'America Feels Scary': Ellen DeGeneres Blames Trump For Moving To UK
Speaking to BBC 's Richard Bacon at an event in Cheltenham, Ellen confirmed Trump was the reason she left the US. The 67-year-old said the transition was made shortly after the 2024 presidential election results were announced in November.
America can still be "scary for people to be who they are," she added.
The Emmy-winning talk show host said the couple bought the house in the UK with the intention of staying just three to four months a year, calling it a "part-time house," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis," she said, "And I was like, 'He got in. And we're like, 'We're staying here'."
Talking about the area where they live, she told the outlet, "It's absolutely beautiful,". We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty, she said. "The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming, and it's just a simpler way of life."
It's clean and everything here is just better - from the way animals are treated to how polite people are here, the former host of the Ellen Show said. "I just love it here," she said.
She also spoke about the talk show, which ran for 19 seasons from 2003 to 2022, and addressed allegations that it was a toxic workplace. She admitted that she can be "very blunt" but dismissed several reports about her on-set behavior as "clickbait."
On January 25, Trump signed an executive order saying the US government would only recognise two sexes: male and female. He made major changes in the US policy, including, ban on transgender women from playing women's sports, a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the US military, and removing LGBTQ references from historic landmarks like Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
In addition to this, a national suicide prevention hotline dedicated to LGBTQ adolescents was shut down, and $800 million in funds for LGBTQ health research was cancelled.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
5 minutes ago
- Mint
EU Readies €100 Billion No-Deal Plan to Match US 30% Tariff
The European Union plans to quickly hit the US with 30% tariffs on some €100 billion worth of goods in the event of no deal and if US President Donald Trump carries through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc's exports after Aug. 1. As a part of a first wave of countermeasures, the EU would combine an already approved list of tariffs on €21 billion of US goods and a previously proposed list on an additional €72 billion of American products into one package, an European Commission spokesman said on Wednesday. The US exports, which include industrial goods such as Boeing Co. aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey, would face a levy that matches Trump's 30% threat, according to people familiar with the matter. The tariffs would be prepared to come into force next month but only if there is no deal and the US implements its levies after the August deadline, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The plans come as EU member states, including Germany, have hardened their positions in response to the US stiffening its negotiating stance. Berlin would be willing to even support the activation of the EU's anti-coercion instrument, or ACI, in a no-deal scenario, a government official said on condition of anonymity. This tool would come into play only if a deal fails to materialize. Explainer: All About the EU's Trade Weapon of Last Resort The ACI is the bloc's most potent trade tool and a growing number of member states is pushing for its use if a deal isn't reached. The instrument is primarily designed as a deterrent and is currently not on the table, with its activation requiring a qualified majority of member states to support the move. The ACI would enable the EU to launch a broad range of retaliatory actions, including new taxes on US tech giants, targeted curbs on US investments, and limiting access to the EU market. 'We are now approaching the decisive phase in the tariff dispute with the USA. We need a fair, reliable agreement with low tariffs,' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala. 'Without such an agreement, we risk economic uncertainty at a time when we actually need exactly the opposite.' Still, the overwhelming preference is to keep negotiations with Washington on track in a bid for an outcome to the impasse ahead of next month's deadline. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
5 minutes ago
- Business Standard
US Olympic officials exclude trans women from women's sports events
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women's sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an "obligation to comply" with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC's website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year. The USOPC change is noted obliquely as a detail under "USOPC Athlete Safety Policy and references Trump's executive order, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports, signed in February. That order, among other things, threatens to "rescind all funds" from organizations that allow transgender athlete participation in women's sports. U.S. Olympic officials told the national governing bodies they will need to follow suit, adding that the USOPC has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials since Trump signed the order. As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations," USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment. The National Women's Law Center put out a statement condemning the move. By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes, said that organization's president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves. The USOPC oversees around 50 national governing bodies, most of which play a role in everything from the grassroots to elite levels of their sports. That raises the possibility that rules might need to be changed at local sports clubs to retain their memberships in the NGBs. Some of those organizations for instance, USA Track and Field have long followed guidelines set by their own world federation. World Athletics is considering changes to its policies that would mostly fall in line with Trump's order. A USA Swimming spokesman said the federation had been made aware of the USOPC's change and was consulting with the committee to figure out what changes it needs to make. USA Fencing changed its policy effective Aug. 1 to allow only athletes who are of the female sex in women's competition and opening men's events to all athletes not eligible for the women's category, including transgender women, transgender men, non-binary and intersex athletes and cisgender male athletes. The nationwide battle over transgender girls on girls' and women's sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court after critics challenged the policies as discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes. The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Trump signed the executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports. Female eligibility is a key issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry, who has signaled an effort to protect the female category. The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics and some have already taken steps on the topic. Stricter rules on transgender athletes barring from women's events anyone who went through male puberty have been passed by swimming, cycling and track and field. Soccer is reviewing its eligibility rules for women and could set limits on testosterone. Trump has said he wants the IOC to change everything having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject. Los Angeles will host the Summer Games in 2028. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Print
34 minutes ago
- The Print
Modi govt has learned from past FTAs. Its priority now is building a manufacturing powerhouse
India and the US are currently holding talks over a trade agreement, with the sixth round expected to be held in August, when American trade officials will visit India. This shows India's importance as a trading partner for the US. Trump had announced a 90-day window for tariff negotiations, which ended on 9 July. He later extended the deadline to 1 August and sent letters to 14 countries informing them about new tariff rates. With the emergence of new geopolitical realities arising out of the unilateral announcement of reciprocal tariffs by President Donald Trump, the US cannot be considered a very reliable trade partner. And, even if a bilateral trade agreement with the US is concluded, uncertainty about the country's future actions remains. There are other ambiguities around Trump's administrative actions, and no one is sure of the outcome of US courts' and the Senate's interventions. Therefore, prudence demands that we go slow and wait for countries such as China, Japan, and Vietnam to negotiate with the US. India, meanwhile, can build strategic partnerships with other countries and blocs to prevent overdependence on the US market. The EU is expected to be stable and predictable in its approach, but India has to deftly negotiate the bloc's impulse to impose non-tariff barriers under the garb of human and labour rights, environment, climate change etc. The World Trade Organization is virtually defunct and rule–based trading order looks like a thing of the past. Every country, including India, is negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with multiple other nations to protect its export market. In May, India concluded FTA negotiations with the United Kingdom, while talks with the EU and the US are in advanced stages. However, our approach to FTAs cannot be a simple replication of the old template and must be influenced by outcomes of the not-so-successful past trade agreements, such as the ASEAN-India FTA and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. Past mistakes The global trade and financial architecture that emerged in the post-World War 2 period supported a rule-based trading system. It allowed several poor countries to overcome the limitations of a small economy and tap into the export market. As a result, these countries — like South Korea, Taiwan, and China — were able to experience above–average growth rates for a long period of time. We missed riding the bus of free trade due to earlier policy misadventures like quota, license raj of Congress–led governments. Now our government is committed to make India a manufacturing powerhouse, but the bus of free trade has hit major road bumps. India is focusing on ensuring competitiveness of domestic industry right now, as there is absolutely no substitute for building the manufacturing sector. Past FTAs failed to yield much benefit because they exposed domestic industries to global competition without strengthening the manufacturing ecosystem through infrastructure development, availability of land and power, and ease of compliances. India needs structural reforms to reduce input costs. The Modi government's focus is on slashing costs of land, power, logistics, compliances, and raw material to enhance global competitiveness of our manufacturers. Several steps have been taken in the last 11 years by the Centre, but a lot remains to be done at the state–level, as most of these areas are basically dependent on state policies. Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) is an important sector for employment generation and integrating our manufacturing into global and regional supply chains. Therefore, before entering into any agreement, the government is ensuring full support to MSMEs. The MSMEs also have a lot to do at their end, since they face difficulty meeting international standards, which limits their competitiveness. It is important for this sector to build institutional capacity and technical know-how to follow global trade standards. Quality Control Order (QCO) was brought with this intention, but it has emerged as another challenge for Indian industries. QCOs hinder the import of raw materials and intermediate products required for manufacturing, creating a negative impact on the domestic production of goods, and reducing India's export competitiveness. Therefore, there is a need for a more sector-specific approach to QCOs. Our recent experiences with custom duties have shown that there is a conflict between imposition of countervailing duties and the interests of MSMEs. Such duties tend to favour big domestic producer industries at the cost of MSMEs which are the users of products that are subject to countervailing duties. So FTAs provide an opportunity for strategic tariff reduction on intermediate goods for the betterment of Indian industries. India will take a data-driven approach in determining tariffs to ensure that they don't disrupt supply chains or discourage innovation and investment. Agriculture sector protection, intellectual property rights, and public procurement are critical and form an important part of tariff negotiation. Hence, their interest is non-negotiable. Any concession given in these areas will be carefully evaluated and bargain precisely measured. We know that if India gives concession to one country or region, others would demand similar treatment and privileges. India should not bend over backward to seek concessions for movement of its citizens across borders as service providers. The negotiating countries use this demand to get concessions from India. Indian talent is in huge demand globally and other countries would anyway need Indian expertise. Otherwise, India can harness its human resources and potential to its own advantage. Also read: India's infrastructure revolution is powering its rise in manufacturing An opportunity Major economic decisions are not made in the fog of uncertainty. Global economic uncertainties are not fully comprehensible and controllable, therefore India's focus is on reducing domestic policy uncertainties. It will surely boost private capital formation. India also has to attract massive foreign capital in export-oriented sectors. But this is easier said than done. The country's image as a destination for foreign capital faces challenges due to certain decisions of the past government, especially the Vodafone tax dispute. India still has significant work to do in areas like judicial reforms for contract enforcement. Trade considerations cannot be fully separated from strategic considerations. The China+1 and risk diversion strategy of global manufacturers are an opportunity for India to benefit from current geopolitical challenges, and therefore the country's focus in FTA negotiations is to counter China. Since China is a major challenge for India in multiple spheres, teaming up with countries at the receiving end of China's irredentist and mercantilist policies is a viable option. This also means that India should still work for multilateral trade deals because third-world countries get a level playing field as well as some preferential treatment under multilateral trade platforms such as WTO. Gopal Krishna Agarwal is the National Spokesperson of BJP. Views are personal. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
