Divorce, adultery allegations against Paxton jolt Senate race in Texas
The race, seen as one of the biggest GOP primaries of the midterms, was already dramatic, with a longtime incumbent, John Cornyn, fighting for his political life against Paxton, the state attorney general styling himself as more loyal to President Donald Trump. Now, Cornyn and his allies are bringing up the filing as they run against Paxton, and some Paxton backers are rethinking their support.
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4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Old Trump speech falsely linked to South Korea trade deal
Social media posts have recirculated an old video of US President Donald Trump and falsely presented it as depicting him calling South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung a "bad negotiator" after their countries agreed a trade deal. The clip in fact shows Trump criticising then president Barack Obama as he launched his presidential campaign in June 2015. "Trump mocks Lee Jae Myung as a bad negotiator," reads a Korean-language post featuring the clip on Naver Band, a South Korean forum, on July 31, 2025. "[Trump] mocked Lee as soon as the tariff negotiations finished. [Lee] has become a total pushover," it continues. The video shows Trump saying, "The people negotiating don't have a clue. Our president doesn't have a clue. He's a bad negotiator." But its Korean subtitles mistranslate "our president" as "their president". The clip was also shared in similar posts on multiple right-wing South Korean circles on Facebook, as well as on YouTube. "The way that fool Lee acted as he did, no wonder he is being mocked," read a comment on one of the posts. Another said: "An international embarrassment to be used like that, then mocked by the US president." Under the trade deal, the United States will impose a 15 percent tariff on South Korean imports -- down from the previously threatened 25 percent -- in exchange for $350 billion in South Korean investments in US industries and $100 billion in energy purchases (archived link). A keyword search on Google found the clip corresponds to a part of a speech Trump gave on June 16, 2015, when he announced his bid for the presidency (archived link). At around the 18:50 mark of the speech posted in full by CSPAN, Trump makes the comment: "The people negotiating don't have a clue. Our president doesn't have a clue. He's a bad negotiator." This was part of a broader tirade against the Obama administration's trade and foreign policies. Trump then references a prisoner swap involving US soldier Bowe Bergdahl to illustrate his criticism of Obama's negotiating skills. Bergdahl was a US Army sergeant who was captured by the Taliban in 2009 after walking off his post in Afghanistan and was released in 2014 in exchange for five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay (archived link). "We get Bergdahl. We get a traitor. We get a no-good traitor, and they get the five people that they wanted for years, and those people are now back on the battlefield trying to kill us. That's the negotiator we have," Trump said. A full transcript of the speech published by Time magazine also shows Trump was referring to Obama (archived link). Nowhere in the video or transcript does Trump mention South Korea or Lee Jae Myung. AFP has previously debunked similar instances of Trump remarks and social media posts being misrepresented as references to South Korea.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The president expressed his fondness for his young press secretary in a Newsmax interview.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, could be fielding some awkward questions after President Donald Trump, 79, took a moment in his latest interview to comment on what exactly it is about her that he likes the most. 'It's that face. It's that brain. It's those lips, the way they move. They move like she's a machine gun,' the president said. Speaking to Newsmax host Rob Finnerty on Friday night, Trump noted that Leavitt has 'become a star' in her current role.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump deploys nuclear submarines in row with Russia
US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines Friday in an extraordinary escalation of what had been an online war of words with a Russian official over Ukraine and tariffs. Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's security council, have been sparring on social media for days. Trump's post on his Truth Social platform abruptly took that spat into the very real -- and rarely publicized -- sphere of nuclear forces. "Based on the highly provocative statements," Trump said he had "ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that." "Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances," the 79-year-old Republican posted. Trump did not say in his post whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. He also did not elaborate on the exact deployment locations, which are kept secret by the US military. But in an interview with Newsmax that aired Friday night, Trump said the submarines were "closer to Russia." "We always want to be ready. And so I have sent to the region two nuclear submarines," he said. "I just want to make sure that his words are only words and nothing more than that." Trump's remarks came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had started mass producing its hypersonic nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile, and could deploy them to Belarus, a close Russian ally neighbouring Ukraine, by year-end. The nuclear sabre-rattling came against the backdrop of a deadline set by Trump for the end of next week for Russia to take steps to ending the Ukraine war or face unspecified new sanctions. Despite the pressure from Washington, Russia's onslaught against its pro-Western neighbor continues to unfold at full bore. An AFP analysis Friday showed that Russian forces had launched a record number of drones at Ukraine in July. Russian attacks have killed hundreds of Ukrainian civilians since June. A combined missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early Thursday killed 31 people, rescuers said. Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said Friday that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his nearly three-and-a-half year invasion were "unchanged". Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join NATO. Putin, speaking alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarusian and Russian specialists "have chosen a place for future positions" of the Oreshnik missiles. "Work is now underway to prepare these positions. So, most likely, we will close this issue by the end of the year," he added. - Insults, nuclear rhetoric - The United States and Russia control the vast majority of the world's nuclear weaponry, and Washington keeps nuclear-armed submarines on permanent patrol as part of its so-called nuclear triad of land, sea and air-launched weapons. Trump told Newsmax that Medvedev's "nuclear" reference prompted him to reposition US nuclear submarines. "When you mention the word 'nuclear'... my eyes light up. And I say, we better be careful, because it's the ultimate threat," Trump said in the interview. Medvedev had criticised Trump on his Telegram account Thursday and alluded to the "fabled 'Dead Hand'" -- a reference to a highly secret automated system put in place during the Cold War to control the country's nuclear weapons. This came after Trump had lashed out at what he called the "dead economies" of Russia and India. Medvedev had also harshly criticized Trump's threat of new sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. Accusing Trump of "playing the ultimatum game," he posted Monday on X that Trump "should remember" that Russia is a formidable force. Trump responded by calling Medvedev "the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President." Medvedev should "watch his words," Trump posted at midnight in Washington on Wednesday. "He's entering very dangerous territory!" Medvedev is a vocal proponent of Russia's war -- and generally antagonistic to relations with the West. He served as president between 2008-2012, effectively acting as a placeholder for Putin, who was able to circumvent constitutional term limits and remain in de facto power. The one-time reformer has rebranded over the years as an avid online troller, touting often extreme versions of official Kremlin nationalist messaging. But his influence within the Russian political system remains limited. In Kyiv on Friday, residents held a day of mourning for the 31 people, including five children, killed the day before, most of whom were in a nine-storey apartment block torn open by a missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said only Putin could end the war and renewed his call for a meeting between the two leaders. "The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia's readiness," he wrote on X. burs-sms/sco/tym
