‘Trump 2028’ merch for sale on US president’s store

Illustration of US President Donald Trump alongside a smartphone displaying a red 'Trump 2028' cap on the Trump Store website. (AFP)
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Updated 25 April 2025
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‘Trump 2028’ merch for sale on US president’s store

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s online store is selling merchandise emblazoned with “Trump 2028,” the year of the next US presidential election, in which the Republican is constitutionally banned from running.
The 78-year-old, who has seen his approval rating sink to new lows in recent opinion polls, has not ruled out serving a third term — even though it would require amending the Constitution.
Most political experts, including his own Attorney General, say that would be tough to pull off.
Yet, a social media account linked to Trump shared a photo Thursday of his son Eric sporting one of the new red caps, which is priced at $50.
“Make a statement with this Made in America Trump 2028 hat,” a product description on the Trump Store website says.
The shop is also selling T-shirts in navy and red, priced at $36, which read “Trump 2028 (Rewrite the Rules),” with matching beer can coolers for $18.
Opinion polls have reflected American concerns over his handling of key issues during the first 100 days of his second term, including living costs and chaotic tariff policies.
The 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
Trump, who also served as president from 2017 to 2021, has insisted he is “not joking” about a third term, saying last month there are “methods” that would allow it to happen.
Any serious effort to amend the founding document would send the United States into uncharted territory.
Changing the US Constitution to allow a third presidential term would require a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
An amendment would also need ratification by at least 38 of the 50 US state legislatures, another slim possibility.
Trump has amassed an impressive range of branded products to promote his political career alongside his real estate empire.
They include Mother’s Day-inspired gifts such as pink pajamas and pickleball paddles with Trump logos.
Also on sale are earrings and necklaces styled with the numbers 45 and 47 to represent Trump’s two presidencies.
On Wednesday, Trump also offered an invitation to a private dinner to the top 220 investors in his lucrative cryptocurrency, dubbed $TRUMP, the New York Times reported.
In the past, the billionaire has flogged everything from steaks to “Trump University” courses to stock in his own media company, best known for the platform Truth Social.
He has also released the “God Bless the USA Bible,” priced at $59.99, in a collaboration with American country singer Lee Greenwood.


Japan’s emperor begins a weeklong visit to Mongolia that will honor POWs

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Japan’s emperor begins a weeklong visit to Mongolia that will honor POWs

TOKYO: Japan’s Emperor Naruhito began a weeklong visit to Mongolia on Sunday during which he plans to honor thousands of Japanese prisoners of World War II who were held under harsh conditions in the country.
Naruhito’s visit marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. In recent years, he has toured some of the places where the bloodiest battles and bombings occurred, including Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Hiroshima. The emperor has said it’s part of his effort at atonement and remembrance of the tragedy of war fought in the name of his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito.
While the vast majority of Japanese soldiers were taken to Siberia, around 12,000 to 14,000 ended up in Mongolia, which was fighting alongside the Soviets against Japan.
Most of the POWs were put to hard labor and construction work for the Mongolian government’s headquarters, a state university and a theater that are still preserved in the capital Ulaanbaatar. The prisoners toiled under harsh conditions and scarce food. Japanese records show about 1,700 of them died in Mongolia.
“As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war this year, we should never forget the pain and sorrow of the people,” Naruhito said last week. “I believe it is important to not forget those who died, deepen understanding of the wartime past and to nurture the peace-loving heart.”
Naruhito had previously visited Mongolia as crown prince in 2007.

Two Iran Guards killed clearing explosives after Israel war

Updated 12 min 50 sec ago
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Two Iran Guards killed clearing explosives after Israel war

  • Tasnim news agency, citing a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that “two members of the Guards were killed Sunday in Khorramabad while clearing the area of explosives left by the Zionist regime’s aggression”

TEHRAN: Two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were killed Sunday while attempting to defuse explosives in an area of the country’s west hit by Israeli strikes last month, Iranian media reported.
Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war sparked by an Israeli bombing campaign on June 13. The strikes, according to Israel, were aimed at preventing the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
Tasnim news agency, citing a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that “two members of the Guards were killed Sunday in Khorramabad while clearing the area of explosives left by the Zionist regime’s aggression.”
The Israeli strikes during the war killed key commanders of Iran’s armed forces, including Guards, as well as top nuclear scientists.
The strikes killed more than 900 people across Iran, its judiciary has said, while retaliatory Iranian missile barrages killed at least 28 people in Israel, according to official figures.
A ceasefire between the two arch-foes took effect on June 24.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the war broke out, state media reported, taking part in a religious ceremony in Tehran.
Iran announced the reopening of its airspace on Thursday, including over Tehran, which had been closed since the first day of the war.


Croatian right wing singer Marko Perkovic and fans perform pro Nazi salute at massive concert

Updated 24 min 27 sec ago
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Croatian right wing singer Marko Perkovic and fans perform pro Nazi salute at massive concert

  • Organizers said that half a million people attended Perkovic’s concert in the Croatian capital
  • The Nazi salute is punishable by law in Croatia, but courts have ruled Perkovic can use it as part of his song, the Croatian state television HRT said

ZAGREB: A hugely popular right-wing Croatian singer and hundreds of thousands of his fans performed a pro-Nazi World War II salute at a massive concert in Zagreb, drawing criticism.
One of Marko Perkovic’s most popular songs, played in the late Staurday concert, starts with the dreaded “For the homeland — Ready!” salute, used by Croatia’s Nazi-era puppet Ustasha regime that ran concentration camps at the time.
Perkovic, whose stage name is Thompson after a US-made machine gun, had previously said both the song and the salute focus on the 1991-95 ethnic war in Croatia, in which he fought using the American firearm, after the country declared independence from the former Yugoslavia. He says his controversial song is “a witness of an era.”
The 1990s conflict erupted when rebel minority Serbs, backed by neighboring Serbia, took up guns, intending to split from Croatia and unite with Serbia.
Perkovic’s immense popularity in Croatia reflects prevailing nationalist sentiments in the country 30 years after the war ended.
The WWII Ustasha troops in Croatia brutally killed tens of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma and antifascist Croats in a string of concentration camps in the country. Despite documented atrocities, some nationalists still view the Ustasha regime leaders as founders of the independent Croatian state.
Organizers said that half a million people attended Perkovic’s concert in the Croatian capital. Video footage aired by Croatian media showed many fans displaying pro-Nazi salutes earlier in the day.
The salute is punishable by law in Croatia, but courts have ruled Perkovic can use it as part of his song, the Croatian state television HRT said.
Perkovic has been banned from performing in some European cities over frequent pro-Nazi references and displays at his gigs.
Croatia’s Vecernji List daily wrote that the concert’s “supreme organization” has been overshadowed by the use of the salute of a regime that signed off on “mass executions of people.”
Regional N1 television noted that whatever the modern interpretations of the salute may be its roots are “undoubtedly” in the Ustasha regime era.
N1 said that while “Germans have made a clear cut” from anything Nazi-related “to prevent crooked interpretations and the return to a dark past ... Croatia is nowhere near that in 2025.”
In neighboring Serbia, populist President Aleksandar Vucic criticized Perkovic’s concerts as a display “of support for pro-Nazi values.” Former Serbian liberal leader Boris Tadic said it was a “great shame for Croatia” and “the European Union” because the concert “glorifies the killing of members of one nation, in this case Serbian.”
Croatia joined the EU in 2013.
Croatian police said Perkovic’s concert was the biggest ever in the country and an unseen security challenge, deploying thousands of officers.
No major incidents were reported.


South Korea prosecutors file request to detain ex-president Yoon

Updated 32 min 57 sec ago
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South Korea prosecutors file request to detain ex-president Yoon

  • Former leader facing charges related to insurrection from when he declared martial law last year

SEOUL: South Korean special prosecutors on Sunday filed a request to detain former President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges related to insurrection from when he declared martial law last year, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“Detention request is related to allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of justice,” the statement from the special counsel of prosecutors investigating the December 3 incident said.

Yoon’s martial law decree was lifted about six hours after it was announced when lawmakers, who had been forced to scale the walls of the assembly building to make it through a ring of security forces, voted the decree down.

Yoon was summoned on Saturday for hours of questioning by the special counsel as part of the probe over the insurrection charges, according to the counsel officials.

Yoon’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.


Switzerland reopens its embassy in Tehran after two-week closure

Updated 33 min 33 sec ago
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Switzerland reopens its embassy in Tehran after two-week closure

VIENNA: Switzerland, which also represents US interests in Iran, has reopened its embassy in Tehran after a closure due to the air war between Israel and Iran, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Sunday.
“Ambassador Nadine Olivieri Lozano and a small team returned to Tehran yesterday overland via Azerbaijan. The embassy will gradually resume operations,” the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. It had been closed since June 20.