Trump suggests homeless evictions ahead of Washington DC 'crackdown'
On Sunday Trump wrote on Truth Social: 'The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don't have to move out. We're going to put you in jail where you belong.'
The Democratic mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, pushed back on Trump's claims, saying the city is 'not experiencing a crime spike' and highlighting that violent crime has fallen to a 30-year low. Trump called Bowser 'a good person who has tried', but said she's been given many chances while crime numbers continue to worsen.
Violent crime fell 26% in the first seven months of 2025 and overall crime dropped 7%, according to the city's police department, but gun violence remains an issue. In 2023 Washington had the third-highest gun homicide rate among US cities with populations more than 500,000, according to gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
Over the past week, Trump has intensified his messaging, demanding the swift eviction of homeless residents and vowing to jail offenders. He has raised the prospect of stripping the city of its local autonomy and signalled a possible full federal takeover.
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Daily Maverick
5 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Trump threatens ‘severe consequences' if Putin blocks Ukraine peace
Trump meets Putin on Friday to discuss war in Ukraine Trump praises call with Zelenskiy, European leaders Macron says no territorial swap schemes on table Europe and Kyiv feared decisions being made over their heads Russia says its war aims remain unchanged By Andrea Shalal, Thomas Escritt and Tom Balmforth Trump did not specify what the consequences could be, but he has warned of economic sanctions if a meeting between himself and President Putin in Alaska on Friday proved fruitless. The comments by Trump and the mood music after a virtual meeting of Trump, European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy could provide some hope for Kyiv after fears the Alaska meet could sell out Ukraine and carve up its territory. However, Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands strongly and previously said its stance had not changed since it was set out by Putin in June 2024. When asked if Russia would face any consequences if Putin does not agree to stop the war after Friday's meeting, Trump responded: 'Yes, they will.' Asked if those consequences would be sanctions or tariffs, Trump told reporters: 'I don't have to say, there will be very severe consequences.' But the president also described the aim of the meeting between the pair in Alaska as 'setting the table' for a quick follow-up that would include Zelenskiy. 'If the first one goes okay, we'll have a quick second one,' he said. 'I would like to do it almost immediately, and we'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskiy and myself, if they'd like to have me there.' Trump did not provide a time frame for a second meeting. RED LINES European leaders and Zelenskiy had earlier spoken with Trump in a last-ditch call hosted by Germany to lay out red lines ahead of the Alaska meeting. 'We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelenskiy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, very friendly,' Trump said. French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump agreed that Ukraine must be involved in any discussions about ceding land while Zelenskiy said Trump had supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement. 'President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska,' Macron said. 'The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who hosted the virtual meeting, said the principle that borders could not be changed by force must continue to apply. 'If there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and we Europeans should … increase the pressure,' he said. 'President Trump knows this position, he shares it very extensively and therefore I can say: We have had a really exceptionally constructive and good conversation with each other.' Trump and Putin are due to discuss how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War Two. Trump has previously said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions. RUSSIA MAKES SHARP ADVANCE INTO UKRAINE On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelenskiy flew into Berlin for virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump. He and the Europeans worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine, rewarding it for almost 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land, the last three in all-out war, and embolden Putin to expand further west in the future. Russian forces have made a sharp thrust into eastern Ukraine in recent days in what may be an attempt to increase the pressure on Kyiv to give up land. 'I told the U.S. president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing (about his stated wish to end the war),' Zelenskiy said. 'He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine …' A source familiar with the matter said the call with Trump discussed possible cities that could host a three-way meeting, depending on the outcome of the talks in Alaska. Wary of angering Trump, European leaders have repeatedly said they welcome his efforts, while stressing that there should be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine's participation. Trump's agreement last week to the summit was an abrupt shift after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the U.S. peace initiative. Trump said his envoy had made 'great progress' at talks in Moscow. A Gallup poll released last week found that 69% of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev earlier said Moscow's stance had not changed since last year. As conditions for a ceasefire and the start of talks, the Kremlin leader had demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own but does not fully control, and formally renounce its plans to join NATO. Kyiv swiftly rejected the conditions as tantamount to surrender.
The South African
7 hours ago
- The South African
I want a three-way with Putin and Zelensky, says Trump on pending meeting
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was planning a second meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin soon after Friday's Alaska summit – this time with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky included. Trump is due to sit down with Putin in Anchorage on Friday, the first meeting between the Russian leader and a sitting US president since 2021. 'If the first one goes okay, we'll have a quick second one,' he told reporters. 'I would like to do it almost immediately, and we'll have a quick second meeting between president Putin and president Zelensky and myself, if they'd like to have me there.' The high-stakes talks come with Trump seeking to broker an end to Russia's nearly three-and-a-half year war in Ukraine, and Zelensky and his European allies have urged the Republican to push for a ceasefire. A stepped-up Russian offensive, and the fact Zelensky has not been invited to the Anchorage meeting Friday, have heightened fears that Trump and Putin could strike a deal that forces painful concessions on Ukraine. Trump said Russia would face 'very severe consequences' if Putin did not agree to end the war after Friday's meeting, without elaborating. The US leader promised dozens of times during his 2024 election campaign to end the war on his first day in office but has made scant progress towards brokering a peace deal. He threatened 'secondary sanctions' on Russia's trading partners over its invasion of Ukraine but his deadline for action came and went last week with no action announced. Trump told reporters he'd had a 'very good call' with European leaders including Zelensky as he took questions from reporters at an arts event at Washington's Kennedy Center. 'I would rate it at 10. You know – very, very friendly,' he said. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. © Agence France-Presse
TimesLIVE
11 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
US imposes sanctions on DRC armed group PARECO-FF, mining firms over illicit minerals
The US on Tuesday announced sanctions against an armed group aligned with Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) military as well as a Congolese mining company and two Hong Kong-based exporters over armed violence and the sale of critical minerals. The measures are the latest taken by the administration of President Donald Trump to try to bring peace to eastern DRC, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels staged a lightning advance earlier this year, spurring violence that has killed thousands of people. The treasury department said it is putting sanctions on the Coalition des Patriotes Resistants Congolais-Forces de Frappe (PARECO-FF), a militia that it said controlled mining sites in the mineral-rich region of Rubaya from 2022 to 2024. Rubaya, now controlled by M23, produces 15% of the world's coltan, which is processed into a heat-resistant metal called tantalum that is in high demand from makers of mobile phones, computers and other applications in the electronics, aerospace and medical industries. The new sanctions, which restrict trade with US companies and persons, also target the Congolese mining company Cooperative des Artisanaux Miniers du Congo (CDMC), which the treasury department said sold critical minerals smuggled from PARECO-FF areas of control, and the Hong Kong-based export companies East Rise Corporation Limited and Star Dragon Corporation Limited, which it said bought those minerals. A senior US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was seeking to raise the cost of illicit trade "to make the licit trade that much more appealing."
