Latest news with #Defensedepartment
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
President Trump kicks off Middle East trip
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President Donald Trump is visiting three countries in the Middle East this week for business deals. The trip could strengthen ties between the U.S. and the kingdoms in the Gulf. White House officials say the president is looking to return to Washington with more than $1 trillion worth of investments in the U.S. The president received a royal welcome as he landed in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. 'It's an honor to be here with you, my friend. We've had a tremendous relationship over the years,' said Trump. President Trump's first stop in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia, with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to follow. The goal of the trip is to strengthen the relationship with these countries. 'We've brought tremendous investment and tremendous jobs, and we'll continue to service your great country very well,' said Trump. This is the president's first state visit of his second term. At the same time, the president is facing criticism for a plan to accept a jet as a gift from the government of Qatar, which would be used as Air Force One. 'I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person. Say, no, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane. But it was. I thought it was a great gesture,' said Trump. The president says it would be a gift to the Defense department but George Washington University political ethics expert, Peter Loge, says that doesn't matter. 'What that means is a foreign government is buying part of the United States defense. That's wrong. The United States is in charge of its defense,' said Loge. The president is expected to finish this trip by the end of the week, and he could make one additional stop in Turkey. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
White supremacists are trying to reconquer the United States
A lot of folks would find those numbers embarrassingly low, but Trump and the other zealots who now run this country have decided they've lost too much ground to people who don't look like them, that every gain other people make is necessarily a loss for themselves. Advertisement Every day, our new overlords make it clear they believe white people, especially white men, are the only ones they can be sure truly deserve their jobs. They can tell the others are unqualified just by looking at them. So the only possible explanation for the presence of people of color and members of other marginalized groups in desirable positions is that they're getting unfair advantages. Those of us who live in real reality call that being white supremacists. These racist throwbacks have always been with us, rearing their heads higher after big civil rights advances they find appalling. But now it's the government leading the revanchism. 'What is shocking for many is, the perpetrator of these efforts is so clearly the federal government,' said Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science at UMass Amherst. 'That has not occurred since before the civil rights era.' Advertisement The message now is that the only way to stop white men's suffering is to put everyone else back in their places. Which means shutting down every impulse to make ours a more equal society – purging those who seek to make schools and workplaces look more like the actual world, erasing from government websites the excellence and achievements of nonwhite people – Black veterans buried in Arlington cemetery. At the Defense department, this came courtesy of Secretary Pete Hegseth, a veteran with a Trump and his henchmen are turning back the hard-won gains of the civil rights movement, targeting the very people that movement rose up to protect. Now, we are told, it is white people who need the protection of the federal government against employment discrimination. It is they who are persecuted, they who are harmed when books and history lessons teach kids that slavery was a horror and Rosa Parks was a hero. And so these two Boston law firms, both of them committed to diversifying their ranks, got their threatening letters from EEOC. Many other firms did, too. 'This administration doesn't seem to be bothered by wasting taxpayer dollars engaging in frivolous legal action,' said Sophia Hall, deputy litigation director at Lawyers for Civil Rights. But even if their demands are frivolous, or found to be legally dubious, a weaponized EEOC can still make life miserable for a company, Hall said. They can issue subpoenas and demand reams of documentation, sucking up resources. Advertisement The letters alone could even be enough to chill diversity efforts at big law firms – or discourage them from representing clients who challenge Trump directives. We've certainly seen The law firms did not respond to emails seeking comment. They have until April 15 to respond to Trump's demands, but they can also resist them. Nteta's If a bunch of high-priced lawyers won't stand up to Trump, who will? Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham can be reached at
Telegraph
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Donald Trump reportedly pauses military aid to Ukraine
Donald Trump has paused all current military aid to Ukraine until Volodymyr Zelensky proves he is committed to peace. All US military equipment not currently in Ukraine will be paused, including weapons in transit or waiting to be shipped in Poland, a senior Defense department official told Bloomberg. It came after Mr Trump on Monday suggested Mr Zelensky 'won't be around very long' if he does not end the war soon. The US wants Mr Zelensky to offer an immediate ceasefire and hardliners in the Trump administration, including Elon Musk, blame the Ukrainian leader for prolonging the war. The military aid cuts follow a meeting between Mr Trump and senior members of his administration including Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth on Monday.
