Trump threatens all smartphone makers with 25% tariffs
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday said his threat to hit smartphones not made in the United States with a 25 percent tariff applied to all companies, not just Apple.
Trump warns Apple of 25% tariffs if iPhones not made in US
'It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn't be fair,' Trump told reporters in Washington, adding that the new tariffs would come into effect from the 'end of June.'
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Express Tribune
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Ceasefire but no peace: Bilawal warns of ‘less safe' South Asia despite Trump-led de-escalation
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan and current head of the Pakistan People's Party, leads a delegation to Washington, which played a key mediatory role in a ceasefire after Pakistan's conflict with India in May. Photo: AFP Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has warned that South Asia remains at risk of a full-scale war despite a US-brokered ceasefire between India and Pakistan, calling for sustained diplomatic efforts and international engagement to avoid further escalation. Speaking to US news network Newsmax, Bilawal said a ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours had been achieved in May with the help of former US president Donald Trump and his team, but cautioned that peace remained fragile. 'At the moment we have achieved ceasefire between India and Pakistan, thanks to the role played by President Trump, his team, Secretary Rubio, and that's a big achievement. The US deserves credit for that,' he said. 'But... we have achieved ceasefire, we haven't achieved peace and we are actually in a situation in South Asia right now where we [are] less safe than we were before this conflict.' Bilawal, who also chairs Pakistan's Parliamentary Diplomatic Committee, warned that the threshold for war between the two rivals had dangerously decreased, particularly in the event of a cross-border terrorist attack. 'If there [is] any terrorist attack in India or anywhere in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), it means war between India and Pakistan and that's not sustainable,' he said. Tensions between the two countries escalated last month following a deadly attack in Pahalgam, IIOJK, in which 26 Indian tourists were killed. On May 7, India launched airstrikes on Pakistani soil, prompting Islamabad to respond with Operation Bunyanum Marsoos. A US-brokered ceasefire was reached on May 10, halting further military action. Bilawal said Pakistan's agreement to the ceasefire had come after consultations with Washington and should be seen as the beginning of a broader peace process. 'We did so while communicating with the United States and we will communicate that this would just be the start,' he said, calling for dialogue at a neutral venue.'We work towards permanent peace through dialogue and diplomacy... we should discuss all friction points with India.' While expressing confidence in the current US leadership's willingness to support regional stability, Bilawal also voiced concern that the Indian government could sabotage mediation efforts. 'I also suspect that Indian government will try and sabotage the President's efforts,' he said. 'Just like President Trump played a role in achieving this ceasefire, we will be looking to the US to encourage their friend and ally India to have a dialogue with Pakistan.' Praising Trump's influence, Bilawal said the former president had the trust of both countries and could help bring them back to the negotiating table. 'I think President Trump is the one man at the moment who can bring about peace between India and Pakistan,' he said. 'I think his stature, his leadership qualities and his vision supports peace... he is friends with Pakistan, he is friends with India so he can talk to both of us as friends and try and convince [us] to get along.' He reiterated that Kashmir remained a core issue in any future dialogue. 'We have to discuss Kashmir as a root issue... because if [we] keep ignoring Kashmir, they will keep producing the cannon forger for terrorists to use in such events.' He said Pakistan was willing to engage on counterterrorism and recalled previous US-Pakistan cooperation in that domain. 'We had done a great job while working with them. The one country that US President thank[ed]... after he was elected President was Pakistan for our cooperation.' Bilawal also accused India of 'weaponising water' by threatening to cut off water supplies to Pakistan — an action he said violated international norms. 'We are really looking to the international community to add their voice to ours in condemning India's decision to cut off our water,' he said. On trade, Bilawal said talks with US officials had shifted from traditional security concerns to economic cooperation. 'We are actually sitting with Americans talking about trade rather than terrorism, war and other things,' he said, noting particular interest in agriculture and mineral investment. However, he cautioned that peace was a prerequisite for foreign investment. 'If we have peace in the region then business is gonna progress,' he said. 'If the aggression [is] gonna continue, if they [are] gonna continue [to] support terrorist proxies in Balochistan... then it's not gonna create an environment that's conducive even if our trade talks go well,' he added.
Express Tribune
an hour ago
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Elon Musk floats idea of new US political party amid Trump rift
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Business Recorder
an hour ago
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Musk deletes post claiming Trump ‘in the Epstein files'
WASHINGTON: Tech billionaire Elon Musk has deleted an explosive allegation linking Donald Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that he posted on social media during a vicious public fallout with the US president this week. Musk – who just exited his role as a top White House advisor – alleged on Thursday that the Republican leader is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges. The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his 'MAGA' movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein's crimes. Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case. Trump and Musk alliance melts down in blazing public row 'Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,' Musk posted on his social media platform, X as his growing feud with the president boiled over into a spectacularly public row. 'That is the real reason they have not been made public.' Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim. He initially doubled down on the claim, writing in a follow-up message: 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.' However, he appeared to have deleted both tweets by Saturday morning. Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump's 'Make America Great Again' base allege that Epstein's associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others. They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, although not at Trump himself. No official source has ever confirmed that the president appears in any of the as yet unreleased material. Trump knew and socialized with Epstein but has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein trafficked underage girls for sex. 'Terrific guy,' Trump, who was Epstein's neighbor in both Florida and New York, said in an early 2000s profile of the financier. 'He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' Just last week, Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But their relationship imploded within days as Musk described as an 'abomination' a spending bill that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump's second term in office. Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington and riveted social media users alike stunned by the blistering break-up between the world's richest person and the world's most powerful. With real political and economic risks to their row, both then appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters 'I just wish him well,' and Musk responding on X: 'Likewise.' But the White House denied reports they would talk.
