CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa: Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he will challenge a subpoena by the special counsel overseeing Trump investigations to compel his testimony before a grand jury — pursuing it to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Special counsel Jack Smith, appointed by the Justice Department, is investigating efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump spent the days before Jan. 6, 2021, aggressively pressuring Pence to reject the outcome, even though Pence had no power to do so. Pence was at the US Capitol presiding over a joint session of Congress as Trump’s supporters violently stormed the building that day.
“Let me first be clear: I’m going to fight the Biden DOJ subpoena for me to appear before the grand jury because I believe it’s unconstitutional and it’s unprecedented,” Pence told reporters in Iowa, the state that will hold the first contest of the 2024 nominating sequence.
“Never before in American history has a vice president been summoned to appear in court to testify against the president with whom they serve,” he said.
Pence said he was prepared to take the case “as far as it needs to go, if needs be to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
The posture marks an aggressive turn for Pence, who has been laying the groundwork for a likely presidential run. While it remains unclear whether Pence will succeed in delaying or limiting the scope of his testimony, the posture gives the former vice president a new opening to attack the Justice Department, which has become increasingly unpopular among conservatives, in part due to Trump’s constant attacks.
Indeed, Pence repeatedly criticized the department Wednesday, complaining of a “two-tiered justice system that Republicans have been dealing with throughout the Biden administration.”
The Associated Press previously reported that Pence was ready to contest Smith’s demand for his appearance on constitutional grounds. He argues that because he was serving in his role as president of the Senate on Jan. 6, he is protected under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause from being forced to testify. That provision is intended to protect members of Congress from questioning about official legislative acts.
A spokesman for Smith declined to comment. The Justice Department, which had earlier declined to comment on Pence’s subpoena, is expected to oppose the former vice president’s efforts and make the case that his cooperation is essential.
Pence noted during an earlier stop in Minneapolis that he had written and spoken extensively about Trump’s efforts to pressure him to overturn the results of the election — something he did not have power to do — and has repeatedly denounced Trump’s efforts as “reckless” and “dangerous.”
“I have nothing to hide and I’m proud of what we accomplished. But for me, this is a moment where you have to decide where you stand, and I stand on the Constitution of the United States,” he said.
He added that he expects Trump to try to assert executive privilege to block his own testimony. “That’s not my fight. My fight is on the separation of powers,” Pence said.
Pence made his remarks after headlining events in Minneapolis and Cedar Rapids aimed at rallying conservative parents opposed to transgender-affirming policies in public schools. The events came as a federal appeals court was expected to hear oral arguments in St. Paul, Minnesota, in a case brought last summer by a national group representing parents of students in Linn-Mar Community School District in Marion, Iowa, near Cedar Rapids.
Parents Defending Education is trying to overturn a policy adopted by the school board last year allowing transgender students to request a gender support plan to begin socially transitioning at school without the permission of their parents. Pence’s advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, has filed an amicus brief in the case, as have dozens of mostly conservative groups and several conservative states.
“Across the country, parents’ rights are being trampled by a politically correct nanny state that’s ruining our schools and telling our parents that they have no role in their children’s most important decisions,” Pence said in Minneapolis, where he argued that parents must be informed of such decisions. “You do not craft a gender transition plan for my child without my knowledge or consent,” he said.
Though Pence says he has yet to make a decision about 2024, he has visited leadoff Iowa several times since the 2020 election. And his Wednesday event had the look and feel of a campaign stop, held in a pizza restaurant where candidates commonly hold court with voters.
Pence is hoping to draw the support of social and religious conservatives in what could be a crowded primary contest that already includes Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who formally launched her campaign Wednesday.
To that end, Pence’s advocacy group launched a new campaign last week on the schools issue, a flashpoint for many on the right, as Haley and other presidential prospects, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, prepare for their own visits to the state this month.
Pence says he will fight subpoena as far as Supreme Court
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Pence says he will fight subpoena as far as Supreme Court
- The Justice Department, which had earlier declined to comment on Pence’s subpoena, is expected to oppose the former vice president’s efforts and make the case that his cooperation is essential
Trump’s first 100 days: America First president is overturning world order
- “What we’re seeing is a huge disruption in world affairs,” said Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican administrations. “No one is certain at this point what to make of what’s happening or what will come next”
WASHINGTON/TOKYO/BRUSSELS: He has launched an unprecedented global tariff war and slashed US foreign aid. He has disparaged NATO allies and embraced Russia’s narrative about its invasion of Ukraine. And he has spoken about annexing Greenland, retaking the Panama Canal and making Canada the 51st state.
In the chaotic first 100 days since President Donald Trump returned to office, he has waged an often unpredictable campaign that has upended parts of the rules-based world order that Washington helped build from the ashes of World War II.
“Trump is much more radical now than he was eight years ago,” said Elliott Abrams, a conservative who served under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush before being appointed US special envoy on Iran and Venezuela in Trump’s first term. “I have been surprised.”
Trump’s second-term “America First” agenda has alienated friends and emboldened adversaries while raising questions about how far he is prepared to go. His actions, coupled with that uncertainty, have so unnerved some governments that they are responding in ways that could be difficult to undo, even if a more traditional US president is elected in 2028.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Countries consider defense boosts, closer China ties amid US policy shifts
• Experts warn of lasting damage to US relations with traditional allies
• White House says Trump is taking swift action to bring peace and prosperity
All this comes amid what the Republican president’s critics see as signs of democratic backsliding at home that have raised concerns abroad. These include verbal attacks on judges, a pressure campaign against universities and the transfer of migrants to a notorious El Salvador prison as part of a broader deportation drive.
“What we’re seeing is a huge disruption in world affairs,” said Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican administrations. “No one is certain at this point what to make of what’s happening or what will come next.”
This assessment of Trump’s shakeup of the global system comes from Reuters interviews with more than a dozen current and former government officials, foreign diplomats and independent analysts in Washington and capitals around the world.
Many say that while some of the damage already done could be long-lasting, the situation may not be beyond repair if Trump softens his approach. He has already backtracked on some issues, including the timing and severity of his tariffs.
But they see little chance of a dramatic shift by Trump and instead expect many countries to make lasting changes in their relationships with the US to safeguard against his erratic policy-making.
The fallout has already begun.
Some European allies, for instance, are looking to boost their own defense industries to reduce reliance on US weapons. Debate has intensified in South Korea about developing its own nuclear arsenal. And speculation has grown that deteriorating relations could prompt US partners to move closer to China, at least economically.
The White House rejects the notion that Trump has hurt US credibility, citing instead the need to clean up after what it calls former President Joe Biden’s “feckless leadership” on the world stage.
“President Trump is taking swift action to address challenges by bringing both Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table to end their war, stemming the flow of fentanyl and protecting American workers by holding China accountable, getting Iran to the negotiating table by reimposing Maximum Pressure,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement.
He said Trump was also “making the Houthis pay for their terrorism ... and securing our southern border that was open to invasion for four years.”
More than half of Americans, including one in five Republicans, think Trump is “too closely aligned” with Russia, and the American public has little appetite for the expansionist agenda he has laid out, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on April 21.
HIGH STAKES
At stake, say experts, is the future of a global system that has taken shape over the past eight decades largely under US primacy. It has come to be based on free trade, rule of law and respect for territorial integrity.
But under Trump, who has been scornful of multilateral organizations and often views global affairs through the transactional lens of a former real estate developer, that world order is being shaken up.
Accusing trading partners of “ripping off” the US for decades, Trump has set in motion a sweeping tariffs policy that has roiled financial markets, weakened the dollar and triggered warnings of a slowdown in worldwide economic output and increased risk of recession.
Trump has called the tariffs necessary “medicine” but his objectives remain unclear even as his administration works to negotiate separate deals with dozens of countries.
At the same time, he has all but reversed US policy on Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine and engaged in an Oval Office shouting match with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late February. He has warmed to Moscow and stirred fears that he will force NATO-backed Kyiv to accept the loss of territory while he prioritizes improved relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The administration’s belittling of Europe and NATO, long the central pillar of transatlantic security but accused by Trump and his aides of freeloading off the US, has caused deep unease.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, after winning February’s election, expressed concern about European relations with the United States, saying it would be difficult if those who put “America First” actually made their motto “America Alone.”
“This really is five minutes to midnight for Europe,” Merz said.
In a further blow to Washington’s global image, Trump has employed expansionist rhetoric long avoided by modern-day presidents, which some analysts say could be used by China as justification if it decides to invade self-governed Taiwan.
With his blustery style, he has insisted that the US will “get” Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish island. He has angered Canada by saying it has little reason to exist and should become part of the US He has threatened to seize the Panama Canal, which was handed over to Panama in 1999. And he has proposed that Washington take over war-ravaged Gaza and transform the Palestinian enclave into a Riviera-style resort.
Some analysts say Trump may be seeking to resurrect a Cold War-style global structure in which big powers carve up geographic spheres of influence.
Even so, he has offered no details on how the US could acquire more territory, and some experts suggest he may be assuming extreme and even over-the-top positions as bargaining ploys.
But some countries are taking him seriously.
“When you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a news conference in Greenland in early April. “This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations.”
COPING WITH TRUMP 2.0
Other governments are also beginning to recalibrate.
The European Union — which Trump has claimed, without evidence, was formed to “screw” the US — has prepared a range of retaliatory tariffs if negotiations fail.
Some countries such as Germany and France are looking at spending more on their militaries, something Trump has demanded but which could also mean investing more in their own defense industries and buying fewer arms from the US
With its historic friendship with the US now strained, Canada is seeking to strengthen economic and security links to Europe. This comes against the backdrop of Canada’s national elections on Monday dominated by voter resentment of Trump’s actions, which have triggered a nationalist wave and fueled perceptions that the US is no longer a reliable partner.
South Korea, too, has been rattled by Trump’s policies, including his threats to withdraw US troops. But Seoul has vowed to try to work with Trump and preserve the alliance it regards as critical against the threat of nuclear-armed North Korea.
US ally Japan is also on edge. It was taken by surprise by the magnitude of Trump’s tariffs and “is now scrambling to respond,” said a senior Japanese government official close to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
A key question is whether some governments will quietly hedge their bets by forging closer trade ties to China, Trump’s number one tariff target.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing in early April, and China said recently it exchanged views with the EU on bolstering economic cooperation.
Beijing has cast itself as a solution for nations that feel bullied by Trump’s trade approach, despite its own record of sometimes predatory practices internationally, and is also trying to fill the vacuum left by his cuts in humanitarian aid.
Aaron David Miller, a former veteran US diplomat in Republican and Democratic administrations, said it’s not too late for Trump to shift course on foreign policy, especially if he begins to feel pressure from fellow Republicans uneasy over economic risks as they seek to retain control of Congress in next year’s mid-term elections.
If Trump holds firm, the next president could try to re-establish Washington’s role as guarantor of the world order, but the obstacles could be steep.
“What’s happening is not yet beyond the point of no return,” said Miller, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. “But how much damage is being done now to our relations with friends and how much adversaries will benefit is probably incalculable.”
South Sudan opposition MP accuses government of ‘mapping genocide’
- South Sudan has been plagued by instability since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011
JUBA: A South Sudan opposition lawmaker on Sunday accused President Salva Kiir’s government of preparing a “genocide” of his rival Riek Machar’s Nuer community by classifying their homelands as “hostile.”
Months of clashes between Kiir’s forces and those loyal to the first vice president Machar, who was arrested in March, have stoked fears of a return to civil war in the world’s newest country.
Kiir’s allies have accused Machar’s forces of threatening that deal by fomenting unrest in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, in league with the so-called White Army, a loose band of ethnic Nuer armed youths in the region.
“The Nuer ethnic group, one of the largest in South Sudan, played a significant role in the liberation struggle,” read a government statement.
“The community spans 16 counties... out of these, nine are considered hostile,” meaning aligned with Machar’s party, the statement added.
Nasir County was among those considered hostile.
That designation was “reckless and malicious,” said Reath Muoch Tang, a deputy and top official in Machar’s party who is Nuer himself.
“This dangerous labelling... this sinister plan constitute(s) nothing short of a mapping for genocide against the Nuer community,” Tang said in a statement published on Facebook.
“It is a deliberate and calculated attempt to justify collective punishment, instigate violence, and destroy an entire society under the false cover of security measures.”
In a statement, Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, acting chairman of Machar’s party, cited a 2014 African Union report that found that “male Nuers were targeted, identified, killed on the spot or gathered in one place and killed” at roadblocks, checkpoints and house-to-house-searches.
“We warn and strongly condemn (this) perpetuation of State Policy and of ethnic and tribal profiling, targeting and cleansing,” said Pierino.
He said the party was taking steps toward filing charges of crimes against humanity and genocide, among others, at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Clashes around Nasir contributed to the unraveling of Kiir and Machar’s fragile 2018 power-sharing agreement, which had put an end to a civil war that killed around 400,000 people.
Some 6,000 White Army fighters are estimated to have stormed a military camp in Nasir in early March, with a top-ranking general among the victims.
The government said the attack killed 400 members of the armed forces, and has said it has since retaken the city, as well as Ulang, nearly a week ago, with the support of Ugandan forces.
Since March the violence has led to the deaths of at least 200 people across several South Sudan states and displaced around 125,000 more, according to the United Nations.
South Sudan has been plagued by instability since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.
Between 2013 and 2018, the fighting pitted the supporters of Machar against those of Kiir, who is from the Dinka ethnic group.
The Dinka and Nuer communities are the two largest groups in ethnically diverse South Sudan.
The president has moved to sideline Machar, who was placed under house arrest.
On Saturday, the South Sudanese government also discussed a “plan of action” to restore the peace agreement.
It suggested that it could choose which of the divided opposition factions is legitimate, potentially paving the way for Machar’s ousting, according to South Sudanese media.
Pierino, Machar’s ally, warned that “any attempt to change the structure” of the transitional government, “or replace the appointments therein... shall be rejected and resisted by all means at our disposal.”
Bessent does not back up Trump on China tariff discussions
- Trump’s erratic, and often confusing, rollout of tariffs has hit many countries including the largest US trading partners, like Canada, Mexico and China
WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday did not back President Donald Trump’s assertion that tariff talks with China were under way and said he did not know if the US president had talked to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Trump administration signaled openness last week to de-escalating a trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has raised fears of recession. Trump himself has said talks on tariffs were taking place with China and that he and Xi have spoken.
Yet Beijing has denied that any trade talks are occurring.
Bessent, a key player in US trade talks with multiple countries, said that he had interactions with his Chinese counterparts last week during International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, but did not mention tariffs.
“I had interaction with my Chinese counterpart, but it was more on the traditional things like financial stability, global economic early warnings,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I don’t know if President Trump has spoken with President Xi,” Bessent added. “I know they have a very good relationship and a lot of respect for each other.”
Asked why the Chinese were denying talks, Bessent said. “I think they’re playing to a different audience.”
Bessent, who said last week that tariff negotiations with Beijing would be a “slog,” did not give a timetable for any potential agreement with China.
He said a trade deal can take months, but a de-escalation and an agreement in principle can be achieved sooner and would keep tariffs from ratcheting back to the maximum level.
Trump’s erratic, and often confusing, rollout of tariffs has hit many countries including the largest US trading partners, like Canada, Mexico and China. The result has been almost unprecedented market volatility and serious damage to investor trust in US assets.
In a separate television interview on Sunday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the United States was holding daily conversations with China over tariffs, but did not elaborate.
“Every day we are in conversation with China, along with those other 99, 100 countries that have come to the table,” Rollins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
AU calls for action to tackle extremist threat in Sahel region
- The attack “highlights the urgent need for enhanced cooperation between neighboring states to address the growing threat posed by terrorist groups operating in the Sahel,” a statement read
NAIROBI: The African Union hs called for urgent cooperation to tackle extremist violence in the Sahel region, after a recent attack blamed on militants killed 54 soldiers in northern Benin.
The region, which borders both Niger and Burkina Faso, has seen a recent rise in strikes targeting army positions and on April 17, suspected extremists attacked military posts in a national park.
Benin’s government blamed the attacks on a spillover from Niger and Burkina Faso, both ruled by army officers who took power in coups on the promise of quashing the long-running extremist scourge in the Sahel.
The AU commission’s chairman, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, condemned the latest attack and called it “cowardly.”
The attack “highlights the urgent need for enhanced cooperation between neighboring states to address the growing threat posed by terrorist groups operating in the Sahel,” a statement read.
On Wednesday, Benin criticized the lack of cooperation with authorities in Burkina Faso and Niger, which have been hit by violence from armed groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
Burkina Faso and Niger have turned their backs on the West and accuse Benin of harboring foreign military bases to destabilize them. Benin has denied the accusations.
The April 17 attack was claimed by an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group which claimed that 70 Beninese soldiers were killed.
Rwanda’s actions in DR Congo unjustified: Belgian top diplomat
- UN experts and some Western countries have accused Rwanda of backing the M23, whose lightning offensive has raised fears of a regional war
KAMPALA: Belgium’s foreign minister said that Rwanda’s “legitimate” security concerns in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could not justify its former colony’s backing for the M23 armed group.
In an interview, Maxime Prevot urged both sides to negotiate an end to the conflict in the DRC’s troubled east, where the M23 has seized swathes of territory from the Congolese government.
“There will be no military solution in the east of the Congo. We need dialogue,” Prevot said after meeting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in the capital Kampala on Friday.
“The situation there remains extremely precarious and the local population pays the price every day,” the minister added, raising concerns of human rights abuses.
FASTFACT
President Paul Kagame’s government denies offering the M23 military support, but argues it faces threats from armed groups linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide present in the DRC’s east.
“There is an urgent need to act.”
Since the beginning of 2025 the M23 armed group has forced the Congolese army out of swathes of the DRC’s mineral-rich east, triggering a worsening humanitarian crisis and displacing hundreds of thousands.
UN experts and some Western countries have accused Rwanda of backing the M23, whose lightning offensive has raised fears of a regional war.
President Paul Kagame’s government denies offering the M23 military support, but argues it faces threats from armed groups linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide present in the DRC’s east.
Prevot said Rwanda’s security concerns were understandable, but its actions in the eastern DRC were unacceptable.
“I think that Rwanda, and it is legitimate, is looking for security,” Prevot said.
“But I fully disagree with Rwanda considering the way it is acting in the east of Congo.”
Prevot denied Belgium’s position was linked to its colonial history. Belgium ruled Rwanda and neighboring Burundi from 1916 to 1962.
Rwanda, which according to UN experts maintains 4,000 troops in the DRC to support the M23, severed diplomatic links with Belgium in March because of its stance on the conflict.
“We do not have any feeling of past colonialism regrets,” Prevot said. “And certainly not for me. I have a lot of respect for Rwanda.”
Prevot welcomed mediation efforts by Qatar and the United States between the DRC, the M23 and Rwanda but cautioned against false optimism.
“I hope I’m not being naive with the positive announcements” made this week, the minister said.
The DRC and the M23 issued a statement this week pledging to work toward a ceasefire and to engage in dialogue to end the conflict, with Qatar facilitating the talks.
Responding to suggestions that the parties to the talks were using a lull in the fighting to prepare a further military offensive, Prevot said: “I hope that this is not a kind of smokescreen and that everybody is sincere.”
Prevot acknowledged Belgium’s limited influence, given diplomatic tensions with Rwanda, but said efforts should continue.
“I hope it will be possible in the coming months to reopen, maybe discreetly, maybe informally, communication channels,” the foreign minister said.
“The way Belgium is reacting is not against Rwanda, it’s for the defense of international law, humanitarian law, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Kristof Titeca, a Belgian academic specializing in the African Great Lakes region, told AFP that Belgium has played a key role in Europe advocating for sanctions against Rwanda.
But he warned that the situation on the ground remains fragile, while domestic Congolese politics complicated the picture.
“It has become close to impossible for Kinshasa to regain the territories lost to M23 and Rwanda,” Titeca said.
Any outside power hoping to intervene would have “to navigate both Rwanda’s support for M23 and the structural weaknesses in the Congolese political system,” he added.
Titeca said Rwanda’s minimum objective appears to be the establishment of a “buffer zone” in the eastern DRC, either through the M23 or through influence over a local administration.
Following his visit to Uganda, Prevot will continue his tour in Burundi and the DRC.
