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Trump will not say whether he will move forward with US strikes on Iran

Trump will not say whether he will move forward with US strikes on Iran

Glasgow Times18-06-2025
'I may do it, I may not do it,' Mr Trump said in an exchange with reporters at the White House.
'I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.'
Mr Trump added that it is not 'too late' for Iran to give up its nuclear programme as he continues to weigh direct US involvement in Israel's military operations aimed at crushing Tehran's options.
'Nothing's too late,' Mr Trump said. 'I can tell you this. Iran's got a lot of trouble.'
'Nothing is finished until it is finished,' Mr Trump added. But 'the next week is going to be very big — maybe less than a week'.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Mr Trump also offered a terse response to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.
'I say good luck,' Mr Trump said.
Mr Khamenei earlier warned that any United States strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will 'result in irreparable damage for them' and that his country would not bow to Mr Trump's call for surrender.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday the US knows where Iran's Mr Khamenei is hiding as the the Israel-Iran conflict escalates but does not want him killed — 'for now'.
'He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,' Mr Trump said.
In a video address to Israelis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Mr Trump's support, calling him 'a great friend of Israel' and praising US help defending Israel's skies.
'We speak constantly, including last night,' Mr Netanyahu said on Wednesday. 'We had a very warm conversation.'
Mr Trump's increasingly muscular comments toward the Iranian government come after he urged Tehran's 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his participation in an international summit earlier this week to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.
Mr Trump said that the Iranian officials continue to reach out to the White House as they are 'getting the hell beaten out of them' by Israel.
But he added there is a 'big difference between now and a week ago' in Tehran's negotiating position.
'They've suggested that they come to the White House — that's, you know, courageous,' Mr Trump said.
Iran's mission to the United Nations refuted Mr Trump's claim in a statement on social media.
'No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to 'take out' Iran's Supreme Leader.'
The US president said earlier this week Russian president Vladimir Putin offered to serve a mediator with. But Mr Trump said he told Mr Putin to keep focused on finding an endgame to his own conflict with Ukraine.
'I said, 'Do me a favour, mediate your own',' Mr Trump said he told Mr Putin.
'I said, 'Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later'.'
The Russia-Iran relationship has deepened since Mr Putin launched a war on Ukraine in February 2022, with Tehran providing Moscow with drones, ballistic missiles, and other support, according to US intelligence findings.
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Trump to land in Scotland on Friday for start of five-day private trip
Trump to land in Scotland on Friday for start of five-day private trip

Rhyl Journal

time20 minutes ago

  • Rhyl Journal

Trump to land in Scotland on Friday for start of five-day private trip

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Resurfaced clip shows Epstein pleading the Fifth when asked if he was with Trump around underage girls
Resurfaced clip shows Epstein pleading the Fifth when asked if he was with Trump around underage girls

The Independent

time20 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Resurfaced clip shows Epstein pleading the Fifth when asked if he was with Trump around underage girls

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The report alleges Trump ended the note with a birthday wish for Epstein: 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.' The president A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the paper's publisher, said the company has 'full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting.'

US and Mexico sign accord to combat Tijuana River sewage flowing across the border
US and Mexico sign accord to combat Tijuana River sewage flowing across the border

The Independent

time20 minutes ago

  • The Independent

US and Mexico sign accord to combat Tijuana River sewage flowing across the border

The United States and Mexico have signed an agreement outlining specific steps and a new timetable to clean up the longstanding problem of the Tijuana River pouring sewage across the border and polluting California beaches, officials from both countries announced Thursday. Billions of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals from Tijuana have polluted the Pacific Ocean off neighboring Southern California, closing beaches and sickening Navy SEALs who train in the water. That's despite multiple efforts and millions of dollars that have been poured into addressing the problem over decades, including under the first Trump administration. 'There is a great commitment by the two countries to strengthen cooperation,' Mexico's Environmental Secretary Alicia Bárcena said Thursday after meeting with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in Mexico City for the signing of the memorandum of understanding. The accord comes three months after Zeldin flew to San Diego to meet with Mexican officials and visit the border. 'I smelled what a lot of residents in the community lived through and have to deal with," he said Thursday. "I saw the degradation of the Tijuana River valley. I heard about the beaches that were closed. I met with the Navy Seals, who have had their training impacted. It was a powerful visit all around for me.' Under the agreement, Mexico will complete its allocation of $93 million toward infrastructure projects, including adhering to a specific schedule for priority projects spanning through 2027. The 120-mile-long (195-kilometer) Tijuana River runs near the coast in Mexico and crosses into Southern California, where it flows through Navy-owned land and out to the Pacific. As Tijuana's wastewater treatment plants have aged, its population and industry -- including the manufacturing plants, known as maquiladoras that make U.S. goods — have boomed. At the same time, there has been an increase in the amount of toxins that have made their way into the river and into San Diego County — since 2018, more than 100 billion gallons of raw sewage laden with industrial chemicals and trash. The pollution has sickened not only swimmers, surfers and lifeguards but also schoolchildren, Border Patrol agents and others who do not even go in the water. Scientists say the sewage is vaporized when it foams up and enters the air people breathe. California beaches near the border have been closed more often than not over the past four years. 'The communities along the Tijuana River have suffered this public health crisis for far too long,' said Kristan Culbert, associate director of California river conservation at American Rivers, in a statement Thursday. Since 2020, more than $653 million in funds have been allocated to address the issue, but the crisis has continued largely because of delays by the Mexican government, Zeldin has said. Zeldin said this agreement factors in 'population growth, operation and maintenance costs, and other variables that would make this solution durable and long term.' He praised the new administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office last October, for its willingness to address the issue. Sheinbaum said earlier Thursday that her government would expand a wastewater treatment plant that would reduce the contamination reaching the coast. 'There are other actions that were signed that we have to complete, that we're going to get done in the next year for the entire Tijuana sanitation system, for the entire metropolitan Tijuana area," she said. Sheinbaum said the United States also has to make investments in the binational problem. Referring to another agreement to send more water to the U.S. to reduce Mexico's water debt in the Rio Grande, Sheinbaum said the Tijuana River agreement 'is a good example of how when our technical teams sit down, they can resolve a problem that seemed unsolvable.' The U.S. has agreed to complete the expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant next month. The agreement also stipulates that Mexico this year divert 10 million gallons per day of treated sewage away from the shore. _____ Associated Press writer María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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