Tag Archives: Steve Witkoff

Mediaite: Trump Confronted on Air Force One by NY Times Over $2 Billion Crypto Deal

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President Donald Trump was confronted aboard Air Force One by New York Times White House reporter Jonathan Swan over a $2 billion foreign deal that’s being paid for with Trump crypto.

Trump is currently on a four-day swing through the Persian Gulf region with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, which has been dogged by the controversy over his eager acceptance of a $400 million “flying palace” from Qatar to serve as Air Force One.

The trip has also drawn attention to Trump’s family businesses, including the cryptocurrency firm World Liberty Financial.

That company’s USD1 currency was selected by state-owned UAE firm MGX to pay for a $2 billion investment in Binance earlier this month. The deal was announced by WLF co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of Trump Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump plays dumb:

JONATHAN SWAN: An Emirati government-backed firm did a $2 billion deal using the Trump digital coins. How did that deal come about?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know anything about it. I really don’t know anything about it. But I’m a big crypto fan, I will tell you. I’ve been that from the beginning, right from the campaign. I’m a believer in crypto.

Trump Confronted on Air Force One by NY Times Over $2 Billion Crypto Deal
Trump was confronted aboard Air Force One by New York Times reporter Jonathan Swan over a $2 billion foreign deal that’s being paid for with Trump crypto.
Trump Confronted on Air Force One by NY Times Over $2 Billion Crypto Deal

New York Times: With Trump Visit, Qatar’s Image Makeover Scores Another Success

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The emirate, once called “a funder of terrorism” by President Trump, has spent lavishly on overhauling its global reputation.

The president, who has described the emir as a “great gentleman” and a “friend of mine,” is granting Qatar the honor of hosting one of the first foreign visits of his second term. As for the plane, the president says he would be “stupid” not to accept such a nice gift despite loud objections, not only from Democrats but from some of his most fervent MAGA supporters.

It is a dramatic turnaround for a small Persian Gulf country that Mr. Trump derided eight years ago as “a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” At that time, he cooperated with Qatar’s bitter rivals in the region — who imposed a punishing blockade on Doha — in calling for an end to what he described as the country’s “extremist ideology.”

Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!

https://archive.is/5Xbf6#selection-727.0-738.0

New York Post: Steve Witkoff shouldn’t be leading Iran, Russia negotiations, allies and insiders say

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President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, former real estate attorney and investor Steve Witkoff, has left administration insiders distressed by his approach to negotiating with two of America’s greatest adversaries.

Witkoff, who has become Trump’s de facto personal ambassador to Russian President Vladimir Putin in addition to taking on the Middle East portfolio, takes part in high-level meetings alone — and is said to have even occasionally leaned on Kremlin translators — in a break with longstanding diplomatic procedure, multiple sources told The Post.

Ahead of Witkoff’s most recent meeting with Putin this past Friday, the New York native greeted the Kremlin tyrant like an old friend — with no sign of the usual coterie of advisers, experts and military officers who typically accompany US officials conducting negotiations.

Exclusive | Steve Witkoff shouldn’t be leading Iran, Russia negotiations, allies and insiders say
Steve Witkoff, who has become Trump’s de facto personal ambassador to Russian President Vladimir Putin in addition to taking on the Middle East portfolio, takes part in high-level meetings al…

https://nypost.com/2025/04/30/us-news/steve-witkoff-shouldnt-be-leading-iran-russia-negotiations-allies-and-insiders-say

Telegraph: Trump to let Putin keep land seized from Ukraine

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Seven-point plan gives Kyiv no clear security guarantee from the US

Donald Trump will let Vladimir Putin keep almost all the territory he has seized from Ukraine under the terms of a proposed peace deal.

The condition is part of a seven-point plan to end the war that leaves Ukraine with no clear US security guarantee.

It was due to be discussed in London on Wednesday, when US officials would hear Kyiv’s reaction, though the talks were downgraded when US secretary of state Marco Rubio pulled out.

Foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany and Ukraine withdrew in an apparent response. Discussions were instead scheduled to take place between senior officials from those nations and the US.

The Trump administration’s peace proposal involves the US offering formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and implies de facto recognition of other occupied territories.

This would mean freezing the current front line, allowing Putin to keep almost all the territory Russia has gained.

As if it’s King Donald’s decision. My bet is that this “proposal” is Dead on Arrival. Rewarding Russia’s aggression will only invite them back to grab the rest of Ukraine when they think they can get away with it.

Trump to let Putin keep land seized from Ukraine
Seven-point plan gives Kyiv no clear security guarantee from the US

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/22/trumps-plan-to-let-putin-keep-land-seized-from-ukraine

Kyiv Independent: Trump officials ‘fed up’ with Europe’s efforts to strengthen Ukraine, Economist reports

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Some Trump administration officials are dissatisfied with European countries’ ongoing support for Ukraine, underscoring the growing rift between Washington and Europe, the Economist reported on April 15, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.

Kyiv’s European partners have sought to present a united front on Ukraine, pledging additional assistance and preparing a “reassurance force” of troops to monitor a potential ceasefire.

As Trump’s Amerika slides into international irrelevance …

Trump officials ‘fed up’ with Europe’s efforts to strengthen Ukraine, Economist reports
Some Trump administration officials are dissatisfied with European countries’ ongoing support for Ukraine, underscoring the growing rift between Washington and Europe, the Economist reported on April 15, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources. Kyiv’s European partners have sought to present a united front on Ukraine, pledging additional assistance a…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-officials-fed-up-with-europe-s-efforts-to-strengthen-ukraine-economist-reports/ar-AA1D2afd

The Independent: Under Trump, 80 years of collective security have been dismantled in as many days

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The Atlantic Alliance used to believe it had liberal democratic values in common and a shared interest in collective security and free trade. That, thanks to the US president, is no longer true. Europe must adjust to this altered reality, or die.

It may be that the US’s tilt to the Kremlin, accompanied by the twin-track diplomatic and trade wars now being waged on friends and allies, will before long drive Europe to stand on its own two feet and be the independent force in world affairs that the founding fathers of the project of European unity dreamed about. At long last, Europe begins to assert itself. To borrow a famous phrase from a happier era of US-European relations, Europe, like president Barack Obama, is saying: “Yes we can.”

The “coalition of the willing” (or “coalition of action”, as French president Emmanuel Macron prefers to call it) is a concrete example of this emerging European consciousness. The project is to provide a safe and secure future for Ukraine, irrespective of what Russia or the US might desire. Russia is rightly distrusted, while there is still hope that the Americans can contribute in some way to keeping the peace in Ukraine – and in Europe more widely.

Under Trump, 80 years of collective security have been dismantled in as many days
Editorial: The Atlantic Alliance used to believe it had liberal democratic values in common and a shared interest in collective security and free trade. That, thanks to the US president, is no longer true. Europe must adjust to this altered reality, or die

Under Trump, 80 years of collective security have been dismantled in as many days | The Independent

Raw Story: ‘It sort of doesn’t matter’: Trump envoy unconcerned with Putin taking over Europe

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“To me, it just — it just — I take him at his word in this sense,” he continued. “So, and I think the Europeans are beginning to come to that belief, too. But it sort of doesn’t matter.”

‘It sort of doesn’t matter’: Trump envoy unconcerned with Putin taking over Europe

‘It sort of doesn’t matter’: Trump envoy unconcerned with Putin taking over Europe

UK Daily Mail: Trump team sparks fury with ‘sickening’ choice of emojis while describing their war plans in leaked Signal chat

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The use of emojis in a leaked Trump administration group chat discussing strikes on Houthi targets has sparked outrage, with accusations that officials made light of the sensitive topics being discussed.

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic magazine, revealed on Monday that Trump’s national security advisor Michael Waltz had – seemingly inadvertently – added him to a group chat called ‘Houthi PC small group’.

The chat appears to have served as a virtual war room for some of the President’s top team, including Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard and Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Goldberg said that Hegseth shared the war plan with the group at 11.44am eastern time on Saturday March 15, two hours before the bombs began dropping on Yemen.

As news broke of the strikes, the journalist checked the group chat where he found a flurry of emojis and congratulations flooding the text chain.

Waltz updated the group at 1.48pm, saying the operation had been an ‘amazing job’ before sending three emojis a few minutes later – a fist, an American flag, and fire.

…

Trump team sparks fury with ‘sickening’ choice of emojis in war chat
As news broke of the strikes on Yemen, the journalist checked the group chat where he found a flurry of emojis and congratulations flooding the text chain.

Trump team sparks fury with ‘sickening’ choice of emojis while describing their war plans in leaked Signal chat | Daily Mail Online

Daily Express: Donald Trump ‘touched’ after receiving ‘beautiful’ gift from Putin

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We know where Krasnov’s loyalties lie:

The Kremlin verified on Monday that a portrait of Donald Trump, commissioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was gifted to the former U.S. president.

According to Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, the painting was presented to Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow earlier this month. Peskov confirmed this in response to a journalist’s inquiry but chose not to elaborate further.

The existence of the gift first came to light in an interview between Witkoff and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson last week. During their conversation, Witkoff mentioned that Trump “was clearly touched” by the portrait, describing it as “beautiful.”

Donald Trump ‘touched’ after receiving ‘beautiful’ gift from Putin

Donald Trump ‘touched’ after receiving ‘beautiful’ gift from Putin

Washington Post: Trump defends national security adviser Waltz in Signal group chat blunder

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Later, during a White House meeting with U.S. ambassadors, Trump said Waltz had been unfairly attacked and suggested that the problem was an issue with technology, not a lapse in judgment from a key deputy. “I don’t think he should apologize. I think he’s doing his best,” Trump said. “It’s equipment and technology that’s not perfect. And, probably he won’t be using it again. At least not in the very near future.”

Nonsense!

Our government — especially our military — has secure communications facilities and procedures. Trump’s wannabes are just too stupid / too ignorant / to lazy to use them.

Trump defends national security adviser Waltz in Signal group chat blunder