US President Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday night that he secretly switched planes when he traveled back from Turkey in July, saying a security threat prompted the clandestine maneuver.

Trump told reporters that the “Secret Service and the military” made the decision.

“They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” he said. “I guess there was a threat out there.”

NBC News previously confirmed The Washington Post’s reporting that Trump surreptitiously moved to an unmarked jet using a catering truck on July 8 after having boarded Air Force One in front of cameras. He flew on the jet from Ankara to a base in the United Kingdom, while reporters and White House staff members believed he was on board Air Force One.

“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for,” Trump said Tuesday.

He did not elaborate on why the unmarked C-32 jet he boarded, whose call sign was not marked as Air Force One, made it a likelier target.

NBC News also reported that the plane switch came, according to a U.S. official, amid a fresh Iranian plot to kill Trump, possibly involving a shoulder-fired missile aimed at Air Force One as it departed Turkey. Those left behind on the decoy plane included members of the media and senior White House staff members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who are in the presidential line of succession. 

Trump said he “didn’t really ask so much” about the threat, but he said he was “not surprised” there had been one.

“Any consequential president has a lot of threats. Nonconsequential presidents don’t get threatened, and I think that I may be the most consequential president,” he said.

Congressional Democrats are demanding a briefing from officials on the specifics of Trump’s flight last month and any security threats that surrounded it. (NBC News)

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Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey to Britain last month when the White House said he was flying aboard ⁠Air Force One, in an extraordinary ruse – prompted by an Iranian assassination threat – that involved hiding the president in an airport catering container, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The operation took place when Trump was in Ankara for a Nato summit with world leaders, according to the Post. The president reportedly boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, and then was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, a US official told the Post.

An official also confirmed the operation to the New York Times. The Guardian has reached out to the White House and the US Department of Defense for comment.

Trump’s actual location was concealed from journalists and some White House staff. A US official told the Post that a credible threat to Trump involving Iran set the “deception operation” in motion.

The administration previously claimed that Trump left Turkey on 8 July on the former Air Force One. The president had also announced on Truth Social that he would use the “former Air Force One” rather than the plane that flew him there, a new Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar.

The trip to the Nato summit was the first international travel for the new plane, whose speedy upgrades triggered questions over its cost and security, ⁠and took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, which borders Turkey.

Before departing Ankara, Trump said on Truth Social that he would use an older, baby blue Air Force One plane “for old time’s sake” to RAF Mildenhall ⁠in Britain while the new plane stopped at the same base so US service members stationed there could tour the aircraft.

A similar operation took place in 2000, when Bill Clinton used an unmarked executive jet to fly into Pakistan while sending his formal Air Force One as decoy.

On this occasion, the journalists who thought they were traveling with Trump on the older Air Force One reported being advised to keep their window shades in the press cabin closed. The Post said some White House staff also believed the president was on board.

When asked later by reporters why they had to keep their shades shut during the flight, Trump said it was because they were “probably on ​a dangerous flight”. He went onto say: “But if I go, you go. Right?”

The C-32A carrying Trump flew to Britain, arriving at about 10.20pm local time with the older Air Force One and media arriving minutes later, the Post reported.

The New York Times reported: “Mr Trump was brought by vehicle from the third plane that he had arrived on to the older Air Force One, boarded it through a different entrance and strode down the step from the upper left-side door as he would typically do, according to [a] US official.”

Trump’s traveling press pool reported he climbed down the stairs of the older Air Force ⁠One at 10.56pm local time. He gave press a peace sign but didn’t walk over ​to talk to them. He then spent some ​time greeting service members before walking to the new, ​Qatar-donated plane.

When asked for comment on the revelation of a secret flight on a third plane, the ​White House provided a statement ‌from Steve Cheung, the communications director, ​saying the Qatari-donated jet has been ​fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff.

“As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats,” Cheung said. It was the same statement provided to the Post. (The Guardian/ Reuters)

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A man carrying a loaded handgun and hollow-point ammunition has been arrested at Donald Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf club, days before a scheduled visit by the US president, local authorities said.

The man, arrested on Sunday at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, was identified by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele. 

The department said he had been seen photographing and filming the grounds while appearing to monitor security preparations ahead of Trump’s scheduled appearance at a Republican Party fundraising dinner on Tuesday.

Deputies said they found a 16-round magazine loaded with ammunition in his pocket, and later recovered a loaded pistol with a round chambered, along with a second loaded magazine, from his vehicle in the golf course car park.

Officials said Taele had already been under investigation by the El Segundo Police Department over a separate robbery case.

On Monday, detectives working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force searched Taele’s Downey home, where they said they recovered an illegally modified rifle, a second pistol, body armour, high-capacity magazines, bulk ammunition and other radio signal devices and notebooks containing what officials described only as “concerning statements”.

The sheriff’s department said it had not identified any credible threat to the public and that Taele is being held without bail while prosecutors weigh charges.

Trump’s visit is part of a broader campaign swing through California and Nevada ahead of the November midterm elections. (Al Jazeera)

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US President Donald Trump on Monday (Jul 27) voiced optimism at the prospects for a negotiated peace deal with Iran, as the two sides held their fire for a third consecutive day.

Fighting between the longtime foes has been paused since Friday after 13 nights of renewed US strikes on the Islamic Republic sparked by a breakdown in diplomacy over Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

But the US leader expressed hope that renewed diplomacy could bring an end to the war that began in late February with a wave of US-Israeli strikes, rattling both the region and the global economy.

“I have a lot of patience … We’ll see what happens,” he said aboard Air Force One. “I think there is a good chance that something could happen.”

Tehran had earlier denied that there were any talks with the US to end the conflict.

“Mediators may convey messages from the American side to us regarding current developments in the region. But at present, we are not engaged in any negotiations with the United States,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

But Trump insisted during a speech in Michigan that “right now, they’re talking to us about making a deal”.

Aboard Air Force One, the US president had earlier said that if the new efforts failed, “we go back to doing what we were doing” before the pause in fighting.

On that subject, he dismissed concerns that US ammunition stockpiles were running low nearly five months after the war began.

“We have a lot of ammunition. We have a lot of the mid-level stuff too, more than we could ever use no matter what,” he said. 

SAUDI ARABIA ATTACKED

Despite the recent lull, Saudi Arabia came under attack on Monday, with its defence ministry saying it had intercepted several drones fired by Iran-linked groups in Iraq targeting oil facilities.

No group claimed responsibility, but Riyadh called on Baghdad to prevent such attacks from being launched from its territory.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi later called for an investigation into Saudi Arabia’s allegations.

Pakistan, which has been mediating a resolution to the Middle East war, condemned the drone attacks, saying they “pose a grave threat to peace and stability” in the Middle East.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels also said they launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure in response to incursions by the kingdom’s drones. Riyadh is yet to comment on the claim.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations accused pro-Iran militias in Iraq of launching waves of attacks on their territory during the conflict’s earlier phase, but the groups have not claimed any attacks in the region since the resumption of hostilities.

Elsewhere, the Israeli military, which has not joined the recent fighting, said it had intercepted two drones near the Jordanian border and was investigating where they had been launched from. (AFP/CNA)

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US President Donald Trump wants FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations, The Post has learned.

Infantino, 56, grew close to Trump through organizing this year’s World Cup, with the Swiss-born soccer administrator bending over backward to charm and include Trump, even giving him FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize in December.

Trump believes that Infantino “is respected by everyone around the world, and recognizes he has a special ability to bring people together,” a source close to the president told The Post.

The next secretary-general will be elected this year to replace the retiring António Guterres of Portugal, who will step down at the end of December. 

To secure the position, Infantino would need to win the endorsement of the 15-member Security Council — where the five permanent members hold vetoes — followed by confirmation by the General Assembly. 

It’s unclear if Infantino wants the job and to what extent Trump has discussed the topic with him.

But Trump senses a clear opening among a field that one insider described as seven “lame” candidates.

The best-known contenders include Chile’s socialist former president Michelle Bachelet, who could face US resistance, and Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the current director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who could face concerns from the UK over the disputed Falkland Islands.

Trump’s concept would upend the anticipated selection of a candidate from Latin America or the Caribbean — a region last repped by secretary-general Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru between 1982 and 1991.

But multiple sources say that soft geographic rotation would not necessarily block Infantino and that it’s possible he could pick up multiple nominations in addition to Trump’s.

Paolo Zampolli, the Italian-American businessman and diplomat serving as Trump’s special envoy for global partnerships, told The Post that “only President Trump could have such a genius idea.”

Zampolli said Infantino “would do a great job” and is “liked by everybody” — describing him as potentially bringing fresh energy to the massive bureaucracy and using sports to build new bridges and inspire the world’s young and poor populations.

“There is some similarity” between the roles of FIFA president and UN secretary-general, said Zampolli, a personal friend of Infantino’s and a former ambassador to the UN for the small island nation of Dominica.

“At the United Nations, you have to deal with 193 member states. In FIFA, there are over 200 members [and] Gianni’s great record shows he knows how to manage.”

Zampolli spent time with Infantino at last weekend’s World Cup final in New Jersey but said they did not discuss the concept and was surprised to learn of it from The Post.

Trump has fumed about what he views as the UN’s inactivity in mediating major world conflicts and last year created a new US-led Board of Peace that drew speculation he was setting up a rival organization — as he brokered peace deals, including between Israel and Hamas — though Trump denied it and said he hopes the UN will take a more active role.

Since reentering the White House last year, Trump has slashed US contributions to the UN and withdrawn from many of its sub-organizations, including the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council.

Installing Infantino could improve Trump’s relationship with the UN.

However, if the president is successful, it would come with a steep pay cut for Infantino, who earns about $6 million a year at FIFA.

The secretary-general’s recently reported compensation amounted to about $418,000. 

Infantino has declared his candidacy for re-election as FIFA president. That selection process occurs next March.

He did not immediately respond to The Post’s emailed request for comment about the UN opening.

Although he’s lined up endorsements for reelection from nearly all of FIFA’s 211 member associations, he faces blowback over Trump’s intervention on behalf of the US team in the World Cup to overturn a one-game suspension of Folarin Balogun ahead of the match with Belgium.

Balogun’s reinstatement outraged European nations, but the American loss to Belgium blunted the fallout. Still, disgraced ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter, whose tenure was marred by a bribery scandal in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, is among those clamoring for Infantino’s ouster. (New York Post)

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United States President Donald Trump has dismissed a threat from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister for war crimes should he visit the city.

Trump insisted that Benjamin Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form” while in the US.

The president made the pledge on Monday in a social media post that did not name Mamdani directly but credited Israel with helping the US in its war on Iran.

Mamdani earlier said his administration is still considering whether to arrest Netanyahu should he attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said in an interview published on Saturday.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024, charging him with committing war crimes during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani added, saying that his view is shared by many, given the actions the Israeli PM has “wrought over these last many years”.

Mamdani said he remains uncertain whether he has the legal authority to direct the police department, which he oversees, to detain a foreign leader and that he is in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department.

“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” he said.

During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani warned that he would order police to arrest Netanyahu if he set foot in the city, framing it as enforcement of the ICC warrant.

Netanyahu typically travels to New York each September for the UN gathering.

Posting on X, Israel dismissed Mamdani’s remarks, calling the ICC a “kangaroo court” and its warrant “bogus”, while accusing him of trying to divert attention from his own troubles.

The ICC, established in 2002 to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, has jurisdiction which Israel rejects; neither Israel nor the United States is a member of the court.

The Trump administration has launched a campaign to try to disable the ICC, imposing sanctions on judges, prosecutors and groups that seek rulings against Israel over allegations of human rights violations. (Al Jazeera)

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US President Donald Trump signed orders Monday (Jul 20) to impose new 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian goods, claiming “discriminatory treatment” by Ottawa against American alcohol, automobile and dairy products.

The tariffs will take effect in 30 days and cover a range of items including wine, hockey sticks and cement, according to a White House fact sheet.

Trump, who saw many of his tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year, tapped an untested legal provision for the new duties – Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

The latest duties will not apply to energy, potash and goods already impacted by sector-specific tariffs, the White House said.

Crucially, however, they will hit products covered under the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA).

While Trump has slapped sweeping duties on US trading partners since returning to the presidency last year, the orders have generally exempted goods entering his country under the North American free trade pact.

His latest actions threaten to further strain ties between Washington and Ottawa, and come just days after he threatened Canada with increased tariffs over wildfire smoke that drifted into the United States.

The White House, in announcing the new tariffs, said Canada was one of only two countries – along with China – to retaliate against Trump’s sweeping tariffs last year.

It also took aim at the fact that most Canadian provinces have halted purchases of US alcohol, boycotting the products over Trump’s tariff threats and repeated calls for annexation of Canada as America’s “51st state”.

“Canada has taken US alcohol products off Canadian shelves, given better market access to dairy products from the European Union, and has put a cap on US vehicle exports to Canada from companies reshoring to the United States,” charged US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a statement.

The tariff announcement aims to “hold Canada accountable for its retaliation and discrimination”. he added.

“LITIGATION RISK”

Trump’s move marks the first time that Section 338 has been used to impose tariffs, Scott Lincicome of the libertarian Cato Institute told AFP.

Many experts believe that the law has been superseded by other authorities, he said, arguing that Trump has “demonstrated a willingness to use and abuse any statute on the books”.

Ryan Majerus, a former US trade official, told AFP that the law is “subject to a lot of litigation risk” and has never been tested.

“This is clearly designed to get some leverage over Canada,” added Majerus, who is now a partner at law firm King & Spalding.

He noted that negotiations surrounding the USMCA were ongoing, and that the United States’ talks with Mexico have proceeded at a much faster pace than those with Canada.

“This could be an effort to try to get them going,” he said, pointing to the 30-day delay in the tariffs’ implementation.

If the tariffs were to take effect as announced, however, Majerus expects that the removal of exemptions for USMCA imports would be highly negative to US supply chains and businesses. (CNA/ AFP)

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President Donald Trump recorded around US$1.2 billion in income from his cryptocurrency activities in 2025, according to documents released Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics.

A 1978 law requires the president and vice president of the United States to declare their income as well as their assets.

According to the documents, which are more than 900 pages long, Trump received nearly US$550 million from his ties to the startup World Liberty Financial.

The Trump family lent its support and its name to this cryptocurrency platform, launched in September 2024.

World Liberty Financial issued its own cryptocurrency, WLFI, whose initial sale brought in US$550 million.

Trump and his three sons also obtained, via an intermediary company, DT Marks Defi, an additional 22.5 billion WLFI, currently worth around US$1.3 billion.

In April 2025, WLF also marketed its stablecoin – a digital currency whose value is pegged to a traditional currency, in this case the dollar.

Trump’s income disclosure also mentions US$635 million in royalties received under a licensing agreement related to the $TRUMP cryptocurrency, launched just hours before his inauguration in January 2025.

The president’s activities in the cryptocurrency sector are the main reason for the near tripling of his personal fortune, which rose from US$2.3 billion to US$6.5 billion between 2024 and 2026, according to Forbes.

The former real estate developer is regularly accused of conflicts of interest, in particular for having invested in the cryptocurrency industry while, as president, taking several measures to deregulate the sector, causing asset prices to soar.

Beyond the income derived from WLF and its cryptocurrency, Trump has also earned several million dollars from shares in various publicly listed companies active in cryptocurrencies, such as the Coinbase exchange platform.

The president’s assets are held in a trust managed by his son, Donald Trump Jr, but its bylaws stipulate that the entity can be dissolved at any time, which means the billionaire could regain control of it as soon as his second term ends. (CNA/ AFP)

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US President Donald Trump has told petrol retailers to bring their prices down immediately and warned of “big problems” ahead if they do not.

“Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

“There will be no gauging [sic], which is totally illegal,” Trump posted.

“If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead! Start targeting around the $2.50 a Gallon number,” he wrote.

“The Retailers must quickly react to this statement, and do what they know is right — DROP YOUR PRICE FOR OUR GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!”

Trump took particular aim at California, urging the state to also lower its taxes on petrol.

“Soon the Tax will be higher than the Product itself, and the United States will not stand for it, nor will the People of California, who are being abused by these ridiculous Taxes, and by their own Government,” Trump wrote.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has been one of Trump’s fiercest critics in the president’s second term, including of his push to promote fossil fuels.

California is also doubling down on renewable energy and is hoping to have a carbon-neutral electrical grid within 20 years.

But with petrol prices surging since the US-Israel war on Iran, the Trump administration is pushing for more domestic fuel production and has invoked emergency powers to restart an oil pipeline in California that had been shut down because of a massive spill in 2015.

Separately, Trump said last week that he had ordered an investigation into major oil companies over high petrol prices.

“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on June 24. 

“Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged’. I have instructed the DOJ [Department of Justice] to immediately start looking into this,” he posted.

Trump’s demand for lower petrol prices in the US comes as he faces criticism for launching the war on Iran and for its impact on costs for millions of Americans, and as November’s mid-term elections draw closer.

The president has repeatedly said that fuel prices would “come down like a rock” after the conflict with Iran ends, but economists have disputed Trump’s assertions and predict longer-term economic repercussions due to the conflict. (Al Jazeera)

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US President Donald Trump has said a deal between Israel and Iran is close, claiming both sides could stop attacks within days.

Speaking to reporters late Monday, Trump said the United States was in the “final throes” of what he described as a “very, very good deal”, adding that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within two to three days once an agreement is signed.

He also suggested Israel and Iran may refrain from further attacks for at least a week, following their most serious escalation since a ceasefire in April.

Trump said continued US pressure, including a naval blockade, was pushing Iran towards an agreement, claiming military strikes alone would not achieve the same outcome.

In comments to Axios, he also said he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the continuation of the conflict, telling him he could soon be “on your own”.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump urged both sides to stop “shooting” and said final negotiations were under way, warning that progress could be derailed by “ignorance or stupidity”.

The remarks came after renewed violence on Sunday, triggered by Israeli strikes on Beirut. Iran responded with missile attacks on northern Israel, while Israel later struck Iranian air defence systems and a petrochemical facility. Iran also hit a facility in Haifa and targeted Israeli airbases. No deaths have been reported. (Newswire)

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A federal judge on Monday voided US President Donald Trump’s requirement of a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas, ruling that he lacked authority to impose the new policy for a program used by companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers in specialized fields.

US District Judge Leo Sorokin said that only Congress had the power to change federal immigration policy to include such a requirement, which he viewed as a tax, and that lawmakers had not given the executive branch permission to unilaterally make the change.

“The President had no power or delegated authority to impose a tax on H-1B petitions,” Sorokin, an appointee of former President Barack Obama based on Boston, wrote in a 42-page decision striking down the policy.

The case was brought by a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general in December, several months after Trump imposed the $100,000 requirement in an effort to rein in the program, which he said was being overused. 

H-1B visas allow foreign professionals to seek work in professions that are considered to be more specialized. Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree or a similar equivalent.

The visa is valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years. Economists have argued that the program allows US companies to maintain competitiveness and grow their business, creating more jobs in the US.

In his ruling voiding Trump’s policy, Sorokin rejected arguments from the administration that the president had the power to implement the requirement because of federal immigration law giving him leeway to change US policy in other ways. Nowhere in those laws, the judge said, did Congress also give the president the power to levy taxes in the immigration sphere.

Natalie Baldassarre, a Justice Department spokesperson, said the DOJ “is committed to protecting American workers and fully supports President Trump’s America First agenda,” and pointed to an earlier ruling in the administration’s favour in a separate challenge to the policy.

“We will continue to hold companies accountable when they unlawfully exploit American workers and fail to use the H-1B program as intended,” she said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office led the lawsuit, said in a statement that the court had “put an end to this administration’s illegal attempt to destroy this critical program and the many jobs it makes possible.

“Workers with these visas contribute immensely to our state, and I will keep fighting to stop this administration’s unjust and unlawful attacks on our immigrant communities,” James said. (CNN)

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A Bangladesh zoo has removed a sign naming a rare albino buffalo “Donald Trump” after the exhibit sparked controversy. 

Local media report the sign has been taken down, while the zoo’s curator was dismissed over the weekend, though officials have not disclosed a reason for the firing. 

The buffalo, nicknamed “Donald Trump” because of its distinctive blond tuft of hair, became an overnight viral sensation on social media earlier this year.

Originally sold for ritual slaughter during Eid al‑Adha, the nearly 700‑kilogram (1,500‑pound) animal drew large crowds to the farm where it was kept, with visitors travelling from different areas to see it.

Authorities intervened amid growing security and crowd management concerns, arranging for the buffalo to be moved to the national zoo in Dhaka instead of being sacrificed.

The animal’s owner said the nickname came from its hairstyle, which many compared to that of US President Donald Trump.

The government’s decision to preserve the buffalo and its subsequent relocation to the zoo drew widespread attention, but the naming of the animal after a political figure triggered debate. (Newswire)

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As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump gleefully painted his opponents as trigger-happy interventionists who would get the United States bogged down in all manner of foreign wars — up to and including World War III.

As president, Trump has racked up an astonishing list of countries he’s both threatened to attack and actually attacked.

Trump added a new entry to that list on Wednesday, threatening to strike Oman if it tries to control the Strait of Hormuz along with Iran.

“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow ‘em up,” Trump said at a White House Cabinet meeting.

It was particularly striking because it was phrased like an aside — something Trump seemingly casually dropped with little thought beforehand.

And that’s become somewhat typical for Trump.

Oman is at least the 15th country that he has either threatened to attack, left open the possibility of attacking, or actually attacked during his two terms as president. Nearly all of those instances occurred in the first 16 months of his second term, though some span both terms.

He’s launched strikes in seven countries so far this term — Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen — after also attacking some of those countries in his first term. That doesn’t even count the strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, which have targeted nearly 60 vessels and killed more than 190 people.

He has also threatened or left open the possibility of strikes against seven others this term: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland (which is part of Denmark), Mexico, Panama and now Oman. He also threatened Mexico and North Korea in his first term.

Not all of those threats and strikes are the same. Some, like the strikes in Iraq, were narrowly targeted at terrorists rather than the government in power. And some of the threats were less direct — in many cases, Trump just declined to rule out the possibility.

Some of this may be explained by Trump’s embrace of the “madman theory” when it comes to foreign policy. In other words, he likes to portray himself as unpredictable, believing it makes foreign adversaries more likely to kowtow to his demands.

But all of it betrays a remarkably bellicose attitude from a president who has already invaded two countries this year (Iran and Venezuela) and appears to be considering a third (Cuba).

And the data point to just how militant Trump has been. Here are some stats.

1 out of 13 countries

That’s how many Trump has threatened or attacked so far: 15 out of the nearly 200 countries in the world.

1 out of 11 people

Those countries account for 1 out of every 11 people in the world. That means 1 out of every 11 people on the planet has been at least somewhat worried that Trump could initiate a military strike on their country.

5 countries in the Middle East

Trump has now threatened or targeted five countries in the Middle East alone. That’s five out of fewer than 20 total countries in the Middle East.

4 continents

Trump’s threats and strikes have included countries on four of the world’s six populous continents: Africa, Asia, North America and South America. He’s also technically threatened a European country in Denmark, albeit by talking about seizing its territory in North America.

5 potential targets for imperialism

Of the 15 countries he’s struck or threatened, he’s identified five of them as possible additions to the United States: Canada, Cuba, Greenland, Panama (specifically, the Panama Canal) and Venezuela. (CNN)

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The United States Senate has advanced a War Powers Resolution that could prevent President Donald Trump from using military force against Iran without congressional authorisation amid widening fallout from the conflict.

The vote on a procedural measure to advance the resolution was passed on Tuesday by a margin of 50 to 47, with a handful of Republicans joining Democratic colleagues to pass the measure in a rare rebuke of the president.

The vote showed that a small but growing number of Republicans are increasingly uneasy with a war that shows no signs of ending, amid a fragile ceasefire, and are willing to challenge the president.

“This president is like a toddler playing with a loaded gun,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote.

“If there was ever a time to support our war powers resolution to withdraw troops from hostilities with Iran, it’s now,” he said.

The result was also a victory for lawmakers who have been arguing that Congress, ⁠not the president, should have the power to send troops to war, as spelled out in the US Constitution.

However, it was only a procedural vote, and the resolution faces steep hurdles if it is ever to go into effect. Three Republicans were absent during the vote on Tuesday, and their votes would be enough to defeat the measure if they maintain their stance in favour of the war.

But even if the resolution is eventually passed by a vote of the 100-member Senate, it must also pass the Republican-led House of Representatives and garner two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate to survive an expected Trump veto.

Trump’s Republicans have blocked seven previous attempts to advance similar resolutions in the Senate this year. They have also stopped three war powers resolutions by narrow votes in the House this year.

Yet, the vote on Tuesday underscores growing pressure on the president, as the war on Iran, launched by the US and Israel in late February, continues to wreak havoc on the global energy market and the cost of living at home.

Democrats and a few Republicans ‌have called on Trump to come before Congress and seek authorisation for his war, with some expressing concerns that the president may have entered the US into a long conflict without setting out a ‌clear ‌exit strategy.

The Trump administration say the president’s actions are legal and within his rights as commander in chief, as well as his responsibility to protect the US by ordering limited military operations.

Under a 1973 US war powers law passed in response to the Vietnam War, a US president can wage military action ⁠for only 60 days before they must end it, ask Congress for authorisation, or seek a 30-day ⁠extension, due to the “unavoidable military necessity regarding the safety of United States Armed Forces” while withdrawing forces.

Trump declared on May 1 that a ceasefire with Tehran had “terminated” hostilities, meaning he had not waged more than 60 days of war on Iran.

Despite the president’s assertion that the conflict has ceased, US troops continue to blockade Iranian ports and attack Iranian shipping, while Tehran’s forces are blocking access to the Strait of Hormuz and have attacked US vessels.

Opinion polls suggest that US voters are opposed to the war, which legal experts widely consider to be a violation of international law. (Al Jazeera)

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United States President Donald Trump has announced he will postpone a “scheduled attack” against Iran at the request of regional leaders in the Middle East.

The reversal, he said, came in light of the fact that “serious negotiations are now taking place”.

“A Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

It is unclear what, if any, breakthrough has been made in the stalled negotiations to end the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran.

But Trump credited the intervention of leaders including Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with changing his mind.

“I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow,” Trump added.

Still, he noted that he “instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached”.

Trump’s latest post comes after days of increasingly hostile rhetoric towards Iran, with the president writing just one day earlier that the “clock is ticking” for Iranian officials to strike a deal, or else “there won’t be anything left of them”.

Pakistan has been acting as a mediator since the US joined Israel in attacking Iran on February 28, triggering the war.

Sputtering negotiations

Trump has argued that the war was necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, though the country has denied seeking one. The US president reprised that theme in Monday’s post, calling nuclear weaponry a red line.

“This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN,” he wrote.

In addition to limiting Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, the Trump administration has sought to sever Iran’s ties to regional allies and dismantle its missile arsenal and navy.

But Iran has described Trump’s demands as excessive. For its part, Iran has called for frozen Iranian assets to be released and foreign sanctions on its economy to be lifted.

Control over the Strait of Hormuz has also been a sticking point, with Iran choking off trade through the vital waterway and the US responding with its own naval blockade.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that his government would protect his country’s interests, no matter what.

“Dialogue does not mean surrender,” Pezeshkian said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran enters into dialogue with dignity, authority, and protection of the rights of the nation, and will not retreat from the legal rights of the people and the country in any way.”

Iran and the US struck a ceasefire deal on April 8, following a series of threats from Trump, including that “a whole civilization will die” unless Iran changes its governance.

But that ceasefire has been fragile, with both sides accusing the other of violations.

A political liability

The war with Iran has also proven to be a political liability for Trump, whose Republican Party faces stiff competition in November’s midterm elections in the US.

A poll from The New York Times, released on Monday morning, found that 64 percent of US adults believed it was the wrong decision to go to war with Iran.

The war has cost the country at least $29bn so far, according to Pentagon officials, with some experts estimating that the price tag could be much higher. (Al Jazeera)

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Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up critical talks on Friday, claiming important progress in stabilising US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers. 

Xi welcomed Trump at his official residence, Zhongnanhai, on Friday for the final talks of the summit before the US leader returned to Washington.

Over tea and lunch, Trump and Xi, with top aides and translators in attendance, huddled for nearly three hours of talks before the US leader completed his three-day visit to China.

“It’s been really a great couple of days,” Trump told reporters as he sat with Xi before the start of their meeting with aides.

Xi, for his part, called it a “milestone” visit.

“We have established a new bilateral relationship, or rather a constructive, strategic, stable relationship,” he said.

Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals” with Xi but gave no further details.

“Hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Xi had congratulated him “on so many tremendous successes in such a short period of time”.

The talks have yet to deliver any major economic breakthroughs, with Trump primarily focused on securing deals in the agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence sectors.

The summit, so far, has mainly been aimed at stabilising the relationship between the US and China and maintaining a fragile truce agreed on at the end of last year.

In October, Washington agreed to lower tariffs on all Chinese goods, while Beijing agreed to pause its restrictions on rare earths exports.

Besides trade, the two leaders did seem to make some progress on the topic of the Iran war.

Xi told Trump that Beijing wants to help negotiate an end to the war and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. China’s heavy reliance on Iranian oil could help it influence Tehran into making a deal with Washington.

According to the White House, “the two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy”.

Trump added that China reassured it would not provide Iran with military equipment.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has emerged as one of the most divisive topics on the agenda, with Xi warning the US that disagreements over the self-governed island—which China claims as its own—could lead to clashes or conflict.

In December, Washington approved an $11 billion arms package to Taiwan, which it has not yet moved forward with delivering.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned it would be a “terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force. (Euronews)

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Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting U.S. President Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.

Transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent, said Xi.

“Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major-country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide greater stability for the world? Can we build a bright future together for our bilateral relations in the interest of the well-being of the two peoples and the future of humanity? These are the questions vital to history, to the world and to the people,” said Xi.

They are the questions of the times that the leaders of major countries need to answer together, he added.

“I look forward to working together with you to set the course and steer the giant ship of China-U.S. relations, so as to make 2026 a historic, landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-U.S. relations,” he said.

“I have agreed with President Trump on a new vision of building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability,” Xi said.

The new vision will provide strategic guidance for bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond, and should be welcomed by the people of both countries as well as the international community, he said.

The “constructive strategic stability” should be a positive stability with cooperation as the mainstay, a sound stability with moderate competition, a constant stability with manageable differences, and an enduring stability with promises of peace, Xi said.

The building of a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability should not be a mere slogan, but concrete action taken by both sides toward the same goal, he added.

China-U.S. economic ties are mutually beneficial and win-win in nature, said Xi. “Where disagreements and frictions exist, equal-footed consultation is the only right choice,” he said.

Xi revealed that the economic and trade teams of the two countries produced “generally balanced and positive outcomes” in the latest round of bilateral trade talks on Wednesday.

“This is good news for the people of the two countries and the world,” he said, calling on the two sides to sustain the good momentum that they have worked hard to create.

Noting that China will only open its door wider, Xi said American companies are deeply involved in China’s reform and opening up, and the U.S. side is welcome to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation.

“The two sides should implement the important consensus we have reached, and make better use of communication channels in the political, diplomatic and military-to-military fields,” Xi said.

The two countries should also expand exchanges and cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade, health, agriculture, tourism, people-to-people ties and law enforcement, he added.

Regarding the Taiwan question, Xi stressed that it is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.

If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. 

Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy, Xi said, urging the U.S. side to exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.

Safeguarding cross-Strait peace and stability is the biggest common denominator between China and the United States, Xi said, emphasizing that “Taiwan independence” and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water.

Trump said it was a great honor to pay a state visit to China, calling Xi a great leader and China a great country. “I have tremendous respect for President Xi and the Chinese people,” Trump said.

Trump expressed his willingness to work with Xi to strengthen communication and cooperation, properly handle differences, make bilateral relations better than ever before and embrace a fantastic future.

The United States and China are the most important and most powerful countries in the world, and the two presidents can “do a lot of big and good things for the two countries and the world,” he said.

Trump encouraged representatives of the U.S. business community to expand cooperation with China.

The two presidents exchanged views on major international and regional issues, such as the Middle East situation, the Ukraine crisis, and the Korean Peninsula.

They also agreed to support each other in hosting a successful APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and G20 Summit this year. (Xinhua)

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US President Donald Trump told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday that the two nations would have a “fantastic future together”.

“It’s an honour to be with you. It’s an honour to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before,” Trump told Xi as they met for talks in Beijing.

Xi, on his end, told Trump that the two superpowers should be “partners and not rivals”.

“A stable China-US relationship is a boon for the world. Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both. We should be partners and not rivals,” Xi said.

Trump was greeted by Xi on the red carpet at the Great Hall of the People, where the two shook hands and a grand reception took place. 

A Chinese military band played the two national anthems as cannons fired, before the two leaders walked past a row of military honour guards and children waving flowers and small American and Chinese flags, chanting “welcome, welcome”.

Xi also shook the hands of several other US officials, including US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

After the ceremonial welcome, the two leaders entered the Great Hall of the People to begin bilateral talks.

Trump arrived in Beijing for a two-day summit, where the two nations are expected to discuss their fragile trade relationship, the Iran war and Taiwan.

Topics of trade, the Iran war and Taiwan are on top of the agenda

The president is seeking to sign deals with China to buy more agricultural products and aircraft, saying he’ll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else”.

Trump’s trade war with Beijing has sent US-China trade into a freefall and forced companies on both sides of the Pacific to regroup.

The US leader also said he would have a “long talk” with Xi about Iran, which sells most of its US-sanctioned oil to China. Trump is expected to encourage China to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington, even though the US leader insisted that he doesn’t think the US “needs any help with Iran” from Beijing.

Meanwhile, Xi is expected to bring up Washington’s decision to sell weapons to Taiwan, a self-governed island that China claims as its own and says must come under its control.

In December, the US announced large-scale arms sales to Taiwan, valued at more than $10 billion (€8.6 billion), but it has not yet moved forward with the delivery.

Trump and Xi are trying to stabilise their relationship during their meeting in Beijing, which lasts from the 13th to the 15th of May.

The visit to Beijing marks the first by a US president since 2017, when Trump last visited along with his wife Melania Trump, who did not accompany Trump this time.

The US leader was also accompanied by several top CEO’s on his state visit, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Tim Cook of Apple, as well as other executives from Meta, Visa, JPMorgan Chase, Boeing, Cargill, and more.

Also on the agenda is a visit to the historic Temple of Heaven, a World Heritage site where China’s emperors once prayed for good harvest, and a state banquet at the hall in the evening. (Euronews)

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US President Donald Trump has just landed in Beijing, China, for two days of high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

President Trump landed to an arrival ceremony replete with the pomp and pageantry the US president is known to appreciate.

In a show of the importance of the trip, China’s leader Xi Jinping has dispatched a high-level official to lead the welcome delegation — Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Han is widely seen as Xi’s envoy for diplomatic events and last year attended Trump’s presidential inauguration. He is a retired member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party’s top-most decision making body.

Other officials on the ground include US Ambassador to China David Perdue, his counterpart Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng, and China’s executive vice minister of foreign affairs, Ma Zhaoxu, according to the White House.

The US president will also be met by 300 Chinese youth in matching blue and white uniforms who marched along the tarmac holding Chinese flags, along with a military honor guard and a military band.

Xi will formally welcome Trump on Thursday morning local time. (CNN)

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President Donald Trump said the United States will temporarily pause its operation to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz while maintaining the blockade, claiming that “Great Progress had been toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran.”

“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The operation, which Trump had announced Sunday evening, took effect Monday. Soon after, the US and Iranian militaries traded shots and accusations, raising questions about the fragile ceasefire.

But Trump administration officials insisted on Tuesday the ceasefire wasn’t over and spent the day touting the new operation to guide ships through the strait.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who said combat operations launched against Iran in February had concluded — told reporters at the White House that the US was focused on the new operation, which he described as the “first step” toward fully reopening the critical waterway.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a morning briefing that the effort was “separate and distinct” from the ongoing military operation in the region.

“Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission: Protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression,” he said. (CNN)

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