Tag Archives: President Volodymyr Zelensky

Daily Digest: Trump’s latest controversy: the moment he insulted the South African president to his face

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According to Reuters, [South African President Cyril] Ramaphosa expected to mend diplomatic relations with the United States, after the Trump Administration decided to cut humanitarian aid, expelled the South African ambassador and offered refuge to white Afrikaners.

Instead, the US President confronted the South African leader with claims of white genocide and illegal land expropriations, which have been described by Reuters as patently false.

The BBC reports that Trump showed Ramaphosa a video, depicting several crosses along a road. The US President claimed that those were the burial sites of of murdered white farmers in South Africa.

According to the BBC, the video appears to be from a 2020 protest over a murdered farming couple in the Kwazulu-Natal province, with the crosses representing murdered farmers over the years.

Trumpian diplomacy = fake videos! Henry Kissinger would be so impressed! Not!

This White House is just a friggin’ joke!

Trump’s latest controversy: the moment he insulted the South African president to his face
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https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/other/trump-s-latest-controversy-the-moment-he-insulted-the-south-african-president-to-his-face/ss-AA1Fh8rR

Daily Beast: Pope Leo Snubs JD Vance After Inaugural Mass

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The pope gave the vice president short shrift after the ceremony.

Pope Leo XIV spurned JD Vance on Sunday, offering him a quick greeting after his inaugural mass while holding extensive private meetings with other world leaders.

The first American pope shook Vance’s hand during a brief, 17-second exchange during the procession line after the mass.

Leo met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra on Sunday after celebrating his inaugural Mass, which included world leaders from Canada, Italy, Germany, and other European Union officials in the audience.

Pope Leo Snubs JD Vance After Inaugural Mass
The pope gave the vice president short shrift after the ceremony.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pope-leo-xiv-snubs-jd-vance-as-he-meets-with-world-leaders

Irish Star: Donald Trump melts down in major tantrum as Ukraine war plan in tatters

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He went on to blame Ukraine, which Russia invaded over three years ago, sparking the war, for the situation.

“I’m starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who’s too busy celebrating the Victory of World War ll, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America. HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!”

President Trump vowed to end the war in Ukraine on his first day of his second term. He later clarified to TIME Magazine that he was speaking “figuratively,” though he emphasized his commitment to ending major global wars, from Russia-Ukraine to Israel-Hamas.

He’ll end the Ukraine war by giving Ukraine back to Russia.

He’ll end the Israel-Hamas war when the Palestinian is dead.

Right now Trump so busy sucking up to Qatar that the doesn’t know which end is up.

Donald Trump melts down in major tantrum as Ukraine war plan in tatters
U.S. President Donald Trump has called on Ukraine to join him at the negotiating table with Russia after setting a date later this week.

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-melts-down-major-35207736

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

Metro: Trump sends blunt tariffs warning: ‘You’ll pay for the privilege of servicing the US’

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US President Donald Trump has claimed he doesn’t even ‘need’ to negotiate with anyone over trade deals, telling right-wing TV journalist Glenn Beck that he’s only talking to other countries ‘out of respect.’ In a bold interview with BlazeTV, Trump laid out his blunt view on tariffs, global commerce and foreign governments. Trump’s comments come as he continues to push a 10% tariff on almost every country, with tougher reciprocal tariffs on pause while he and his team try to hammer out new deals around the world.

King Donald’s big delusion is that the rest of the world will crawl into the White House on all fours and lick his boots. A few desperate suck-up might actually do that, but most of the world is bright enough to realize that they have choices. Among those choices are finding new trading partners and doing business elsewhere, which seem to be exactly what is happening.

Trump sends blunt tariffs warning: ‘You’ll pay for the privilege of servicing the US’
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https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/other/trump-sends-blunt-tariffs-warning-you-ll-pay-for-the-privilege-of-servicing-the-us/ss-AA1DBpUZ

CNN World: Why Trump’s Crimea proposal would tear down a decades-old pillar of the global order

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US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine should recognize Russia’s control over Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow annexed more than a decade ago, is threatening to upend international law and order.

…

Is this legal?

No. If the Trump administration was to somehow recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, it would be breaching international law as well as multiple declarations and agreements made by the United States, including by the first Trump White House.

“In terms of international law, such a pronouncement would be null and void,” said Sergey Vasiliev, an international law expert and professor at the Open University in the Netherlands.

“That territorial acquisitions that result from the use of force shall not be recognized as legal is basically one of the bedrock principles of international law,” Vasiliev told CNN.

Recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would put the Trump administration in breach of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which the US made a commitment to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders, in exchange for Kyiv giving up its nuclear weapons.

In 2018, during the first Trump administration, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement reaffirming the US’ refusal to recognize the Kremlin’s claims of sovereignty over Crimea.

Why Trump’s Crimea proposal would tear down a decades-old pillar of the global order | CNN
President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine should recognize Russia’s control over Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula Moscow siezed by force more than a decade ago, is threatening to upend international law and order.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/25/world/trump-ukraine-crimea-explainer-intl

Mediaite: OOF! DHS Accidentally Tells Ukrainian War Refugees to Self-Deport

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The Department of Homeland Security mistakenly emailed Ukrainian war refugees in the U.S. on Friday to inform them they must self-deport.

The message, which DHS has acknowledged was sent in error, told an undisclosed number of people in the country legally under the Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole program that they had seven days to leave the country.

CBS News reported the Thursday email read, “DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole. Unless it expires sooner, your parole will terminate 7 days from the date of this notice.”

The alert added those who failed to self-deport would “be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States.”

The message concluded, “Again, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you… Please depart the United States immediately.”

What a bunch of f*ck*ng clowns!

OOF! DHS Accidentally Tells Ukrainian War Refugees to Self-Deport
The message, which DHS has acknowledged was sent in error, told an undisclosed number of people in the country under the Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole program.
OOF! DHS Accidentally Tells Ukrainian War Refugees to Self-Deport

Alternet: ‘Why do that?’ Fox News host defends ‘decorated veteran’ against Musk’s ‘traitor’ smear

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Elon Musk = Surrender Monkey

During a recent visit to Ukraine, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) expressed his support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and additional U.S. military aid for the war-torn country. But far-right Tesla/Space/X/X.com leader Elon Musk, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, disagreed with Kelly’s position and called him a “traitor.”

Many Democrats are calling Musk out, noting that Kelly is a former U.S. Navy combat pilot. Musk, however, defended his attack on Kelly during a Thursday night, March 27 appearance on Fox News.

Fox News host Bret Baier questioned the wisdom of calling Kelly a “traitor,” asking Musk, “Why do that?”

The billionaire Trump ally responded, “Well, I think somebody should be — should care about the interest of the United States above the interests of another country. And if they don’t, they’re a traitor.”

Baier, however, defended Kelly, telling Musk, “Yes. But he’s a decorated veteran, a former astronaut, a sitting U.S. senator.”

Musk doubled down on his position, accusing Kelly of putting “the interest of another country above America.”

‘Why do that?’ Fox News host defends ‘decorated veteran’ against Musk’s ‘traitor’ smear

New York Times: Inside Pete Hegseth’s Rocky First Months at the Pentagon

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The disclosure of battle plans on a chat app created a new predicament for the defense secretary.

There’s nothing that can’t be cured by few stiff drinks:

Even before he disclosed secret battle plans for Yemen in a group chat, information that could have endangered American fighter pilots, it had been a rocky two months for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Mr. Hegseth, a former National Guard infantryman and Fox News weekend host, started his job at the Pentagon determined to out-Trump President Trump, Defense Department officials and aides said.

The president is skeptical about the value of NATO and European alliances, so the Pentagon under Mr. Hegseth considered plans in which the United States would give up its command role overseeing NATO troops. After Mr. Trump issued executive orders targeting transgender people, Mr. Hegseth ordered a ban on transgender troops.

Mr. Trump has embraced Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla. The Pentagon planned a sensitive briefing to give Mr. Musk a firsthand look at how the military would fight a war with China, a potentially valuable step for any businessman with interests there.

Inside Pete Hegseth’s Rocky First Months at the Pentagon – The New York Times