7 d. ago A look at the major players in the crypto industry and their ties to Trump

President Donald Trump took office in January pledging to “make America the crypto capital of the world” and has since harnessed wide swaths of the federal government to bolster the industry

Politics

8 d. ago Like George W Bush, Trump has started a reckless war based on a lie | Mohamad Bazzi

The Iraq war was built on a lie. Now history is repeating itselfIn May 2003, George W Bush landed on the deck of a US aircraft carrier to deliver a triumphant speech, declaring that major combat operations in Iraq had ended – six weeks after he had ordered US troops to invade the country. Bush spoke under a now infamous banner on the carrier’s bridge that proclaimed, “Mission Accomplished”. It would turn into a case study of American hubris and one of the most mocked photo-ops in modern history.As Bush made his speech off the coast of San Diego, I was in Baghdad covering the invasion’s aftermath as a correspondent for a US newspaper. It was clear then that the war was far from over, and the US was likely to face a grinding insurgency led by former members of the Iraqi security forces. It would also soon become clear that Bush’s rationale for invading Iraq was built on a lie: Saddam Hussein’s regime did not have weapons of mass destruction and was not intent on developing them. And I...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I have never seen such open corruption’: Trump’s crypto deals and loosening of rules shock observers

After courtship with crypto industry, president now profits immensely from a sector he once said ‘seems like a scam’Cryptocurrency multibillionaire Justin Sun could barely contain his glee.Last month, Sun publicly flaunted a $100,000 Donald Trump-branded watch that he was awarded at a private dinner at Trump’s Virginia golf club. Sun had earned the recognition for buying $20m dollars of the crypto memecoin $Trump, ranking him first among 220 purchasers of the token who received dinner invitations. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Unhinged moments from Trump birthday parade from Crypto shout

The Orange Manbaby spent his 79th birthday at a parade in Washington DC on Saturday evening for US Army's 250th anniversary but seemed to struggle to stay awake at times

Politics

2 w. ago Trump made $10million selling guitars, bibles, watches and sneakers

The financial disclosure report, released by the Office of Government Ethics, lays bare the vast wealth of President Donald Trump and his family

Politics

2 w. ago Netanyahu outplayed Trump on Iran. Now the US risks being mired in another war | Mohamad Bazzi

If Trump wants to be the peacemaker he claims to be, he must negotiate a new deal with TehranBefore dawn on Friday, Israel unleashed a wave of air strikes against more than 100 targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and air defense systems. The surprise Israeli attack also killed some of Iran’s most senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. The Iranian regime called it a “declaration of war” – and western powers raced to prevent a wider regional conflict that could draw in the US along with other countries in the Middle East.While the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claims that he’s trying to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the attack is as much intended to blow up ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Donald Trump’s administration. While Trump’s overall foreign policy has been a disaster, for months he had resisted Netanyahu’s pleas to give Israel a green light to attack Iran, with US assistance. Trump insiste...

Events

3 w. ago Trump’s crypto ventures may be his most dangerous moneymaking scheme | Mohamad Bazzi

The US president is leveraging his position for personal gain by exploiting an industry known for lack of transparency and fraudThroughout his business career, Donald Trump sought new ways to leverage his name to make easy money. He ran an airline, a university and a winery. Thanks to The Apprentice show that made him a reality TV star, the US president slapped his name on real estate projects around the world built by other companies – along with Trump-branded steaks, vodka, deodorant and bottled water. Many of these businesses ultimately failed, but Trump rarely invested his own funds and he still walked away with hefty licensing fees.Today, as the most powerful person in the world, Trump has found perhaps the easiest way to profit off his name: cryptocurrency. Days before his inauguration for a second term on 20 January, Trump’s family business launched a meme coin, called $TRUMP, which is a type of digital currency often connected to an online joke or mascot. It has no inherent ...

Politics