
Donald Trump refuses to drink coffee during Saudi Arabia ceremony
The US president, who arrived for his landmark Middle East trip on Tuesday (13 May), was given a lavish welcome by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, with national anthems of both nations played.
After formal introductions were made, the coffee and tea ceremony took place.
Trump accepted the cup and placed it on his lap.
His counterparts all drank their drinks while Trump awkwardly looked around.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
Is Australia v British & Irish Lions on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch second Test at MCG
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.


Reuters
9 minutes ago
- Reuters
Frustration, Gaza alarm drove Macron to go it alone on Palestine recognition
PARIS, July 26 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France would become the first Western member of the United Nations Security Council to recognise a Palestinian state in September has caused diplomatic ructions from the Middle East through Europe to Washington. But it did not come out of the blue. When Macron visited the Egyptian town of Al-Arish on the border with Gaza in April, he was struck by the mounting humanitarian crisis and made clear on his return home that Paris would soon opt for recognition. Working with Saudi Arabia, Macron came up with a plan to have France plus G7 allies Britain and Canada recognise Palestinian statehood, while pushing Arab states to adopt a softer stance towards Israel through a United Nations conference. But despite weeks of talks he failed to get others on board. Three diplomats said London did not want to face the wrath of the United States, and Ottawa took a similar stance, leaving Macron to go it alone. "It became increasingly apparent that we could not wait to get partners on board," said a French diplomat, adding France will work to get more states on board ahead of conference on a two-state solution in September. Domestically Macron was under rising pressure to do something amid widespread anger at the harrowing images coming out of Gaza. Although with both Europe's biggest Muslim and Jewish communities and a polarised political landscape, there was no obvious course of action that would satisfy all sides. Israel and its staunch supporter the United States have blasted France's move, branding it a reward for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which ran Gaza and whose attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 triggered the current war. Macron had discussed the matter extensively with both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in advance. Trump said on Friday that France's decision didn't "carry any weight" but added Macron was "a good guy". French officials previously considered an announcement at a conference scheduled for June at the United Nations, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, to sketch out a roadmap to a viable Palestinian state while also ensuring Israel's security. But the conference was postponed amid intense U.S. diplomatic pressure and after Israeli air strikes on Iran. Macron's announcement on Thursday is linked to a rescheduled and rejigged version of the U.N. conference, now planned to take place Monday and Tuesday. That meeting will be at ministerial level, but Paris decided it would hold a second event with heads of state and government on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September, where Macron will announce formal recognition. Some analysts say Macron has used the carrot of recognition to extract concessions from Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority which is a moderate rival to Hamas, and other regional players. "Macron here is acting as a catalyst to get the Palestinians to deliver on the needed reforms, to get the Arabs to deliver on a stabilization force and the disarming of Hamas," said Rym Momtaz, editor-in-chief of the Strategic Europe blog run by the Carnegie Europe think tank. Others say while recognition has symbolic value, there will still be no functioning Palestinian state whenever the war in Gaza comes to an end. "Recognition by a European heavyweight like France is indicative of the rising frustration with Israel's intransigent policies," said Amjad Iraqi, senior analyst at International Crisis Group. "What's the point of recognising a state if they're doing little to stop it from turning into ruins?" French officials point to months of intense Israeli lobbying to try to prevent Macron's move - and Netanyahu's fierce criticism of it - as evidence that it matters a lot to Israeli leaders. Sources familiar with the matter say Israel's warnings to France had ranged from scaling back intelligence-sharing to complicating Paris' regional initiatives - even hinting at possible annexation of parts of the West Bank. But French officials concluded that Netanyahu would do whatever he thought was in his interests in the West Bank anyway, regardless of what France did on recognition. Israel's parliament voted on Wednesday in favour of a non-binding declaration urging the government to apply Israeli law to the West Bank, widely seen as a de facto annexation of the territory. That added to the urgency in Paris. "If there is a moment in history to recognise a Palestinian state, even if it's just symbolic, then I would say that moment has probably come," said a senior French official.


Scotsman
29 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Think Donald Trump is a clown? He's a serious politician and a warning to Scotland
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I have some advice for John Swinney as he prepares for his chat with Donald Trump. Expected the unexpected. The President of the United States, who has popped over the Atlantic for a long weekend break at his golf courses in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, is no ordinary world leader. Not for him the niceties of protocol, the firm handshakes, the carefully scripted exchanges, drafted weeks in advance by diplomats. The Donald could, and may well, do or say anything. Theresa May never fully recovered from Trump holding her hand as they strolled through the White House gardens in early 2017. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Twenty years ago, I was a nervous press officer standing outside the lift in the lobby of Trump Tower, waiting for the signal to take the then First Minister up to Donald Trump's penthouse office for a meet and greet, as had been arranged with his office. Jack McConnell was in New York on a short trip to promote Scotland as a great place for inward investment. Donald Trump dances on stage at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines earlier this month (Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds) | AFP via Getty Images Trump's hidden mic Scottish Enterprise officials had set up a meeting with Trump, whose mother Mary Anne Macleod was from the Western Isles, after the property developer turned TV star expressed an interest in building a world-class golf resort on the North East coast. The lift doors suddenly opened and out swept Trump, with a camera crew in tow, shouting 'Where's the First Minister?' What followed was a classic Trump meeting. He insisted on doing press interviews first, which delighted the small Scottish media pack who were with us. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Then, on the way to lunch in the Trump Tower restaurant, he tried to make the First Minister wear one of his signature red baseball caps, emblazoned with his then-famous catchphrase 'You're Fired', from his hit TV show The Apprentice. Trump knew full well that if he had succeeded, the picture would have been splashed on the front page of every Scottish newspaper. I am grateful to this day that the FM saw through his schoolboy jape. Then, just as the burger and fries were served, McConnell asked his host to remove the microphone he had hidden under his tie. A shamefaced Trump apologised, saying he always wore one in case he came across anything 'interesting' for his TV show. An amusing tale, and one that says more about the 47th President than any number of Foreign Office briefings. Another word of advice, Mr Swinney. Check for hidden mics. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Three-time loser' Trump is the world's biggest show-off. He has to be the centre of attention, whether he is meeting with the war-weary president of Ukraine or jousting with his erstwhile best friend, Elon Musk. Everything he says and does is content for TV networks or social media. And he has the attention span of a teenage girl scrolling TikTok. Only his beloved golf holds his interest for longer than a few minutes, and his weekend in Scotland will be no different. He also ditches people as soon as they are no longer useful to him. His friendship with Alex Salmond ended in tears when Trump objected to plans for windfarms near his Menie golf resort. Salmond dubbed Trump a 'three-time loser' while Trump hit back, calling Salmond a 'has been' with a 'bloated ego'. Take any compliment with a pinch of salt, First Minister. He doesn't mean a word he says. But as Trump flies back to Washington and Swinney and his team review the weekend's events, there is a far bigger lesson to be drawn from Trump's flying visit than that the President is a shameless exhibitionist. He is also a very successful politician whose populist messaging now appeals to a large swathe of America, and not just white, working-class rednecks – as the Democrats tried to argue before November 2024. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A recent analysis of his election win by the Pew Research Center shows that he has built a diverse coalition of supporters from across Hispanic, Black and Asian communities and expanded his base of white, blue-collar, non-college educated voters. Extremism, as promoted by Trump, is now mainstream in the land of the free. Trump supporters in Scotland There may be thousands of Scots protesting his visit this weekend, screaming in anger about Gaza, the climate crisis and what they see as the damage Trump has done to the 'very principles of justice and humanity'. But the silent majority of voters will scarcely give the president's PR jaunt a second thought, and some will positively welcome him, pleased that he has singled out his mother's homeland for his first 'private' overseas visit since his election. Trump is often characterised by his opponents as a clown but, as he has shown, it is the politician who speaks directly to people in blunt, often politically 'incorrect' language who is more likely to succeed in today's unsettled and unsettling world. Voters, whether in Pennsylvania or Scotland, are disillusioned by career politicians who appear more interested in progressive issues like gender identity than everyday concerns such as the price of eggs or coffee. It was Trump's visceral appeal, more than his policy platform, that won him the popular vote last year, and it is not hard to imagine home-grown populists like Nigel Farage on the right and Jeremy Corbyn, with his new left-wing party, having a similar effect on Scottish voters. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad