Latest news with #LBJ
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Albanese must tread a fine line when he meets Trump. He can't bow to him but he can't alienate the US either
Things were tense as John Gorton prepared to meet Lyndon Johnson at the White House in May 1968. In office just a few months, the Australian prime minister had criticised the US president for a lack of consultation over America's military plans for the Vietnam war in the lead up to the important visit. In a briefing note uncovered by the historian James Curran, Gorton was described to his hosts as having a crumpled nose 'like an ex-prize fighter'. Worse, Washington was warned that the Australian leader was a 'conclusion jumper' and lacked experience in foreign affairs. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Despite meetings at the White House and a visit to the famed LBJ ranch in Texas, Gorton left America feeling uneasy about his relationship with Johnson and how the trip would play to the domestic audience at home. Anthony Albanese could be forgiven for a similar feeling. The Labor leader is expected to have his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Calgary, Canada. Since Trump emerged as the lightning rod third candidate in the federal election campaign, Albanese has struggled to get his counterpart on the phone to plead Australia's case for an exemption to the president's growing roster of trade tariffs. Albanese described the decision by Australia's most important ally as an act of economic self-harm and not the actions of a friend, but he also weaponised the spectre of Trump-style politics in his demolition of Peter Dutton on 3 May. Once in the room, Albanese is expected to talk up Australia's supply of rare earths and critical minerals as he fights for exemptions from the 50% tariff now applied to steel and aluminium imports, and Australia's inclusion in the 10% baseline rate Trump imposed back in April. China dominates global supplies of critical minerals, required for specialist manufacturing, and a reliable ally able to balance the ledger should be helpful for the US, especially in the event of a conflict with Beijing. Albanese said on Friday he was not prepared to give ground on one longstanding American gripe. He said any move to weaken a biosecurity ban on some beef imports from the US in exchange for more favourable tariff treatment was a non-starter. Bans have existed since a 2003 mad cow disease outbreak, with cattle raised in Canada and Mexico but slaughtered in the US still barred under 2019 rules. Other irritants include the decades-long fight by America's pharma companies to kill off Australia's Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme, and the news media bargaining code, viewed in the White House as unfairly targeting American social media companies. If a meeting between the two leaders is locked in over coming days, Albanese will undoubtedly be trying to avoid an ambush like those endured by Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. Trump's treatment of then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in their infamous phone call back in January 2017 is still front of mind for Australian diplomats as well. Albanese said on Friday he would seek to continue cordial conversations with Trump, even if relations between the pair deteriorated. 'I deal with people, whoever they are, in the same respectful way. I expect respect back,' Albanese told ABC radio in Melbourne. 'I'm the prime minister of Australia. We don't have a subservient relationship to any nation. We're a sovereign nation that stands on our own two feet.' Albanese seems to have charmed the capricious commander-in-chief – so far, at least. Last month Trump said he had a very good relationship with his Australian counterpart, telling reporters on the White House lawn Albanese had been 'very, very nice' and 'very respectful' to him. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion In reality, the pair have little in common. A reality TV star turned politician, Trump lived a gilded lifestyle in Manhattan before entering politics, rolling around the city as a playboy property developer, married three times and courting tabloid reporters to boast about his exploits. A Democrat and donor to Hillary Clinton before joining the Republican party to run for president, Trump's loyalties are transactional at best. Albanese was raised by a single mother in public housing in Sydney. His mentor and father figure was the Labor great Tom Uren. A former prisoner of war and minister in the Whitlam and Hawke governments, Uren taught his protege the spirit of collectivism, caring for vulnerable people and using political power to improve people's lives. Recent meetings offer a diplomatic playbook. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, used his Oval Office audience this week to paper over differences on foreign policy and the war in Ukraine, sitting back as Trump criticised his one-time ally in Tesla boss, Elon Musk, as well as Germany's former leader Angela Merkel in a 30-minute rant to waiting media. Having prepared for the meeting by speaking with other world leaders about how to handle Trump one on one, Merz presented him with a gold-framed birth certificate of his grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who migrated from Germany to the US in 1885. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, a friend of Albanese, performed similarly well back in February, taking an invitation from King Charles III for a state visit to the UK and eventually securing a tariff exemption through agreement on framework for a new trade deal. The visit is expected to take place in Scotland, the country of Trump's mother's birth and where he is planning to open a luxury golf course. The stakes are high for Albanese. Tariffs aside, the US is Australia's key defence and security partner and the personal relationship with the president is usually a key test of Australian prime ministers on the world stage. While Trump is disliked by many Australian voters – 64% of respondents to the Lowy Institute's annual poll in April said they didn't have faith in him to act responsibly – Albanese needs Trump to stick to the Aukus nuclear submarines agreement and to pushback on China's expansionist approach to the Indo-Pacific region. The same poll found 80% strongly want the US alliance to stay in place, evidence of Albanese's delicate balancing act – don't bow to Trump, but don't lose the US either. A dressing-down from a US president, even one not beloved by Australians, would probably play badly for a prime minister showing signs of growing confidence on the world stage. Even if he managed a successful visit with LBJ back in 1968, John Gorton returned to Australia exhausted and downcast. He said Johnson was too demanding in private and had failed to give any security guarantees on the situation in Asia. Like Gorton before him, Albanese might do well to stroke Trump's ego, remain a diplomatic small target and make it home in one piece.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Meet the 2025 Thibodaux Firemen's Fair Grand Marshal
THIBODAUX, La. (WGNO) — Leadership is an exemplary quality that is brought to mind when thinking of a fireman. We want tot introduce you to the grand Marshal of Firemen's fair 2025. WGNO's LBJ got the chance to speak with him. 'In city government, I was a council administrator for 25 years and mayor for 12 years, so almost 40 years working in local government, so first hand experience with the fire department and working with them and being able to see what a fantastic organization it is,' said Grand Marshal Tommy Eschete. 'Burnin' for you' to come out to 2025 Thibodaux Firemen's Fair If anyone knows how special the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department is, he does. 'Selfless volunteers, community oriented, community-minded. They did so much for us when I was mayor,' said Eschete. As a former administrator and mayor, Eschete also understands the tremendous value the department provides for residents. 'In a small city like Thibodaux, it's only about five, six square miles, and to have eight companies, and probably nine stations and a central station, cost the city nothing,' said Eschete. New South Thibodaux Fire Station and home of Engine 26 Eschete estimates that annual costs would be about $6 or $7 million, and because of that value to the Thibodaux community, he also says he's is honored to serve as this year's Firemen's Fair Grand Marshal. 'It's the whole family that's involved in it, and the first thing came to mind was 'it's a perfect opportunity to give back,'' said more arrested in Tickfaw fentanyl overdose case Driver, pedestrian killed in separate Slidell-area crashes Meet the 2025 Thibodaux Firemen's Fair Grand Marshal Daniel Callihan ruled competent to stand trial Family searching for answers after loved one went missing at work in New Orleans Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Athena the Owl named Austin's official owl ambassador
AUSTIN (KXAN) — She is beauty, she is grace. She is Austin's official owl ambassador! RELATED | Athena's owl cam captures egg cracking, owlet breaking free at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center After years of being a nocturnal aviary legend in the city, Austin honored Athena, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's resident Great Horned Owl, with the proclamation at a ceremony Friday morning. The proclamation came just days after both of Athena's eggs hatched. The first owlet broke out of its shell Wednesday — the second on Thursday. Athena's owlets are hatching, so what's next? For years, Athena has made her nest at the southwest Austin center. This was her 13th season, according to the city. The owlets are expected to stay in the nest for the next four months while they learn important skills before leaving completely. Watch Athena and her owlets through the LBJ Wildflower Center and Cornell Labs owl cam. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘There will be blood': JPMorgan raises recession risk to 60% as global stock market sell off continues
Bank economists estimate Trump's tariff increase would cost U.S. households $700 billion, equivalent to the largest de facto tax hike levied since LBJ's Revenue Act of 1968 financed his war in Vietnam. President Donald Trump's package of tariffs to be levied starting next week could plunge not just the United States into recession but the entire world along with it. That's the simple conclusion reached by the top economic minds at JPMorgan. In a research report published on Thursday titled 'There will be Blood', the Wall Street investment bank argued other global markets would not be resilient enough to escape the gravitational forces of a shrinking U.S. economy weighted down by tariffs. Revising its 2025 forecasts for the second time in five weeks, JPMorgan said it was caught off guard by the Trump administration's 'extreme' agenda symbolized by the raft of hefty import duties announced during Trump's so-called 'Liberation Day.' As a result of the White House's attempt to convert its trade deficit into a problem for America's trading partners, JPMorgan has now ratcheted up the probability of a global recession to 60% from 40% previously. Yet far from making America wealthy again as Trump has promised, JPMorgan calculates taht the tariffs will cost U.S. consumers roughly $700 billion—a de facto tax hike nearly as painful relative to the size of the economy as Lyndon B. Johnson's Revenue Act passed to finance America's war in Vietnam. 'If sustained, this year's ~22%-point tariff increase would be the largest U.S. tax hike since 1968,' the bank said, estimating its impact at 2.4% of domestic GDP. The latest actions lift the average tariff rate higher than even those seen during the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, an act that many economists argue played a key role in exacerbating the Great Depression. 'A strong case can be made that the latest tariffs are more damaging given that the share of imports and broader globalization are considerably larger now than in the 1930s,' JPMorgan continued. The Trump administration has argued a healthy manufacturing base is important to national security, worth the short-term pain to claw back heavy industry that was hollowed out over many years and moved offshore. And indeed, the pandemic did reveal globalization had its flaws, as the lack of certain $1 commodity semiconductors made in Taiwan prevented the manufacture of a $40,000 passenger car stateside. However, due to the dimensions and arbitrary nature of the tariffs—determined not through reciprocal tariff rates but trade imbalances—their imposition risks sparking a retaliatory trade war where other countries erect their own protectionist walls in a tit-for-tat escalation. Here JPMorgan analysts admit it becomes almost impossible to predict the outcome given the many variables at play. Business sentiment and supply chain disruption could either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of the tariffs. As a result, on Thursday the markets suffered their worst day since the COVID outbreak five years ago, with $3 trillion worth of value wiped off U.S. equities. A key factor could be upcoming negotiations, in which the Trump administration is expected to seek concessions from partners that could reduce the trade deficit in exchange for the U.S. lowering its tariff rates. There are some fundamental economic realities that most likely will not change no matter what tariff is charged. Take the semiconductor industry as an example. Fabricating chips is a capital-intensive business that requires specialized knowledge, critical mass and economies of scale. Taiwan didn't simply become the world's foundry—it aggressively invested in this specialization. Its grip on third-party chip production makes it a critical partner for the U.S. and acts as a strategic deterrent against Chinese aggression. By comparison, U.S. chip companies like AMD that once made their own chips hived off this side of their operations to focus on the more lucrative and less risky design and distribution. So called 'fab-less' peers like Nvidia outsourced their production to foreign chip fabs from the very beginning. JPMorgan raises this issue as a potential stumbling block and source of friction during negotiations, limiting the room for manoever and raising the risk of a protracted trade war. 'Importantly, existing bilateral trade imbalances are linked to comparative advantages that promote efficiencies and are generally independent of barriers to trade,' it said. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
When A President Knew Diversity Was a Superpower
"Oh, I think someone is playing with me," Gerri Whittington cooed into the phone after the caller identified himself as "the president." In 1963, Whittington's skepticism was well-founded. The nation writhed in Jim Crow's iron grip, its laws etching the violent subjugation of Black Americans into every facet of life—and the White House no exception. Whittington had met President Lyndon B. Johnson, but there was no reason for him to call her at home; they'd hardly interacted during her tenure as secretary to one of the late John F. Kennedy's special assistants. This moment, plucked from the 800-hour trove of LBJ's clandestine recordings, captures a seismic shift: The "reassignment" he proposed would make Whittington the first Black secretary to a president in 187 years of American history. Johnson's stunned reaction upon learning she lived more than 30 minutes from the White House betrayed a dawning awareness of the insidious reach of segregation. He sent a car. Whittington would be a living, breathing testament to his administration's complex, often contradictory, yet unwavering commitment to racial equality. When Senators, lobbyists, and activists came to the Oval Office door, they'd find unmistakable evidence that Jim Crow's reign was crumbling—and a stark reminder that LBJ's executive order reinstating segregation mere days earlier was no ironclad edict. It was a tool he wielded in the public arena, a calculated move prioritizing political gain to ensure enduring change. By Christmas 1963, Whittington's presence was quietly dismantling segregation across LBJ's Texas haunts. She slept in the 'Carnation Room' in the main house, alongside white visitors, at the ''Texas White House,' dined with the First Family at their ranch table, occupied a pew in their all-white church, and even trod the rugged Hill Country hunting grounds. Each step she took—from the ranch's threshold to the church's aisle—was a calculated stride toward equality. 'You integrated that club,' Johnson crowed to Whittington after they rang in 1964 at Austin's notoriously segregated 40 Acres Club. 'He knew exactly what he was doing,' Bill Moyers later recalled—and so, with quiet determination, did Whittington. "It was a revelation to me," Whittington reflected, as it was to Paula Okamoto, wife of Yoichi Okamoto, the official White House photographer. Okamoto inquired if Whittington was "foreign." "No, I'm a Negro," she replied, noting she felt no hostility. By 1964, Johnson was desperate to advertise Whittington, but with uncharacteristic restraint, he eschewed the blunt instrument of a press conference in favor of soft power propaganda. In early January, Whittington stepped into America's living room as a guest on CBS's long running game show, "What's My Line?" The President's cunning was vindicated as the blindfolded panel floundered, unable to conceive of a Black woman in such a position of power. Meanwhile, the studio audience, who could be, sat in stunned silence, the words "Secretary to President Johnson" blazoned behind Whittington. "You're just as charming as we've been led to believe that White House secretaries to be," host John Daly remarked at the end of her appearance, carried immense weight. This seemingly mundane comment normalized Whittington. She was no token or exception, but as a professional equal to her white counterparts. In doing so, it subtly challenged viewers' preconceptions about race and capability. This approach, more than any grandstanding or overt politicking, served to quietly but profoundly shift perceptions. The understated nature of Whittington's groundbreaking role was, ironically, its most radical aspect. Johnson's genius lay in presenting her normalcy as a fait accompli, though he never lost sight of its strategic value. "He didn't ask me anything," Whittington recollected, "but he told me." He confided in her his preference for Roy Wilkins over Martin Luther King, Whitney Young, and James Farmer. And when these luminaries graced the Oval Office, Whittington's presence was carefully choreographed—a living tableau of progress. "And I took pictures with them," she recalled with a hint of bemusement. She posed with Thurgood Marshall, the first Supreme Court Justice, as well. "I don't recall what they said. I don't think they said anything." The silence spoke volumes about the complexities of representation. In a twist of fate that seems almost scripted, Whittington and Marshall exited the stage of life in tandem. After a stroke at 38 and a battle with cancer, she passed away on January 24, 1993, at 61—the same day as Justice Marshall. Their intertwined destinies, from White House photograph to final curtain, serve as a poignant coda to an era of tumultuous progress. LBJ's 1965 Executive Order 11246 mandated government employers "hire without regard to race, religion and national origin.' Six decades later, in 2025, President Trump has inverted this legacy. He wields diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a political weapon to dismantle progress. But purging DEI initiatives from the government is only one part of an insidious plan to erase progress from public consciousness, leaving the National Museum of African American History and Culture particularly vulnerable among the imperiled Smithsonian institutions. The contrast between LBJ's expansive vision and Trump's regressive agenda highlights the fragility of hard-won progress in America's ongoing struggle for equality. Under Trump, Whittington, about whom little has been written, faces erasure. She has no obvious champion; there are no direct descendents, though she put many members of her extended family through college with a medical settlement. And by the time she sat for oral history interviews, the patina of age had settled over her memories. Like many secretaries, her memories centered on the tangible—photographs, which seemed to be her particular domain among the clerical staff. When probed about pivotal moments in civil rights history—the Senate invoking cloture on the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, its signing ceremony in the Rose Garden, or Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech—Whittington's memory faltered. "I don't remember anything," she confessed, adding with a touch of self-deprecation, "Isn't that funny?" Her narrative, punctuated by significant omissions, echoes the selective recall common to presidential employees, especially those in close proximity to the executive-in-chief. And her amnesia wasn't absolute; she distinctly recalled being the sole representative from the president's office. "This is my secretary," Johnson had said by way of introduction to an African Ambassador aboard the presidential yacht the USS Sequoia after she'd left the White House, a simple statement laden with historical weight. Gerri Whittington's legacy defies easy categorization. Her presence in the White House was both revolutionary and quotidian, epitomizing 1960s America's complex progress. She carried nuclear codes and photographed civil rights icons, yet struggled to recall—and sometimes chose not to—the landmark moments she witnessed. Whittington's fragmentary, human story shows how history unfolds in quiet moments, as perceptions shift when barriers fall silently. Her life, brushing against her era's titans yet largely unsung, exemplifies how countless individuals, by simply occupying previously forbidden spaces, reshaped a nation. You Might Also Like 4 Investment-Worthy Skincare Finds From Sephora The 17 Best Retinol Creams Worth Adding to Your Skin Care Routine
