Trump | Pakistan

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Saudi Arabia was being designated as a “major, non-Nato ally”. “Tonight, I’m pleased to announce that we’re taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-Nato ally, which is something that is very important to them,” Trump said during a formal black-tie dinner at the White House. “And I’m just telling you now for the first time, because they wanted to keep a little secret for tonight,” Trump said of the designation, which only 19 other countries have previously received. View this post on Instagram According to Politico, the other countries in that category include Israel, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. The status provides a US partner with military and economic privileges but does not entail security commitments. US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June had made Saudi Arabia safer, Trump added. Meanwhile, bin Salman had earlier promised to increase his country’s US investment to $1 trillion from a $600 ...

The United Nations Security Council on Monday voted to adopt a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and authorising an international stabilisation force for the Palestinian enclave. Israel and Hamas agreed last month to the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza — a ceasefire in their two-year war and a hostage-release deal — but the UN resolution is seen as vital to legitimising a transitional governance body and reassuring countries that are considering sending troops to Gaza. The text of the resolution says member states can take part in the Board of Peace, envisioned as a transitional authority that would oversee the reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza. It also authorises the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), which would ensure a process of demilitarising Gaza, including by decommissioning weapons and destroying military infrastructure. Trump’s 20-point plan is included as an annexe to the resolution. Russia, which holds a veto on the ...

The United States Justice Department said on Friday it will fulfil President Donald Trump’s request to investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to former Democratic President Bill Clinton and JPMorgan, as Trump sought to shift the focus from his relationship with the convicted sex offender. The move comes two days after a congressional committee released thousands of documents that raised new questions about Trump’s relationship with the late financier, and marks the latest in a series of demands by Trump for federal law enforcement to pursue his perceived political enemies. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, will lead the investigation. The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trump’s side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. Many Trump voters believe Bondi and other Trump officials have covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his deat...

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is considering agreeing to a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 stealth fighter jets, which are made by Lockheed Martin. “They wanna buy a lot of jets,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I’m looking at that. They’ve asked me to look at it. They want to buy a lot of ‘35’ — but they want to buy actually more than that, fighter jets.” The potential sale comes as Trump plans to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House next week, when they are expected to sign economic and defence agreements. Asked about the talks, Trump told reporters it was “more than meeting, we’re honouring” Saudi Arabia. He repeated that he hoped Saudi Arabia would soon join the Abraham Accords, which have normalised relations between Israel and Muslim-majority nations. Riyadh has resisted such a step absent agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood. A Pentagon intelligence report has raised concerns over the potential F-35 deal, warning that ...

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would likely sue the BBC next week for as much as $5 billion after the British broadcaster admitted it wrongly edited a video of a speech he gave but insisted there was no legal basis for his claim. The British Broadcasting Corporation has been plunged into its biggest crisis in decades after two senior leaders resigned following accusations of bias, including over the editing of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol. Trump’s lawyers had initially set a Friday deadline for the BBC to retract its documentary or face a lawsuit for “no less” than $1bn. They also demanded an apology and compensation for what they called “overwhelming reputational and financial harm,” according to a letter seen by Reuters. The BBC, which has admitted its editing of Trump’s remarks was an “error of judgement,” sent a personal apology to Trump on Thursday but said it would not rebroadcast the documentary and rejected the defamation claim. “We’ll sue the...

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday he wants the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate links between the late alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and former Democratic president Bill Clinton. Seeking to turn the tables after a new trove of Epstein emails reignited questions over his own ties to the disgraced financier, Trump also demanded a probe into US bank JPMorgan Chase, ex-Harvard president Larry Summers and others. Republican Trump accused rival Democrats of “using the Epstein Hoax” to distract from the party’s recent compromise to end a record US government shutdown, and said the scandal involved “Democrats, not Republicans.” “I will be asking AG Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, JP Morgan, Chase and many other people and institutions,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Records show that the...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed legislation ending the longest government shutdown in US history, roughly two hours after the House of Representatives voted to restart disrupted food assistance, pay hundreds of thousands of federal workers and revive a hobbled air-traffic control system. The Republican-controlled chamber passed the package by a vote of 222-209, with Trump’s support largely keeping his party together in the face of vehement opposition from House Democrats, who are angry that a long standoff launched by their Senate colleagues failed to secure a deal to extend federal health insurance subsidies. Trump’s signature on the bill, which cleared the Senate earlier in the week, will bring federal workers idled by the 43-day shutdown back to their jobs starting as early as Thursday, although just how quickly full government services and operations will resume is unclear. View this post on Instagram It would extend funding through January 30, leaving the federal government on a path to kee...

Democrats released emails on Wednesday in which convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein suggested that United States President Donald Trump was aware of the financier’s sexual abuse and definitely “knew about the girls”. Trump has denied any involvement in or knowledge of the sex-trafficking activities of his former friend, who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019 as he was awaiting trial. But Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the emails “raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein’s horrific crimes”. The furore around the disgraced financier is still roiling Trump’s administration four months after his Justice Department effectively closed the case, announcing there was no more information to share. Democrats in the House — keen to capitalise on the simmering controversy — have been trying to force a vote that would compel publication of the full Epstein case files. The newly released emails were written to longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted ...

The director general of Britain’s BBC, Tim Davie, and the chief executive of news, Deborah Turness, have resigned following criticism over bias at the corporation, including in the way it edited a speech by United States President Donald Trump. The BBC has been embroiled in a spate of allegations that it had failed to maintain political neutrality in its reporting, including in its coverage of Trump, the Israel-Hamas war and over transgender issues. In the most recent controversy, The Daily Telegraph had reported for days on an internal document produced by a former BBC adviser on standards who had listed a raft of errors, including in the way a speech by Trump on January 6, 2021, was edited. The document suggested the flagship ‘Panorama’ programme had edited two parts of Trump’s speech together so he appeared to encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021. “This is entirely my decision, and I remain very thankful to the Chair and Board for their unswerving and unanimous support throughout my entire tenu...

United States President Donald Trump has been talking up the prospects of Saudi Arabia agreeing to normalise ties with Israel, but it is unlikely to happen when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House this month. The establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia after decades of enmity could shake up the political and security landscape in the Middle East, potentially strengthening US influence in the region. Trump said last month he hoped Saudi Arabia would “very soon” join other Muslim countries that signed the 2020 Abraham Accords normalising ties with Israel. But Riyadh has signalled to Washington through diplomatic channels that its position has not changed: it will sign up only if there is agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood, two Gulf sources told Reuters. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman speaks with US President Donald Trump on the day of the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 13. — Reuters/File The intention is to a...

• Muslim diplomats parsing US resolution carefully, expect it to ‘evolve’ • Azerbaijan will only send peacekeepers ‘if fighting stops’ WASHINGTON: President Don­ald Trump said on Thursday that he expects a US-coordinated International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to be on the ground in Gaza “very soon”. The multinational force — likely to include troops from Mus­lim countries such as Egypt, Qat­ar, Turkiye, etc — is part of Trump’s post-war governance plan for Gaza. The plan helped lead to a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on October 10, but the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has not abated. “It’s going to be very soon. And Gaza is working out very well,” Trump said at a White House fun­ction with Central Asian leaders. “You haven’t been hearing too much about problems, and I’ll tell you, we’ve had countries that have volunteered if there’s a problem with Hamas.” The force is supposed to train and support vetted Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip, with backing from Egypt and Jordan. It also will be tas...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords to have normalised relations between Israel and Muslim-majority nations. The announcement came after Trump said he had held a call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. “We will soon announce a signing ceremony to make it official, and there are many more countries trying to join this club of STRENGTH,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Kazakh government said in a statement that the matter was in the final stage of negotiations. “Our anticipated accession to the Abraham Accords represents a natural and logical continuation of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy course grounded in dialogue, mutual respect, and regional stability,” it added. Kazakhstan already has full diplomatic relations and economic ties with Israel, meaning the move would be largely symbolic, something Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back against on Thursday. “It’s an enhanced relationship beyond ...

US President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked around 80,000 non-immigrant visas since its inauguration on January 20 for offences ranging from driving under the influence to assault and theft, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday. The extent of the revocations, first reported by the Washington Examiner, reflects a broad immigration crackdown initiated when Trump came into office, deporting an unprecedented number of migrants, including some who held valid visas. The administration has also adopted a stricter policy on granting visas, with tightened social media vetting and expanded screening. Around 16,000 of the visa revocations were tied to cases of driving under the influence, while about 12,000 were for assault and another 8,000 for theft. “These three crimes accounted for almost half of revocations this year,” said the senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. In August, a State Department spokesperson said Washington had revoked more than 6,000 st...

The United States Supreme Court is due on Wednesday to hear arguments over the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs in a case with implications for the global economy that marks a major test of the Republican president’s powers and the willingness of the justices to let him push the limits of his authority. The arguments are set to begin at 10am EST (1500 GMT) after lower courts ruled that Trump’s unprecedented use of a 1977 federal law meant for national emergencies to impose the tariffs exceeded his authority. The challenge involves three lawsuits brought by businesses affected by the tariffs and 12 US states, most of them Democratic-led. Trump has heaped pressure on the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to preserve tariffs that he has leveraged as a key economic and foreign policy tool. The tariffs could add up to trillions of dollars for the US over the next decade. If the justices strike them down, “we would be defenceless, leading perhaps even to the ruination of our nation”, ...

United States President Donald Trump speaks often with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and trade teams from both countries continue to hold talks, the White House said on Tuesday. “The president and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions with India,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “I know the president has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently.” Trump said last week in South Korea that he wanted to reach a trade deal with India — signalling a thaw in relations that soured to their lowest point in decades after the US president doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50 per cent as punishment for India’s purchases of Russian oil. Indian refiners cut Russian oil imports after Washington imposed sanctions last week on Moscow’s top two crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil. Earlier this month, Trump claimed that Modi has agreed to cut Russian oil imports — something New Delhi has not commented on. A White House official said New Delhi h...

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will be at the White House on November 18 for an official working visit with United States President Donald Trump, a White House official said on Monday. The visit comes as Trump pushes Saudi Arabia to join the list of nations that have joined the Abraham Accords. In 2020, Trump reached deals with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to normalise relations with Israel. The Saudis have been hesitant to join in the absence of steps toward Palestinian statehood. Trump told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he believed the Saudis would ultimately join the accords. The US president also said earlier this month that he expected an expansion of the Abraham Accords soon and hoped Saudi Arabia would join the pact. In August, he also stressed the importance of Middle Eastern countries joining the accords. Trump and the crown prince may also discuss a US-Saudi defence agreement. The Financial Times reported two weeks ago that there ...

US President Donald Trump has included Pakistan among countries that he claims are “testing nuclear weapons”, saying that he did not want the US to be the only country that does not do so. “North Korea has been testing. Pakistan has been testing. […] But they don’t go and tell you about it,” he said in an interview on CBS News programme ‘60 Minutes’, where he was asked about his recent directives to the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons. He also named Russia and China as testing nuclear weapons. In a recent social media post, Trump had instructed the US Department of War to resume testing nuclear weapons “immediately”. Confusion has surrounded Trump’s order that the US begin testing, particularly if he meant conducting the country’s first nuclear explosion since 1992. When the matter was brought up during the interview, Trump said: “Well, we have more nuclear weapons than any other country. I think we should do something about denuclearisation. And I did actually discuss that with both Russian Presid...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed on Saturday he apologised to United States President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff ad featuring former US leader Ronald Reagan and had told Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to run it. Trump announced he would be hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10 per cent and terminated all trade talks following what he called the “fake” anti-tariff ad campaign. “I did apologise to the president. The president was offended,” Carney told journalists in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, adding trade talks would restart when the US is “ready”. Carney also confirmed that he had reviewed the ad with Ford before it aired, but said he had opposed using it. “I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” he said. The ad, commissioned by Ford, an outspoken Conservative politician who is sometimes compared to Trump, uses a snippet of Republican icon and former president Reagan saying that tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster. Carney also called talks wit...

United States President Donald Trump ordered the US military on Thursday to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons after a gap of 33 years, minutes before beginning a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump made the surprise announcement on Truth Social while he was aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to meet Xi for a trade negotiating session in Busan, South Korea. He said he was instructing the Pentagon to test the US nuclear arsenal on an “equal basis” with other nuclear powers. “Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.” The move comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone, in defiance of Washington’s warnings. A senior Russian lawmaker said Trump’s de...

US President Donald Trump said he had struck a deal to reduce tariffs on China on Thursday in exchange for Beijing resuming US soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit trade of fentanyl. His remarks after the face-to-face talks with China’s leader Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of Trump’s whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations. The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, lasted nearly two hours. Trump shook hands and escorted Xi to his car before the US president was given a red carpet send off at the airport. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said the meeting with Xi yielded an extendable one-year deal on the supply of crucial rare earths. “All the rare earths has been settled, and that’s for the world,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that th...