The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Trump

  • U.S and EU agree to avoid trade clash

    The United States has agreed to work towards lowering trade barriers with the European Union, Donald Trump said on Wednesday after a meeting with European Commission chief, Jean-Claude Juncker.

    The two agreed to launch a “new phase” in relations and work towards zero tariffs, the U.S president said.

    The BBC reports they also agreed to increase trade in services and agriculture, including greater U.S soy bean exports to the EU.

    The agreements come amid heightened tensions between the U.S and EU.

    The two leaders defused what had threatened to become a trade war between the two blocs, fuelled by tariffs set by Mr. Trump on European steel and aluminium exports, and threats to expand the tariffs to cars.

    The relationship between the U.S and Europe had been further frayed by Mr. Trump’s apparent fondness for the Russian President Vladimir Putin and attacks on NATO and the EU.

  • Trump, Iran’s president trade words over nuclear deal

    United States President, Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani have traded hostile warnings, amid rising tensions between the two countries.

    Mr. Trump tweeted Iran would “suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” if it threatened the U.S.

    Mr. Rouhani earlier said that war with Iran would be “the mother of all wars.”

    In May, the U.S left a deal which curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in return for lifting of international sanctions, the BBC reports.

    Washington is now re-imposing the sanctions, despite objections from the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany, who all signed the 2015 agreement.

    President Rouhani’s comments, made to Iranian diplomats, did leave open the possibility of future good relations with the U.S.

    “America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” he said, according to Iran’s state news agency Irna.

    Mr. Trump’s angry rhetoric has echoes of his Twitter barrages against North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, whom he branded a “madman” who “will be tested like never before,” before engaging in a testy exchange over whose nuclear button was bigger.

    Their verbal hostilities nonetheless evolved into ongoing diplomatic talks.

    On Monday, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards suggested the U.S president’s statements were part of a broader strategy.

    “The remarks Trump makes against Iran are psychological warfare and he would be mistaken should he seek to take action against Iran,” Gholamhossein Gheybparvar said.

  • Trump invites Putin to Washington

    President Donald Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington for a summit in October, the White House has said.

    White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a tweet that Trump asked his National Security Adviser, John Bolton, to extend the invitation to the Russian leader.

    Sanders said: “In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs.

    “President Trump asked @AmbJohnBolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.”

    Sanders announced the invitation less than an hour after the Republican-led Senate effectively rebuked President Donald Trump for considering Russia’s request to question U.S. officials.

    The development followed growing criticisms over the Trump’s relationship with Putin following their summit in Helsinki on Monday.

    Read Also: Trump says meeting with Putin ‘even better’ than NATO summit

    The Senate, in a resolution adopted 98-0 by senators across the aisle, called on the U.S. to refuse to make any officials available for interrogation by Putin’s government.

    Shortly before the vote was scheduled to begin, Sanders issued a statement rejecting the Russian proposal.

    “It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” Sanders said.

    The Senate’s vote is nonbinding but it marked a rare decision by Republican leader Mitch McConnell to take up a resolution written by top Democrat Chuck Schumer undercutting the Republican president.

  • Trump, Obama, Katy Perry, others lose Twitter followers

    U.S. President Donald Trump, his predecessor Barack Obama and American singer Katy Perry , the most followed celebrities on Twitter, lost an astonishing number of followers on Thursday following Twitter’s account purge.

    Twitter announced on Wednesday that users would see a drop in their follower accounts on Thursday as the company clamped down on ‘problematic’ and ‘fake’ accounts.

    Trump, who is well known for his controversial twitter account @realDonaldTrump, saw his follower count drop by about 300,000, from 53.4 million to 53.1 million.

    Also, Barack Obama’s, who tweets @barackobama, saw his total followers shrink by 2.1 million, from 103.63 million to 101.5 million.

    Meanwhile, Singer Katy Perry, who has the most-followed account on Twitter, lost 1.5 million followers, dropping from 109.61 million to 108.1 million followers.

    Follower counts for Justin Bieber fell from 106.71 million to 101.50 million while Rihanna was down to 88.44 million followers from 89 million.

    Television host Ellen DeGeneres dropped from 78.09 million to 76.10 million followers and Taylor Swift fell from 85.57 million to 83.27 million, while Lady Gaga’s followers declined from 78.97 million to 77.47 million.

    Twitter’s official account on the social network was not spared from the purge as it shed 7.5 million fake accounts to drop from 62.85 million to 55.35 million as at press time.

    According to its official statement, Twitter will begin removing tens of millions of suspicious accounts from users’ followers signalling a major new effort to restore trust on the popular platform.

    The affected accounts will include those that have been hijacked to spread abuse, misinformation and propaganda.

  • Brexit plan will kill U.S trade deal – Trump

    United States President, Donald Trump, has said the United Kingdom would “probably not” get a trade deal with America, if the prime minister’s Brexit plan goes ahead.

    He told The Sun the PM’s plan would “probably kill the deal” as it would mean the U.S “would be dealing with the European Union” instead of with the UK.

    Downing Street has not yet reacted to Mr. Trump’s remarks, the BBC reports.

    Prime Minister Theresa May has been making the case for a U.S free trade deal with Mr. Trump, on his first UK visit as president.

    She said Brexit was an “unprecedented opportunity” to create growth in the UK and U.S.

    Mr. Trump also said former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson – who disagrees with the PM on Brexit and resigned this week – would make a “great prime minister,” adding “I think he’s got what it takes.”

    In his interview, he also renewed his criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan over last year’s terror attacks in London, saying he had done “a terrible job.”

    It comes ahead of a day of planned and widespread, anti-Trump protests across the UK, including one in Parliament Square which involves a giant inflatable of Mr. Trump as a baby.

    Some pro-Trump events are also taking place.

     

  • EU chief warns Trump to appreciate NATO allies

    United States President, Donald Trump, is set to meet other NATO leaders for potentially fractious talks at a summit in Brussels shortly.

    Ahead of his visit, Mr. Trump hit out at the European Union on trade and at his NATO allies for failing to spend enough on defence, the BBC reports.

    He was met with a sharp rebuke from European Council President, Donald Tusk, who accused the U.S President of criticising Europe “almost daily.”

    “Dear America, appreciate your allies, after all you don’t have that many.”

    Mr. Tusk added that the EU spent more than Russia on defence, and as much as China.

    He said the U.S did not and would not have a better ally than the EU, reminding the President that European troops had also fought and died in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

    For his part, President Trump predicted that the NATO meeting could be harder than his summit with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, in Finland next Monday.

  • Trump picks Kavanaugh for Supreme Court

    United States President, Donald Trump, has nominated Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, setting the stage for a bruising confirmation battle.

    In a primetime announcement at the White House, Mr. Trump praised his pick as a “brilliant jurist.”

    The nominee, a District of Columbia appeals court judge, is a former adviser to ex-President George W. Bush, the BBC reports.

    The decision has far-reaching implications for America on everything from abortion to guns to immigration.

    This is Mr. Trump’s second appointment to the highest court in the land, potentially allowing him to shape the U.S for a generation after he leaves office.

    The President said: “Judge Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law.”

    “He is a brilliant jurist with a clear and effective writing style, universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our time.”

    With reality television-style suspense, Mr. Trump had kept everyone guessing up until the last moment.

    The appointee would replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, 81, who announced last month that he will retire this summer.

     

  • Trump lashes Saudi Arabia for drop in Iran’s oil supply

    President Donald Trump lashed out at OPEC with a warning to stop manipulating oil markets and piled pressure on U.S. ally Saudi Arabia to raise supplies to compensate for lower exports from Iran.

    Trump said in a tweet that Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Al-Saud had agreed to produce more oil.

    The White House later walked back the president’s comments, saying the king had said his country could raise oil production if needed.

    On Sunday, in an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” Trump reiterated his call on Saudi Arabia to raise production to a new record, arguing that it should help the U. S. lower fuel prices since Washington is helping Riyadh in its struggle against Tehran.

    “Don’t forget the one negative to the Iran deal is that you lose a lot of oil, and they got to make up for it. And who is their big enemy? Iran. OK.

    “You think of it. Iran is their big enemy, so they are going to have to do it,” Trump said.

    “And I have a very good relationship with the (Saudi) king and with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and with the others around and they are going to have to put out more oil.”

    Oil prices rose last week on worries that U.S. sanctions against Iran would take away significant volumes of crude oil from world markets while oil demand worldwide increases.

    Earlier this year, to the chagrin of European partners, Trump said he would pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear agreement secured by world powers.

    On Monday, Brent oil prices LCOc1 were around 1 percent lower but not far from $79 per barrel as analysts have warned of thin global spare capacity to offset potential supply disruptions.

    Rising gasoline prices could create a political headache for Trump ahead of the November elections by offsetting Republican claims that his tax cuts and rollbacks of federal regulations have helped boost the economy.

    On Fox, Trump directed blame at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer.

    Asked whether someone was manipulating oil markets, Trump said: “100 per cent.

    OPEC is and they better stop it because we’re protecting those countries, many of those countries.”

    “OPEC is manipulating, and you know they allowed (a production increase) less than we thought last week. They have to put out another two million barrels in my opinion, because we don’t want that happening,” Trump said.

    Trump was referring to OPEC’s decision to raise output together with its non-OPEC allies by around 1 million barrels per day, although since then Saudi Arabia has pledged to raise production to a new record.

    Saudi Arabia has been pumping around 10 million bpd in recent months and sources close to its oil policy have said it could raise output to 11 million bpd.

    Read Also: Saudi Arabia’s cinema is freedom to the world

    Trump’s suggestion means he wants Riyadh to increase production to 12 million bpd – something the kingdom has never done in the past.

    Trump will visit Europe this month for a meeting with NATO allies, whom he has criticized sharply as paying too little for their joint defense.

    Trade tensions are likely to overshadow that trip.

    Trump has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in response to what he calls unfair trade practices from Europe, Canada, and other allies around the world, who have responded with retaliatory sanctions in kind.

    On trade, the president said in the Fox interview that he was not happy with the North American Free Trade Agreement and would not agree a new one until after the November elections.

    “I want to wait until after the election,” he said.

  • Trump calls for speedy deportations without judicial process

    United States President, Donald Trump, has called for speedy deportations that bypass any judicial process in a tweet on Sunday.

    “When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came,” Mr. Trump wrote.

    The President’s comments come days after he reversed a policy to separate migrant children from their parents following fierce backlash at home and abroad, the BBC reports.

    More than 2,300 children were separated from their parents in May and June.

    As of May, all migrants who cross the U.S border illegally face criminal prosecution under the “zero tolerance” policy.

    The President did not make the distinction between economic migrants and those seeking asylum.

    Mr. Trump has faced criticism, including from his own Republican Party, for his choice of language on Twitter.

    When he earlier said immigrants threatened “to pour into and infest our Country,” Republican congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen tweeted back at him saying his “baseless rhetoric” was “repugnant” and dehumanised those looking for a better life.

  • ‘Oil prices: Trump did not pressure us to increase production’

    The Secretary-General of OPEC, Mr Muhammad Barkindo, has dismissed suggestions that pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump played a role in OPEC’s decision to increase oil production.

    Barkindo, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, yesterday,  said after the OPEC and non-OPEC ministers had on Saturday agreed to increase oil supplies, which remained unchanged for18 months.

    Barkindo said the decision to increase oil prices by one million barrels a day, starting July 1, 2018, was taken without political influence.

    Trump  had on April 20, tweeted “Looks like OPEC is at it again with record amounts of oil all over the place including the fully loaded ships at sea. Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!”

    He also tweeted on June 13 that “Oil prices are too high, OPEC is at it again. Not good.”

    Again, on June 22 as OPEC was concluding its meeting on wether to hold or increase crude oil supply, Trump tweeted, “Hope OPEC will increase output substantially. Need to keep prices down.”

    Barkindo said: “The impact of geopolitics is visible everywhere in this industry, and therefore our efforts to insulate the organisation from geopolitics have never been more challenging than now.

    “The founding fathers of this organisation designed it in a way that will be an unpolitical organisation focusing on the industry and as a technical body that advises member countries. So, politics is not for us in the organisation.

    “We remain focused as an unpolitical organisation and will remain focused on our core responsibility of trying to manage the market, especially the instrument of supply management to maintain stability at all times.”

    Barkindo said OPEC had transformed and that was why the organisation remained a strong voice in the energy industry.

    He said since he took over the leadership of the organisation in August 2016, the membership had grown from 13 to 16 as result of unrelenting negotiations.

    He said to make the organisation more attractive, the OPEC secreteriat was designing a framework that would allow countries join the organisation as part-time members.

    “The family is growing and for us, the more the better.

    “Equally important  is the fact that for the fist time, we have been able to establish a Declaration of Cooperation that brought 25 countries to share responsibility to this one industry that we all belong.

    “We are trying to institutionalise this cooperation because we all agree that we are better together. That is why we are focusing on how we can stay together.

    “We are now developing that framework. This will allow countries to join OPEC as full members, some as associate members,” he said.

    On the growing force of US Shale in the crude oil market, Barkindo said OPEC had successfully established a channel of communication with shale oil producers, which he said would further stabilise the market.

    “Without the shale revolution in the US bringing in now over  5 million barrels per day, the world would have faced probably one of the worst energy crisis.

    “We have been able to establish a communication channel so we now understand ourselves much better.

    “In a meeting in Houston, we agreed that we belong to the same boat and the Berlin Wall between us, we all agreed served nobody any good.

    “In fact some of them were present at the 7th OPEC international seminar which held here in Vienna,” he said.