United States (US) officials are in Moscow to discuss a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived on Thursday morning to try to convince Russia to accept a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week in talks with the US. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov says talks were “taking place in a calm manner” – but rejected the proposal, saying it would amount to nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military and a chance for it to regroup. The US visit comes as the Russian military claimed to have recaptured Sudzha – a key town in the Kursk region that Ukraine invaded last year in a surprise attack. President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk on Wednesday and met military commanders, who told him
Tag Archives: USPolitics
Mar
Trump says cabinet will cut staff with Musk ‘watching’ US President Donald Trump called a meeting of his cabinet secretaries on Thursday to discuss Elon Musk and his efforts to slash government spending and personnel numbers. It turned heated, according to media reports. Musk accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of failing to cut enough staff at the state department, reports the New York Times. The tech mogul told Rubio he was “good on TV”, according to the newspaper, pointedly skipping any praise of his work as America’s top diplomat. The billionaire also clashed with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over whether Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) task force had tried to lay off air traffic controllers who are already in short supply in the Federal Aviation Administration, according to
Mar
Six weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump addressed Congress and the nation Tuesday evening, laying out his goals for the next four years. ABC News, along with PolitiFact, live fact-checked Trump’s speech statements that were exaggerated, needed more context or were false. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Mar. 4, 2025 in Washington Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images TRUMP CLAIM: Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control—and we are working hard to get it back down. FACT-CHECK: Lacking context. Though egg prices did increase under President Joe Biden, they have recently surged under Trump too — and that’s because of bird flu, which has led to the deaths of 136 million birds since 2022, according to the American Farm
Mar
He said the country’s president sent him a letter saying so before his speech. President Donald Trump signaled another twist in the back-and-forth over his effort to force a negotiated end to the Ukraine-Russia war during his speech Tuesday night. As he first mentioned Ukraine 90 minutes into his address, Trump provided an update following last week’s blowup in the Oval Office between him and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy left the White House after the shouting match and did not sign an anticipated deal that would have given the U.S. rare minerals from Ukraine. Trump claimed during his speech Zelenskyy sent him a letter just before his speech indicating that he was ready to come back to the negotiating table and was willing to sign the agreement to give
Feb
Bernd Debusmann Jr at the White House, BBC News Watch: Trump and Macron cite ‘progress’ in Ukraine war peace talks French President Emmanuel Macron said any peace deal in Ukraine must come with security guarantees, as he met US President Donald Trump at the White House for talks on the war. “This peace must not be a surrender of Ukraine, it must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees,” he said as the two leaders held a joint news conference following their meeting on Monday. Trump, who did not mention security guarantees himself, said the cost and burden of securing peace in Ukraine must be paid for by European nations and not just the US. Macron responded that Europe understood the need to “more fairly share the security burden”, and added
One week after Donald Trump took office again as American President, Kha Van received an email from her school explaining how to deal with U.S. immigration and customs authorities. Like other Vietnamese students and their foreign friends in the U.S., she is now overwhelmed by the feeling of uncertainty, one that has prevented them from doing regular stuff such as finding a part-time job or planning a summer vacation back at home. “My school sent an email to students telling us what to do when encountering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when going to school, what to say and how to behave when ICE enters our school, to defend our rights, as ICE can stomp into our school anytime to arrest someone,” she said. She said many schools in the
Feb
At a time when we anticipate the launch of a normalization process, dismantling USAID threatens to derail it before it even begins. By NADAV TAMIR FEBRUARY 10, 2025 01:30 PROTESTERS MARCH outside the USAID building in Washington last week after Elon Musk announced that work is underway to shut down the US foreign aid agency. USAID embodies the soft power of the United States and dismantling it contradicts the concept of ‘American exceptionalism,’ the writer argues. (photo credit: Kent Nishimura/Reuters) The Trump administration, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is taking an unprecedented step toward dismantling USAID and significantly reducing US foreign aid. In recent days, thousands of agency employees have been placed on forced leave, and all aid programs worldwide have been frozen. “USAID is not
US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Gaza’s population would only be temporary, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said. It follows Trump’s suggestion that the US could “take over” Gaza and resettle the millions of Palestinians living there – an idea that has drawn criticism from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt further clarified Trump’s comments, saying the US was not planning to put “boots on the ground” in the territory. Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said Gazans “should be allowed to enjoy freedom of exit and immigration”, but gave few details on how this would work. On a trip to Guatemala, Marco Rubio said Trump’s proposal was not “hostile”, but a “generous move”, showing “the willingness of the United
Jan
Two US lawmakers, including the chair of a hawkish congressional committee, are raising concerns about the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts’ decision to host the National Ballet of China, accusing the dance company of being a tool of China’s “political machinery”. They are urging the cultural institution to reconsider its ties with the Chinese ballet company. Representatives Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, and John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House select committee on China , sent a letter this week to Kennedy Centre chairman David Rubenstein and president Deborah Rutter regarding the NBC performances, which are scheduled from January 29 to February 2 in Washington as part of Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. 01:59 Taking Lunar New Year to Brooklyn Nets Taking Lunar
![Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva poses for a photo after his first cabinet meeting of 2025, at the Granja do Torto country residence in Brasilia, Brazil, on January 20 [Eraldo Peres/AP Photo]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Brazils-Lula-says-any-US-tariffs-would-be-reciprocated.jpg)
The Brazilian leader says he is looking for a relationship based on mutual respect after Trump threatens tariffs. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that, if the United States imposes tariffs on his country, he will respond in kind. Speaking at a news conference in the capital Brasilia, on Thursday, Lula said his country seeks a relationship based on mutual respect. His comments came in response to US President Donald Trump’s threat of heightened tariffs. “It is very simple: If he taxes Brazilian products, there will be reciprocity,” Lula told reporters. “Trump was elected to run the US, and I was elected to run Brazil. I will respect the US and want Trump to respect Brazil. That’s all.” The comments are the latest signal that Trump’s efforts
Jan
Donald Trump is sworn in for his second term, focusing on “American decline” and setting a combative tone for his presidency. Donald Trump vowed a new US “golden age” as he took the oath for a historic second presidential term Monday, but focused most of his dark inaugural speech on touting hardline policies to reverse what he called “American decline.” In an often divisive address, the 47th president took aim at illegal immigration and the culture wars as he capped the most remarkable comeback in US political history. “The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” Trump said in the US Capitol, where his inauguration was held indoors for the first time in decades
Jan
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). “Oooh, that’s a big one,” the newly inaugurated US president said as he approved the document after arriving back at the White House. It was one of dozens of executive actions he put his signature to on day one in office. This marks the second time Trump has ordered the US be pulled out of the WHO. Trump was critical of how the international body handled Covid-19 and began the process of pulling out from the Geneva-based institution during the pandemic. President Joe Biden later reversed that decision. Carrying out this executive action on day one makes it more likely the US will formally leave the global
![President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in November [Evan Vucci/AP Photo]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/How-will-Trump-approach-—-and-possibly-transform-—-presidential-power.jpg)
Washington, DC – United States President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in just five days, completing a stunning reversal of fortune that saw him rebound from defeat after his failed 2020 re-election bid. Trump’s second term in the White House, starting Monday, will serve as the latest test to his strong-armed approach to presidential power. How he proceeds could transform an office that has, for decades, grown in potency, despite its constitutional design as a balance to the legislative and judicial branches of the US government. Indeed, Trump’s sweeping claims of presidential authority — both in his norm-breaking first term and in the years since — have caused disquiet among experts who question what may come in the next four years. Marjorie Cohn, a professor emerita at the
Jan
“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will largely be implemented by the incoming administration,” Biden said. By HANNAH SARISOHN JANUARY 16, 2025 03:44 US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 15, 2025. (photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/POOL VIA REUTERS) President Biden began his farewell address on Wednesday night by taking credit for his administration’s “nonstop negotiations” over the past eight months that led to the ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas. As of Wednesday morning, it was uncertain that Biden would be able to speak of the finalized deal from behind the Resolute desk in his final address to the nation. “This plan was developed and negotiated by
![Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for attorney general, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 15 [Ben Curtis/AP Photo]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Key-takeaways-as-Trump-nominees-face-US-Senate-confirmation-hearings.jpg)
For a second day in a row, the United States Senate has weighed nominees for key positions in President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet, grilling candidates on their backgrounds and qualifications. Wednesday was a busy day for the Senate, as it held hearings for six Trump nominees, including heavy-hitters like Senator Marco Rubio — his pick to be secretary of state — and Pam Bondi, tapped for the attorney general’s seat. The hearings come as Republican leaders in Congress hope to give Trump a strong start to his second term, which begins on Monday. High-level cabinet positions need Senate approval, and Republicans hold 53 seats to the Democrats’ 45. Still, controversial nominees will need every vote possible to succeed in their appointment. Wednesday’s hearings, for instance, were preceded by fiery proceedings a day
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