Trump lambasts management of Washington's Kennedy Center
"When I said, I'll do this, I hadn't been there," Trump told the new members of the center's board, who gathered at the White House.
"It's the last time I'll take a job without looking at it," he joked before saying "tremendous amounts of money" were spent there over the last 10 years but the building was in "dire shape."
Shortly after returning to office in January, Trump dismissed several longstanding members of the board, after which new members installed the president as chairman in February.
That prompted several key figures, including TV producer Shonda Rhimes and musician Ben Folds, to resign from their leadership positions.
A historically bipartisan-supported institution, the Kennedy Center has never been led by a US president before.
"The building was falling apart. In addition, the programming was out of control with rampant political propaganda, DEI and inappropriate shows," Trump said before criticizing LGBTQ programming.
The Republican's gripes did not end there, as Trump reiterated unsubstantiated accusations that opponents had "rigged the election" he lost.
He added that foes would not credit him for claims he was instrumental in bringing the Olympics and the World Cup to the United States.
"And then I said, you know what I'll do? I'll run again, and I'll shove it up their ass. And that's what I did," Trump said to applause and laughter.
"If they would have left this alone and wouldn't have cheated on the election and wouldn't have rigged, I'd be retired right now," Trump said. "I would have been happily doing something else. Instead they have me for four more years."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles were among the guests.
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Euronews
18 minutes ago
- Euronews
Stampede at cricket stadium in India kills 11 and injures dozens
US President Donald Trump is moving to block nearly all foreign students from entering the country to attend Harvard University. The move is the latest attack of the incumbent administration against the US' oldest and wealthiest university. This latest attempt seeks to choke the Ivy League school from an international pipeline that accounts for a quarter of the student body. In an executive order signed on Wednesday, Trump declared that it would jeopardise national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students on its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 'I have determined that the entry of the class of foreign nationals described above is detrimental to the interests of the United States because, in my judgment, Harvard's conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,' Trump wrote in the order. It's a further escalation in the White House's feud with the university. A federal court blocked the Department of Homeland Security from barring international students at Harvard last week. Trump's new order however invokes a different legal authority. Trump invoked a broad federal law that gives the president authority to block foreigners whose entry would be 'detrimental to the interests of the United States.' He used the same authority when announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the US and those from seven others would face restrictions, in what some are calling a resurrection of his infamous first term's 'Muslim ban'. Trump's Harvard order cites several other laws, too, including one barring foreigners associated with terrorist organisations. In a statement on Wednesday night, Harvard said it will continue to protect its international students. 'This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights,' university officials said. The feud stems from Harvard's refusal to submit to a series of demands made by the federal government. It has escalated recently after the Department of Homeland Security said the Ivy League school refused to provide records related to misconduct by foreign students. Harvard says it has complied with the request, but the White House snapped back saying the school's response was insufficient. The dispute has been building for months after the Trump administration demanded a series of policy and governance changes at Harvard, calling it a 'hotbed of liberalism' and accusing it of tolerating anti-Jewish harassment. Harvard defied the demands, saying they violated the university's autonomy and represented a threat to the freedom of all US universities and higher education institutions. For foreign students already at Harvard – around 6,800 currently enrolled – Trump says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will determine whether or not their visas should be revoked. The new order is scheduled to last six months. The Trump administration also reserves the right to renew the order, and will make a decision on the matter within 90 days. At least 11 people were killed and close to three dozen others were injured in a stampede outside a cricket stadium in southern India's Karnataka state, as crowds rushed to enter the grounds, according to authorities. The crush happened as tens of thousands of cricket fans gathered outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru city to celebrate the winners of the Indian Premier League, the world's most popular T20 cricket tournament. Karnataka state's Chief Minister Siddaramaiah – who only uses one name – said the crowd tried to break one of the stadium's gates and enter to take part in the celebrations. Eleven people were killed and 33 others were injured, said Siddaramaiah, adding that most of the injured were stable and receiving treatment in hospitals. 'At a time of celebration, this unfortunate event should not have happened. We are saddened by this,' he told reporters. "No one expected this crowd,' he said. Cricket fans had come out to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru's first Indian Premier League title win. The team had given away free passes to fans for the event through its website, and urged them to follow guidelines set by police and authorities. The team in a statement said it was 'deeply anguished.' Local Indian media outlets showed some people stretched out on the ground and emergency personnel carrying people into ambulances, while celebrations inside the stadium continued. Deputy chief minister of Karnataka state, D.K. Shivakumar, told reporters that 'the crowd was very uncontrollable." The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which organises the Indian Premier League (IPL) called the incident 'unfortunate' in a statement. 'This is a negative side of popularity. People are crazy for their cricketers. The organisers should have planned it better,' said Devajit Saikia. Secretary of the BCCI. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident 'heartrending' and said his 'thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones.' Stampedes are relatively common in India when large crowds gather. In January, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering. US President Donald Trump resurrected his travel ban policy from his first term, signing a proclamation on Wednesday night that will prevent people from 12 countries from entering the United States. The list includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In addition to the ban, which takes effect at midnight next Monday, heightened restrictions will be imposed on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. 'I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,' Trump said in his proclamation. The list results from an executive order the US President issued on his inauguration day – January 20 – requiring the Departments of State and Homeland Security, as well as the Director of National Intelligence, to compile a report on 'hostile attitudes' toward the US and whether entry from certain countries represents a national security risk. During his first term, Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the US by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his first term in office. Travellers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights to the US or detained at US airports after landing. They included students and faculty as well as businesspeople, tourists and people visiting friends and family. The order, often referred to as the 'Muslim ban', was retooled amid legal challenges until a version was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. The ban affected various categories of travellers and immigrants from Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, North Korea, and some Venezuelan government officials and their families. Trump and others have defended the initial ban on national security grounds, arguing it was aimed at protecting the country and not founded on anti-Muslim bias. However, the US president had called for an explicit ban on Muslims during his first campaign for the White House.
France 24
30 minutes ago
- France 24
Iranians' World Cup dream crushed by US travel ban
The 2026 tournament will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, but most matches, including the final, are scheduled to be played on American soil. Many in Iran had clung to hopes of cheering from the stands until Wednesday when US President Donald Trump rolled out a new travel ban on 12 countries including Iran, which will take effect from Monday. "My friends and I have been waiting for years to watch Team Melli (a nickname for the national team) play in a World Cup on US soil, and when they qualified, it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Sohrab Naderi, a real estate agent in Tehran, told AFP. "Now with the new travel ban, that dream is shattered because of politics that we don't care about and have no control over," said the 46-year-old who attended the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which saw the US side defeat Iran 1-0 in the group stage. The prospect of Iran competing in a US-hosted tournament comes against the backdrop of a decades-long enmity, with diplomatic ties broken since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The two sides are currently engaged in high-stakes talks over Iran's nuclear programme, with the United States threatening military action if no deal can be reached. 'Degrading to all Iranians' Trump said the new travel ban was prompted by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally. The ban will not apply to athletes competing in either the 2026 World Cup or the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the order said. Nonetheless, supporters who had dreamed of crossing the Atlantic to cheer on their team will no longer be able to make the trip. "Every Iranian has the right to support their team, just as much as any other country, whether the game is in America or in any other country," said Hasti Teymourpour, a 16-year-old football fan. Since his return to office in January, Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy of sanctions against Iran and vowed that "something bad" would happen unless the Iranians "move quickly" towards a nuclear deal. Naderi, who called the ban "inhumane" and "degrading to all Iranians", still hopes the Iran-US nuclear talks will yield a deal that might persuade Trump to reconsider. The outcome of the US-Iran talks that began in April remains unclear, and many fans worry that even if they result in a deal, it may be too late for them. Some Iranians have refused to give up hope, however, seeing in the World Cup an opportunity to thaw relations. "Sports diplomacy can act as a strong catalyst and bring the efforts of political diplomats to fruition sooner," said political commentator Mohammad Reza Manafi. It could be "a great opportunity to help advance diplomacy between the two countries". Friendly? In a memorable 1998 World Cup clash, Iranian players handed flowers to their American adversaries and posed together for photos -- a rare public gesture of goodwill between the nations. Iran won 2–1, a victory celebrated in Tehran as a source of both sporting and political pride. With the 2026 draw expected in December, it remains unclear whether Iran and the United States will face off again, but anticipation is building. "The two countries are not hostile to each other, this political discussion is for the governments," said 44-year-old day labourer Siamak Kalantari. Another fan, Mahdieh Olfati, said: "If we face the US again, we'll definitely win." "Ours are real players," the 18-year-old added. Manafi, the commentator, said a friendly before the tournament, possibly hosted by a third country, could help ease tensions. Such a game, he said, could help "achieve what politicians from both sides have not managed to do for years".
Euronews
39 minutes ago
- Euronews
Beasts and besties: German chancellors and US presidents through time
As Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz meets US President Donald Trump for the first time at the White House on Thursday, he'll be aware of how his predecessors have tackled the transatlantic relationship. The stars don't augur well, however. During his first stint in office, Trump regularly made disparaging remarks about Germany and developed a non-relationship with Chancellor Angela Merkel characterised by mutual personal dislike. Trump's erratic trade policy, which has the EU and Germany specifically in its sights, as well as Trump's retreat from traditionally solid transatlantic positions on common defence and Russia, have challenged Merz before he even moved into the Chancellery. How the mutual relationship between Merz and Trump develops in the future is likely to depend crucially on how the Chancellor completes his first visit to the Oval Office - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sends his regards! Merz's basic problem is that Trump has taken an axe to German-US relations and is not particularly interested in good terms with Berlin. This situation is a novelty for a German chancellor. Merz's predecessors since 1949 have experienced ups and downs in their relations with the respective US presidents, but the close friendship between the two countries has never been called into question. So how did they get along? Konrad Adenauer was 73 when he was elected the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. Four years after the end of World War II, however, the country was not yet a sovereign state. Adenauer was only too aware of this. He sought a close and trusting relationship with the US and adheres very closely to instructions from Washington. In 1953, Adenauer travelled to the US for the first time - it was the first ever visit by a German head of government to Washington! His talks with US President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61) were friendly. For Adenauer, the protection, aid and military presence of the United States were indispensable for the democratic development of Germany, as well as for peace and prosperity in Europe. Adenauer developed close personal relations with Eisenhower and especially his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, which benefitted German-US relations as a whole. In contrast, Adenauer's relationship with John F Kennedy (1961-63) was not without problems. The two are far apart in terms of both age and politics. In 1963, his last year in office, Adenauer was already 87, and Kennedy, 41 years his junior, saw him as a man of the past. Kennedy felt that the chancellor's stance on the German question was too rigid and lacked flexibility in the face of changing conditions in Europe. Conversely, Adenauer harbours mistrust of US-Soviet negotiations. He believes that a rapprochement between the two superpowers could only take place at the expense of Germany and its political goal of reunification. After the discord between Adenauer and JFK, relations between Chancellor Ludwig Erhard and Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69) became very friendly again. German foreign policy was by now characterised by the conflict between 'Atlanticists' and 'Gaullists', with the latter wanting a close alliance with France, which Erhard rejects in favour of nuclear protection by the US. Erhard and Johnson met sympathetically from the outset and came together five times during Erhard's short time in office. The first time was just one month after Johnson's inauguration, when the Texan invited the German to his ranch in Texas, a particular honour, especially for a foreigner. Willy Brandt was the first Social Democrat to become Federal Chancellor in 1974. Brandt sees himself as a self-confident partner of the USA. However, his 'Ostpolitik', which sought an understanding with East Germany (GDR), Poland and the Soviet Union, was viewed with great suspicion in Washington. US President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) distrusted Brandt, whom he considered to be a 'German nationalist'. Brandt, on the other hand, tried to maintain a good relationship with Nixon and avoided open criticism of the war in Vietnam. Personally, the two had practically nothing to say to each other. Alluding to Brandt's illegitimate origins, Nixon occasionally calls him 'the bastard' behind closed doors. In the mid-1970s, German-US relations were better than ever before. US President Gerald Ford (1974-1977) and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt knew and appreciated each other and were close friends in their private lives. There was a great deal of agreement on key issues, as well as a trusting openness in discussing differences. However, Ford lost the 1976 election to his challenger Jimmy Carter (1977-1981). Carter was inexperienced in foreign policy and relied on a team of advisors disconnected from the think tanks of the East Coast, where Schmidt had been well-connected for decades and enjoyed a high reputation. Schmidt, who had a tendency to lecture people, saw Carter as a novice who had only a limited understanding of the world's complex problems. This does not go unnoticed by Carter - relations quickly hit rock bottom. When it came to the deployment of the neutron bomb, there were serious disagreements. Schmidt, amid great domestic political difficulties, advocated the weapons system desired by Washington. When Carter stopped its production at the last minute for domestic political reasons, Schmidt felt exposed and abandoned. Unlike Schmidt, Helmut Kohl had no personal connection to the United States and did not speak English. Nevertheless, he showed transatlantic solidarity from the outset and endeavours to establish a personal relationship with every US president he deals with. His relationship with Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) even had friendly traits that outlasted even the embarrassing Bitburg controversy. In 1985, Kohl invited Reagan to visit the Bitburg military cemetery in the Eifel region during his stay in Germany - as a sign of reconciliation between former enemies. When it was discovered that not only Wehrmacht soldiers but also members of the Waffen SS were buried at the cemetery, a storm of indignation broke out in Washington. The White House wanted to cancel the visit, but Reagan remained stubborn and thus supported the German chancellor. Kohl also developed a friendly and close relationship with Reagan's successor George HW Bush (1989-93), which facilitated communication between the two governments during the collapse of the GDR and the German reunification process. In the 1990s, German-US relations were determined not least by the question of how much responsibility Germany should assume in the world. US President Bill Clinton (1993-2001), with whom Kohl had an even better relationship than with Reagan, reacted positively to the German decision to send Bundeswehr soldiers to the Balkans as part of an international peacekeeping force. In his memoirs, Clinton spoke almost affectionately and with great respect about his appreciation for Kohl. He was 'not only physically' the most impressive political leader in Europe for decades, according to Clinton. The relationship between German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and US President George W. Bush developed quite differently. The atmosphere between Bonn (later Berlin) and Washington was probably never as icy as in those years. The reason: the red-green government's no to the war in Iraq. Mistrust, personal animus, blatant dislike - the rift between the two leaders was total. This became apparent again years later, when both were no longer in office and both accused each other of lying on the occasion of the publication of Bush's memoirs in 2010. Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, German-American relations relaxed again. Unlike with Schröder, Bush got on well with Merkel and called her 'a friend'. In contrast, the chancellor's relationship with Barack Obama was slow to warm. In 2008, she refused to allow the then-presidential candidate to give a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin - Obama had to make do with the Victory Column. But after Obama's election, the relationship was increasingly characterised by mutual trust. Both cultivated a sober and pragmatic political style and a liberal view of the world, which facilitated cooperation. In a way, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was lucky: US President Joe Biden was probably the last great old-school US Atlanticist. This made cooperation easier. Both liked each other, worked together in a spirit of trust and described each other as friends. In fact, Scholz consulted with Biden more frequently and more closely than with his European colleagues. When it comes to aid for Ukraine, Scholz did nothing without obtaining Biden's approval. At their last meeting, both warned against ending military support to Ukraine. This is now a matter for their successors.
