A Closer Look at Trump's Message to Putin
The fact that Mr. Trump pegged his punitive secondary tariffs at 100%, far lower that the 500% contained in the Senate bill, signals to Mr. Putin that America isn't serious. Even that bill would provide waivers, over which Mr. Trump would retain a good deal of discretion. Altogether, Mr. Trump's tough guy pose looks to be just that—a pose.
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The Verge
22 minutes ago
- The Verge
The Escobar Phone scam saga has finally come to an end
is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. The former CEO of the company that marketed the sketchy-looking Escobar Fold 1 and Escobar Fold 2 phones — which you may remember from a 2020 video from Marques Brownlee — has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering, according to the US Department of Justice. In a plea agreement, United States attorneys detail how Olof Kyros Gustafsson and Escobar, Inc. took orders for the phones and other products branded with the likeness of the drug lord Pablo Escobar, seeded products with tech reviewers and social media influencers to 'in order to attempt to increase demand,' did not deliver the products to customers, and transferred and laundered customer money to 'use the funds for their own personal use.' In Brownlee's video, he unboxed an Escobar Fold 2 phone shipped to him and found that it was just a Samsung Galaxy Fold — a phone that cost nearly $2,000, far more than the $400 Escobar Inc. was selling it for — with a gold sticker on it. Escobar Inc. also sold a $500 'Escobar Flamethrower' that was 'modeled after' The Boring Company's Not-A-Flamethrower, the $500 'Escobar Gold 11 Pro Phone' that was 'marketed as a refurbished Apple iPhone 11 Pro,' and Escobar Cash that was 'marketed as the world's first 'physical cryptocurrency,'' according to the plea agreement. Instead of sending products to paying customers, Gustafsson mailed them a ''Certificate of Ownership,' a book, or other Escobar Inc. promotional materials' to create a mailing record, the DOJ says in its press release. Then, when a customer tried to get a refund for something that wasn't delivered, 'Gustafsson fraudulently referred the payment processor to the proof of mailing for the Certificate of Ownership or other material as proof that the product itself was shipped and that the customer had received it so the refund requests would be denied.' A judge has scheduled a sentencing hearing for December 5th, where Gustafsson faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the fraud-related counts and up to 10 for the money laundering-related counts. Gustafsson must also pay as much as $1.3 million in restitution.
New York Post
23 minutes ago
- New York Post
US Olympic and Paralympic Committee bans transgender athletes in compliance with Trump order
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is falling in line with an executive order from President Donald Trump banning transgender women from women's sports. The committee quietly updated its eligibility rules Monday, adding a paragraph to its 27-page 'Athlete Safety Policy' posted to its website that includes language that implies it bars transgender women from competing in women's divisions. Trump signed the 'Keeping Men out of Women's Sports' executive order — also known as Executive Order 14201 — in February. Advertisement The LA2028 official Olympic flag at Los Angeles City Hall on September 23, 2024. Getty Images 'The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities, e.g., IOC, IPC, NGBs, to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act,' the added language in the document stated. It's not clearly stated how the policy will be enforced, and it is unclear whether any American Olympians will be banned from the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics taking place in Los Angeles. Advertisement A USOPC spokesperson told the New York Times that the committee had been having 'a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials' following the president's executive order. The committee said it would work with national governing bodies to implement the new policy. 'As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,' the USOPC statement read. President Donald Trump reacts after the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Final match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain. FIFA via Getty Images Advertisement No openly transgender woman has won an Olympic medal. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's former policy based its rulings on 'real data and science-based evidence rather than ideology,' and that it would be 'making science-based decisions, sport by sport and discipline by discipline, within both the Olympic and Paralympic movements.' The International Olympic Committee has struggled to address the issue of transgender athletes in sports. USA Fencing updated its policy last week in response to criticism that it had been facing for allowing biological males to compete in the women's category. Part of the requirements to compete in a domestic women's competition include the language, 'Athletes who are of the female sex, provided all other entry criteria have been met.'
The Hill
23 minutes ago
- The Hill
The Memo: Trump fuels Epstein furor he wants to escape
President Trump and his allies are desperate to move past the Jeffrey Epstein controversy — but their own words and actions are having the opposite effect. Trump's decision to sue The Wall Street Journal over an Epstein-related story, his administration's choice to bar the Journal from the group of reporters who will cover the president's upcoming trip to Scotland, and Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) eagerness to avoid a House vote on disclosure of Epstein material have all given fresh fuel to the story. The self-defeating aspect of this approach was typified by one social media post among the many that Trump has been issuing. On Tuesday afternoon, the president lamented that the achievements of the first six months of his second term were being underplayed because 'all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax!' His post, of course, gave the media another reason to keep talking about it. The sense of creeping anxiety emanating from the White House over the Epstein matter is testament to the unusual discord it has caused within the Trump base. Trump's astonishing political comeback, from the nadir of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, to winning the White House back last November, was enabled by the fierce loyalty of his 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) supporters — and by a party that has grown ever-warier of crossing him. The Epstein matter is an unusual exception. Republican elected officials have proven uncommonly willing to break with the president — or at least create some discomfort for him. Even the Speaker has called for greater 'transparency' around Epstein, though he has more recently tried to close a perceived gap between himself and Trump. But Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) called on social media on Tuesday for a vote on disclosing the so-called Epstein files — exactly the thing Johnson has been moving to thwart. Norman said Republicans should 'vote on it before August recess and get it DONE!!' Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) has also called for the material to be released, while Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — who has been to the fore of the effort — is now in open defiance of Trump. Massie noted in an X post Tuesday that he had introduced 'the only binding congressional legislation' to get the Epstein material released, and 'in return, the attacks on me intensified.' Massie included in his message a screenshot of a Trump social media attack on him, in which the president called him 'the worst Republican Congressman' and 'A real loser!' Massie, in turn, used that attack to try to juice fundraising support from his supporters so he could 'stay in the ring.' The big picture, of course, is that the Speaker's reluctance to hold a vote is giving more ammunition to those who suspect Trump has something to hide. Massie told reporters Tuesday morning that Johnson seemed to want his party colleagues to 'just sort of stick your head in the sand' on the issue. It is a matter of public record that Trump and Epstein, the disgraced financier and sexual predator, were friendly acquaintances for years in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump called Epstein a 'terrific guy' in a 2002 New York Magazine profile and also noted Epstein's fondness for women 'on the younger side.' It's also known the two later fell out, though the precise reason has never been definitively established. Some reports cite a competitive battle over real estate, others contend Trump cut contact with Epstein after the latter behaved inappropriately at the future president's Mar-a-Lago club. Trump's legal suit against The Wall Street Journal centers on the news organization's claim that a birthday message from Trump was included in an album to mark Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. Trump insists the story, and alleged letter, are false. In terms of the politics of the overall matter, Trump is reaping what his allies sowed, at least in some regard. People around Trump stoked general suspicion of all the circumstances surrounding Epstein, who died — apparently by suicide — in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. The current storm was set off by the contrast between comments made by Attorney General Pam Bondi in February during a Fox News interview — where she said a list of Epstein's clients was 'sitting on my desk right now for review' — and an unsigned memo from the FBI and the Department of Justice earlier this month that contended 'no incriminating 'client list'' could be found. That set off real angst in the Trump base, with a number of MAGA-leaning commentators speaking out. The relatively meager polling that has been done in relation to Epstein underlines the political peril for the president. An Economist/YouGov poll released Tuesday found Americans disapproving of Trump's handling of the Epstein investigation by a huge margin. Fifty-six percent disapproved and just 22 percent approved. Significantly, exactly 1 in 4 Republicans disapproved of the president's actions, and an additional 30 percent declined to express an opinion. Just 45 percent of Republicans approved of how Trump had handled the matter. Those are unusually bad figures for Trump among Republicans. There is nothing very surprising about the overwhelming disapproval of the president's handling of the controversy among Democrats (only 7 percent approved), but it is also telling that independents came out against his actions by a massive 61 percent to 15 percent. For the moment, at least, Trump is stuck, and new developments are coming thick and fast. An announcement Tuesday from Bondi's social media account saying Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would meet with Ghislaine Maxwell set off its own new round of speculation as to possible ulterior motives. In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years for conspiring in Epstein's abuse. Trump has tried to turn the page repeatedly. So far, unusually, it hasn't worked.
