Trump admin to reinstall Confederate statue toppled by protesters
The statue, which honors Pike's contributions to freemasonry, was the only memorial to a Confederate general in the US capital before it was toppled.
Statues honoring the Confederacy -- which seceded from the United States to preserve slavery, prompting the 1861-1865 Civil War -- were a prime target of vandalism during the mid-2020 racial justice movement.
Protests broke out nationwide in June 2020 following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Trump, who was president at the time, called the toppling of the Pike statue a "disgrace."
"The D.C. police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn. These people should be immediately arrested," Trump wrote on Twitter.
The NPS said the Pike statue has "been in secure storage since its removal and is currently undergoing restoration."
It aims to reinstall the statue by October 2025.
After losing re-election later in 2020, Trump went on to run again in 2024, winning on pledges to harshly crackdown on illegal immigration and to reverse many of the social justice policies enacted in the wake Floyd's death.
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France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Trump admin to reinstall Confederate statue toppled by protesters
Reinstalling the statue of Albert Pike supports two executive orders issued by President Donald Trump early in his second term, the NPS said in a statement: one "on Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful" and another on "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." The statue, which honors Pike's contributions to freemasonry, was the only memorial to a Confederate general in the US capital before it was toppled. Statues honoring the Confederacy -- which seceded from the United States to preserve slavery, prompting the 1861-1865 Civil War -- were a prime target of vandalism during the mid-2020 racial justice movement. Protests broke out nationwide in June 2020 following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Trump, who was president at the time, called the toppling of the Pike statue a "disgrace." "The D.C. police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn. These people should be immediately arrested," Trump wrote on Twitter. The NPS said the Pike statue has "been in secure storage since its removal and is currently undergoing restoration." It aims to reinstall the statue by October 2025. After losing re-election later in 2020, Trump went on to run again in 2024, winning on pledges to harshly crackdown on illegal immigration and to reverse many of the social justice policies enacted in the wake Floyd's death.
Fashion Network
7 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Switzerland's government to hold special meeting over Trump's huge tariff on Swiss imports
Switzerland's government will hold an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss its response to President Donald Trump 's 39% tariff on Swiss imports, which threatens to inflict heavy damage to its US-dependent luxury goods industry. Switzerland was left stunned on Friday after Trump hit the country with one of the highest tariffs in his global trade reset, with industry associations warning that tens of thousands of jobs were at risk. The duties are scheduled to go into effect on Thursday, giving Switzerland a small window to strike a better deal. Industry leaders and politicians were struggling to understand why the country was singled out - the EU, Japan and South Korea, for example, face 15% levies - but Switzerland had a 38.5 billion Swiss franc (48 billion dollar) trade surplus with the United States last year. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter told Reuters on Friday that Switzerland had given US goods virtually free access to its market, and Swiss companies had made very important direct investments in the US. "The president (Trump) is really focused on the trade deficit, because he thinks that this is a loss for the United States, that every year with Swiss exports, the United States loses, well, 38.5 billion (francs)," she told Reuters. Further measures would have to be discussed by the full Swiss cabinet, she said. "I'm not ready to make an offer today. I think we have to discuss that in government," Keller-Sutter said. Swiss officials have rejected reports that the higher than expected tariffs were imposed after a bad-tempered telephone call between Keller-Sutter and Trump late on Thursday. The government is open to revising its offer to the United States in response to the tariff rate, which is due to go into effect on August 7, Business Minister Guy Parmelin said on Sunday. He said options included Switzerland buying US liquefied natural gas or further investments by Swiss companies in the United States, its biggest export market for pharmaceuticals, watches and machinery. An index of Swiss blue-chip stocks hit its lowest level since mid-April on Monday, as shares in banks, luxury retailers and pharma companies tumbled. The SMI index was last down 0.6% on the day, compared with a 0.6% rise in the regional STOXX 600 index. In Zurich, shares in high-end watchmakers such as Richemont and Swatch fell in volatile trading. Richemont stock was last down 0.8%, having dropped as much as 3.5% earlier, while Swatch shares were down 0.7%, having fallen by as much as 5%. Possible US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports are being considered separately. On Monday, the Swiss franc was the worst-performing major currency against the dollar, which was last up 0.7% at 0.809 francs, not far off Friday's one-month highs.
Fashion Network
7 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Switzerland's government to hold special meeting over Trump's huge tariff on Swiss imports
Switzerland's government will hold an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss its response to President Donald Trump 's 39% tariff on Swiss imports, which threatens to inflict heavy damage to its US-dependent luxury goods industry. Switzerland was left stunned on Friday after Trump hit the country with one of the highest tariffs in his global trade reset, with industry associations warning that tens of thousands of jobs were at risk. The duties are scheduled to go into effect on Thursday, giving Switzerland a small window to strike a better deal. Industry leaders and politicians were struggling to understand why the country was singled out - the EU, Japan and South Korea, for example, face 15% levies - but Switzerland had a 38.5 billion Swiss franc (48 billion dollar) trade surplus with the United States last year. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter told Reuters on Friday that Switzerland had given US goods virtually free access to its market, and Swiss companies had made very important direct investments in the US. "The president (Trump) is really focused on the trade deficit, because he thinks that this is a loss for the United States, that every year with Swiss exports, the United States loses, well, 38.5 billion (francs)," she told Reuters. Further measures would have to be discussed by the full Swiss cabinet, she said. "I'm not ready to make an offer today. I think we have to discuss that in government," Keller-Sutter said. Swiss officials have rejected reports that the higher than expected tariffs were imposed after a bad-tempered telephone call between Keller-Sutter and Trump late on Thursday. The government is open to revising its offer to the United States in response to the tariff rate, which is due to go into effect on August 7, Business Minister Guy Parmelin said on Sunday. He said options included Switzerland buying US liquefied natural gas or further investments by Swiss companies in the United States, its biggest export market for pharmaceuticals, watches and machinery. An index of Swiss blue-chip stocks hit its lowest level since mid-April on Monday, as shares in banks, luxury retailers and pharma companies tumbled. The SMI index was last down 0.6% on the day, compared with a 0.6% rise in the regional STOXX 600 index. In Zurich, shares in high-end watchmakers such as Richemont and Swatch fell in volatile trading. Richemont stock was last down 0.8%, having dropped as much as 3.5% earlier, while Swatch shares were down 0.7%, having fallen by as much as 5%. Possible US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports are being considered separately. On Monday, the Swiss franc was the worst-performing major currency against the dollar, which was last up 0.7% at 0.809 francs, not far off Friday's one-month highs.
