Trump confirms Ukraine weapons deal and threatens Russia with severe tariffs
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The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump says Club World Cup trophy will remain in Oval Office after tournament's end
US president Donald Trump has claimed that the Club World Cup trophy that has featured prominently in the Oval Office will stay there, and that Fifa made a copy of the trophy that was awarded to Chelsea after their win in the tournament's final on Sunday. Trump attended the final along with numerous members of his cabinet and Fifa president Gianni Infantino. The pair of presidents jointly presented the trophy to Chelsea captain Reece James, with Trump staying front-and-center despite the apparent confusion of Chelsea players and the pleading of Infantino. The incident is just the latest in a long series of intersections between the US president and the world of Fifa, which began in earnest this year soon after Trump started his second term in office. Infantino unveiled the Club World Cup trophy for the first time in an event at the Oval Office in March, and the trophy has stayed there for all subsequent events in the historic space since. 'I said, When are you going to pick up the trophy? [They said] 'We're never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We're making a new one,'' Trump said in an interview with official Club World Cup broadcaster Dazn on Sunday. 'And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting, but it is in the Oval [Office] right now.' The exact differences between the trophies are unknown, if there are any. Fifa has been approached for clarification. At other points in the interview, Trump suggested he could put forth an executive order decreeing that soccer be called football in the United States, and said leaders of other countries have called the US 'the hottest country in the world,' in reference to economic activity and political positioning. 'It's about unity,' Trump said of Fifa's bringing of the Club World Cup and the men's World Cup to the United States. 'It's about everybody getting together and a lot of love between countries. I guess this is probably the most international sport, so it can really bring the world together.' Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion Planning for next year's World Cup has faced a few hurdles presented by the second Trump administration, including travel bans on countries that would impact fans hoping to travel to the United States to see the games (though there are exceptions for athletes and staff), threats of Ice raids at games, and long wait times for visas to get into the country.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US Supreme Court clears way for Trump to gut Education Department
WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states. In the latest high court win for Trump, the justices lifted a federal judge's order that had reinstated nearly 1,400 workers affected by mass layoffs at the department and blocked the administration from transferring key functions to other federal agencies. A legal challenge is continuing to play out in lower courts. The court's action came in a brief, unsigned order. Its three liberal justices dissented. A group of 21 Democratic attorneys general, school districts and unions behind a pair of legal challenges had warned in court papers that Trump's shutdown efforts threatened to impair the department's ability to perform its core duties. Created by Congress in 1979, the Department of Education's main roles include administering college loans, tracking student achievement and enforcing civil rights in schools. It also provides federal funding for needy districts and to help students with disabilities. Federal law prohibits the department from controlling school operations including curriculum, instruction and staffing. Authority over these decisions belongs to state and local governments, which provide more than 85% of public school funding. The department's Republican critics have portrayed the department as a symbol of bureaucratic waste, underlining the need for smaller federal government in favor of greater state power. In March, Trump sought to deliver on a campaign promise to conservatives by calling for the department's closure. "We're going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs," Trump said on March 20 before signing an executive order to close the department to the "maximum extent" allowed by law. Trump said that certain "core necessities" would be preserved, including Pell grants to students from lower-income families and federal funding for disadvantaged students and children with special needs, though he said those functions would be redistributed to other agencies and departments. Trump in March directed that the department transfer its $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the Small Business Administration and its special education services to the Department of Health and Human Services. Although formally eliminating the department would require an act of Congress, the downsizing announced in March by Education Secretary Linda McMahon aimed to slash the department's staff to roughly half the size it was when Trump took office in January. Boston-based U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, concluded in a May 22 ruling that the mass firings would "likely cripple the department." He ordered the affected workers to be reinstated and also blocked the administration's plan to hand off department functions to other federal agencies. The plaintiffs, Joun wrote, are "likely to succeed in showing that defendants are effectively disabling the department from carrying out its statutory duties by firing half of its staff, transferring key programs out of the department, and eliminating entire offices and programs." The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 4 rejected the Trump administration's request to pause the injunction issued by the judge. The Justice Department in a court filing asking the Supreme Court to lift Joun's order, accused him of judicial overreach. The plaintiffs warned that mass firings at the department could delay the disbursement of federal aid for low-income schools and students with special needs, prompting shortfalls that might require cutting programs or teaching staff. They also argued in court papers that Trump's shutdown effort would undermine efforts to curb discrimination in schools, analyze and disseminate critical data on student performance and assist college applicants seeking financial aid.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Trump ‘considering lifting Epstein document redactions'
Donald Trump is believed to be considering removing redactions to previously released Epstein documents to defuse a row that threatens to tear apart the Maga movement. The president is facing the biggest internal rebellion of his premiership after the Department of Justice last week concluded the disgraced financier had no 'client list' and died by suicide, not murder, in a Manhattan prison cell in 2019. The decision has sparked fury among Maga loyalists, who have called for Pam Bondi, Mr Trump's attorney general, to resign over her mishandling of the case. As the White House scrambles to contain the row, Mr Trump is said to be weighing up removing redactions to previously released documents related to the deceased sex offender in a bid to placate his Maga supporters, sources close to the administration told Axios. Other plans said to be under consideration include appointing a special counsel or investigative team to review the case, and petitioning courts to unseal records related to Epstein that the administration cannot. Ms Bondi, Kash Patel, the FBI director, and Dan Bongino, the bureau's deputy director, have been heavily criticised by Trump supporters for failing to uncover a broader conspiracy relating to Epstein. Conservative influencers from Megyn Kelly to Tucker Carlson have called for Ms Bondi to resign over her failure to deliver, after she claimed in February that Epstein's client list was 'sitting on my desk'. The White House has since claimed she was actually referencing the 'entirety of all of the paperwork and relation to Jeffrey Epstein'. Kelly, a former Fox News host, accused Bondi of 'lying' and said she had 'embarrassed the president'. 'You either believe that Pam Bondi was telling the truth then, or that she's telling the truth now — but both cannot be true,' she told Maga supporters at a conservative student summit. Carlson, another former Fox anchor, told NBC that Ms Bondi had 'made a bunch of ludicrous claims…that she couldn't back up', triggering the current crisis. The podcast host has also raised questions over whether Epstein was running a blackmail operation on behalf of Israeli intelligence. The allegations were refuted by Naftali Bennet, the former Israeli prime minister, who dismissed Carlson's claims as 'categorically and totally false' on X and accused the TV personality of spreading a 'vicious wave of slander and lies'. Other influential Maga voices to hit out at Mr Trump's cabinet include Laura Loomer, a conservative firebrand, and Elon Musk, the president's ally-turned-nemesis, who wrote on X: 'Just release the files as promised.' Speaking to Politico, Ms Loomer called for a special counsel to carry out an independent investigation of the handling of the Epstein files and blamed Ms Bondi for a lack of transparency. Pam Bondi doing a 'fantastic job' Mr Trump took to social media on Saturday to back his attorney general and railed against 'radical Left lunatics' calling for the release of the Epstein files. 'What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?' They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening,' the president wrote on Truth Social. He also stood next to Ms Bondi at the Club World Cup final on Sunday in a physical display of solidarity with his attorney general. Mr Trump's intervention attempted to draw a line under the debate that has engulfed his support base for the past week, but administration insiders have warned that the problem is not going away any time soon. 'I love POTUS, but I think he's delusional about how awful this looks,' an adviser told Axios. Mr Patel and Mr Bongino have also faced criticism after claiming a video taken from outside Epstein's cell proved that no one had entered, and that he therefore took his own life. The Justice Department and FBI released the 11-hour video last week in an effort to dispel rumours that the sex offender was murdered, but Maga hardliners noticed time stamps on the video skipped from 11.58pm to midnight, leading some to suspect foul play had taken place during what has been called the 'missing minute'. Mr Bongino failed to show up for work on Friday following a heated White House row with Ms Bondi over mishandling of information related to Epstein, sparking rumours that the FBI deputy director had resigned. With Mr Bongino in the spotlight, rumours also swirled that Mr Patel might follow him out the door, prompting the president to have a 'a frank conversation' with his FBI director, a source familiar with the discussion told Axios. JD Vance, the vice-president, also played peacemaker and spoke repeatedly with the FBI chiefs to contain the fallout, sources told the news outlet. Mr Patel subsequently released a statement on X, saying that he was staying in post and that the administration expects Mr Bongino to return to work. Asked on Saturday if Mr Bongino remained in position, Mr Trump said: 'Oh I think so... I spoke to him today. Dan Bongino, very good guy. I've known him a long time. I've done his show many, many times. He sounded terrific, actually.' 'Trump lives to protect billionaires' Seizing on disarray among Mr Trump's supporters, House Democrats are planning to bring forward legislation that would force Ms Bondi to 'release and publish' all records related to the paedophile financier. The proposals are unlikely to reach the House floor, but are designed to tie a narrative of 'corruption and cronyism' around Mr Trump to a broader critique of his policy priorities. 'I think he's trying to protect some billionaire friend of his,' Marc Veasey, who is introducing one of the pieces of legislation on Monday, told Politico. 'That's what he lives for more than anything else in the world: protecting billionaires. Look at what he did with the so-called 'big, beautiful bill'.' Scrutiny is likely to only increase after Ghislaine Maxwell, the only person in jail for crimes related to the paedophile financier, offered to speak about the Epstein files before Congress. 'Despite the rumours, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal. She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story,' a source close to Maxwell told The Daily Mail. 'No-one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows. She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.'
