Trump urges patience amid US slowdown; Ukraine eyes minerals deal with Washington
In this episode of W News, presented by Leigh-Ann Gerrans, we cover US President Donald Trump's call for patience following a first-quarter economic contraction, insisting that his tariffs will ultimately trigger a boom in the American economy. We'll also bring you the latest from Ukraine, where the prime minister says Kyiv expects to sign a long-awaited minerals deal with Washington within the next 24 hours.
Guests:
Ellie Cohanim – Former US deputy special envoy
Sean Bell – military analyst
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Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
US Marines Arrive in LA as California Governor Warns 'Democracy Under Assault'
Hundreds of US Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from President Donald Trump, ratcheting up tensions in America's second largest city, as California's governor Gavin Newsom warned "democracy is under assault." Trump's extraordinary measures of sending National Guard and Marines to quell protests, which broke out in response to his immigration raids, fueled demonstrations for a fifth day in Los Angeles, and sparked protests in several other cities. As Trump and Newsom traded fulminations, the city's mayor said the protests were limited to about five downtown streets, but declared a curfew for parts of the downtown area due to violence and looting. Police arrested another 197 people on Tuesday - more than double the total number of arrests to date. Democratic leaders have raised concerns over a national crisis in what has become the most intense flashpoint yet in the Trump administration's efforts to deport migrants living in the country illegally, and then crack down on opponents who take to the streets in protest. "This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That's when the downward spiral began," Newsom said in a video address. "He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. ... Democracy is under assault." Newsom, widely seen as preparing for a presidential run in 2028, has called the deployments an illegal waste of resources. He and the state sued Trump and the Defense Department on Monday, seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. Trump in turn has suggested Newsom should be arrested. Trump, voted back into office last year largely for his promise to deport undocumented immigrants, used a speech honoring soldiers on Tuesday to defend his decision. He told troops at the Army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina: "Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness." "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags," Trump said, adding his administration would "liberate Los Angeles." Demonstrators have waved the flags of Mexico and other countries in solidarity for the migrants rounded in a series of intensifying raids. Homeland Security said Monday its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division had arrested 2,000 immigration offenders per day recently, far above the 311 daily average in fiscal year 2024 under former President Joe Biden. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday announced a curfew for one square mile (2.5 square km) of downtown Los Angeles that will run from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. locally (0300 to 1300 GMT) for several days. With five minutes until the curfew took effect, hundreds of protesters faced police with their hands raised, chanting peaceful protest." Even so, state and local officials have called Trump's response an extreme overreaction to mostly peaceful demonstrations. Bass emphasized at a press conference the distinction between the majority of demonstrators protesting peacefully and a smaller number of agitators she blamed for violence and looting. A curfew had been considered for several days but Bass said she decided to impose one after 23 business were looted on Monday night. "When these peaceful rallies end, and the protesters head home, another element moves in: opportunists, who come in under the cover of a peaceful protest to ravage and destroy," Council member Ysabel Jurado, who represents the area, told reporters. As the mayor and the council member spoke, police and protesters were engaged in skirmishes outside. In what has become a daily ritual, police forced demonstrators away from the streets outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where many detained migrants are held. Multiple groups of protesters snaked through downtown Los Angeles, monitored or followed by police armed with less lethal munitions. Protests also took place in other cities including New York, Atlanta and Chicago, where demonstrators shouted at and scuffled with officers. Some protesters climbed onto the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza, while others chanted that ICE should be abolished. About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 30 miles (50 km) south of Los Angeles, awaiting deployment to specific locations, Reuters quoted a US official as saying. A US official said there were 2,100 National Guard troops in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, more than half the 4,000 to be activated. The Marines and National Guard troops lack the authority to makes arrests and will be charged only with protecting federal property and personnel. Even so, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Reuters the state was concerned about allowing federal troops to protect personnel, saying there was a risk that could violate an 1878 law that generally forbids the US military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement. "Protecting personnel likely means accompanying ICE agents into communities and neighborhoods, and protecting functions could mean protecting the ICE function of enforcing the immigration law," Bonta said.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
US confirms Trump's willingness to mediate Kashmir dispute after India-Pakistan ceasefire
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Tuesday said President Donald Trump would like to mediate between India and Pakistan over the decades-old Kashmir dispute, describing such a move as consistent with his desire to resolve 'generational' conflicts around the world. The comment follows a ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, announced by the US president on May 10 after a brief but intense military standoff involving fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery fire. While tensions have eased, longstanding issues remain unresolved. The US informed last month after the ceasefire announcement both India and Pakistan had agreed to meet at a neutral venue to address their differences, though New Delhi has so far publicly ruled out bilateral talks with Islamabad. 'I can't speak to what's on the mind or the plans of the President,' said State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce in response to a question about the American president's offer to mediate after the ceasefire. 'What I do know is that I think we all recognize that President Trump in each step that he takes, it's made to solve generational differences between countries, generational war,' she continued. 'So it doesn't – it shouldn't surprise anyone that he'd want to manage something like that.' Bruce maintained Trump had the ability to bring enemies 'to the table to have conversations that nobody thought was possible.' She added that she hoped 'something like that' could be resolved during the current American administration's term in office, referring to the Kashmir dispute. In a related development, the State Department spokesperson confirmed a Pakistani parliamentary delegation led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met last week with senior State Department officials, including Under Secretary for Political Affairs Allison Hooker. While she did not reveal details of the discussions, Bruce said the talks covered counterterrorism cooperation and US support for the India-Pakistan ceasefire. The Pakistani delegation is currently visiting key global capitals to present Islamabad's perspective on the limited war with India while lobbying the international community to press India to return to dialogue over Kashmir and other issues.
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Nighttime curfew in protest-hit LA as Trump vows to ‘liberate' city
A nighttime curfew was in force in Los Angeles on Tuesday as local officials sought to get a handle on protests that Donald Trump claimed were an invasion by a 'foreign enemy.' Looting and vandalism have scarred the heart of America's second-biggest city as largely peaceful protests over immigration arrests turned ugly after dark. 'I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting,' Mayor Karen Bass told reporters. One square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of the city's more than 500-square-mile area will be off-limits until 6:00 am (1300 GMT) for everyone apart from residents, journalists, and emergency services, she added. One protester told AFP that the arrest of migrants in a city with large foreign-born and Latino populations was the root of the unrest. 'I think that obviously they're doing it for safety,' she said of the curfew. 'But I don't think that part of the problem is the peaceful protests. It's whatever else is happening on the other side that is inciting violence.' Small-scale and largely peaceful protests — marred by eye-catching acts of violence — began Friday in Los Angeles as anger swelled over ramped-up arrests by immigration authorities. At their largest, a few thousand people have taken to the streets, but smaller mobs have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti, and smash windows. Overnight Monday, 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested over recent days. Protests have also sprung up in cities around the country, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco. 'Provide protection' Trump has ordered 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he claims is a necessary escalation to take back control — despite the insistence of local law enforcement that they can handle matters. A military spokeswoman said the soldiers were expected to be on the streets later Tuesday or sometime on Wednesday. Their mission will be to guard federal facilities and to accompany 'federal officers in immigration enforcement operations in order to provide protection.' Demonstrators told AFP the soldiers 'should be respected' because they hadn't chosen to be in LA, but Lisa Orman blasted the move as 'ridiculous.' 'I was here for the Dodger parade,' she said, referring to the LA team's World Series victory. 'It was 100 times bigger. So the idea that the Marines [are] here — it's a big show. The president wants a big show.' The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers $134 million. Photographs issued by the Marine Corps showed men in combat fatigues using riot shields to practice crowd control techniques at the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. 'Behaving like a tyrant' Two dozen miles (40 kilometers) north, the sprawling city of Los Angeles spent the day much as it usually does: tourists thronged Hollywood Boulevard, tens of thousands of children went to school, and commuter traffic choked the streets. But at a military base in North Carolina, Trump was painting a much darker picture. 'What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and national sovereignty,' he told troops at Fort Bragg. 'This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.' California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has clashed with the president before, said Trump's shock militarization of the city was the behavior of 'a tyrant, not a president.' 'Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy,' he said. In a live-streamed address, Newsom called Trump a 'president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American tradition. 'California may be first, but it clearly will not end here.' In a filing to the US District Court in Northern California, Newsom asked for an injunction preventing the use of troops for policing. 'Incredibly rare' Trump's use of the military is an 'incredibly rare' move for a US president, Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and a former US Air Force lieutenant colonel, told AFP. US law largely prevents the use of the military as a policing force — absent the declaration of an insurrection, which Trump again mused about on Tuesday. Trump 'is trying to use emergency declarations to justify bringing in first the National Guard and then mobilizing Marines,' said law professor Frank Bowman of the University of Missouri.
