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Trump administration reserves right to deport Venezuelans on Saturday, DOJ lawyer tells judge

Trump administration reserves right to deport Venezuelans on Saturday, DOJ lawyer tells judge

Reuters18-04-2025
April 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. Justice Department lawyer told a judge on Friday that the Trump administration reserves the right to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members on Saturday.
"I've spoken with DHS, they are not aware of any current plans for flights tomorrow but I have also been told to say they reserve the right to remove people tomorrow," said Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign.
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Trump's final tariffs are here as Americans brace for price hikes
Trump's final tariffs are here as Americans brace for price hikes

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time24 minutes ago

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Trump's final tariffs are here as Americans brace for price hikes

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Trump must not give Kim Jong Un the recognition he craves
Trump must not give Kim Jong Un the recognition he craves

Spectator

timean hour ago

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When dealing with rogue states, being pessimistic often means being realistic. The much-anticipated summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin last week allowed the Russian leader to relish the bright Alaskan lights of summitry with Trump, buy the precious commodity of time, all while maintaining his ambition to defeat Ukraine. Amidst this week's numerous meetings between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a resolution to the Ukraine war remains elusive. But we must not forget that hours before Trump and Putin met in Alaska, another high-level meeting took place in Pyongyang between Kim Jong Un and the Chairman of Russia's state Duma. It was a stark reminder that ending the Ukraine war on the battlefield is not going to end the ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. 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The escalating North Korea-Russia relationship – which Kim Jong Un once again described as 'invincible' – has meant that South Korea is no longer a peripheral observer to the war. With military and missile technology likely heading from Moscow to Pyongyang – which will be relished by North Korea in helping to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities – a swift conclusion to the war is firmly in Seoul's interests. Yet, although South Korea has supplied tanks, howitzers, and FA-50 fighter jets to Poland, which subsequently transfers the arms to Ukraine, Seoul remains reluctant to supply lethal assistance directly. Just over a week after having met Putin, Zelenskyy, and Western leaders, Trump will host South Korea's leftist President Lee Jae-myung in Washington on 25 August for the first summit between the two leaders. 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For all Trump's intentions to meet Kim Jong Un and Lee's calls for reconciliation and dialogue with Seoul's northern neighbour, Seoul and Washington must make clear how the world cannot give Kim Jong Un what he wants, namely international recognition of North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. The easy way to convince North Korea to improve its behaviour may be to ease sanctions, but Seoul and Washington must resist this time-old urge. Giving Pyongyang benefits will only lead to further abuse, a logic which can also apply to Russia. There is no such thing as a free lunch. As global eyes were fixed on Alaska, Kim Jong Un lauded the 'friendship and unity' between North Korean and Russian soldiers in the ongoing fight against 'a mutual enemy'. Identifying this undefined mutual enemy, however, was no Sisyphean task: it was not just Ukraine or the United States but also the broader West. For as long as we must wait for the next Trump-Putin or Trump-Kim meeting – in Moscow or elsewhere – Russia and its allies will not relent in forging a 'coalition of the willing', united in their opposition of the United States, its allies, and its leadership of international order. For this reason, the West cannot capitulate.

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