Trump never 'seriously considered' US air drops of Gaza aid, sources say
The US military's use of air drops to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza hasn't been "seriously considered" by US President Donald Trump's administration, even as the president voices concern over starvation in Gaza, US officials and other sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
During former president Joe Biden's administration, the US military carried out waves of air drops of food into Gaza, delivering some 1,220 tons of assistance.
One source said it is seen as an unrealistic option because airdrops would not come close to meeting the needs of 2.1 million Palestinians.
This comes even as close US allies, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Britain, have carried out air drops of assistance to Gaza.
Humanitarian aid groups have long been critical of air drops of aid, calling them more symbolic than truly effective when the scale of the need in Gaza requires open land routes for large amounts of aid to enter the enclave.
The heavy packages could also present a danger to civilians on the ground rushing toward the parachuting aid.
"It just hasn't been part of the discussions," said one US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Trump administration deliberations.
A source familiar with the issue said: "It hasn't been a serious consideration because it's not really a serious option at this moment."
Some US officials war-gamed the option and found "it's absolutely unrealistic," said the source familiar with the matter. The source said it was unknown how "big a lift capacity" could be managed even if the Israelis approved US use of the airspace.
A diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of any US interest in participating in the air drop effort.
Another official in a US-allied country that is taking part in the airdrops said there had been no conversations with the United States about Washington taking part in the effort.
The official added that the United States was not providing logistical support for the airdrops being carried out by other countries.
Asked for comment, a White House official said the administration was open to "creative solutions" to the issue.
"President Trump has called for creative solutions to help the Palestinians in Gaza. We welcome any effective effort that delivers food to Gazans and keeps it out of the hands of Hamas," the White House official said.
Israel began allowing food air drops in late July, as global concern mounted about the humanitarian toll in Gaza from the war.
Rising pressure on Israel
Trump has backed efforts by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gazans. He has said the US would work with other countries to provide more humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, including food and sanitation.
But he has also expressed frustration with the ongoing conflict, saying Hamas leaders would now be "hunted down," telling reporters on July 26: "Hamas really didn't want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it's very bad. And it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job."
Israel faces intensifying international pressure over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and its promotion of GHF's aid operation, which has distribution sites only in southern Gaza.
Biden faced enormous pressure from fellow Democrats to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. In addition to aid drops of food assistance, including ready-to-eat meals, Biden ordered the US military to construct a temporary pier off Gaza for aid to be delivered to the enclave.
The pier, announced by the former president during a televised address to Congress in March 2024, was a massive endeavor that took about 1,000 US forces to execute.
But bad weather and distribution challenges inside Gaza limited the effectiveness of what the US military says was its biggest aid delivery effort ever in the Middle East. The pier was only operational for about 20 days and cost about $230 million.
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Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump tariffs live updates: Inflation starts to show up in US economy; Trump-China next steps in focus
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Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. China has told local companies to avoid using Nvidia (NVDA) H20 processors, especially for government work. This makes it harder for Nvidia to recover billions in lost sales in China and affects the US government's plan to benefit from those sales. This latest move by China appears to be in response to the deal Nvidia and AMD (AMD) made with the US government over the weekend to pay the US 15% of the revenue for AI-related chip sales to China, adding a monetization layer to the Trump administration's tariff policy that has reoriented global trade relationships. In recent weeks, Chinese officials warned several firms against using these less advanced chips. The strongest advice was to keep J20 processors out of government national security projects, both for state-owned and private companies. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Japan's Nikkei hits record high on tariff relief, tech rally The Nikkei 225 (^N225) hit a record high Tuesday as easing US tariff fears boosted optimism, led by tech stocks and tariff relief. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The Nikkei 225 (^N225) hit a record high Tuesday as easing US tariff fears boosted optimism, led by tech stocks and tariff relief. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Hill
17 minutes ago
- The Hill
Note to critics of the Trump tariffs: This is not the 1930s
You could practically hear the cheering on Thursday as critics of President Trump finally got what they've waited months for — some indication that tariffs might (finally!) drive prices higher. Yesterday's Producer Price Index report showed wholesale prices jumped 0.9 percent over the last month, the biggest gain since June 2022. It followed another benign Consumer Price Index report published earlier in the week, making it all the more surprising. But, more than three-quarters of the gain was driven by services price escalation; there was some rise in the cost of machinery and other end goods, but the impact from tariffs was inconclusive. Here's a fact: No one — not Fed Chairman Jay Powell, not Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon, not Paul Krugman, who predicted markets would collapse if Trump were elected in 2016, nor all the talking heads on Bloomberg and elsewhere who have blasted Trump's tariff regimen — has any idea how his upending of global trade terms will turn out. There has never been a country that dominated the global economy as the U.S. now does, nor has there ever been a president like Trump determined to take advantage of that clout. Many have compared his tariffs with the stiff duties imposed by the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930, but there are huge differences between then and now, which may account for some of the unrelenting negativity about the president's program. Today, unlike then, the U.S. is the essential nation for producers of consumer goods. Americans spent $20 trillion last year, compared to $10 trillion by residents of the European Union and $8 trillion by Chinese citizens. Though the U.S. accounted for a larger share of global GDP in 1930 than it does today (35 percent vs. 26 percent), we were not the primary buyer of other countries' goods. In fact, in 1930, the U.S. enjoyed a trade surplus; last year, the U.S. had a net goods trade deficit of $1.2 trillion and an overall (including services) trade deficit of $918 billion — a record. Consequently, we have not seen countries retaliate against the tariffs imposed by the president as they did in the 1930s. The Smoot-Hawley tariffs averaged 59.1 percent on some 20,000 different categories of goods. In response, as the Foundation for Economic Education recalls, 'An outraged Canada slammed tariffs on goods that accounted for 30 per cent of American exports. France, Germany and the British Empire followed suit, either turning to alternative markets or developing substitute manufacturing that would replace goods previously acquired from America — or elsewhere, since many other countries were erecting wall-of-death tariffs.' This time, at least so far, there has been remarkably little of that retaliatory tit-for-tat. Some countries best positioned to punch back, like Canada, whose economy is inextricably integrated with that of its southern neighbor, have backed off threats to do so. Three-quarters of Canada's exports are to the U.S., and exports account for a hefty 34 percent of the country's GDP. A recent threat to slap U.S. tech companies with a heavy new tax vanished as Canadian officials tread carefully, hoping to eliminate the 35 percent tariff on Canadian imports not covered by the USMCA trade agreement, as well as a 50 percent tax on aluminum and steel imported from Canada. Otherwise, China is the most obvious hold-out to Trump's tariff regimen. Because of its grip on rare earths that are essential to U.S. manufacturers, and because it supplies a huge amount of cheap goods to American consumers, Beijing has serious leverage over the United States. Like Trump, they are willing to use it. Still, China's economy is struggling and President Xi Jinping must know that playing hardball with Trump will eventually be a losing game. 'Between 1929 and 1933,' the Foundation for Economic Education continues, 'U.S. imports collapsed by 66 per cent. Exports plummeted by 61 per cent. Total global trade fell by a similar amount.' Some consider the global depression responsible for much of the drop; others blame tariffs. Many economists and analysts today say that history should serve as a warning against the measures being enacted by Trump. The critics have relied too much on that historical comparison. In addition, political animus has driven liberal pundits to take (and promote) the darkest view imaginable about Trump's program. So far, most have been wrong. For months they predicted that tariffs placed on imports would drive inflation higher; they haven't. They predicted that the duties placed on imports would crush growth and lead to a recession. With consumer spending steadily advancing, according to credit card data, those dark days have yet to appear. Democrats are positively hoping for disaster. Trump ran on a platform of wrestling down Joe Biden's inflation; his adversaries are hoping he will fail, and they see tariffs as the likely agent of his failure. Bloomberg, MSNBC et the others have enthusiastically promoted the direst of predictions month after month, anticipating each new release of inflation data with the eagerness of kids waiting for Santa Claus. While glumly reporting month after month of weaker than expected inflation, the merchants of gloom inevitably add a '… yet.' They are positive that any minute now the tariff damage will blossom. They may be right; tariffs will almost surely boost prices, but the impact should be modest (after all, imports are only about 11 percent of our economy). At some point the pontificators will have to reassess their assumptions about how businesses and consumers will adapt to the higher duties. Many companies are scrambling to change their sourcing to avoid tariffs, and Americans are navigating around the price increases where possible. The end game for Trump is bringing more manufacturing to the U.S., beefing up industries essential to our security — like steel — and earning significant revenues as a valuable byproduct. How this all plays out is uncertain, but that Trump is committed to all three goals is not.
CNBC
18 minutes ago
- CNBC
Government as a shareholder brings real risks, says Dartmouth's Paul Argenti
Paul Argenti, Dartmouth Tuck School of Business professor, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss reports of the Trump administration considering taking a stake in Intel, the downsides of industrial policy, and more.
