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Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Economic Times
You won't believe which Trump family member is Zelensky's key ally in DC, hint - she's based out of White House
In a surprising turn of events, it seems that Melania Trump is playing a big part in changing her husband's mind about the Ukraine conflict. As President Donald Trump agrees to give more military aid to Kyiv, insiders say the first lady has been reminding him of the cost of war in terms of lives Trump has quietly become an unexpected voice that has changed Donald Trump's tough stance on Russia. Using her Eastern European background, she is said to have reminded him of Ukraine's suffering and questioned Russia's sincerity. This earned her praise from Ukrainians online and surprised many people in the Beltway with her behind-the-scenes number of Russian airstrikes has been brought up by Melania Trump to her husband. With Trump's recent tougher stance on Russia, the first lady may be President Zelenskyy's unlikely ally in the White House, as per a report by The Independent. During this week's decision to send Patriot air missiles to Kyiv, Melania Trump has been reminding the president of the number of people killed by Russian airstrikes on Ukraine. Donald Trump acknowledged at a press conference on Monday that his wife was instrumental in exposing the Russian president's duplicity, which has repeatedly embarrassed the White House by saying one thing and doing another, after a string of unsuccessful peace negotiations between the United States and Russia.'I go home, I tell the first lady, 'I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation.' And she says, 'Oh really, another city was just hit she said, referring to Monday afternoon's events from the Oval Office. First Lady Melania was born in 1970 in the former Yugoslavia, behind the Iron Curtain. Speaking to her son Barron in Slovene, she praises Ronald Reagan for his role in ending the Cold War, and both of them continue to possess EU passports. The first lady is close to Barron, who is a student at NYU, and has reportedly preferred to spend time away from the White House since her husband's inauguration in January."It [Melania's fondness for Ukraine] is not surprising at all given she grew up in the former Yugoslavia, a country with no love for Russia," Mary Jordan, author of The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, told The Times, indicating that those who know Melania Trump are not surprised by her influence."She's been trying to make her point for longer than anyone else in the cabinet."According to Jordan, Melania is well-versed in European politics because her father, 81-year-old Viktor Knavs, often visits Slovenia, where she grew up."Her country is fully behind Ukraine, and the people there are horrified that the United States would abruptly stop providing arms to Ukraine."Donald Trump called Putin "shrewd" and "genius" when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, while Melania called the conflict "heartbreaking" and "horrific." Following the announcement, an X user shared a photo of "Agent Melania Trumpenko" sporting a jacket bearing the Ukrainian Armed Forces' logo and a wide-brimmed hat, causing a stir on some pro-Ukrainian social media platforms. Agent Melania Trumpenko — Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) July 14, 2025 Similar images of the first lady draped in Ukraine's blue and yellow flag and dressed in combat fatigues quickly surfaced. ALSO READ: Reddit down app not working: Thousands affected as site struggles to stay online, issues with login failures Current affairs magazine Business Ukraine wrote, "There is a lot of love for Melania Trump on Ukrainian social media tonight," along with a meme of three cartoon characters giving her a Ukrainian hat. User Ernő Buzás joked, "Melania is doing more for Ukraine on her own than the entire GOP." Lots of love for Melania Trump on Ukrainian social media tonight — Business Ukraine mag (@Biz_Ukraine_Mag) July 14, 2025 Another user joked, "Melania Trump's role in preventing this administration's total abandonment of Ukraine is not what I expected but also tracks exactly with Trump's decision-making process," alluding to the widely-quoted social media adage that Trump frequently adopts the viewpoints of the last person he spoke Trump allegedly questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the most recent setback with Putin about whether his nation's military could use missiles to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg to make Russia "feel the pain." Besides that the president threatened to impose "severe tariffs" on Russia if Putin did not consent to a ceasefire within 50 days, as per a report by the Daily Beast. Is Melania Trump influencing US policy toward Ukraine?Yes. According to reports, she has played an important role in convincing Trump to take a tougher stance against Russia. Why is Melania being referred to as "Agent Melania"? Ukrainian social media dubbed her "Agent Melania Trumpenko" due to her unexpected role in supporting Ukraine behind the scenes.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
You won't believe which Trump family member is Zelensky's key ally in DC, hint - she's based out of White House
In a surprising turn of events, it seems that Melania Trump is playing a big part in changing her husband's mind about the Ukraine conflict. As President Donald Trump agrees to give more military aid to Kyiv, insiders say the first lady has been reminding him of the cost of war in terms of lives lost. Melania Trump has quietly become an unexpected voice that has changed Donald Trump's tough stance on Russia. Using her Eastern European background, she is said to have reminded him of Ukraine's suffering and questioned Russia's sincerity. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Cybersecurity Digital Marketing Artificial Intelligence Leadership Operations Management MCA Others healthcare Management Finance Project Management PGDM CXO Data Science Product Management Public Policy Data Analytics others Design Thinking Healthcare MBA Technology Degree Data Science Skills you'll gain: Duration: 10 Months MIT xPRO CERT-MIT xPRO PGC in Cybersecurity Starts on undefined Get Details This earned her praise from Ukrainians online and surprised many people in the Beltway with her behind-the-scenes activism. How has Melania Trump influenced Donald Trump's Russia policy? The number of Russian airstrikes has been brought up by Melania Trump to her husband. With Trump's recent tougher stance on Russia, the first lady may be President Zelenskyy's unlikely ally in the White House, as per a report by The Independent. Live Events During this week's decision to send Patriot air missiles to Kyiv, Melania Trump has been reminding the president of the number of people killed by Russian airstrikes on Ukraine. Donald Trump acknowledged at a press conference on Monday that his wife was instrumental in exposing the Russian president's duplicity, which has repeatedly embarrassed the White House by saying one thing and doing another, after a string of unsuccessful peace negotiations between the United States and Russia. 'I go home, I tell the first lady, 'I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation.' And she says, 'Oh really, another city was just hit she said, referring to Monday afternoon's events from the Oval Office. What's her connection to Ukraine? First Lady Melania was born in 1970 in the former Yugoslavia, behind the Iron Curtain. Speaking to her son Barron in Slovene, she praises Ronald Reagan for his role in ending the Cold War, and both of them continue to possess EU passports. The first lady is close to Barron, who is a student at NYU, and has reportedly preferred to spend time away from the White House since her husband's inauguration in January. "It [Melania's fondness for Ukraine] is not surprising at all given she grew up in the former Yugoslavia, a country with no love for Russia," Mary Jordan, author of The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, told The Times, indicating that those who know Melania Trump are not surprised by her influence. "She's been trying to make her point for longer than anyone else in the cabinet." According to Jordan, Melania is well-versed in European politics because her father, 81-year-old Viktor Knavs, often visits Slovenia, where she grew up. "Her country is fully behind Ukraine, and the people there are horrified that the United States would abruptly stop providing arms to Ukraine." Donald Trump called Putin "shrewd" and "genius" when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, while Melania called the conflict "heartbreaking" and "horrific." How are Ukrainians responding? Following the announcement, an X user shared a photo of " Agent Melania Trumpenko " sporting a jacket bearing the Ukrainian Armed Forces' logo and a wide-brimmed hat, causing a stir on some pro-Ukrainian social media platforms. Agent Melania Trumpenko — Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) July 14, 2025 Similar images of the first lady draped in Ukraine's blue and yellow flag and dressed in combat fatigues quickly surfaced. ALSO READ: Reddit down app not working: Thousands affected as site struggles to stay online, issues with login failures Current affairs magazine Business Ukraine wrote, "There is a lot of love for Melania Trump on Ukrainian social media tonight," along with a meme of three cartoon characters giving her a Ukrainian hat. User Ernő Buzás joked, "Melania is doing more for Ukraine on her own than the entire GOP." Lots of love for Melania Trump on Ukrainian social media tonight — Business Ukraine mag (@Biz_Ukraine_Mag) July 14, 2025 Another user joked, "Melania Trump's role in preventing this administration's total abandonment of Ukraine is not what I expected but also tracks exactly with Trump's decision-making process," alluding to the widely-quoted social media adage that Trump frequently adopts the viewpoints of the last person he spoke with. President Trump allegedly questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the most recent setback with Putin about whether his nation's military could use missiles to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg to make Russia "feel the pain." Besides that the president threatened to impose "severe tariffs" on Russia if Putin did not consent to a ceasefire within 50 days, as per a report by the Daily Beast. FAQs Is Melania Trump influencing US policy toward Ukraine? Yes. According to reports, she has played an important role in convincing Trump to take a tougher stance against Russia. Why is Melania being referred to as "Agent Melania"? Ukrainian social media dubbed her "Agent Melania Trumpenko" due to her unexpected role in supporting Ukraine behind the scenes.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
The Trump administration's latest immigration target: Kids aged 11 and under
A far cry from the 'bad, hard criminals' Donald Trump said his undocumented immigrants crackdown would focus on, record-breaking numbers of deportation orders have been issued to young immigrant children under the Trump administration, The Independent can reveal. More kids aged 11 or under — 8,317 — received a removal order from an immigration court in April than any other month in over 35 years of data collection, according to court data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Since Trump's inauguration in January, judges have ordered removals for over 53,000 immigrant minors. Those children are predominantly elementary school age or younger. Some 15,000 children were aged under four years old, and 20,000 of them were children aged four to eleven. Teenagers are also experiencing climbing deportations, with 17,000 seeing a court-ordered removal, although that's lower than their all-time peak in 2020 under the first Trump administration. Some of these children being deported are unaccompanied minors, who do not have a legal guardian in the US; though the exact number is unclear, since immigration authorities stopped recording this data years ago. Children, including toddlers, are required to show up at immigration hearings to be questioned by a judge – and many, unsurprisingly, do not understand what is happening nor the gravity of their situation. In one case, a source tells the Independent, a young child from Haiti had his immigration court hearing remotely in front of a screen. The child, who had a learning disability, was fidgeting and running around the room. Finally, he pointed at the judge on the screen and asked – 'Who's that?' In other cases, children are being arrested by ICE with their families, but held in detention and deported separately. 'A six year old child was picked up [by ICE] with his father, separated from his dad, and parked in custody for four months before being deported,' a lawyer familiar with children's immigration cases told the Independent. The child was unable to receive legal assistance, as he was deported while federal legal funding had been cut. The deportation outcome rate for immigrant children under age 11 is higher than in any other age group, latest figures show, and has jumped significantly since Trump came into office. What's more, under-18s account for one in four (26 percent) of all deportations ordered in immigration court since January – despite the fact that minors make up just 11 percent of the undocumented population. The vast majority (76 percent) of children under 11 do not have legal representation, and cases are being sped through the system, according to sources close to the courts. 'This is pumping up the deportation numbers on the back of kids – their rights to safety and due process are not respected,' the immigration lawyer told the Independent. 'This is about striking fear in the hearts of everybody. It's demonstrable cruelty in the name of so-called deterrence.' Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded to the Independent: 'Accusations that ICE is 'targeting' children are FALSE and an attempt to demonize law enforcement. ICE does not 'target' children nor does it deport children. Rather than separate families, ICE asks mothers if they want to be removed with their children or if the child should be placed with someone safe the parent designates.' Highest-ever deportations for young children Immigration crackdowns across the country have been almost indiscriminate, with new data revealing that ICE is arresting more non-criminals than ever. The number of people who have been deported under the Trump administration is murky; ICE has not disclosed official figures since January, and available immigration court data is not comprehensive, with age not recorded in 13 percent of cases. But analysis of court data reveals that children have been increasingly, and disproportionately, marked for deportation in recent months. Under the Trump administration, immigration courts have quickly ramped up deportation rates. Around two thirds (68 percent) of all immigration court proceedings ended in deportation in May, compared to 39 percent in January. But for children under 11, the removal rate is even higher, at 75 percent in May; and 78 percent for kids under 4 years old, both substantially higher than the 45 percent seen on average for young kids in January. This suggests that children are being disproportionately targeted for deportations under this administration, overrepresented by 2.3 times more than their proportion of the illegal immigrant population, our analysis shows. 'What we're seeing right now is basically a grist mill in immigration court, just scooting kids through the process as quickly as possible,' the lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Independent. At the same time, children facing immigration court are more vulnerable and less protected than ever. In spite of this, the Trump administration has been fighting to cancel funding which provides legal aid for unaccompanied immigrant children. The government first issued a stop-work order in February, and cancelled federal contracts in March. In April the federal district court ordered the Trump administration to restore funding, saying it is congressionally mandated under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Legal assistance programs told the Independent that they had since been re-contracted; but remain on 'pins and needles' as the government appeals the court ruling, and Trump's Big Beautiful Bill makes it harder and more expensive to sue against his policies. Rocket dockets and separating families In the meantime, children are being put on expedited paths through immigration court, known as 'rocket dockets', according to the immigration lawyer. Many of these cases are going through in just two weeks from start to finish – which leaves little-to-no room for a child to prepare the necessary documents and arguments. 'Of course, a child is going to file a case that's not completely fleshed out in all the legal arguments, because they don't understand the legal argument,' the lawyer told the Independent. 'This is also really damaging for trafficking victims. Kids who have experienced severe trauma need the time to have their nervous system relax, to understand that they're safe, to share some of the most sensitive details about their cases.' These tactics evoke the family separation policy, employed in 2018 under the first Trump administration, which forcibly kept parents and children apart when detained at the border – with as many as 1,360 families never reunited, according to Human Rights Watch. 'It is seen as against the due process rights of a child to be systematically separated from their parent or legal guardian,' the lawyer explained. 'What's clear is that they are sidestepping the legal settlement to protect children from these cruel techniques."
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's sanctions on Russia would be ‘extremely painful' for US and risk global oil price spike, experts warn
New sanctions that Donald Trump has threatened to impose on Russia if Moscow does not agree to a Ukraine peace deal within 50 days would be 'extremely painful' for the US itself, industry experts have warned. In a renewed attempt to force Vladimir Putin to accept an elusive peace deal with Ukraine, the US president on Monday threatened to impose so-called 'secondary tariffs' of 100 per cent on countries which continue to do trade with Russia. This would mean countries such as India, China and Turkey would face heavy tariffs with Washington as a result of buying Russian oil. The move would seek to remove Russian oil – one of the most crucial sources of income for Moscow's wartime economy – from global markets. 'It would definitely hit Russia. It would destroy Russian oil trade, but would be extremely painful for the United States also,' said Alexander Kolyandr, Russian economy expert and senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. Trump's sanctions on Russia would be 'extremely painful' for US and risk global oil price spike, warns expert (REUTERS) But Mr Kolyandr doubts Mr Trump will follow through with the tariffs in their proposed form. If such sanctions were imposed, he said, they would be 'pretty painful for oil prices' worldwide and would impact European countries, including the United Kingdom, as well. 'Russia accounts for 5 million barrels a day of oil export, and there is nowhere to get those 5 million fast enough to prevent a spike in oil prices,' he explained. Increasing oil prices would subsequently cause inflation to be pushed up, he added. Despite cutting financial ties with Russia, Western countries have so far avoided steps preventing Russia from selling oil elsewhere due to these risks – meaning Moscow has continued to earn hundreds of billions of dollars by shipping oil to other buyers. India and China, the two largest growing economies in Asia, have only expressed general concerns about the loss of life in the Ukraine war while continuing to ramp up their trade with Russia. New Delhi in particular has profited from the conflict by buying vast amounts of cheap Russian oil. From meeting less than 2 per cent of India's oil needs before the war, Russia has become the country's largest supplier of seaborne crude. The cheap availability of Russian oil since the invasion has led India to gradually reduce its reliance on its traditional top suppliers – Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Narendra Taneja, an energy expert based in India, said Mr Trump's unilateral sanctions would not only hurt the likes of India, China and Brazil but upend the global oil market, calling it a 'high-stakes gamble'. 'Oil prices will go up for everyone – including the US and Western Europe,' he told The Independent. 'If that happens, it would be bad news for the world economy, including Nato members and other countries. If the agenda is to punish one country, it ends up punishing the entire world.' Given the damage to the American and global economies, Mr Kolyandr does not believe it likely that Mr Trump will impose the tariffs in the form which he has threatened. 'The United States is quite reluctant to forfeit all its trade with China. It also needs India as a potential ally against China, and Turkey is a Nato member and one of America's allies in the Near East, so I don't see how that might be possible [for Trump to impose the tariffs].' Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday (RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDO) But, he said, the main danger for Moscow is the 'unpredictability' of the US president, who during his first six months in power has been erratic in his attitude towards both Kyiv and Moscow. 'Moscow business should be worried, simply because nobody understands what might happen after 50 days,' he said. Mr Trump announced the tariffs while speaking in the Oval Office on Monday during a meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, declaring he was 'very unhappy' with Russia and its president Vladimir Putin, and pledged to impose what he described as 'very severe tariffs' on Moscow. The US president's hardened stance against Moscow came along with a softening of his relationship with Kyiv, as he committed a new batch of offensive and defensive weapons to support its defence against Russian aggression. On Tuesday, he said that the first Patriot air defence systems – which are being paid for by Kyiv's European allies – were already on their way to Ukraine. Vaibhav Raghunanda, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), suggested that if Mr Trump really wanted to help Kyiv and diminish Vladimir Putin's war chest he should crack down on loopholes in the US's existing sanctions regime. CREA estimates that potentially hundreds of millions of American dollars are still reaching Russia in the form of crude oil exports because the US allows third countries to import Russian crude, refine it, and then export those products to America. 'Bans and sanctions on refineries using Russian crude will not just disincentivise this trade but also lead to a severe drop off in the price of Russian crude itself. By the US closing the refining loophole and banning the importation of oil products from refineries running on Russian crude, the US could cut off $750m in Kremlin tax revenues,' he told The Independent. Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
5 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Liverpool make approach for Hugo Ekitike amid Newcastle interest
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.
