US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in a call on Wednesday of the need for an effective mechanism to coordinate humanitarian and military operations in Gaza, the Pentagon said.
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Pentagon chief tells Israel of need to coordinate humanitarian, military Gaza operations
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Pentagon chief tells Israel of need to coordinate humanitarian, military Gaza operations
Trump to the people of Greenland: ‘We will make you rich’
- Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring the island
- Denmark, a NATO ally, says Greenland is not for sale
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring Greenland in his address to Congress on Tuesday, painting a picture of prosperity and safety for the “incredible people” of the island, an autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark.
“We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before,” Trump said.
“It’s a very small population, a very, very large piece of land, and very, very important for military security,” he added.
Opinion polls suggest that most Greenlanders oppose joining the US, although a majority favor eventual independence from Denmark.
Even before starting his second term as president, Trump said he hoped to make Greenland a part of the United States, even though NATO ally Denmark says it is not for sale.
Greenland’s strategic location and rich mineral resources could benefit the US It lies along the shortest route from Europe to North America, vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.
“We need it really for international world security,” Trump said.
In his speech, Trump said he had a message for the people of Greenland. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump said.
He said his administration was “working with everybody involved” to try to get Greenland, but also added, “I think we’re going to get it, one way or the other, we’re gonna get it,” to laughter from his fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives chamber.
Trump’s interest in Greenland has invigorated that country’s independence movement, sparking calls for swift secession discussions with Denmark, its former colonial ruler.
But Greenland’s ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit party has said it will not rush an independence vote through after a March 11 general election, cautioning about possible economic and welfare implications.
“The future of Greenland is really for the people of Greenland to decide,” Denmark’s UN Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen told reporters on Monday. “Independence is possible and they have the right to self-determination.”
Lassen said Denmark agreed with the Trump administration that in the current geopolitical environment there was a need to look at further strengthening security around the Arctic and “that’s something we’ve been working together with NATO and the US on for a while.”
“We have a very close transatlantic bond with the United States. We’ve been working very closely with the US on security matters related to Greenland and the Arctic for decades,” she said.
“We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before,” Trump said.
“It’s a very small population, a very, very large piece of land, and very, very important for military security,” he added.
Opinion polls suggest that most Greenlanders oppose joining the US, although a majority favor eventual independence from Denmark.
Even before starting his second term as president, Trump said he hoped to make Greenland a part of the United States, even though NATO ally Denmark says it is not for sale.
Greenland’s strategic location and rich mineral resources could benefit the US It lies along the shortest route from Europe to North America, vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.
“We need it really for international world security,” Trump said.
In his speech, Trump said he had a message for the people of Greenland. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump said.
He said his administration was “working with everybody involved” to try to get Greenland, but also added, “I think we’re going to get it, one way or the other, we’re gonna get it,” to laughter from his fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives chamber.
Trump’s interest in Greenland has invigorated that country’s independence movement, sparking calls for swift secession discussions with Denmark, its former colonial ruler.
But Greenland’s ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit party has said it will not rush an independence vote through after a March 11 general election, cautioning about possible economic and welfare implications.
“The future of Greenland is really for the people of Greenland to decide,” Denmark’s UN Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen told reporters on Monday. “Independence is possible and they have the right to self-determination.”
Lassen said Denmark agreed with the Trump administration that in the current geopolitical environment there was a need to look at further strengthening security around the Arctic and “that’s something we’ve been working together with NATO and the US on for a while.”
“We have a very close transatlantic bond with the United States. We’ve been working very closely with the US on security matters related to Greenland and the Arctic for decades,” she said.
Trump says he received letter from Zelensky saying Ukraine ready for dialogue
- Zelensky’s talks with Trump in the White House on Friday broke down in acrimonious exchanges.
NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he appreciated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s willingness to sign a minerals deal with the United States and come to the negotiating table under his leadership to bring a lasting peace closer in Kyiv’s war with Russia.
Trump said in an address to the US Congress that Zelensky made the declaration in a letter to him earlier in the day.
Zelensky posted on X earlier that Ukraine was ready to sign the deal and talk peace and called a contentious Oval Office meeting last week after which it was put on hold “regrettable.”
The Trump administration and Ukraine plan to sign the minerals deal, four people familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier on Tuesday. Trump had told his advisers that he wanted to announce an agreement in his address to Congress, three of the sources said, cautioning that the deal had yet to be signed and the situation could change.
Trump’s remarks suggested that progress had been made.
“Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelensky of Ukraine. The letter reads, ‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said.
Trump said Zelensky had said he stood ready to work “under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts” and that he valued how much America had done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you,” Trump quoted Zelensky as saying.
“I appreciate that he sent this letter,” Trump said, adding that “Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace.
Trump has said the agreement will help secure a peace deal by giving the United States a financial stake in Ukraine’s future. He views it as America’s way of earning back some of the tens of billions of dollars it has given to Ukraine in financial and military aid since Russia invaded three years ago.
Zelensky was dismissed from the White House after being berated by Trump and his vice president, who said he should thank the US for its support rather than asking for additional aid for Ukraine’s war against Russian in front of the media.
“You’re gambling with World War Three,” Trump said on Friday.
US officials urged apology
US officials have in recent days spoken to officials in Kyiv about signing the minerals deal despite Friday’s blow-up, and urged Zelensky’s advisers to convince the Ukrainian president to apologize openly to Trump, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” Zelensky said in his post on X. “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.”
It was unclear if the deal has changed. The version that was to be signed last week included no explicit security guarantees for Ukraine but gave the US access to revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources. It also envisaged the Ukrainian government contributing 50 percent of future monetization of any state-owned natural resources to a US-Ukraine managed reconstruction investment fund.
On Monday, Trump signaled that his administration remained open to signing the deal, telling reporters in a gaggle that Ukraine “should be more appreciative.”
“This country has stuck with them through thick and thin,” Trump said. “We’ve given them much more than Europe, and Europe should have given more than us.”
France, Britain and possibly other European countries have offered to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire but would want support from the US or a “backstop.” Moscow has rejected proposals for peacekeeping troops.
Daniel Fried, a former senior White House official and ambassador to Poland, said the path to getting the minerals deal done has been messy, but it would deliver two solid wins for Trump — Zelensky’s statement of regret and the agreement of Britain and France to provide security and boots on the ground.
“Trump can and should take the win. He’d be able to say that he ... got the Europeans to stand up in front of an issue of European security, which they’ve never done before,” said Fried, now a fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Trump hails ‘unstoppable’ America in return to Congress
- Trump addresses Congress following his tumultuous first weeks in office
- Trump vows more tariffs, dividing Republicans
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump took a victory lap in an address to Congress on Tuesday, drawing catcalls and interruptions from some Democratic lawmakers who held up signs and walked out mid-speech in protest.
The partisan rancor was reflective of the tumult that has accompanied Trump’s first six weeks in office upending US foreign policy, igniting a trade war with close allies and slashing the federal workforce. The primetime speech, his first to Congress since taking office on January 20, capped a second day of market turmoil after he imposed sweeping new tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China.
Trump’s address was reminiscent of his campaign rallies, though he largely avoided his habit of straying from prepared remarks to deliver asides. The president assailed his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, attacked illegal immigrants he said were savage and what he called “transgender ideology.”
He vowed to balance the federal budget, even as he urged lawmakers to enact a sweeping tax cut agenda that nonpartisan analysts say could add more than $5 trillion to the federal government’s $36 trillion debt load. Congress will need to act to raise the nation’s debt ceiling later this year or risk a devastating default.
“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump began to a standing ovation from fellow Republicans. “Our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again.”
Democrats held up signs with messages like “No King” and “This Is NOT Normal,” and dozens walked out mid-speech.
One Texas congressman, Al Green, was ordered removed after he refused to sit down.
“The chair now directs the sergeant at arms to restore order. Remove this gentleman from the chamber,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said after warning Democrats to maintain decorum. Green, shaking his walking cane at Trump, appeared to be shouting that Trump did not win a mandate in November’s election after the president bragged about the Republicans’ victories. As Green was led from the chamber, some Republicans sang, “Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, goodbye.”
Trump, a political brawler by nature, appeared to revel in the disagreements.
“I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud,” he said after Green’s ejection. Trump spoke in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers huddled in fear for their lives a little over four years ago while a mob of Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over the then-incumbent Trump.
He vowed to balance the federal budget, even as he urged lawmakers to enact a sweeping tax cut agenda that nonpartisan analysts say could add more than $5 trillion to the federal government’s $36 trillion debt load. Congress will need to act to raise the nation’s debt ceiling later this year or risk a devastating default.
The president praised billionaire businessman Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has downsized more than 100,000 federal workers, cut billions of dollars in foreign aid and shuttered entire agencies.
Trump credited Musk with identifying “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” a claim that far exceeds even what the administration has claimed so far. Musk, seated in the gallery, received ovations from Republicans.
More tariffs coming
Trump reiterated his intention to impose additional reciprocal tariffs on April 2, a move that would likely roil financial markets even more.
“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries,” he said.
On this point, many Republicans remained seated, a signal of how Trump’s tariffs have divided his party. Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two of the country’s closest allies, and an additional 10 percent on Chinese imports deepened investor concerns about the economy. The Nasdaq Composite is down more than 9 percent from its record closing high on December 16, near the 10 percent decline commonly called a market correction.
Trump, who has often taken credit for market increases, did not mention this week’s downturn in his speech. He also barely mentioned stubbornly high prices, blaming Biden and saying he was “fighting every day” to lower costs.
Just one in three Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, a potential danger sign amid worries his tariffs could increase inflation.
World leaders were watching Trump’s speech closely, a day after he paused all military aid to Ukraine. The suspension followed an Oval Office blowup in which Trump angrily upbraided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in front of TV cameras.
The pause in aid threatened Kyiv’s efforts to defend against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion three years ago, and further rattled European leaders worried that Trump is moving the US too far toward Moscow. While Trump has appeared to fault Ukraine for starting the war, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found 70 percent of Americans — including two-thirds of Republicans — say Russia was more to blame.
Tax cuts
Trump urged Congress to extend his 2017 tax cuts. Congressional Republicans have advanced a sweeping $4.5 trillion plan that would extend the tax cuts, tighten border security and fund a huge increase in deportations.
The proposal calls for $2 trillion in spending reductions over a decade, with possible cuts to education, health care and other social services.
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Trump’s full tax agenda, including elimination of taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits, could cost between $5 trillion and $11.2 trillion over a decade. Democrats invited civil servants hit by DOGE firings or funding freezes to Tuesday’s speech to underscore the damage they say DOGE is doing to Americans. Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA agent, will deliver the Democratic Party’s rebuttal.
US lists Department of Justice, FBI buildings in Washington for possible sale
- The potential sell-off appears to be part of Trump’s effort to slash the size of the federal government, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration said on Tuesday it was considering selling some of the US government’s most iconic properties, including the headquarters of the Department of Justice, the FBI and the building that once housed Trump’s luxury hotel.
The General Services Administration, which manages federal properties, said it had identified 443 properties totaling more than 80 million square feet that “are not core to government operations” and could be sold off.
The potential sell-off appears to be part of Trump’s effort to slash the size of the federal government, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk. The downsizing drive has already led to 100,000 workers taking buyouts or being fired.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has claimed that it has saved $105 billion so far, in part by canceling leases on government properties. Budget experts have cast doubt on the reliability of DOGE’s data.
The GSA said in a statement it could “no longer hope” to secure the money to bring the properties up to date and said a sale could potentially save more than $430 million in annual operating costs.
Some of the buildings on GSA’s list, such as the Old Post Office, which formerly housed the Trump International Hotel, are newly renovated. Others, such as the FBI’s crumbling J. Edgar Hoover Building, are widely seen as outdated. The GSA said in 2023 it would build a new FBI headquarters in Maryland.
It was not clear how many of the buildings on GSA’s list will eventually be put up for sale, or what sort of price they might bring. GSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several agencies whose headquarters could potentially be sold off also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The list includes the headquarters for several major government agencies, including the Veterans Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Aviation Administration.
GSA’s own headquarters were also on the list.
The list includes skyscrapers in Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland, as well as several Internal Revenue Service hubs that process tax returns.
The IRS said in an internal memo last week that it would sell those buildings starting in June, after the April tax filing season is complete.
Trudeau slams Trump for starting a trade war with Canada while appeasing Putin
- “I want to speak directly to one specific American, Donald,” Trudeau said
- Trump has threatened Canada’s sovereignty, provoking anger in the country
TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday called American tariffs “very dumb” and said that US President Donald Trump is appeasing Russia while launching a trade war against Canada.
In a blunt news conference during his final days in office, Trudeau said that Canada would plaster retaliatory tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods in response to Trump’s 25 percent tariffs.
“Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” a visibly angry Trudeau said.
Trump imposed tariffs against Washington’s three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin. Just after midnight, Trump put 25 percent taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10 percent on Canadian energy.
“What he wants to see is a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that will make it easier to annex us,” Trudeau said. “That is never going to happen. We will never be the 51st state.”
Trudeau addressed Trump directly by his first name.
“I want to speak directly to one specific American, Donald,” Trudeau said. “It’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.”
Later Tuesday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the US would likely meet Canada and Mexico “in the middle,” with an announcement coming as soon as Wednesday.
Lutnick told Fox Business News that the tariffs would not be paused, but that Trump would reach a compromise.
“I think he’s going to figure out, you do more, and I’ll meet you in the middle in some way,” Lutnick said.
In a post on Truth Social earlier Tuesday, Trump said: “Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the US, our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!”
Trump has threatened Canada’s sovereignty, provoking anger in the country. Canadian hockey fans have been booing the American national anthem at recent NHL and NBA games. Trudeau channeled the betrayal that many Canadians are feeling.
“Canadians are hurt. Canadians are angry. We are going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida,” Trudeau said. “We are going to choose to try and buy Canadian products ... and yeah we’re probably going to keep booing the American anthem.”
The premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said that he would issue a 25 percent export tax on electricity sold to the US and may later cut it off completely if the American tariffs persist. Ontario powered 1.5 million homes in the US in 2023 in Michigan, New York and Minnesota.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also told The Associated Press that he would stop the sale of nickel and rare minerals to the US
Ontario and other provinces already began removing American liquor brands from government store shelves. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario sells nearly $1 billion Canadian dollars ($687 million) worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers every year.
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