Opulence, business deals and a $400M plane from Qatar: Takeaways from Trump's Mideast tourNew Foto - Opulence, business deals and a $400M plane from Qatar: Takeaways from Trump's Mideast tour

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — PresidentDonald Trumpused thefirst major foreign tripof his second term to outline a vision for restoring global stability that is grounded in pragmatism and self-interest rather than values, holding out U.S. ties to wealthy Gulf countries as a model for America's longtime foes. His four-day swing through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which ends Friday, put a spotlight on Trump's transactional approach to foreign affairs as he was feted by autocratic rulers with a trio of lavish state visits where there was heavy emphasis on economic and security partnerships. His trip played out against the backdrop of stubborn global conflicts, including Gaza and Ukraine, that showed the limits of his influence. But Trump insisted he was turning the page on American "interventionalism" in the region as he moved to recognize the new government in Syria for the first time and prodded Iran to engage on nuclear talks before it's too late. Some takeaways from Trump's travels: Trump marveled at Gulf state opulence but held his tongue on human rights Presidential trips to the Middle East usually feature at least some public calls for authoritarian governments to improve their human rights efforts. Not this one, as Trump celebrated his business deals with Gulf royals andadmired their wealth. Trump toured the marble and gilded palaces of Gulf rulers and deemed them "perfecto" and "very hard to buy." He praised the "gleaming marvels" of the skyline in Saudi Arabia. And he groused about the "much less impressive" Air Force One. In Trump's remarks at a VIP business conference in Riyadh, he went out of his way to distance himself from the actions of past administrations, the days when he said American officials would fly in "in beautiful planes, giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs." Rights advocates took that as a pledge of nonintervention, swearing off some of the pressure past U.S. presidents have brought to bear on partners to varying degrees to ease up on detentions, suppression of critics and other issues. "It's absolute support for absolute monarchy," said Saudi exile Abdullah Alaoudh. His father, a Saudi cleric with a wide following there, is imprisoned in the kingdom. Some rights advocates said Trump officials gave them private assurances the administration was working on behalf of detained Americans and rights advocates. Tommy Pigott, a deputy spokesman at the State Department, declined to say whether Trump raised those or other rights issues in discussions with Gulf royals. Thwarted by Putin While Trump was in the Mideast, Vladimir Putin opted to skip direct peace talks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy despite the U.S. president's strong calls for them to meet face to face. Trump has been pushing Putin and Zelenskyy to move with greater haste to end Russia's grinding war in Ukraine. But after it became clear Putin wouldn't be attending talks in Turkey this week and would instead be sending underlings to Istanbul, an annoyed Trump insisted he knew all along that it was highly likely Putin would be a no-show. "I don't believe anything's going to happen whether you like it or not, until he and I get together," Trump said. "But we're going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying. Trump was scheduled to fly back to Washington on Friday, but tried to keep people guessing until the end. He teased late Thursday that he would be heading to a "destination unknown" — "probably" Washington, he added. His opaque language stoked speculation that he might make a drop-by to Turkey. On Syria sanctions, Trump takes a leap of faith Just two months ago, the Trump administration wasn't sold on Syria's interim government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime al-Qaida-affiliated insurgent. They worried the Syrian president didn't have the legitimacy to govern the country's ethnically diverse population. Clashes broke out in early March, killing hundreds and targeting many more members of the Alawite religious minority to which the ousted Syrian leader Basher Assad belongs. The moment gave the Trump White House pause about easing sanctions on Syria. But Trump signaled Monday that he was having a change of heart and was moving toward lifting the Syria sanctions. A day later, he announced the move during an address to Gulf leaders. Trump then took it another step by agreeing to meet al-Sharaa. Trump said he was impressed with al-Sharaa, who not that long ago had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. The president called him a "young, attractive guy" with a "very strong past." Trump said it was recommendations from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that nudged him to take a chance on al-Sharra. "President Erdogan called me and said: 'Is there any way you could do that? Because if you don't do that, they don't have a chance,'" Trump said. "So, I did it." Trump's fuzzy math on display Throughout the trip, Trump felt more than comfortable dishing out exaggeration and hyperbole. "This has been an amazing trip." Trump told reporters Thursday as Air Force One was about to land in Qatar. "We've raised trillions of dollars of investment for our country." A little later he put the figure at $4 trillion. That figure is about two times the combined gross domestic products of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, meaning that any announced investments would likely accrue over several years — if at all — in ways that might not show up in overall U.S. economic growth numbers. Boeing confirmed that Qatar's $96 billion purchase of its 787 and 777X jets was the largest order for 787s and wide body jets in the company's history. Trump enthused it was "the biggest order in the history of, I think, aviation, certainly of that size" of jets. Trump also went overboard in running down the economic record of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, at one point declaring, "The days of economic misery under the last administration are rapidly giving way to the greatest economy in the history of the world." The U.S. economy grew at 2.8% last year. It declined at an annualized rate of 0.3% during the first three months of this year. Intractable conflicts remain just that While Trump's trip initially was conceived as a visit to reward countries that invest in the United States, Trump at one point hoped it also would herald significant steps to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Positive news on both fronts proved elusive. Trump barely mentioned either conflict on his trip – and when he did, it was generally in the context of his assertion that they wouldn't have occurred had he won reelection in 2020. As Israel stepped up an offensive in Gaza — a prelude to a promised full takeover of the territory if Hamas doesn't release the remaining hostages in its captivity — Trump was again musing about the creation of a "freedom zone" in its territory. It's a notion rejected by Palestinians and the broader Arab world because Trump's plan would relocate civilians from Gaza to allow for rebuilding. Israel conducted significant airstrikes all week in Gaza as Trump was in the region and the fighting on the ground appeared to escalate Friday morning even before Trump left the UAE. Ethics issues follow along as Trump travels the Mideast Trump was already facing questions about conflicts of interest for traveling to the Middle East to shape U.S. policy at a time whenhis family's business interests in the region have boomed. He attempted to quietworries about national securityandconstitutional questionsby insisting he's smart to accept a $400 million luxury plane from Qatar and use it as Air Force One. "Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE," Trumpposted on his social media siteduring his Middle East swing. The president also dodged questions about a state-backed investment company in Abu Dhabi using a Trump family-alignedstablecoinfor a $2 billion investment in the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. "I don't know anything about it," he said. Beyond that, the Trump family has piled up deals to license its brand for real estate projects, and to build Trump towers and golf courses, around the Middle East. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says it's "frankly ridiculous" to wonder if those profits might influence Trump's governing decisions. ___ Madhani reported from Dubai. Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Will Weissert and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.

Opulence, business deals and a $400M plane from Qatar: Takeaways from Trump's Mideast tour

Opulence, business deals and a $400M plane from Qatar: Takeaways from Trump's Mideast tour ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Presid...
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first peace talks in 3 yearsNew Foto - Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first peace talks in 3 years

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine are due to hold theirfirst direct peace talksin three years Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations, but officials and observers expect them to yield little immediate progress on stopping themore than 3-year war. A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was due to meet with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. The latest push to end the fighting got off to a rocky start on Thursday, when Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face. Delegations from the two countries also flew to different Turkish cities and put together teams of significantly different diplomatic heft for possible talks. Although expectations for a possible Putin-Zelenskyy meeting were low, the apparent lack of traction in peace efforts frustrated hopes of bold steps being taken in Turkey toward reaching a settlement. The two sidesare far apartin their conditions for ending the war, and U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpsaid Thursday during a trip to the Middle East that a meeting between him and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock. Ukraine has accepted a U.S. and European proposal for afull, 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has effectively rejected it by imposing far-reaching conditions. Meantime, Russian forces are preparinga fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say. After Putin didn't take up Zelenskyy's challenge to sit down with him in the Turkish capital on Thursday, the Ukrainian president accused Moscow of not making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level negotiating team that he described as "a theater prop." Even so, Zelenskyy said that he was sending a team headed by his defense minister to Friday's meeting in Istanbul. That would show Trump that Ukraine is determined to press ahead with peace efforts despite Russian foot-dragging, Zelenskyy said, amid intense diplomatic maneuvering by Kyiv and Moscow. The Russian delegation also includes three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as "experts" for the talks. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would confer Friday in Istanbul with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Ukrainian delegation, adding that the Russian delegation would be meeting with other members of the U.S. team and that he hoped all sides could get together. "We don't have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow. And frankly, at this point, I think it's abundantly clear that the only way we're going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin," Rubio told reporters Thursday in Antalya, Turkey. Zelenskyy, meantime, flew to Albania to attend a meeting of European political leaders Friday. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine athttps://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first peace talks in 3 years

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first peace talks in 3 years ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine are due to...
Trump says he will return to Washington after Gulf tourNew Foto - Trump says he will return to Washington after Gulf tour

DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was returning to Washington after wrapping up his Gulf tour. "Let's see what happens with Russia and Ukraine," he said, referring to Russia-Ukraine talks taking place in Turkey. Trump said he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "as soon as we can set it up". Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will meet in Istanbul on Friday for their first peace talks in more than three years as both sides come under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. The encounter at the Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus is a sign of diplomatic progress between the warring sides, who had not met face-to-face since March 2022. A meeting between Turkish, U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul has started, said a Turkish foreign ministry source. But expectations for a major breakthrough, already low, were dented further on Thursday when Trump said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Russia's President Vladimir Putin. (Reporting by Nayera Abdallah; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Michael Georgy and Sharon Singleton)

Trump says he will return to Washington after Gulf tour

Trump says he will return to Washington after Gulf tour DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was returning to Was...
Live updates: Trump wraps up Mideast tour, meet business leaders, visit interfaith place of worshipNew Foto - Live updates: Trump wraps up Mideast tour, meet business leaders, visit interfaith place of worship

PresidentDonald TrumpPresidentDonald Trumpwraps up a Mideast tour in the United Arab Emirates with a breakfast for business leaders and a visit to an interfaith place of worship named for the Abraham Accords he negotiated. As part of the accords, the UAE and some other countries in the Middle East recognized Israel. Trump departs Abu Dhabi after his visit to the Abrahamic Family House . During his visit to the region, violence flared in the West Bank, and Gaza. Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people Friday, adding to the more than 120 people who died in recent days. Here's the latest: ___ Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Friday morning, as U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East visit. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where they were brought. Survivors said many people were still under the rubble. The widespread attacks across northern Gaza come as Trump finishes his visit to Gulf states but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump's regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes. ___ Trump to visit Abrahamic House on last day of his Mideast trip President Donald Trump will make several stops before taking off on Air Force One to end his Mideast trip on Friday. He'll attend a business summit in the morning in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Trump later will visit the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. It is home to a mosque, a church and a synagogue. The UAE built it after diplomatically recognizing Israel in an agreement known as the Abraham Accords, as Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all known as the Abrahamic faiths. ___ Etihad Airways says it is buying Boeing aircraft during Trump trip Etihad Airways announced Friday it would purchase 28 wide-body Boeing aircraft during a visit by President Donald Trump to the United Arab Emirates. Etihad is the government-owned airline of Abu Dhabi that also flies East-West routes like Emirates, the long-haul carrier in neighboring Dubai. Etihad said in a statement that the sale included "a mix of Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft, powered by GE engines and supported by a services package." Boeing did not immediately acknowledge the deal. Trump was due to address a business conference in Abu Dhabi on Friday, the last day of his Mideast trip that's also taken him to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which booked a major Boeing order for its long-haul carrier, Qatar Airways.

Live updates: Trump wraps up Mideast tour, meet business leaders, visit interfaith place of worship

Live updates: Trump wraps up Mideast tour, meet business leaders, visit interfaith place of worship PresidentDonald TrumpPresidentDonald Tru...
Bruce Springsteen opens U.K. tour by calling Trump 'unfit' for officeNew Foto - Bruce Springsteen opens U.K. tour by calling Trump 'unfit' for office

Bruce Springsteendelivered stinging criticism of the Trump administration at the opening show of his British tour, accusing its officials of authoritarianism, rolling backcivil rightsandillegal deportations. Springsteen, 75, a prominent liberal who has longsupported Democratic presidential candidatesincluding former Vice PresidentKamala Harris, made the remarks at a concert in Manchester, England, on Wednesday that was the first in his "Land of Hope and Dreams" tour. "The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of  rock 'n' roll in dangerous times," he said to roars from the crowd. "In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration." Springsteen then asked supporters of democracy to "raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!" before beginning the show. Later in the performance, he described what he saw happening in the United States under PresidentDonald Trump. "They are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent," Springsteen said in his remarks, a transcript and video of which were later posted on hiswebsiteandYouTube channel. He also accused the Trump administration of "abandoning the world's poorest children to sickness and death" and "taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on loyal American workers." "They're rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society," Springsteen said. "They're abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom." "They're defunding American universities that won't bow down to their ideological demands. They're removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons." Springsteen also said most elected representatives had failed to protect Americans "from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government." Still, he said, "The America that I've sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people." "So we'll survive this moment," he added. The White House said in a statement that "the 77 million Americans that elected President Trump disagree with elitist and out-of-touch celebrities like Bruce Springsteen. Bruce is welcome to stay overseas while hardworking Americans enjoy a secure border and cooling inflation thanks to President Trump." This is not the first time Springsteen has publicly criticized Trump, calling him "a flagrant toxic narcissist" before his election in 2016. Springsteen is known for albums that celebrate and critically examine American ideals, most notably his 1984 album "Born in the U.S.A.," in which he criticized the Vietnam War and the subsequent treatment of American veterans. He is set todebut 83 previously unreleased songsin late June, 74 of which have never been heard before by the public.

Bruce Springsteen opens U.K. tour by calling Trump 'unfit' for office

Bruce Springsteen opens U.K. tour by calling Trump 'unfit' for office Bruce Springsteendelivered stinging criticism of the Trump adm...

 

VS POLITICS © 2015 | Distributed By My Blogger Themes | Designed By Templateism.com