French President Macron announces 6.5 billion euros in extra military spending in next two years
He laid out the spending plans in a sweeping speech calling for intensified efforts to protect Europe. He said France will aim to spend 64 billion euros in annual defense spending in 2027, the last year of his second term.
″To be free in this world we must be feared. To be feared we must be powerful,″ he said.
″Since 1945, freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously.″
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Winnipeg Free Press
39 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump urged supporters to see conspiracies everywhere. With Epstein, that's coming back to haunt him
NEW YORK (AP) — As his supporters erupt over the Justice Department's failure to release much-hyped records in Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking investigation, President Donald Trump's strategy has been to downplay the issue. His problem? That nothing-to-see-here approach doesn't work for those who have learned from him that they must not give up until the government's deepest, darkest secrets are exposed. Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI abruptly walked back the notion that there's an Epstein client list of elites who participated in the wealthy New York financier's trafficking of underage girls. Trump quickly defended Attorney General Pam Bondi and chided a reporter for daring to ask about the documents. The online reaction was swift, with followers calling the Republican president 'out of touch' and demanding transparency. On Saturday, Trump used his Truth Social platform to again attempt to call supporters off the Epstein trail amid reports of infighting between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino over the issue. He suggested the turmoil was undermining his administration — 'all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.' That did little to mollify Trump's supporters, who urged him to release the files or risk losing his base. At least one follower responded to Trump's post by saying it seemed as though the president was just trying to make the issue go away — but assured him it wouldn't. The political crisis is especially challenging for Trump because it's one of his own making. The president has spent years stoking dark theories and embracing QAnon-tinged propaganda that casts him as the only savior who can demolish the 'deep state.' Now that he's running the federal government, the community he helped build is coming back to haunt him. It's demanding answers he either isn't able to or does not want to provide. 'The faulty assumption Trump and others make is they can peddle conspiracy theories without any blowback,' said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University. 'The Epstein case is a neat encapsulation that it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle.' A problem that's not going away Last week's two-page statement from the Justice Department and the FBI saying they had concluded that Epstein did not possess a client list roiled Trump's supporters, who pointed to past statements from several administration officials that the list ought to be revealed. Bondi had suggested in February that such a document was sitting on her desk waiting for review, though last week she said she had been referring generally to the Epstein case file and not a specific client list. Conservative influencers have since demanded to see all the files related to Epstein's crimes, even as Trump has tried to put the issue to bed. Far-right commentator Jack Posobiec said at Turning Point USA's Student Action Summit on Saturday that he would not rest 'until we go full Jan. 6 committee on the Jeffrey Epstein files.' Trump's weekend post sought to divert attention by calling on supporters to focus instead on investigating Democrats and arresting criminals rather than 'spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old, Radical Left inspired Documents on Jeffrey Epstein.' His first-term national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, pleaded with him to reconsider. '@realdonaldtrump please understand the EPSTEIN AFFAIR is not going away,' Flynn wrote, adding that failing to address unanswered Epstein questions would make facing other national challenges 'much harder.' Other Trump allies continue to push for answers, among them far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has called for Bondi to resign. She told Politico's Playbook newsletter on Sunday that a special counsel should be appointed to investigate the handling of the files on Epstein, who was found dead in his federal jail cell in 2019 about a month after he was arrested. Experts who study conspiracy theories warned that more sunlight does not necessarily make far-fetched narratives disappear. 'For some portion of this set of conspiracy theory believers, no amount of contradictory evidence will ever be enough,' said Josephine Lukito, who studies conspiracy theorists at the University of Texas at Austin. Trump and his colleagues set their own trap The president and many figures in his administration — including Bondi, Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel — earned their political capital over the years in part by encouraging disproven conspiracy theories on a range of topics, from elections to vaccines. Now, they're tasked with trying to reveal the evidence they'd long insisted was there — a challenge that's reached across the government. Last week, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin posted on X what seemed like an endorsement of a notorious conspiracy theory that the contrails left by aircraft are releasing chemicals for potentially nefarious reasons. But a second post from Zeldin underscored the fine line the Trump administration is trying to walk by linking to a new page on the EPA website that essentially debunked the theory. The value of conspiratorial fabrications is that they help people get political power, said Russell Muirhead, who teaches political science at Dartmouth College. He said Trump has exploited that 'more ably than anybody probably in American history.' But the Epstein case brings unique challenges, he said. That's because it's rooted in truth: A wealthy and well-connected financier did spend years abusing large numbers of young girls while escaping justice. As a result, Trump needs to come forward with truth and transparency on the topic, Muirhead said. If he doesn't, 'large segments of his most enthusiastic and devoted supporters are going to lose faith in him.' A potentially costly distraction As right-wing outrage over Epstein dominates the political conversation, Democrats and other Trump rivals have been taking advantage. Several Democratic lawmakers have called for the release of all Epstein files and suggested Trump could be resisting because he or someone close to him is featured in them. Conservatives expressed concerns that Trump's approach on Epstein could hurt them in the midterms. 'For this to go away, you're going to lose 10% of the MAGA movement,' right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon said during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit on Friday. There's also the challenge of governing. Bondi and Bongino had a tense exchange last week at the White House over a story about Epstein, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation. And Loomer, who is close to Trump, said Friday she was told that Bongino was 'seriously thinking about resigning.' Bongino showed up at work Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss personnel issues. The FBI declined to comment. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Patel also took to social media Friday to dismiss what he called 'conspiracy theories' that he himself would be leaving the administration. Dallek, the George Washington University professor, said it's alarming that the country's top law enforcement officials are feuding over a conspiracy theory. 'It's possible at some time voters are going to notice the things they want or expect government to do aren't being done because the people in charge are either incompetent or off chasing rabbits,' he said. 'Who is fulfilling the mission of the FBI to protect the American people?' ___ Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Melissa Goldin and Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Employees at the nation's consumer financial watchdog say it's become toothless under Trump
NEW YORK (AP) — The lights are on at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau across the street from the White House, and employees still get paid. But, in practice, the bureau has been mostly inoperable for nearly six months. CFPB employees say they essentially spend the workday sitting on their hands, forbidden from doing any work by directive from the White House. The bureau is supposed to be helping oversee the nation's banks and financial services companies and taking enforcement action in case of wrongdoing. Instead, the situation is Kafkaesque: the main function seems to be undoing the rulemaking and law enforcement work that was done under previous administrations, including in President Donald Trump's first term. American consumers can no longer look to the bureau for help when it comes to their checking account, credit card, payday loan, auto loan or mortgage. Trump has neutered the watchdog, employees say, the culmination of a yearslong effort by Republicans who felt the agency often went overboard in its efforts. One current employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the directive forbids staffers from speaking publicly about their jobs, said outsiders would be amazed at how little work is being done. Employees are reluctant even to talk to one another, out of fear that a conversation between two employees would be considered a violation of the directive. Another employee described the drastic shift in mission, from trying to protect consumers to doing nothing, as 'quite demoralizing.' To gain an understanding of what is happening inside the CFPB, The Associated Press spoke with 10 current and former employees, as well as bankers and policymakers who used to interact with the bureau nearly every day but now say their emails and voicemails go into a black hole. The agency's press office doesn't respond to emails. Different approaches Bureau rank-and-file employees and former CFPB officials say they expected the bureau to keep doing its work under 'Trump 2.0,' although likely in a more restrained fashion. In Trump's first term, his then-director Kathy Kraninger took a lighter approach to supervision and enforcement, but still some of the biggest financial settlements in the bureau's history took place during that time. President Joe Biden's choice to run the bureau, Rohit Chopra, took an expansive view of its authority, targeting profitable practices by banks such as overdraft and credit card late fees, as well as investigating companies over credit reporting and medical debt. He even turned a spotlight on big tech companies that have increasingly made inroads into financial services. The CFPB ordered Apple to pay $89 million in fines and penalties for problems related to the Apple Card. Paypal's Venmo is used by millions to split a bill, and the bureau found that payment and funds transfer apps like PayPal and Venmo should fall under the federal consumer protection laws, just like banks. Banks and the financial services industry felt Chopra acted too aggressively, particularly with a proposal to cut overdraft fees to $5 from the industry average of $27 to $35. The bureau estimated the move would save consumers roughly $5 billion a year. The proposal was overturned by Congress with Trump's backing earlier this year. 'We are thankful that the Trump Administration recognized the harm to consumers, the market, and the overall economy posed by the CFPB's overreaches under its prior leadership,' said Lindsey Johnson, president of the Consumer Bankers Association. Under Trump 2.0, the bureau became a main target of the Department of Government Efficiency, then run by Elon Musk, who posted on X that the CFPB should 'RIP' shortly after DOGE employees became embedded at the agency. Through the bureau's acting chief, Russell Vought, the White House issued a directive that CFPB employees should ' not perform any work tasks. ' The administration then tried to lay off roughly 90% of the bureau's staff, or roughly 1,500 employees. Courts have blocked those layoffs, but there is a feeling inside the bureau that the court rulings are only a temporary reprieve. 'Reverse-engineering' Sensing blood in the water, companies that committed wrongdoing, or had open investigations, have lobbied the bureau and the White House for their punishments to be rescinded. Employees at the bureau say the only time their workdays get remotely busy these days is when the White House instructs them to begin rescinding one of these punishments. It often involves 'reverse-engineering' reasons why the bureau, which investigated and found that these companies did harm to consumers, now no longer believes that happened. In 2024, Navy Federal Credit Union agreed to settle claims that it illegally charged overdraft fees to its members. Among the customers at the $180 billion financial institution are Navy service men and women, and veterans. Vought canceled the settlement last month, and Navy Federal will no longer have to pay back $80 million in fees. A spokesman for Navy Federal declined to comment on whether the credit union planned to return those funds to its members, as it originally said it would. In 2023, the auto financing arm of Toyota was found to be illegally bundling products onto car buyers' auto loans, refusing to cancel those products and doing harm to customers' credit scores. Toyota was ordered to refund $48 million to harmed customers. That settlement was rescinded in mid-May. A spokesman for Toyota declined to say whether customers would be reimbursed. 'Companies are lining up to get out of repaying harmed customers,' said Eric Halperin, former enforcement director at the bureau, who resigned earlier this year. It's not just settlements from the Biden era. At the end of Trump's first term in 2020, the CFPB sued the Chicago-based mortgage company Townstone Financial after the company's executives made statements that were seen as discouraging Black homebuyers from applying for a loan with the company. Townstone and its executives fought vigorously with the bureau, saying that words spoken on a podcast or on social media cannot be construed as discrimination or redlining. Courts agreed with the bureau and eventually Townstone settled in November, agreeing to pay a $105,000 penalty. Under Vought, the bureau said it would move to vacate the settlement and would return Townstone's fine. Courts have blocked the dismissal of that settlement, with one judge saying the CFPB wanted to commit 'an act of legal hara-kiri that would make a samurai blush.' The Associated Press sent a list of questions to the White House regarding President Trump's vision for the CFPB. The White House did not respond. While the lack of new initiatives and the scuttling of old ones frustrate employees the most, they also note that even everyday tasks like collecting consumer complaints about financial service companies have largely fallen to the wayside. The CFPB has run a consumer complaint database for nearly a decade, basically an online portal where a consumer uploads a complaint and the bureau then forwards that complaint to the subject company. A report done by the office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, found that the bureau is uploading roughly 2,200 complaints a day compared to the roughly 10,500 complaints it was doing in the months before Trump took office again. Warren came up with the idea for the bureau when she was a law professor at Harvard University. The bureau did take an enforcement action on Friday. The pawn shop chain FirstCash Inc. agreed to pay $9 million in refunds and fines to settle claims that it charged excessive interest rates on loans to armed service members, in violation of the Military Lending Act. FirstCash operates more than 1,000 stores and had net income of $259 million in 2024. Budget Cut The bureau is going to be even further diminished in the coming months. The new budget law signed by Trump earlier this month cuts the CFPB's funding by roughly half, meaning the bureau will be forced into mass layoffs. Senate Democrats are looking for ways to restore that funding. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'The agency is still standing and its mission to protect consumers remains as important as ever,' Warren said in a statement. 'We will fight back using every tool at our disposal.' That said, one supervision employee grimly joked that a 50% budget cut to the bureau will mean little, based on how the bureau is currently operating. 'A 50% cut of nothing is still nothing,' they said. In the meantime, employees go about their mundane routine: They continue to check their email once or twice a day to see if any of their previous work has been slated for being undone. They don't talk to anyone, not even the banks they are supposed to supervise. They wait to be laid off. The only constants are the silence from bureau political appointees or the 'mini funerals' that happen every Friday, when another batch of employees who have decided to leave the bureau voluntarily have their last day. 'I don't think I'll ever work in public service again,' said one current employee, who has been looking for a new job for the past three months.
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Top German court rejects case over US drone strikes in Yemen assisted by base in Germany
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's highest court on Tuesday rejected a case brought by Yemeni plaintiffs who argued the German government failed in a duty to protect relatives who they say were killed in a 2012 drone strike against an attack controlled with help from a U.S. military base in Germany. Ruling in a case that has been making its way through the German judicial system for over a decade, the Federal Constitutional Court found the German government can have a concrete duty to protect foreign citizens abroad in some cases.
