US

Iranian delegation in Pakistan for talks with US, Vance on his way

BY AFP TEAMS IN ISLAMABAD, TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, BEIRUT AND WASHINGTON

  • Iranian state television said the delegation was led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and reiterated Iran's position that talks would only begin if Washington accepts its preconditions -- a Lebanon ceasefire and the unfreezing of Iran's assets.
  • Iran's delegation arrived in Pakistan on Friday for ceasefire negotiations with the United States as Tehran insisted on a truce in Lebanon and release of its blocked assets for the talks to go ahead.
  • Iranian state television said the delegation was led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and reiterated Iran's position that talks would only begin if Washington accepts its preconditions -- a Lebanon ceasefire and the unfreezing of Iran's assets.
Iran's delegation arrived in Pakistan on Friday for ceasefire negotiations with the United States as Tehran insisted on a truce in Lebanon and release of its blocked assets for the talks to go ahead.
US Vice President JD Vance warned Iran meanwhile not to try to "play" Washington as he headed to Islamabad to represent the United States.
Despite the temporary truce struck between the foes, deep disagreements remain as to the way forward in talks aimed at transforming the fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace deal.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said making progress would be hard work.
"A temporary ceasefire has been announced, but now an even more difficult stage lies ahead: the stage of achieving a lasting ceasefire, of resolving complicated issues through negotiations," he said. "This is that stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of 'make or break.'"
Iranian state television said the delegation was led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and reiterated Iran's position that talks would only begin if Washington accepts its preconditions -- a Lebanon ceasefire and the unfreezing of Iran's assets.
Israel continued to carry out air strikes in Lebanon on Friday and Lebanon's State Security agency said an attack on the southern city of Nabatiyeh had killed 13 of its personnel.
Lebanon's health ministry meanwhile raised the provisional death toll from massive Israeli strikes across the country on Wednesday to 357 dead and 1,223 wounded.
Lebanon's presidency said a meeting would be held with Israel in Washington next week to discuss a ceasefire in the Israeli war against Iran-backed Hezbollah and the potential start of negotiations between the neighbours.

'Open hand'

Vance, speaking to reporters before taking off for Islamabad, said "if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand."
But "if they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive," he said.
Official sources say the talks in Islamabad will cover several sensitive points, including Iran's nuclear enrichment and the free flow of trade through the crucial oil conduit, the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the ceasefire took effect, President Donald Trump has voiced displeasure at Iran's handling of the strait, which was meant to be reopened, while Tehran has reacted angrily to the continuing Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
Trump posted on his Truth Social network on Friday that Iran has "no cards" in the talks "other than a short-term extortion of the World by using International Waterways."
In Islamabad, all routes leading to the Serena Hotel, the expected venue for the talks, were blocked off with heavy security, while a large banner and digital signs along the expressway heralded the "Islamabad Talks."

'Pure noise'

One 30-year-old resident of Tehran told AFP he was skeptical negotiations would be successful, describing most of what Trump says as "pure noise and nonsense."
"He wants to manipulate the Islamic republic into getting a deal. I think that was his intention, if you can say there is an intention."
A fifth of the world's oil and vast quantities of natural gas and fertilizer pass through the Strait of Hormuz in peacetime, but only a small number of vessels have crossed since the truce was announced earlier this week.
The two-week ceasefire was agreed to allow time for negotiations aimed at ending a conflict that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.
"I am scared of the war starting again, and at the same time I'm scared of the regime staying," Tehran resident Sheida told AFP, withholding her last name out of concern for her safety.
As Israel continued to carry out air strikes in Lebanon, the Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired around 30 projectiles from Lebanon into its territory on Friday.
Hezbollah said it had targeted Israel's Ashdod naval base with missiles "in response to the enemy's violation of the ceasefire and its repeated attacks on Beirut."
Trump told NBC News on Thursday that Israel was "scaling back" strikes in Lebanon and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had assured him its attacks would become more "low-key."
A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that there was ongoing "pressure from European states, Gulf states and Egypt on Israel to prevent renewed Israeli airstrikes on Beirut after 'Black Wednesday.'"
burs/cl/md

inflation

US inflation surges to 3.3% as Iran war impact bites

BY MYRIAM LEMETAYER

  • But experts predicted more economic pain ahead due to the war in Iran, especially for middle and lower-income households already squeezed by rising energy and airfare prices.
  • Inflation in the United States rose sharply in March, government data showed Friday, as higher energy prices due to the war in the Middle East hit Americans hard.
  • But experts predicted more economic pain ahead due to the war in Iran, especially for middle and lower-income households already squeezed by rising energy and airfare prices.
Inflation in the United States rose sharply in March, government data showed Friday, as higher energy prices due to the war in the Middle East hit Americans hard.
The nationwide sticker shock put pressure on President Donald Trump, who has ordered peace talks with Iran and faces mid-term elections in November.
The rate of inflation rose to 3.3 percent year-on-year in March, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). By comparison, this same consumer price index (CPI) was 2.4 percent year-on-year a month earlier.
Gasoline prices surged by 21.2 percent between February and March -- the largest monthly increase since the government began publishing a related index in 1967, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said.
Markets had anticipated the surge, according to the consensus published by MarketWatch.
The United States and Israel began bombing Iran on February 28 and Tehran retaliated by blocking traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway used to carry a fifth of the world's oil and gas deliveries.
Despite being the world's top producer of crude oil, the United States also felt the pain, as prices at the gas pump shot up. 
A gallon (3.78 liters) of regular gasoline currently costs an average of $4.15 in the United States, compared to approximately $3 just before the war.
The Trump administration -- elected in part on a promise to quash inflation -- maintains that the war's economic disruptions will be temporary.

More price pain ahead

Reacting to the data, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the US economy "remains on a solid trajectory." 
Economic advisor Kevin Hassett claimed some wins for the White House, citing drops in the price of eggs, beef and concert tickets on Fox News.
US Vice President JD Vance said he hoped for a "positive" outcome as he departed Washington for US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan this weekend.
But experts predicted more economic pain ahead due to the war in Iran, especially for middle and lower-income households already squeezed by rising energy and airfare prices.
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said that inflation soared in March to the highest level in almost two years.
"This is only the beginning. Food prices, travel and shipping costs are all going up in April and will exacerbate the pain," she said.
"March CPI was as expected, so no surprises. But there is a huge increase in fuel prices, boosting inflation," Christopher Low of FHN Financial told AFP.
"And we got the news last night that the ceasefire is not being honored by either side, apparently," he said. "There's still very little traffic through the Strait of Hormuz."
Some economists calculate the oil price surge will cost each US household at least $350 per household.
Consumer sentiment also dipped sharply -- 11 percent -- this month, according to a University of Michigan survey.
During the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting in mid-March, Chairman Jerome Powell said that the war risked delaying efforts to bring inflation under control in the United States. 
The US central bank's target for inflation is two percent -- an objective it has not met in five years due to the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine and tariffs.
myl-ksb/bgs

election

Harris teases comeback as Democrats eye 2028 US election

  • The Democrat -- defeated in 2024 by Donald Trump in a tumultuous presidential election -- was asked if she would run again in 2028 and electrified the crowd of party activists in New York when she replied: "I might, I might -- I'm thinking about it." 
  • Former US vice president Kamala Harris on Friday delivered her clearest signal yet that she may mount another bid for the White House, telling a Democratic audience she is thinking about running in 2028.
  • The Democrat -- defeated in 2024 by Donald Trump in a tumultuous presidential election -- was asked if she would run again in 2028 and electrified the crowd of party activists in New York when she replied: "I might, I might -- I'm thinking about it." 
Former US vice president Kamala Harris on Friday delivered her clearest signal yet that she may mount another bid for the White House, telling a Democratic audience she is thinking about running in 2028.
Speaking at a convention hosted by civil rights leader Al Sharpton's National Action Network, the 61-year-old stopped short of a formal declaration but left little doubt she is weighing a third campaign.
The Democrat -- defeated in 2024 by Donald Trump in a tumultuous presidential election -- was asked if she would run again in 2028 and electrified the crowd of party activists in New York when she replied: "I might, I might -- I'm thinking about it." 
Having served four years a "heartbeat away" from the presidency under Joe Biden, Harris said she understands the demands of the job -- and argued that the current political and economic landscape is failing many Americans. 
"I spent countless hours in my West Wing office, footsteps away from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room. I know what the job is. And I know what it requires," she said.
Harris has maintained a relatively low profile since her 2024 defeat, but has been easing back into the spotlight with a series of appearances and trips across southern states. 
Allies say she remains undecided but is taking steps to preserve the option of a campaign.
The National Action Network event has emerged as an early proving ground for 2028 hopefuls, with Black voters -- a cornerstone of the Democratic base -- expected to play a decisive role in choosing the party's nominee. 
Harris used the platform to launch a broad critique of Trump's leadership, telling the crowd: "The status quo is not working, and hasn't been working for a lot of people for a long time." 
Early polling suggests that she begins the shadow 2028 race with a significant advantage in name recognition. But with several prominent Democrats testing the waters, her path to the nomination -- if she runs -- is far from guaranteed.
"The American people have right to expect that anyone who wants to run for office and be a leader, that it can't be about themselves and what they want for themselves," Harris added.
"It's got to be about the American people, and that's how I think of it."
bur-ft/ksb

US

Trump says Iran has 'no cards' beyond Hormuz control

BY DANNY KEMP

  • Iran and the United States said the crucial channel would reopen after a two-week truce was announced on Tuesday, but Tehran's threats mean very few ships are passing through.
  • President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has "no cards" in upcoming talks with the United States -- apart from Tehran's effective stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.
  • Iran and the United States said the crucial channel would reopen after a two-week truce was announced on Tuesday, but Tehran's threats mean very few ships are passing through.
President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has "no cards" in upcoming talks with the United States -- apart from Tehran's effective stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.
"The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!" 
In a separate social media message, the 79-year-old US leader added: "The Iranians are better at handling the Fake News Media, and 'Public Relations,' than they are at fighting!"
Control of the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's crude oil passes, will be at the heart of peace talks between the United States and Iran in Pakistan on Saturday.
Iran and the United States said the crucial channel would reopen after a two-week truce was announced on Tuesday, but Tehran's threats mean very few ships are passing through.
Trump said on Thursday that Iran was doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the waterway, adding: "That is not the agreement we have!"
His "no cards" comments about Iran echoed his notorious broadside at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February when he raged that "you don't have the cards" against Russia.
Separately on Friday, Trump told the New York Post that US warships are being reloaded with weaponry to strike Iran if the talks fail to produce a deal.
"We have a reset going. We're loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made -- even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart," the Post quoted Trump as saying by telephone.
"And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively."
In a brief and cryptic social media message earlier, Trump had spoken of the "WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!!"
Vice President JD Vance headed to Islamabad on Friday to lead the US delegation in this weekend's talks with Iran, warning Tehran not to "play" Washington.
"We're going to try to have a positive negotiation," Vance told reporters before take-off from Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
"If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."
In addition to the Strait of Hormuz, other sticking points include US demands that Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and Iran's aim to prevent further US and Israeli attacks.
dk/md

Trump

From politics to punches: Biden Jr challenges Trump sons to cage fight

  • Details of the proposed showdown remain hazy, including whether the elder Trump brothers would fight together or separately, and where such an event might take place.
  • US politics already feels like a contact sport, but one of Washington's most bitter political feuds may literally be headed to the mat after former president Joe Biden's son challenged the two eldest Trump brothers to a cage fight.
  • Details of the proposed showdown remain hazy, including whether the elder Trump brothers would fight together or separately, and where such an event might take place.
US politics already feels like a contact sport, but one of Washington's most bitter political feuds may literally be headed to the mat after former president Joe Biden's son challenged the two eldest Trump brothers to a cage fight.
After years of verbal sparring, Hunter Biden said in a video posted online Thursday he would be "100 percent in" for a bout against President Donald Trump's sons Don Jr and Eric, potentially turning the long-running grudge between the families into a pay‑per‑view spectacle.
Channel 5, run by left-wing social media influencer Andrew Callaghan, posted a video to its Instagram Thursday featuring the younger Biden explaining that he would be appearing in several venues on the media company's upcoming US tour.
"I think he's trying to organize a cage match, me versus Eric and Don Jr. I told him I'd do it -- 100 percent in, if he can pull it off," Biden said.
Details of the proposed showdown remain hazy, including whether the elder Trump brothers would fight together or separately, and where such an event might take place.
There has so far been no public response from Don Jr or Eric -- who, at 48 and 42 respectively, have an age advantage over their 56-year-old putative opponent.
The rivalry between the current White House occupant and his predecessor -- sharpened when Biden beat Trump in the 2020 election -- has been marked by unusually personal attacks and escalating rhetoric.
Trump has repeatedly derided his Democratic foe with nicknames such as "Sleepy Joe" and accused his administration -- without evidence -- of fixing the 2020 election and "weaponizing" federal agencies against Republicans. 
Biden, for his part, has cast Trump as a threat to democratic norms and once said he would have wanted to "beat the hell" out of the billionaire Republican over his crude comments about women if they'd been at high school together.
Any clash of the younger generation would echo a long history of personal feuds in US politics -- from the 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton to the much-hyped but never-realized 2023 cage match between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
With mixed martial arts enjoying a surge in popularity -- and even an Ultimate Fighting Championship event planned for the White House grounds later this year -- the line between politics and spectacle in Washington appears blurrier than ever.
Callaghan suggested the cage match may have been floated partly in jest, according to USA TODAY, but said he would be "more than happy" to arrange the contest if all sides were willing to step into the octagon.
ft/md

US

Middle East war: global economic fallout

  • Gasoline prices alone surged 21.2 percent between February and March -- the largest monthly increase since the government began publishing a related index in 1967.
  • Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war: - US inflation surges - Inflation in the United States rose sharply in March, government data showed, as higher energy prices due to the war in the Middle East hit Americans hard. 
  • Gasoline prices alone surged 21.2 percent between February and March -- the largest monthly increase since the government began publishing a related index in 1967.
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war:

US inflation surges

Inflation in the United States rose sharply in March, government data showed, as higher energy prices due to the war in the Middle East hit Americans hard. 
Prices rose 3.3 percent year-on-year in March, much faster than the 2.4 percent registered in February. Gasoline prices alone surged 21.2 percent between February and March -- the largest monthly increase since the government began publishing a related index in 1967.

Stocks rise, oil steady

Stocks rose and oil was steady as investors remained guardedly optimistic about the US-Iran ceasefire ahead of planned weekend talks.
European indices were up about half a percent in late afternoon trading, with prices on Wall Street also up but by not as much.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate were hovering under $100 a barrel.

Lebanon faces food shortages

The United Nations warned Friday that food insecurity was on the rise in Lebanon, with prices surging and supply chains disrupted as Israel has continued military strikes on the country.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said the entire food system in Lebanon was reeling from the conflict, with Israel launching its heaviest strikes on the country this week.

Total refinery shut

French energy giant TotalEnergies said it had shut down a major refinery in Saudi Arabia after it was damaged during the war.
The Saudi energy ministry said there had been "multiple attacks" recently on its oil and gas sites, including the SATORP refinery, a joint venture of TotalEnergies and the Saudi state-owned Aramco group.
No details on production impacts, nor the type of attack, were disclosed.

EU considers windfall tax

The EU said it was looking into calls for a tax on windfall profits of energy companies to respond to the surge in prices caused by the Iran war.
The finance ministers of Spain, Austria, Germany, Italy and Portugal urged Brussels take the measure to ease the burden on consumers in a letter published last week.

Ireland to meet farmers

The Irish government was set to hold talks Friday with agricultural and haulage representatives, as days of protests over spiralling fuel prices sparked warnings over supplies, including for emergency services.
The demonstrations began Tuesday over the soaring cost of petrol and diesel amid the Middle East war, with protesters partly blocking Ireland's only oil refinery and restricting access to at least two other fuel depots.

IMF warns of 'scarring effects'

The International Monetary Fund will lower global growth forecasts because of the war, said managing director Kristalina Georgieva, warning of the conflict's "scarring effects" despite the fragile ceasefire.
Georgieva said the IMF expected to have to provide up to $50 billion in immediate financial assistance to countries affected by the war.
She added that food insecurity because of transport and supply chain disruptions caused by the war was expected to affect at least 45 million people and "even in a best case, there will be no neat and clean return" to the way things were before the conflict.
burs-gv/giv

Israel

On Iran truce, all sides want bigger China role, but does China?

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • But Morris said that China in the end had fewer interests at play than the United States, Iran, Israel or Gulf states.
  • For decades, the United States has cast itself as the guarantor of stability in the Middle East, allying militarily with Gulf Arab states as well as Israel and brushing aside global rival China's aspirations for a greater role.
  • But Morris said that China in the end had fewer interests at play than the United States, Iran, Israel or Gulf states.
For decades, the United States has cast itself as the guarantor of stability in the Middle East, allying militarily with Gulf Arab states as well as Israel and brushing aside global rival China's aspirations for a greater role.
The US-Israeli attack on Iran shattered the veneer of a US-led order in the Gulf: Tehran has not been deterred by the US military presence but in fact attacked oil-rich and once proudly safe Arab monarchies because of it.
China, at least to some extent, helped to halt the conflict. But paradoxically, Beijing is not taking a victory lap, reflecting what experts say is its calculation that it has much to risk from greater involvement and that it gains from the post-war situation, in which the United States appears weakened but still committed to Gulf security.
President Donald Trump, speaking to AFP, credited China with pushing Iran to accept the two-week ceasefire, barely an hour before a deadline was to expire on his genocidal threat to destroy all of Iranian civilization.
The account was confirmed by a senior Pakistani official source who said that China "stepped in and convinced Iran" just as hopes were fading.
But China's own statements have been circumspect, saying it backs the ceasefire but hardly trumpeting its own diplomacy.
Yun Sun, director of the China program of the Washington-based Stimson Center, said China's reticence was out of character and suspected Iran may have strategically tried to emphasize Beijing's power of persuasion.
"Iran has singled out China as a potential security guarantor so there is an incentive on the part of Iran in presenting the optics of China playing an oversized role, in the hope that China would then be accountable for the implementation of the ceasefire," she said.
"China doesn't provide security guarantees and how do you even try to guarantee something with President Trump? It would just create problems for China down the road," she said.
Vice President JD Vance will open talks Saturday with Iran in Pakistan, which has close relations with China and has also been aggressively courting Trump, in part as it seeks support against India.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China "welcomes all efforts conducive to peace and supports Pakistan in actively undertaking mediation."
"As a responsible major power, China will continue to play a constructive role and make efforts to de-escalate tensions and quell the conflict," he said.

Major economic interests

China, the world's second largest economy, imports about half of its oil needs from the Middle East but has reduced reliance by embracing renewable energy. 
China is the biggest defier of years of unilateral US sanctions on Iranian oil. China now stands to benefit after Iran exerted control over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway for tankers into and out of the Gulf.
In 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia restored diplomatic ties in a meeting in Beijing, although the United States, then led by President Joe Biden, downplayed China's role.
"China's strategy in the Middle East has been masterful. It has dominated business and never fired a single bullet, but with the changes in the region it knows it needs a political element," a diplomat from a Middle East country said.
Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, said Trump may also want to give credit to China to sweeten the mood and press other demands when he visits Beijing next month.
But Morris said that China in the end had fewer interests at play than the United States, Iran, Israel or Gulf states.
"China's not a primary actor here," Morris said. "Ultimately, it's a supporting role, just by the nature of their capacity and their stakes in the conflict."

Not challenging US order

China, despite railing against US dominance, has little history of military deployments outside of Asia and is unlikely to seek to replace the US security presence in the Middle East.
For China, it is more important to keep forces near the South China Sea and Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy it claims, said Henry Tugendhat, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who studies China's role in the region.
"At the end of the day, China's greatest interest in the region is simply stability for the economic relations it seeks to foster with the region," he said.
"So it may yet accept a return to US security guarantees as their least bad option but that also depends on what's negotiated by all parties at the conclusion of this conflict."
sct/dw

economy

Pay fears grow for US security workers in shutdown

  • "There is a feeling of increasing anxiety and uncertainty," a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees told politics news outlet The Hill.
  • Thousands of US homeland security employees are facing growing uncertainty over their pay after being told Friday's check could be their last until a record-long partial government shutdown is ended.
  • "There is a feeling of increasing anxiety and uncertainty," a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees told politics news outlet The Hill.
Thousands of US homeland security employees are facing growing uncertainty over their pay after being told Friday's check could be their last until a record-long partial government shutdown is ended.
A memo from the federal government warned staff that without congressional action, funding gaps could halt future checks, US media reported, deepening anxiety among workers already strained by weeks of disruption.
The warning appeared to apply broadly across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), though confusion quickly emerged over whether Transportation Security Administration officers -- who screen passengers at US airports -- would be affected.
The DHS is one of the largest government agencies, employing more than 260,000 people across a wide range of roles including airport security, border enforcement, disaster response and cybersecurity. 
President Donald Trump ordered the department to find funds to compensate essential workers required to stay on the job, allowing some back pay to be issued in recent weeks. But officials say those stopgap measures may not be sustainable if the shutdown drags on.
Union representatives say mixed messaging has left employees unsure whether they can rely on upcoming paychecks.
"There is a feeling of increasing anxiety and uncertainty," a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees told politics news outlet The Hill.
The shutdown, which enters its eighth week on Saturday, stems from a standoff in Congress over immigration enforcement and border security funding, with Democrats seeking new limits on federal agencies and Republicans pushing to secure longer-term financing.
The impasse means tens of thousands of federal workers have either been sent home or are working without guaranteed pay, with some relying on loans, food banks or second jobs to make ends meet.
At the TSA, the strain has already disrupted operations. Absences surged at major airports earlier in the shutdown, and hundreds of officers have resigned since February, according to officials.
DHS workers have been informed in a memo from department heads that they are slated to receive a check on Friday for back pay up until April 4.
But they were warned not to expect further pay until Congress restores DHS funding. 
Authorities warn that continued uncertainty could trigger further staffing shortages, potentially disrupting travel in the coming months, including during major events such as the FIFA World Cup.
Congress is set to return from recess next week, when lawmakers will face renewed pressure to reach a deal.
Republican leaders are weighing a party-line funding package for parts of DHS, though divisions within the party and uncertainty over White House support could complicate efforts to end the shutdown quickly.
ft/ksb

politics

Melania Trump blasts 'lies' linking her to Epstein

BY DANNY KEMP

  • "I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims.
  • US First Lady Melania Trump made a surprise statement on Thursday denying any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, or that she herself was a victim of the convicted sex offender.
  • "I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims.
US First Lady Melania Trump made a surprise statement on Thursday denying any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, or that she herself was a victim of the convicted sex offender.
The 55-year-old's rare on-camera remarks at the White House came out of the blue, in an extraordinary intervention in a scandal that has long haunted her husband President Donald Trump.
"The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today," she said. "The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect."
It was not clear why the Slovenian-born former model decided to give the public statement, and she did not detail any specific allegations about her and the late, convicted sex offender.
Melania and Donald Trump had previously been photographed with Epstein, but she said that she had met her husband independently two years prior to meeting Epstein.
"I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump," Melania Trump said.
She said "fake images and statements about Epstein and me" had been circulating on social media "for years now. Be cautious about what you believe: these images and stories are completely false."
The first lady also urged Congress to hold a public hearing for survivors of Epstein's abuse to "give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath."
But some Epstein survivors and their families, including the brother of Epstein's main accuser Virginia Giuffre, called the speech a "deflection of responsibility."
"First Lady Melania Trump is now shifting the burden onto survivors under political conditions that protect those with power" including "the Trump Administration, which has still not fully complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act," according to a joint statement posted on social media.
Two of Epstein's accusers, sisters Maria and Annie Farmer told US media in a separate statement: "We can't speak for other survivors, but what we want is accountability, transparency and justice."
The sisters called for the release of "the remaining records held by the Department of Justice -- including my complete FBI records from 1996."
Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors, but the scandal has repeatedly overshadowed Trump's second presidency.

'Epstein's abuse'

The US Justice Department has over the past year released huge tranches of files related to Epstein. Trump, 79, has also denied any link to Epstein's crimes.
One widely-seen picture in the files showed Donald and Melania Trump at their Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida along with Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
"I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims. I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant. Was never on Epstein's plane, and never visited his private island," Melania Trump said.
"I have never been legally accused or convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein sex trafficking, abuse of minors and other repulsive behavior."
Democrat Suhas Subramanyam, who sits on the congressional committee probing Epstein, called on Melania Trump to "testify under oath."
Speculation ran riot on social media about why the US first lady had decided to put the Epstein scandal back in the headlines after weeks of relative quiet.
It comes just two days after her husband announced a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran, which critics say has left the crucial Strait of Hormuz still largely shuttered by Tehran.
Melania Trump has long been an elusive and often mysterious presence at the White House, who only rarely gives public remarks of the kind she delivered on Thursday.
Donald Trump told MS Now that he didn't "know anything about" the statement ahead of time.
The last time the first lady was seen with her husband was at an Easter Egg Roll with hundreds of children on Monday.
bur-aks/hol

US

Pakistan prepares to host US-Iran talks, as Lebanon fighting continues

BY AFP TEAMS IN ISLAMABAD, TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, BEIRUT, WASHINGTON AND DUBAI

  • Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country later that day.
  • Pakistan was poised on Friday to host Iranian and US delegations for negotiations in its capital, although Tehran's participation remained uncertain after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon threatened this week's temporary truce.
  • Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country later that day.
Pakistan was poised on Friday to host Iranian and US delegations for negotiations in its capital, although Tehran's participation remained uncertain after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon threatened this week's temporary truce.
Separately, Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week, a State Department official said, amid mounting international concern that Israel's bombing campaign could shatter the already fragile two-week US-Iran ceasefire.
Islamabad was pressing ahead with its preparations for the high-stakes negotiations, which official sources say will canvass several sensitive points, including Iran's nuclear enrichment and the free flow of trade through the strategic Strit of Hormuz maritime chokepoint.
But, even as security was ramped up in Islamabad and the main luxury hotel hosting delegates was cleared of its normal well-heeled guests, Iran signalled that its participation could hinge on a halt in Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
"The holding of talks to end the war is dependent on the US adhering to its ceasefire commitments on all fronts, especially in Lebanon," Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, said.
"If the travel plan is finalised, the composition of the delegation will also be announced," he added. 
Nevertheless, Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards signalled they were committing to the ceasefire, according to the state broadcaster.
"We would like to inform you that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have not launched anything at any country during the ceasefire hours until now," the Guards said. 
On Wednesday, Israel's heaviest strikes on Lebanon since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March killed hundreds, rattling the uneasy ceasefire between Washington and Tehran less than 48 hours after it came into force.
Pakistan has insisted that Lebanon is included in the ceasefire, and Washington made a push to include Beirut in parallel talks.
"We can confirm that the Department will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon," a US State Department official said.
Neither Israel nor the Lebanese government have publicly confirmed these talks, although the announcement came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct dialogue with Lebanon focused on disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah. 
A Lebanese government official told AFP that Beirut would require a truce before entering any negotiations with Israel.
Attacks continued overnight, with air raid sirens in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv and other parts of the country and Hezbollah announcing it carried out drone and rocket strikes early on Friday on Israeli forces on both sides of the border as well as a town in Israel's north. 

'They're wrong'

Israel's refusal to halt operations in Lebanon has cast a shadow over the expected talks in Pakistan where many roads in the capital were closed on Friday during a two-day public holiday that turned the city into a ghost town as it prepared for delegates' arrival.
The two-week truce was agreed to allow negotiations between US and Iranian officials aimed at ending a conflict that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.
Iranian officials said Israel's strikes had rendered the Pakistan talks "meaningless" and that Lebanon was an "inseparable part of the ceasefire." 
Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country later that day.
Still, Vice President JD Vance is due to lead the US delegation on Saturday, joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Fresh fractures in the mediation process emerged when Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote a sharp criticism of Israel's strikes on Lebanon Thursday evening, in a post taken down hours later on Friday.
"Israel is evil and a curse for humanity -- while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon," he wrote on X, adding that he hoped "people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land" would "burn in hell."
The Israeli Prime Minister's office called the remarks outrageous, saying: "This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace."
Pakistan does not formally recognise Israel -- a fact that could complicate its role as mediator -- and has insisted the ceasefire includes Lebanon, which Israel disputes.
Fearing the truce may be in jeopardy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz -- echoing worries in other capitals -- warned that the destruction in Lebanon could cause "the peace process as a whole to fail."
Netanyahu, who insists Lebanon is not covered by the ceasefire, said his message was clear: "Anyone who acts against Israeli civilians, we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary."
Trump told NBC News that Israel was "scaling back" strikes in Lebanon and that Netanyahu had assured him its attacks would become more "low-key."

'Poor job'

If the talks go ahead, a key point of contention remains the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil as well as vast quantities of natural gas and fertiliser pass in peacetime.
Trump accused Iran of doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the strait and of breaching the terms of their ceasefire agreement. 
In a barrage of social media posts that sparked fresh fears for the shaky truce, he also warned Tehran against imposing a toll on ships passing through the crucial waterway.
"Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonourable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said on Truth Social. "That is not the agreement we have!"
MarineTraffic data showed that the Gabon-flagged MSG passed through the strait on Thursday, the first non-Iranian oil tanker to do so since the ceasefire was announced.
bur-arp/sla/ceg/dc

US

Trump slams right-wing commentators who oppose Iran war

  • All four have vocally criticized Trump over the war, slamming him for abandoning his anti-war campaign promises and -- to varying degrees -- accusing him of bowing to pressure from Israel to launch the conflict.
  • US President Donald Trump on Thursday angrily lashed out at multiple well-known conservative commentators who have criticized his war against Iran, slamming his onetime allies as attention-seeking "NUT JOBS." "They're stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!"
  • All four have vocally criticized Trump over the war, slamming him for abandoning his anti-war campaign promises and -- to varying degrees -- accusing him of bowing to pressure from Israel to launch the conflict.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday angrily lashed out at multiple well-known conservative commentators who have criticized his war against Iran, slamming his onetime allies as attention-seeking "NUT JOBS."
"They're stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!" Trump wrote in a nearly 500-word social media diatribe.
In the president's crosshairs were Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly -- two former Fox News hosts turned independent podcasters -- as well as Candace Owens and Alex Jones, also podcasters and prominent conspiracy theorists.
All four have vocally criticized Trump over the war, slamming him for abandoning his anti-war campaign promises and -- to varying degrees -- accusing him of bowing to pressure from Israel to launch the conflict.
Their criticism has highlighted a divide among Trump's supporters over the war, a potential major political risk for the Republican Party heading into the November midterm elections.
"They don't have what it takes, and they never did! They've all been thrown off Television, lost their Shows, and aren't even invited on TV because nobody cares about them, they're NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some 'free' and cheap publicity," he complained.
While all four have been backers of the president's "Make America Great Again" movement, some have feuded with the president.
During Trump's first presidential campaign, Kelly -- then a Fox News host -- asked the billionaire businessman and reality TV star about disparaging remarks he had made against women.
Trump retorted with a joke about comedian Rosie O'Donnell, his longtime nemesis, and later prompted controversy by seeming to suggest that Kelly had asked the tough question because she was menstruating.
"You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever," Trump said at the time.
Trump referred to the saga on Thursday, saying Kelly "nastily asked me the now famous" question.
He also personally attacked the other three, slamming Carlson for not obtaining a college degree, saying he hoped French First Lady Brigitte Macron wins her defamation suit against Owens, and that Jones deserved to go bankrupt after losing his own suit over calling a mass school shooting a hoax.
Owens, 36, has accused France's first lady of being a man.
"Actually, to me, the First Lady of France is a far more beautiful woman than Candace, in fact, it's not even close!" Trump wrote Thursday.
Owens snapped back with a short post on X.
"It may be time to put Grandpa up in a home," she said.
Jones, for his part, said on X that he has "made it very clear that I no longer support Trump and I'm very thankful to him for making it clear that I have nothing to do with him."
"The new Trump is a rotting husk of the old Trump," he added.
des/sla

defense

Pentagon violating court order on press access, US judge says

  • "The Department disagrees with the Court's ruling and intends to appeal," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote Thursday on X. "The Department has at all times complied with the Court's Order -- it reinstated the PFACs of every journalist identified in the Order and issued a materially revised policy that addressed every concern the Court identified in its March 20 Opinion."
  • The Pentagon has failed to comply with a court order to restore press access, a federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting new restrictions put in place by the department after its prior rules were deemed unconstitutional.
  • "The Department disagrees with the Court's ruling and intends to appeal," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote Thursday on X. "The Department has at all times complied with the Court's Order -- it reinstated the PFACs of every journalist identified in the Order and issued a materially revised policy that addressed every concern the Court identified in its March 20 Opinion."
The Pentagon has failed to comply with a court order to restore press access, a federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting new restrictions put in place by the department after its prior rules were deemed unconstitutional.
As part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by the New York Times, the court ruled in March that the Pentagon's changes last year to press access -- which saw credentials from a host of prominent outlets stripped -- violated the constitution.
However, the Pentagon responded to the March ruling with even tighter restrictions.
"The very next business day, the Department announced that it was immediately closing the 'Correspondents' Corridor' -- the area in the Pentagon from which journalists had worked for years," Judge Paul Friedman noted in his Thursday order.
The Pentagon also moved to fully bar journalists from entering the sprawling military headquarters without an official escort. Instead, a new workspace would be provided "in an annex facility."
For decades, vetted journalists from prominent outlets have been granted badges that allow them to freely move through parts of the Pentagon to engage with officials and public affairs staff.
The Defense Department has cited security risks for the tighter restrictions.
Friedman wrote Thursday that the tightened restrictions, "are not security measures or efforts to make good on prior commitments but rather transparent attempts to negate the impact of this Court's Order."
"The Department disagrees with the Court's ruling and intends to appeal," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote Thursday on X.
"The Department has at all times complied with the Court's Order -- it reinstated the PFACs of every journalist identified in the Order and issued a materially revised policy that addressed every concern the Court identified in its March 20 Opinion."
Friedman, in his latest order, said that the Defense Department must permit the Times' journalists and "all regulated parties" access to the Pentagon.
Pentagon press access has become a flashpoint in broader tensions between the media and the Trump administration, with officials frequently lashing out at coverage it views as displeasing.
Among other measures, last year the Defense Department forced eight prominent outlets to vacate their workspace to make room for new, mostly conservative outlets.
AFP, alongside the Times, Fox News, the AP, and others have refused to sign the new policy, which resulted in the stripping of their Pentagon credentials.
pnb/des

politics

Pentagon denies giving Vatican envoy 'bitter lecture'

  • In a speech in January, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, denounced what he called "diplomacy based on force" and in his Easter blessing he urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to "choose peace."
  • The Pentagon on Thursday denied a report that the Vatican's US envoy was summoned in January for a "bitter" dressing down over remarks by Pope Leo that were seen as criticizing the Trump administration’s use of military force.
  • In a speech in January, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, denounced what he called "diplomacy based on force" and in his Easter blessing he urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to "choose peace."
The Pentagon on Thursday denied a report that the Vatican's US envoy was summoned in January for a "bitter" dressing down over remarks by Pope Leo that were seen as criticizing the Trump administration’s use of military force.
According to The Free Press, which shares common ownership with CBS News, Cardinal Christophe Pierre was given a "bitter lecture" by US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby.
Colby reportedly told the Vatican representative that the United States "has the military power to do whatever it wants -- and that the Church had better take its side."
In a speech in January, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, denounced what he called "diplomacy based on force" and in his Easter blessing he urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to "choose peace."
The Pentagon and the US ambassador to the Holy See denied The Free Press's account of the January meeting between Colby and Pierre, who has since retired.
"Recent reporting of the meeting is highly exaggerated and distorted," the Pentagon said on X. "The meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials was a respectful and reasonable discussion."
"They discussed a range of topics, including issues of morality in foreign policy, the logic of the US National Security Strategy, Europe, Africa, Latin America and other topics," the post said.
Brian Burch, the US ambassador to the Vatican, said he had spoken on Wednesday with Pierre regarding the January meeting and the reporting about it "does not reflect what happened."
"The Cardinal emphatically denied the media's portrayal of his meeting with Colby," Burch said. "He described the meeting as 'frank, but very cordial' and a 'normal encounter.'"
cl/pnb/sla

politics

Melania Trump denies any links to Epstein abuse

  • The president has also denied any link to Epstein's crimes.
  • US First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday made a surprise statement denying unspecified allegations about her and Jeffrey Epstein, a scandal that her husband President Donald Trump has long downplayed.
  • The president has also denied any link to Epstein's crimes.
US First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday made a surprise statement denying unspecified allegations about her and Jeffrey Epstein, a scandal that her husband President Donald Trump has long downplayed.
The 55-year-old former model's on-camera remarks at the White House came out of the blue, with no explanation for why she would bring up the late sex offender Epstein now.
"The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today," she said. "The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect."
The Slovenian-born first lady gave a categorical denial of any ties to Epstein, with whom her and her husband had previously been photographed on the New York social scene.
She said "fake images and statements about Epstein and me" had been circulating on social media "for years now. Be cautious about what you believe: these images and stories are completely false."
The statement will serve to reignite the Epstein scandal just as media attention starts to turn away from Trump's war in Iran.
Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors, but the scandal has repeatedly overshadowed Trump's second presidency.
The US Justice Department has over the past year released huge tranches of files related to Epstein. The president has also denied any link to Epstein's crimes.
"I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims. I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant. Was never on Epstein's plane, and never visited his private island," Melania Trump said.
"I have never been legally accused or convinced of a crime in connection with Epstein sex trafficking, abuse of minors and other repulsive behavior."
The first lady also urged Congress to hold a public hearing for survivors of Epstein's abuse to "give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath." 
dk/sst

US

US Democrats fail in bid to curb Trump's Iran war powers

  • Republicans, however, showed little appetite to challenge Trump's authority.
  • US President Donald Trump's Republicans on Thursday blocked an attempt by the opposition Democrats to curb his authority to wage war in Iran, amid mounting frustration in Congress over his handling of the Middle East conflict.
  • Republicans, however, showed little appetite to challenge Trump's authority.
US President Donald Trump's Republicans on Thursday blocked an attempt by the opposition Democrats to curb his authority to wage war in Iran, amid mounting frustration in Congress over his handling of the Middle East conflict.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sought to pass a war powers resolution by "unanimous consent" -- a procedure that bypasses the need to hold a recorded vote, provided no one objects -- but was stopped, as expected, by the Republican majority's presiding officer.
The maneuver, staged during a short procedural session while lawmakers remain out of Washington, was largely symbolic but underscored growing Democratic anger over a conflict that has not been formally authorized by Congress.
Jeffries had urged colleagues to attend the session and press for immediate action, arguing a recently announced two-week ceasefire was "woefully insufficient" and calling for a permanent end to US involvement in the war.
Republicans, however, showed little appetite to challenge Trump's authority.
Some have backed the administration's handling of the conflict, while others -- though uneasy about the lack of congressional oversight -- have stopped short of supporting measures that could constrain military operations.
The failed push sets the stage for a more consequential showdown next week, when lawmakers return from a two-week recess and Democrats plan to force a recorded vote on the resolution.
Jeffries has said he believes only a small number of Republicans would need to break ranks for the measure to pass.
In the Senate, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has signaled a parallel effort, with a vote expected in the coming days.
Similar measures have struggled to gain traction in the past, and Republican opposition remains strong despite signs of unease within the party.
Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, Congress is required to act within 60 days of the start of an unauthorized military conflict -- a deadline that could intensify pressure on lawmakers if the Iran war continues.
"The American people are with us," Jeffries told left-leaning cable news network MS NOW ahead of the vote.
"They don't want to see billions of dollars being spent dropping bombs in Iran from an administration that's not willing to spend a dime to actually make life more affordable for the American people."
ft/sms

US

Trump says US military to stay deployed near Iran until 'real agreement' reached

  • "All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
  • US President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that US forces deployed near Iran would remain stationed in the area until a "real agreement" is reached, as Washington enters a fragile two-week ceasefire with Tehran.
  • "All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
US President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that US forces deployed near Iran would remain stationed in the area until a "real agreement" is reached, as Washington enters a fragile two-week ceasefire with Tehran.
The truce reached Tuesday showed signs of unravelling, with Israel bombarding Lebanon and Washington contradicting some of Iran's demands to end the war ahead of planned talks.
"All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
While he said a deal falling through was "highly unlikely," Trump threatened to revert to "bigger, and better, and stronger" strikes if an agreement was not reached.
"In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!" Trump wrote.
Iran agreed to reopen the vital thoroughfare during the two-week truce, but said it would maintain "dominion" over it.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key chokepoint through which one-fifth of the world's oil passes in peacetime.
In a Farsi-language release of demands circulated by Iranian state media, the Islamic republic also insisted that Washington accept its uranium enrichment programme.
That was not included in Iran's demands released via the UN, and Trump has said the matter of enrichment would be "taken care of" in any deal.
Ahead of planned negotiations in Pakistan, Trump said Iran will have "no nuclear weapons" and the "Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE."
jgc-aks/hol/fox

Israel

Trump blasts NATO after closed-door Rutte meeting

BY DANNY KEMP

  • Rutte is also expected to meet with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth during his time in Washington.
  • US President Donald Trump bashed NATO and appeared to renew his threats over Greenland after a closed-door meeting with alliance chief Mark Rutte, during which he was expected to discuss possibly leaving the pivotal security bloc.
  • Rutte is also expected to meet with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth during his time in Washington.
US President Donald Trump bashed NATO and appeared to renew his threats over Greenland after a closed-door meeting with alliance chief Mark Rutte, during which he was expected to discuss possibly leaving the pivotal security bloc.
Trump's outrage at NATO allies over their failure to join in his war against Iran had prompted fears he would seek to pull the United States out of the nearly eight-decade-old alliance.
However, in his first remarks after the meeting, he simply reiterated his frustration.
"NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN," he posted on Truth Social.
"REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!" he added, without any further explanation.
Before Trump launched his war on Iran, his threat to seize the vast Arctic island from NATO ally Denmark was a key issue roiling the alliance.
Rutte -- the former Dutch premier dubbed the "Trump whisperer" for his skill in flattering the mercurial US leader -- entered the West Wing through a side gate and their meeting was held behind closed doors.
"It was a very frank, it was a very open discussion," Rutte later told CNN in a televised interview.
Asked multiple times if Trump had said if he would leave the alliance, Rutte did not answer directly.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters ahead of the meeting that a possible withdrawal is "something the president has discussed, and I think it's something the president will be discussing in a couple of hours with Secretary General Rutte."
The Wall Street Journal meanwhile reported that Trump was alternatively looking at punishing some NATO members he believed were unhelpful during the conflict by moving US troops out of their countries.
The meeting came one day after the United States and Iran agreed to a fragile two-week ceasefire. 
The US president has branded NATO a "paper tiger" for refusing to lead efforts to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz and for limiting US forces from using bases on their territories.
Trump has lashed out at several leaders personally, lambasting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as "no Winston Churchill" and ridiculing Britain's aircraft carriers as "toys."
The plan reported by the Wall Street Journal would fall short of Trump's oft-hinted threats to pull the United States out of NATO entirely -- a move for which he would need the approval of Congress.

'Daddy'

NATO's secretary general, however, boasts a record of pulling Trump back onto his side.
Ahead of the White House visit, Rutte met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to talk about Iran, Russia's war against Ukraine and NATO responsibilities.
"The two leaders discussed Operation Epic Fury, ongoing US-led efforts to bring a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and increasing coordination and burden shifting with NATO Allies," said State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
Rutte is also expected to meet with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth during his time in Washington.
NATO has been buffeted by crisis after crisis since Trump returned to power last year -- most acutely by his threat to seize Greenland.
In recent months he has also pulled the rug out from under Ukraine in its war against Russia and threatened to not protect allies unless they spend more on defense. 
Russia and China have been watching with glee as Trump rubbishes the alliance.
Rutte has been central to allied efforts to flatter and mollify the US leader, whom he called "daddy" at a summit last year.
On Iran, he has sought to thread the needle by calling US efforts to degrade Tehran's military capability something to "applaud."
bur-dk/jgc/des/msp

US

'Total victory' or TACO? Trump faces questions on Iran deal

BY DANNY KEMP

  • "Total and complete victory," the president told AFP in a brief telephone interview after Monday's announcement. "100 percent.
  • Donald Trump claimed "total" victory after a ceasefire with Iran.
  • "Total and complete victory," the president told AFP in a brief telephone interview after Monday's announcement. "100 percent.
Donald Trump claimed "total" victory after a ceasefire with Iran. But critics say the deal is a fresh example of their maxim that the tough-talking US president always "chickens out."
In the space of 12 nerve-wracking hours, Trump went from warning that a "whole civilization will die" to hailing that agreement as a big day for world peace.
The reality on the ground however showed a still shaky two-week ceasefire with a host of unanswered questions -- not least about whether Trump had ever intended to follow through on his apocalyptic threats.
"President Trump is proving to be an increasingly unpredictable force and unreliable ally,"  Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, told AFP.
The former businessman and author of "Art of the Deal" has a long favored a negotiating style that relies on maximum leverage in order to extract more from whoever is on the other side of the table.
Trump insisted his approach, which included a vow to bomb Iran back to the "stone age" by targeting civilian energy plants and bridges, had served its purpose.
"Total and complete victory," the president told AFP in a brief telephone interview after Monday's announcement. "100 percent. No question about it."
The White House also insisted that everything had gone according to plan, saying that Trump had always planned for Operation Epic Fury to last between four and six weeks. 
"The success of our military created maximum leverage, allowing President Trump and the team to engage in tough negotiations," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters 
But critics say that Trump has employed the same tactic on everything from tariffs to wars to his threats to annex Greenland, especially as markets start to react unfavorably.
The phenomenon now has its own acronym, which originally began with traders: TACO, or "Trump Always Chickens Out."

'Military moron'

Loge -- who predicted on Tuesday morning that Trump would take a self-declared win on Iran then give "give them two more weeks" -- added: "The only consistent thing President Trump does is declare victory."
The time period of two weeks is also familiar to Trump-watchers who have seen him evoke the interval in a series of previous crises.
Critics led by rival Democrats lashed out at the Republican president, who has flexed his executive muscle in the face of a largely pliant and currently absent Congress.
"Trump is a military moron," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he announced the Senate would vote next week on a war powers resolution.
Trump's opponents say the war has left Iran effectively in control of the Strait of Hormuz, with a stranglehold over world energy prices. There's also little evidence he has done more to prevent Iran getting a nuclear bomb, given that the Iranians still possess their store of highly enriched uranium.
And Trump's Republicans are nervous that the Middle East war will hit them in November's midterm elections for control of Congress, given that American families are already finding it harder to pay the bills.
"All of this happens when one man...has unchecked power to wage war," added Schumer.
The criticism grew as the ceasefire appeared to be increasingly fragile, with Iran threatening to torpedo it if Israel did not stop attacks on Lebanon.
"Trump, 'the peace President', should have never started this war alongside Israel, who clearly doesn’t want peace," former ally and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Trump loyalists praised the deal.
"It looks like Trump ultimately hits the home run here, takes it to the brink. Iran blinks," said Fox News host and ally Laura Ingraham on her show after the announcement of the deal.
dk/sms/des

US

In Trump war on Iran, tactical wins and long-term damage to US

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • Trump launched the war alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose own goal has primarily been to sow destruction in the country of 90 million people whose government has been Israel's sworn adversary.
  • Launching war on February 28, US President Donald Trump warned that Iran would learn never to challenge the US military and called on the people to rise up against their unpopular cleric-led government.
  • Trump launched the war alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose own goal has primarily been to sow destruction in the country of 90 million people whose government has been Israel's sworn adversary.
Launching war on February 28, US President Donald Trump warned that Iran would learn never to challenge the US military and called on the people to rise up against their unpopular cleric-led government.
By the time the adversaries agreed Tuesday to a two-week ceasefire, the Islamic republic appears more entrenched, Tehran's military has wreaked havoc on the region, and Trump declared victory because of the tentative reopening of the vital Strait of Hormuz -- which was only closed because Iran retaliated for being attacked.
Trump launched the war alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose own goal has primarily been to sow destruction in the country of 90 million people whose government has been Israel's sworn adversary.
Trump's objectives were much less defined. He spoke of degrading Iran's missiles and preventing it from obtaining an atomic bomb, despite saying last year he already "obliterated" Iranian nuclear sites and ongoing diplomacy.
Trump backtracked on talk of "liberating" Iranians and by Tuesday was speaking in what many interpreted as genocidal terms, threatening before the ceasefire that the entire civilization, one of the world's oldest, "will die tonight, never to be brought back again."
"I think the US has lost the narrative war and the information war inside Iran, regionally in the Middle East and internationally, and also in America," said Alireza Nader, a longtime US-based analyst on Iran.
Nader said that even staunch critics of the Islamic republic began to praise the Revolutionary Guards, the country's premier military force, in outrage over US-Israeli strikes whose targets included universities, bridges and factories.
"It is in the US national security interest to have a long-term positive relationship with Iran and Trump really damaged that possibility for no reason whatsoever," Nader said.
"A lot of people who hate the regime are also outraged at the vast destruction of civilian infrastructure."

'Strategically indecisive'

Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for International Policy, said that the attacks fueled greater nationalism and unity among Iranians.
"For the US, they didn't achieve any of their set goals. Nothing changed about the nuclear program. Iran still has missiles to shoot. They still have drones and the state has become more hardline and there has been no regime change," she said.
Michael Singh, who was a top Middle East advisor to former president George W. Bush, said the United States "significantly degraded" Iran's military and short-term capacities -- destroying many of its missiles and drones, devastating its navy and air force and killing senior leaders.
"From a US perspective, I would say the US was operationally brilliant but the conflict was strategically indecisive," said Singh, now managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Paradoxically, the overwhelming show of force could persuade Iran to rush to build nuclear weapons, Singh said.
"Iran has seen that the US and Israel together have a vastly superior military capability and of course that could create a stronger incentive to pursue nuclear weapons," he said.

Iran finds leverage

Iran and the United States are set to begin talks in Pakistan on Saturday on a long-term deal.
A key issue will be the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway into the Gulf through which one-fifth of the world's oil transits -- and where Iran has demonstrated it can exert key leverage.
Iran agreed to safe passage through the strait for the duration of the ceasefire but has also spoken of setting up a toll system, which would allow it to fund its reconstruction.
The United States during the war also for the first time in decades relaxed sanctions on Iranian oil, hoping to ease soaring prices that are politically sensitive for Americans.
If Iran secures assurances from the United States, it can "argue that escalation produced negotiations on terms it could accept," said Ali Vaez, Iran project manager at the International Crisis Group.
"The underlying balance has not fundamentally changed: Iran still retains its enriched uranium, while Washington appears, for now, more focused on preventing wider disruption -- especially in the Strait of Hormuz -- than on fully embracing Israel's preferred course," Vaez said.
"That points both to Trump's appetite for a deal and to the limitations of the strategy pursued so far."
sct/sms

US

US, Iran ceasefire sees Israel's war goals left hanging

BY ALICE CHANCELLOR

  • A raft of Israeli opposition politicians have criticised the ceasefire with Iran, slamming it as a major failure that would take years to recover from.
  • A ceasefire between the United States and Iran has left Israel's principal war objectives largely unmet, analysts say, with Israeli opposition figures quick to denounce a major "strategic failure".
  • A raft of Israeli opposition politicians have criticised the ceasefire with Iran, slamming it as a major failure that would take years to recover from.
A ceasefire between the United States and Iran has left Israel's principal war objectives largely unmet, analysts say, with Israeli opposition figures quick to denounce a major "strategic failure".
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had set the elimination or at least severe degradation of Iran's nuclear programme as a central goal in the conflict, having described it for years as an "existential threat" to Israel.
He had also called for the dismantling of Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, and the weakening or potentially toppling of the Iranian regime.
"On all three, objectively, he's failed," Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, told AFP on Wednesday, just hours after Israel announced its support for the US-Iran truce.
"The uranium is still in Iran, the ballistic missiles, Iran can still fire even when it had US and Israeli airstrikes for over a month... and the regime is still very much intact," she added.
Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House, said that Iran's ballistic missile capabilities had undoubtedly been diminished compared to before the war, but its clerical leadership remained intact.
"Regime change hasn't happened," Mekelberg told AFP.
"Some of the people in the regime changed because they were killed... But regime change definitely didn't happen."
As for Iran's nuclear programme, Mekelberg cautioned it was too early to draw conclusions.

'Deeply troubling'

For Danny Citrinowicz, a senior Iran researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, the initial picture was "deeply troubling".
"The regime is still firmly in power. Its missile capabilities are damaged but still intact. It still holds roughly 440 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent," he wrote on X.
After agreeing to a two-week truce to halt the war which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Iran and the US will enter talks in Pakistan on Friday.
While Tehran has agreed to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz, its demands over future control of the vital waterway, uranium enrichment and sanctions, are at deep odds with the US. 
"At the very least, one has to hope that the negotiations in Islamabad will produce a different outcome on the nuclear issue," Citrinowicz said.
"Otherwise, we risk emerging from this war worse off than when it began." 
Appearing to contradict the terms set out by mediator Pakistan, Israel has insisted the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, where its forces are fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah for the second time in less than two years.
"That's already a point of conflict," in the fragile truce, Zonszein explained.
"We'll have to see how much (US President Donald) Trump is going to step in," she said, adding that Israel would want to continue fighting in Lebanon and separate that front from the war in Iran.
"I think Israel is adamant that the Lebanon issue is not done," Mekelberg of Chatham House agreed.
Israel on Wednesday launched its "largest coordinated" strikes against Hezbollah since the start of the war.

'Victory narrative'

Analysts suggested it was too early to tell the impact of the war on Israel's relationship with Gulf countries, and Netanyahu's desire to expand the Abraham Accords.
Both Zonszein and Mekelberg said the war had exposed the Gulf countries' vulnerabilities as well as Iran's willingness to attack regional neighbours, forcing them to reassess their security frameworks.
A raft of Israeli opposition politicians have criticised the ceasefire with Iran, slamming it as a major failure that would take years to recover from.
"There has never been a political disaster like this in our entire history," the country's main opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X.
But Zonszein said that Netanyahu would try to spin the war as a victory, particularly playing on the close cooperation between US and Israeli forces fighting their longtime arch-foe.
"The minute that the war began as a joint US-Israeli operation, that was already the victory that Netanyahu needed and wanted and whatever happened was secondary," she said.
"I think Netanyahu will use that still as his victory narrative that 'we degraded the Iranian regime. They are weaker now. It's not the same Iran.'"
With Israeli parliamentary elections due by the end of October, Netanyahu's fate will soon be decided at the ballot box. 
Israelis would feel "immediate relief" following the ceasefire, but "there will be real discussion if this was all worth it," Mekelberg said.
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