Latest news with #Maga
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Congratulations to Iran and the occasional flash of Trump genius
I love Mexican food, especially Tacos. So it pains me and spoils my appetite whenever media pundits mention the acronym for 'Trump always chickens out'. It must be admitted that most of the time, the president's erratic pronouncements and obsessive-compulsive tweets, from universal tariffs and China sanctions to military support, or the lack thereof, for Ukraine betray a complete absence of clear thinking and actual policy. But with his highly controversial strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, you have to wonder whether he had not been thinking or at least hoping a few steps ahead of most others, for once. Maybe Taco this time isn't so bad. Let me, for argument's sake, just put it on the table. Trump, against most of his advisers – both the supposedly wise as well as foolish ones, whether Maga or neocons – has escalated to de-escalate. And Tehran gets the message and is playing ball, hence its latest missile volley, in a symbolic retaliatory gesture, on an American military base in Qatar in which everyone came out relatively unscathed. Consider the previous sequence of events. First, Trump forced the Iranians to negotiate. Then, when the Israelis attacked, he tried to use that as leverage and continued negotiations. Then he joined the Israelis with the heavy US strike on nuclear-related targets and threatened to broaden the war to impose regime change in Tehran. The Iranians talked tough but responded with remarkable restraint, having warned friendly Qatar and therefore the Americans, about its forthcoming attack. Trump immediately reciprocated afterwards, and tweeted for world peace. He thanked Iran 'for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured'. 'CONGRATULATIONS WORLD,' he wrote in all caps. 'IT'S TIME FOR PEACE!'
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Why dreams of regime change in Iran will end in a rude awakening
During his three presidential campaigns, Donald Trump lambasted 'forever wars' and 'regime change' interventions. More than any candidate, he sensed the war-weariness of Americans after the fiascos in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and especially the dismay of military veterans, 60% of whom voted for him over Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Trump's maverick, anti-interventionist 'America First' narrative also resonated strongly with those in the Maga movement who have never served in the military, particularly blue-collar workers. Now, Trump, once an unsparing critic of military misadventures, has bombed the nuclear enrichment installations of Iran, a country that hadn't attacked the US, wasn't preparing to and didn't even threaten war. Since the bombing, Trump has gone further: he has ruminated about regime change in Iran. His transformation has startled many of his Maga acolytes who share Tucker Carlson's view that Trump risks being dragged into Israel's fight with Iran and becoming embroiled in his own forever war. The fragile truce agreed to by Iran and Israel may ease their worries if it holds, but Trump might be drawn to regime change again if fighting resumes. Perhaps Trump floated regime change to scare Iran's leaders into dismantling their entire enrichment operation, something Tehran rejected from the outset of the negotiations with Washington. The president may believe that the risk of losing power will force Iran's leadership, which is already under military pressure from Israel, to relent. But Trump doesn't need to go down this path. Having hit Iran's enrichment installations – though it is now evident that they weren't obliterated, contrary to his boast immediately after the strike – the president could declare victory. He could tell Israel's strongest American supporters that he delivered on his pledge to protect it and then turn to reassuring Maga's stars, such as Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, that he remains a foe of forever wars. He won't get Iran to sign a no-enrichment deal, but so what? He could claim that, contrary to the malicious mainstream media's claims, he did in fact demolish Iran's enrichment capabilities. Taking this path would make sense. Despite his tough-guy persona, Trump has an instinctive aversion to needless wars that could turn into quagmires. The recent strike on Iran was risk-free: Iran lacked the air defenses needed to down the B-2 stealth bombers, so there was no chance of American pilots being killed or captured. And Tehran does not have the means to strike the American homeland in return. Even its ineffectual, face-saving missile salvoes against the US military base in Qatar were preceded by a warning – proof that Iran doesn't want to do anything that might push Trump to join Israel's war. Iran has, in effect, provided Trump an opportunity to forget about regime change. He'd be foolish not to take it. Moving forward with the idea will create problems – politically at home, militarily in Iran. On the domestic political front, the Carlson-Bannon wing of Maga will soon look past Trump's attack on Iran, which JD Vance and the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have already said doesn't presage something bigger. But a war of regime change will be the equivalent of a bombshell. It will create a canyon-sized rift in Trump's base between the unconditional supporters of Israel and those who think that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, seeks to drag the US into his war because he believes that the destruction of the Iranian political system can prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Trump has nothing to gain from such an outcome. The military and strategic hazards of a regime change war are even worse, and one of them stems from the sheer size of Iran. It has nearly 92 million people and a land area of 636,371 sq miles (1,648,193 sq km). By contrast, Iraq's population is less than half as large, and its territory is less than a third the size. Moreover, the Iranian army and ancillary forces, more than half a million active-duty soldiers, won't go quietly into the night. They will have the advantage of fighting an invader on home ground and on many fronts across a vast area. Though many Iranians dislike the existing political order, it is hardly certain that they will welcome an invader rather than rallying as nationalists to defend their homeland. Moreover, a military intervention in a multi-ethnic country like Iran could precipitate prolonged disorder and bloodletting. Persians comprise only 60% of the country's population. Azerbaijanis account for 16%, Kurds for another 10%, and there are numerous smaller nationalities. The relationship between the Iranian state and minority ethnic groups, especially the Kurds, has featured periods of tension, even violence. The expectation of a regime collapse could trigger rebellions and, in response, repression by the state. An optimist could counter that regime change need not require an occupation force tasked with creating stability. But the idea that a country's political order can be revamped through airpower alone is an illusion. Regime change zealots could say, bombs away, stability be damned, upheaval will achieve the goal. The problem, however, is that the US can't insulate itself from the resulting shock waves. Iran exports 1.3 million-plus barrels of oil a day and overlooks the strait of Hormuz, the conduit for 20% of global oil exports. Iran also adjoins seven countries and shares maritime borders with six others. The latter are all closely aligned with the US, which has bases or a military presence on their territories. Shia Muslims, who make up 90% of Iran's population, comprise between 55% and 70% of Bahrain's population. Shia Muslims constitute only 10-12% of Saudi Arabia's population but are concentrated in its oil-rich eastern province, where they account for 25-30% of its denizens. An American intervention in Iran won't necessarily produce solidarity protests in these underdog Shia communities, but they could, and the Gulf monarchies may struggle to contain the consequences. Given these sobering realities, it would be naive to believe that the US could take a wrecking ball to the Iranian state and walk away unaffected. Here's hoping that Trump comes to understand this and won't revert to dreams of regime change if the truce collapses. For now at least, Trump's recent disavowal of regime change on the ground that it would produce chaos is welcome news. We must hope that the mercurial president doesn't change his mind, as he does so often. Rajan Menon is a professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizes Iran strike – but her voters stand by Trump
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia congresswoman and Maga firebrand, was quickly critical of missile strikes ordered Saturday by Donald Trump on Iranian nuclear facilities. Her constituents are not. In the past week, Israel and Iran traded strikes until the US attempted to intervene, both with its own bombs on three sites, and then with an attempted Trump-brokered ceasefire on Monday, which crumbled within hours. Greene took to social media on Saturday to stridently argue (in her longstanding style) that the US involvement wastes resources to feed the military-industrial complex. 'I've watched our country go to war in foreign lands for foreign causes on behalf of foreign interests for as long as I can remember,' Greene wrote on X. 'America is $37 TRILLION in debt and all of these foreign wars have cost Americans TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars that never benefited any American. American troops have been killed and forever torn apart physically and mentally for regime change, foreign wars, and for military industrial base profits. I'm sick of it.' 'It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neocons, warmongers, military industrial complex contracts, and neocon tv personalities that MAGA hates and who were NEVER TRUMPERS!' she said in another post. It was a sentiment often repeated by Trump allies throughout his electoral campaign in 2024, when the president promised to bring world peace. But in interview after interview in Georgia's heavily Republican 14th district, voters generally expressed satisfaction with the president's decision to attack Iran, offering the president wide latitude for the use of military force. 'This should have happened 15 years ago,' said Richard Hodges of Rome, Georgia, having a midday drink with a friend. Iran would destroy the United States if it had the power to do so – they chant as much at rallies, he said. 'They can't have a nuclear bomb. They can't. They're liars, basically. We gave them the opportunity to do nuclear energy, but they want to enrich it. They're close to having a nuclear weapon. We back Israel.' His friend had reservations. 'I wish Trump didn't have to do it,' said Brooke Brinson of Rome, Georgia. 'My opinion'. Last year, Trump both pledged to avoid committing America to additional wars and threatened to blow Iran to 'smithereens' if it attacked the United States, while repeatedly describing the Biden administration as leading the country down the path to the third world war. 'I don't think that they can't be trusted,' Brinson said of Iran. 'I wish nobody had nukes. That's my opinion. I wish nobody had nukes and we could all get along. But that's not going to happen.' Greene's district is more conservative than 93% of House districts. Greene herself, though a close Trump ally, draws mixed reviews. 'She probably would not be who I would vote for if there was another Republican alternative, but there's not,' said Angela Hilliard, who lives near Rome. She supported Trump's decision to bomb Iran, describing the country as 'a persistent threat' and this action as a frightening moment. 'I feel like it ultimately is the right thing to do, but I'm not going to lie, it was very scary, and I'm still kind of just, not, 100% for sure. I think it was the right decision, but I still think there could possibly be consequences.' Greene's comments over the weekend raised eyebrows among conservatives, prompting her to issue a string of comments about her support for the president. Nonetheless, it is another heterodox position that draws attention to Greene, and to her district. For Michelle Gibson of Murray county, Georgia, Greene is the default choice. 'I mean, I'm always going to vote with my party – I'm not saying I have always done that –but usually it aligns more with my beliefs than the other side,' she said. 'Do I think she's a little bit extreme sometimes? Yes.' Gibson does not begrudge Greene for her views on attacking Iran, she said. 'Even though I'm for it, I realize everybody else is not going to be. And ultimately, whoever the president is, I have to try and support their decision,' Gibson said. 'And I do agree with it. I think we should stop [Iran] now. I think a lot more people, and leaders and countries over there are so glad we did it, even though they're not going to come out and say it, because [Iran is] a threat to everyone, especially over there.' Her views on Iran are strongly shaped by her Southern Baptist faith, Gibson said. 'This is all about religion,' she said. 'This isn't about politics. You're looking at it from a wrong standpoint. I guess because I was raised Southern Baptist, you just always protect God's people.' Gibson was aware of broad concerns about the conduct of the Israeli government, but said her faith prompts a tradeoff. 'I think with anything we do in life, there's always going to be a good and a bad to it, and you just have to pick whatever decision you make in life. What's the good and does it outweigh the bad? And supporting Israel, to me, outweighs the bad.' Many conservative voters in the district Greene represents hold overtly Christian Zionist views not primarily out of political alignment, but because they see the modern state of Israel as a necessary step in God's prophetic timeline, tying Jewish sovereignty to their eschatological beliefs about how the world will end and Christ will return. 'I think America needs to stand with Israel. It clearly states in the Bible that any friend of Israel is a friend of Him,' said Johnny Hames of Aragon, Georgia, expressing support for the military strikes. 'I'm not real political, and I don't look at what's going on a lot … for me it's just processing towards the end of the world, and I think Israel will never be defeated again. That's biblical.' He was surprised Greene came out against the strike, he said. 'Everybody's got their own opinion. I wouldn't want somebody in office that agrees with the president on everything he does if she thinks it's wrong,' Hames said. 'I thought she was a big Trump supporter, but then again, she got her own mind and she got her own reasons.' Iran's nuclear threat against Israel demanded action, said Kevin Bishop, of Taylorsville, Georgia. 'Well, I mean, I'm a strong Christian,' Bishop said. 'Israel is fatherland, homeland, whatever you want to call it. I don't think that Iran needs any nuclear bombs. They have no good intentions with them. So, we just got rid of them and I think it was a good thing to do.' One thing Greene and her Republican constituents continue to have in common is that at the end of the day they remain true to Trump above other political interests. After Trump declared the ceasefire on Monday, Greene was quick to clean up. 'Thank you, President Trump, for pursuing PEACE,' she posted on X.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Israel-Iran ceasefire announcement shows Trump's uncanny ability to shape the narrative
After addressing the nation on a muggy Saturday night, president Donald Trump made a Herculean effort to stay away from the lights and microphones and remained out of sight all day Monday. Seldom has he made his radio silence so effective. First thing on Monday morning, Trump had heightened Maga – and general – anxieties after idly speculating about a new era for Iran involving the end of the Ayatollah Khamenei's 30-year reign. But by sundown, after a day of brutal June heat in Washington, the president took to Truth Social to announce a 'complete and total ceasefire' between Israel and Iran . There would be a few more mutual strikes as the warring neighbours wound down their retaliatory strikes, he stated. But after 24 hours, he confirmed, 'an official end to the 12 Day War will be saluted by the World'. READ MORE 'On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both countries, Israel and Iran, on having the stamina, courage and intelligence to end what should be called the 12 Day War. This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn't and never will!' he continued before administering God Blesses to Israel, Iran, the Middle East, the United States of America – 'and God Bless the World!' It was a startling and singularly Trumpian outcome to a crisis which had bamboozled everyone – if it is an outcome: sceptics will note the planet-sized equivocation contained in 'on the assumption'. [ Israel and Iran ceasefire 'now in effect' says Donald Trump Opens in new window ] But the radical switch of fortunes suggested that Trump's uncanny instinct for whom to back, and when, had served him well again. The ceasefire declaration was arguably the most statesmanlike delivery of Trump's political life – he didn't feel the need to mention himself even once. Minutes after it was posted, vice-president JD Vance popped up on the 7pm Brett Baier show on Fox News. He was, understandably, cock- a-hoop. The president had been working the phones all day, Vance said. He and Trump had been working on finalising the statement when Vance left for the studio so he was learning of its wording even as Baier read it aloud: international diplomacy intersecting with broadcast news entertainment, in real time. 'We have to talk to Iran and Israel about what the future holds,' Vance said. 'Because while we have obliterated the Iranian nuclear programme, our hope and expectation is that they are not going to try and rebuild that programme. And I think that's what the president is trying to figure out here – is to build a long-term settlement here to where we can have peace in the region.' Vance offered a rosy vision in which the Iranian regime, having absorbed the futility of trying to go nuclear, would negotiate in good faith and restore diplomatic relations which would gradually stabilise the region. All day, the broadcast networks had wheeled out foreign policy expert after Middle East expert who spoke gravely in ifs and buts while conceding that they hadn't a clue what was going to happen next. How could they? As though Saturday's bombing mission in Iran had not caused sufficient international alarm and projection, Trump lobbed into the already-furious swamp of broadcast media conjecture and speculation his Sunday Truth Social grenade in which he postulated on the possibility of a new era for Iran. 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' The post had the immediate effect of seeming to pull Trump even further away from the promises his Maga loyalists hold dearest. And it also stood in direct refutation of the messages that his senior cabinet members – Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and, to a more limited extent, defence secretary Pete Hegseth – had insisted on the Sunday talkshows: the daring bombing raid had not been about the Iranian regime, merely its capacity to produce a nuclear weapon. Not for the first time, the divergent opinions suggested that even those who work closely and daily with the current president are as much in the dark as everyone else as to what he will say and do next. 'Trump keeps crossing up his own team, all of whom were on TV yesterday, proclaiming that 'regime change' in Iran was not a goal,' noted former Obama adviser David Axelrod. 'Then he drops a post this AM that explicitly suggests it. Why do we even bother to quote the VP and SecState? They're clearly clueless as to what he'll say next.' By Monday afternoon, Iran had responded to the US strikes with a relatively mild retaliatory volley of missiles at military bases in Qatar. President Trump, in one of his strange lapses into formal diplomatic courtesy thanked the regime for the heads-up and gave a heavy signal that as far as he is concerned, the military hostilities ended there. Crude oil prices fell, reflecting relief. Trump's desired narrative began to take shape. Militarily, Saturday's mission had been carried out in exemplary fashion, with a Top Gun gloss. Stung by the recent 'Taco' (Trump always chickens out) jibe, the president must have privately enjoyed the shocked global reaction to his Saturday night announcement and the projection of strength it afforded him. Pacifying the discontented in the Maga movement was the other mission of the day. Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene cast herself as one of Trump's loudest supporters throughout his election campaign and was adamant, in a social media post on Monday, that the weekend bombing mission had contravened three of Trump's key election promises. These she listed as: 'No more foreign wars. No more regime change. And world peace. And this is what people voted for. 'Only 6 months in and we are back into foreign wars, regime change, and World War 3. It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neocons, warmongers, military industrial complex contracts and neocon tv personalities that MAGA hates and who were NEVER TRUMPERS!' She noted the swift equivocating in the messaging about the extent of damage caused to the Iranian nuclear bunkers, which started with the president's Saturday night boast of total 'obliteration' which was downgraded to JD Vance's concession that the enriched uranium material may already have been moved by the Iranian military as a precautionary measure. Georgia congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene said the US bombing mission in Iran had contravened Donald Trump's election promises. Photograph:'Contrary to brainwashed Democrat boomers think and protest about, Trump is not a king, MAGA is not a cult and I can and do have my own opinion.' On Thursday last, Trump had Steve Bannon for lunch at the White House – in both senses, as it turned out. Bannon had made impassioned arguments advising against joining Israel in its war with Iran. By Thursday, anxiety over Trump's intentions regarding Iran was palpable within Maga world. The high-profile interview between Tucker Carlson, who humiliated Ted Cruz over his lack of surface knowledge about Iran, was indicative of the deep tensions over the issue. Other prominent Trumpians like Charlie Kirk had registered their deep discomfort with the idea of the United States intervening. On Thursday afternoon, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read out a direct message from the president designed to end the speculation. 'In light of that news, I have a message from the president,' she said. 'And I quote: 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future I will make my decision ether or not to go within the next two weeks.' That's a quote from the president for all of you today.' Given that the seven B-2 spirit bombers departed from Missouri just 24 hours later, Thursday's White House messaging was subsequently interpreted as part of a grand ruse to disguise the administration's true intent. 'This is not true at all,' claimed serial Trump-book writer Michael Wolff on the Daily Beast podcast on Monday. 'This is completely made up. And many people in the White House are chuckling about this. He dithered right up until the last minute. He went into Thursday – he had seen Tucker's interview with Ted Cruz where Cruz got massacred. And that's what he said: 'My God, Cruz got slaughtered'. And that was very much a there-but-for-the-grace-of God moment for him. 'And then he went into Friday, and congressional leadership, the Republicans, strongly a neo-con group, came back to him and were like: 'you have got to do this and you are going to look bad if you don't do this. And you have an opportunity to look good, to be a winner'. They kept repeating this. They know how to play this guy. And by Friday afternoon, in a series of phone calls, it became f**k Tucker. And it was interesting that Tucker became the real enemy here.' Wolff dismissed the B2 mission as 'a vanity bombing' on Trump's part. But by late Monday afternoon, Marjorie Taylor Greene sounded pacified when she gave an interview on Capitol Hill. 'He wants peace. He wants this to end. And he is going to urge Israel that it is time for this to end,' she said. This was before Trump had even made his announcement. Taylor-Greene was back in the fold. The believers believed again. On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the politicians from both sides of the aisle will be seeking more information about why congressional approval had not been sought for the mission. 'We don't know what's true and what's not at this point,' Democratic congressman Jason Crow said on Monday night. 'I'm a member of the House Intelligence Committee and we received briefings today. We don't know what's fact and fiction at this point. There are still reports of bombings and strikes in Tehran. I agree it would be great to have a ceasefire. But that really would just set us back to where we were a couple of weeks ago. What success ultimately looks like here is a permanent and verifiable agreement that Iran will not get nuclear weapons. That did not come out of these strikes. That actually would have been part of the deal that Donald Trump tore up in 2018.' Those debates will rage on the Hill. Donald Trump himself is expected to reappear at the Nato summit in The Hague on Tuesday, in full Churchillian mode.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Heading to Texas in trying times
Is it all right to visit the United States right now? Writer and editor Stephen Davis investigates. I have always loved travelling to the United States. As The Sunday Times correspondent in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, I visited 48 of the 50 states, missing only North and South Dakota. One of my favourite places was Austin, the capital of Texas, a charming university town with its memorable motto "Keep It Weird". So when I was invited to the premiere of my documentary film Flight 149: Hostage of War at the huge SXSW (south by southwest) festival in Austin, I did not hesitate. I found myself, after a 14-hour flight from Auckland to Houston, on the road in a rented car on the two and a-half-hour drive to Austin, a flat, featureless landscape memorable only for the number of speeding giant trucks that passed me as I kept to the speed limit, and ominous roadside billboards advertising the services of lawyers if you ended up in a crash. On my way I kept thinking — "should I be here?" I have always been hesitant to visit a number of places on my bucket list for moral reasons — Iran while they beat and murder women for how they dress, or Turkey while they bomb the Kurds. But the US is — still —a democracy, right? You cannot blame an entire country for Maga (political movement based on Donald Trump saying Make America Great Again) and Trump, or punish all the good liberal Americans who did not vote for him. But as I drove I heard the news of his attacks on universities and random arrests of people exercising their right to protest and my uneasiness grew. Austin is named after Stephen Austin, known as the Father of Texas and for his motto: "The journey is always hard. Don't give up." Like Texas itself, the myth is as important as the man, but we do know that he was an entrepreneur who led the colonisation of the region by bringing 300 families and their slaves from the United States to what was then the Tejas region of Mexico in 1825. The city that he gave his name to was unrecognisable from my previous visits — bigger, with more traffic and a different vibe. Austin has always been a liberal, democratic enclave in a very red state and locals complain that its nature is changing thanks to enormous influx of tech jobs and money turning it into the Silicon Valley of Texas. Elon Musk has built a factory that has brought thousands of jobs to the area — Apple is investing billions too. ( It is fair to say that the Uber divers, merchants and other small business people love the jobs and don't care about the politics.) It was depressing to walk around the downtown area and discover there was nowhere to buy a newspaper or magazine and that it was half an hour's walk in the hot sun to the nearest bookshop. Potholes on most of the roads were evidence of a crumbling infrastructure. But despite all this, Austin remains a charming destination. The bars are cool, the music is everywhere, and the food is terrific. Do visit the grand state capital building and look at the huge Confederate statue and its sinister re-writing of history: "Died for state's rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The people of the South, animated by the spirit of 1776, to preserve their rights, withdrew from the federal compact in North resorted to coercion. The South, against overwhelming numbers and resources, fought until exhausted." A short distance away is an example of the "rights" they were taking about — the right to keep slaves. There is a beautiful sculpture dedicated to emancipation. That, and the signs dedicated to Mexican heritage and history, are reason to hope. Recommendations Joe's Bakery and Coffee shop, 2305 E 7th St It's been around since 1935 and it's the best place for breakfast, TexMex style, such as scrambled eggs with beans and tortillas, or jalapenos if you want some early morning spice. Don't expect Dunedin cafe quality coffee though. Austin, like the rest of the United States, has a baffling addiction to average coffee. Franklin Barbecue, 900 E 11st A long-time Austin favourite described by the Texas Monthly as "serving the best barbecue in the known universe". It is everything you might dream about as a meat lover but be aware it doesn't take reservations, so prepare to queue, day or night. Books If you get away from the downtown area you will find a couple of gems for book lovers. Half Price Books ( several branches) are cavernous outlets full of discounted hardbacks, paperbacks and magazines. Barnes and Noble, 10000 Research Boulevard, is everything a book shop should be. It's off the beaten track but well worth a visit, a lovely, relaxed place with a great selection and knowledgeable staff in a fine building. Tacos Good cheap tacos are everywhere, in food trucks and funky restaurants. Try the $US5 ($NZ8.75) beef tacos at Velvet Tacos, 522 Congress Ave. It's fiercely competitive but there is still that American spirit of community — during the Great Texas Freeze of 2021 that left tens of thousands stranded in the cold and without basic necessities, four Taco joint owners — who became known as the Taco Mafia — joined forces to feed the city. Ginas on Congress, 314 Congress Avenue An upscale steak house in the heart of town, with friendly staff and a giant photo of Italian actress/model/bombshell Gina Lollobrigida on the wall. The owner is a big Italian movie fan — his other restaurant is called Sophia, as in Loren. I had the best Wagyu steak I have eaten outside of Japan, definitely not cheap at $US42 ($NZ73) but so good that I seriously resented requests from my film colleagues to give them a taste. Ice cream If you pass a branch of Lick (Honest Ice Cream), go inside and order a large portion of the Texas sheet cake. I have a sweet tooth and this chocolate confection is one of the best desserts I have ever tasted. Chi'lantro A chain with three branches in the city featuring — new to me but obviously wildly popular — Korean- Tex Mex fusion. For $US15 ($NZ26) you get a huge bowl of delicious food — mixing things like Korean barbecue chicken with Tortillas, black beans and corn or their take on B'Bimbap. It was all good. It's one of those very American immigrant success stories "If you're an immigrant, grew up with a single mom who had to support two kids, you're not getting good grades in school, if you have a sibling that was disabled, if you lost your dad to cancer, that's me," founder Jae Kim says in an online video. "Not a lot of people know [the struggle] who are born here. Like, going through the immigration process of getting a green card and like you're thinking like, 'Do I belong here?"' He started a food truck business by maxing out his credit cards and taking out his total savings of $30,000 to pursue his dream and he succeeded. But I couldn't help thinking how future Kims would fare in Maga world, even assuming Trump allows struggling people to get into the country.
