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The Independent
19-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump did not understand Pearl Harbor, new book reveals: ‘What's this all about?'
Donald Trump barely knew of Pearl Harbor, was ignorant about the basics of geography and complained the US constitution was like reading 'a foreign language', a new book reveals. A Very Stable Genius, by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, is the latest book detailing the Trump administration's tumultuous three years in the White House. Named after Mr Trump's self-declared intellectual brilliance, the book, excerpts of which have been published by The Washington Post, reveals his litany of missteps and willingness to break long-standing legal and ethical norms since becoming president in 2017. 'Hey, John, what's this all about? What's this a tour of?' Mr Trump reportedly asked John Kelly, his then-chief of staff, when they took a private tour in 2017 of the USS Arizona Memorial, a ship commemorating the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during the Second World War. "Trump had heard the phrase 'Pearl Harbor' and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle, but he did not seem to know much else," write the authors, who quote a former White House adviser concluding the US president was 'dangerously uninformed'. During a meeting with Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister's 'eyes bulged out in surprise', the Washington Post reporters claim, when Mr Trump told him: 'It's not like you've got China on your border.' China and India in fact share more than 2,000 miles of common border. Mr Modi's expression 'shifted from shock and concern to resignation', with aides telling the authors the Indians 'took a step back' in their diplomatic relations with the US following the meeting. Foreshadowing the later special counsel investigation into his ties with Russia, during the presidential transition Mr Trump interrupted an interview with a potential secretary of state to inquire about when he would be able to meet Vladimir Putin. "When can I meet Putin? Can I meet with him before the inaugural ceremony?" he reportedly asked. When the leaders did meet, at a G20 summit in Hamburg, Mr Trump dismissed the expertise of his then-secretary of state Rex Tillerson, an oil executive who knew Mr Putin personally, telling him: 'I have had a two-hour meeting with Putin. That's all I need to know ... I've sized it all up. I've got it.' He also clashed with Mr Tillerson in 2017 when he asked his help in attempting to ditch the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a decades-old law banning Americans from bribing foreign officials for business deals. "It's just so unfair that American companies aren't allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas. We're going to change that," Mr Trump said, according to the authors, who claim the president complained the rule prevented industry friends and his own company officials from paying off foreign governments. When Mr Trump early in his tenure agreed to feature in an HBO documentary in which all living presidents read from the constitution, Mr Trump blamed others in the room when he struggled to read the text. "It's like a foreign language,' he allegedly complained. Another chapter reveals Mr Trump speculated an ex-wife of former White House official Rob Porter, who was forced to resign over domestic abuse allegations, faked a photograph in order to frame her ex-husband. The image, which surfaced online, showed Colbie Holderness sporting a black eye. 'Maybe Holderness purposefully ran into a refrigerator to give herself bruises and try to get money out of Porter?" Mr Trump reportedly said. The book, the authors say, is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with hundreds of sources, and corroborated when possible with documentation. The White House has been contacted for comment.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The U.S. just hit its lowest score ever on an international corruption measure
Nonprofit Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranked the U.S. 28th overall in the world when it comes to anti-corruption. The index factors in criteria such as the prevalence of bribery and the degree to which public officials use their positions to benefit themselves. The U.S. scored its lowest-ever rating on an international corruption index. On Tuesday, the German nonprofit Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. The latest version of the index, which assessed data through 2024, evaluates corruption in the public sector across 180 countries. It encompasses factors such as the diversion of public funds, how commonplace bribery is, whether public officials use their office for personal gains, nepotism in civil service appointments, and legal protections for whistleblowers, among other things. The index also takes into account a country's ability to prosecute corruption in the event it is uncovered. The United States received a score of 65 out of 100, its worst rating since the list was first established in 2012. In the annual rankings, the U.S. was 28th on the list, tied with the Bahamas. It was one spot above longtime allies South Korea and Israel, which were tied just below the U.S. The highest-ranked country on the list was Denmark, which had a score of 90 out of 100. In second and third place were Finland and Singapore, with scores of 88 and 84, respectively. The lowest-ranked country was South Sudan, which scored eight points on Transparency International's scale. On Monday, the U.S. paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which made it against the law for companies to bribe foreign officials. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would stop enforcing the law on the grounds that it made it more difficult for U.S. firms to do business abroad. 'U.S. companies are harmed by FCPA overenforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field,' read a fact sheet released by the White House on Monday. The Trump administration's recent changes to the FCPA did not affect the U.S.'s standing in the Transparency International's most recent report, which only covered the 2024 calendar year. Trump had eyed scrapping the law in his first term as well. In 2017, Trump reportedly asked former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for his help in getting rid of the law, which he called 'so unfair,' according to the book A Very Stable Genius by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig. Originally founded in 1993 by former World Bank employees, Transparency International publishes its list to draw attention to the effects corruption can have on human development. 'Corruption is an evolving global threat that does far more than undermine development—it is a key cause of declining democracy, instability, and human rights violations,' Transparency International chair Francois Valerian said in a statement. 'The international community and every nation must make tackling corruption a top and long-term priority. This is crucial to pushing back against authoritarianism and securing a peaceful, free and sustainable world.' There was little progress toward anti-corruption across the list. Only 32 countries reduced their levels of corruption since Transparency International began collecting data in 2012, according to the organization's website. That means over that span, the degree of corruption in 148 countries stayed the same or worsened. In addition to the U.S., 47 other countries received their lowest-ever scores, including some of the U.S.'s democratic counterparts like Brazil, Germany, and France. Others included countries where democratic norms had either been eroded recently or never existed to begin with, such as Hungary, Russia, and Iran. This story was originally featured on
