diplomacy

Rubio accuses Hezbollah of trying to 'drag Lebanon back into chaos'

  • Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah's "reckless call to overthrow Lebanon's democratically elected government" and said the pro-Iran armed group was "actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction."
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Hezbollah in a statement Sunday of trying to plunge Lebanon "back into chaos."
  • Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah's "reckless call to overthrow Lebanon's democratically elected government" and said the pro-Iran armed group was "actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Hezbollah in a statement Sunday of trying to plunge Lebanon "back into chaos."
Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah's "reckless call to overthrow Lebanon's democratically elected government" and said the pro-Iran armed group was "actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction."
Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, said earlier that "the people have the right to go down onto the streets and to bring down the government" in response to Israeli strikes and US sanctions on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution.
Al-Qard Al-Hassan is affiliated with Hezbollah and provides interest-free loans to mainly Shia Muslim communities who have faced financial difficulty amid Lebanon's economic crises.
"The aggression against Al-Qard al-Hassan is an aggression against hundreds of thousands of poor people and those with limited income," Qassem said.
The Lebanese government has been under US pressure to take action against the firm, as Washington ratchets up pressure on Iran-backed Hezbollah.
"Hizballah's threats of violence and overthrow will not be allowed to succeed," Rubio said. "The era in which a terrorist group held an entire nation hostage is coming to an end."
The US is negotiating a deal with Iran to end the Middle East war, with a report in Axios suggesting that a draft memorandum of understanding between two sides contains language that "makes clear the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon would end."
Early on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X that Trump, in a phone call, "reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon."
Qassem expressed hope for an agreement between Iran and the US and that Lebanon would be part of its terms.
However, he again called on the Lebanese government to abandon direct negotiations with Israel. A fourth round of talks is scheduled for June 2 and 3 in Washington.
Despite a ceasefire that came into effect on April 17 and was recently extended for several weeks, Israel continues to strike what it describes as pro-Iranian Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, while Hezbollah for its part continues its attacks on Israeli targets in the south of the country.
sct-pnb/ksb

US

Possible Iran-US deal: What we know

  • - A key sticking point in the talks is traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital global conduit for oil shipments that has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of the war.
  • The United States and Iran appear closer than ever to a deal that would end a war that has engulfed the Middle East and disrupted the global oil market.
  • - A key sticking point in the talks is traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital global conduit for oil shipments that has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of the war.
The United States and Iran appear closer than ever to a deal that would end a war that has engulfed the Middle East and disrupted the global oil market.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he had agreed with US President Donald Trump that any final deal must fully end Iran's "nuclear threat".
Iran's Tasnim news agency said its information was that key clauses of a possible agreement remained unresolved, including the issue of frozen Iranian assets.
What do we know about the possible agreement? 

Nuclear question

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the nuclear issue was not part of an initial framework. It will rather be "subject to separate discussions" later. 
But the New York Times, citing two unnamed American officials, said a key element of the proposed agreement was an apparent commitment by Tehran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
The question of how Iran would do so would be discussed in a "later round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program", the paper said.
But Iran's Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported that Iran made no commitments regarding its nuclear programme. 
"Iran has made no commitment in this agreement to hand over nuclear stockpiles, remove equipment, shut down facilities or even commit not to build a nuclear bomb," Fars said.
Both agencies said nuclear-related issues would be negotiated within 60 days of the understanding being signed.
Netanyahu said that in a conversation on Saturday, "President Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear threat entirely".
"This means dismantling Iran's uranium enrichment facilities and removing enriched nuclear material from its territory," he added.

How will Hormuz reopen? 

A key sticking point in the talks is traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital global conduit for oil shipments that has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of the war.
Iran has insisted that vessels must obtain permission from its armed forces.
Trump said Saturday that "in addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened", a development that would bring relief to global energy markets.
But, Fars news agency said that, if finalised, the potential agreement would preserve Iran's management over the strategic waterway.
Tasnim reported that "the status of the Strait of Hormuz would not revert to its pre-war situation".
It added that the "the naval blockade, according to the reported framework, would also need to be fully lifted within 30 days", referring to the US blockading Iranian ports.

Funds and sanctions

Iran has long demanded the release of its frozen assets held under longstanding US sanctions.
According to Tasnim, "Iran has insisted that any initial understanding must be conditional on at least partial access to the assets".
It quoted an informed source as saying that Iran "has stressed that there will be no agreement unless a specified portion of Iran's frozen assets is released at the very first stage".
A clear mechanism must also be "established to guarantee the continued release of all blocked funds".
Tasnim's source warned that "disagreements over this matter are among the reasons why no final understanding has yet been reached".
According to Fars, a potential understanding would also see the US temporarily lifting sanctions on oil, gas and petrochemicals during the negotiation period.

Is Lebanon included? 

Israel has been carrying out daily strikes in Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire, saying it is targeting Hezbollah.
Iran has previously said that any ceasefire must apply to all fronts of the regional war, including Lebanon, and Hezbollah has said it is confident that its ally will not abandon it.
Tasnim reported that "a memorandum of understanding (MOU) would first be announced, stressing an end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon".
"Under the arrangement, Israel, as a US ally, would also be expected to halt the war in Lebanon," it added.
Baqaei told state television that "at this stage, we will not discuss the details of the nuclear issue... we have decided to prioritise an urgent issue for all of us: ending the war on all fronts including Lebanon".
burs-srm/amj

US

Trump says US will not 'rush into a deal' with Iran, as criticism mounts

  • "The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
  • President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had told US negotiators "not to rush into a deal" with Iran amid anticipation -- and mounting criticism -- of an agreement to end the war in the Middle East.
  • "The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had told US negotiators "not to rush into a deal" with Iran amid anticipation -- and mounting criticism -- of an agreement to end the war in the Middle East.
"The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
"The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed," he wrote.
The United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports since April 13 after Tehran virtually halted traffic through the economically vital Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began February 28. 
"Both sides must take their time and get it right," Trump wrote in the same Truth Social post, while slamming the 2015 nuclear deal that former president Barack Obama agreed with Iran.
"Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb," Trump wrote.
While the White House has not released aspects of the deal, Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Saturday on state television that the two sides were nearing "a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement composed of 14 clauses" in "a trend toward rapprochement."
According to news outlet Axios, a possible agreement would extend the current ceasefire by 60 days, during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, Iran would freely sell oil, and negotiations would be held on Iran’s nuclear program.
It cited a senior US official as saying there are still details "to work out," and the "slow and opaque" nature of Iran's decision-making system could delay an agreement by another few days.
"Our understanding is that the Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has endorsed the broad template of the deal," the official said. "Whether this becomes an agreement is still an open question."
In Washington, Republican lawmakers close to Trump were among those expressing fears of an agreement favorable to Iran.
The top Republican senator overseeing defense policy, Roger Wicker, said that agreeing to a "rumored 60-day ceasefire" with Iran would mean "everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!"
Texas senator Ted Cruz wrote on X: "If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime -- still run by Islamists who chant 'death to America' -- now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake."
Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program, "we're talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran. How does that make sense at all?" 
pnb/msp/mjf

diplomacy

India voices concern on US visas but sees alignment with Rubio

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • Jaishankar said he "apprised Secretary Rubio of challenges that legitimate travellers face in respect of visa issuance".
  • India voiced concern on Sunday over a US visa crackdown, striking a rare critical note even as it expressed broad alignment with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on other fractious issues.
  • Jaishankar said he "apprised Secretary Rubio of challenges that legitimate travellers face in respect of visa issuance".
India voiced concern on Sunday over a US visa crackdown, striking a rare critical note even as it expressed broad alignment with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on other fractious issues.
Paying his first visit to India, Rubio said the two democracies were on the same page on all major issues, brushing aside recent unease in New Delhi over trade, China and the Iran war.
India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed that the two countries had a "convergence of national interests in many areas" but publicly took Rubio to task over President Donald Trump's assault on visas.
Jaishankar said he "apprised Secretary Rubio of challenges that legitimate travellers face in respect of visa issuance".
"While we cooperate to deal with illegal and irregular mobility, our expectation is that legal mobility should not be adversely impacted as a consequence," he said, noting that visas were key for US-India tech cooperation.
Trump, who has made curbing non-Western immigration a key political priority, has ramped up restrictions and fees for H-1B visas used largely by Indian tech workers, sending applications tumbling.
The Trump administration followed up Friday by saying that applicants for permanent residency, even when in the United States legally, must leave for processing, likely splitting up many families for extended periods.
Trump has been influenced by nativist critics who say Indian workers take away skilled jobs from Americans who would have earned more.
Last month, Trump reposted a far-right commentator who described India as a "hellhole" and inaccurately alleged that Indian immigrants lack English proficiency.
Asked about racist remarks in the United States about Indians, Rubio said, "Every country in the world has stupid people".
"Our nation has been enriched by people who come to our country," said Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants.
He acknowledged there would be "bumps" as the United States reforms immigration but said the changes were in response to a "migratory crisis" and "not India-specific". 

Trade deal finalised soon

Rubio later headlined a gala party in New Delhi for the 250th anniversary of US independence, in which invited guests, some decked out in red, white and blue, could pose next to cutouts of Trump, Rubio and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing the crowd by speakerphone held up by Ambassador Sergio Gor, Trump hailed his rapport with Modi and boasted, "anything India wants, India gets."
But Trump in fact has shifted decades of US policy of overlooking disagreements with India, which successive previous administrations have viewed as a natural counterweight to a rising China.
Trump has hailed both China and India's historic adversary Pakistan, which has positioned itself as the key mediator on the Iran war, and last year imposed punishing tariffs on India after Modi refused to give him credit for ending a short war with Pakistan.
The tariffs were eased after the arrival in India in January of US ambassador Sergio Gor, who had been a top political aide to Trump. 
Addressing the party, Gor said he expected the interim trade deal to be signed "in the next few weeks".
Rubio, who is paying an unusually long four-day, four-city trip to India, called the country "one of our most important strategic partners in the world".
"It begins with the fact of our shared values. We are the two largest democracies," Rubio told the news conference.
"Our nations are strategically aligned on all of the key issues that will define the new century -- all the great challenges that are before us now in the modern era," he said.
Jaishankar, asked about Pakistan's new role in mediating on Iran, said the United States was free to choose its own partners but acknowledged that differences will emerge between the two countries.
"The Trump administration has been very forthright in putting forward its foreign policy outlook as America First," Jaishankar said.
"We have a view of India First," he said. 
sct/abh/dw

crime

Gunman killed by US Secret Service after opening fire near White House

BY ULYSSE BELLIER

  • "Thank God President Trump is safe," House Republicans said on X after the Saturday evening shooting.
  • A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said.
  • "Thank God President Trump is safe," House Republicans said on X after the Saturday evening shooting.
A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said.
President Donald Trump was in the White House at the time -- on a day when he was working to negotiate a deal with Iran -- but was not impacted by the incident, Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
The confrontation took place just after 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) when a man near the White House security perimeter "pulled a weapon from his bag and began firing."
"Secret Service Police returned fire striking the suspect who was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased. During the shooting one bystander was also struck by gunfire," Guglielmi said, without giving details on the bystander's condition.
No Secret Service officers were hurt.
"Thank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House, who had a violent history and possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure," Trump said on Truth Social early Sunday.
Multiple US media identified the suspect as Nasire Best, 21, of Maryland, reporting that Best had a history of mental health concerns and had multiple prior interactions with Secret Service members.
Police and security forces swarmed the scene, cordoning off access as National Guard troops blocked an AFP reporter from entering the area in downtown Washington.
"We heard probably 20 to 25 what sounded like fireworks, but they're gunshots, and then everyone started running," Canadian tourist Reid Adrian told AFP.
Journalists who were on the White House North Lawn at the time said they were ordered to run and shelter in the press briefing room.
ABC News correspondent Selina Wang had been recording a video for social media when the gunfire broke out, capturing the sounds of the shots as she dove to the ground.
"It sounded like dozens of gunshots," she said on X.

Trump assassination attempts

Trump, 79, has been the target of three alleged assassination attempts, the most recent of which took place on April 25 when an armed man stormed a security checkpoint in a hotel where Trump was attending a media gala.
The man never got close to Trump or the other guests attending the event.
In July 2024, Trump was targeted during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A gunman killed an audience member and lightly wounded the then-candidate in the ear.
A few months later, another armed man was arrested on a West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.
"Thank God President Trump is safe," House Republicans said on X after the Saturday evening shooting.
"Endless gratitude to the Secret Service for their immediate, heroic response. Political violence has to stop."
Trump has cited security concerns as one of his reasons for building a ballroom at the White House, tearing down the East Wing after taking office again last year.
The $400 million project currently under construction will feature, according to the New York real estate magnate, six floors below the highly secure "drone-proof" ballroom, including an underground military hospital.
ube-acb/jgc/lkd/mtp

crime

Large police presence around White House after reports of shots fired: AFP

  • Police cordoned off access to the White House and National Guard troops blocked an AFP reporter from entering the area in downtown Washington.
  • Police and security forces swarmed the White House on Saturday evening after shots were fired in the area, authorities said.
  • Police cordoned off access to the White House and National Guard troops blocked an AFP reporter from entering the area in downtown Washington.
Police and security forces swarmed the White House on Saturday evening after shots were fired in the area, authorities said.
US President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time as he worked to negotiate a deal with Iran.
Police cordoned off access to the White House and National Guard troops blocked an AFP reporter from entering the area in downtown Washington.
"FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds," FBI Director Kash Patel said on X. 
Canadian tourist Reid Adrian told AFP he was in the area when "we heard probably 20 to 25 what sounded like fireworks, but they're gunshots, and then everyone started running." 
Journalists who were on the White House North Lawn at the time said on X that they were ordered to run and shelter in the press briefing room.
ABC News correspondent Selina Wang had been recording a video for social media when the apparent gunfire broke out, capturing the sounds of the shots as she dove to the ground.
"It sounded like dozens of gunshots," she said on X.
A Secret Service spokesman told AFP in a text message that the agency was still gathering information about the incident.
Trump, 79, has been the target of three alleged assassination attempts, the most recent of which took place on April 25 when an armed man stormed a security checkpoint near the ballroom where Trump was attending a media gala.
acb/jgc

Iran

US mulls new strikes on Iran: US media reports

  • Returning from a trip to New York state where he gave a speech Friday, Trump did not take questions from reporters who travel with him as he often does.
  • The United States is weighing new military strikes on Iran, US media outlets reported on Friday.
  • Returning from a trip to New York state where he gave a speech Friday, Trump did not take questions from reporters who travel with him as he often does.
The United States is weighing new military strikes on Iran, US media outlets reported on Friday.
The reports, from CBS and Axios, come just hours after US President Donald Trump said he would not travel to attend his son's wedding this weekend due to "circumstances pertaining to government" and his "love for the United States of America."
Trump said that it was "important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time."
Both Axios and CBS said that a final decision on new strikes hasn't been made.
Negotiations are said to be ongoing, with Pakistan -- which is mediating between the US and Iran -- sending its military chief to Tehran in an attempt to seal a deal.
The White House did not comment on the reports when AFP inquired about them.
CBS said that a White House spokesperson, Anna Kelly, told them that "the President has been clear about the consequences if Iran fails to make a deal." 
The White House earlier on Friday announced a change in Trump's weekend plans, saying he would not travel to his New Jersey golf resort as planned but would stay in the US capital instead.
Returning from a trip to New York state where he gave a speech Friday, Trump did not take questions from reporters who travel with him as he often does.
Axios reported -- citing two unnamed sources -- that Trump has "grown increasingly frustrated about the negotiations with Iran over the past several days."
Axios said that his position through the week had shifted from favoring diplomacy toward ordering a strike.
CBS reported, citing unnamed sources, that members of the US military and intelligence apparatus were cancelling holiday weekend plans in anticipation of possible strikes.
pnb/ksb

immigration

US judge tosses case against wrongly deported Salvadoran man

  • The Salvadoran man had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.
  • A US federal judge dismissed a criminal case on Friday filed against a Salvadoran man at the center of a row over President Donald Trump's crackdown on migrants.
  • The Salvadoran man had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.
A US federal judge dismissed a criminal case on Friday filed against a Salvadoran man at the center of a row over President Donald Trump's crackdown on migrants.
US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled that the indictment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by the Trump administration's Justice Department was "an abuse of prosecuting power."
Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident married to an American woman, was among more than 200 people sent to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison in March of last year.
The Salvadoran man had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.
Justice Department lawyers admitted that Abrego Garcia had been wrongly deported due to an "administrative error."
After his return to the United States in June, Abrego Garcia was detained again in the southern state of Tennessee and charged with human smuggling.
Abrego Garcia had sought to have those charges tossed on the grounds they were a vindictive prosecution brought because of his legal efforts to avoid deportation.
In dismissing the human smuggling charges, Crenshaw said "the evidence before this court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power."
"The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego's successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution," the judge said.
Despite the victory in his criminal case, Abrego Garcia still faces potential deportation by the Trump administration.
A different federal judge has temporarily blocked him from being deported while legal proceedings continue.
Abrego Garcia's case has become a lightning rod for opponents of Trump's efforts to carry out mass deportations.
The 79-year-old president has made combating illegal immigration a top priority of his second term, pressing for the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants. 
But his program has been hampered by numerous court rulings on the grounds that those targeted must be able to assert their due process rights.
cl/jgc

AI

Who killed Trump's AI order? Musk says it wasn't him

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • Politico and other media reported that David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who served as Trump's AI and crypto czar, called the president Thursday morning -- blindsiding White House staff -- to warn that the measure would slow innovation and hurt the US in its AI race with China.
  • Speculation swirled Friday over the last-minute collapse of President Donald Trump's planned executive order on powerful AI models, with fingers pointing at the president's allies in Silicon Valley who oppose government oversight of the technology.
  • Politico and other media reported that David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who served as Trump's AI and crypto czar, called the president Thursday morning -- blindsiding White House staff -- to warn that the measure would slow innovation and hurt the US in its AI race with China.
Speculation swirled Friday over the last-minute collapse of President Donald Trump's planned executive order on powerful AI models, with fingers pointing at the president's allies in Silicon Valley who oppose government oversight of the technology.
A draft of the shelved order leaked to US media shows the White House had prepared new AI cybersecurity measures before Trump pulled the plug Thursday. His former AI czar had reportedly called Trump directly to raise objections.
The collapse is the latest sign that Washington remains unable to agree on even modest guardrails for the technology -- leaving the United States well behind Europe and Asia and far short of what many safety advocates say is needed.
If enacted, the dropped executive order would have given the federal government up to 90 days of access to the most powerful AI models before their public release, while establishing a coordinated response to AI-enabled threats to banks, hospitals and other critical infrastructure.
Politico and other media reported that David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who served as Trump's AI and crypto czar, called the president Thursday morning -- blindsiding White House staff -- to warn that the measure would slow innovation and hurt the US in its AI race with China.
Officials believed Sacks supported the order, but the night before the planned signing he began raising concerns that the voluntary review process could one day be made mandatory.
The Washington Post reported a broader account: Last-minute calls from Sacks, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg convinced the president not to sign.
Musk denied the claim on his social media platform X.
"This is false. I still don't know what was in that executive order and the president only spoke to me after declining to sign," he wrote.
Meta also disputed the report, saying Zuckerberg had spoken to Trump only after the order was rescinded.

Fear of Mythos

To assuage concerns of government overreach, the draft explicitly stated that nothing in the order should be read as creating a mandatory licensing or approval requirement for AI models.
According to The Information and other media, tech companies also pushed to cut the pre-release access window from 90 days to just 14.
The order was triggered by concerns over Anthropic's Mythos model, which the AI startup has refused to release publicly over its ability to expose vulnerabilities in computer systems -- including those of banks, governments and hospitals.
Sacks has said that concerns about Mythos and models of its power were legitimate and that defenses needed to be put in place, but cautioned that Washington policymakers were trying to take advantage of the situation.
Speaking on his "All-In" podcast this month, Sacks said pre-release government approvals were "solving a problem that didn't really exist," since Anthropic and other AI companies were already keeping Mythos-like models away from the public.
For Sacks, "AI ideologues or doomers" were trying to use Mythos to "create a permanent new infrastructure in Washington."
The collapse of Thursday's effort leaves the administration with no formal plan for managing the security risks posed by the most powerful AI systems -- and no timeline for producing one.
Trump scrapped an AI oversight order signed by his predecessor Joe Biden on his first day back in the White House. Biden's 2023 order required AI companies to share safety test results with the government and leaned heavily on voluntary commitments -- already a light-touch approach that fell well short of what many experts had called for.
By contrast, the European Union's AI Act -- which entered into force in 2024 -- sets binding rules for high-risk AI systems, including mandatory transparency requirements and, for the most powerful models, obligations around safety testing and incident reporting.
arp/pnb

politics

US Fed chair says will be 'reform-oriented' at glitzy White House swearing-in

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • It is unusual for the chief of the Fed -- an independent nonpartisan body that sets monetary policy according to a dual mandate on inflation and employment -- to be sworn in at the White House.
  • New US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh vowed to be "reform-oriented" as he was sworn in at the White House on Friday, with President Donald Trump insisting the central bank chief would be "totally independent."
  • It is unusual for the chief of the Fed -- an independent nonpartisan body that sets monetary policy according to a dual mandate on inflation and employment -- to be sworn in at the White House.
New US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh vowed to be "reform-oriented" as he was sworn in at the White House on Friday, with President Donald Trump insisting the central bank chief would be "totally independent."
Trump has exerted unprecedented pressure on the central bank to reduce interest rates, attempting to fire a Fed governor and pursuing a criminal probe against Warsh's predecessor Jerome Powell.
"I will lead a reform-oriented Federal Reserve, learning from past successes and mistakes both, escaping static frameworks and models, and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance," Warsh said.
He called for central bankers to pursue their goals "with wisdom and clarity, independence and resolve," adding that "inflation can be lower, growth stronger, real take-home pay higher, and America can be more prosperous" if they did so.
Trump, who frequently criticized and insulted Powell, praised Warsh and said he wanted him to be fully independent, before urging the Fed chair to let the economy "boom."
"Kevin understands that when the economy is booming, that's a good thing. We want to stop inflation, but we don't want to stop greatness," Trump said.
Speaking at an event later in the day, Trump vowed to get interest rates down "very quickly."
Warsh has backed rate cuts in the past, even as the world's largest economy faces inflation at a three-year high.
It is unusual for the chief of the Fed -- an independent nonpartisan body that sets monetary policy according to a dual mandate on inflation and employment -- to be sworn in at the White House.
The last central bank chief to do so was Alan Greenspan in 1987.
At his Senate confirmation hearing, Warsh insisted he would "absolutely not" be a puppet for Trump.

Lavish ceremony

Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh were among those in attendance at the glitzy ceremony on Friday, with the former administering the oath of office. 
The court is due to rule on Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
A lengthy list of dignitaries in attendance included former vice president Dan Quayle, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, alongside a slew of current officials -- including the CIA director.
Trump and Warsh walked into the East Room together all smiles -- a stark contrast to the Republican's only televised meeting with Powell in his second term, where he berated the then Fed chair.

Balancing mandates

Warsh will take over a divided Fed facing high inflation -- fueled by the energy price surge from Trump's war on Iran -- and a labor market showing signs of weakness.
The US central bank has a dual mandate to keep inflation to its long-term target of two percent while also maintaining maximum employment.
US consumer inflation in April came in at 3.8 percent, a three-year high, with American households battered by years of above-expected price increases since the pandemic.
At a Fed meeting last month, a majority of policymakers indicated that rate hikes may be necessary if inflation remains above the Fed's long-term target.
Warsh has argued that productivity gains from artificial intelligence-led innovation will allow the US economy to grow rapidly without adding to inflation.
The US unemployment rate has remained relatively stable around 4.3 percent for the last year. But job growth -- often used as a proxy for economic activity -- has see-sawed between expansion and contraction from month to month.
That situation -- high inflation and inconsistent job growth -- has left the Fed in a potentially sticky situation of having to choose between its mandates.
"Kevin Warsh will not be able to deliver the rate cuts that the president wants," said David Wessel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. 
"At some point, the president may grow impatient and will begin attacking Mr. Warsh as he did Jerome Powell."
Warsh takes over at "a time of disruption and rebalancing in the overall authority of the president," said Columbia Law professor Kathryn Judge, whose research focuses on central banking.
Potentially adding to Warsh's challenges will be the fact that Powell has chosen to remain on the board as a member -- an unusual but not unprecedented move for an outgoing chair.
Powell cited threats to the Fed's independence as the reason for his decision.
On Friday, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said he hoped Powell would soon "step aside" so Warsh could "have complete and easy control of the Fed."
aha/pnb/des

intelligence

Trump's intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard resigns

BY DANNY KEMP

  • Trump pressed on with the appointment, but she appeared to be increasingly frozen out of decision-making in recent months as he headed toward the war with Iran.
  • US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation on Friday, ending the tenure of a controversial pick who appeared to be at odds with President Donald Trump over the Iran war.
  • Trump pressed on with the appointment, but she appeared to be increasingly frozen out of decision-making in recent months as he headed toward the war with Iran.
US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation on Friday, ending the tenure of a controversial pick who appeared to be at odds with President Donald Trump over the Iran war.
Gabbard, 45, said she was quitting as Director of National Intelligence to care for her husband, Abraham Williams, after he was recently diagnosed with an "extremely rare form of bone cancer."
"He faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months," Gabbard said in a letter to Trump that she posted on X. "At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle."
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, married her Hawaii-based cinematographer husband in a Hindu ceremony. They met while shooting campaign advertisements, and he proposed to her while surfing at sunset.
Trump hailed Gabbard, whose job involved coordinating information from the sprawling network of 18 US intelligence agencies for the president's daily briefing.
"Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her," Trump said on his Truth Social network, adding that she "rightfully" wanted to help her husband with his cancer battle.
Her deputy, Aaron Lukas, would serve as the acting Director of National Intelligence, the president added.
Gabbard is the fourth in a series of high-profile women to have left Trump's cabinet in recent months.
Trump fired Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem in March and Attorney General Pam Bondi in April. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer stepped down in April amid a series of scandals.
But the White House pushed back at a report that Gabbard had been forced out.
"This is false. Her husband, who is an absolutely incredible human being, has been diagnosed with a rare bone cancer," her chief of staff, Alexa Henning, said on X.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said that "any suggestion that the White House forced her to resign over her husband’s health is slanderous."

Syria trip

The former Democrat was a surprising choice as intel chief for Republican Trump, given her previous history of endorsing conspiracy theories and opposition to America's foreign military interventions.
As a congresswoman, Gabbard had in particular expressed opposition to going to war against Iran.
She faced questions over her 2017 meeting with now-deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and her peddling of Russian propaganda -- particularly false conspiracy theories about the Ukraine war.
She was also regarded with suspicion by some over her views on US government surveillance and her backing for National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden.
Trump pressed on with the appointment, but she appeared to be increasingly frozen out of decision-making in recent months as he headed toward the war with Iran.
Gabbard was reportedly not in the room when Trump huddled with his top advisors in the immediate run-up to the launch of the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
After the war began, she repeatedly contradicted or failed to fully back the justifications that the Trump administration gave for launching the war.
Gabbard declined to endorse Trump's claim that Iran posed an imminent threat -- an assessment that the administration used to justify the strikes.
She also said US intelligence had concluded that Iran was not rebuilding nuclear enrichment capacities that were destroyed last year by the United States and Israel -- a claim also used as a major justification for the war.
The Hawaii native served in Iraq with the Army National Guard. The experience informed her opposition to America's long foreign wars, as it did for Vice President JD Vance and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
Gabbard's mother, born on the US mainland, embraced Hinduism and raised her children in the tradition. Her first name, Tulsi, is a sacred plant in Hinduism, and she is a lifelong vegetarian.
dk/pnb

bank

Kevin Warsh: New Fed chair who vows not to be Trump's puppet

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • That language echoes Trump, whose administration has called for the Federal Reserve to stay in its lane and has questioned its credibility.
  • Kevin Warsh, the new chair of the US Federal Reserve, returns to the central bank with an ambitious reform agenda and the looming threat of intimidation by the man who nominated him: US President Donald Trump.
  • That language echoes Trump, whose administration has called for the Federal Reserve to stay in its lane and has questioned its credibility.
Kevin Warsh, the new chair of the US Federal Reserve, returns to the central bank with an ambitious reform agenda and the looming threat of intimidation by the man who nominated him: US President Donald Trump.
Warsh was confirmed to a four-year term as the central bank's chief by the Senate last week, and took his oath of office at a glitzy White House ceremony on Friday.
"I believe, Mr. President, these years can bring unmatched prosperity that will raise living standards for Americans from all walks of life, and the Fed has something to do with it," said Warsh, after Trump heaped effusive praise on him.
The 56-year-old native of upstate New York left his first term on the board prematurely in 2011, griping over policy differences.
Now, he returns to lead the Fed -- whose mandates include managing US inflation and ensuring maximum employment -- with goals of changing how it makes decisions, communicates those moves and implements policy shifts.
He does so at a time of unprecedented political pressure on the Fed's independence, with Trump demanding lower interest rates to spur activity in the world's largest economy. 
Trump frequently criticized and insulted Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, over a lack of rate cuts. His administration targeted Powell in a criminal probe and is still attempting to remove another Fed governor, Lisa Cook.
At his confirmation hearing before the Senate banking committee, Warsh vowed to preserve the Fed's independence, saying he would "absolutely not" be the president's puppet.
At his swearing-in, Warsh did not return to the theme of independence, vowing instead to take on "static frameworks and models" and to uphold "clear standards of integrity and performance."

Fed criticism

Born and raised in Albany, Warsh earned degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Law School.
He is married to Jane Lauder, a granddaughter of cosmetics legend Estee Lauder. Her billionaire father Ronald Lauder is one of Trump's longtime associates.
Warsh started his career at investment giant Morgan Stanley, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.
He later joined then-US president George W. Bush's administration, serving as a White House economic policy advisor from 2002-2006 before being nominated to the Fed's Board of Governors.
Warsh served on the board during the global financial crisis, and eventually left in 2011 over differences on how the central bank should tackle it. He has since worked on Wall Street and on the boards of various companies, including UPS.
"I saw the Fed and its people at their very best, but I also witnessed an institution that was tempted to play a larger role in the economy and society," Warsh said at his confirmation hearing.
That language echoes Trump, whose administration has called for the Federal Reserve to stay in its lane and has questioned its credibility.
In his first tenure at the Fed, Warsh was considered a "hawk" -- a policymaker who favors addressing the inflation side of the mandate, usually by raising interest rates.
In recent years, he has changed his tune, aligning with Trump's demands for lower interest rates despite the US economy facing stubbornly high inflation since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Warsh blames high inflation on "policy errors" by the Fed in 2021 and 2022.
He has called for "regime change" in policymaking, including changing the data the Fed bases its decisions on, removing forward guidance from its communications and encouraging more of a "good family fight" at meetings.
He also wants to shrink the Fed's balance sheet, preferring to use interest rates as the central bank's primary tool on both sides of its mandate.

'Very smooth'

David Wessel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Warsh has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, but one should "watch what he does, not what he has said."
Warsh will not simply be able to impose his will on the central bank, and will have to work with his fellow policymakers, Wessel told AFP.
"He is very smooth, and generally good with the people, and that will serve him well in this endeavor as long as he doesn't move too fast or too radically."
Kathryn Judge, a law professor at Columbia University, said existing divisions at the Fed will pose a "significant challenge" to Warsh.
"I think we really just have to wait and see," Judge said.
"It's been a long time since we've had a chair coming in who is seeking to chart a new course, rather than to build on the success of his predecessors."
aha/des

Trump

Trump skips son's wedding as Iran talks continue

  • "While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
  • US President Donald Trump confirmed Friday he would miss his son's wedding, insisting he had to stay in Washington because of "circumstances pertaining to government."
  • "While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
US President Donald Trump confirmed Friday he would miss his son's wedding, insisting he had to stay in Washington because of "circumstances pertaining to government."
Trump had said a day earlier that the Iran war made it "bad timing" for him to attend Donald Trump Jr's wedding to Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas this weekend.
"While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time. Congratulations to Don and Bettina!"
The White House later announced changed travel plans for Trump, saying he would no longer head for planned weekend trip to his New Jersey golf resort and would stay in the US capital instead.
Trump didn't specify why it was an "important period" although it comes as talks to end the Middle East war appear to be reaching a crunch point. 
Iran is examining a new US proposal and the powerful army chief of mediator Pakistan is heading to Tehran.
But tensions are also rising with Cuba, with the United States ramping up its pressure campaign on the communist-run island by indicting former president Raul Castro.
The US military has also dispatched an aircraft carrier and its escort warships to the Caribbean.
dk/ksb

Congress

The Trump priority even Senate Republicans would not swallow

BY FRANKIE TAGGART

  • "Instead," he wrote, "I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!"
  • It has been denounced as a "slush fund" for rioters and defended by President Donald Trump as justice for victims of Joe Biden's "evil" administration.
  • "Instead," he wrote, "I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!"
It has been denounced as a "slush fund" for rioters and defended by President Donald Trump as justice for victims of Joe Biden's "evil" administration.
But for Senate Republicans, the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" compensation scheme became something more consequential: a line they were no longer willing to cross.
After months of standing behind Trump through war, tariffs and ethics storms, Republican senators derailed one of his signature priorities -- an immigration enforcement bill -- rather than advance legislation while the controversy remained unresolved.
The rebellion was small. But in a Congress defined by razor-thin margins, a handful of defectors can stall legislation and force leaders to choose between satisfying Trump and protecting vulnerable lawmakers.
The debacle exposed a growing fear that Trump's personal grievances are colliding with Republican survival in a midterm election year dominated by the cost of living.
The $70 billion immigration bill was supposed to be an easy win -- a sweeping injection of money for immigration and border enforcement.
Instead, Senate leaders sent lawmakers home for a week-long break without a vote after acting attorney general Todd Blanche failed to calm concerns over Trump's fund, pitched as compensation for Americans unfairly targeted by the government.
"Trump finally handed Senate Republicans a vote they couldn't survive," progressive political commentator Thom Hartmann told AFP.
"Iran, tariffs and the ballroom all kept the cost diffuse and deniable, but the so-called 'anti-weaponization fund' put senators on the record for paying taxpayer dollars to people who beat Capitol Police."

'Stupid on stilts'

The fund was created as part of a settlement under which Trump agreed to drop a lawsuit against his Internal Revenue Service over a leak of his tax returns.
Critics say it could compensate Trump allies -- potentially including people convicted of attacking police during the 2021 Capitol riot.
For many Senate Republicans, that proved politically indefensible.
"So the nation's top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?" former Republican leader Mitch McConnell said. 
"Utterly stupid, morally wrong -- take your pick."
Thom Tillis called the idea "stupid on stilts," while Lisa Murkowski said the White House had "dropped a bomb" into a carefully planned immigration bill.
Trump defended the fund Friday, saying he had given up "a lot of money" by allowing it to go forward.
"Instead," he wrote, "I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!"
Federal prosecutors secured a rare 100 percent conviction rate in jury trials stemming from the riot, and no appealed verdicts were overturned.
But the backlash was about more than one fund.
Republicans were already preparing to strip money for Trump's planned White House ballroom, fearing Democrats would cast it as a symbol of skewed priorities as voters struggle with mortgages, groceries and gasoline.
The "anti-weaponization" fund landed differently, combining legal uncertainty, taxpayer money, the Capitol riot and Trump's instinct for score-settling into one toxic package.

Obedience

It also arrived during a week of raw frustration over Trump's attacks on fellow Republicans facing primaries.
The president helped defeat Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, pushed to oust Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie and endorsed Texas attorney general Ken Paxton over longtime Senator John Cornyn -- moves that angered many Senate Republicans and raised fears he is weakening his own side before November's midterm elections.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged that politics had become impossible to separate from legislating, and criticized the White House for making life "more complicated" for his troops.
"It would have been nice if they had consulted," he told reporters.
The immigration bill is not dead. Republicans still broadly support Trump's deportation agenda and are likely to revive the package after the recess, possibly with limits on who can receive compensation.
But the episode marks one of the clearest signs yet that Trump's dominance over Republican primaries does not always translate into obedience on Capitol Hill.
The question now is whether this was a brief mutiny -- or the first sign that Republicans, staring at a difficult midterm campaign, see more risk in defending Trump's grievances than defying them.
ft/bgs

diplomacy

India capital's motor-rickshaws get Trump makeover

BY AISHWARYA KUMAR

  • Rubio then attends a gala reception in New Delhi for the 250th anniversary of US independence from Britain, on July 4, 1776.
  • New Delhi's iconic auto-rickshaws have received a Donald Trump-themed makeover to mark the United States' 250th Independence celebrations and the upcoming India visit of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but not everyone is a fan.
  • Rubio then attends a gala reception in New Delhi for the 250th anniversary of US independence from Britain, on July 4, 1776.
New Delhi's iconic auto-rickshaws have received a Donald Trump-themed makeover to mark the United States' 250th Independence celebrations and the upcoming India visit of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but not everyone is a fan.
The US embassy said it is providing thousands of vehicle covers emblazoned with Trump's face and the US flag for the ubiquitous three-wheeled taxi rickshaws plying the sprawling megacity. 
"Happy Birthday America!", the cover reads, fitted to the back of the usually yellow-and-green rickshaws, also known as tuk-tuks. "250 years old".
US Ambassador Sergio Gor, who was previously in charge of staffing the second Trump administration with loyalists, launched the rickshaw campaign in April featuring "iconic American images".
The US embassy in New Delhi told AFP that "thousands of tuk-tuks currently in circulation will be sponsored to showcase messages celebrating America's 250th birthday". Some include the Statue of Liberty.
In sweltering heat at a fuel station, 24-year-old Tushar wielded a hammer as he fitted a Trump face cover to a three-wheeled rickshaw.
"We get around 60 to 70 of these covers every day from a supplier," Tushar, who uses only one name, told AFP, saying he earns around 50 rupees (half a dollar) to fit each one.
He was busy persuading drivers to fit the free covers as they sat in queues for compressed natural gas (CNG), sweetening the deal with a small packet of tea.
"The gifts keep changing," Tushar said. "Sometimes, it is pickles."

'Trump ruined everything'

India has been hard hit by fuel disruptions following the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that led to Tehran's stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
New Delhi announced fuel-saving measures last week, including work-from-home days for government employees, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for reduced consumption.
India, the world's third-largest oil buyer, normally sources about half of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz.
The country had been one of the few in the region to not hike domestic fuel prices, but has raised costs twice since last week -- sparking anger especially among commercial drivers.
"I know it's Trump, but I have got a new cover -- and without paying anything," said driver Murari Lal, saying a new plain cover costs around 700 rupees ($7).
Another driver was less enthusiastic.
"I won't get the cover, even if it is for free," he said, declining to give his name. "Trump has ruined everything."
Drivers usually risk a fine if they display adverts on their vehicles, although some still promote brands, language-speaking courses, little-known sexual wellness clinics or paint nationalistic slogans like "My India is Great".
Tushar said he faced a tough task persuading some to put Trump on their vehicle.
"Those who read the newspapers are angry at him over the war," he said. "They refuse us straight up."
Rubio arrives in India on Saturday, for a multi-city tour of the world's most populous nation -- where he will seek to build ties beyond government meetings in the capital.
He will visit four Indian cities, beginning in Kolkata, home to one of the oldest US diplomatic posts -- which got its first consul in 1792, just 16 years after Washington's independence.
Rubio then attends a gala reception in New Delhi for the 250th anniversary of US independence from Britain, on July 4, 1776.
Trump had initially formed a close bond with  Modi, who thrilled Trump in his first term by inviting him to address a huge rally at a cricket stadium.
But Modi annoyed Trump by playing down his role mediating with Pakistan in last year's war, launched after a massacre of mostly Hindu civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir. 
Pakistan, by contrast, said Trump deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
ash/pjm/jm

Congress

Trump 'slush fund' sinks Senate immigration bill

BY FRANKIE TAGGART

  • "After weeks of rushing ahead with backroom negotiations, Republicans are now openly fighting amongst themselves over a bill that would pour billions more into President Trump's extreme immigration agenda and green-light nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer money for a slush fund to reward Trump's political allies."
  • US Senate Republicans abandoned plans Thursday to advance major immigration enforcement legislation after furious internal disagreement over a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund for President Donald Trump's allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by federal agencies.
  • "After weeks of rushing ahead with backroom negotiations, Republicans are now openly fighting amongst themselves over a bill that would pour billions more into President Trump's extreme immigration agenda and green-light nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer money for a slush fund to reward Trump's political allies."
US Senate Republicans abandoned plans Thursday to advance major immigration enforcement legislation after furious internal disagreement over a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund for President Donald Trump's allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by federal agencies.
The collapse was a significant setback for Trump and party leaders, who had hoped to pass roughly $70 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other agencies before lawmakers began a week-long recess.
Instead, the debate exposed rare public resistance from Republicans normally inclined to fall in line behind the president, with senators balking at provisions they feared would be politically toxic in an election year dominated by affordability concerns.
The immediate flashpoint was Trump's proposed "anti-weaponization fund," which critics warned could send taxpayer money to Trump supporters convicted of violence against police officers during the 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
"Senate Republicans couldn't even hold their own conference together long enough to bring this partisan bill to the floor before recess," Democratic senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said in a joint statement.
"After weeks of rushing ahead with backroom negotiations, Republicans are now openly fighting amongst themselves over a bill that would pour billions more into President Trump's extreme immigration agenda and green-light nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer money for a slush fund to reward Trump's political allies."
The decision meant senators were leaving Washington without passing the immigration package, blowing past Trump's June 1 deadline for approving a major pillar of his domestic agenda.
Acting attorney general Todd Blanche met privately with Republican senators just before the negotiations collapsed in an effort to calm concerns over the fund, but several lawmakers emerged unconvinced.
Republicans had also been divided over a separate proposal for up to $1 billion in Secret Service funding tied to security for Trump's planned White House ballroom.
Senate leaders had already concluded that the ballroom funding would have to be dropped from the text because of insufficient support and procedural obstacles.
The double retreat underscored growing unease among Republicans over Trump priorities that Democrats have cast as evidence of a president more focused on personal projects and political grievances than on the cost of living.
The GOP pullback extended to the House of Representatives, where a chaotic scene erupted when Republicans abruptly canceled a vote that would have directed Trump to withdraw US forces from Iran or seek approval to continue the war.
"Are we not voting on it because the American people are sick and tired of this illegal war that is costing tens of billions of dollars? Gas prices are through the roof!" Rep. Jim McGovern shouted as other Democrats jeered the withdrawal. "People can't afford their groceries! You guys don't have the guts -- or the balls -- to vote on this!"

'Ballroom Republicans'

Trump had dismissed the potential ballroom rebellion, telling reporters he was relying on private donations for the project and didn't need the public money anyway.
"If they want to spend money on securing the White House, I think it would be very much a good expenditure. But the ballroom is being built," he said. 
Democrats had been preparing to force repeated votes on both the ballroom and compensation fund, hoping to portray Republicans as defending money for rioters and a vanity project while families struggle with mortgages, groceries and gasoline.
The setback comes as Trump's campaign of retribution against Republicans who cross him has stirred frustration inside the party, emboldening rebels to oppose Trump like almost never before.
Trump helped defeat Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, pushed to oust Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie and endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over longtime Senator John Cornyn in a runoff next week.
Several Republican senators have warned that those vendettas could make it harder to pass Trump's agenda by alienating lawmakers whose votes he still needs.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has acknowledged that Trump's interventions in primaries can make moving legislation "slightly more complicated."
That tension is now playing out in real time, as Republicans remain eager to deliver Trump a major immigration victory, but are proving far less willing to defend every politically explosive demand that comes with it.
"The American people will see it in black and white. Our contrast will be glaringly clear," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer told reporters before the negotiations collapsed. 
"Ballroom Republicans are not working for you. They're busy fighting for Trump. Democrats are fighting for you."
ft/mlm/sla/mjw

politics

With Fed under intense Trump pressure, new chief to be sworn in at White House

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • "Kevin Warsh will not be able to deliver the rate cuts that the president wants," said Wessel.
  • Incoming Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh will be sworn in at the White House on Friday, taking the reins of the US central bank as it faces unprecedented pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates.
  • "Kevin Warsh will not be able to deliver the rate cuts that the president wants," said Wessel.
Incoming Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh will be sworn in at the White House on Friday, taking the reins of the US central bank as it faces unprecedented pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates.
Warsh, who Trump nominated for the role, has backed rate cuts in the past, even as the world's largest economy faces inflation at a three-year high.
Trump frequently criticized and insulted Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, even pursuing a criminal probe that the outgoing chair said was meant to pressure the Fed over monetary policy decision-making.
The White House has separately sought to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, a Biden Administration appointee, over mortgage fraud allegations. That case is pending before the Supreme Court.
It is unusual for the chief of the Fed -- an independent non-partisan body that sets monetary policy according to a dual mandate on inflation and employment -- to be sworn in at the White House.
The last central bank chief to do so was Alan Greenspan in 1987 under then-president Ronald Reagan. 
Trump will host the ceremony on Friday, the White House told AFP this week. 
At his Senate confirmation hearing, Warsh insisted that he would "absolutely not" be a puppet for the president.
"Mr. Warsh insists that he will defend the Fed's independence in monetary policy," said David Wessel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. 
"I hope he is true to his word. The risks are higher than ever."

Balancing mandates

Warsh will take over a divided Fed facing high inflation -- fueled by the energy price surge that resulted from Trump's war on Iran -- and a labor market showing signs of weakness.
The US central bank has a dual mandate to keep inflation to its long-term target of two percent while also maintaining maximum employment.
US consumer inflation in April came in at 3.8 percent, a three-year high, with American households battered by years of above-expected price increases since the pandemic.
At a Fed meeting last month, a majority of policymakers indicated that rate hikes may be necessary if inflation continues to remain above the Fed's long-term target.
Warsh has argued that productivity gains from artificial intelligence-led innovation will allow the US economy to grow rapidly without adding to inflation. 
The US unemployment rate has remained relatively stable around 4.3 percent for the last year. But job growth -- often used as a proxy for economic activity -- has see-sawed wildly between expansion and contraction from month to month.
That situation -- high inflation and inconsistent job growth -- has left the Fed in a potentially sticky situation of having to choose between its mandates.
"Kevin Warsh will not be able to deliver the rate cuts that the president wants," said Wessel. "At some point, the president may grow impatient and will begin attacking Mr. Warsh as he did Jerome Powell."
Warsh takes over at "a time of disruption and rebalancing in the overall authority of the president," said Columbia Law professor Kathryn Judge, whose research focuses on central banking.
Fed chiefs have traditionally had a large influence on the rate-setting committee, but with policymakers currently divided on the path forward, the idea of the so-called "chairman-led Fed" will be "meaningfully tested" in the months to come, she said.
aha/mjf

Global Edition

Windfall settlement, stock trades: Trump accused of 'brazen' corruption

BY AURéLIA END

  • Rosenblum argued that it's not a "tolerance for corruption," but that "Donald Trump has made his flouting of norms into his personal brand."
  • Critics of US President Donald Trump are pointing to a series of recent windfalls for the 79-year-old billionaire and his family as evidence of "brazen," historic corruption.
  • Rosenblum argued that it's not a "tolerance for corruption," but that "Donald Trump has made his flouting of norms into his personal brand."
Critics of US President Donald Trump are pointing to a series of recent windfalls for the 79-year-old billionaire and his family as evidence of "brazen," historic corruption.
Accusations of personal enrichment, influence peddling, and cronyism have dogged Trump since his first term in office, before which he famously stated: "A president can't have a conflict of interest."
But outrage reached a fever pitch this week after the president settled a legal case against his own government -- on exceptionally generous terms -- shortly after disclosing thousands of stock trades in recent months.
The settlement, signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche -- who is Trump's former personal attorney -- could shield him from a potential $100 million fine.
It could also see taxpayer funds doled out to the president's supporters who were convicted of violently attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 while seeking to prevent certification of former president Joe Biden's election victory.
The money would come from a nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, intended to compensate people who claim, like Trump, they were maliciously targeted under the Biden administration.
"The most brazen act of presidential corruption this century," is how the left-leaning New York Times editorial board described the settlement, while joining many Democrats in describing the new pool of money as a "taxpayer-funded slush fund."
"Donald Trump sued his own government. Trump's DOJ (Department of Justice) settled with Trump. And now Trump gets a nearly $2 billion slush fund to reward his own allies, loyalists, and insurrectionists," said top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.
On his first day back in office, Trump issued a blanket pardon of some 1,500 January 6 rioters.
Two police officers on duty during the violent protests have sued seeking to block the creation of the fund, whose board is to be handpicked by Blanche.

'No legal precedent'

Even some Republican lawmakers have balked at the move.
"People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability," said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who lost his re-election bid after Trump backed his primary opponent.
Noah Rosenblum, a law professor at New York University, told AFP that the fund's creation was "interesting because it contributes to a different project of Trump's, not just his personal enrichment while in the Oval Office."
"But also his attempt to use his time as president to rewrite history and to punish his enemies."
The settlement announcement came just days after Trump prompted uproar by disclosing thousands of stock trades of individual companies in the first quarter, worth potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.
Judd Legum, a Democratic-aligned independent journalist who analyzed the disclosure, told AFP that his "most striking findings" were that Trump "purchased stock in several cases either on the same day or just before making public statements that were promoting the companies."
Trump's family has dismissed any allegation of wrongdoing, arguing they -- along with the president -- are fully removed from stock trading decisions.
Vice President JD Vance put it bluntly at a recent press briefing: "The president doesn't sit at the Oval Office on his computer...buying and selling stocks. That's absurd."

'Personal brand'

As the first president who is also a convicted felon, Trump has so far weathered the mounting accusations.
"We've kind of numbed ourselves to these issues of conflict of interest and potentially corruption and that's not a healthy place to be as a democracy," said Legum.
Rosenblum argued that it's not a "tolerance for corruption," but that "Donald Trump has made his flouting of norms into his personal brand."
Many Americans "might look at this and see obvious corruption and self-dealing," he said.
"I think he knows that, and I think he sees that as a feature, not a bug, because it further endears him to his true supporters."
aue/ev/des/sla

Trump

Trump's big arch approved by ally-controlled board

  • Another panel overseeing construction projects that is similarly controlled by Trump allies is set to review the proposal on June 4.  bur-des/mjf
  • An arts commission stacked with allies of US President Donald Trump gave the greenlight on Thursday to designs for his massive triumphal arch, as several lawsuits seek to halt the project.
  • Another panel overseeing construction projects that is similarly controlled by Trump allies is set to review the proposal on June 4.  bur-des/mjf
An arts commission stacked with allies of US President Donald Trump gave the greenlight on Thursday to designs for his massive triumphal arch, as several lawsuits seek to halt the project.
The Commission of Fine Arts, whose board was fired last year and replaced by White House picks, voted 4-0 to approve the planned 250-foot (76-meter) arch, which includes large golden statues of an angel and eagles on top.
The arch, which Trump hopes to build just outside Arlington National Cemetery, is one of several major construction projects the 79-year-old billionaire is avidly pursuing to leave his mark on the US capital.
Trump says the arch will be the largest in the world, taller than the 164-foot Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
However, like with his White House ballroom project -- which has already seen the historic East Wing torn down -- Trump has stirred controversy by not seeking congressional input for such a major change to the US capital.
"We're doing it... we don't need anything from Congress," Trump told reporters when asked about the issue Thursday. 
Several groups, including Vietnam War veterans, have also sued to block the project, arguing it has not followed proper procedure and would disrupt the view from Arlington National Cemetery.
The cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, where hundreds of thousands of American veterans are buried, is considered one of the most hallowed sites in the country.
The Commission of Fine Arts was established by Congress in 1910 and is made up of architects and urban planners. It gives advice on design and preservation in Washington -- focusing on government buildings and monuments in the strictly managed area.
Another panel overseeing construction projects that is similarly controlled by Trump allies is set to review the proposal on June 4. 
bur-des/mjf

Trump

Trump says Iran war may keep him from son's wedding

  • It's going to be just a small little private affair and I'm going to try and make it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would attend his son's wedding.
  • US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would try to make it to his eldest son's wedding but that it was "bad timing" because of the Iran war.
  • It's going to be just a small little private affair and I'm going to try and make it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would attend his son's wedding.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would try to make it to his eldest son's wedding but that it was "bad timing" because of the Iran war.
Donald Trump Jr, 48, is set to tie the knot for the second time this weekend, marrying Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas, US media reported.
But at the same time Trump is working on a deal to end his unpopular war with Iran, which has sunk the president's poll ratings and sparked voter anger over the cost of living ahead of November's midterm elections.
"He'd like me to go. It's going to be just a small little private affair and I'm going to try and make it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would attend his son's wedding.
"I said, 'This is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things.'"
Trump said he was conscious of how the media would cover it if he did go to the wedding in the middle of a war that remains stuck in a stalemate.
"That's one I can't win on. If I do attend, I get killed. If I don't attend, I get killed -- by the fake news of course," Trump said.
"Hopefully they're going to have a great marriage."
Known as Don Jr, the president's son is an executive vice president at The Trump Organization, the family's luxury real estate conglomerate, and a vocal proponent of his father's right-wing MAGA political agenda.
He is often seen at his father's side, including earlier this month when they returned to the White House together from Trump senior's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Last year Don Jr said he could run for president "maybe one day." His father's second and final term runs until January, 2029 and the Republican president has not yet anointed a successor.
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