WAUKESHA, Wisconsin: Donald Trump returned briefly to the campaign trail Wednesday and called the judge presiding over his hush money trial “crooked” a day after he was held in contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order.
Trump’s remarks at events in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan were being closely watched after he received a $9,000 fine for making public statements about people connected to the criminal case. In imposing the fine for posts on Trump’s Truth Social account and campaign website, Judge Juan M. Merchan said that if Trump continued to violate his orders, he would “impose an incarceratory punishment.”
“There is no crime. I have a crooked judge. He’s a totally conflicted judge,” Trump said speaking to supporters at an event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, claiming again that this and other cases against him are led by the White House to undermine his campaign.
The gag order bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his hush money case. Trump is still free to criticize Merchan.
The former president is trying to achieve a balancing act unprecedented in American history by running for a second term as the presumptive Republican nominee while also fighting felony charges in New York. Trump frequently goes after Merchan, prosecutors and potential witnesses at his rallies and on social media, attack lines that play well with his supporters but that have potentially put him in further legal jeopardy.
Trump insists he is merely exercising his free speech rights, but the offending posts from his Truth Social account and campaign website were taken down. Merchan is weighing other alleged gag-order violations and will hear arguments on Thursday.
Trump has often called this case and other criminal cases against him “election interference,” saying they keep him from campaigning for the presidential election in November.
Attendees agreed he is being unfairly prosecuted, contending the trial and gag order were designed to distract him .
“It’s a trial looking for a crime,” said Ray Hanson, of Hartford. Hanson said he expected Trump’s lawyers would “keep him in line” so he doesn’t violate the gag order, as much as he likely wants to talk about the trial.
Manhattan prosecutors have argued Trump and his associates took part in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by purchasing and then burying negative stories. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump’s visits to Wisconsin and Michigan mark his second trip to the swing states in just a month. For the previous rallies, the former president largely focused on immigration, referring to people who are in the US illegally and who are suspected of crimes as “animals.”
Meanwhile, Democrats are hoping to remind voters ahead of these visits about Trump’s position on abortion, which Trump has been openly concerned about being a political liability for him and Republicans.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan met on Wednesday with half a dozen women, including a family doctor, and warned that a second Trump term would threaten abortion rights even in her state, which enshrined those rights in its state constitution after the Supreme Court overturned national rights to the procedure.
Whitmer appeared with the women at a bookstore in Flint surrounded by signs that read “Stop Trump’s Attacks on Health Care” and “Stop Trump’s Abortion Ban.” She told reporters not to believe Trump’s contention in a Time Magazine interview that Republicans would never have enough votes in the US Senate to pass a national abortion ban.
“We cannot trust anything that Donald Trump says when it comes to abortion. So no one should take any comfort in the fact that, yes, he wants an abortion ban, but he won’t get it because he doesn’t think we’ll have 60 votes in the Senate. Baloney,” she said. “No one would have imagined we’d be here in this moment.”
Wisconsin and Michigan are among a handful of battleground states expected to decide the 2024 election.
For Trump to win both states, he must do well in suburban areas like the areas outside of Milwaukee and Saginaw, Michigan, where he will hold Wednesday’s events. He underperformed in suburban areas during this year’s primary even as he dominated the Republican field overall.
Trump has repeatedly falsely said that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump’s losses in battleground states in 2020 have withstood recounts, audits and reviews by the Justice Department and outside observers.
Trump calls judge ‘crooked’ after facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order
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Trump calls judge ‘crooked’ after facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order
- The former president is trying to achieve a balancing act unprecedented in American history by running for a second term as the presumptive Republican nominee
Trump says he wants to ‘end conflicts not start them’
DOHA: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he wanted to "end conflicts not start them" as he addressed troops at the United States' sprawling Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Trump visited a US base installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East as he uses his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region.
"As president, my priority is to end conflicts, not start them, but I will never hesitate to wield American power if it's necessary to defend the United States of America or our partners," Trump said.
“Our soldiers are fighting against the enemies of civilization and defeating terrorism. Our soldiers embody American power and are the strongest in the world,” he added.
“Qatar will invest $10 billion in Al Udeid Air Base and the US base will soon have the F47 fighter jet,” he explained.
“We will not hesitate to use force to defend America and our allies,” he said.
Earlier, Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also witnessed the signing of a joint declaration of cooperation between the two governments, and letters of offer and acceptance for MQ-9B drones and the FS-LIDS anti-drone system, Qatar News Agency reported.
President Trump thanked the emir for Qatar’s warm hospitality and described Sheikh Tamim as a longtime friend and trusted partner. “We always had a very special relationship,” he said of the emir.
The President heads to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates as his last stop in his official visit to the GCC.
Russian delegation arrives in Turkiye for Ukraine war talks
- Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the delegation from Moscow
- A Ukrainian delegation including Zelensky was due to arrive in Ankara
ISTANBUL: Russia’s delegation arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, and a Ukrainian official said a delegation including President Volodymyr Zelensky was on its way the the Turkish capital Ankara.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the delegation from Moscow, however, according to a list released by the Kremlin Wednesday night, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn’t serious about the peace effort.
Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will lead the Russian delegation that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.
Earlier this week, Zelensky challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkiye to talk about ending the more than three-year war. Zelensky said he would travel to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wait for Putin.
A Ukrainian delegation including Zelensky was due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Also in the delegation are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, the official said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons as the team had not yet arrived in Ankara.
“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkiye. “The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter.”
But Zelensky will sit at the table only with Putin, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said.
Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but is expected to be clarified after Zelensky and Erdogan meet, according to a Ukrainian official who requested anonymity to speak openly about the day’s plan.
Tass said that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus.
Moscow offered talks instead of a ceasefire
Putin on Wednesday evening held a meeting with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting, among others.
Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin effectively rejected the proposal, offering direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead.
The Kremlin billed Thursday’s talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in the first weeks of the war in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on.
Russia’s delegation then was also headed by Vladimir Medinsky.
Putin’s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by US President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.
Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelensky to meet in Istanbul but said Thursday he wasn’t surprised that Putin was a no-show. He brushed off Putin’s decision to not take part in the talks.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said during a roundtable in Doha, Qatar
The US and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting.
NATO ministers back Ukraine
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with US State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday night. Antalya on Thursday is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense investment goals as the US shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.
Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the US for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. “So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.
On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn’t comply.
“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future,” Rubio said Thursday.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, also in Antalya for the NATO talks, accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process.
“We have one chair empty, which is the chair of Vladimir Putin. So now I guess the entire world has realized that there’s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations, and that certainly is Russia,” Valtonen said.
Barrot echoed her sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”
India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance
- Singh’s comments came as the nuclear-armed rivals ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades
SRINAGAR: Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal should be brought under the surveillance of the UN’s nuclear agency, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said Thursday, following last week’s conflict between Islamabad and New Delhi.
“I wanted to raise this question for the world: are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of a rogue and irresponsible nation?” Singh told troops at a base in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“I believe that Pakistan’s atomic weapons should be brought under he surveillance of IAEA. I want to say this very clearly,” he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“The entire world has seen how Pakistan has irresponsibly threatened India with nuclear attacks multiple times.”
Pakistan repeatedly said during the conflict that the nuclear option was not on the table.
Singh’s comments came as the nuclear-armed rivals ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades with a ceasefire announcement on Saturday.
The conflict sparked global concerns that it could spiral into a full-blown war.
The fighting began last Wednesday when India launched strikes against what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan.
Pakistan immediately responded with heavy artillery fire and a four-day standoff ensued between the South Asian rivals, which left around 70 people dead on both sides.
India claims Pakistan backed an April attack in which 26 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir — a charge Islamabad denies.
New Delhi had earlier denied targeting Pakistan’s nuclear installations during the brief conflict.
“We have not hit Kirana Hills,” Indian Air Marshal A.K. Bharti told reporters, referring to a vast rocky mountain range where, according to Indian media reports, Pakistan stores its nuclear arsenal.
China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army
BEIJING: China said Thursday it was ready to "expand practical cooperation" with the Russian army, after President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Moscow for a lavish World War II Victory Day parade.
"The Chinese military stands ready to work with the Russian side to further deepen strategic mutual trust, step up strategic communication, and expand practical cooperation," the ministry of defence said in a statement on social media platform WeChat.
Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza
- About 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched Wednesday in the Swiss host city of Basel
- Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her song “New Day Will Rise”
BASEL: Most contestants at the Eurovision Song Contest are seeking as much publicity as possible.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael is keeping a low profile.
The 24-year-old singer has done few media interviews or appearances during Eurovision week, as Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop music competition draws protests for a second year.
Raphael is due to perform Thursday in the second semifinal at the contest in the Swiss city of Basel. Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her anthemic song “New Day Will Rise.”
Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But last year’s event in Sweden drew large demonstrations calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry.
About 200 people, many draped in Palestinian flags, protested in central Basel on Wednesday evening, demanding an end to Israel’s military offensive and the country’s expulsion from Eurovision. They marched in silence down a street noisy with music and Eurovision revelry.
Many noted that Russia was banned from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”
Last year, Israeli competitor Eden Golan received boos when she performed live at Eurovision. Raphael told the BBC that she expects the same and has rehearsed with background noise so she won’t be distracted.
“But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone,” she said.
Anti-Israel protests in Basel have been much smaller than last year in Malmo. Another protest is planned for Saturday in downtown Basel, 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the contest venue, St. Jakobshalle arena.
But concern by some Eurovision participants and broadcasters continues.
More than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded. Several of the national broadcasters that fund Eurovision, including those of Spain, Ireland and Iceland, have called for a discussion about Israel’s participation.
Swiss singer Nemo, who brought the competition to Switzerland by winning last year, told HuffPost UK that “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”
At Wednesday’s protest, Basel resident Domenica Ott held a handmade sign saying “Nemo was right.”
She said the nonbinary singer was “very courageous.”
“If Russia couldn’t participate, why should Israel?” she said.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, pointed out that Israel is represented by its public broadcaster, KAN, not the government. It has called on participants to respect Eurovision’s values of “universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity” and its political neutrality.
