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New York Post
an hour ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Putin is betting he can make Trump so mad he gives up on peace and Ukraine, expert says
It's the Russian gambit. Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping that his increased attacks on Ukraine and repeated dismissal of cease-fire deals will make President Trump so angry and frustrated with the peace process that America will give up on Ukraine altogether, one longtime Russia watcher says. Tensions have reached a boiling point between the world leaders after Trump slammed Putin as 'crazy' and warned him that he was 'playing with fire' after record drone and missile attacks on Ukraine this week, with the Kremlin mocking him as overly emotional. Advertisement The constant antagonization, however, is likely all part of Putin's gamble to strip Ukraine of its biggest ally. And Trump's frustration spilling over to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shows it could be working, George Barros, of the Institute for the Study of War think tank, told The Post. 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin is allegedly trying to frustrate President Trump to the point where he abandons cease-fire efforts in Ukraine. AP 5 A civilian stands near the ruins of a residential building that was destroyed by the Kremlin's widespread bombings. AP Barros, who leads the ISW's Russia and geospatial intelligence teams, said Putin's main goal is to destroy the coalition of international support for Ukraine, which has kept Kyiv in the fight with a constant flow of money and high-tech western weapons. Advertisement The Kremlin's greatest prize is ending US support. 'Putin is trying to shape Trump's path forward… and what he wants is for Trump to get exasperated, for the president to say, 'My time is too valuable to be wasted on this,'' Barros said. Putin got a taste of that over the weekend when, along with criticizing Russia, Trump slammed Ukraine and the Biden administration for failing to reach a cease-fire and suggesting the US may abandon its role in mediating a cease-fire. Advertisement 'This is Zelensky's, Putin's, and Biden's War, not 'Trump's,' I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred,' Trump blasted on Truth Social Sunday. 5 Trump has warned Putin that he's 'playing with fire,' following Moscow's latest mass bombings and rebuke of cease-fire efforts. AP John Herbst, a former US ambassador to Ukraine and senior director of the Atlantic Council think tank's Eurasia Center, said Trump's recent comments have solidified Putin's belief that the US is all bark and no bite. 'Putin no doubt takes solace that in the Truth Social post that labeled him 'CRAZY,' because Trump also slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for 'talking the way he does,'' Herbst wrote. Advertisement 'At this point, Putin reads Trump, like other Western leaders since Russia's 2008 war in Georgia, as unwilling to take strong action against aggression,' he added. 5 Russia has continued to fire larger and larger aerial strikes over the border in recent weeks. ZAPORIZHZHIA REGIONAL MILITARY ADMINISTRATION HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Herbst noted that despite previous criticisms against Russia, Trump has yet to follow through on any of his threats, including joining European leaders in sanctioning Moscow last week. State-controlled news outlets have also had a field day with Trump's rebuke, with propaganda outlet Russia Today opening mocking the president's latest comments on X. 'President Trump warns Moscow, claiming Russia avoided 'REALLY BAD' consequences only thanks to him 'Putin doesn't realize… he's playing with fire!' — Trump's message leaves little room for misinterpretation. Until he posts the opposite tomorrow morning,' the outlet wrote. 5 Trump had threatened to sanction Russia if it did not agree to a cease-fire deal to end the deadly war last week, but no sanctions have been placed so far. SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Barros, however, said Putin's actions were still a gamble, as his provocations could ultimately lead to Trump doubling down on supporting Kyiv and punishing the personal attacks with harsh sanctions. Advertisement 'Putin may find that he doesn't understand Trump the way he thinks he does, so this strategy can certainly backfire,' Barros said. 'We're reaching a watershed moment on how the US will participate in this conflict,' he added.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Girls groomed online as teens reveal shocking tactics used
It couldn't have been more obvious that Jessica Walker was a vulnerable 13-year-old. The anorexic teen was a religious follower of the unfathomably thin YouTuber Eugenia Cooney and regularly posted on Discord servers dedicated to her fandom. That's where the Strasburg, Virginia, teen was contacted by a 29-year-old man, who she now realizes worked out her vulnerabilities and set out to sexually groom her. Advertisement 'When we first started talking, he was totally normal, and we were just friends. I would tell him about my life and some secrets,' Walker, now a 21-year-old senior at Kutztown University, told The Post. 10 Jessica Walker, pictured at 14, was the target of internet groomers. Courtesy of Jessica Walker 10 Walker was contacted on forums dedicated to Eugenia Cooney's fandom. Tiktok / eugeniaxxcooney Advertisement But gradually, things took a dark turn: 'He would just slowly switch topics to talk about sex, and at first what I thought were innocent jokes.' When she was fourteen, they started sharing explicit photos and messages. 'By that time I felt trapped … By the time you feel endangered by a groomer, you feel like they already have too much on you,' Walker said. The predator threatened to show up at her home if she ever went to the police so, out of fear, she kept her mouth shut and was kept up at night, terrorized by a stranger her parents had no idea even existed. 'I was too ashamed to tell my parents about it,' Walker said. 'Groomers just prey on that shame and lack of knowledge, and they make the children feel like it's their fault that adults are attracted to them.' Advertisement 10 Now 21, Jessica Walker realizes she was groomed when she was a young teen. Courtesy of Jessica Walker After a year of torment, she finally built up the courage to block her abuser, but the memory of the manipulation still haunts her. 'They're nicer than people in school or your parental figures, but then they end up taking a position of power … and then they start very slowly making it all sexual.' Grooming — the process by which a predator gradually builds a relationship with a minor in order to sexually manipulate them — is becoming ever more common as people use the internet from an ever younger age. Advertisement The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline experienced a 300% increase in tips about online enticement from 44,155 to 186,819 between 2021 and 2023. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom recorded 6,350 Sexual Communication with a Child offences in 2023, a number which has increased 82% from five years ago. 10 Predators began contacting Kayla Bryant when she started her YouTube channel in 8th grade. Courtesy of Kayla Walker Michael Aterburn worked as a detective investigating internet crimes against children in Jefferson County, Kentucky, from 2008 to 2014. He encountered a new case of internet grooming at least once a week. The perpetrators were always men, ranging from teenagers to senior citizens, but typically between twenty and forty years of age. 'Most of the time the child is at risk to begin with, and they have some kind of need to be filled, and now somebody is telling them all the things that they want to hear: 'You're smart, you're pretty,'' Aterburn told The Post. 10 Kayla Bryant said her groomers normalized sexual abuse for her. Most often, he says teens will be contacted on social media or through video games like Roblox, then the predator will move the child over to a private messaging app, like Kik, WhatsApp, or Signal. Advertisement Kayla Bryant was lured into sexual relationships with men in their 20s after they found her on YouTube, also when she was 13. Bryant started making videos in 8th grade and sometimes talked about struggling with her home life in them. 'Older people would [reach out online and] say that they wanted to provide that security for me, and so I would pursue it,' Bryant, now a 22-year-old college senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, told The Post. '[That led to] extreme codependency issues.' By age 14, she started to meet up with men a decade older than her, who claimed to offer shelter from her turbulent home situation. 'It would be real adult men … I would stay at their houses, be treated with gifts, but then the sexual abuse became regular to where it no longer [seemed like] abuse but something that I was used to.' Advertisement Often, Aterburn would be deployed on the internet to pose as a 13-year-old girl to entrap pedophiles and get them off the streets. 10 Michael Arterburn was a detective investigating internet crimes against children for eight years. Courtesy of Michael Arterburn 'The prosecutors wanted me to get the guys to physically meet so they can rule out whether this was an online fantasy, but I've only had a handful that didn't want to meet,' he recalled. 'I've had the perpetrators show up with handcuffs and rope and tape and Valium and sex toys.' Aterburn says grooming red flags parents should look out for include gifts in the mail or a child who is hesitant to hand over their phone: 'If they turn off their game or they minimize their window on the computer when you walk in the room, that's a huge red flag.' Advertisement He also recommends parents use the parental control platform Bark to monitor cell phone activity and ban electronics behind closed doors. 'Never punish your child if they come forward and tell you about something, because if you take that electronic [device] away, which is almost every parent's knee jerk reaction, all you've taught them is not to come to you,' Aterburn advised. Alicia Kozak, another grooming victim and anti-exploitation advocate agrees: 'What is probably most important is that your child knows they can come to you with absolutely anything at all, and that you'll remain calm and you'll solve the problem together.' 10 Alicia Kozak was the first known abductee from online grooming back in 2002. Courtesy of Alicia Kozak Advertisement Kozak was thirteen when she became the first known victim of internet child abduction in 2002, when a 38-year-old man coaxed her from a Yahoo chat room into his car and ultimately held her captive and sexually abused her on livestream for four days before being busted by authorities. Kozak, now 37 and author of 'The Internet Safety Guidebook: Protecting Kids in the Digital Age,' often speaks about her experience, and says without fail she has young women approach her after every talk to say they've been groomed online. 'People say, 'Well, my kid's a good kid. My kid doesn't do those things. My kid isn't curious.' But anybody can be a victim, including the kid that you think is the most well behaved and trustworthy,' she said. Naomi, a now 22-year-old nurse from Wales, UK, was contacted by a 26-year-old predator on Snapchat when she was 15. 10 Alicia Kozak was just 13 when a predator contacted her on a Yahoo chat room. Courtesy of Alicia Kozak 10 Kozak was missing and sexually abused for days before being rescued by police. Courtesy Alicia Kozak 'It seemed quite normal at that age for someone to just add you, and you'd add them back,' she said. Naomi, who asked to withhold her last name out of fear of retribution, says her predator keyed in on her turbulent relationship with her parents, who alienated her after she rejected their Jehovah's Witness faith. 'I was just searching anywhere else I could find a close adult connection, and when he came along, it was like two pieces of a puzzle that fit together,' she recalled. Several months into talking, he proposed she run away with him — and booked a hotel and a train. However, after a week, money ran out and her predator, who claimed to be a lawyer, took Naomi to live on the streets with him. 10 Incidents of grooming have shot up thanks to the internet and the pandemic. Ellionn – 'It turned violent quite quickly, but at that point I was so engrossed, and I just thought that was my only opportunity to have a different life than what I had before,' Naomi, who recalled having a knife held to her neck during sex, said. Three weeks in, the cops discovered them on the street and threw the man in jail for child abduction. Though she says her decision to run away was 'extreme,' she warns grooming is not and she knows many people who were groomed to some extent online. 'There were a lot of other girls at school who were groomed at some point, whether it was being talked into sending nude pictures or having flirty conversations online with people they don't know. It was so normalized,' Naomi recalled.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Boy, 13, busted in stray bullet NYC shooting death of Yonkers man in the Bronx: cops
A 13-year-old boy was busted this week in the shooting death of an innocent 28-year-old man who was simply meeting his out-of-town friend in the Bronx late last month, cops said Wednesday. The young teen turned himself in Tuesday afternoon to face charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and criminal use of a firearm in the broad-daylight April 23 shooting death of Daoud Marji, a 28-year-old plumber's apprentice from Yonkers, police said. Daoud was not the intended target, nor was a 33-year-old woman who was struck in the hip and wounded in the fray, according to law enforcement sources. 6 A 13-year-old boy was charged with second-degree murder in the April 23 shooting that took the life of Daoud Marji, 28, cops said. Peter Gerber 6 Daoud, a plumber's apprentice from Yonkers, was meeting up with an out-of-town pal at University Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road when he was fatally shot in the head. The motive for the deadly violence – and the target of the boy's gunfire – were not immediately known. Daoud was meeting up with a pal from Detroit at University Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road just before 5 p.m. when bullets flew – with a single round striking him in the head, according to cops and his father. He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he clung to life but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Daoud's dad Saed Marji, 56, previously told The Post he encouraged his son not to travel to the Bronx, because he heard the area was bad. He was heartbroken when his son's pal called him with the shattering news. 6 Daoud's dad Saed Marji, 56, said he had encouraged his son not to travel to the Bronx. TOMAS E. GASTON 'I'm a strong man, but I'm shocked. I have to take care of my family. My wife, she's very bad.' 'What am I going to do? He was my blood,' the heartbroken dad added. The alleged teen shooter's arrest came just hours after Commissioner Jessica Tisch bashed policies such as 'Raise the Age' initiatives which she said made it 'basically a consequence-free environment for kids committing crimes.' 6 'What am I going to do? He was my blood,' Daoud's heartbroken dad said. 'We changed the all the laws as they relate to how we deal with youth in our criminal justice system in 2019, and since then, we have seen an absolute explosion of youth violence, both youth as the perps and youth as the victims,' the top cop said on FOX 5's Good Day New York Tuesday morning. 'Kids commit crimes against other kids. And it is definitely something, an area where we need to re-look at the laws that were passed in 2019 and consider some major changes.' 'It's a bigger problem now,' Tisch added. 'There are more young people that we are finding with guns as the trigger-pullers.' 6 Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said youth violence has become a 'bigger problem' in recent years. Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock The tragic killing also marked the second time in as many days that an innocent New Yorker was slain in random gun violence on the city's streets. A trailblazing Harlem bodega owner and community fixture — Excenia Mette, 61 — was also fatally shot in the head less than 24 hours earlier when she ran outside to check on her grandson. Police believe Ricky Shelby, 23, shot Mette by mistake as he exchanged bullets with Darious Smith, also 23, around 10:20 p.m. April 22 near West 113th Street and Lenox Avenue, according to sources. 6 Daoud marked the second innocent bystander fatally shot in the Big Apple in as many days. Peter Gerber Shelby was arraigned on second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and criminal possession of a weapon charges and ordered held without bail by a Manhattan judge. Smith, who was arrested nearby with a gunshot wound to his foot, faces an attempted murder charge and also remains in jail without bail.
New York Post
an hour ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Rubio announces US will bar foreign censors from getting visas
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the US will no longer allow foreign government officials 'who are complicit in censoring Americans' from obtaining visas. 'It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil,' Rubio said in a statement. 'It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States,' he added. 'We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.' It was not immediately clear which foreign officials would come under threat of having visas revoked. 4 Rubio's announcement comes one day after a leaked State Department cable ordered US embassies and consulates to halt student visa applications for all foreigners. AP Rubio's announcement comes one day after the State Department ordered US embassies and consulates to halt processing of student visa applications from foreigners, with a revised procedure reportedly set to consider social media postings and other information. At least 4,000 student visas have already been yanked away from international students with criminal histories, a senior State Department official told The Post last month, in addition to high-profile cases involving anti-Israel protesters on college campuses being rushed into removal proceedings. During President Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, the family of a 75-year-old American detained in the Gulf nation over critical tweets of the Riyadh government petitioned the US to secure his release. Saad Almadi, a US-Saudi dual citizen, was initially sentenced to 19 years in prison for tweeting criticisms of the Saudi government from his home in Florida, has since been released — but is banned from leaving the country to return to America. 4 Anti-Israel protesters on college campuses have been among the thousands of foreign students rushed into removal proceedings. James Keivom 'He tried to go to Dubai two months ago [in March] and they said, 'You are banned from traveling, contact the Ministry of Interior.' And when he contacted the Ministry of Interior, they told him, 'Saad, you are still facing a trial and you are still under travel ban for 19 years,'' his son, Ibrahim Almadi, told The Post. 'Basically in court they said the charges are dropped and now they are refusing to let him travel. They said, 'No, the charges are still there, they aren't dropped.' It's just a miserable court system.' Trump's media empire and Rumble have also challenged a Brazilian Supreme Court ruling that they claimed earlier this year would 'censor legitimate political discourse in the United States.' The State Department and White House have also been closely watching a UK court case involving a Tory councillor's wife sentenced in October to 31 months in prison over a social media post judged racially hateful, The Telegraph reported. 4 REUTERS Lucy Connolly, who is married to Northampton councillor Ray Connolly, called for 'mass deportation' after an Al Qaeda -supporting teen stabbed three young girls to death and wounded 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last summer. The 'sadistic' slaying, prosecutors said, was carried out by Axel Rudakubana — and sparked a week of riots due to internet rumors that the UK teen was a Rwandan migrant. Rudakubana, who was born and raised in Wales by Rwandan parents, was sentenced in January to 13 counts of life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 52 years. Connolly later deleted her post calling for deportations and setting 'fire' to hotels. A judge rejected an appeal for her to receive a commuted sentence. 4 Trump's media empire and Rumble have also challenged a Brazilian Supreme Court ruling that they claimed earlier this year would 'censor legitimate political discourse in the United States.' Brazilian Supreme Court/AFP via Getty Images Last Saturday, US officials also met with UK pro-life activists regarding censorship fears, according to The Telegraph. Vice President JD Vance warned European officials about their speech restriction efforts in February during an appearance at the Munich Security Conference. 'You cannot win a democratic mandate by censoring your opponents or putting them in jail,' Vance scolded leaders at one point. The vice president in his address further highlighted moves by the EU Commission to suppress social media posts deemed 'hateful' and the persecution of Christians silently praying outside abortion clinics in the UK. 'The government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thoughtcrime in Britain and across Europe,' he said. 'Free speech, I fear, is in retreat.'
New York Post
an hour ago
- Business
- New York Post
Trump pardons ex-Staten Island and Brooklyn GOP Rep. Michael Grimm
President Trump has pardoned former Staten Island and Brooklyn GOP Rep. Michael Grimm, two White House sources tell The Post. Grimm, a former FBI agent and business owner, served seven months in prison in 2015 and 2016 after pleading guilty to underreporting taxable revenue from his Healthalicious restaurant in Manhattan. Former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm served seven months in prison in 2015 and 2016 after pleading guilty to underreporting taxable revenue from his Healthalicious restaurant in Manhattan. Corbis via Getty Images Advertisement President Donald Trump has pardoned former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm AP Grimm, 55, served two terms in Congress before resigning in January 2015 following his guilty plea. Advertisement The former lawmaker's pardon was first reported by NY1. Trump, 78, has pardoned or commuted the prison sentences of an unusually large number of people early in his second term — after alleging he was treated unfairly by the legal system over the past four years.
