Donald Trump live: President slams Putin on Ukraine at cabinet meeting
The United Nations warns that Trump's decision to delay implementing major tariff hikes on most US trading partners may have offered some relief, but the extension is also prolonging global trade uncertainty.
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Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump, Netanyahu meet for a second time to discuss a Gaza ceasefire
United States President Donald Trump has met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for a second time in 24 hours to discuss a possible ceasefire deal in Gaza. The unscheduled talks on Tuesday evening lasted just over an hour with no press access. Speaking ahead of the meeting, Trump said he would be talking 'almost exclusively' about Gaza. 'We gotta get that solved. Gaza is a- it's a tragedy, and he wants to get it solved, and I want to get it solved, and I think the other side wants to,' Trump added. The two men also met for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday during Netanyahu's third visit to the US since the president began his second term on January 20. Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the latest meeting was 'tightly sealed with very little information coming out'. 'The fact that it was so hermetically sealed, the fact that there has been no clear readout of exactly what was discussed, the fact that the meeting lasted just over an hour before the prime minister returned to his residence – all of it may indicate that there's some kind of stumbling block, something that is clouding the optimistic position that the two leaders have adopted over the past 24 hours,' Hanna said. Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance and then visited the US Capitol on Tuesday, and is due back in Congress on Wednesday to meet with US Senate leaders. He told reporters after a meeting with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are 'certainly working' on a ceasefire. 'We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities,' Netanyahu said. Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to one from four and he hoped to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement this week. 'We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we'll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released,' Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump's Cabinet. A delegation from Qatar, which has been hosting indirect talks between Israeli negotiators and the Hamas Palestinian militant group, met with senior White House officials for several hours before Netanyahu's arrival on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a source familiar with the details. The White House had no immediate comment on the report. Israel's war in Gaza has killed at least 57,575 Palestinians and wounded 136,879 others. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive. Some 50 captives remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive. Trump had strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies. In his remarks to reporters at the US Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying there has never been closer coordination between the US and Israel in his country's history
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
What is Israel's real plan for post-war Gaza?
Israel's Netanyahu discusses Gaza ceasefire in third meeting with Trump at the White House this year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump meet again. Their third meeting this year is taking place as ceasefire talks are ongoing in Doha. list of 3 items list 1 of 3 list 2 of 3 list 3 of 3 end of list While the official talks are being held privately, what has openly been discussed are post-war plans for Gaza, which appear to include forcibly displacing Palestinians. And Netanyahu is nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. What are Israel and the United States hoping to do with Gaza? How does this affect a possible ceasefire? And what were Netanyahu's political ambitions for this visit? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Curt Mills, executive director at The American Conservative magazine. Yossi Mekelberg, senior consulting fellow at Chatham House. Xavier Abu Eid, political analyst and former adviser to the chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Trump ramps up trade war, imposing new tariffs on 14 nations by August 1st deadline
Agencies U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his trade war on Monday by informing 14 nations, from powerhouse suppliers and allies such as Japan and South Korea to minor trade players, that they now face mostly sharply higher tariffs from a new deadline of Aug. 1. The imposition of levies starting at 25% on U.S. imports rattled Wall Street, with the S&P 500 Index falling sharply, although markets in Asia were taking the news in their stride. In letters so far to 14 countries, Trump hinted at opportunities for additional negotiations, even while warning that reprisals would draw a like-for-like response. 'If, for any reason, you decide to raise your tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added on to the 25% that we charge,' Trump told Japan and South Korea in letters released on his Truth Social platform. The higher tariffs take effect from Aug. 1, and notably will not combine with previously announced sectoral tariffs, such as those on automobiles and steel and aluminum. Countries have been under pressure to conclude deals with the U.S. after Trump unleashed a global trade war in April that roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their executive order on Monday extends to Aug. 1 the Wednesday deadline for negotiations. Asked if the deadline was firm, Trump replied, 'I would say firm, but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that.' It was unfortunate that Trump was hiking tariffs on imports from Japan and South Korea, two of the closest U.S. allies, but there was still time for a breakthrough in negotiations, said former U.S. trade negotiator Wendy Cutler. 'While the news is disappointing, it does not mean the game is over,' added Cutler, the vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. Trump said the U.S. would impose tariffs of 25% on goods from Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, with levies of 30% on South Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina, climbing to 32% on Indonesia, 35% on Serbia and Bangladesh, 36% on Cambodia and Thailand and 40% on Laos and Myanmar. A deal with India was close, Trump added. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said some progress had been made on avoiding higher tariffs, of up to 35%, that Trump had suggested recently. 'We have received a proposal from the United States to swiftly proceed with negotiations towards the newly set August 1 deadline, and that, depending on Japan's response, the content of the letter could be revised,' Ishiba told a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. South Korea said it planned to step up trade talks with the United States, and that exemptions or reductions in auto and steel tariffs must be included in any trade deal. Thailand said it was confident it could get a competitive tariff similar to those in other countries. In neighboring Malaysia, the trade ministry said it acknowledged U.S. concerns on trade imbalances and market access, while believing that constructive engagement and dialogue remained the best path forward. In Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, an official said Jakarta still had room to negotiate on tariffs, and its top negotiator would meet U.S. trade representatives in Washington. A Bangladesh team in Washington was scheduled to have further trade talks on Wednesday, an official said. The U.S. is the main export market for Bangladesh's readymade garments industry, which accounts for more than 80% of its export earnings and employs 4 million people. 'This is absolutely shocking news for us,' Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters on Tuesday. 'We were really hoping the tariffs would be somewhere between 10-20%. This will hurt our industry badly.' South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the 30% U.S. tariff rate was unjustified, since 77% of U.S. goods face no tariffs in his country. Ramaphosa's spokesperson said his government would continue to engage with the U.S. U.S. stocks fell in response to Monday's news, with the S&P closing down about 0.8%, although Asian share markets were mostly resilient, with Japan's Nikkei recouping early losses and South Korean stocks jumping 1.8%. 'There's going to be a lot of volatility as the headlines start to emerge, as more of these letters come out, and as the negotiations really come to the fore ahead of that Aug. 1 deadline,' said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank. Earlier on Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected several trade announcements in the next 48 hours. Only two deals have been struck so far, with the U.K. and Vietnam. China has until Aug. 12 to reach a deal with the White House to prevent Trump from reinstating additional import curbs after Washington and Beijing agreed in June on a tariff framework. On Tuesday, China warned the United States against reinstating tariffs on its goods, and said it could retaliate against countries striking deals with the U.S. to cut China out of supply chains. Vietnam and China agreed to boost trade and investment ties between the two countries during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil, Vietnam's government said on Tuesday. The European Union will not be receiving a letter setting out higher tariffs, EU sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. The EU still aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump had a 'good exchange,' a commission spokesperson said. The EU has been torn over whether to push for a quick and light trade deal or leverage its economic clout for a better outcome. Trump also threatened leaders of developing nations in the BRICS grouping meeting in Brazil with an additional 10% tariff if they adopt 'anti-American' policies.
