‘Ridiculous': Trump administration hits back amid Qatari plane row
US President Donald Trump 's sons, Eric and Donald Jr., are pursuing business deals in Qatar, including a Trump International Golf Club and luxury villas project.
This coincides with Qatar's rumoured gift of a $400 million Boeing 747 to replace Air Force One, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
The Trump administration denies any impropriety, with spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt saying that it is 'ridiculous' to suggest that the president is 'doing anything for his own benefit'.
Critics argue the plane gift and business dealings violate the emoluments clause, which prohibits government officials from accepting gifts from foreign states.
Ethics experts are questioning whether the gift, intended for the Department of Defense but ultimately destined for the Trump Presidential Library Foundation, truly benefits the US or primarily serves the Trump family's interests.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Report: Trump plans to save TikTok for a third time
Published: | Updated: President Donald Trump plans to save Tiktok from going dark for a third time. Ahead of a June 19 deadline, the president is expected to sign an executive order staving off enforcement of a law banning the app or forcing its sale, the Wall Street Journal reported. This would be the third extension since Trump took office on January 20th. The extension comes as Trump officials head to London for a Monday meeting with Chinese officials on a trade deal. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will be meeting at the meeting. 'The meeting should go very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter!,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. He and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone Thursday as both sides try to repair a breakdown in trade negotiations. Earlier this year, the administration had been working on a deal for American investors to take ownership of the popular video app but that deal fell victim to Trump's trade war with China . So, on April 4th, Trump signed an executive order granting a 75-day extension allowing TikTok to operate in the U.S. 'My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,' he announced on Truth Social at the time. Several American companies have expressed interest in having a stake in Tiktok, including Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Oracle. TikTok is one of the most powerful media sources in America today. It has 135.79 million users in America, making it the country with the biggest audience on the map. It also has grown to be one of the largest online shopping marketplaces with millions of dollars in daily sales. Congress passed the TikTok ban in 2024 with overwhelming bipartisan support demanding China lose its control of the popular video service. Lawmakers had national security concerns that an app used by so many Americans was controlled by China and feared the Chinese company that owns, ByteDance, could use it as a way to collect information on Americans. TikTok fought the ban all the way to the Supreme Court, calling it a violation of free speech rights, but the court upheld the law in early 2025. ByteDance didn't agree to terms with any US-based companies and went dark for a few hours on January 19th, the day before President Trump's inauguration. But Trump has fought to keep the social media site operational in the US. After his inauguration, he signed a delay in implementing the ban, then extended it again in April and is preparing for the third extension. Trump sees the app as a way to reach younger voter. He has indicated he'd like to come to a deal. 'We'll probably have to get China's approval. China's never easy,' he said last week. 'I'd like to save TikTok. I mean, TikTok was very good to me.'
The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
JD Vance silence on Musk may be the most Game of Thrones tactic ever — and Trump might not even notice
The kingdom is in turmoil, the great Houses of Musk and Trump at war, and their subjects forced to choose sides. But as the scheming Littlefinger in Game of Thrones famously said as he plotted to take the King's place: 'chaos is a ladder.' And so it is for JD Vance, the ostensibly loyal vice president, and perhaps the person who stands to benefit the most from the chaos unleashed by the feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump — which is perhaps why he's remaining uncharacteristically subdued. Vance has never been one to shy away from a fight, especially an online one, especially if it's in defense of his boss. He once launched a 400-word diatribe against historian Niall Ferguson for criticizing Trump's Ukraine policy, slamming his 'moralistic garbage' and 'historical illiteracy.' He had no problem accusing senior members of his own party of ' pettiness ' for voting against what Trump wanted, and mocked world leaders who've had run ins with the president. The practicing Catholic even found himself on the wrong side of the Pope himself when he got into another online beef with British politician Rory Stewart over Trump's deportation policies. So one would expect the online warrior to rush to the defense of his president in response to the firestorm of abuse unleashed by Musk against the president on Thursday, which began with accusations of ungratefulness and ended with claims of him being close to Jeffrey Epstein. But Vance has been remarkably quiet. His only public comment at the time of writing has been the kind of terse statement a wife gives in support of a cheating politician spouse. 'President Trump has done more than any person in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I'm proud to stand beside him,' Vance wrote on X. The next day, he continued with his lawyerly posts. 'There are many lies the corporate media tells about President Trump. One of the most glaring is that he's impulsive or short-tempered. Anyone who has seen him operate under pressure knows that's ridiculous,' he wrote. 'It's (maybe) the single biggest disconnect between fake media perception and reality,' he went on. Where was the combative Vance who demanded the Ukrainian president say thank you to his boss in the Oval Office? The one who told Kamala Harris to 'go to hell' over the Biden administration's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan? Instead, Vance did not utter Musk's name in the 24 hours since the feud burst into the open. Vance was asked by Trump to remain diplomatic in his dealings with Musk, The Independent learned from a source familiar with the situation. Regardless, the VP has other motivations for keeping quiet. For years, he has been dogged by rumors of dual loyalties between the tech billionaires who fueled his rise and the president he now serves. Vance first came to public attention as the best-selling author of Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir of a rough Appalachian upbringing that many liberals praised as an intellectual explanation of Trump's appeal to the white working class. But before that book set him on a path to Congress and the Senate, he was already being courted by a set of right-wing tech billionaires known as the 'PayPal mafia' — the billionaires Musk, David Sacks and Peter Thiel, who worked together at the pioneering online payments company back in the late Nineties and early Noughties and were bound together by a belief in deregulation, libertarianism and later, by darker right-wing ideology that railed against multiculturalism. Vance was working in venture capital at the time and went to work for Thiel at his San Francisco investment house, Mithril Capital. Thiel would be instrumental to Vance's rise, backing his campaign for Senate in 2021-22 to the tune of $15 million, and reportedly introduced Vance to Trump. The trio of Musk, Sacks and Thiel were instrumental in convincing Trump to choose Vance as his running mate, seeing in him an ideological ally, the libertarian tech investor who could one day take over as president. Some have gone so far as to call Vance a Manchurian Candidate for the tech elite. When the feud between Musk and Trump spilled out into the open, Musk was not shy about announcing his desire for Vance to take over as president. He responded to a tweet calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance with one word: 'Yes.' That is not an empty threat. Vance's path to the White House would inevitably require the support of Musk, the man who spent $395 million on electing Republicans in 2024. So his decision to ignore Musk's call for mutiny is an interesting — and calculated — choice. Much like Littlefinger, Vance has made sharp ideological turns and formed strategic alliances to find his way to within arm's length of the throne. He was once vehemently opposed to Trump, only to radically change course to stand by his side in his quest for power. But, spoiler alert, his fictional counterpart's calculating and maneuvering didn't end well for him. Trump spent his entire first term weeding out traitors, and claims to have gotten very good at it over the years. Will he be able to sniff out Vance?
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump escalates war on Gavin Newsom by threatening to rip millions of federal dollars from California
With his public battle with Elon Musk going into overdrive, President Donald Trump 's team has made preparations to yank money from California in connection with another standoff, according to a report. Days after threatening to withhold 'large scale federal funding' from California, aides are identifying potential grants to pull back in a clash over the state's policy on transgender athletes. A whistleblower told a congressional committee that all research grants to the state are set to be nixed, CNN reported. Agencies are being told to identify grants to the nation's wealthiest state, which is a Democratic stronghold. A White House official dismissed the idea that any action was imminent, while agreeing that officials are always trying to identify spending for elimination throughout the government. 'No decisions have been made,' the official told when asked about the state of play. Trump signed executive orders before leaving the White House Friday dealing with drone technology, but the White House announced no action on California. Real or not, Trump's threat has gotten the attention of California's educational institutions, which are among the most prominent in the nation and rely on billions in federal funding. 'Every university, every research organization, pretty much I saw them passing through here the last two days,' Rep. Darrell Issa told the network. The report comes days after Trump threatened to yank federal funding to California after a transgender athlete won the long jump and triple jump in a school meet and qualified for the state championships. The athlete, AB Hermandez, went on to win gold in the high jump and triple jump at the state Track and Field Championships last weekend. University of California system identified $4 billion in awards it got from the federal government in 2024, an 11 percent drop from the prior year. The threat came in late May asTrump blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he called 'Newscum,' and called the high school sporting results results 'not fair and totally demeaning to women and girls.' 'Please be advised that large scale federal funding will be held back, maybe permanently,' Trump threatened on his Truth Social site. He said he would speak to the governor today. Then, without citing a specific legal basis, Trump wrote that 'I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!' His post came after transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley won the women's long jump and triple jump at the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Masters Meet. A week prior, Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School, one of the opponents defeated by Hernandez, a biological male, took the podium following the official ceremony. The moment took off online, and earned praise from former college swimmer and conservative political activist Riley Gaines. In March, Hernandez drew backlash online after winning a triple jump event by three feet. Trump fumed about the results of the weekend's meet, and teased an upcoming phone call with Newsom. He wrote: 'California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newscum, continues to ILLEGALLY allow 'MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN'S SPORTS.' 'This week a transitioned Male athlete, at a major event, won 'everything,' and is now qualified to compete in the 'State Finals' next weekend. As a Male, he was a less than average competitor. As a Female, this transitioned person is practically unbeatable.' Then, he added in all caps, 'this is not fair and totally demeaning to women and girls.' Trump went on to threaten: 'Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to. 'The Governor, himself, said it is 'UNFAIR.' I will speak to him today to find out which way he wants to go??? In the meantime I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!' Trump's public pressure on Newsom comes after the leading Democrat and potential 2028 presidential contender hedged on the issue on his podcast in March, in comments to conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 'I think it's an issue of fairness I completely agree with you on that ... It's deeply unfair,' Newsom said. 'By the way, as someone with four kids, two daughters — and a wife that went, God forbid, to Stanford and played on the junior national soccer team,' Newsom said. 'I revere sports, and so the issue of fairness is completely legit,' he said. He also told Kirk how Trump and Republicans were able to 'weaponize' the issue politically. 'I'm not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you,' Newsom said of the hot-button topic that Trump highlighted throughout his successful campaign. California lawmakers opted last month not to change the state's policies on participation of transgender athletes after Democrats on two state Assembly committees turned back Republican proposals on the issue following heated debate. During an April press conference, when asked if there should be legal restrictions on transgender athletes, Newsom responded that 'I'm about as transparent about this as anybody out there, particularly in my party, on this, and to the extent someone can and do it in a way that's respectful and responsible and could find a kind of balance, then I'm open to that discussion.' The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimates there are 49,000 trans youths aged 13 to 17 in California. Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office titled 'defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.'
