been weakness in the private sector, while the hiring rate has been below average and the number of permanent job losers is rising.
"There are some fissures in the labor market, but they haven't turned into fault lines yet," Sweet said.
If the labor market suddenly weakened, he said he would expect the Fed to start cutting interest rates sooner.
bys/sst

agriculture

Trump immigration raids threaten US food security, farmers warn

BY PAULA RAMON

  • And if we go out, we run the risk of running into them," she said, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
  • Lisa Tate, whose family has been farming in Ventura County since 1876, cannot recall a threat to crops like the one emanating from Donald Trump's anti-immigrant onslaught.
  • And if we go out, we run the risk of running into them," she said, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Lisa Tate, whose family has been farming in Ventura County since 1876, cannot recall a threat to crops like the one emanating from Donald Trump's anti-immigrant onslaught.
Tate fears that the crackdown on illegal workers, far from addressing the problems of this vital agricultural region north of Los Angeles, could "dismantle the whole economy" and put the country's food security at risk.
"I began to get really concerned when we saw a group of border control agents come up to the Central Valley and just start going onto farms and just kind of trying to chase people down, evading the property owner," the 46-year-old farmer, who grows avocados, citrus and coffee, told AFP in an interview.
"That's not something we're used to happening in agriculture," she added.
The impact goes beyond harvesters, she said. "There's a whole food chain involved," from field workers to truck drivers to people working in packing houses and in sales.
"It's just, everybody's scared," she said -- even a multi-generational American like her. 
"I'm nervous and I'm scared, because we're feeling like we're being attacked."
Other farmers contacted by AFP declined to speak to the media, saying they feared potential reprisals from the Trump administration. 

Worker shortages

The agricultural sector has for years been trying to find permanent solutions for its perennial labor shortages, beyond issuing temporary permits for migrant workers.
"Some of the work we have is seasonal. But really, around here, we need workers that are year-round," Tate says.
The number of government certified positions for temporary agricultural workers practically tripled between 2014 and 2024, Department of Labor statistics show, underlining just how much American agriculture depends on foreign workers.
On top of that, some 42 percent of farm workers are not authorized to work in the United States, according to a 2022 study by the Department of Agriculture.
Those numbers line up with the struggles many farmers go through to find labor. 
They say US citizens are not interested in the physically demanding work, with its long days under extreme temperatures, rain and sun.
Against that backdrop, Tate warns that removing people who are actually doing the work will cause immeasurable damage. 
Not only will it harm farms and ranches, which could take years to recover, it will also send food prices soaring, and even endanger US food security, possibly requiring the country to start importing provisions that may previously have been grown at home, she says. 
"What we really need is some legislation that has the type of program that we need, and that works for both the workers, that ensures their safety, it ensures a fair playing field when it comes to international trade, as well as as domestic needs," Tate said.

"Everyone loses"

Some farmworkers agreed to speak to AFP on condition of not being fully identified, for fear of being arrested.
"All we do is work," a worker named Silvia told AFP. She saw several friends arrested in a raid in in Oxnard, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Ventura.
The 32-year-old Mexican lives in constant fear that she will be the next one picked up and, in the end, separated from her two US-born daughters.
"We're between a rock and a hard place. If we don't work, how will we pay our bills? And if we go out, we run the risk of running into them," she said, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
"The way the goverment is working right now, everybody loses," said Miguel, who has been working in the fields of southern California for three decades. 
The 54-year-old said that workers are losing jobs, farm owners are losing their labor, and as a result, the United States is losing its food.  
Miguel has worked in various different agriculture sector jobs, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. All of them were "very hard jobs," he said.
Now he feels like he has a target on his back.
"They should do a little research so they understand. The food they eat comes from the fields, right?" he said. 
"So it would be good if they were more aware, and gave us an opportunity to contribute positively, and not send us into hiding."
pr/ksb/jgc

ElSalvador

'Welcome to hell': Freed migrants tell of horrors in Salvadoran jail

BY MARGIONI BERMUDEZ WITH JAVIER TOVAR IN CARACAS AND MOISES AVILA IN HOUSTON

  • Yamarte said a small tuft of hair was left at the nape of his neck, which the guards tugged at.
  • Mervin Yamarte left Venezuela with his younger brother, hoping for a better life. 
  • Yamarte said a small tuft of hair was left at the nape of his neck, which the guards tugged at.
Mervin Yamarte left Venezuela with his younger brother, hoping for a better life. 
But after a perilous jungle march, US detention, and long months in a Salvadoran jail surviving riots, beatings and fear, he has returned home a wounded and changed man.
On entering the sweltering Caribbean port of Maracaibo, the first thing Yamarte did after hugging his mother and six-year-old daughter was to burn the baggy white prison shorts he wore during four months of "hell."
"The suffering is over now," said the 29-year-old, enjoying a longed-for moment of catharsis.
Yamarte was one of 252 Venezuelans detained in US President Donald Trump's March immigration crackdown, accused without evidence of gang activity, and deported to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.
According to four ex-detainees interviewed by AFP, the months were marked by abuse, violence, spoiled food and legal limbo.
"You are going to die here!" heavily armed guards taunted them on arrival to the maximum security facility east of the capital San Salvador. "Welcome to hell!"
The men had their heads shaved and were issued with prison clothes: a T-shirt, shorts, socks, and white plastic clogs.
Yamarte said a small tuft of hair was left at the nape of his neck, which the guards tugged at.
The Venezuelans were held separately from the local prison population in "Pavilion 8" -- a building with 32 cells, each measuring about 100 square meters (1,076 square feet).
Each cell -- roughly the size of an average two-bedroom apartment -- was designed to hold 80 prisoners.

'Carried out unconscious'

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele built the prison to house the country's most dangerous gang members in deliberately brutal conditions, drawing constant criticism from rights groups.
Trump's administration paid Bukele $6 million to keep the Venezuelans behind bars.
AFP has unsuccessfully requested a tour of the facility and interviews with CECOT authorities.
Another prisoner, 37-year-old Maikel Olivera, recounted there were "beatings 24 hours a day" and sadistic guards who warned, "You are going to rot here, you're going to be in jail for 300 years."
"I thought I would never return to Venezuela," he said.
For four months, the prisoners had no access to the internet, phone calls, visits from loved ones, or even lawyers.
At least one said he was sexually abused.
The men said they slept mostly on metal cots, with no mattresses to provide comfort.
There were several small, poorly-ventilated cells where prisoners would be locked up for 24 hours at a time for transgressions -- real or imagined.
"There were fellow detainees who couldn't endure even two hours and were carried out unconscious," Yamarte recounted. 
The men never saw sunlight and were allowed one shower a day at 4:00 am. If they showered out of turn, they were beaten.
Andy Perozo, 30, told AFP of guards firing rubber bullets and tear gas into the cells.
For a week after one of two riots that were brutally suppressed, "they shot me every morning. It was hell for me. Every time I went to the doctor, they beat me," he said. 
Edwuar Hernandez, 23, also told of being beaten at the infirmary.
"They would kick you... kicks everywhere," he said. "Look at the marks; I have marks, I'm all marked."
The detainees killed time playing games with dice made from bits of tortilla dough.
They counted the passing days with notches on a bar of soap.

'Out of hell'

An estimated eight million Venezuelans have fled the political and economic chaos of their homeland to try to find a job in the United States that would allow them to send money home.
Yamarte left in September 2023, making the weeks-long journey on foot through the Darien Gap that separates Colombia from Panama.
It is unforgiving terrain that has claimed the lives of countless migrants who must brave predatory criminal gangs and wild animals.
Yamarte was arrested in Dallas in March and deported three days later, without a court hearing.
All 252 detainees were suddenly, and unexpectedly, freed on July 18 in a prisoner exchange deal between Caracas and Washington.
Now, many are contemplating legal action.
Many of the men believe they were arrested in the United States simply for sporting tattoos wrongly interpreted as proof of association with the feared Tren de Aragua gang.
Yamarte has one that reads: "Strong like Mom."
"I am clean. I can prove it to anyone," he said indignantly, hurt at being falsely accused of being a criminal.
"We went... to seek a better future for our families; we didn't go there to steal or kill."
Yamarte, Perozo, and Hernandez are from the same poor neighborhood of Maracaibo, where their loved ones decorated homes with balloons and banners once news broke of their release.
Yamarte's mom, 46-year-old Mercedes, had prepared a special lunch of steak, mashed potatoes, and fried green plantain. 
At her house on Tuesday, the phone rang shortly after Yamarte's arrival.
It was his brother Juan, who works in the United States without papers and moves from place to place to evade Trump's migrant dragnet.
Juan told AFP he just wants to stay long enough to earn the $1,700 he needs to pay off the house he had bought for his wife and child in Venezuela.
"Every day we thought of you, every day," Juan told his brother. "I always had you in my mind, always, always." 
"The suffering is over now," replied Mervin. "We've come out of hell."
mbj-mav-jt/mlr/arb/sst

migration

US migrant raids spark boom for private detention providers

BY PAULA RAMON

  • California City is to be home to a sprawling detention center that will be operated by CoreCivic, one of the largest companies in the private detention sector.
  • Donald Trump's promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history has appalled some Americans.
  • California City is to be home to a sprawling detention center that will be operated by CoreCivic, one of the largest companies in the private detention sector.
Donald Trump's promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history has appalled some Americans. But others are cashing in on the boom in demand for private detention centers.
Migrants captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents need to be temporarily housed in places like the facility being readied in California City, prior to deportation.
"When you talk to the majority of residents here, they have a favorable perspective on it," said Marquette Hawkins, mayor of the hardscrabble settlement of 15,000 people, 100 miles (160 kilometres) north of Los Angeles.
"They look at the economic impact, right?"
California City is to be home to a sprawling detention center that will be operated by CoreCivic, one of the largest companies in the private detention sector.
The company, which declined AFP requests for an interview, says the facility would generate around 500 jobs, and funnel $2 million in tax revenue to the city.
"Many of our residents have already been hired out there to work in that facility," Hawkins told AFP.
"Any revenue source that is going to assist the town in rebuilding itself, rebranding itself, is going to be seen as a plus," he said.

Boom

Trump's ramped-up immigration arrests, like those that provoked protests in Los Angeles, saw a record 60,000 people in detention in June, according to ICE figures.
Those same figures show the vast majority have no conviction, despite the president's election campaign promises to go after hardened criminals.
More than 80 percent of detainees are in facilities run by the private sector, according to the TRAC project at Syracuse University. 
And with Washington's directive to triple the number of daily arrests -- and $45 billion earmarked for new detention centers -- the sector is looking at an unprecedented boom. 
"Never in our 42-year company history have we had so much activity and demand for our services as we are seeing right now," Damon Hininger, executive director of CoreCivic, said in a May call with investors.
When Trump took office in January, some 107 centers were operating. The number now hovers around 200. 
For Democratic politicians, this proliferation is intentional.
"Private prison companies are profiting from human suffering, and Republicans are allowing them to get away with it," Congresswoman Norma Torres told reporters outside a detention center in the southern California city of Adelanto.
At the start of the year, there were three people detained there; there are now hundreds, each one of them attracting a daily stipend of taxpayer cash for the operator. 
Torres was refused permission to visit the facility, run by the privately owned GEO Group, because she had not given seven days' notice, she said.
"Denying members of Congress access to private detention facilities like Adelanto isn't just disrespectful, it is dangerous, it is illegal, and it is a desperate attempt to hide the abuse happening behind these walls," she said.
"We've heard the horrifying stories of detainees being violently arrested, denied basic medical care, isolated for days, and left injured without treatment," she added.
Kristen Hunsberger, a staff attorney at the Law Center for Immigrant Advocates, said one client complained of having to wait "six or seven hours to get clean water."
It is "not sanitary and certainly not... in compliance with just basic human rights."
Hunsberger, who spends hours on the road going from one center to another to locate her clients, says many have been denied access to legal counsel, a constitutional right in the United States. 
Both GEO and ICE have denied allegations of mistreatment at the detention centers.
"Claims there is overcrowding or subprime conditions in ICE facilities are categorically FALSE," said Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
"All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers." 

'Strategy'

But some relatives of detainees tell a different story.
Alejandra Morales, an American citizen, said her undocumented husband was detained incommunicado for five days in Los Angeles before being transferred to Adelanto. 
In the Los Angeles facility, "they don't even let them brush their teeth, they don't let them bathe, nothing. They have them all sleeping on the floor, in a cell, all together," she said. 
Hunsberger said that for detainees and their relatives, the treatment appears to be deliberate.
"They're starting to feel that this is a strategy to wear people down, to have them in these inhumane conditions, and then pressure them to sign something where they could then agree to being deported," she said.
pr/hg/ksb

space

NASA says it will lose about 20 percent of its workforce

  • NASA is still run by an acting administrator after the administration's initial pick to lead the agency, tech billionaire Jared Isaacman -- endorsed by former Trump advisor Elon Musk -- was ultimately rejected by the Republican president. sst/ksb
  • The US space agency NASA will lose about 3,900 employees under Donald Trump's sweeping effort to trim the federal workforce -- at the same time as the president prioritizes plans for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.
  • NASA is still run by an acting administrator after the administration's initial pick to lead the agency, tech billionaire Jared Isaacman -- endorsed by former Trump advisor Elon Musk -- was ultimately rejected by the Republican president. sst/ksb
The US space agency NASA will lose about 3,900 employees under Donald Trump's sweeping effort to trim the federal workforce -- at the same time as the president prioritizes plans for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.
In an emailed statement, NASA said around 3,000 employees took part in the second round of its deferred resignation program, which closed late Friday.
Combined with the 870 who joined the first round and regular staff departures, the agency's civil servant workforce is set to drop from more than 18,000 before Trump took office in January to roughly 14,000 -- a more than 20 percent decrease.
Those leaving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on the deferred resignation program will be placed on administrative leave until an agreed departure date. An agency spokesperson said the figures could shift slightly in the coming weeks.
"Safety remains a top priority for our agency as we balance the need to become a more streamlined and more efficient organization and work to ensure we remain fully capable of pursuing a Golden Era of exploration and innovation, including to the Moon and Mars," the agency said.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration's proposed NASA budget put a return to the Moon and a journey to Mars front and center, slashing science and climate programs.
The White House says it wants to focus on "beating China back to the Moon and putting the first human on Mars." China is aiming for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030, while the US program, called Artemis, has faced repeated delays.
NASA is still run by an acting administrator after the administration's initial pick to lead the agency, tech billionaire Jared Isaacman -- endorsed by former Trump advisor Elon Musk -- was ultimately rejected by the Republican president.
sst/ksb

Epstein

Top US Justice official questions Epstein accomplice for 2nd day

BY SELIM SAHEB ETTABA

  • Maxwell's lawyer David Markus said Friday afternoon that she was asked about "everything" and "answered every single question" during the second day of questioning at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.
  • The US Justice Department's deputy chief conducted a second day of questioning Friday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose infamous case has dragged President Donald Trump into a political firestorm.
  • Maxwell's lawyer David Markus said Friday afternoon that she was asked about "everything" and "answered every single question" during the second day of questioning at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.
The US Justice Department's deputy chief conducted a second day of questioning Friday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose infamous case has dragged President Donald Trump into a political firestorm.
Todd Blanche, who is also Trump's former personal attorney, has so far declined to say what he discussed with Maxwell in the highly unusual meetings between a convicted felon and a top DOJ official.
Maxwell's lawyer David Markus said Friday afternoon that she was asked about "everything" and "answered every single question" during the second day of questioning at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.
"They asked about every single, every possible thing you could imagine," Markus told reporters outside the courtroom, without elaborating.
But he did say there was "no offers" of clemency made to Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence on sex trafficking charges.
Trump is looking to move past the Epstein scandal, which has seen him on rare unsure footing over claims his administration mishandled a review of the notorious case.
On Friday, Trump again sought to put distance between himself and Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
"I have nothing to do with the guy," Trump, whose past friendship with Epstein has received much media attention this week, told reporters ahead of a visit to Scotland.

'Never briefed'

Trump urged journalists to "focus" instead on Democratic Party figures like former president Bill Clinton and his treasury secretary, former Harvard president Larry Summers, whom the Republican claimed were "really close friends" of Epstein.
Asked whether he was considering a pardon or commutation of Maxwell's 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, Trump said it was something "I haven't thought about" -- but stressed he had the power to do so.
He also denied multiple US media reports that he was briefed in the spring by Attorney General Pam Bondi that his name appeared multiple times in the so-called "Epstein Files."
"No, I was never -- never briefed, no," Trump said.
Multi-millionaire Epstein was accused of procuring underage girls for sex with his circle of wealthy, high-profile associates when he died by suicide in a New York jail cell.
His death fueled conspiracy theories that he was murdered to stop him testifying against prominent accomplices.
Trump, who had promised his supporters revelations about the case, infuriated some after his administration announced in early July that it had not discovered any new elements warranting the release of additional documents.
The Department of Justice and the FBI said there was no proof that there was a "list" of Epstein's clients, while affirming he died by suicide.

'Scapegoat'?

Ahead of the second round of questioning, Markus told reporters "Ghislaine has been treated unfairly for over five years now" and described her as a "scapegoat."
"Everything she says can be corroborated and she's telling the truth. She's got no reason to lie at this point and she's going to keep telling the truth," he added.
Maxwell, the only former Epstein associate who has been convicted, was jailed in 2022 for grooming underage girls between 1994 and 2004 so that Epstein could sexually exploit them.
Her lawyer said she still intended to appeal her conviction in the Supreme Court.
The Wall Street Journal reported  Wednesday that Trump's name was among hundreds found during a DOJ review of Epstein's case files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.
Trump filed a $10 billion defamation suit against the Journal last week after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson cut short the legislative session this week, sending lawmakers home on summer recess a day early to avoid potentially combustible debate -- particularly among Trump's Republicans -- on the release of files.
sst-gw/des/aks/acb

trade

Trump, EU chief to meet Sunday in push for trade deal

BY EMMA CHARLTON

  • Von der Leyen first announced the meeting, writing on X: "Following a good call with POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." 
  • EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump said Friday they would meet in Scotland this weekend in a decisive push to resolve a months-long transatlantic trade standoff.
  • Von der Leyen first announced the meeting, writing on X: "Following a good call with POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." 
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump said Friday they would meet in Scotland this weekend in a decisive push to resolve a months-long transatlantic trade standoff.
In a drive to slash his country's trade deficits, Trump has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariff hikes if they do not hammer out a pact with Washington by August 1.
The EU -- which is facing an across-the-board levy of 30-percent -- has been pushing hard for a deal with Trump's administration, while also planning retaliation should talks fall short.
Von der Leyen first announced the meeting, writing on X: "Following a good call with POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." 
Arriving on UK soil late Friday, Trump confirmed he would meet the head of the European Commission, which has been negotiating with Washington on behalf of the 27-nation bloc.
"I'll be meeting with the EU on Sunday, and we'll be working on a deal," he told reporters as he touched down at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow. 
"Ursula will be here -- a highly respected woman. So we look forward to that," Trump said.
"We'll see if we make a deal," added the president -- who reiterated earlier comments saying the chance of a deal was "50-50", with sticking points remaining on "maybe 20 different things."
"But we're meeting ... with the European Union. And that would be, actually, the biggest deal of them all, if we make it," he said.
The high-level meeting follows months of negotiations between top EU and US trade officials, and days of signals suggesting the sides were moving towards an agreement.
According to multiple European diplomats, the agreement under consideration would involve a baseline 15-percent US levy on EU goods -- the same level secured by Japan this week -- and potential carve-outs for critical sectors.
Von der Leyen's spokesperson Paula Pinho said "intensive negotiations" had been taking place at technical and political level in the run up to Sunday's meeting.
"Leaders will now take stock and consider the scope for a balanced outcome that provides stability and predictability for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic," she said.

'In Trump's hands'

Hit by multiple waves of tariffs since Trump reclaimed the White House, the EU is currently subject to a 25-percent levy on cars, 50 percent on steel and aluminium, and an across-the-board tariff of 10 percent, which Washington threatens to hike to 30 percent in a no-deal scenario.
The EU wants to avoid sweeping tariffs inflicting further harm on the European economy -- already suffering from sluggish growth -- and damaging a trading relationship worth an annual 1.6 trillion euros ($1.9 trillion) in goods and services.
EU member states gave the European Commission a mandate to pursue a deal to avoid hefty US tariffs, with retaliation held out as a last resort if talks fail.
Seeking to keep up the pressure in the final stretch of talks, EU states on Thursday backed a package of retaliation on $109 billion (93 billion euros) of US goods including aircraft and cars -- to kick in in stages from August 7 if there is no deal.
Most states prefer a deal to no deal -- even with undesirable levies of 15 percent -- but exemptions are key, with aircraft, steel, lumber, pharmaceutical products and agricultural goods under discussion, diplomats said.
Concerning steel, diplomats say a compromise could allow a certain quota to enter the United States, with amounts beyond that taxed at 50 percent.
Since launching its tariffs campaign, Trump's administration has so far unveiled just five agreements, including with Britain, Japan and the Philippines.
While EU hopes have been rising for a deal, the approaching August 1 deadline also comes with a sense of deja-vu: earlier this month, EU officials also believed they were on the cusp of a deal, before Trump hiked his tariff threat to 30-percent.
"The final decision is in the hands of President Trump," an EU diplomat stressed this week.
bur-ec/dc/

justice

Disgraced US ex-congressman Santos reports to prison

  • He turned himself in Friday at the federal prison in Fairton, New Jersey, the Bureau of Prisons told AFP. Despite his guilty plea, prosecutors insisted Santos's social media showed his claims of remorse "ring hollow" and Judge Joanna Seybert in April handed down a sentence of seven years and three months.
  • Disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was expelled from the US Congress for using stolen donor cash to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, reported to prison Friday to start his seven-year sentence, authorities said.
  • He turned himself in Friday at the federal prison in Fairton, New Jersey, the Bureau of Prisons told AFP. Despite his guilty plea, prosecutors insisted Santos's social media showed his claims of remorse "ring hollow" and Judge Joanna Seybert in April handed down a sentence of seven years and three months.
Disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was expelled from the US Congress for using stolen donor cash to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, reported to prison Friday to start his seven-year sentence, authorities said.
Santos, 37, had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft for his elaborate grifting while a lawmaker representing New York.
He turned himself in Friday at the federal prison in Fairton, New Jersey, the Bureau of Prisons told AFP.
Despite his guilty plea, prosecutors insisted Santos's social media showed his claims of remorse "ring hollow" and Judge Joanna Seybert in April handed down a sentence of seven years and three months.
The downfall of the congressman from Long Island came after it was revealed he had fabricated almost his entire backstory including his education, religion and work history.
Santos was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2022 and indicted the following year for stealing  campaign donors' identities and using their credit cards, among other charges.
Santos used the stolen funds for Botox treatments and the OnlyFans porn website, as well as luxury Italian goods and vacations to the Hamptons and Las Vegas, according to an investigation by a congressional ethics committee.
Santos's bizarre biographical fabrications included claiming to have worked for Goldman Sachs, being Jewish and having been a college volleyball star.
He was ultimately doomed by the congressional probe that found overwhelming evidence of misconduct and accused him of seeking to "fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy."
Santos was expelled from the House in 2023, becoming only the third person to be ejected as a US lawmaker since the Civil War, a rebuke previously reserved for traitors and convicted criminals.
gw/acb

diplomacy

Trade on agenda as Trump lands in Scotland for diplomacy and golf

BY AURELIA END AND PETER HUTCHISON

  • Police Scotland, which is bracing for mass protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen as well as close to Trump's golf courses, have said there will be a "significant operation across the country over many days".
  • US President Donald Trump landed in Scotland on Friday for a five-day visit set to mix diplomacy, business and leisure, as a huge UK security operation swung into place amid planned protests near his family-owned golf resorts. 
  • Police Scotland, which is bracing for mass protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen as well as close to Trump's golf courses, have said there will be a "significant operation across the country over many days".
US President Donald Trump landed in Scotland on Friday for a five-day visit set to mix diplomacy, business and leisure, as a huge UK security operation swung into place amid planned protests near his family-owned golf resorts. 
The president, whose mother was born in Scotland, will split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, in Turnberry on the southwestern coast and Aberdeen in the northeast.
Air Force One, carrying the president and White House staff, touched down at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow shortly before 8:30 pm (1930 GMT). 
Police officers lined surrounding streets and several hundred curious Scots came out hoping for a glimpse of the US leader as he then made his way to Turnberry by motorcade.
Trump has no public events scheduled for Saturday and is expected to play golf at his picturesque resort, before meeting EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday for trade talks.
Trump is also due to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the trip.
He said the meeting would be "more of a celebration than a workout," appearing to row back on previous comments that a bilateral trade deal struck in May needed "fine tuning".
"The deal is concluded," he told reporters on the tarmac at Prestwick.
But the unpredictable American leader appeared unwilling to cede to a UK request for reduced steel and aluminium tariffs.
Trump has exempted British exports from blanket 50 percent tariffs on both metals, but the fate of that carve-out remains unclear.
"If I do it for one, I have to do it for all," Trump said in Washington before embarking on his flight, when asked if he had any "wiggle room" for the UK on the issue. 
The international outcry over the conflict in Gaza may also be on the agenda, as Starmer faces growing pressure to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and announce that Britain will also recognise a Palestinian state.

Protests

Trump is due to return to the UK in September for a state visit -- his second -- at the invitation of King Charles III, which promises to be lavish.
During a 2023 visit, Trump said he felt at home in Scotland, where his mother Mary Anne MacLeod grew up on the remote Isle of Lewis before emigrating to the United States at age 18.
"He's original, he does things the way he wants to. I think a lot of our politicians could take a good leaf out of his book," 45-year-old Trump fan Lisa Hart told AFP as she waited to see his plane touch down.
But the affection between Trump and Scotland is not always mutual.
Residents, environmentalists and elected officials have voiced discontent over the Trump family's construction of a new golf course, which he is expected to open before he departs the UK on Tuesday.
Police Scotland, which is bracing for mass protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen as well as close to Trump's golf courses, have said there will be a "significant operation across the country over many days".
Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who will also meet Trump during the visit, said the nation "shares a strong friendship with the United States that goes back centuries".
Trump has also stepped into the sensitive debate in the UK about green energy and reaching net zero, with Aberdeen being the heart of Scotland's oil industry.
In May, he wrote on his Truth Social platform that the UK should "stop with the costly and unsightly windmills" as he urged incentivising drilling for oil in the North Sea.

US discontent

The trip to Scotland puts physical distance between Trump and the latest twists in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier accused of sex trafficking who died in prison in 2019 before facing trial.
In his heyday, Epstein was friends with Trump and others in the New York jet-set, but the president is now facing backlash from his own MAGA supporters who demand access to the Epstein case files.
Many support a conspiracy theory under which "deep state" elites protected rich and famous people who took part in an Epstein sex ring. But Trump is urging his supporters to move on from the case.
The Wall Street Journal, which published an article detailing longstanding links between Trump and the sex offender, is being punished by the White House.
Its reporting team plans to travel to Scotland on their own and join the White House press pool. But it has now been denied a seat on Air Force One for the flight back home.
While Trump's family has undertaken many development projects worldwide, the president no longer legally controls the family holdings.
But opponents and watchdog groups have accused him of having many conflicts of interest and using his position as US president to promote private family investments, especially abroad.
aue-jkb-jj-pdh/dc

politics

Fake AI photos of Trump with Epstein flood internet

BY ANUJ CHOPRA

  • At least seven such AI-generated images and one video cumulatively garnered more than 7.2 million views across social media platforms, according to a conservative estimate by disinformation watchdog group NewsGuard.
  • Fake AI-generated photos and videos purporting to show Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein socializing with underage girls have flooded social media, racking up millions of views, researchers said Friday.
  • At least seven such AI-generated images and one video cumulatively garnered more than 7.2 million views across social media platforms, according to a conservative estimate by disinformation watchdog group NewsGuard.
Fake AI-generated photos and videos purporting to show Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein socializing with underage girls have flooded social media, racking up millions of views, researchers said Friday.
The surge in deepfakes comes as the US president -- frequently photographed with Epstein during their 15-year friendship -- attempts to distance himself from the disgraced financier, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. 
One widely circulated AI-generated video appears to show Trump and Epstein leering at a group of young girls dancing, with the song "Is it a Crime?" by the English band Sade added as background music.
At least two other fake photos appear to show the pair on a couch alongside underaged girls.
Another such photograph purports to shows Trump dancing with a teenage girl on Epstein's private island. Overlaying the image is the caption: "Trump was in his 50's when this was taken. What kind of man does that?"
At least seven such AI-generated images and one video cumulatively garnered more than 7.2 million views across social media platforms, according to a conservative estimate by disinformation watchdog group NewsGuard.
The watchdog said it used multiple detection tools, including Hive and IdentifAI, to establish that the content was fabricated using AI tools and the actual number of views was likely much higher than its manual tally of high-engagement posts.
Trump's ties to Epstein are extensive, and the pair were frequently pictured partying together during their friendship before they fell out in 2004 over a property deal.
But there appear to be no known authentic photographs of the pair with underage girls or of Trump visiting Epstein's private island in the Caribbean, NewsGuard said.
AI slop -- low-quality visual content generated using cheap and widely available artificial intelligence tools –- increasingly appears to be flooding social media sites, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
Many content creators on YouTube and TikTok offer paid courses on how to monetize viral AI slop on tech platforms, many of which have reduced their reliance on human fact-checkers and scaled back content moderation.
AI-generated images of Trump spread rapidly after the FBI and Justice Department said in a July 7 memo that there was no proof that Epstein kept a "client list" of elite co-conspirators as conspiracy theorists have contended.
Trump's core Make America Great Again (MAGA) base erupted in anger over the memo, calling on the White House to release the so-called "Epstein files."
Some even within the Republican president's own party have demanded the files be released, but his administration has declined to do so. Fake images appear to be gaining traction in that vacuum.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the president's name was among hundreds found during an official review of the files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.
Trump filed a $10 billion defamation suit against the newspaper last week after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.
ac/sla

law

Trump administration expected to say greenhouse gases aren't harmful

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • That led to the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare, based on overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research.
  • President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to upend a foundational scientific determination about the harms of greenhouse gases that underpins the US government's ability to curb climate change.
  • That led to the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare, based on overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research.
President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to upend a foundational scientific determination about the harms of greenhouse gases that underpins the US government's ability to curb climate change.
A proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to change the so-called "Endangerment Finding" was sent to the White House on June 30, a spokesperson told AFP. 
An announcement is expected imminently. Here's what to know -- and what's at stake if the finding is overturned.

What is the Endangerment Finding?

The Clean Air Act of 1970 empowered the EPA to regulate "air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare."
For decades, the law applied to pollutants like lead, ozone and soot.
But as climate science around the dangers of heat-trapping greenhouse gases advanced in the 2000s, a coalition of states and nonprofit groups petitioned the EPA to include them under the law, focusing on motor vehicles.
The issue reached the Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled that greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants and directed the EPA to revisit its stance.
That led to the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare, based on overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research.
"That 2009 finding formed the basis for all of EPA's subsequent regulations," Meredith Hankins, a senior attorney on climate and energy for the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, told AFP.
"They've issued greenhouse gas standards for tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles, smokestack emissions from power plants -- all of these individual rulemakings trace themselves back to the 2009 Endangerment Finding."

What is the Trump administration doing?

The Endangerment Finding has withstood multiple legal challenges, and although Trump's first administration considered reversing it, they ultimately held back.
But the finding is now a direct target of Project 2025, a far-right governance blueprint closely followed by the administration.
In March, the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a formal reconsideration of the finding.
"The Trump Administration will not sacrifice national prosperity, energy security, and the freedom of our people for an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas," he said.
The government is expected to undo the earlier finding that greenhouse gases endanger public welfare.
It will argue that the economic costs of regulation have been undervalued -- and downplay the role of US motor vehicle emissions in climate change.
In fact, transportation is the largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions.
"If vehicle emissions don't pass muster as a contribution to climate change, it's hard to imagine what would," Dena Adler of the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University told AFP.
"It's fatalistic to avoid taking the many actions that could cumulatively fix climate change, because none of them can individually solve the entire problem."
Since 1970, the United States has emitted more vehicle-based greenhouse gases than the next nine countries combined, according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Integrity that will soon be published in full.

Could they succeed?

In March, the EPA said it would lean on recent court rulings, including a landmark 2024 decision that narrowed federal regulatory power.
Still, legal experts say the administration faces an uphill battle.
"It will take a few years for the rule to be finalized and wind its way up to the Supreme Court for review," said Adler. 
"If EPA loses before the Supreme Court, it gets sent back, and EPA then gets it back to the drawing board" -- by which time Trump's term may be nearing its end.
To succeed, the high court may need to overturn its own 2007 decision that led to the Endangerment Finding.
None of the justices who wrote the majority opinion remain on the bench, while three dissenters -- John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito -- still serve, and could spearhead a drive to upend the original ruling.
Even then, market forces may blunt the impact of any rollback.
"Utilities making long-term investments and companies purchasing capital goods expected to be used for decades won't base those decisions on short-term policy changes," said John Tobin-de la Puente, a professor at Cornell University's business school.
That's especially true when those swings run counter to business trends and could be undone by a future administration, he added.
ia/sst

trade

Trump says '50/50 chance' of US-EU trade deal

  • Von der Leyen said Friday she will meet Trump in Scotland this weekend to address the tariffs standoff.
  • Donald Trump said Friday there was a 50 percent chance of a trade deal with the European Union as the bloc's chief Ursula von der Leyen announced a weekend meeting with the US president.
  • Von der Leyen said Friday she will meet Trump in Scotland this weekend to address the tariffs standoff.
Donald Trump said Friday there was a 50 percent chance of a trade deal with the European Union as the bloc's chief Ursula von der Leyen announced a weekend meeting with the US president.
In an attempt to slash his country's trade deficits, Trump has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariff hikes if they do not hammer out a pact with Washington by August 1.
"I would say that we have a 50/50 chance, maybe less than that, but a 50/50 chance of making a deal with the EU," Trump told reporters before leaving the White House for a trip to Scotland. 
His administration promised "90 deals in 90 days" as it delayed the imposition of higher duties in April, but has so far unveiled just five agreements, including with Britain, Japan and the Philippines.
The EU's 27 countries have been allowing the European Commission to focus on seeking a deal to avoid hefty US tariffs, with Trump threatening 30 percent levies without an accord by month's end.
Brussels and Washington appear to be inching towards a deal with a baseline 15 percent US tariff on EU goods, and potential carve-outs for critical sectors, multiple diplomats have told AFP.
But EU member states on Thursday backed a package of retaliation on $109 billion (93 billion euros) of US goods -- to kick in from August 7 if talks fall short.
Von der Leyen said Friday she will meet Trump in Scotland this weekend to address the tariffs standoff.
"Following a good call with @POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong," she wrote on X.
Trump claimed that most of the deals he was seeking had been completed, although he made clear that he was talking about sending letters imposing tariffs on US trade partners, rather than negotiating free trade agreements.
Tariffs charged on other countries are ultimately passed on as a sales tax to US consumers, because they are paid by importers, not the country supplying the goods or services.
"I don't want to hurt countries, but we're going to send a letter out some time during the week, and it's basically going to say, 'You're going to pay 10 percent, you're going to pay 15 percent, you're going to pay maybe less,' I don't know," Trump told reporters.
Trump said his negotiators were working "diligently" with EU officials, but he added that "we haven't really had a lot of luck" in talks with Canada, which Trump has threatened with a 35 percent tariff. 
The United States and China, Washington's third-biggest partner in goods trade this year, have the "confines of a deal," Trump told reporters.
ft/sst

entertainment

White House lashes out at 'South Park' Trump parody

  • Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars.
  • The White House lashed out at the creators of "South Park" Thursday after the bawdy satire skewered Donald Trump in an episode featuring an AI-generated version of the US president crawling naked through a desert.
  • Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars.
The White House lashed out at the creators of "South Park" Thursday after the bawdy satire skewered Donald Trump in an episode featuring an AI-generated version of the US president crawling naked through a desert.
In a no-holds-barred season premiere, the animated Trump character is also seen begging Satan for sex, only to be rebuffed -- in part because his penis is too small.
The White House was not amused.
"This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention," spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.
"President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history -- and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak."
The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season and remains one of the world's most valuable TV shows.
The season premiere begins with the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by the president, while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school.
Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, animated Trump is threatening to bomb Canada "like I did Iraq."
"I thought you just bombed Iran," the Canadian prime minister replies.
"Iran, Iraq, what the hell's the difference?" replies Trump.
The episode, which sees the fictional Trump ride rough-shod over many aspects of American life, ends after the town of South Park makes a financial deal with the president that includes an agreement to make public service announcements.
The AI generated short that follows -- ostensibly one of those announcements -- shows an overweight Trump staggering through a desert as a narrator casts him as a latter-day Jesus.
The short ends with a naked Trump as the narrator says: "Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large."
At a Thursday panel at pop culture event Comic-Con in San Diego, "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed internal discussions over depicting a fake presidential phallus.
"They're like, 'Okay, but we're gonna blur the penis.' And I'm like, 'No, you're not going to blur the penis'," Parker told the audience. 
After "a whole conversation with a lot of grown up people for about four ... days," Parker said they decided to add eyes to it to avoid it being blurred. 

Merger

The episode aired days after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reportedly penned a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount that gives the company global rights.
The deal comes at a sensitive time for Paramount, which is trying to secure government approval for a multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance.
The CBS parent caused a furor this month when it agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump had brought over an interview the storied "60 Minutes" current affairs program aired with Kamala Harris ahead of last November's election.
The payment was criticized by Democrats as little more than a bribe to help smooth the merger, with Paramount initially dismissing Trump's lawsuit as meritless.
Last week CBS sparked fury after it cancelled "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" whose host is a pointed critic of the president.
The network insisted it was a financial decision, but opponents have painted the move as the latest example of American institutions bowing to Trump.
hg/aks/bur-sla/fox

Epstein

Balancing act for pro-Trump influencers as Epstein furor spirals

BY ANUJ CHOPRA

  • - 'Moving target' - Seeking to redirect attention within the MAGA base -- an echo chamber fueled by constant grievance and outrage -- Trump has launched attacks on familiar enemies: former president Barack Obama and the media.
  • Far-right MAGA influencers are treading a tightrope as outrage escalates over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: they are caught between a fired-up base demanding more information and President Donald Trump, who is eager to turn the page.
  • - 'Moving target' - Seeking to redirect attention within the MAGA base -- an echo chamber fueled by constant grievance and outrage -- Trump has launched attacks on familiar enemies: former president Barack Obama and the media.
Far-right MAGA influencers are treading a tightrope as outrage escalates over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: they are caught between a fired-up base demanding more information and President Donald Trump, who is eager to turn the page.
Trump's core Make America Great Again base has erupted in anger over the White House's handling of the so-called "Epstein files," viewing it as a betrayal by the Republican and his allies who have long championed the unfounded theory that powerful elites orchestrated a massive child sex trafficking cover-up.
Calls for the release of those files could intensify after a US media report on Wednesday said Trump's name was among hundreds found during an official review of documents on Epstein, a claim the White House has denied.
Faced with a choice between alienating a base fervently demanding answers or defying Trump -- who has implored them to move on -- MAGA-aligned influencers and podcasters find themselves in a political bind.
MAGA media are "definitely walking a fine line with the Epstein debacle," Mike Rothschild, an expert on conspiracy theories, told AFP.
"Trump demanding that nobody talk about Epstein should be a betrayal for them. But they're so invested in supporting Trump, and have built their financial support around it, that they really can't do anything but make excuses and tie themselves in knots."
Some MAGA influencers, however, turned sharply critical in recent weeks.
Among them is Rogan O'Handley, who was invited to the White House in February alongside a handful of influencers and presented with binders labeled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1," only to find they offered little new information.
"This is a shameful coverup to protect the most heinous elites," O'Handley told his 2.2 million followers on X earlier this month.
"We were told multiple times the files would be released and now it looks like backroom deals have been made to keep them hidden."

'Fanatically loyal'

Charlie Kirk, a Trump loyalist and podcaster, faced an avalanche of criticism from the MAGA base after he initially said he was "done talking" about Epstein, and added he was going to trust "my friends in the administration."
"Trump's base has been fanatically loyal, and influencers are hesitant about opposing Trump directly if that threatens the size of their audiences," Matt Gertz, senior fellow at the watchdog Media Matters for America, told AFP.
Fueling the MAGA base's anger were conclusions from the Justice Department and FBI that Epstein -- a disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 -- did not maintain a "client list" as conspiracy theorists have contended. Attorney General Pam Bondi emerged as their key target for criticism after announcing no more information would be forthcoming. 
But Trump has defended Bondi, while claiming without evidence on Truth Social that the Epstein files were written by his political rivals "Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the losers and criminals of the Biden administration."
That response prompted disbelief from Benny Johnson, a longtime Trump supporter and right-wing podcaster.
" By admitting that the Epstein Files are real, and that you've read them, and you don't like their contents, and they were written by your enemies, it doesn't make the most compelling case as far as I'm concerned. Holy moly," Johnson said.

'Moving target'

Seeking to redirect attention within the MAGA base -- an echo chamber fueled by constant grievance and outrage -- Trump has launched attacks on familiar enemies: former president Barack Obama and the media.
The White House has promoted the unfounded claim that Obama led a "years-long coup" against Trump around his victorious 2016 election. The former president has rejected the claim.
The White House has also barred The Wall Street Journal from traveling with Trump during his upcoming visit to Scotland, after the newspaper reported that he wrote a bawdy birthday message to Epstein.
Trump on Friday sued the WSJ and its media magnate owner Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion over the allegation in the article, which Trump denies.
Following those moves, Stephen Bannon, host of the influential "War Room" podcast, sought to rally influencers behind Trump, telling US media that the MAGA base was "completely unified because now we're on offense."
"The MAGA media's take on the Epstein case is both fractured and very much a moving target," said Gertz.
"Trump's recent attacks on The Wall Street Journal and new conspiracy theories about Obama seem to be refocusing their attention away from Epstein -- though it's unclear for how long, particularly given the new revelation that Trump himself is named in the files."
ac/dw

television

US regulators greenlight contentious $8 bn Skydance-Paramount merger

  • The Republican president had sued Paramount for $20 billion last year, alleging that CBS News' "60 Minutes" news program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.
  • US regulators on Thursday approved an $8 billion deal for Skydance to acquire Paramount Global amid tumult in the latter's news and late night programming on CBS, a leading American broadcaster.
  • The Republican president had sued Paramount for $20 billion last year, alleging that CBS News' "60 Minutes" news program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.
US regulators on Thursday approved an $8 billion deal for Skydance to acquire Paramount Global amid tumult in the latter's news and late night programming on CBS, a leading American broadcaster.
Clearance of the acquisition comes after Paramount settled US President Donald Trump's lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News' flagship show "60 Minutes," and a week after CBS canceled "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." 
The comedian had blasted the $16 million settlement of Trump's lawsuit as "a big fat bribe" to win approval of the merger with Skydance. 
Colbert's show is slated to end in 2026, and is staple of late-night US television that often mocks Trump.
CBS said in a statement the cancellation was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," and was "not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."
Paramount reached the settlement with Trump this month in a lawsuit the entertainment giant itself had described as meritless.
The Republican president had sued Paramount for $20 billion last year, alleging that CBS News' "60 Minutes" news program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.
To promote the show, "60 Minutes" had shown a shortened clip or "tease" of Harris speaking on earlier network programming, and the full quote was aired on the Sunday evening broadcast. 
Trump objected to the use of the shorter clip.
The FCC chair doubled down on the Trump administration's criticisms of CBS News.
“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly,” Carr said in the statement. “It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”

Suspicious timing?

The FCC's approval of the merger "reeks of the worst form of corruption," Democratic Senators Edward Markey and Ben Ray Lujan said in a joint statement.
"The timing speaks for itself," Markey and Lujan said.
"Paramount settled with Trump on Tuesday and the FCC approved the merger on Thursday."
Markey last week sent a letter to Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone demanding details about the decision to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," specifically whether anyone in the Trump administration asked for the show to be cancelled, according to a copy posted at his official website.
Colbert said on Thursday the cancellation was not just the end of his show but the end of the decades-old "Late Show" franchise, which has been broadcast continuously on CBS since 1993 and was previously hosted by David Letterman.
Trump celebrated the cancellation, writing on his Truth Social platform, "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings."
Trump's political opponents and other critics drew attention to the timing of the decision.
"CBS canceled Colbert's show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump -- a deal that looks like bribery," Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on social media platform X.
Colbert, once a regular on Comedy Central, made use of humor in his incisive political commentary and succeeded Letterman as the host of "The Late Show" in 2015.
The late-night television landscape has long been dominated by satirical comedy shows that blend entertainment with news and political commentary. 
As a condition of approval, Skydance will put in place an "ombudsman" who will evaluate complaints of bias, according to Carr.
"Skydance, which has no DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs in place today, has committed that it will not establish any such initiatives at the new company," Carr said in a release.
gc/sla