Former US President Donald Trump has begun a court fight to get himself back on this year’s election ballot in Maine, arguing in a legal filing that a state official had no authority to disqualify him from the race.
Trump’s lawyers filed the appeal on Tuesday in Maine Superior Court, challenging last week’s decision by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to bar the ex-president from the ballot because of his alleged role in the January 2021 US Capitol riot. The case is likely to ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court, along with Trump’s disqualification from the ballot in Colorado, but Maine has required him to begin his challenge in the state court system. The ruling making Trump ineligible in Maine “was the product of a process infected by bias and pervasive lack of due process,” Trump’s lawyers said in Tuesday’s filing. They added that Bellows has a documented history of being biased against Trump and gave him no opportunity to defend himself against her allegations. he Maine and Colorado disqualifications were based on interpretations of a constitutional amendment that banned people who engage in an “insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office in the US. The amendment was passed by lawmakers in 1866 to ensure citizenship and constitutional rights for former slaves and to block politicians who had taken part in the Confederate rebellion from returning to power.Bellows and other Democrats have accused Trump of inciting the Capitol “insurrection,” where demonstrators sought to block the transfer of power after he lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. She has made public statements on social media calling Trump an “insurrectionist” and suggesting that he should have been removed from office after being impeached for his alleged role in the riot. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the election was rigged, but has denied any role in triggering the riot. Trump is polling as, far and away, the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. However, his candidacy has been jeopardized by state efforts to disqualify him, as well as felony indictments in four separate criminal cases. He has called the legal actions a politically motivated “witch hunt” to block voters from being able to elect him again.
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As the political landscape gears up for the 2024 presidential election, speculation looms large about the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the Oval Office for a second term. The prospect of a Trump comeback has ignited a myriad of opinions, ranging from enthusiastic support to vehement opposition. It is crucial to analyze the potential implications of such an outcome, considering both the opportunities and challenges that may lie ahead.
One of the most apparent consequences of a Trump presidency redux would be the continuation of the unconventional and polarizing leadership style that characterized his first term. Trump's unapologetic approach to governance, marked by Twitter tirades, unconventional policy decisions, and a confrontational stance on international relations, would likely persist. Supporters argue that this unorthodox approach is precisely what the country needs to disrupt the status quo and shake up the political establishment. On the domestic front, a second Trump term could see a renewed focus on economic policies, given the former president's track record of prioritizing deregulation and tax cuts. Proponents argue that such measures could spur economic growth and job creation, while critics express concerns about exacerbating income inequality and neglecting environmental protections. In terms of foreign policy, a return of Trump to the White House would likely bring a reevaluation of international alliances and agreements. Trump's 'America First' agenda could lead to a more unilateral approach, potentially straining relationships with traditional allies. On the flip side, supporters argue that a recalibration of global partnerships might lead to better deals for the United States. However, uncertainties abound. The handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global health crisis that defined the latter part of Trump's first term, would demand careful consideration. Skeptics worry that a similar crisis management approach could pose challenges to public health and international cooperation. Furthermore, the potential impact on social and cultural divides within the nation cannot be overlooked. Trump's first term witnessed heightened political polarization and social unrest. A second term could either exacerbate these divisions or present an opportunity for healing, depending on the president's approach to national unity and inclusivity. Ultimately, the possibility of a Trump presidency in 2024 raises complex questions about the trajectory of the United States and its role in the world. Regardless of one's political persuasion, a sober and informed analysis is essential to navigate the uncertainties and possibilities that lie ahead. As the nation braces for another consequential election, citizens must engage in thoughtful dialogue and civic participation to shape the future of their democracy. Donald Trump is firmly on course to secure the Republican nomination for president ahead of next year’s election, a poll has shown, as prospective voters display little concern that Trump’s mounting legal issues could obstruct his possible return to the White House.
Trump is the candidate favored by 61% of self-identified Republican voters, the Reuters/Ipsos poll of nearly 1,700 people published on Monday showed, as he maintains a huge advantage over the chasing field less than a year out from the presidential election. The legally embattled, 77-year-old former president is a full 50 percentage points ahead of nearest rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who both trail in Trump’s wake with just 11%. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie polled at 5% and 2% respectively, the poll says. The results reflect little appetite in Republican voting ranks for the field of candidates who have participated in four primary debates so far. Trump has not, as yet, appeared on the debating circuit. The survey also shows that GOP supporters have maintained enthusiasm for a second Trump term in the White House in spite of a catalogue of federal and state charges over a range of alleged improprieties. These include ongoing claims that Trump illegally sought to overturn the results of his 2020 presidential election defeat to Joe Biden. Trump also faces other charges, including those related to his alleged illegal retention of sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He is also accused of obstructing government attempts to retrieve them. He denies all claims of illegality. According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, less than 25% of Republican voters polled said they believed that Trump had solicited election fraud, or that he was involved in convincing his supporters to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. These issues are both central to a federal criminal case expected to go to trial in the midst of Trump’s election campaign. A separate poll, the results of which were published by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, showed that Trump has established a lead over Joe Biden in a still-hypothetical head-to-head race. 47% of respondents said they would cast a vote for Trump, compared to 43% for Biden. However, that same poll reflected that a felony conviction for Trump would dramatically affect the race and hand Biden a one percentage point advantage. US President Joe Biden would likely lose a rematch against his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, if the election were held now, according to polls from the New York Times/Siena College and CBS/YouGov published on Sunday.
The New York Times poll showed Trump leading Biden significantly in five of the six critical ‘swing states,’ holding an 11-point lead in Nevada and smaller margins across Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Only Wisconsin favored Biden – and only by a two-point margin. Two thirds of respondents said the US was moving in the wrong direction, and a majority across all demographics claimed Biden’s policies had personally hurt them. Nearly three quarters (71%) said the president was too old to serve effectively – including more than half of his own supporters – while 62% said he lacked the mental acuity for the job. Close to six in ten (59%) likely voters trusted Trump over Biden on the economy – rated as the most important issue of the 2024 election by a majority of respondents – and the preference for Trump held true across all education and income levels, ages, and genders. Just 2% of respondents – and less than 1% of those under 30 – claimed the economy was 'excellent', potentially explaining Biden’s flagging support among young voters, who overwhelmingly chose him in 2020 but favored him by just one point over Trump in Sunday’s poll. The CBS poll put Trump ahead of Biden by three points, echoing the NYT’s findings that voters are pinning their economic hopes on the Republican. Nearly half (45%) of those polled said they’d be better off financially if Trump returned to the White House, compared to just 18% predicting a rosy economic future under Biden, though a majority (51%) expected both candidates’ policies to favor the wealthy over the working and middle classes. At the same time, 48% expected to be financially worse off if Biden won a second term, while 32% felt the same about Trump. Trump was also seen as less belligerent. Nearly half (47%) of the respondents thought he would increase peace and stability in the world, compared to just 31% who felt the same about Biden. While 39% of likely voters still believed Trump would increase the odds of the US entering another war, nearly half (49%) expected Biden to do so. Voters’ own preferences were overwhelmingly for avoiding foreign wars, with 72% of respondents agreeing the US should “try to stay out of other countries’ affairs” and just 35% prioritizing the projection of military power over the promotion of American ideals as a foreign policy goal. Still, a slim majority supported sending military aid to both Israel (55%) and Ukraine (53%). Former US President Donald Trump has declared a run in the 2024 presidential race, saying President Joe Biden has “embarrassed, humiliated and weakened” the United States. He vowed to bring “glory” and “greatness” to the country. Speaking to a packed crowd at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday night, Trump outlined a list of problems facing citizens and the nation at large, claiming Biden and the Democratic Party were responsible for the “decline of America” after two years in power. “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said, prompting cheers from supporters. “I will ensure Joe Biden does not receive four more years.” "Together we will be taking on the most corrupt forces and entrenched interests imaginable. Our country is in a horrible state; we’re in grave trouble. This is not a task for a politician or a conventional candidate. This is a task for a great movement that embodies the courage, confidence, and the spirit of the American people." The announcement followed a previous statement from Trump last week that he had “big” news to share in the coming days, prompting widespread speculation he would declare another presidential run. He filed papers with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday night to formally register his candidacy and created a new campaign committee. Trump, who was president from 2016 to 2020, launched blistering attacks on the Democrats, saying they have made the US a “failing nation” and that two years under the Biden administration have been a “time of pain and hardship, anxiety and despair” for millions of Americans.
“The United States has been embarrassed, humiliated and weakened for all to see,” he continued, citing the “disasters in Afghanistan,” as well as record-high inflation and soaring gas prices. He went on to argue that Biden is “leading us to the brink of nuclear war” with Russia, claiming the conflict in Ukraine “would have never happened were I your president,” though offered no elaboration beyond stating that America’s adversaries were kept “in check” while he was in office. Trump preceded Tuesday’s announcement with attacks on prospective Republican primary rivals, issuing separate statements against Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis – who is highly popular among conservatives for his less authoritarian Covid-19 policies – as well as Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. According to recent polling, DeSantis, who is fresh off a landslide victory in Florida’s gubernatorial race, is an early frontrunner for GOP voters. Who runs Wagner? Western intelligence agencies have long believed Wagner to be financed by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef” for his lucrative catering contracts with the Kremlin and close ties to the Russian president. Prigozhin is also wanted by the United States for funding the state-backed troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency, which is accused of influencing the 2016 US presidential election in favour of Donald Trump. For years, Prigozhin (who turned a hotdog stand into a food empire after serving serious prison time) vehemently denied the Wagner connection. He sued journalists who made the link, even as he raked in wealth from the group’s deployments overseas in Syria and Africa. Then, in September, Prigozhin finally admitted he owned Wagner, having been filmed touring prisons to offer convicts early release in exchange for six months fighting alongside Wagner in Ukraine. “I cleaned the old weapons myself, sorted out the bulletproof vests myself and found specialists who could help me with this,” Prigozhin said in a statement released by his Concord catering firm. “From that moment, on May 1, 2014, a group of patriots was born, which later came to be called the Wagner Battalion. I am proud that I was able to defend their right to protect the interests of their country.” Experts suspect the Russian state may directly bankroll parts of Wagner too, supplying them with weapons and aircraft and offering training. The French government has accused the Kremlin of “providing material support” to Wagner where it operates in Mali, West Africa, for example. Back home, Wagner’s training base is next door to that of the Russian army, although officially the site is listed as a children’s holiday camp. And there have been cases of Wagner troops evacuated from conflict zones to Russian military hospitals, Currie says, including after that 2018 US air strike on attacking Wagner forces in Syria. “Generally, private military companies would not receive such benefits, specialised military health care, from the state.” In 2021, Russian journalist Ilya Barabanov, along with Nader Ibrahim at the BBC, stumbled upon a discarded Wagner tablet and uncovered a “shopping list” of weapons and equipment the organisation had sent Russian authorities directly. It’s not the only time the group has been careless. In August, a pro-Kremlin war blogger inadvertently revealed the location of Wagner’s main base in eastern Luhansk, Ukraine, when he posted a photo with fighters there. Within days, Ukrainian rockets had reduced it to rubble. Currie recalls seeing the image pop up on open-source intelligence channels, as investigators, both amateur and professional, around the world scrambled to identify its location. “There were clues like a sign on a building we were looking at. Then I woke up the next day and someone had cracked it and the Ukrainians had taken it out.” The casualties for Wagner were reportedly grave. Prigozhin himself had been photographed at the base just before the strike, but he soon resurfaced at a high-profile funeral elsewhere, disproving rumours he’d been killed. Russian outlet Medusa reports that, before the invasion, Prigozhin had somewhat fallen out of favour with the Kremlin, publicly feuding with many of its high-ranking officials and other oligarchs. A large Wagner force was not deployed to Ukraine until the end of the war’s first month, when UK intelligence said more than 1000 mercenaries had joined the fighting. What does Wagner mean for the Ukraine war, and for Putin?
As the first Russian missiles fell on Kyiv, Wagner mercenaries were reportedly already prowling its streets with orders to hunt down Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. (Ukraine’s military later posted photos of dog tags it said belonged to the dead “Wagnerists” whose assassination plots it foiled.) Many months on, Ukraine continues to win back ground, and Russia is increasingly turning to Wagner in tight spots. The private army appears to have been allocated entire sections of the frontline like a normal military unit, according to UK Ministry of Defence intelligence. At times, they are helping command squads. But, while the mercenaries have had greater success against Ukraine’s seasoned fighters of the Donbas (compared to a Russian army beset by low morale and inexperience) the group, and the other rag-tag mix of “volunteers” the Kremlin has deployed to Ukraine, is unlikely to win the war for Russia. Already, Wagner appears to be feeling the pinch of poor co-ordination across the wider Russian military machine. And it is thought to be suffering its heaviest losses of any conflict so far, such is the scale of the fighting. While Currie says there is still strong support for Putin among Wagner channels online, she is seeing frustration too. “We don’t have exact figures of how many Wagner mercenaries died [in the recent strike on their Luhansk base] for example, but it was a lot. Enough to generate frustration. There’s quite a legacy of Wagner mercenaries feeling abandoned to an extent by Russia.” Ex-Wagner fighter Gabidullin, for example, has hit out at the Kremlin for abandoning his team at that US airstrike during the 2018 battle in Syria, and for using Wagner to hide Russian army casualties. It seems that worries are on the rise over the possibility of a new civil war in the US recently. More discussions on this matter occurred in US media especially after the first anniversary of the Capitol riots. For instance, The New York Times carried an opinion piece on January 6, titled "Are We Really Facing a Second Civil War?" A CNN video on Saturday asked a similar question: "Is America heading to civil war or secession?"
The US has seen increasing polarization in recent years. Historically, in the US, people with diverse political ideas made compromises. This is demonstrated, for example, in the founding of the US and the drafting of the Constitution. The spirit of compromise, however, has vanished and been replaced with confrontation. Complex context lies behind the discussions of a potential civil war and divisions in the US. One, globalization has resulted in a growing gap between rich and poor, and the US government fails to narrow the gap. The COVID-19 epidemic has amplified this problem - the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. Against such a backdrop, the sense of political identity in the US has increased. As complaints from all classes are filling up society, people get emotional more easily. And they are using more and more intense ways to present their political demands, be they liberal or conservative, white or non-white. Moreover, former US president Donald Trump intentionally created divisions during his tenure, leading to the inability of the current administration to recover from Trump's presidency. In short, Trump's push for division, as well as the constant impact of factors like the imbalance of social development and the epidemic, has made confrontation a common phenomenon in US society. US politics is so overwhelmingly dominated by the two major parties that the rise of a third party as an emerging force seems almost impossible. Those who belong to neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party have no chance but to attach themselves to one of the duo, or simply escape from the US political arena. Meanwhile, amid constant conflicts, neither party is able or willing to cooperate for the sake of the people. Political stalemate emerges. The political struggle in the US goes on and on in the form of extreme confrontation, which will lead to internal conflicts. This will have an impact on the US' sustainable development. For now, it can be seen mainly politically and socially. But if it continues to worsen, it may also affect the US economy, its science and technology innovation, education, and thus its international status. Midterm elections will be held in the US this year. The confrontation between the two parties is expected to become fiercer. The US may slide into a quasi state of civil war. What makes an election year a little bit different though is that the individuality of each politician from both sides starts to become increasingly apparent. Take Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a centrist Democrat who has been a loyal supporter of US President Joe Biden in the Senate. Manchin recently turned his back on Biden over many issues, from the Build Back Better package to the president's call for eliminating a longstanding supermajority rule in the Senate known as the "filibuster." According to US media, Manchin is a "coal magnate who represents one of America's reddest states." He has close ties to the coal industry and has made millions of dollars from US coal companies. Many suggest this is the real reason for his opposition of Biden's Build Back Better plan. For individual politicians, they have to weigh which is more important to them, the interest of their party or the interest of their own. In this sense, the confrontation in the US is becoming not only intensified, but also complicated. Linda Kim SEOUL, September 1 -- A senior North Korean diplomat said Saturday the expectation that dialogue with the United States will resume is "gradually disappearing" after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the country's behavior as "rogue." "Pompeo has gone so far in his language and it made the opening of the expected DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations more difficult," First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, using the acronym for North Korea's official name. "We are being pushed to re-examine all the measures we have taken so far," Choe said. Pompeo said in a speech to a veterans organization Tuesday that Pyongyang's "rogue behavior could not be ignored." North Korea, meanwhile, has notified the United Nations that the nation's ambassador-level official will deliver a speech at the upcoming U.N. General Assembly, a source close to the matter said, indicating Pyongyang may cancel Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho's participation. Ri's potential absence from the U.N. gathering, scheduled to be held in New York in late September, would deprive Pompeo of a chance to make contact with his North Korean counterpart. At their June 30 meeting at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed that Washington and Pyongyang would resume stalled denuclearization talks within weeks, but they have yet to take place. Instead, North Korea has repeatedly launched new weapons in recent months. Last Saturday, it fired two projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, in Pyongyang's seventh round of such launches since July 25. Lora Smith BIARRITZ, August 26 -- G-7 leaders discussed the return to the G-8 format with Russia's participation at a summitin the French city of Biarritz, Kyodo news agency reported, citing sources from Japanese government circles. No details were provided about the content of the interview, and an agency source said the information "will never be disclosed". Earlier, US President Donald Trump agreed to a proposal by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to invite Russia to the G7 summit in 2020 in the US. Vladimir Putin, for his part, said that Russia considered all contacts with the G7 countries useful and did not rule out the resumption of the G8 form. German Chancellor Angela Merkel linked the issue of the resumption of the G-8 with progress in resolving the conflict in Ukraine. The G-7 is an association of economically developed countries that includes the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, France and Japan. In the form of the seven, the club has existed from 1976 to 1997. After Russia's accession, it became known as the G8 Linda Kim HONG KONG, August 26 -- Hong Kong stocks dived more than 3 per cent in the first few minutes of business on Monday. Caused by United States President Donald Trump ramped up his trade row with China and the city was hit by fresh violent protests over the weekend. The Hang Seng Index plummeted 3.27 per cent, or 857.33 points, to 25,322 at the open. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index sank 1.6 per cent, or 46.41 points, to 2,851.02, and the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, shed 1.96 per cent, or 30.87 points, to 1,547.83. Linda Kim SHANGHAI, August 26 -- China's currency on Monday (Aug 26) slid to its lowest point in more than 11 years as concerns over the US trade war and the potential for global recession weighed on markets. The onshore yuan fell to 7.1487 to the US dollar, its weakest point since early 2008, in Asian trading. Global economic tensions have intensified in recent days with the US and China raising tariffs on each other's imports, and President Donald Trump calling on US businesses to pull out of China. The yuan is not freely convertible and the Chinese government limits its movement against the dollar to a two percent range on either side of a figure that the central bank sets each day to reflect market trends and control volatility. The People's Bank of China has set that rate steadily weaker in recent weeks and set it on Monday at 7.057 to the dollar. Allowing the yuan to depreciate makes Chinese exports cheaper and offsets some of the burden of punitive US tariffs. The yuan breached the key 7.0 threshold against the dollar earlier in August, days after the US announced plans to impose fresh tariffs on Chinese imports from September 1. Linda Kim BEIJING, August 25 -- United States trade groups have joined in a chorus of opposition to the latest escalation of tariffs Washington threatened for all the Chinese imports. It's been heard that "enough is enough" as intensified tensions roil stock markets, ruin businesses and rid farmers of their most important export markets. Last Friday, US President Donald Trump announced that he would hike duties on US$250 billion (S$346 billion) worth of Chinese goods from the current 25 per cent to 30 per cent starting from Oct 1, and the remaining imports of US$300 billion from the planned 10 per cent to 15 per cent from Sept 1. The move followed Beijing's plan last Thursday to raise tariffs on US$75 billion worth of US goods in retaliation to the US side's planned taxing on an additional US$300 billion worth of Chinese imports, which was announced earlier this month. China's Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that the country is "firmly opposed" to Washington's "unilateral and bullying acts of trade protectionism and extreme pressure", and urged it to immediately stop its "erroneous practices". The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily said on Sunday that China will fight back against the latest US step to increase tariffs on Chinese goods. “China is confident that it will follow its own path and do its own things well, and will never waver in its stand on countering any provocations by the US side,” the newspaper said in a commentary. US politicians, seeking to hamper China’s economic development, still want to use the tactics of exerting maximum pressure on China that has achieved few results, the paper said. But the US will not win the trade war because of the plight faced by its farmers and businesses. In the US, Mr Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of the Consumer Technology Association, said that "enough is enough", as shown by the 623-point drop in the Dow last Friday. "Global markets are reeling on fears of a global recession. And today's (last Friday) announcement only inflicts more pain on American businesses, workers and families," said Mr Shapiro. "These escalating tariffs are the worst economic mistake since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 - a decision that catapulted our country into the Great Depression," Mr Shapiro said. "Instead of making America great again, the president is using tariffs to make a great economic mistake - again." He continued: "How much longer will our families, companies and economy be forced to bear the financial burden of this misguided trade policy?" Mr Rick Helfenbein, president and chief executive officer of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, also lamented that what the US businesses now get is "a 1930s trade strategy" that will be a disaster for consumers, businesses, and the economy. Lora Smith BIARRITZ, August 25 -- Leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations shared the view Saturday that Iran should not possess nuclear weapons while still differing in their approaches to finding a resolution to the issue as they kicked off a three-day summit in France. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who visited Iran in June to help diffuse heightened tensions in the Middle East, told the other G-7 leaders in the French coastal city of Biarritz that Tokyo will continue to engage with Tehran on the diplomatic front, a senior Japanese government official said. "The leaders exchanged various views (on issues such as Iran) and efforts were made by each country toward finding common ground," the official said. G-7 members have been jittery over U.S. President Donald Trump's strategy to shake up multilateral arrangements to advance U.S. interests -- notably his withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal that has ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East. The big question of whether the G-7 -- made up of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States plus the European Union -- is an effective forum for tackling global issues still looms large following past clashes between the United States and other members. The leaders also discussed Russia's potential return to the G-7 framework over dinner that lasted nearly three hours, the official said without giving further details. Russia was dropped from the then Group of Eight after its annexation of Crimea in 2014 which it drew sharp international outcry. Despite Trump's push for readmitting Russia, other G-7 members are opposed due to a lack of progress on the Crimea issue. With its unity in doubt, the G-7 leaders are expected to discuss a range of topics in the coming days from the global economy and digitalization to inequality and North Korea. They agreed Saturday on the need to extend assistance over Amazon rainforest fires in Brazil. Trump, who reportedly had reservations about attending the G-7 meeting, said on Twitter that his evening meeting with world leaders went "very well," adding, "Progress being made!" Lora Smith PARIS, August 24 -- Donald Trump landed in France with First Lady Melania for the G7 summit Saturday, after taking a swipe at fellow leaders, calling them "friends of mine, for the most part" but not in "100 percent of the cases". The president threw shade at some of America's closest partners on Friday evening, mere hours before he'd see them in Biarritz at the Group of Seven summit. He threatened to tax French 'like they've never seen before' and characterized world leaders attending the event as 'friends for the most part' in front of Marine One. 'We're going to France. We'll have a good few days. I think it will be very productive, seeing a lot of leaders who are friends of mine, for the most part,' he said of his trip, smirking as he added, "Wouldn't say in 100 percent of the cases, but for the most part." He did not say which leaders were getting under his skin, but Trump offered several hints in the comments he delivered outside the White House before he left for Europe with first lady Melania. She arrived into Biarritz wearing a yellow dress with pink stiletto heels and sunglasses. The first lady had departed Washington wearing a Chanel jacket, white pants and a black top. Trump harped on France's digital tax, which he said U.S. tech companies don't deserve. He noted that he's 'not the biggest fan of the tech companies,' which he again accused them of interfering in his election. Yet, he said, their regulation should be up to the United States, and not foreign countries like France. "I don't like what France did. They put a digital tax on our tech companies," he said. "Those are great American companies, and frankly, I don't want France going out and taxing our companies, very unfair." He cautioned French President Emmanuel Macron against moving ahead with the action that could spark a protracted trade war with the United States. It is understood the two world leaders will have an unscheduled lunch together Saturday. "If they do that, we'll be taxing their wine, or doing something else. We'll be taxing their wine, like they've never seen before," Trump promised. Whether he meant for the earlier jab about his 'friends' in the global community to land on Macron or another leader he'll be seeing like German Chancellor Angela Merkel was unclear. Lora Smith WASHINGTON, August 23 -- President of Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer said that this is not the first time US President Donald Trump has brought up the idea of reinstating the G8 format with Russia's participation. There is no possibility of the G8 with Russia's participation being reinstated, president and founder of Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer said on Thursday. He was commenting on recent statements by US President Donald Trump on the need to reinstate the G8 format with Russia's participation. "It's not the first time that [US President Donald] Trump has brought this up actually. He mentioned it during the Canada-hosted G7 as well," Bremmer said. "But the reason for Russia's removal wasn't [former US President Barack] Obama being 'outsmarted' by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but the response to the annexation of Crimea, which the G7 countries considered, and still consider, illegal. There is no possibility of the G8 being reinstated," he added. "As you may have heard, French President Emmanuel Macron has decided not to even attempt a communique at the end of the summit that will be held on August 24-26 in France's Biarritz - the first time that's happened since the meetings started in 1975. It's a G-zero world," Bremmer noted. The Group of Seven (G7) is an association of industrialized countries that brings together the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, France and Japan. In 1997, it was renamed the Group of Eight (G8) after Russia joined the association. In 2014, Western countries decided to return to the G7 format after the developments in Ukraine and deterioration of relations with Russia. |
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