logo
Watch: Dutch queen appears to pull face while meeting Trump

Watch: Dutch queen appears to pull face while meeting Trump

Independent5 hours ago

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands appeared to subtly mimic Donald Trump 's mannerisms during a meeting at the Nato summit in The Hague.
The moment, which took place on 27 June, quickly went viral after a video showed her making a brief expression as Trump smiled.
Standing beside her husband, King Willem-Alexander, and the US president, Maxima's gesture sparked a flurry of online reactions—some praising her subtlety, others calling it inappropriate.
The incident unfolded as Trump met with European leaders following amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Oh, Canada! Trump cuts off all trade talks with US's northern neighbor citing ‘blatant attack on our country'
Oh, Canada! Trump cuts off all trade talks with US's northern neighbor citing ‘blatant attack on our country'

The Independent

time14 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Oh, Canada! Trump cuts off all trade talks with US's northern neighbor citing ‘blatant attack on our country'

President Donald Trump on Friday said he was suspending all trade talks with Canada — and making plans to force Americans to pay high import taxes on its goods — after the northern ally's finance department confirmed plans to collect a digital services tax. The late afternoon move quickly caused markets to spiral amid fears of a return to t he president's self-inflicted trade war. In a post on Truth Social, the president complained that he had 'just been informed' about the Canadian government's decision, which will see it require payment of a 3-percent tax on revenue collected from Canadian users of digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X, above $14.6 million in a calendar year retroactive to 2022. The tax could saddle American technology companies with bills as large as $2 billion for the first retroactive payments. Although it is meant to apply to any company that provides digital services and takes in profits from selling advertising or user data, Trump groused that it amounted to Ottawa 'putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies' and called the move 'a direct and blatant attack on our Country.' 'They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also,' wrote Trump, who added that the result of the 'egregious tax' would be the U.S. 'hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately.' The president concluded his post with an unsubstantiated claim that any tariffs on Canadian goods would be paid by the government of Canada (rather than by American importers and consumers), writing: 'We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period.' Trump's threat to punish Canada by taxing Americans comes just weeks after a group of House members wrote to him urging 'a swift government response' to any attempt by Canada to collect what they called an 'unprecedented, retroactive tax' that would 'set a terrible precedent that will have long-lasting impacts on global tax and trade practices.' 'Allowing Canada to proceed with this unprecedented, retroactive tax on U.S. firms would send a signal to the rest of the world that they have the green light to proceed with similar discriminatory cash grabs targeting our firms, workers, and tax base,' they said. According to the U.S. Trade Representative's office, U.S. goods trade with Canada totaled roughly $762 billion last year, making Canada one of the country's two largest trading partners. Earlier this month, Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced an agreement to set a July 21 deadline for a new trade agreement at the Group of Seven summit hosted by Carney in Alberta. Ottawa has been pushing for Washington to stand down from the 50 percent tax currently charged on steel, aluminum and automobile imports as well as other taxes Trump has unilaterally imposed on Americans with the aim of purportedly punishing Canada for not doing enough to stop fentanyl trafficking. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court for International Trade had previously ruled that Trump's use of tariffs for such purposes was illegal but that ruling is on hold pending an appeal.

Is Trump a genius? Top economist and tariff skeptic admits president may have outsmarted us all on the economy
Is Trump a genius? Top economist and tariff skeptic admits president may have outsmarted us all on the economy

The Independent

time24 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Is Trump a genius? Top economist and tariff skeptic admits president may have outsmarted us all on the economy

Did President Donald Trump outfox the world with his tariff plan Maybe, according to Torsten Sløk, the chief economist at Apollo Global Management. On Saturday, Sløk published a blog post titled "Has Trump Outsmarted Everyone On Tariffs?" In it, he explains a possible scenario in which Trump keeps tariffs below his highest threatened rates just long enough to ease uncertainty and avoid the economic pains that would come with massive tariffs. 'Maybe the strategy is to maintain 30% tariffs on China and 10% tariffs on all other countries and then give all countries 12 months to lower nontariff barriers and open up their economies to trade,' he wrote. The post comes just before a 90-day pause on Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" — which triggered a huge stock selloff in April — ends in early July, Fortune reports. The pause was meant to provide the U.S. and its trade partners time to negotiate deals, though few actually materialized, at least publicly. That said, the Trump administration has been saying for weeks that they are close to reaching deals with several unnamed trade partners. Sløk theorized that by extending that deadline by another year, other countries and U.S. businesses would have more time to adjust to a "new world with permanently higher tariffs," and would ease the immediate uncertainty rocking the markets. 'This would seem like a victory for the world and yet would produce $400 billion of annual revenue for U.S. taxpayers,' he wrote. 'Trade partners will be happy with only 10% tariffs and U.S. tax revenue will go up. Maybe the administration has outsmarted all of us.' Sløk previously was a critic of Trump's tariff plan, and it does not appear that his position will change if the president continues his erratic and aggressive tariff program. But he has identified what he believes would be a way to come out on top — so long as the president is willing to play a longer game. Trump may or may not be willing to do that. He seems to have responded negatively to the TACO nickname he's been given by Wall Street — standing for Trump Always Chickens Out — and as a result may refuse to back off any of his proposed policies, even if it makes more sense to do so. Sløk warned in April that a U.S. and China trade war would cripple American small businesses, and advised that providing some sense of stability would give the Federal Reserve a better view on inflation. As it stands now everyone from heads of state to small business owners are in a wait-and-see pattern, unsure of how to proceed in the choppy economic waters Trump has created.

Defeated team Starmer's fury at rebel 'pr**ks': PM benefits surrender triggers civil war that insiders claim could be the 'death knell of the party'
Defeated team Starmer's fury at rebel 'pr**ks': PM benefits surrender triggers civil war that insiders claim could be the 'death knell of the party'

Daily Mail​

time34 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Defeated team Starmer's fury at rebel 'pr**ks': PM benefits surrender triggers civil war that insiders claim could be the 'death knell of the party'

Keir Starmer is wrestling to restore his grip on Labour today as loyalists vent fury at rebel 'pr**ks' who forced his latest U-turn. Tensions are running high after a massive revolt saw the PM offer major concessions to salvage flagship legislation on health and disability benefits. Sir Keir was left personally begging MPs to back the government after more than 120 MPs vowed to kill the plans in a crunch vote on Tuesday. A deal announced after midnight includes guarantees that existing claimants will not lose money. It is expected to wipe out around £3billion of the £5billion savings the Treasury had hoped to get from the reforms - hardening fears that Rachel Reeves will have to hike taxes again in the Autumn. There have been claims of shouting matches between whips and rebels, with much fury targeted at Sir Keir's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and 'over-excitable boys' running No10. Some critics have even demanded 'regime change', eliciting an humiliating public denial from the PM that he might have to quit after failing to 'read the room'. A Cabinet source told MailOnline that No10 had been wrong to sell the plans initially as a package of cuts, even though polls showed that was popular with the public. 'They should have stressed to MPs it was the only way ensure the welfare state still exists in a few years,' the source added. Rachel Reeves was already struggling to balance the books with the economy stalling and the previous U-turn on winter fuel allowance There have been claims of shouting matched between whips and rebels, with much fury targeted at Sir Keir's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and 'over-excitable boys' running No10 One Labour veteran told MailOnline that new MPs had proved harder to talk around. 'There are some who think this is going to be their only term in government now, so why give up on principles,' they said. Government insiders were taken aback by the intensity of the revolt, but voiced optimism that the situation was now back under control. Acknowledging tempers had frayed, they suggested both sides had been engaging constructively by last night. 'It's the Parliamentary Labour,' one added. 'It has cleared the air.' Underlining the animosity that had erupted in recent days, a Cabinet source told the Times: 'I cannot express the disdain I have for these stupid pr**ks who knocked a few doors and think they're JFK because Keir ran the best election campaign in 30 years.' Another Downing Street insider reportedly said: 'It's deeply unserious stuff from deeply unserious people. They are sounding the death knell of the Labour Party and they don't even realise it.' Despite the sound and fury in Labour ranks, the concessions look like being enough to prevent a disastrous defeat for the government at second reading. However, the changes are estimated to wipe more than £3billion off the £5billion savings by the end of the Parliament. That would be made up of £2billion for Personal Independence Payment (Pip) and another £1billion for the Universal Credit tweaks. Ms Reeves was already struggling to balance the books with the economy stalling and the previous U-turn on winter fuel allowance. Ruth Curtice of the Resolution Foundation think-tank suggested Ms Reeves will not be able to find the money in existing budgets. 'That leaves only extra borrowing - which the Chancellor doesn't have much space for unless she were to change her own fiscal rules - or tax rises,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Asked if that effectively meant there would be tax rises, Ms Curtice said: 'Yeah. Unless the government were to get better news on the economy the next time the OBR does a forecast... but when we look at everything that's happened in the world since they last did that in March our estimate is that they will actually get bad news from the OBR as well.' Challenged how the costs would be covered, health minister Stephen Kinnock told Times Radio: 'The full details around what we are laying out, what I've summarised really today, is going to be laid out in Parliament, and then the Chancellor will set out the budget in the autumn the whole of the fiscal position and this will be an important part of that. 'But forgive me, I'm not in a position to set those figures out now. 'I think that is very much the Chancellor's job as we move into the budget in the autumn.' Unveiling the concessions overnight, a spokesperson for Number 10 said: 'We have listened to MPs who support the principle of reform but are worried about the pace of change for those already supported by the system. 'This package will preserve the social security system for those who need it by putting it on a sustainable footing, provide dignity for those unable to work, supports those who can and reduce anxiety for those currently in the system. 'Our reforms are underpinned by Labour values and our determination to deliver the change the country voted for last year.' The Government's original package restricted eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limited the sickness-related element of universal credit. Existing claimants were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier move that was seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes. In her letter, the Work and Pensions Secretary said: 'We recognise the proposed changes have been a source of uncertainty and anxiety. 'We will ensure that all of those currently receiving PIP will stay within the current system. The new eligibility requirements will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only. 'Secondly, we will adjust the pathway of Universal Credit payment rates to make sure all existing recipients of the UC health element – and any new claimant meeting the severe conditions criteria – have their incomes fully protected in real terms.' She said a ministerial review would ensure the benefit is 'fair and fit for the future' and will be a 'coproduction' with disabled people, organisations which represent them and MPs. 'These important reforms are rooted in Labour values, and we want to get them right,' she said. The change in Pip payments would protect some 370,000 existing claimants who were expected to lose out following reassessment. If the legislation clears its first hurdle on Tuesday, it will then face a few hours' examination by all MPs the following week – rather than days or weeks in front of a committee tasked with looking at the Bill. The so-called 'reasoned amendment' tabled by Treasury select committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier had argued that disabled people have not been properly consulted and further scrutiny of the changes is needed. She said: 'This is a good deal. It is massive changes to ensure the most vulnerable people are protected… and, crucially, involving disabled people themselves in the design of future benefit changes.' While the concessions look set to reassure some of those who had been leading the rebellion, other MPs remained opposed before the announcement.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store