Newsom: California redistricting push will counter Texas Republicans
The governor - whose term in office ends next year and is rumoured to have presidential ambitions - said it would neutralise an attempt by Trump and other Republicans to "rig the system". "We're working through a very transparent, temporary and public process," Newsom said. "We're putting the maps on the ballot and we're giving the power to the people." He continued: "We have got to recognise the cards that we have been dealt and we have got to meet fire with fire."Newsom's proposal would see California retain its current congressional maps if Texas and other states pulled out of any changes.The tit-for-tat move seeks to cancel out projected gains by Republicans in Texas if the state approves a redistricting effort sought by Trump and the state's governor Greg Abbott. Republicans in Texas have so far been blocked from approving new maps, as Democratic lawmakers have physically left the state, denying its legislative body the two-thirds attendance it needs to proceed with a vote.Abbott has threatened to arrest the Democrats, who are staying in Illinois, and said he would call continuous special sessions of the state's legislature until the proposal passes.
Like other states, California typically redraws congressional districts once a decade when new population data is released by the US Census. California convenes a commission of independent citizens to do so.The proposal in Texas to make changes mid-decade has triggered a nationwide political row, as the changes could give Republicans an easier path to keep control of the US House of Representatives and prevent challenges from Democrats that they'd face under current political maps. If Democrats gain control of the House, it could block much of Trump's legislative agenda.Gerrymandering - the redrawing of electoral boundaries to favour a political party - has been carried out by both Democrats and Republicans across the US for decades, and is legal as long as it does not amount to racial discrimination, the Supreme Court has ruled.Trump has said Texas is "entitled" to redraw maps and called on the FBI to put pressure on the state's Democrats to return home, paving the way for a vote.Some are expected to return to the state as early as this weekend, saying they feel their cross-country relocation has helped generate more attention on the issue nationally. According to US media, some made the decision to return after seeing California's plans to counter Texas's new maps.Democrats in California - which elected 43 Democrats and nine Republicans at the last election - have not published a detailed new map, or indicated exactly how many extra seats they would envision winning under the changes. The newly redrawn political boundaries would be released in a map in the coming days, the governor said. Newsom announced his plan - which he dubbed the Election Rigging Response Act - with a coalition of Democratic leaders. He also called for new federal standards to prevent political meddling in voting boundaries. It is unclear if California's voters will approve Newsom's plan. Earlier this week, a Politico-Citrin Center Possibility Lab survey suggested Californians support retaining its independent districting system. Only 36% of respondents backed returning congressional redistricting authority to state lawmakers.Speaking to Fox on Thursday, Trump called Newsom "an incompetent governor".He also said he was considering encouraging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to redraw districts in the state, so that Republicans could win more seats there.The president said other states had drawn "ridiculous" voting districts that are shaped like "rattlesnakes".
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Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
'No deal until there's a deal': Trump-Putin talks yield no breakthrough on Ukraine
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday yielded no agreement to resolve or pause Moscow's war in Ukraine, though both leaders described the talks as productive. During a brief appearance before the media following the nearly three-hour meeting in Alaska, the two leaders said they had made progress on unspecified issues. But they offered no details and took no questions, with the normally loquacious Trump ignoring shouted questions from reporters. "We've made some headway," Trump said, standing in front of a backdrop that read, "Pursuing Peace." "There's no deal until there's a deal," he added. The talks did not initially appear to have produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years, a goal Trump had set ahead of the summit. But simply sitting down face-to-face with the U.S. president represented a victory for Putin, who had been ostracized by Western leaders since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Following the summit, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after making progress with Putin. He has targeted India, another major buyer of Russian crude, with an additional 25% tariff on U.S. imports. "Because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now," Trump said of Chinese tariffs. "I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now." Trump has also threatened sanctions on Moscow but has thus far not followed through, even after Putin ignored a Trump-imposed ceasefire deadline earlier this month. In the Fox News interview, Trump also suggested a meeting would now be set up between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which he might also attend. He gave no further details on who was organizing the meeting or when it might be. Putin made no mention of meeting Zelenskiy when speaking to reporters earlier. He said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the U.S.-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to "disrupt the emerging progress." He also repeated Moscow's long-held position that what Russia claims to be the "root causes" of the conflict must be eliminated to reach a long-term peace, a sign he remains resistant to a ceasefire. There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the summit, the first meeting between Putin and a U.S. president since the war began. When asked by Hannity what he would advise Zelenskiy, Trump said, "Gotta make a deal." "Look, Russia is a very big power, and they're not," Trump added. The war has killed or injured well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts. Zelenskiy has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States. Trump said he would call Zelenskiy and NATO leaders to update them on the Alaska talks. As the two leaders were talking, the war raged on, with most eastern Ukrainian regions under air raid alerts. Governors of Russia's Rostov and Bryansk regions reported that some of their territories were under Ukrainian drone attacks. Ukraine's opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said on the Telegram messaging app, "It seems Putin has bought himself more time. No ceasefire or de-escalation has been agreed upon." The anticlimactic end to the closely watched summit was in stark contrast to the pomp and circumstance with which it began. When Putin arrived at an Air Force base in Alaska, a red carpet awaited him, where Trump greeted Putin warmly as U.S. military aircraft flew overhead. Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia denies the allegations, and the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrant as null and void. Russia and the United States are not members of the court. The day before the summit, Putin held out the prospect of something Trump wants - a new nuclear arms control agreement to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire in February. It was unclear if the issue was discussed on Friday. Zelenskiy, who was not invited to Alaska, and his European allies had feared Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognizing - if only informally - Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine. Trump had sought to assuage such concerns on Friday ahead of the talks, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial concessions. "I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table," he said. Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: "I want to see a ceasefire rapidly ... I'm not going to be happy if it's not today ... I want the killing to stop." The meeting also included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Trump's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff; Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov; and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Trump, who said during his presidential campaign that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher task than he had expected. He had said if Friday's talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelenskiy would be more important than his encounter with Putin. Trump ended his remarks on Friday by telling Putin, "I'd like to thank you very much, and we'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon." "Next time in Moscow," Putin responded. Trump said he might "get a little heat on that one" but that he could "possibly see it happening." Zelenskiy said ahead of Friday's summit that the meeting should open the way for a "just peace" and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war. "It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
TAKEAWAYS Warm words contrast with cold reality of no deal at Trump-Putin summit
Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged warm words on Friday but left the much anticipated Alaska summit without an agreement to end Moscow's war against Ukraine and gave no details about what they discussed. Here are some takeaways from the talks: There was no lack of warmth between the two leaders when they met on the tarmac shortly after landing at a U.S. military base in Alaska. Trump and Putin greeted each other like old friends on a red carpet rolled out for their first meeting since 2019. They shook hands, smiled broadly and touched each other on the arm in an expression of apparent affection. That warmth seemed to have waned when they appeared before the media hours later, though both men still took pains to praise each other. Trump, who was hosting the summit, deferred to Putin, who spoke first and said he was glad to see Trump alive, a reference to the assassination attempt Trump survived last year. Trump said he had always had a fantastic relationship with the Kremlin chief, referred to him by his first name and called Putin's words profound. Gone was any mention of Trump's frustration with Putin over the war he initiated in 2022 or the threat of sanctions if no moves are made to end it. But their efforts to project a positive personal relationship belied an underlying truth: friendship aside, they did not announce an agreement to end the war. Hours before he met Putin, Trump said his goal for the summit was a halt to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Hours later, when the leaders emerged from their meeting with advisers, no such deal had materialized. "We really made some great progress today," Trump told reporters without elaborating. "There's no deal until there's a deal." Before the summit, Trump and his advisers had sought to downplay expectations of a breakthrough, a far cry from his vow as a presidential candidate to end the war in 24 hours. But Trump made clear he wanted a ceasefire pact, and the backdrops at the summit venue said "Pursuing Peace." Trump left Alaska with little to show for his efforts, puncturing a hole in his dealmaker-image and depriving him of an accomplishment to tout in his not-so-subtle campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize. Putin showed a mastery of saying things Trump likes to hear, even without giving significant ground. He gave credence to Trump's unproven assertion that had Trump been president four years ago instead of Democrat Joe Biden, the war in Ukraine would never have started. "I'm quite sure it would indeed be so," he said. Russia invaded Ukraine under Putin's direction. Biden warned him not to. Despite playing into Trump's theory on the origins of the war, Putin signaled that the Ukraine conflict was a ways away from being solved. "In order to make the settlement last long-term we need to eliminate all the roots of that conflict," Putin said. "Russia has its own national interests." While Putin didn't give details, he has long told local audiences that NATO's eastward expansion was the main cause of the war because it put his country's survival at risk, a view the Western military alliance rejects. Putin has committed to fight until he could guarantee a Ukraine that's demilitarized and neutral. With those goals far from reach, Putin's focus on Friday on "the roots of that conflict" and "national interests" suggest he is prepared to fight on. At their 2018 summit in Helsinki, under questioning, opens new tab from U.S. journalists, Trump sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies about allegations that Russia intervened in the 2016 election and blamed both Washington and Moscow for the deterioration in U.S.-Russia relations. His words drew sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans at home. Putin, meanwhile, confirmed he had wanted Trump to win the 2016 election. The two leaders avoided the chance for mishaps in front of the media on Friday. After making statements, they declined to take questions, depriving reporters of a chance to probe for details about their talks. But Putin got a win with the invitation alone. The Russian president has been ostracized by other world leaders, so his meeting with the most powerful man in the world was a victory for the former KGB spy, and his seeming satisfaction with that showed.
Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says Xi told him China will not invade Taiwan while he is US president
WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don't believe there's any way it's going to happen as long as I'm here. We'll see," Trump said during an interview on Fox News' "Special Report." "He told me, 'I will never do it as long as you're president.' President Xi told me that, and I said, 'Well, I appreciate that,' but he also said, 'But I am very patient, and China is very patient.'," Trump said. Trump and Xi held their first confirmed call of Trump's second presidential term in June. Trump also said in April that Xi had called him but did not specify when that call took place. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to "reunify" with the democratic and separately governed island, by force if necessary. Taiwan strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims. The Chinese Embassy in Washington on Friday described the topic of Taiwan as "the most important and sensitive issue" in China-U.S. relations. "The U.S. government should adhere to the one-China principle and the three U.S.-China joint communiqués, handle Taiwan-related issues prudently, and earnestly safeguard China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement. Although Washington is Taiwan's main arms supplier and international backer, the U.S. - like most countries - has no formal diplomatic ties with the island.
