Latest news with #WhiteHouseFaithOffice
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Trump admin now lets federal workers spread religion at work. Faith groups react
New guidance from President Donald Trump's administration outlining how federal employees may engage with faith practices in the workplace garnered mixed reactions from religious groups, with some raising concern about the blurring boundary between church and state. The guidelines, announced by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in a July 28 memo, allow federal employees to display religious items, pray and attempt to spread their religion at work, so long as these practices 'are not harassing in nature.' The memo is the latest in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to bring religion to the forefront of American society. In February, Trump signed an executive order aiming to end 'anti-Christian bias' in the federal government and established a White House Faith Office, McClatchy News reported. 'President Trump is committed to reaffirming 'America's unique and beautiful tradition of religious liberty,' including by directing 'the executive branch to vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in Federal law,'' Scott Kupor, director of the OPM, said in the memo. Focus on the Family, a Christian ministry dedicated to supporting families, celebrated the memo in a July 28 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'What an encouraging moment!' the organization said. 'As pressure mounts from every side to compromise our values, we are glad to see our country's leadership standing firm on our constitutional right to express our faith!' Other religious organizations, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, called the move 'unconstitutional,' and said the memo could make employees feel forced to participate in religious discussion when there is a power imbalance in the workplace, according to a July 28 statement. 'This is the implementation of Christian nationalism in our federal government,' Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president, said in the statement. The Rev. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, general minister and president/CEO of the United Church of Christ, said in a July 29 statement the memo unfairly prioritizes Christianity in the workplace. 'At a time when Christian nationalists are seeking to rewrite the historic narratives from a standpoint of American exceptionalism, with disregard for religious, racial/ethnic and gender minorities, the memo threatens the very freedoms it appears to be reinforcing,' Thompson said. While the guidelines mirror President Bill Clinton-era policies, that also allowed federal workers to speak about religion with each other and 'attempt to persuade fellow employees of the correctness of their religious views,' they go against a Department of Labor precedent that said workers 'who seek to proselytize in the workplace should cease doing so with respect to any individual who indicates that the communications are unwelcome.'
Toronto Sun
4 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
KINSELLA: Netanyahu a big part of why Israel is losing propaganda war
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is joined on stage by Pastor Paula White-Cain, Senior Advisor to the White House Faith Office, during an event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on July 27, 2025. Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP via Getty Images Someone really needs to reacquaint Benjamin Netanyahu with the 1988 Hamas Charter. Quickly. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In particular, they need to show the Israeli Prime Minister articles 10 and 30. In those, in their governing document, Hamas says that it will use 'word and deed' to wage Jihad – which has come to mean holy war. Article 30 is pretty specific: 'Ji had is not confined to the carrying of arms and the confrontation of the enemy. The effective word, the good article, the useful book, support and solidarity – all these are elements of the Jihad for Allah's sake.' In other words, propaganda. What the terror organization is telling everyone, here, is that they wage war with words and images just as much as bombs and bullets. Implicitly, Hamas has always acknowledged that its desired genocide of Jews and infidels is a daunting military challenge. Propaganda, however, is Hamas' real forte. At that, they excel. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. So, in the information war, Hamas – and its axis, with Hezbollah and Iran and Qatar and Russia and China – is winning. You only need to cast your eye over the offerings of most news or social media – or look at what is happening in the streets – to see that it is true. Israel is losing the propaganda war. It is getting its ass kicked. Netanyahu is a big part of the reason. Israel's leader is propped up by a coalition of far right religious extremists, and adamantly refuses to let anyone else speak for Israel in the West. He has been in power too long, and the majority – inside and outside of Israel – are weary of him. But Benjamin Netanyahu alone cannot be fairly blamed for all of the grave harm that has been done to Israel's reputation. Hamas is the main author of that. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Since the beginning of the war in late October 2023, Hamas' propagandists have completely dominated the news and information agenda. When an IDF tank moves through Gaza streets, for example, Hamas typically sends out four men: two to attach explosives to the side of the tank, one to guard the getaway – and one to shoot broadcast-quality propaganda footage. Even with its leadership and its ranks decimated, Hamas and its axis never give up on propagandizing. Look at the evidence. Casualties: Most media and governments still rely upon the death figures of the Gaza health authority – which is literally an arm of Hamas. They do that despite the fact that those casualty figures have consistently been shown to be wrong, and despite the fact that the health authority does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. A Hamas PR victory. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Children: Hamas did not build a single bomb shelter for Palestinian children in its labyrinth of tunnels, which is as big as the London underground system. But it is more than willing to use children as propaganda campaign fodder. In May, for example, Hamas persuaded a senior United Nations official to state that 14,000 Gazan babies were going to die 'within 48 hours.' It was completely false, but the UN's acknowledgment of their mistake came too late to offset the worldwide reputational damage. Another Hamas PR win. Denial: From the earliest hours of Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, the terror axis was denying everything – the murders, the rapes, the mutilations, the torture, all of it. Bots and fake accounts pushed out denials of atrocities that were swiftly seen by tens of millions of people before the war had even started. Yet another Hamas win. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On one front in the propaganda war, Hamas has recently scored its biggest victory, however. And that is the Gaza famine story. No one – Israel included – disputes that innocent Gaza civilians desperately need more food, water and aid. What is debated is who to blame. More than 1,000 trucks containing aid now sit idle at four different distribution centers in the Gaza Strip. Israel and the United States have paid for that food and aid. But the United Nations refuses to help distribute it. And Hamas keeps trying to steal it. You would never know any of that, however, by looking at the headlines or Instagram. So, Hamas scored its biggest propaganda victory on Monday morning – when US President Donald Trump recklessly blamed Israel for most of the famine crisis. Hamas wins again. In sum, Israel is losing the propaganda war. It needs to tell its story better, and it needs a better storyteller. Time is running out. If Israel does not take corrective action soon, the damage will be permanent. Kinsella's book about antisemitism and the propaganda war against Israel and the West, The Hidden Hand, is being published by Penguin Random House in late 2025. Wrestling Golf World Canada Canada
Buzz Feed
15-07-2025
- Business
- Buzz Feed
Trump Says Tax Cuts Help 'Ugly Rich Guys'
Sure, Donald Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful bill' drastically cuts government programs that benefit lower- and middle-class Americans in order to pay for a $975 billion tax break for the wealthiest 1% in the country. But that doesn't mean he's heartless. In fact, the president suggested on Monday that the bill is crucial and necessary to ensure the happiness of at least one apparently marginalized community: ugly rich guys. During a meeting with members of the White House Faith Office, Trump explained that one of the reasons why he insisted on the controversial bill's passage was humanitarian in nature. For ugly rich guys, that is. Trump explained that the bill is needed to 'make the economy strong' to prevent 'a depression where you people, so rich, so beautiful, so nice to look at, will be totally busted.' He then suggested that the bill would not only benefit billionaires' bottom lines, but also their love lives. 'And let's see how long your wife stays with you. You're beautiful. She'll stay with you for about three weeks, and she'll say, 'Darling, I can't take it anymore. I can't take it anymore, darling. I'm leaving you,'' Trump said. He then explained his thinking by relating a conversation he claimed he had with an apparently ugly rich dude. 'I said to one guy, he's a very, very unattractive man, but he's smart and he's rich,' Trump said. 'And I said, you better hope we get this thing passed because your wife will be gone within about two minutes. He said, 'You're right.'' Trump: I said to one guy, he's a very, very unattractive man, but he's smart and he's rich and I said, you better hope we get this thing passed because your wife will be gone within about two minutes. — Acyn (@Acyn) July 14, 2025 @Acyn / C-Span / Via For some strange reason, Trump's 'won't somebody think of the unattractive billionaires' claim wasn't exactly the rallying cry he might have expected. And, yes, there was a lot of internet mockery. Trump's idea of a joke is threatening someone's marriage if his tax cuts don't pass. Misogyny and narcissism in one breath — classic. — AnatolijUkraine (@AnatoliUkraine) July 14, 2025 @AnatoliUkraine / Via Imagine saying this at a faith luncheon. The man talks like a nightclub promoter — Miles (@mileslangston_) July 14, 2025 @mileslangston_ / Via Ah, yes! The parable of the ugly billionaire. A very moving story about upholding marriage and trickling down jobs to all the poor who make his easy life possible. Tender unto Caesar… unless you are in the B-Club. — I Reid Enright (@ReidEnright) July 14, 2025 @ReidEnright / Via Trumps shows a clear sign of his complete lack of respect for anyone or anything beyond his own twisted perspective. This isn't just offensive; it's a glaring example of how far he'll go to degrade others for his own amusement, and it shows just how bankrupt his moral compass… — 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕥🌴Siegien 🐦📷 (@margaretsiegien) July 14, 2025 @margaretsiegien / Via This is a prayer luncheon for faith leaders where Trump is telling this story of an ugly billionaire whose trophy wife might leave him if he didn't get his tax cuts. — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 14, 2025 @RonFilipkowski / @Acyn / C-Span / Via
The Herald Scotland
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
'Oh really?': Trump says his wife Melania has some thoughts on Putin
"I go home, I tell the first lady, 'You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.' And she said, 'Oh really? Another city was just hit,'" Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. More: Trump to send Ukraine weapons through NATO, threatens secondary tariffs on Russia About an hour later, Trump told a similar story at a luncheon with the White House Faith Office, as he recounted the numerous times he thought a Russia-Ukraine peace deal was imminent. "I'd get home, I'd say, 'First lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we're finished.' And then I'll turn on the television, or she'll say to me one time, 'Wow, that's strange because they just bombed a nursing home,'" Trump said, prompting laughs among the crowd at the White House State Dining Room. More: Trump said he'd end Ukraine war in 24 hours. Now his patience with Putin is wearing thin. Growing increasingly frustrated by Putin, Trump on Monday threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Russia and its trading partners if a ceasefire is not reached in 50 days. He also pledged that the United States would send weapons to NATO to assist in Ukraine's war efforts. "I'm disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to get there," said Trump, continuing his recent criticism of the Russian president. More: Trump says he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin invaded Ukraine, new audio shows Trump said Putin is a "tough guy" who has "fooled a lot of people" over the years, but "he didn't fool me." The president indicated he's weary of fruitless negotiations and said he wants "action." Melania Trump, a native of Slovenia, typically refrains from weighing in publicly on political and international affairs. Like she did during her husband's first term in office, she has often been absent from the White House since Trump's return to Washington. Melania Trump last Friday joined her husband during a visit to Central Texas to meet with families of victims who died in recent devastating floods there. The first couple also attended Sunday's FIFA Club World Cup together at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
USA Today
15-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
'Oh really?': Trump says his wife Melania has some thoughts on Vladimir Putin
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump says his wife, first lady Melania Trump, has emphasized to him privately that Russian President Vladimir Putin's continued attacks on Ukraine contradict the rosy picture the Russian leader often presents in phone calls with her husband. While discussing new actions and threats aimed at pressuring Moscow to agree to a ceasefire deal, Trump twice on July 14 referenced remarks that Melania Trump ‒ who tends to keep a low profile ‒ has made to him in private about Russia's attacks. "I go home, I tell the first lady, 'You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.' And she said, 'Oh really? Another city was just hit,'" Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. More: Trump to send Ukraine weapons through NATO, threatens secondary tariffs on Russia About an hour later, Trump told a similar story at a luncheon with the White House Faith Office, as he recounted the numerous times he thought a Russia-Ukraine peace deal was imminent. "I'd get home, I'd say, 'First lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we're finished.' And then I'll turn on the television, or she'll say to me one time, 'Wow, that's strange because they just bombed a nursing home,'" Trump said, prompting laughs among the crowd at the White House State Dining Room. More: Trump said he'd end Ukraine war in 24 hours. Now his patience with Putin is wearing thin. Growing increasingly frustrated by Putin, Trump on Monday threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Russia and its trading partners if a ceasefire is not reached in 50 days. He also pledged that the United States would send weapons to NATO to assist in Ukraine's war efforts. 'I'm disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to get there," said Trump, continuing his recent criticism of the Russian president. More: Trump says he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin invaded Ukraine, new audio shows Trump said Putin is a "tough guy" who has "fooled a lot of people" over the years, but "he didn't fool me." The president indicated he's weary of fruitless negotiations and said he wants "action." Melania Trump, a native of Slovenia, typically refrains from weighing in publicly on political and international affairs. Like she did during her husband's first term in office, she has often been absent from the White House since Trump's return to Washington. Melania Trump last Friday joined her husband during a visit to Central Texas to meet with families of victims who died in recent devastating floods there. The first couple also attended Sunday's FIFA Club World Cup together at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
