America

    When Secretary of State Rex Tillerson travels to Moscow this week, topic No. 1 will be Syria and the stakes could not be higher. If the Trump administration and the Kremlin are not able to come to a meeting of the minds on Syria, it could set the two nuclear powers on a dangerous collision course. Early Friday morning in Syria, 59 U.S. Tomahawk missiles slammed into the Shayrat air base in retaliation for the unconscionable gassing of dozens of civilians by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime two days earlier. This was a stunning turnaround for President Trump, who urged his predecessor not to attack Syria under similar circumstances in 2013, and for an administration that had signaled indifference to Assad just five days before the attack. Trump’s forceful action met with ...

    Donald Trump’s daughter persuaded him to strike targets in Syria, according to reports of a diplomatic memo. A cable briefing to Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson by Britain’s ambassador to Washington Sir Kim Darroch said Ms Trump was influential in bringing about the bombings, those who saw the memo said. It claimed Mr Trump was genuinely shaken by pictures of more than 80 who died in a Sarin nerve gas attack that were broadcast on cable television, according to The Sunday Times. Sources who read the message said the first daughter's position on the atrocity was a significant influence in the Oval Office. Ministers were told it meant the administration’s reaction was stronger than expected. Sir Kim reportedly pointed to a tweet sent by Ms Trump in which she ...

    The U.S. National Security Council presented President Trump with options to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un or place U.S. nukes in South Korea as retaliation to North Korea’s continued nuclear weapons. Killing Kim Jong-un or placing American nukes in South Korea are two options presented to President Trump as possible retaliations to North Korea’s continued nuclear weapons program, according to reports Friday. Both scenarios were laid out for Trump by his National Security Council ahead of his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping this week, NBC News reported. The Trump administration has been hoping to convince China to step up pressure on the reclusive North Korea government to curtail its nuclear program. We have 20 years of diplomacy and sanctions under our b...

    The Trump administration responded to the gas attack in Idlib with a condemnation of the Obama administration. The scale and horror of Tuesday’s gas attack on civilians in Idlib highlighted the vacuum in the Trump administration’s foreign policymaking: the incident was met first by silence, then by criticism of Barack Obama. Donald Trump described the attack, which killed scores of victims, including many children, as a direct “consequence” of his predecessor’s Syria policy. These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the last administration’s weakness and irresolution, he said in a statement. President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The reflex illustrated Trump’...

    The White House on Monday released the official portrait of First Lady Melania Trump, with the photograph of the former model dividing public opinion. Trump is shown from the waist up, standing with arms crossed, dressed in a black jacket with a black bow around her neck. She’s wearing a very large diamond ring on her left hand, and a more subdued sparkler on her right. Shot by Belgian-born photographer Regine Mahaux, who has previously worked with the Trump family, the first lady is smiling slightly, with a perfectly flawless visage. I am honored to serve in the role of first lady, and look forward to working on behalf of the American people over the coming years, Trump said in a short statement accompanying the photo’s release. While some commenters gushed that the first...

    Donald Trump recently sat down with the Financial Times for his first interview with the publication since becoming President in January. They discussed his conduct as President, his Twitter presence, Brexit, and the relationship between the US, China and North Korea. Trump was discussing his upcoming meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping when asked if he was going to equalise tariffs in order to cut down the country's trade surplus. But, er, we're not sure if he knows what tariffs are... Speaking to Lionel Barber, the editor of the Financial Times Trump said: I don’t want to talk about tariffs yet, perhaps the next time we meet. So I don’t want to talk about tariffs yet. But you used the word equalise. That is a very good word because they are not equalised. If yo...

    The husband-and-wife team of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, now both senior federal government officials, has been alongside President Trump as the White House has hosted dozens of chief executives and a handful of world leaders in recent weeks. It is a rarefied crowd, one that has included the top executives of some of the world’s largest automobile, airline, chemical, pharmaceutical and tech companies. Mr. Kushner will continue to keep such select company now that he has helped create a new office that Mr. Trump is calling the White House Office of American Innovation. But the financial disclosure report released late Friday for Mr. Kushner, which shows that he and his wife still benefit financially from a real estate and investment empire worth as much as $740 million,...

    A federal judge said in a ruling that then-candidate Donald Trump incited the use of violence against three protesters when he told supporters at a campaign rally a year ago to get 'em out of here. U. S. District Judge David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky also wrote in an opinion and order released Friday that because violence had broken out at a prior Trump rally and that known hate group members were in the Louisville crowd, Trump's ordering the removal of an African-American woman was particularly reckless. Citing case law from tumultuous 1960s race riots and other student protests, Hale rejected motions to dismiss the pending complaint against Trump and three supporters in the crowd that was filed by three protesters after a March 1, 2016, campaign rally i...

    Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner arrive on Air Force One to accompany U.S. President Donald Trump for his tour of the Boeing South Carolina facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. February 17, 2017. Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, are retaining scores of property investments while they work in the White House, according to financial disclosures likely to fuel concerns over a conflict of interest. The Associated Press reported that the couple are holding on to assets of at least $240m while the New York Times, making a case that Kushner will continue to benefit from most of his business empire through a series of trusts, gave a figure of $741m. The details came to light on Friday as the White House began releasing financial d...

    Donald Trump Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to the hard right of the Republican party, warning them to get on the team or face consequences at the ballot box. The US president tweeted on Thursday: The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018! In a disastrous setback to his agenda, Trump’s bid to repeal and replace Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law crumbled last week after he failed to convince a number of House members, including most of the Freedom Caucus, to support it. Trump initially blamed Democrats for not backing the new bill, but he has since shifted his focus to take swipes at the Freedom Caucus. His tweet carried the implied threat that he will support chal...