59 h. ago How Trump is conditioning Americans to accept his autocratic rule

The images are bizarre yet familiar. Along Pennsylvania Avenue, troops stand watch in full battle dress. Armoured vehicles idle before monuments built to honour liberty. This is Washington, not Kyiv, Caracas or Moscow. It is not the aftermath of a terrorist attack or invasion but rather a president who has discovered that the spectacle of force is itself power. On the orders of US President Donald Trump, National Guard units have been deployed across the US capital. More striking still, he has...

Politics

63 h. ago Pentagon pizza orders spike at time of Beijing military parade: Chinese outlet

Chinese state media has mocked an apparent spike in pizza orders near the Pentagon during Beijing’s Victory Day parade, suggesting that in the US close attention was paid to the event, which American President Donald Trump called “very, very impressive”. On Wednesday afternoon, Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with China’s state broadcaster CCTV, released a video saying customer traffic data from Domino’s near the Pentagon was more than four times its usual level around 9pm, and...

Events

68 h. ago Trump’s sons’ American Bitcoin stake worth US$1.5 billion in stock debut

A bitcoin company tied to US President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons more than doubled in value in its stock market debut on Wednesday, valuing the sons’ stake at well over US$1.5 billion as the first family grows their crypto business interests. Shares in American Bitcoin, a bitcoin miner, soared as high as US$14.52 on its first day of trade on the Nasdaq, before pulling back to be up 16.5 per cent at US$8.04 by the end of the day. The company was around 20 per cent owned by Eric Trump and...

Politics

6 d. ago Europe is drawing up ‘precise’ plans to send troops to Ukraine: Von der Leyen

Europe is drawing up “pretty precise plans” for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees that will have the backing of US capabilities, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. “President Trump reassured us that there will be [an] American presence as part of the backstop. That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed,” von der Leyen told the newspaper. The deployment is set to...

Politics

6 d. ago Europe drawing up ‘precise plans’ to send troops to Ukraine: EU chief

Europe is drawing up “pretty precise plans” for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees that will have the backing of US capabilities, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. “President Trump reassured us that there will be [an] American presence as part of the backstop. That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed,” von der Leyen told the newspaper. The deployment is set to...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump, Nvidia talks to allow Blackwell chip sales in China will take time: CEO

Discussions with the White House to allow American AI chip company Nvidia to sell a less advanced version of its next-generation GPU chip to China will take time, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Thursday. When asked about White House talks on Blackwell chip sales to China in a Fox Business News interview, Huang said the discussions had started. “The conversation will take a while, but President [Donald] Trump understands that having the world build AI on the American tech stack helps America...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump urges banks to flag Chinese money laundering linked to fentanyl trade

The Treasury Department wants US financial institutions to monitor for suspected Chinese money laundering networks handling funds that are used to fuel the flood of fentanyl across American communities. The advisory released on Thursday highlights how these money laundering operations are working with Mexican drug cartels to fuel the flood of fentanyl across American communities. The Trump administration is calling on banks to flag certain customers who may fit a profile of people who could...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump implores banks to step up monitoring of China money laundering linked to fentanyl

The administration of US President Donald Trump called on American banks and other financial institutions Thursday to step up monitoring of suspected Chinese money-laundering networks it says fuel fentanyl addiction in the United States. The advisory highlighted how informal Chinese money-laundering operations work in a symbiotic relationship with the Jalisco New Generation, Sinaloa, Gulf and other Mexican drug cartels to effectively bypass financial safeguards. “Money-laundering networks linked...

Politics

1 week ago Seoul reluctant on Trump’s push for more flexible US Forces Korea

South Korea’s new president has signalled reluctance to give ground to US President Donald Trump on the role of US forces in Korea in relation to Taiwan, but experts say he may be continually pushed to take a clearer stance in the future. On Sunday, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung told reporters on his flight to Washington for an inaugural summit with Trump that it was difficult to agree to an American demand for strategic flexibility of US Forces Korea (USFK). Lee, who became president in...

Politics

1 week ago EU urged to unleash ‘trade bazooka’ in response to Trump’s tariff threats

Calls are mounting for the European Union to fire its “trade bazooka” at Washington after US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs and export restrictions on countries applying digital laws and taxes to American firms. In a late-night post on social media, Trump vowed to slap “substantial additional tariffs” and restrict the export of “technology and chips” to countries enforcing “digital taxes, legislation, rules or regulations”. While he did not name Europe directly, the American leader...

Politics

1 week ago Trump suggests Americans ‘like a dictator’ as he clamps down on Washington

US President Donald Trump on Monday suggested Americans would like a dictator as he signed orders to tighten his federal clampdown on the capital Washington and to prosecute flag-burners. In a rambling 80-minute event in the Oval Office, Trump lambasted critics and the media as he complained that he was not getting credit for his National Guard-backed crackdown on crime and immigration. “They say ‘we don’t need him. Freedom, freedom. He’s a dictator. He’s a dictator’. A lot of people are saying:...

Politics

1 week ago Latin American Countries and China Condemn Trump’s Threats Against Venezuela

Latin American Countries and China Condemn Trump’s Threats Against Venezuela  Truthout

Politics

2 w. ago Trump aide fired after Israel embassy clash over Gaza policy

The State Department has fired a press officer who was responsible for drafting Trump administration talking points about policy towards Israel and Gaza after complaints from the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Officials said Shahed Ghoreishi, a contractor working for the Bureau of Near East Affairs, was terminated over the weekend following two incidents last week in which his loyalty to Trump administration policies was called into question. Ghoreishi, who is Iranian American, also was targeted on...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s tariffs may be a political success but they fail economic test

In today’s complex global economy, few issues stir more intense emotions than tariffs. US President Donald Trump’s tariff narrative has captured the hearts of many Americans. He painted a picture of a victimised America, its manufacturing base hollowed out and jobs shipped overseas. He promised to restore national greatness by wielding tariffs as a magic wand. While this narrative was a political triumph, it was built on a series of exaggerations and, when translated into policy, has ultimately...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Not easy’: how a US firm avoided Trump’s China tariffs by sourcing American

Denis Gagnon had long wanted to establish a manufacturing firm supplied only by American-made parts, a vision shaped by his experience in the international corporate world and his assessment of business risks offshore. He was an outlier in an era of globalisation when businesspeople, including his US peers, waxed lyrical about outsourcing from Asia to minimise production costs. The Gagnons, including his son William, run a medium-sized company called Excel Dryer in the US state of...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump shrugs off Latin American nations moving closer to China

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was not worried about Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American nations moving closer to China, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “They can do whatever they want.” The remarks came during a brief exchange at the White House. Trump added: “You know, none of them are doing very well, and what we’re doing in terms of economics, we’re blowing everyone away, including China. We’re doing better than any other country in the world right now.” Trump’s...

Politics

3 w. ago Nvidia and AMD selling to China may benefit business and Trump — but not Americans

Nvidia and AMD selling to China may benefit business and Trump — but not Americans  MarketWatch

Politics

3 w. ago Watch Selling AI Chips to China? Nvidia & AMD Agree Unusual 15% Fee | Explained

Watch Selling AI Chips to China? Nvidia & AMD Agree Unusual 15% Fee | Explained  Bloomberg.com

Politics