Trump to Establish White House Olympics Task Force for 2028 LA Games
The task force will include members from Trump's cabinet as well as multiple federal agencies. Its main duties will involve coordinating efforts between federal, state, and local authorities, particularly in areas such as transportation and infrastructure. It will also work to streamline visa and credentialing processes for international athletes, coaches, officials, and media personnel coming to the United States for the event.
Trump, whose second presidential term is set to coincide with the global sporting event, views the Olympics as a key milestone of his presidency. The former president, who played a role in securing the U.S. bid for the 2028 Games during his first term, considers the opportunity to oversee the Olympics a personal and national achievement.
Organizers of the LA28 Games recently revealed the initial Olympic competition schedule, as excitement builds for the city's third time hosting the event—following the 1932 and 1984 editions. Casey Wasserman, chair and president of LA28, praised the creation of the federal task force, calling it a major step in ensuring the Games are the most successful in history.
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The National
9 minutes ago
- The National
Trump to host Azerbaijan-Armenia peace summit and sign economic agreements
US President Donald Trump will meet the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington on Friday for a peace summit aimed at ending decades of conflict and reopening key transport routes in the region. The two countries in the South Caucasus region will sign an agreement that will create a major transit corridor, to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said. That route will connect mainland Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan region – a demand from Baku that had held up peace talks between the two nations. 'The road map they are agreeing to will build a co-operative future that benefits both countries, their region of the South Caucasus and beyond,' White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. The transit corridor will 'allow unimpeded connectivity between the two countries while respecting Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and its people'. Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan are separated by a 32km patch of Armenian territory. In addition, both Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign deals with the US meant to bolster co-operation in energy, technology and the economy, the White House said. 'These two Nations have been at War for many years, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people,' Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Thursday. 'Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to 'TRUMP.'' He added that the economic agreements with the US will 'fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region'. Mr Trump will meet the leaders separately, and then all three will participate in a signing ceremony. The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia was over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory disputed since the Soviet era. The two nations battled for control of the region through violent clashes that left tens of thousands dead over nearly four decades, while international mediation efforts failed. It ended in 2023 after Baku reclaimed the territory, long recognised as belonging to Azerbaijan but which was held by Armenia for decades. The two countries have since been working to normalise relations. Armenia and Azerbaijan held peace talks in Abu Dhabi in July, during which both sides agreed to continue bilateral negotiations and 'confidence-building measures'. President Sheikh Mohamed said the decision to hold the talks in the UAE emphasised that the country is trusted as a supporter of peace and diplomatic solutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Mr Trump has positioned himself as a peacemaker and has claimed to have ended five conflicts so far. He has expressed his desire several times to win a Nobel Peace Prize. The Armenia-Azerbaijan deal comes as a political blow to Russia, as the two countries fall within its sphere of influence and Moscow had attempted for decades to bring the conflict to a close. It also comes as the US attempts to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Washington and Moscow were aiming to reach a deal to halt the war that would lock in Russia's occupation of territory seized during its military invasion.
Gulf Today
an hour ago
- Gulf Today
Kremlin says Trump-Putin meeting agreed for 'coming days'
The Kremlin said on Thursday that a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Ukraine was set for the "coming days" as US-led efforts to broker peace rumble on. The Russian president named the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a potential location for the summit with Trump, but essentially ruled out a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Trump-Putin summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. It comes as the Republican seeks an end to Russia's military assault on Ukraine. Three rounds of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire. The two sides appear as far apart as ever in the conditions they have set for an end to the more than three-year-long conflict. Trump said on Wednesday that he was likely to meet Putin face-to-face "very soon." They last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term as US president, but have spoken by telephone several times since the former reality TV star returned to the White House earlier this year. "Both sides showed interest" in the Russia-US leaders meeting, Putin told reporters on Thursday. "We have many friends who are willing to help us organise such events. One of our friends is the president of the United Arab Emirates," he said, standing next to UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Earlier on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that the plan to hold a bilateral summit was "at the suggestion of the American side." "Next week has been set as a target date," said Ushakov, adding that both sides have already agreed the venue "in principle", without mentioning it. Putin-Zelensky meeting? Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022. Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine. Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire. At talks in Istanbul, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands if Ukraine wants Russia to halt its advance — calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it still controls and to renounce Western military support. Reports of the upcoming summit came after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow. Witkoff proposed a trilateral meeting with Zelensky, but Putin appeared to rule out direct talks with the Ukrainian leader. "I have nothing against it in general, it is possible, but certain conditions must be created for this," he told reporters, adding: "Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions." Putin said in June that he was ready to meet Zelensky, but only during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending the conflict. Zelensky earlier on Thursday had refreshed his call for a meeting with Putin — which he says is the only way to make progress towards peace. "It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed," he wrote on social media. The Ukrainian leader later spoke with his European allies, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as he called for the continent to be included in any potential peace talks. "The war is happening in Europe, and Ukraine is an integral part of Europe — we are already in negotiations on EU accession. Therefore, Europe must be a participant in the relevant processes," Zelensky said on social media after the call with Merz. He also said that he would hold several other conversations throughout the course of the day, including with Italian officials. "Today, security advisors will hold an online meeting to align our joint views — Ukraine and the whole of Europe, the United States," Zelensky said. "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side. It is time we ended the war," he added. Agence France-Presse
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Trump's foreign policy isn't business as usual. But it is 'all' business
US President Donald Trump lives by the following golden rule: whoever has the gold makes the rules. He pushes for peace because wars are bad for business. He believes what's best for America over the long term is a world that is tied to Washington through trade, because the ability to dictate economic prosperity is the ultimate leverage. His realignment of the global economy is about making sure the deals that are done aren't solely to the benefit of the rest of the world, as they have been in the past. It buys in to the notion that It isn't America's job to prop up other countries to the detriment of its own. He believes, rightly, that decades spent in doing so haven't made the US safer, haven't kept its economy immune to external shocks, and more to the point, represent a system Americans can simply no longer afford to sustain. In short, the President believes the US can best protect itself long term – and continue to project its influence – if the world is tied to Washington not by ideology but because of self-interest. Since the announcement of his economic overhaul in April, Mr Trump has managed to cut trade deals and impose tariffs that have begun to address this imbalance; initial financial panic has, for now, subsided and the US stock market is booming. And while he has been criticised for failing to reach '90 deals in 90 days', those complaints seem, even for some of his biggest detractors, churlish; this is a man who has fundamentally remade the global economic order as he promised he would. Those who refuse to recognise the President's genius in 'making them all come running', in their desperation to cut a deal, also miss the bigger picture. American soft power in the Trump era challenges the notion that funding social programmes gets better results than propelling entire nations towards economic growth. It calls out attempts to project American values through a left-leaning media as wasteful overreach, another expensive exercise in hubris and hypocrisy. Now 'the world's greatest dealmaker' is setting his sights on Europe and the Middle East. In the coming months, the Trump administration's National Energy Dominance Council will shepherd American business delegations to two of the oil and gas industry's biggest trade shows, Gastech in Milan and Adipec in Abu Dhabi. Europe's commitment to buy billions of dollars in American gas per year should turn this year's event in Milan into a total deal fair, with US companies looking to make long-term agreements to supply energy to Europe. Meanwhile, Adipec promises much the same, with a high-profile guest list looking to increase co-operation with partners across the Middle East. Dominating the AI race is crucial to American security and economic success, and the President's team is prioritizing relationships that achieve this. The energy dominance council, chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and co-chaired by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, revolves around the notion that America's natural resources must be put to work in the national interest. It's a familiar concept to Gulf governments if somewhat alien to their European counterparts. Speaking to me recently from his office in Washington, Mr Burgum laid out the President's plans to unlock America's resources, including the use of federal land for data centres and tapping previously off-limits areas for energy. And while the setting of our conversation evoked a certain nostalgia for America's past – its walls lined with the taxidermy of a previous century brought up from the basement at the Interior Secretary's request – there was no mistaking his boundless optimism in the country's ability to achieve its ambitions. Mr Trump's approach, while often aggressive and usually tactless, resonates with people. This is because, in his refusal to 'play by the rules' and make people comfortable, the President taps into an authenticity that most public officials in the West sadly lack. On the campaign trail, Trump 2.0 was all about finishing the job he started back in 2016; since taking office in January, he has been largely immune to any attempts to undermine his agenda. Singularly focused, he has surrounded himself (mostly) by loyalists, refused to tolerate dissent, and pushed ahead with his ultimate goal: making America great again. As the President's reciprocal tariffs took effect overnight, he claimed victory, putting an end to what he believes are the unfair trade policies of the past and predicting billions of dollars in revenue to come. And, so far at least, he isn't wrong. The government has collected nearly $150 billion in tariff revenue so far. According to CNN, the US treasury recorded $30 billion in the last month alone, a 242 per cent jump compared to the same month a year ago. As the administration prepares to hawk America's wares to the world, they will find in the Gulf at least, pragmatic partners. It's exciting now to see Europe try to catch up.
