
Trump says Ukraine deal would help him ‘get to heaven'
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump said Tuesday that a Ukraine peace deal could boost his chances of getting to heaven — joking that his odds of making it through the pearly gates are currently low. The 79-year-old US president has previously said he wants to end Russia's war in Ukraine as part of his bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
But a day after hosting the leaders of Ukraine and several European nations at the White House, Trump said his motivations were not all earthly. 'I want to try and get to heaven if possible,' Trump told Fox News morning show 'Fox & Friends.'
'I hear I'm not doing well — I hear I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole! But if I can get to heaven this will be one of the reasons.'
By traditional yardsticks the three-times-married, twice-impeached Trump is no saint. The billionaire Republican has been embroiled in a number of scandals over the years and is the first president to have a criminal conviction, in his instance a hush money case involving payouts to a porn star. But Trump has taken on an increasingly religious tone since surviving an assassination attempt last year.
He said at his inauguration in January that he had been 'saved by God to make America great again.' Boasting strong support from America's religious right, Trump has embraced the trappings of faith far more strongly in his second term in the White House. He has notably appointed an official spiritual adviser, Paula White, who has led a number of prayer gatherings that have seen attendees lay their hands on Trump at White House events.
Trump's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday she believed 'the president was serious' about his Ukraine comments. 'I think the president wants to get to heaven, as I hope we all do in this room,' the 27-year-old Leavitt — who herself holds prayer sessions before her briefings — told reporters. — AFP

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Kuwait Times
2 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots
The manufacture of iconic 'made in the USA' cowboy boots is set to suffer from President Donald Trump's 30-percent tariffs on South African exports that came into force in August. Texas' most renowned makers of the southern US fashion staple source the ostrich leather they require exclusively from the small South African town of Oudtshoorn, 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Cape Town. Known as the world's 'ostrich capital', Oudtshoorn is nestled in the semi-arid Little Karoo valley just inland from the southern coast and is home to a few hundred thousand people and about as many of the giant flightless birds. 'We just don't know how bad the impact will be, but positive it wouldn't be,' said ostrich farmer Laubscher Coetzee of the tariffs that kicked in after South Africa appeared unable to negotiate a new trade deal with Trump. More than half of the global supply of ostrich-derived products - from feathers to leather and meat - comes from nearly 200 farmers around Oudtshoorn who are joined in the Cape Karoo International (CKI) group, said its managing director Francois de Wet. South Africa as a whole supplies about 70 percent of the world's production, he said. This aerial view shows ostriches roaming through a field on a Ostrich breeding farm on in Oudtshoorn.--AFP photos A general view of the board advertising Ostrich leather products in Oudtshoorn. Ostriches roam through a field on a Ostrich breeding farm on in Oudtshoorn. Ostriches roam through a field on a Ostrich breeding farm on in Oudtshoorn. Ostrich farmer Laubscher Coetzee points out the skin texture of one of his ostriches at his farm on in Oudtshoorn. Factory workers from Cape Karoo International handle and treat ostrich skins at the tannery of the company. Factory workers from Cape Karoo International handle and treat ostrich skins at the tannery of the company. Factory workers from Cape Karoo International handle and treat ostrich skins at the tannery of the company. Factory workers from Cape Karoo International check the quality of incoming ostrich skins at the tannery of the company. Factory workers from Cape Karoo International handle and treat ostrich skins at the tannery of the company. Ostrich skins stretch are piled at Cape Karoo International tannery in Oudtshoorn. A factory worker from Cape Karoo International handle and treat ostrich skins at the tannery of the company. A worker at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory hammers the sole of a shoe. A worker at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory removes nails from a shoe. A worker at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory trims the leather sole of a shoe. Luxury handbag manufacturers in France and Italy are among the CKI's main clients. It also ships 20 percent of its ostrich leather to top Texas bootmakers such as Lucchese, Justin and Rios of Mercedes, whose boots are sold at several hundreds of dollars a pair. 'Best for boots' Ostrich is 'an extremely important leather in our industry', Ryan Vaughan, CEO of the Rios of Mercedes manufacturer, told AFP. 'It's very resilient, it forms to the foot,' he said, wearing a typical cowboy hat. Coming from 'a long line of cattle ranchers', his family brand was born in Texas in 1853 and employs 250 people. The tariffs 'would make a dramatic impact in our business and in the western industry,' he said, 'because it's not just us that build a lot of cowboy boots out of ostrich leather'. A worker at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory prepares a finished shoe. Ryan Vaughan, the CEO of Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory tests ostrich leather. Ryan Vaughan, the CEO of Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory speaks during an interview. Ryan Vaughan, the CEO of Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory tests ostrich leather. Cowboy boots are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. Cowboy boots are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. Cowboy boots are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. Cowboy boots are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. Cowboy boots are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. Different types of leather are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. Cowboy boots are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. Soles are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory. It is also the case of Tony Lama, an El Paso bootmaker supplied by CKI that has given a pair to every recent Republican president. Donald Trump received cowboy boots emblazoned with 'MAGA' made out of 'American alligator' skin, according to a press release. De Wet from the CKI said he believed the South African supply of ostrich leather to the US manufacturers did not run counter to a push by the Trump administration for production to be brought home. The United States did not have enough ostriches to provide the required leather, he said. 'We export the raw material, the ostrich leather. They can't produce it from local ostriches in the US. They don't have them,' he told AFP. 'They do all the value-adding in the United States,' he said. 'So therefore, in terms of the pure definition of what the Trump administration would like to see, in this case, we do it already.'

Kuwait Times
14 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Zionists approve Gaza City conquest, W Bank settlement
GAZA/JERUSALEM: The Zionist defense minister approved a plan on Wednesday for the conquest of Gaza City and authorized the call-up of around 60,000 reservists, piling pressure on Hamas as mediators push for a ceasefire. Defense Minister Israel Katz's move, confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson, came as mediators awaited an official Zionist response on their latest proposal in ceasefire talks. While mediator Qatar had expressed guarded optimism over the latest proposal, a senior Zionist official said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any agreement. The framework that Hamas had approved proposes an initial 60-day truce, a staggered hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid into Gaza. In the West Bank, the Zionist entity on Wednesday approved a major settlement project in an area that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority swiftly condemned the approval 'in the strongest terms', saying it entrenched division in the territory. On the ground in Gaza City on Wednesday, Mustafa Qazzaat, head of the emergency committee in the Gaza municipality, described the situation as 'catastrophic', with 'large numbers' fleeing eastern neighborhoods. One resident, Anis Daloul, 64, said the Zionist military had 'destroyed most of the buildings in Zeitoun and displaced thousands of people'. The Zionist entity's security cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the plan to conquer Gaza City in early August, sparking fears it would worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. According to Zionist media reports, Netanyahu has not yet called a security cabinet meeting to discuss any response to the latest truce proposal. GAZA: Palestinians rush for cover as smoke billows after a Zionist strike on a building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Aug 20, 2025. - AFP Netanyahu has come under growing pressure at home and abroad to end the war, with the German government saying on Wednesday that it 'rejects the escalation' of the Zionist entity's campaign. French President Emmanuel Macron said the offensive 'can only lead to a complete disaster for both peoples', warning it would 'drag the region into a permanent war'. Katz's approval of plans to conquer Gaza City came days after Hamas said it had accepted the latest proposal from mediators for a ceasefire to halt almost two years of devastating war. Sources from Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad told AFP on Wednesday that the proposal envisages the release of 10 hostages and 18 bodies from Gaza. The remaining captives would be released in a second exchange within the 60-day period, during which negotiations for a permanent ceasefire would take place, the sources said. A Zionist military official told journalists on Wednesday that the new phase of combat would involve 'a gradual precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City', including some areas where forces had not previously operated. Gaza's civil defense agency said Zionist strikes and fire killed at least 25 people across the territory on Wednesday. The Zionist military said it killed 10 Hamas militants in southern Gaza on Wednesday while repelling an attack by the armed wing of the Islamist group, which claimed it killed several Zionist soldiers. The Zionist offensive in Gaza has killed at least 62,122 Palestinians, most of them civilians. Meanwhile, the Zionist entity approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. The Zionist entity has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12-square-kilometre parcel known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been stalled for years amid international opposition. Critics say the settlement would effectively cut the West Bank in two, undermining hopes for a contiguous Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. Last week, Zionist far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich backed plans to build around 3,400 homes on the ultra-sensitive tract of land, which lies between Jerusalem and the Zionist settlement of Maale Adumim. 'I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighborhood,' the mayor of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, said in a statement Wednesday. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority swiftly slammed the move. 'This undermines the chances of implementing the two-state solution, establishing a Palestinian state on the ground, and fragments its geographic and demographic unity,' the PA's foreign ministry said in a statement. It added the move would entrench 'division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons that are disconnected from one another, turning them into something akin to real prisons, where movement is only possible through (Zionist) checkpoints and under the terror of armed settler militias'. All of the Zionist entity's settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Zionist planning permission. The Zionist entity heavily restricts the movement of West Bank Palestinians, who must obtain permits from authorities to travel through checkpoints to cross into east Jerusalem or the Zionist entity. King Abdullah II of Jordan on Wednesday also affirmed his country's rejection of the E1 project, saying 'the two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace'. UN chief Antonio Guterres warned last week that constructing Zionist homes in the E1 area would 'put an end to' hopes for a two-state solution to the Zionist-Palestinian conflict. Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at Ir Amim, an NGO focusing on Jerusalem within the context of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict, also condemned the move. 'Today's approval demonstrates how determined (the Zionist entity) is in pursuing what Minister Smotrich has described as a strategic program to bury the possibility of a Palestinian state and to effectively annex the West Bank,' he said. 'This is a conscious (Zionist) choice to implement an apartheid regime,' he added, calling on the international community to take urgent and effective measures against the move. Excluding east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians, as well as about 500,000 Zionist settlers. – Agencies

Kuwait Times
15 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Trump says Ukraine deal would help him ‘get to heaven'
US President Donald Trump WASHINGTON: Donald Trump said Tuesday that a Ukraine peace deal could boost his chances of getting to heaven — joking that his odds of making it through the pearly gates are currently low. The 79-year-old US president has previously said he wants to end Russia's war in Ukraine as part of his bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize. But a day after hosting the leaders of Ukraine and several European nations at the White House, Trump said his motivations were not all earthly. 'I want to try and get to heaven if possible,' Trump told Fox News morning show 'Fox & Friends.' 'I hear I'm not doing well — I hear I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole! But if I can get to heaven this will be one of the reasons.' By traditional yardsticks the three-times-married, twice-impeached Trump is no saint. The billionaire Republican has been embroiled in a number of scandals over the years and is the first president to have a criminal conviction, in his instance a hush money case involving payouts to a porn star. But Trump has taken on an increasingly religious tone since surviving an assassination attempt last year. He said at his inauguration in January that he had been 'saved by God to make America great again.' Boasting strong support from America's religious right, Trump has embraced the trappings of faith far more strongly in his second term in the White House. He has notably appointed an official spiritual adviser, Paula White, who has led a number of prayer gatherings that have seen attendees lay their hands on Trump at White House events. Trump's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday she believed 'the president was serious' about his Ukraine comments. 'I think the president wants to get to heaven, as I hope we all do in this room,' the 27-year-old Leavitt — who herself holds prayer sessions before her briefings — told reporters. — AFP