Man accused of writing Trump assassination letters was framed, officials say
In an interview after his arrest on 22 May, Mr Morales-Reyes told investigators he suspected Mr Scott wanted to "get him in trouble" after he accused him of robbery.Mr Morales-Reyes doesn't speak fluent English, and his handwriting is "completely different" from the writing on the letters, according to the court filing. Police in Milwaukee - Wisconsin's most populous city - then interviewed Mr Scott, who "admitted that he wrote everything on the letters and envelopes himself"."When asked what was going through his head at the time of writing the letters, the defendant stated 'Freedom,'" the filing said. According to the filing, he admitted his intention was not to threaten Trump but prevent Mr Morales-Reyes from testifying at his trial, which is scheduled for July.Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a press release announcing Mr Morales-Reyes's arrest over a letter sent to an immigration field officer, including a copy of it.In the letter, the author said he would "shoot your precious president in his [sic] head" at a Trump rally before fleeing back to his native country of Mexico.Versions of the letter were also sent to the Wisconsin attorney general's office and Milwaukee police chief.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a picture of Mr Morales-Reyes's face and the letter on social media, writing: "This illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars."When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Noem's post and whether it would be corrected or removed, she referred questions to Homeland Security.Noem's post about Mr Morales-Reyes remains on X.Although Mr Morales-Reyes is no longer accused of making the threats, a DHS statement said Mr Morales-Reyes would remain in custody."Over the course of the investigation, this individual was determined to be in the country illegally and that he had a criminal record," it said.Mr Morales-Reyes will face a deportation hearing in Chicago Immigration Court on Wednesday morning, according to his lawyer Cain Oulahan.In a statement to BBC News, the lawyer said that his client and his family are "relieved that it is now clear who the actual writer of the threatening letters is", but added that they "have been traumautized by these events and hope to be reunited soon". "We also believe that the Department of Homeland Security should issue a public statement acknowledging their error and calling for a stop to any threats against him and his family," the statement said.Mr Oulahan added that Mr Morales-Reyes applied for a U visa - a type of visa given to the victims of crimes who cooperate with law enforcement - this past March. But the backlog on approving U visas is 7-8 years, "thus, we will be exploring other avenues of relief to try to keep him here."Demetric Deshawn Scott is set to face trial in July over the robbery case involving Mr Morales-Reyes.Mr Scott is charged with multiple felonies, including armed robbery, aggravated battery and use of a dangerous weapon.Local news outlet Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described the alleged encounter, saying that a man captured on a doorbell camera, suspected to be Mr Scott, assaulted Mr Morales-Reyes with a corkscrew while attempting to steal his bicycle.
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The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Darren Walker's new book is still hopeful despite growing inequality as he leaves Ford Foundation
Darren Walker needed to be convinced of his new book's relevance. The outgoing Ford Foundation president feared that 'The Idea of America," set to publish in September just before he leaves the nonprofit, risked feeling disjointed. In more than eight dozen selected texts dating back to 2013, he reflects on everything from his path as a Black, gay child from rural Texas into the halls of premiere American philanthropies to his solutions for reversing the deepening inequality of our 'new Gilded Age." 'To be clear, not everything I said and wrote over the last 12 years is worthy of publication," Walker said. A point of great regret, he said, is that he finds American democracy weaker now than when he started. Younger generations lack access to the same 'mobility escalator' that he rode from poverty. And he described President Donald Trump 's administration's first six months as 'disorienting' for a sector he successfully pushed to adopt more ambitious and just funding practices. Despite that bleak picture, Walker embraces the characterization of his upcoming collection as patriotic. 'My own journey in America leaves me no option but to be hopeful because I have lived in a country that believed in me,' he said. Walker recently discussed his tenure and the book's call for shared values with the Associated Press inside his Ford Foundation office — where an enlarged picture of a Black child taken by Malian portrait photographer Seydou Keïta still hangs, one of many underrepresented artists' works that populated the headquarters under his leadership. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: Upon becoming Ford Foundation's president, you suggested that 'our most important job is to work ourselves out of a job' — a 2013 statement you include in the book. How would you grade your efforts? A: The past 12 years have been both exhilarating and exhausting. Exhilarating because there's never been a more exciting time to be in philanthropy. And exhausting because the political, socioeconomic dynamics of the last 12 years are very worrisome for our future. Philanthropy can play a role in helping to strengthen our democracy. But philanthropy can't save America. I would probably give myself a B or a B-. I don't think where we are as a nation after 12 years is where any country would want to be that had its eye on the future and the strength of our democracy. Q: Is there anything you would do differently? A: In 2013 and those early speeches, I identified growing inequality as a challenge to the strength of our democracy. And a part of that manifestation of growing inequality was a growing sense of disaffection — from our politics, our institutions, our economy. For the first time, a decade or so ago, we had clear evidence that working class white households were increasingly downwardly mobile economically. And the implications for that are deep and profound for our politics and our democracy. We started a program on increasing our investments in rural America, acknowledging some of the challenges, for example, of the trends around the impacts of the opioid epidemic on those communities. I underestimated the depth and the collective sense of being left behind. Even though I think I was correct in diagnosing the problem, I think the strategy to respond was not focused enough on this population. Q: Many people credit you for using Ford Foundation's endowment to increase grantmaking during the pandemic. Is that sort of creativity needed now with the new strains faced by the philanthropic sector? A: One of the disappointments I have with philanthropy is that we don't take enough risk. We don't innovate given the potential to use our capital to provide solutions. I do think that, in the coming years, foundations are going to be challenged to step up and lean in in ways that we haven't since the pandemic. The 5% payout is treated as a ceiling by a lot of foundations and, in fact, it's a floor. During these times when there's so much accumulated wealth sitting in our endowments, the public rightly is asking questions about just how much of that we are using and towards what end. Q: Where do you derive this sense of 'radical hope' at the end of your book? A: As a poor kid in rural Texas, I was given the license to dream. In fact, I was encouraged to dream and to believe that it will be possible for me to overcome the circumstances into which I was born. I've lived on both sides of the line of inequality. And I feel incredibly fortunate. But I'm also sobered by the gap between the privileged and the poor and the working-class people in America. It has widened during my lifetime and that is something I worry a lot about. But I'm hopeful because I think about my ancestors who were Black, enslaved, poor. African Americans, Black people, Black Americans have been hopeful for 400 years and have been patriots in believing in the possibility that this country would realize its aspirations for equality and justice. That has been our North Star. Q: Heather Gerken, the dean of Yale's law school, was recently named as your successor. Why is it important to have a leader with a legal background and an expertise in democracy? A: She is the perfect leader for Ford because she understands that at the center of our work must be a belief in democracy and democratic institutions and processes. She is also a bridge builder. She is a coalition builder. She's bold and courageous. I'm just thrilled about her taking the helm of the Ford Foundation. It is a signal from the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees that we are going to double down on our investment and our commitment to strengthening, protecting and promoting democracy. Q: Youtold AP last year that, when you exited this building for the last time, you'd only be looking forward. What does 'forward' mean to you now? A: I have resolved that I don't want to be a president or a CEO. I don't need to be a president of CEO. I think leaders can become nostalgic and hold onto their own history. Now there's no doubt, I know, that my obituary is going to say, 'Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation." That's the most important job I'll ever have. But hopefully I'll be able to add some more important work to that. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How Trump humiliated Europe
All-inclusive deals are designed to take the hassle out of a holiday, albeit at a price. But while Ursula von der Leyen claimed her '15pc across-the-board, all-inclusive' trade agreement with Donald Trump was a bargain, everyone else in Europe was left feeling they'd been massively ripped off . The president of the European Commission smiled through gritted teeth as she announced the deal, which was quickly criticised across the Continent by politicians, economists and business leaders alike. French prime minister François Bayrou branded the 'submission' by Brussels as a 'dark day' for Europe, while Viktor Orbán, Hungary's prime minister, said Von der Leyen had been 'eaten for breakfast' by the US president. Entrepreneurs said the deal epitomised the 'century of humiliation' for a bloc that 15 years ago was slightly bigger than America's but is roughly a quarter smaller today. Economists warned both sides of the Atlantic would be hit by lower growth, while several points of uncertainty remain. Nothing to celebrate Blanket tariffs of 15pc will now be applied to almost all EU exports headed to the US. However, steel and aluminium tariffs will remain at 50pc, while a cloud of uncertainty remains over the pharmaceutical sector – which accounts for a fifth of EU exports to the US. This is a blow to industrial giants such as Germany. Official data shows the EU exported €8bn (£6.9bn) worth of iron and steel to the US last year, up 45pc compared with 2019. Peter Bofinger, a former member of the Council of Economic Experts dubbed Germany's 'wise men', says many businesses will be reeling despite the deal. 'It really hits the core industrial sectors of our economy,' he says. 'And while the overall impact is somewhat limited, it hits those core sectors quite hard and is therefore not good news for the German economy.' What's more, von der Leyen left Scotland with a shopping list worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Brussels agreed to buy $750bn of US energy products as part of the deal, increase foreign direct investment in the US by $600bn as well as buy 'vast amounts' of US military equipment. There was initial confusion about the pharma deal, with Trump going into the meeting telling reporters that drugs were not on the table. While the pharma sector appears to be exempt for now, analysts at Rabobank said there remained a 'small risk' that the Trump administration would impose fresh tariffs in future, citing national security. 'This could weigh on the European, and particularly the Irish, economy – if any dispute about these sectoral tariffs does not sabotage the broader agreement,' analysts said in a note. Others highlighted that it will be almost impossible for Brussels to keep its promise on energy. While there has been a steep increase in US liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports after Trump struck a deal with Von der Leyen's predecessor, Jean Claude-Juncker, in 2018, Rabobank said purchasing $750bn worth of US energy over the remainder of Trump's term would be a 'massive stretch', even if Europe completely weans itself off Russian gas. It noted that last year 'all energy flows from the US to the EU totalled only around $65bn. Even if Europe were to source all of its diesel and LNG from the US, this is a massive stretch – and would go against Europe's agenda of diversifying suppliers for key resources.' Brexit dividend A blanket 15pc tariff means Brussels has struck a worse deal with the US than the UK, with tariffs of 10pc. Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, said there was 'no doubt' the difference was down to Brexit. 'I'm absolutely clear, this is a benefit of being out of the European Union, having our independent trade policy, absolutely no doubt about that,' he told Good Morning Britain. European anger is clear. Brando Benifei, the Italian MEP who chairs the European Parliament's committee on US relations, said: 'We seem to have gotten worse conditions than the UK. 'That's not a good starting point and we need to look at the details to understand what we actually get.' The deal also creates a division in Ireland, with businesses in Northern Ireland able to sell into the US on a 10pc tariff rate, while their southern neighbours in Ireland are subject to a 15pc tariff. Lord Frost, Brexit minister under Boris Johnson's premiership, welcomed the admission. 'Well done to [Mr Reynolds] for saying what the PM wouldn't,' he posted on X. Well done to @jreynoldsMP for saying what the PM wouldn't. — David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) July 28, 2025 Hungary's Orban also said the US-UK deal was 'much better than this', as he branded Von der Leyen a 'featherweight' for negotiating the deal. Danny McCoy, head of the Irish business lobby group IBEC, says the UK's relative success in its negotiations with Mr Trump had created a particular headache for Ireland. Under what he called a 'fairly punishing' EU-US deal, goods exported from the Republic of Ireland will be hit with the 15pc rate, but goods from Northern Ireland will only attract the UK deal's 10pc rate. Ireland exports almost €100bn pharmaceutical products every year, with a significant chunk of that headed to the US. Mr McCoy warns of potentially 'significant losses' for Irish exporters from the EU deal. 'It's quite tragic that we are in this situation. If Europe had equal strength, it could have confronted the United States,' he says. The lower British tariff could lure struggling EU exporters to shift some operations from the Continent to the UK, says Alex Altmann, head of the German desk at London-based accountancy firm Lubbock Fine. 'Without that move to the UK the increase in tariffs could wipe out the profit margins of many EU exporters,' says Altmann. 'The UK could be a big indirect winner of this agreement … [It is] a major opportunity for the UK to regain some of its lost status as a key European manufacturing hub.' The economic damage will be broad While there is no doubt who will benefit more from this deal, higher tariffs will hurt both the US and the EU. The deal means the new tariff on EU imports into the US is significantly higher than the roughly 1.5pc that was in place before the April 2 'liberation day' levies were announced. In Europe, the cost will be slower growth in an already sclerotic economy. Holger Schmieding, at Berenberg, expects the damage to be front-loaded. He believes the tariffs will knock 0.3 percentage points from European growth as well as 0.5 percentage points from German growth over 2025 and 2026. Schmieding says Germany's public spending spree will come to the rescue of Europe's biggest economy, which has barely grown for the last two years. 'Fortunately, the unexpectedly sizeable German fiscal stimulus will offset this fully for Germany and mostly for the eurozone as a whole,' he says. 'As the US is only one of many markets for the eurozone, the damage to eurozone trend growth, which we put at around 1.2pc, will remain small.' But a hit of tens of billions of pounds every year is not insignificant. As former wise man Bofinger highlights, Germany's carmakers will still be left reeling from the deal. While the tariff faced by importers bringing EU cars to the US has been nearly halved from 27.5pc initially imposed by Trump in April, German industry group VDA warned that a rate of 15pc would 'cost the German automotive industry billions annually'. Bofinger says: 'Germany definitely needs to see growth and this of course comes at the wrong time and is extremely bad for our automotive industry, which is still the beating heart of our economy.' For the US, higher tariffs will show up as higher prices for US consumers. 'Inventories built up ahead of the tariffs should be mostly depleted soon and importers will not accept major hits to their margins for long,' Schmieding says. 'We expect US inflation to edge up to 3.4pc by late 2025.' It is a figure that is likely to keep US interest rates higher for longer – which is in turn likely to anger Trump further. With no winners and the risk that tariffs go higher from here as details are ironed out, entrepreneurs were struggling to hide their frustration in the wake of the deal being struck. Arnaud Bertrand, who sold his business to TripAdvisor, wrote on X: 'One of the key rules of geopolitics is that weakness only encourages further exploitation. This is Europe's century of humiliation.'
Reuters
31 minutes ago
- Reuters
Oil rises on US-EU deal and shorter US deadline for Russia
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday after a trade deal between the United States and the European Union and U.S. President Donald Trump's comments saying he would shorten a deadline he had set for Russia to end its war in Ukraine or face severe tariffs. Brent crude futures were up $1.18, or 1.7%, at $69.62 a barrel by 1218 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.16, or 1.8%, at $66.32. Trump said he was reducing the 50-day deadline he had given Russia, which was due to end in early September. The trade deal between the U.S. and European Union and a possible extension of the U.S.-China tariff pause are supporting global financial markets and oil prices, IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said. Sunday's framework trade pact with the EU sets a 15% U.S. import tariff on most EU goods while Trump said it also called for $750 billion of EU purchases of U.S. energy in the coming years. Senior U.S. and Chinese officials meet in Stockholm on Monday to try to extend their tariff truce before an August 12 deadline. The U.S.-EU deal removed another layer of uncertainty and the focus seems to be shifting back towards fundamentals, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga, adding that a strong dollar and falling Indian oil imports have weighed on crude prices. On the supply side, an OPEC+ panel is unlikely to alter existing plans to raise oil output when it meets on Monday, four OPEC+ delegates told Reuters on July 25. ING expects OPEC+ to at least complete the full return of 2.2 million barrels per day of additional voluntary supply cuts by the end of September.
