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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Trump hails 'total victory' as US court quashes $464 mn civil penalty
A US court threw out Thursday a $464 million civil penalty against President Donald Trump imposed by a judge who found he fraudulently inflated his personal worth, calling the sum "excessive" but upholding the judgment against him. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled against Trump in February 2024 at the height of his campaign to retake the White House, which coincided with several active criminal prosecutions that the Republican slammed as "lawfare." "It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before," Trump said on his Truth Social platform Thursday, adding that "everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT." When Engoron originally ruled against Trump, he ordered the mogul-turned-politician to pay $464 million, including interest, while his sons Eric and Don Jr. were told to hand over more than $4 million each. The judge found that Trump and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms. Alongside the financial hit to Trump, the judge also banned him from running businesses for three years, which the president repeatedly referred to as a "corporate death penalty." On Thursday, five judges of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court upheld the verdict, but ruled that the size of the fine was "excessive" and that it "violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution." The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive or cruel punishments and penalties. - 'Massive win! - State Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the initial case, vowed to take Thursday's ruling to the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals. Thursday's appeals court ruling "affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud," James added. Following the initial verdict, Trump subsequently sought to challenge the civil ruling as well as the scale and terms of the penalty, which has continued to accrue interest while he appeals. He repeatedly condemned the case and the penalty as politically motivated. His son Don Jr. termed the appellate court ruling a "massive win!!!" "New York Appeals Court has just THROWN OUT President Trump's $500+ Million civil fraud penalty! It was always a witch hunt, election interference, and a total miscarriage of justice... and even a left leaning NY appeals court agrees! NO MORE LAWFARE!" he wrote on X. During hearings, conducted without a jury under state law, Trump accused then-president Joe Biden of driving the case, calling it "weaponization against a political opponent who's up a lot in the polls." As the case was civil, not criminal, there was no threat of imprisonment. Trump's economic advisor Peter Navarro said at the White House Thursday that "James is another one that belongs in jail," referring to the New York attorney general. "The Democrats really overplayed their hand on this because they thought they could take Donald Trump out," he said.
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
Tariff woes worsen for Australian small businesses
No matter which way you look at it, the US is a huge market for Aussie businesses to sell into. But online retailers here are up against Donald Trump's August deadline, which could see the removal of the tax free threshold on goods under $800 shipped to the US. It has retailers, even Australia Post, scratching their heads over the implications.
ABC News
12 hours ago
- ABC News
BHP boss secures meeting with Trump, advocating for biggest copper mine in North America
The BHP boss has made it into the Oval Office along with his Rio Tinto counterparts, seeking the US president's support for its joint venture copper mine. It follows a US appeals court issuing a temporary order, blocking the Trump administration from handing a sacred tribal site, Oak Flat in Arizona, over to Resolution Copper. Copper is a strategic focus for Australia's biggest miner — BHP chief executive Mike Henry told The Business the setback is disappointing, but he expects the project to succeed at some point. "This is a project that will create thousands of jobs in the local community and billions of dollars of economic activity across the US," he said. Donald Trump posted on his social media platform after the court decision: "A Copper Mine in Arizona, 'Resolution,' was just delayed by a Radical Left Court for two months." "3,800 Jobs are affected, and our Country, quite simply, needs Copper--AND NOW!" the post reads. The two mining giants have found an ally in the Trump administration, which has been well documented on the watering down of environmental and cultural protections. "The administration has been supportive of mining, but let's keep in mind here that both companies have very strong internal policies when it when it comes to both Indigenous, cultural heritage protection. "In this particular case, this project has been underway and being progressed now for 20 years and there's been over a decade of consultation," Mr Henry said. When it comes to the Trump administration's tariffs, BHP itself has very little direct exposure, but its biggest customer China is in the firing line. Mr Henry expressed cautious optimism about the demand outlook from China. "Expectations [are] widely held that they'll achieve their 5 per cent [growth] ambition for the year. "This is one of the things that's helped to underpin healthy pricing for commodities, which has then allowed us to turn in this pretty healthy set of financial numbers, including declaring a 60 cent dividend for the half," the chief executive said. When asked about whether other acquisitions would be on the table if the Resolution Mine project fails, Mr Henry said his company was "absolutely disciplined". "One of the great things that we've managed to achieve over recent years is the development or the progressing of four big copper growth options," he said. "So we're not reliant upon any of them individually. "We've got multiple organic growth options and that's really where management's focus is." BHP owns a 45 per cent interest in the Arizona copper project, while Rio Tinto owns the remaining 55 per cent. Mr Henry has warned that Australia is vying with countries like the US and Argentina, which have acted to attract more global capital. "There's been particularly strong focus on urgently attracting more investment [in the US], including manufacturing and basic industries like mining," the BHP boss said. "We're seeing similar moves underway in Argentina." He added that recently the market saw the newly elected Canadian prime minister introduce "more front-footed active approaches to getting large projects up in Canada as well". While facing strong competition globally, Mr Henry said the federal government had shone the spotlight on productivity and economic reform more broadly to make the nation competitive. "Australia is an export-reliant nation … some of the stalwarts of our current exports are going to face headwinds in the coming years," he noted. The BHP boss said more efficient regulations and cheaper electricity also played an important role in bringing more large-scale projects into Australia. This week, the country's biggest miner, and second biggest company, reported a hit to its full year profit due to weaker iron ore, coal and copper prices. Statutory profit came in at $US9.02 billion ($14 billion), up 14 per cent on the previous year — but on an underlying basis, the result was the lowest in five years. Revenue was down by 8 per cent. The company raised its dividend payout ratio from 50 per cent to 60 per cent, despite its weaker financial position, with shareholders to receive a 60 US cent payout in the last half, taking the total dividend to $US1.10 for the full year.
