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Watch: Donald Trump accused of ‘cheating' at golf during round at Turnberry

Watch: Donald Trump accused of ‘cheating' at golf during round at Turnberry

'I always win,' he told The Washington Post in 2015. 'I win at golf. I'm a club champion many times at different clubs. I win at golf. I can sink the three-footer on the 18th hole when others can't. My whole life is about winning. I don't lose often.'
Now, after years of whispers casting doubt on the US president's official handicap of 2.8, new video evidence supports suggestions that he may indeed be cutting corners.
Two clips purporting to show Trump playing at his treasured Scottish course, Turnberry, prior to announcing a trade deal with the EU have prompted cheating allegations. One verified video, published by the respected international news agency Reuters, shows Trump inexplicably appearing to adjust the position of his ball on the fairway with his club. 'I can't believe we've just watched the man cheating at f---ing golf,' an eyewitness is heard saying in the background.
In another clip to surface on social media − prompting immediate allegations that it may be fake − a caddie is also seen dropping Trump's ball in an ideal position.
The second video appears to have been taken from inside a building showing Trump rolling up in a cart left of the fairway, with a bunker in front of him and rough to his left. As two caddies walked by, the camera captured one of them stopping, bending down slightly, and appearing to drop a ball in front of Trump.
The White House has yet to comment on the veracity of the footage but viewers immediately concluded the footage was proof of Trump cheating.
Allegations of Trump bending the rules in golf stretch back years. Most recently, the Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson made allegations after being asked whether he was better at golf than Trump. 'Oh, I am, for sure,' he said. 'I don't cheat.'
Another actor Anthony Anderson also told Late Night With Seth Meyers in 2016: 'Trump is a great golfer. I'm not going to say Trump cheats. His caddie cheats for him.'
Asked on whether he saw Trump cheat with his own eyes, Anderson replied: 'Oh yes, several times. Several times.'
Further claims, also denied by Trump, were also raised in a book, Commander in Cheat, by Rick Reilly . 'At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back on to the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: Pele,' Reilly writes in the book.
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There's one scenario in which tariffs won't be a disaster for Ireland
There's one scenario in which tariffs won't be a disaster for Ireland

Irish Times

time19 minutes ago

  • Irish Times

There's one scenario in which tariffs won't be a disaster for Ireland

I have enough grey hairs to remember trade deals being done in the past, notably the massive Uruguay round of talks which concluded in 1994 and was – though we didn't know it at the time – the high point of a long postwar drive to free world trade and reduce tariffs. The media spent many hours outside meeting rooms as negotiators from more than 120 countries went through complex line-by-line negotiations to cut tariffs and trade barriers. For Ireland, it was always a case of trading off the potential gains for industry with the threat to farmers. But over time, the State was a huge winner. The world had already started to move away from the relentless globalisation drive which had lasted well into this century. And now we have Trump's new world order and trade 'deals' which are a mix of reality, spin and fudge. We still do not know the full details of the deal between the United States and the European Union – before we even start to worry about how Trump might try to rewrite it. Ibec chief economist Gerard Brady calculates that exporters accounting for about 10 per cent of our export value to the US now know their tariff and another 10-15 per cent await news on exemptions from tariffs being negotiated between the US and the EU. The remaining 75 per cent or so of pharma and semiconductor exporters will have to wait for separate investigations now under way in the Trump administration. READ MORE There is a potential outcome from all this which, while damaging, would not be disastrous for Ireland in the short term. There will be problems, but the economy could adjust and adapt. While the Department of Finance estimates that the tariffs could lead to employment being 70,000 lower in five years' time and the economy 1.5 per cent smaller are, at best, a rough guesstimate, they do look to be in the right direction. On current trends, this would mean growth continuing, just not as quickly as it would have. We can assess the potential damage for Ireland only when we know the full details. The spirits and whiskey sectors look exposed, for example, as the US says it is a target for the 15 per cent tariffs. As this is a big issue in France, there will be an EU push in the week ahead, before final details of the deal with the US are published, to try to lower the burden here. As well as the impact on Ireland, this is one to watch at political level in the EU, as France puts pressure on Ursula von der Leyen 's European Commission , which negotiates on behalf of the EU. As butter, another vital Irish export, was already subject to a tariff of about 16-17 per cent (which will remain), things will at least not get any worse here. If we want to identify problem areas, smaller companies reliant on the US in a range of sectors is one. Small may no longer be beautiful in a complex and politically-driven world market. And it is also worth focusing on the risks to parts of rural Ireland – as highlighted by Chambers Ireland chief executive Ian Talbot – particularly those reliant on sectors such as food and also pharma and medical products. Towns such as Westport and Kinsale will anxiously await details on the pharma tariffs. [ EU-US trade deal analysis: Tariffs have a price for both sides. Trump was willing to pay it Opens in new window ] And here things remain a bit woolly, largely because the US president is undertaking study of this sector under a so-called section 232 process – referring to a section of a 1960s US act. This is separate from the big so-called reciprocal tariffs announced on Friday. The EU view is that its deal caps tariffs on pharma at 15 per cent – including any outcome from this separate process. If this holds, the sector at least knows its maximum charge. 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But this is likely to mean somewhat lower investment by pharma here in the years ahead and a sector which may be more focused on EU and other markets rather than exporting back to the US. Changes in the pricing and accounting practices of the multinationals – now designed to report massive profits in low-tax Ireland – are also likely to cut corporate tax revenue here. Like the rest of the economy, the Irish pharma sector will adjust. But there will be a cost, the scale of which depends on the extent of US policy action. The longer-term strategic questions will take time to clarify themselves. A major issue is whether Trump's policy direction will stick. If you are, say, a big pharma company, do you base your investments on an expectation that this is now the new world, or that Trump's policies will, in time, be rolled back either by him or by his successor? US court challenges to his powers to impose wide-scale tariffs are only now playing out. US consumer prices are surely set to rise – the only question is how much and whether there will be a cost in jobs. And the financial market calm could be upset at any time, given the crazy and risky course on which Trump has embarked. On Friday, they were already looking jumpy. So the uncertainty will roll on. Ireland should get through the first wave of this, albeit with some collateral damage. But the big question is our place in a world which seems to be breaking up into new trading blocs and alliances. And whether the valuable certainty which a final, agreed trade deal might bring can last - Ireland and Europe now needs Trump to direct his attention elsewhere.

Trump orders firing of US official over jobs market report
Trump orders firing of US official over jobs market report

RTÉ News​

time2 hours ago

  • RTÉ News​

Trump orders firing of US official over jobs market report

US President Donald Trump said he has ordered the firing of a key economic official, accusing her of manipulating employment data for political reasons after a new report showed cracks in the US jobs market. US job growth missed expectations in July, Labor Department data showed, and revisions to hiring figures in recent months brought them to the weakest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic. Without providing evidence, Mr Trump lashed out at the department's commissioner of labour statistics, writing on social media that the jobs numbers "were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad". In a separate post on his Truth Social platform, he charged that Commissioner Erika McEntarfer had "faked" jobs data to boost Democrats' chances of victory in the recent presidential election. "McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months," Mr Trump said, referring to latest data for July. "Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative," Mr Trump said, insisting that the world's biggest economy was "booming" under his leadership. He later told reporters "we need people that we can trust," accusing the economic official of inflating hiring figures under former president Joe Biden's administration. 'Dangerous precedent' The United States added 73,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, said the Department of Labor yesterday. Hiring numbers for May were revised down from 144,000 to 19,000. The figure for June was shifted from 147,000 to 14,000. This was notably lower than job creation levels in recent years. During the pandemic, the economy lost jobs. The employment data points to challenges in the key labour market as companies took a cautious approach in hiring and investment while grappling with Mr Trump's sweeping - and rapidly changing - tariffs this year. The numbers also pile pressure on the central bank as it mulls the best time to cut interest rates. With tariff levels climbing since the start of the year, both on imports from various countries and on sector-specific products such as steel, aluminum and autos, many firms have faced higher business costs. Some are now passing them on to consumers. William Beach, who previously held Ms McEntarfer's post at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, warned that her firing "sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau." The National Association for Business Economics condemned her dismissal, saying large revisions in jobs numbers "reflect not manipulation, but rather the dwindling resources afforded to statistical agencies." "Firing the head of a key government agency because you don't like the numbers they report, which come from surveys using long established procedures, is what happens in authoritarian countries, not democratic ones," slammed Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary under Democratic president Bill Clinton. 'Gamechanger' Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, said the latest jobs report was a "gamechanger". "The labour market is deteriorating quickly," said Ms Long, noting that of the growth in July, "75 percent of those jobs were in one sector: health care." "The economy needs certainty soon on tariffs," Ms Long said. "The longer this tariff whiplash lasts, the more likely this weak hiring environment turns into layoffs." It remains unclear when the dust will settle, with Mr Trump ordering the reimposition of steeper tariffs on scores of economies late Thursday, which are set to take effect in a week. A sharp weakening in the labour market could push the Federal Reserve toward slashing interest rates sooner to shore up the economy. Yesterday, the two Fed officials who voted this week against the central bank's decision to keep rates unchanged warned that standing pat risks further damaging the economy. Both Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller argued that the inflationary effects of tariffs were temporary. They added in separate statements that the bank should focus on fortifying the economy to avert further weakening in the labor market. Putting off an interest rate cut "could result in a deterioration in the labor market and a further slowing in economic growth," Ms Bowman said.

Negotiation on EU-US trade deal continues, with tariffs pushed back for another week
Negotiation on EU-US trade deal continues, with tariffs pushed back for another week

Irish Independent

time2 hours ago

  • Irish Independent

Negotiation on EU-US trade deal continues, with tariffs pushed back for another week

This gives European Commission negotiators more time to clarify details of the new trade deal, as they try to extend the range of goods to which the 15pc rate will not apply. On Thursday, the commission said it had not been able to achieve a zero-for-zero carve-out for the drinks sector. France is already pressing for parts of the deal to be renegotiated. 'It's a stage and we won't stop here,' French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told broadcaster France Info. 'We want new concessions, guarantees on wine and spirits, a readjustment, [and] a rebalancing on the service sector – in particular digital services.' Speaking after a meeting of the trade forum in Government Buildings, Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris said it was Ireland's understanding that the EU's 15pc rate was fully inclusive – incorporating existing tariffs – unlike the UK's 10pc. Confirming that pharmaceuticals will remain at a zero per cent tariff until the White House completes a Section 232 investigation – which determines how specific imports will affect US national security – Mr Harris said he had been informed by Brussels that this was likely to conclude in about two weeks. 'Without a deal between the US and the EU, today would have seen 30pc tariffs introduced by President Trump on the EU, and significant counter-measures by the EU to the tune of around €90-odd billion,' he said. 'There's absolutely no doubt that would have been a moment of catastrophe in terms of our economic well-being as a country. We'd be in a very different and a much worse position, I think, if we were standing here today with no deal. 'You don't have to take my word for that if you just see the executive order last night and all of the tariffs levelled in other countries, including countries that didn't have deals.' On Thursday night, Mr Trump signed an executive order to introduce tariffs on more than 60 countries. Most of these will take effect on August 7, but a 35pc levy on some exports from Canada came into effect immediately. The highest rates were slapped on Syria, Laos and Myanmar, which now face tariffs of about 40pc. A rate of 35pc was applied in Switzerland. The country has a big trade deficit with the US, reaching $38bn (€33bn) last year, but the White House implied that Switzerland was also being penalised for its pharma industry. ADVERTISEMENT US trade representative Jamieson Greer told BloombergTelevision: 'They ship enormous amounts of pharmaceuticals to our country. We want to be making pharmaceuticals in our country.' As usual, the extended deadline gives these countries more time to negotiate a deal with the US before the tariffs are applied. If introduced, however, it will mean the US is applying an average rate six times higher than when former president Joe Biden was in office. Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said: 'The average US tariff jumps from 13.3pc to 15.2pc, a seismic shift from the 2.3pc average before Trump retook office.' In a briefing to its members after the trade forum, Ibec pointed out that clarity was still needed on precisely what goods would drop to a zero tariff after August 7. 'Goods that may benefit from zero tariffs or zero-for-zero tariffs ... (including aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic medicines, semiconductor equipment, selected agricultural products, natural resources, and critical raw materials) will require the final EU-US joint statement to confirm which specific HS codes will be exempt,' Ibec's Danny McCoy said. 'Negotiations on additional zero-for-zero arrangements not covered by the joint statement may continue in the weeks ahead.'

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