Opposition leaders jailed as political crisis deepens in Georgia
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The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump called Orban to win his support for Ukraine joining EU: Report
President Trump called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday to win his support for Ukraine to join the European Union (EU), a conversation that came after discussions with European leaders who were at the White House, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The talk with Orban, one of the staunchest Trump allies in Europe, resulted from the president's Monday deliberations with European leaders who were in Washington, along with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. The top European officials asked if the president could utilize his sway over the Hungarian prime minister to force the nationalist leader to do away with his opposition to Ukraine's joining the EU, a goal Kyiv has long sought, the outlet reported. Hungary expressed willingness to host the next summit, featuring both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has backed the idea of a Putin-Zelensky summit, after which a trilateral meeting would take place between the two leaders and the U.S. president. The location and timing for the meeting are unclear. The White House is eyeing a trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelensky in Budapest, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing a White House official and another person close to the administration. Orban, who has a warm relationship with Putin, has tried to block or delay the EU's attempts to send weapons to Ukraine in the past, along with, at times, objecting to sanctions against the Kremlin. Neither the White House nor Orban's office has commented on the call. Orban said on Tuesday on Facebook that Ukraine's membership in the EU 'does not provide any security guarantees,' therefore, 'linking membership with security guarantees is unnecessary and dangerous.' Trump's call with Orban came the same day as the president's discussion with Putin, which lasted about 40 minutes and took place without European leaders or Zelensky being in the room with the commander-in-chief. The gathering of European officials and Zelensky in Washington on Monday came just days after Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, met with Putin, alongside two other Russian officials, on Friday in Alaska. Rubio now leads the recently formed joint commission that will work on drafting a security guarantees proposal for Ukraine. The commission is made up of U.S., European, Ukrainian and NATO officials. Trump, who has pushed to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the conflict that has raged for about three-and-a-half years, signaled openness to providing air support for Ukraine as part of security guarantees. 'We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have,' the president said Tuesday.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Anwar defends Bukit Aman CID chief Kumar's appointment after Opposition's mockery, says ethnicity not obstacle
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reportedly defended the appointment of Datuk Seri M Kumar as Bukit Aman's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director, amid criticism from Opposition over the latter's ethnicity. Free Malaysia Today reported Anwar stressing that ethnicity should not be an obstacle for qualified candidates to hold senior government positions. 'It is not an issue for me. Anyone who can do the job is eligible for it,' he said during the Finance Ministry's monthly assembly. Anwar also pointed out that the country's police leadership remained predominantly Malay, including the inspector-general of police (IGP), his deputy, and several other departmental directors. Earlier this month, Badrul Hisham Shaharin from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia had posted a backhand compliment over Kumar's appointment — citing the 'Malaysian Malaysia' concept that is used to demonise DAP. Port Dickson Bersatu division chief known as Che'gubard said that Malaysia may see a non-Bumiputera IGP, chief justice, and chief of the Defence Forces, after the appointments of Kumar and the Armed Forces' Lieutenant-General Datuk Johnny Lim. Kumar was appointed to lead the federal police's CID on August 8, replacing acting director Datuk Fadil Marsus. Kumar, 56, joined the police force in December 1991 as an Inspector. His previous roles include serving as Johor deputy police chief, Johor CID deputy chief, Johor Baru South deputy district police chief, and Mersing district police chief.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Trump's unique talents make him a true leader – and have redefined what it means to be commander in chief
If you need a laugh, try to imagine Joe Biden or any recent president holding court in the way Donald Trump is doing it. To double the laugh, try to imagine any of the current presidential wannabes sitting in the big chair in the Oval Office. It's an impossible exercise because of how dramatically Trump is redefining what it means to be president of the United States. His talents are vast and uniquely suited to the role he has created. For the most recent and dramatic example, take Monday's historic meeting of European leaders about Russia's unrelenting invasion of Ukraine. It was the kind of key event that, had it been held under past presidents or vice presidents, would have been smothered in formalities and endless bland statements. Yet there was Trump, sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, facing the heads of major allies, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of NATO and the EU. They were sitting in chairs, like so many students arrayed around their teacher. Skeptics miss the point The skeptics who scoff at Trump's gilding and redecorating of the Oval Office are missing the bigger and far more important aspect of what is happening there. No. 47 is the greatest impresario ever to hold the office, and he is bringing the presidency, its majesty and his quirks, into homes in America and around the world in ways that are as refreshing as they are unprecedented. Just as he remade the Republican Party into a diverse workers and middle-class party, Trump is creating new models and expectations for how presidents should conduct the public's business and carry out their duties. Start with the media. Including his first term but especially from the start of his second term, Trump has been the most accessible president ever. If there's a question he hasn't answered, it's because the question hasn't been asked. Because of how he lives out loud in front of the camera, never again will it be acceptable for a commander in chief to emerge from the Oval Office, read a canned speech from a teleprompter, take a few questions from pre-selected reporters, mumble incoherent answers, then shuffle off stage for a long nap. Enough about Biden, but Trump has expanded the presidential footprint and captured public attention in ways that will play a role in shaping the conduct of his successors. There is no way to turn back the clock, especially with the collapse of the media's credibility. Trump's way of speaking directly to the public curbs the power of partisan gatekeepers to distort the news and his views, which is why he does it. His broadcast of near-daily media availabilities, and a willingness to entertain loaded questions from people whose outlets have never had a good word to say about him, reflect an astonishing level of openness. It can be raw, as he moves from being angry to being gracious and cracking a joke within minutes. The effect is that, with his unparalleled bravado, a tireless work ethic and an instinct for hot takes, Trump is turning the White House into a giant television studio. And the programming isn't limited to media questions. Trump is also taking hugely important actions and explaining them in real time, allowing Americans everywhere to watch their president deliver on campaign promises, and explain why he is doing what's he doing. Taking back DC Last week, he used the cramped briefing room to reveal what he called 'a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in DC and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back.' The federalizing of policing and the influx of National Guard troops were hailed by frightened residents and the beleaguered police union, and of course denounced by Democrats and their media mouthpieces. A week later, the capital cleanup goes on, with some 500 arrests announced and nary an incident that would even remotely justify the scare-mongering predictions of a police-state roundup of the innocent. The upshot is that Dems and media outlets again made fools of themselves by defending an indefensible level of violent crime, and the people who commit it. It's a replay of how they denounced Trump for deporting violent illegal immigrants. For sheer drama, it will be practically impossible to top the two events related to Ukraine. Combined they form a two-part series about an issue of life and death and global importance. It was last February when the president and Vice President JD Vance teamed up for a heated argument in the Oval Office against Zelensky over American aid to help thwart the Russian invasion. Trump abruptly canceled a planned private meeting with Zelensky and booted him from the White House. Fast forward to the upbeat harmony of Monday, when he and seven European leaders came to craft a united front in the search for peace. It followed Trump's meeting last Friday with Russia's despot Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The president hoped for a cease-fire, and the attention he invited backfired when he came away empty-handed. Rosy view of Putin Putin's 'nyet' proves again that Trump, like former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has too rosy a view of Putin. Face it: Putin's a monster who kills domestic dissenters and indiscriminately bombs foreign civilians, including women and children. Still, Trump should be commended for trying to salvage peace by advocating directly for a permanent end to the conflict. That idea underscored the Monday meeting, where the Europeans provided a showcase for Trump's skills and an upbeat coda to the February rupture with Zelensky. It also displayed how Putin's refusal to budge was catnip for Trump haters. Apparently many in the American media would rather see the war continue than see Trump get any credit for ending it. Fortunately, the leaders of Italy, France, Germany, Finland and the UK have a different view. They praised Trump's meeting with Putin as setting the stage for the next step and pushed for a detailed plan to help Ukraine's military, an effort being led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They are also hopeful that Zelensky and Putin can have their first direct meeting, and then one together with Trump. The key change is that Zelensky will get the NATO-like security guarantees he has demanded, including European troops to enforce any agreement with Putin. Trump, who smartly refuses to pledge American troops to foreign wars, said Tuesday on Fox that he's open to providing US air support for European forces. That's the proper answer for an America First president. It also happens to be the same role the US played in the successful takeout of Iran's nuclear facilities. In that historic mission, Israeli troops did the ground work as America delivered its unique bunker-buster bombs from high above. Hopefully, Putin will be smarter than the mullahs and end the war. But don't count on it.
