Tag Archives: Ukraine

NBC News: Germany hits back at Rubio’s defense of far-right AfD party

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Germany rebuked Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he slammed the country’s intelligence agency for classifying the far-right political party Alternative for Germany a “proven-right wing extremist organization.”

“We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped,” Germany’s foreign office wrote on X, in direct reply to Rubio.

AfD, whose staunch supporters include Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk, was already under surveillance for suspected extremism by Germany’s intelligence services, which on Friday classified the party as a “proven right-wing extremist organization.” 

Marco Rubio & J.D. Dunce & F’Elon Musk seem to thing that neo-Nazis are cool. Thankfully Germany has learned from its past mistakes and has no intention of repeating history.

Germany hits back at Rubio’s defense of far-right AfD party

Germany rebuked Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he slammed the country’s intelligence agency for classifying the far-right political party Alternative for Germany a “proven-right wing extremist organization.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/germany-hits-back-at-rubio-s-defense-of-far-right-afd-party/ar-AA1E6mLU

Politico Magazine: JD Vance’s Little Brother Tries His Hand at Politics. It’s Not Going So Well.

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Cory Bowman says he wants to be mayor of Cincinnati. He might have other things in mind.

A lonely microphone and an empty chair sat at the end of a long, yellow cloth-draped table where Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother, Cory Bowman, should have been sitting. If Bowman had been there, it would have been one of a handful of key appearances ahead of the first election for potentially the first role of his nascent political career: Cincinnati mayor.

It was a Tuesday night in April inside a community center, where the local NAACP chapter was holding the second and final debate ahead of the May 6 mayoral primary. And Bowman, a local evangelical pastor, coffee shop owner and the first Republican to file to run for mayor here in 16 years, was nowhere to be found.

Dunce and Duncer?

https://archive.is/5yTgC#selection-1041.13-1060.0

Newsweek: Mike Pence Calls for Donald Trump Reversal—’Warning Signs Are Flashing’

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Former Vice President Mike Pence urged President Donald Trump to reverse course on the sweeping tariffs he announced in April.

In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Pence wrote that “economic warning signs are flashing” as he criticized Trump’s tariffs as a “massive policy misstep.”

Mike Pence Calls for Donald Trump Reversal—‘Warning Signs Are Flashing’

The former vice president called Trump’s tariffs a “massive policy misstep” in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mike-pence-calls-for-donald-trump-reversal-warning-signs-are-flashing/ar-AA1E2Gmg

Newsweek: Mike Pence Calls for Donald Trump Reversal—’Warning Signs Are Flashing’

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Former Vice President Mike Pence urged President Donald Trump to reverse course on the sweeping tariffs he announced in April.

In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Pence wrote that “economic warning signs are flashing” as he criticized Trump’s tariffs as a “massive policy misstep.”

I’ve a hunch King Donald won’t be listening to any advice from his former vice-president Mike Pence.

Mike Pence Calls for Donald Trump Reversal—‘Warning Signs Are Flashing’

The former vice president called Trump’s tariffs a “massive policy misstep” in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mike-pence-calls-for-donald-trump-reversal-warning-signs-are-flashing/ar-AA1E2Gmg

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

NBC News: Trump slams Zelenskyy for rejecting Ukraine-Russia negotiations, saying a deal was ‘very close’

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High-level talks in London aimed at bringing a pause to fighting in Ukraine disintegrated after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out.

President Donald Trump slammed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, accusing him of derailing negotiations to end the war in Ukraine while a peace deal was “very close.”

In a long post on Truth Social, Trump described Zelenskyy’s rejection of Russia’s takeover of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, as “very harmful” to achieving peace.

“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War,” Trump wrote.

Zelenskyy has consistently rejected the suggestion that his country give up its claim to the Crimean Peninsula.

“There’s nothing to talk about here,” he said at a media conference Tuesday. “This is against our constitution.”

It’s “very close” only in Trump’s deranged mind. All parties need to honor the 1990 agreement on the Sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia’s aggression must not be rewarded.

Trump slams Zelenskyy for rejecting Ukraine-Russia negotiations, saying a deal was ‘very close’

High-level talks in London aimed at bringing a pause to fighting in Ukraine disintegrated after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna202525

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

Axios World: Hegseth hunkers down as White House accuses “entire” Pentagon of sabotage

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From the “I’m not paranoid, they really are out to get me” department:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is locked in open warfare with his own Pentagon, a hotbed of distrust and dysfunction that commands the most powerful military on the face of the Earth.

No Trump Cabinet official has endured more turmoil in less time than Hegseth, who survived a nasty confirmation battle only to be burned — again and again — by leaks, blunders and now backlash from his own handpicked aides.

Hegseth hunkers down as White House accuses “entire” Pentagon of sabotage

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is locked in open warfare with his own Pentagon, a hotbed of distrust and dysfunction that commands the most powerful military on the face of the Earth. Why it matters: No Trump Cabinet official has endured more turmoil in less time than Hegseth, who survived a nasty confirmation battle only to be burned — again and again — by leaks, blunders and now backlash from his own handpicked aides. President Trump so far is…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1DndAo