Pak journalist presses US on Kashmir, gets vague reply from US State Dept on Trump mediation offer - The Economic Times Video
At a recent US State Department briefing, a Pakistani journalist raised the Kashmir mediation issue, seeking clarity on President Trump's stance. In response, spokesperson Tammy Bruce emphasised that every country has the right to define its own future and that President Trump is committed to peace. She sidestepped any direct mention of India or Pakistan, subtly deflecting the question and reaffirming that any mediation would be voluntary, not imposed.
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The Wire
36 minutes ago
- The Wire
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Ties Up With US President Donald Trump's Trump Organisation: Report
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Politics Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Ties Up With US President Donald Trump's Trump Organisation: Report The Wire Staff 6 minutes ago In January this year, Ambani had attended Trump's inauguration in the US and was also a guest in the state dinner held last month in Doha, that was hosted by the Qatar Emir for the US President. US President Donald Trump meets Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani as Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani looks on, in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Photo: PTI Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now New Delhi: Reliance 4IR Realty Development, a unit of a company controlled by multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani has paid a $10 million 'development fee' to the Trump Organisation, the real-estate firm owned by US President Donald Trump, for licensing the Trump name in Mumbai. With the payment, Ambani, India's richest man has joined the ranks of foreign developers pouring money into Trump's real-estate firm, reported The Wall Street Journal. According to the president's annual financial disclosure report, investors planning Trump-branded projects in Vietnam, Dubai and Saudi Arabia and elsewhere paid the Trump Organisation $44.6 million in foreign licensing and development fees in 2024. The amount received from the investors is more than the $8.2 million received in 2023 and $9.4 million received in 2022 by the Trump Organisation. At the moment it's not yet clear that Reliance paid the development fee to the Trump Organization for which specific project in Mumbai, said the WSJ report. In January this year, Ambani had attended Trump's inauguration in the US and was also a guest in the state dinner held last month in Doha, that was hosted by the Qatar Emir for the US President. While previous administrations sought to keep the presidency separate from potential conflicts of interest, the Trump Organisation has seen an increase of such foreign deals, which reflects the Trump family's strategy of going ahead with expansion plans, while Trump is in office as the incumbent US President. In the first term, the Trump Organisation had pledged a halt to foreign dealmaking while Trump was in office, a move that put a stop to any new real-estate projects from the company. Donald Trump Jr, a company executive who oversees the president's assets with his brother, Eric Trump, said at a Qatar-based conference in May that recusal from deals didn't stop criticism, so this time the family has lowered the self-imposed guardrails – vowing only to avoid direct deals with foreign governments. 'We said we're going to play by the rules, but we're not going to go so far as to stymie our business forever,' Donald Trump Jr. said, reported WSJ. Representatives of Reliance didn't respond to requests for comment, the WSJ report noted. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News If Trump Turns Tyrant, Can Others Be Far Behind? Trump's MAGA Base is Split on Support of Israel's Attacks on Iran National Guards in LA: Trump Has Long Speculated About Using Forces Against His Own People Full Text | Time of Monsters: Fascism and the Fusion of the State and the Corporation Donald Trump Manufactured the Crisis in Los Angeles China Agrees to Supply US With Rare Earths: Trump LA Protests: Trump's Decision to Deploy Military Criticised, California Governor Terms Move 'Deranged' What's the US Role in the Israel-Iran Conflict? US Cites National Security Grounds, Procedural Errors to Reject India's Notice at WTO View in Desktop Mode About Us Contact Us Support Us © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Trump turning US into electric vehicle laggard with rollback of policies
President Donald Trump's efforts to unravel policies supporting electric vehicles threatens to turn the US into a laggard for years to come, according to a new report. BloombergNEF reduced both its near- and long-term EV outlook for the first time, cutting 14 million battery-powered cars from its sales projections through 2030 due to the US rollback. The researcher now sees the country trailing not only China and Europe, but also the global average adoption rate until 2040. 'Global EV sales are growing, but the national picture is more varied than ever,' BNEF analysts write in the report released Wednesday. Whereas China is expected to account for nearly two-thirds of the almost 22 million plug-in vehicles sold globally this year, in part thanks to government incentives, 'all major EV policies in the US are under fire.' Trump ordered the elimination of subsidies and other measures boosting electric vehicles during his first day back in the White House in January. His administration and the Republican-controlled Congress are heeding his directive by moving to ease national fuel-economy standards, phase out EV tax credits and strip California's ability to set its own emissions limits. BNEF's outlook assumes national gas-mileage and tailpipe regulations will revert back to where they were during Trump's first term, and that the up-to-$7,500 consumer tax credit will end for most EVs after this year. There's potential for further downside to the researcher's outlook for EV sales in the US, depending on the ultimate fate of waivers allowing states to impose more stringent clean-air rules. A coalition of states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued last week to challenge the administration's move to scrap state-level policies. 'If this attempt at revoking the waiver is successful, it would have dire consequences for EV sales in California, and because of the state's oversized influence on the EV market in the country, in whole of the US,' BNEF says. 'Removing all of the supply-side mandates in the country, at the same time as demand incentives, would push down EV sales in the US sharply.' China, by contrast, is expected to keep up its momentum in transitioning to plug-in vehicles, largely due to simple economics: It's the only large market where EVs are cheaper, on average, than comparable combustion cars. Demand also is getting a boost from the government extending subsidies that encourage consumers to trade in older cars for new EVs and hybrids. BNEF predicts the country's electric vehicle market will be larger than the total US car market within the next year. 'China is emerging as a major electric vehicle manufacturing powerhouse,' BNEF says in its report, estimating that the country accounted for just shy of 70 per cent of worldwide EV production last year. China's dominance of EV manufacturing and the battery supply chain contributed to rising trade tensions and increased tariffs since BNEF last published its annual outlook. The European Union imposed duties on imports of battery-electric vehicles from China for five years starting in October, with added tariffs ranging from 35 per cent for MG maker SAIC Motor Corp. to 7.8 per cent for Tesla Inc. 'Policymakers face growing tension between environmental targets and other competing policy priorities, and as a result many automakers have reduced previously announced EV goals or quietly shelved them,' BNEF says in its report, citing walk-backs by manufacturers including Toyota, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. In addition to taking measures to protect domestic manufacturers from cheaper EVs imported from China, the EU relaxed its CO2 emissions standards by sparing manufacturers from likely fines this year and allowing companies to meet tougher targets more gradually. As a result of the change, BNEF cut its forecast for electric vehicle sales in affected markets from this year through 2027 by about 19 per cent, or roughly 2.6 million cars. The UK — which left the EU in 2020 and has maintained relative openness to Chinese imports — has emerged as the leading major market for electric vehicles after China. BNEF expects plug-in cars to reach 40 per cent share of the UK market by next year.
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
How Iran conflict has exposed Trump-Gabbard differences
The Iran-Israel conflict has exposed a growing rift in the White House. On the one hand, you have US President Donald Trump – who has claimed that he is his own best advisor – and on the other you have Tulsi Gabbard, the US Director of National Intelligence. But what happened? How are the two divided? read more The Iran-Israel conflict has exposed a growing rift in the White House. On the one hand you have US President Donald Trump – who has claimed that he is his own best advisor. And on the other you have Tulsi Gabbard, the US Director of National Intelligence. But what happened? How are the two divided? Let's take a closer look: What happened? As the war between Iran and Israel escalated , Trump on Tuesday rushed back to America from the G7 Summit being held in Canada. Trump claimed that Iran was 'very close to having a nuclear weapon'. Read Israel Iran conflict live updates STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Iran cannot have nuclear weapon,' he added. He also took to social media to call on the citizens of Tehran to leave the city. 'I just want people to be safe," he added, telling reporters he wanted a 'real end' to the conflict, rather than merely a 'ceasefire.' Trump also demanded an 'unconditional surrender' from Iran. Trump's remarks put him in in line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment that Iran was set to acquire a nuclear weapon 'imminently' and that Israel's very survival was at stake. 'If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time', Netanyahu said. 'It could be a year. It could be within a few months'. However, Western agencies including that of the United States have contradicted this assessment. Gabbard, testifying at a House Intelligence Committee hearing in March, said as much. Tulsi Gabbard at the Faith & Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C., on June 21. (Photo: Reuters) The US intelligence community ' continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme leader Khomeini has not authorised the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003', Gabbard said. 'We continue to monitor closely if Tehran decides to reauthorise its nuclear weapons program'. Confronted with Gabbard's remarks while flying back, Trump was dismissive. 'I don't care what she said,' the US President said. 'I think they were very close to having one.' Gabbard tried to do damage control, saying that Trump 'was saying the same thing that I said in my annual threat assessment back in March. Unfortunately too many people in the media don't care to actually read what I said'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A senior White House official claimed the two weren't really split. 'There's a distinction. Just because they don't have one does not mean that they don't want to build one,' the official said. A spokeswoman for Gabbard said she was 'on the same page' as Trump and blamed 'too many people in the media' for misinterpreting her remarks. The White House is also trying to tamp down on the issue. White House spokesperson Steven Cheung claimed the president 'has full confidence in his entire exceptional national security team' and insisted that 'efforts by the legacy media to sow internal division are a distraction that will not work.' Vice President JD Vance also claimed that she was 'an essential member' of team Trump. 'Tulsi Gabbard is a veteran, a patriot, a loyal supporter of President Trump, and a critical part of the coalition he built in 2024,' Vance said in a statement. Not on the same page But Gabbard and Trump clearly aren't on the same page – and haven't been for a while. Gabbard took to social media on June 10 to write that the 'political elite and warmongers' are 'carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers' — and that the world is 'on the brink of nuclear annihilation.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The video, which was widely circulated in the White House, seemingly incensed Trump. So much so that he even mused about doing away with the position of Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard has long been a sceptic of US intervention in West Asia and of the intelligence agencies she now heads – precisely why Trump appointed her to the job. Iranian flag flutters in the wind. Image used for representative purpose/AFP Trump himself has spoken out against being against US interventions around the world and has signalled that he wants to pursue a far more isolationist agenda. The Trump-Gabbard divide also speaks to a wider briefed in the Maga world. 'Why was Gabbard not invited to the Camp David meeting all day?' asked Steve Bannon, the chief of the Maga isolationist wing, wondered about the high-level meeting Trump held with his cabinet on Sunday. 'You know why … This is a regime change effort,' Carlson responded. It remains to be seen if Gabbard remains in her post if the US goes to war with Iran. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
