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NBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Rep. Ro Khanna thinks the Epstein files could help Democrats 'fight Trump effectively'
CLEVELAND — Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who has been asserting himself as his party's leading voice for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, brought the noisy national fight to an unlikely audience Friday: a gathering of policy-oriented Democratic mayors. Khanna acknowledged that it was a departure from his usual emphasis on economics. 'I'm less in the news for the new economic patriotism and more in the news for the Epstein files,' he said in his remarks at a Democratic Mayors Association conference at a skyscraping hotel overlooking Lake Erie. 'I'll tell you why it matters. It matters because before you can ask people to support government initiatives, you need people to trust government.' Khanna's appearance here came at the end of a week in which the House broke for summer recess as Democrats repeatedly pushed the Epstein issue. He and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., joined to co-sponsor a measure that aims to force President Donald Trump's administration to publish 'all unclassified records' on Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019. That resolution is expected to come up after the recess has ended. Epstein counted Trump and other powerful people as friends before he was criminally charged, though the president long ago disavowed him. The case has exposed a rift between Trump and key figures in his MAGA movement who for years have demanded more transparency on Epstein and are upset that Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have not provided it. 'People say, 'Well, why did you lead this fight on the Epstein files?' And to me, it's about trust in government and transparency,' Khanna said in an interview with NBC News. 'If you don't have trust and transparency, how are you going to get Medicare for all? How are you going to get a 21st century Marshall Plan? It's maybe the kryptonite that gets MAGA to unravel.' Khanna's speech was also notable for its narrow focus on Vice President JD Vance, who was previously among the MAGA leaders pushing for the release of the Epstein files. Vance is a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2028, when Trump is term-limited. Khanna, meanwhile, has been open about his interest in seeking the Democratic nomination that year — and conspicuous in his attention to Vance. 'Because I'm in the vice president's hometown again, I thought I would remind him of some of the things he said,' said Khanna, briefly confusing Cleveland with Vance's downstate home base in Cincinnati before reading from some of the vice president's old social media posts about the Epstein case. Vance, for example, had posted as a Senate candidate in December 2021: 'If you're a journalist and you're not asking questions about this case you should be ashamed of yourself. What purpose do you even serve? I'm sure there's a middle class teenager somewhere who could use some harassing right now but maybe try to do your job once in a while.' Khanna shot back Friday: 'Maybe you should be doing your job now. You were passionate about this issue when you were asking people in this state for their votes. What happened?' A spokesperson for the vice president declined to comment Friday on Khanna's remarks. Vance has mentioned Epstein sparingly in recent weeks, with the White House tightening its grip over the messaging on what has become a thorny subject. In a post Thursday on X, Vance criticized The Wall Street Journal's recent coverage of Trump's relationship with Epstein. Asked in the interview if he was attempting to position himself as Vance's strongest Democratic rival in 2028, Khanna did not answer directly. He instead argued that he and Vance have different views about what it means to be an American, pointing to Vance's recent speech at the conservative Claremont Institute. Vance asserted there that 'the modern left seems dedicated … to saying you don't belong in America unless you agree with progressive liberalism in 2025.' Vance, Khanna said, is 'trying to articulate a more parochial vision of American identity. And I think that he's a real foil in my conception of American identity.' Khanna also said he believes an Epstein-centric message helps Democrats — and him. 'I've never gotten this kind of Republican support on anything I have done before from the MAGA base,' Khanna said. 'There have been a lot of things that the Democrats have screamed our heads off about, but it's always just the Democrats. Sometimes it's the Democrats combined with establishment Republicans such as Liz Cheney or Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan. 'But it's never been the Democrats who are combined with the loudest voices in the MAGA world, and that is, I think, the key to not just fighting Trump, but fighting Trump effectively.' Asked why he didn't call for more transparency around the Epstein files while President Joe Biden was president, Khanna pointed to a 2019 social media post in which he expressed support for congressional Democrats investigating the circumstances of Epstein's death. Trump and his administration 'raised the stakes,' Khanna added, when he previously indicated support for releasing the files and when Bondi previously said an Epstein client list existed. 'It [was] when the Justice Department issued a memorandum saying there was no list or need to release more information that Massie and I thought legislation was needed,' he said. Khanna marveled at how much attention the issue is driving for him now, especially since House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called for an early recess as his members complained about Democrats repeatedly offering Epstein-related amendments. Khanna said he and Massie are scheduled to appear together on two Sunday news programs this weekend, including NBC's 'Meet the Press.' The congressmen have been friendly for years and agreed to work together on the resolution after Khanna's attempt to introduce an amendment to push for the files to be released. Massie 'texted me right away and said, 'Ro, why don't we do this as bipartisan? Are you fine with that?'' Khanna recalled. 'And I said, 'That'd be great, but can we really make it work?'' That remains a question as House members go home to their districts for the summer recess. When they return to Washington in September, Massie and Khanna will work to secure the 218 signatures needed to file a so-called discharge petition and force a vote on their resolution. Khanna said he is confident they will have the support they need. He also expressed little concern that partnering with Republicans, including hardcore MAGA supporters who on many other issues hold views that most Democrats find objectionable, will backfire on the party. 'I think there are two ways of fighting Trump and MAGA,' he said. 'One is the view, which has been our party's view for almost 10 years, which is they said we have to disassociate from them, condemn them, and not get our hands dirty and fight them all, and not try to listen to why there is anger or what their causes are. I have never taken that approach. I have taken the approach of respecting the voters who voted for Trump, and trying to understand where they're coming from, while being firm in my convictions.' Such collaboration could be a tough sell. Khanna's Epstein-heavy speech to the Democratic mayors received polite applause but some puzzled reactions from a few attendees who privately wondered whether it was the appropriate venue for such a message. No other speaker Friday dwelled as much on Epstein as Khanna did, though Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin briefly mentioned him in passing. 'It's also not our job to protect Donald Trump and his rich, excuse my language, asshole friends who are pals with Jeffrey Epstein, which seems to be a clear priority for Republicans right now,' Martin said in his remarks. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, a Democrat who also addressed the mayors Friday, said in an interview after his speech that he saw room for Epstein in the party's messaging. 'I think broadly, it's not necessarily about Jeffrey Epstein or Donald Trump. I think it's about transparency and accountability, and I think that's what voters expect from their elected officials,' Davis said. 'I think we can do multiple things at one time. I think we can talk about the affordability issues. I think we can talk about how we're going to make our economic situation better, while also holding government leaders in Washington accountable for the things that they've done.'
Qatar Tribune
10-07-2025
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Ukraine's allies launch new $1.17bn reconstruction fund
DPA Rome Kiev's European partners launched a reconstruction fund to help rebuild war-torn Ukraine at an international conference in Rome on Thursday. The fund, which will also be supported by the private sector, is to be used primarily to repair and rebuild the country's energy infrastructure, which has been ravaged by more than three and a half years of war. In addition, the money can be used to support industrial companies and digital data centres. Germany said the new fund, supported by Berlin, Italy, Poland, France and the European Commission, will initially comprise €1 billion ($1.17 billion). Representatives from around 60 countries, as well as international organizations and private companies, are participating in the two-day meeting in the Italian capital. The Rome meeting is the fourth Ukraine recovery conference since February 2022. According to official figures, the four conferences to date have mobilized more than €16 billion. Speaking at the conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international 'coalition for recovery' to help rebuild Ukraine. He renewed his request for a Marshall Plan for Ukraine, modelled on the massive investment provided by the United States for Germany and other countries after World War II. German Chancellor Friedrich Merztold Zelensky: 'Our support for your country is unwavering.' Merz also sent a message to US President Donald Trump at the conference, who has made a series of U-turns on his Ukraine policy since returning to the White House in January. 'Stay with us and stay with the Europeans. We are on the same page. And we are looking for a stable political order in this world,' Merz said. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are not attending the conference in person. However, Starmer said in London on Thursday that European plans for a peacekeeping force to aid Ukraine once the war ends are now 'mature' after months of planning. French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile described the so-called coalition of the willing as 'ready to go' once a ceasefire is agreed. Under the coalition plans, troops from France and the UK would be placed in Ukraine, while other countries would provide logistical support, all with the aim of deterring further Russian aggression. European leaders have insisted the arrangement would be dependent upon a US 'security guarantee,' likely in the form of air support, something President Donald Trump has been unwilling to openly say he would provide. Starmer and Macron dialled into a call with allies who make up the coalition from the UK's military headquarters at Northwood in London. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Zelensky joined the call from the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome. Repairing the damage done by more than three years of war will cost more than $1 trillion over a 14-year period, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the conference in Rome by video link. Ukraine was looking into the creation of two funds to the amount of around $1 trillion. One fund administered by Kiev should be financed by Russian assets seized abroad for $540 billion, and a second for $460 billion would come from private investors, he said. Meanwhile,the number of Ukrainian civilians killed or injured in Russian attacks reached its highest level in three years in June, according to the United Nations, a report from Kiev said.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why 24/7 Digital Markets Will Power Development in Frontier Economies
Goodbye to vague notions of 'soft power' and 'impact investing.' Hello to benchmarking, concrete KPIs, and sovereign capital deployed with precision. In the 20th century, Bretton Woods and the Marshall Plan set the financial blueprint for postwar recovery. While the stakes today are just as high, the tools are different. From Ukraine to sub-Saharan Africa, frontier markets are fighting for financial credibility in a trust-scarce world. Traditional aid models, plagued by opacity and inefficiency, have been further dismantled by the Trump Administration's DOGE initiative, which is moving to replace aid with measurable, tech-enabled delivery systems. Tokenization is the inevitable endgame. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), with over $14 billion in inflows and nearly $200 million in annual fee revenue, has become not only a standout among new ETFs but a symbol of shifting institutional risk tolerance. Its meteoric rise demonstrates growing acceptance of digital assets as a standalone investment class, particularly among institutional investors once wary of volatility. As mainstream allocators embrace digital assets through regulated vehicles like IBIT, capital markets are beginning to reflect a broader appetite for asymmetric upside—an investment profile long associated with frontier economies. Frontier markets, characterized by political uncertainty, thin liquidity, and underdeveloped financial infrastructure, have historically struggled to attract stable foreign direct investment. But the institutional normalization of bitcoin and other decentralized assets is paving new pathways for capital to reach these regions. Just as ETFs like IBIT have created a regulated bridge into crypto, new financial structures—tokenized infrastructure, auditable capital flows, and blockchain-based land registries—are likely to do the same for frontier development. The same investors pouring billions into Bitcoin ETFs may soon view frontier economies not as exotic risk, but as parallel vehicles for exponential returns, particularly when paired with digital rails designed with transparency and scalability in mind. At the root of every successful logistics or capital deployment strategy lies a surprisingly mundane concept: data entry. Every bottle of clean water, every corrugated roof panel, every bolt of fabric destined for refugee housing must be recorded, reconciled, and reported. Today, this is done manually across dozens of silos: UN spreadsheets, NGO CRMs, local government PDFs. But tokenizing these entries—embedding them in smart contracts, linking them to geolocation, timestamp, and vendor profiles—creates a live ledger of aid in motion. This new approach towards accountability will enable not just transparent procurement but tokenized local liquidity: local entrepreneurs paid in stablecoin, verified vendors rewarded with smart grants, or veteran-owned Ukrainian firms given tradable carbon or aid credits. Tokenization allows physical goods, services, and contractual obligations to be represented as digital assets on immutable ledgers. In practice, this means a water pump in Sumy or a shipment of medical supplies in Sudan can be tracked, verified, and paid for in real time without bureaucratic drag or trust deficits. A properly structured token ecosystem creates global, auditable, and real-time liquidity for critical development resources: a 24/7 commodity market for gravel, steel, solar panels, or cement in post-conflict zones. Global commodity markets are not built for the rhythms of frontier states. Most development needs—timber, power tools, clean water filtration—are transacted through arcane, manually priced channels. This invites corruption, delays, and cost overruns. Tokenized markets enable round-the-clock pricing, liquidity, and settlement. A contractor rebuilding schools in South Sudan can lock in tomorrow's price for sheet metal with a click. A regional bank in Tbilisi can see in real-time whether a food distribution contract has been fulfilled. Governments can collateralize transparent delivery records instead of hoping donors believe their paperwork. As China floods the Global South with opaque lending and Russia bankrolls destabilization, the U.S. needs a private-sector-led, transparency-first development model. Tokenized systems provide built-in auditability, modular integration, and sovereign-aligned incentives. And they align with the State Department's mandate toward outcomes-based aid, rather than a carte blanche check which too long defined U.S. foreign policy. Through our work at AUSP, we've seen firsthand that frontier markets are starving for trust, coordination, and clarity. Tokenization is not the starting point in these spaces, nor should it be, but it will be the final endpoint. In the interim, best practices for data entry to ensure that life-saving resources go towards their intended use is the priority; these logs will contain valuable data sets for reconstruction while laying the foundation for 24/7 frontier markets. What Bretton Woods did with pen and paper, tokenization will do with code: create a new financial order for U.S.-led reconstruction.
Scoop
02-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Pacific Leaders Demand Fairer Global Finance At UN Conference Delivered By The Prime Minister Of Tuvalu, Chair Of PSIDS
Seville, Spain, 30 June 2025 – At the second plenary session of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), Tuvalu's Prime Minister Hon. Feleti P. Teo, in his role as Chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), delivered a powerful group statement calling for urgent reforms to the global financial system. 'The choice before us is stark: stand with the most vulnerable and deliver justice, or uphold a flawed system that deepens inequality and crisis,' declared Prime Minister Teo. Amid rising climate threats, deepening debt crises, and a widening development financing gap, the PSIDS group urged bold global action across six key areas: Climate Justice Now: Prime Minister Teo questioned the lack of urgency, asking, 'Where is the Marshall Plan for climate action?' and called for scaled-up climate finance and immediate replenishment of the Loss and Damage Fund. Targeted Support for Vulnerable Countries: The PSIDS welcomed the reaffirmation of SIDS as countries in special situations and pushed for the immediate use of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) in allocating concessional finance. Tackling Inequities in Global Taxation: The group supported a UN Framework Convention on Tax Cooperation, advocating for fair taxation of billionaires and multinationals, with PM Teo stating, 'A 2% tax on billionaire wealth could unlock $250 billion annually — enough to start closing global financing gaps.' Restore Correspondent Banking Access: The group called for concrete action to protect vulnerable jurisdictions in the Pacific from losing vital international banking relationships. Financing the Ocean Economy: Reaffirming that the ocean is core to PSIDS identity, the group demanded that ocean initiatives — like SDG14 and the BBNJ Agreement — be fully funded and integrated into global mechanisms. A Just Transition from Fossil Fuels: Disappointed by the removal of fossil fuel phase-out language from the outcome document, the PSIDS called for a 'just, equitable, and time-bound global phase-out.' 'PSIDS contributed negligibly to this emergency — yet here we are, bearing its full cost,' Prime Minister Teo reminded delegates. The Pacific Small Islands Developing States PSIDS, endorsed the Sevilla Platform for Action as a critical tool for follow-through, while also expressing concern over the dilution of ambition in the final outcome document. 'What we need now is not more plans, but political will, bold leadership, and relentless implementation,' said Prime Minister Teo in closing. As small island nations with vast ocean territories and deep cultural resilience, the PSIDS continue to advocate for a global financing system that is fair, future-focused, and fit for purpose.
Scoop
01-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Pacific Leaders Demand Fairer Global Finance At UN ConferenceDelivered By The Prime Minister Of Tuvalu, Chair Of PSIDS
Seville, Spain, 30 June 2025 – At the second plenary session of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), Tuvalu's Prime Minister Hon. Feleti P. Teo, in his role as Chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), delivered a powerful group statement calling for urgent reforms to the global financial system. 'The choice before us is stark: stand with the most vulnerable and deliver justice, or uphold a flawed system that deepens inequality and crisis,' declared Prime Minister Teo. Amid rising climate threats, deepening debt crises, and a widening development financing gap, the PSIDS group urged bold global action across six key areas: Climate Justice Now: Prime Minister Teo questioned the lack of urgency, asking, 'Where is the Marshall Plan for climate action?' and called for scaled-up climate finance and immediate replenishment of the Loss and Damage Fund. Targeted Support for Vulnerable Countries: The PSIDS welcomed the reaffirmation of SIDS as countries in special situations and pushed for the immediate use of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) in allocating concessional finance. Tackling Inequities in Global Taxation: The group supported a UN Framework Convention on Tax Cooperation, advocating for fair taxation of billionaires and multinationals, with PM Teo stating, 'A 2% tax on billionaire wealth could unlock $250 billion annually — enough to start closing global financing gaps.' Restore Correspondent Banking Access: The group called for concrete action to protect vulnerable jurisdictions in the Pacific from losing vital international banking relationships. Financing the Ocean Economy: Reaffirming that the ocean is core to PSIDS identity, the group demanded that ocean initiatives — like SDG14 and the BBNJ Agreement — be fully funded and integrated into global mechanisms. A Just Transition from Fossil Fuels: Disappointed by the removal of fossil fuel phase-out language from the outcome document, the PSIDS called for a 'just, equitable, and time-bound global phase-out.' 'PSIDS contributed negligibly to this emergency — yet here we are, bearing its full cost,' Prime Minister Teo reminded delegates. The Pacific Small Islands Developing States PSIDS, endorsed the Sevilla Platform for Action as a critical tool for follow-through, while also expressing concern over the dilution of ambition in the final outcome document. 'What we need now is not more plans, but political will, bold leadership, and relentless implementation,' said Prime Minister Teo in closing. As small island nations with vast ocean territories and deep cultural resilience, the PSIDS continue to advocate for a global financing system that is fair, future-focused, and fit for purpose.
