WASHINGTON DC: Donald Trump has warned that sending him to prison could prove a “breaking point” for his supporters — remarks that will fuel concerns of political violence around the US presidential election on November 5.
In an interview aired Sunday on Fox News, the former president and current Republican White House hopeful acknowledged the possibility of jail time or house arrest following his historic criminal conviction in a hush money trial.
“I’m ok with it,” Trump said, but added he was “not sure the public would stand for it.”
“I think it would be tough for the public to take. You know at a certain point there’s a breaking point,” he added.
The warning will resonate in a country already concerned about the prospect of civil unrest and political harassment in the run-up to the November ballot.
Trump will now be running as a convicted felon, and he has repeatedly made it clear he will not accept the result should he lose to President Joe Biden.
A New York jury on Thursday convicted Trump on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the final stages of the 2016 presidential campaign to cover up a sex scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels.
It was the first criminal conviction of a former president in US history, and sentencing has been set for July 11 — just days before the Republican convention that will formally anoint Trump as the party’s presidential nominee.
Although each charge carries a possible four-year jail term, experts say it is extremely unlikely that the judge will hand down a custodial sentence.
Trump faces three other criminal trials, including one related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost to Biden.
Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 after he delivered a fiery speech urging the crowd to “fight like hell.”
Speaking to Fox, Trump repeated his assertions that the hush money trial was a “scam” and that his political opponents had “weaponized” the justice system to keep him from returning to the White House.
Biden has called Trump’s attacks on the judiciary and his trial judge reckless, irresponsible and “dangerous.”
Breaking her silence following Trump’s conviction, Stormy Daniels said the former president should be put in prison.
“I think he should be sentenced to jail and some community service working for the less fortunate, or being the volunteer punching bag at a women’s shelter,” Daniels said in an interview with the British tabloid The Mirror published late Saturday.
After years of exchanging insults with Trump on social media, Daniels now says she finally has been “vindicated,” although she admitted she was “shocked” at how quickly the jury rendered its verdict.
Daniels also accused the White House hopeful of being “completely and utterly out of touch with reality” and compared him to a child at one point in the interview.
The former adult film actor and director helped bring Trump down in court with her gripping testimony, which included graphic descriptions of what she says was a casual sexual encounter in 2006.
“Being in court was so intimidating with the jurors looking at you,” she said in the interview, adding that she was glad it was proved that she had been “telling the truth the entire time.”
“It’s not over for me. It’s never going to be over for me. Trump may be guilty, but I still have to live with the legacy.”
Trump has continued to deny the sexual encounter, which prosecutors at his trial said had taken place shortly after his wife Melania had given birth.
In his interview with Fox News, Trump said the criminal trial had taken a toll on his wife, who was notably absent as other close family members attended the court proceedings in support.
“She’s fine, but I think it’s very hard for her,” Trump said. “She has to read all this crap.”
Melania Trump has barely engaged with her husband’s current White House campaign, failing to appear at a single Trump rally, and rarely joins him in public.
Trump says prison could be ‘breaking point’ for supporters
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Trump says prison could be ‘breaking point’ for supporters
- Former president tells Fox News he is personally ‘OK with’ the idea of being imprisoned over the 34 felony counts in his hush money trial
Blinken questions China peace push over Russia help
- China's statement that it wants to see an end to the Russian-Ukraine conflict but allows companies to help Putin continue the aggression doesn’t add up, Blinken said
- America's top diplomat met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the UN General Assemploy on Friday
NEW YORK: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday questioned China’s sincerity in seeking peace in Ukraine as he directly pressed his counterpart over exports that boost Russia’s military.
Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the latest talks as the two powers look to dial down once-soaring tensions.
While crediting the diplomacy with bringing progress, Blinken warned that the United States would not back down on concerns over China’s exports to Russia and made clear that Washington could impose more sanctions.
Blinken said that China is fueling the “war machine” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“When Beijing says that, on the one hand, that it wants peace, it wants to see an end to the conflict, but on the other hand is allowing its companies to take actions that are actually helping Putin continue the aggression, that doesn’t add up,” Blinken told a news conference.
“Our intent is not to decouple Russia from China. Their relationship is their business,” he said.
“But insofar as that relationship involves providing Russia what it needs to continue this war, that’s a problem for us, and it’s a problem for many other countries, notably in Europe,” Blinken added.
The top US diplomat said that China has provided 70 percent of machine tools and 90 percent of microelectronics needed by Russia for military production that includes rockets and armored vehicles.
Wang told Blinken during the meeting that China’s position on the Ukraine conflict was “open and aboveboard, always advocating for peace and dialogue, and working toward a political solution,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
“The US should stop smearing and sanctioning China and refrain from using the issue to create divisions and provoke bloc confrontations,” Wang added.
China says it has not directly provided weapons to Russia and draws a contrast with the United States, which has shipped billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine since the 2022 invasion by Russia.
Wang told a Security Council session on Tuesday that China was “not a creator of the Ukraine crisis, nor are we a party to it. China has all along stood on the side of peace.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a UN address criticized China and Brazil for promoting negotiations to end the war, saying that forcing Ukraine to accept a peace deal was akin to colonialism.
The two countries kept up the drive on Friday, leading a statement with other emerging powers that calls for a “comprehensive and lasting settlement” through diplomacy.
But in a thinly veiled criticism of Putin’s recent saber-rattling, the emerging powers called on all sides to refrain “from the use or the threat of weapons of mass destruction.”
South Africa and Turkiye were among the powers that also signed the statement.
Putin this week threatened to use nuclear weapons in the event of a major attack on Russian soil as Ukraine, looking to hit back against the invasion, seeks Western weapons to strike deeper across the border.
Since Blinken and Wang last met in July at a regional conference in Laos, China has pleased the United States by releasing an American pastor imprisoned for years, although other Americans are detained.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a summit in November 2023 with counterpart Joe Biden, agreed to key US demands of restoring military communication between the two powers.
He also agreed to take action against producers of ingredients in fentanyl, the painkiller behind an overdose epidemic in the United States.
But a wide range of disagreements remain.
Blinken said he warned Wang against Beijing’s “dangerous, destabilizing actions” on the South China Sea, where tensions have risen sharply between China and US ally the Philippines.
On the disputed waterway, Wang urged the US to “stop stirring up trouble...and undermining the efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability.”
Wang also slammed US “suppression” of China’s trade, technology, and economy and told Blinken that Washington should pursue “dialogue with respect.”
“Since the US has repeatedly expressed that it does not intend to confront China, it should establish a rational understanding of China at its core, create a proper way of coexistence, (and) engage in dialogue with respect,” Wang told Blinken.
The latest meeting came ahead of the November 5 election in which Republican candidate Donald Trump has vowed to take a harder line on China.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump, have said that they seek dialogue to avoid conflict between the two powers, although their administration has also taken a hard line.
Blinken’s deputy, Kurt Campbell, recently told a congressional hearing that China posed a broader challenge to the United States than the Soviet Union did during the Cold War.
Top EU diplomat regrets failure to ‘stop’ Netanyahu
- Borrell said Netanyahu has made clear that the Israelis “don’t stop until Hezbollah is destroyed,” much as in its nearly year-old campaign in Gaza against fellow Iranian-backed militant group Hamas
UNITED NATIONS, United States: EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell voiced regret Friday that no power, including the United States, can “stop” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he appears determined to crush militants in Gaza and Lebanon.
“What we do is to put all diplomatic pressure to a ceasefire, but nobody seems to be able to stop Netanyahu, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank,” Borrell told a small group of journalists as he attended the UN General Assembly.
Borrell backed an initiative by France and the United States for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which Israel has brushed aside as it steps up strikes on Hezbollah targets, in a days-old campaign that has killed hundreds.
Borrell said Netanyahu has made clear that the Israelis “don’t stop until Hezbollah is destroyed,” much as in its nearly year-old campaign in Gaza against fellow Iranian-backed militant group Hamas.
“If the interpretation of being destroyed is the same as with Hamas, then we are going to go for a long war,” Borrell said in English.
The outgoing EU foreign affairs chief again called for diversifying diplomacy from the United States, which has tried for months unsuccessfully to seal a truce in Gaza that would include the release of hostages.
“We cannot rely just on the US. The US tried several times; they didn’t succeed,” he said.
“I don’t see them ready to start again a negotiation process that could lead to another Camp David,” he said, referring to the 2000 talks at the US presidential retreat in which Bill Clinton unsuccessfully sought to broker a landmark deal to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Netanyahu in a defiant speech to the United Nations on Friday vowed to achieve Israel’s objectives against Hezbollah, which has sporadically attacked Israel with rockets since Hamas carried out its massive October 7 attack on Israel, which has responded with a relentless military campaign.
Trump and Zelensky make nice after tensions over Ukraine war
- Zelensky later said he presented Ukraine's "Victory Plan" to Trump and "we thoroughly reviewed the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war for our people”
- The Ukrainian leader ehad met Trump’s election rival Kamala Harris, as well as President Joe Biden, on Thursday in Washington and both pledged their support for Ukraine
NEW YORK: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky held high-stakes talks Friday following several attacks by the White House hopeful on the Ukrainian president as the looming American election raises questions over long-term US support for ally Kyiv in its war with Russia.
Foreign policy hawks have voiced fears that a second Trump term would spell disaster for Ukraine’s defense, as the Republican has repeatedly defended Russia’s President Vladimir Putin while voicing skepticism over US funding for Kyiv.
Zelensky had met Trump’s election rival Kamala Harris, as well as President Joe Biden, on Thursday in Washington and both pledged their support for Ukraine.
Trump — who this week accused Zelensky of refusing to “make a deal” to end the conflict — vowed to bring peace if he wins a second term in office as the two men addressed reporters after their tete-a-tete at Trump Tower in New York.
“It’s a shame but this is a war that should have never happened and we’ll get it solved. It is a complicated puzzle,” Trump said. “Too many people dead. Too many beautiful cities.”
Before the meeting, which lasted less than an hour, the former US president had hailed his alliance with Zelensky but added: “I also have a very good relationship — as you know — with President Putin.”
Zelensky responded that the pair shared a “common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped” and that it is imperative that Ukraine prevail.
Later in a post on X, Zelensky described the meeting as “very productive.”
“I presented him our Victory Plan, and we thoroughly reviewed the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war for our people,” Zelensky wrote. “Many details were discussed. I am grateful for this meeting. A just peace is needed.”
The meeting initially looked like it would be scrapped after Zelensky told The New Yorker magazine that Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war” and that his running mate J.D. Vance is “too radical.”
The interview was published amid outcry over the Ukrainian leader’s trip to Pennsylvania, a critical US election battleground, with Democratic politicians to thank US workers for manufacturing ammunition that is helping Kyiv’s war effort against Moscow.
House Republicans have launched investigations into the trip, suggesting it amounted to election interference, and calling for Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington to be fired.
Trump, who refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to defeat Russia during his debate with Harris earlier this month, hit back at Zelensky at a campaign rally Wednesday in North Carolina, berating him as “a man who refuses to make a deal” for peace.
Zelensky is in New York this week for the UN General Assembly, and has been looking to shore up support for his country’s war effort as it struggles on the battlefield in the third year of Moscow’s invasion.
The Ukrainian leader presented a so-called “victory” plan to Biden and Harris at the White House on Thursday, with Biden announcing a new military aid package worth nearly $8 billion for Kyiv.
Standing with Zelensky at her side, Harris did not mention Trump by name but said there were “some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory.”
Zelensky said Friday that his talks in the United States went “exactly as needed.”
“The Victory Plan has been presented to America, and we explained each point in detail. Now, our teams will work to implement every step and decision,” he wrote on social media.
However, the row with Trump underscored how November’s US election could upend the support that Ukraine receives from its biggest backer.
Trump has echoed many of Putin’s talking points, saying at a rally earlier this week that Ukraine could not beat Russia, highlighting its 1812 defeat of Napoleon but ignoring more recent military defeats.
When Trump was president, he asked Zelensky for potentially damaging political material on Biden ahead of the 2020 election while withholding vital military aid that had already been approved by Congress — leading to the first of his two impeachments.
But the Republican had maintained good relations with Zelensky, pleased that the Ukrainian defended him over his conduct. Trump spent much of the impromptu news conference reminding reporters of Zelensky’s support.
French pay tribute to student murdered in Paris
- The killing of 19-year-old student has led to fresh demands to crack down on illegal immigration
VERSAILLES, France: Nearly 3,000 people on Friday attended the funeral of a Paris student who was raped and murdered in a case that has inflamed a French debate on migration after a Moroccan was named as the suspected attacker.
The killing of the 19-year-old, named only as Philippine, whose body was found half-buried in a park in western Paris, has led to fresh demands to crack down on illegal immigration.
A 22-year-old Moroccan arrested in Geneva has been named as the suspected attacker.
Mourners packed Saint-Louis Cathedral in Versailles outside Paris for the funeral, with many waiting outside as the student’s wooden coffin was carried in.
“I thought it was important to come here to reflect and pay my respects,” said one 15-year-old girl, clutching a bouquet of white and purple flowers.
FASTFACT
A 22-year-old Moroccan arrested in Geneva has been named as the suspected attacker.
The girl’s mother, Anouck B., said many people were affected by the tragedy. “It was important to come and support the whole family,” she said.
The Moroccan suspect is expected to be extradited to France. French authorities say he had been previously convicted of rape and been the subject of an expulsion order.
On Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on a visit to Montreal, called Philippine’s murder “a heinous and atrocious crime” and added that “we need to protect the public better.”
The conservative interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, has vowed to change immigration rules after the murder.
The student’s body was found in the Bois de Boulogne Park, not far from Paris-Dauphine University in the affluent 16th district.
According to prosecutors, the suspect was convicted in 2021 of a rape committed in 2019 when he was a minor.
He was released in June, served his sentence, and placed in an administrative detention center.
In early September, a judge freed him on condition he reported regularly to the authorities.
Since the murder, conservative and far-right politicians have urged harsh measures, saying deportation orders are not enforced properly.
“How many tragedies will France endure before our leaders react?” Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally, said on the X social media platform.
However, some rights groups and left-wingers said the focus should not be on immigration but rather “feminicide.”
“Misogyny kills. Let’s not have the wrong debate,” said the women’s rights group CIDFF.
Iranian operatives charged in the US with hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
- Three accused hackers were employed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Justice Department said
- Trump campaign said on Aug. 10 it had been hacked, Iranian actors stole sensitive internal documents
WASHINGTON: The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday against three Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organizations.
The three accused hackers were employed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and their operation also targeted a broad swath of targets, including government officials, members of the media and non-governmental organizations, the Justice Department said.
The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. Multiple major news organizations that said they were leaked confidential information from inside the Trump campaign, including Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post, declined to publish it.
US intelligence officials subsequently linked Iran to a hack of the Trump campaign and to an attempted breach of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. They said the hack-and-dump operation was meant to sow discord, exploit divisions within American society and potentially influence the outcome of elections that Iran perceives to be “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests.”
Last week, officials also revealed that the Iranians in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails containing excerpts of the hacked information to people associated with the Biden campaign. None of the recipients replied. The Harris campaign said the emails resembled spam or a phishing attempt and condemned the outreach to the Iranians as “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity.”
The indictment comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel escalate attacks against each other, raising concerns about the prospect of an all-out war, and as US officials say they continue to track physical threats by Iran against a number of officials including Trump.
