
Macron's blunt message to Trump from Greenland pre-G7
And the French president, eager to flex his own as a European leader as Trump pulls back rhetorically from European allies and pivots away from Ukraine, did not hold back in his public comments. 'I don't think that´s something to be done between allies,' Macron said on a brief visit where he met Danish PM Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen. 'It´s important to show that Denmark and Europe are committed to this territory, which has very high strategic stakes and whose territorial integrity must be respected,' Marcon added.
Macron's visit comes as Trump prepares to land in a country where locals are equally adamant against his call to make Canada the 51st U.S. state. 'I don't think he's playing around. I think he has intent around it. I think I think he's smart enough to know that we need them more than they need us, and he's willing to do whatever it takes,' local electrical contractor Curtis Reynard told the Daily Mail. With great powers scrambling for influence in the Arctic, Macron has also said the deep seas are not 'up for grabs.'
Trump has been blunt in his claims about the need to obtain Greenland, which has stores of rare earth minerals under its permafrost and a strategic location between North America and Europe. 'We need Greenland for national security and international security,' Trump said in late March as the situation escalated. 'So we'll, I think, we'll go as far as we have to go,' Trump added. 'We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland. And, you know, we'll see what happens. But if we don't have Greenland, we can't have great international security. I view it from a security standpoint, we have to be there,' said Trump.
Last week Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the U.S. had plans to invade Greenland or Panama if necessary. 'Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any particular contingency,' Hegseth said under questioning at a hearing. 'I think the American people would want the Pentagon to have plans for any particular contingency,' Hegseth added.
Hashtags

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


Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump signs 'Big, Beautiful Bill' into law as B-2 bombers deployed to Iran fly overhead at the White House
President Donald Trump signed his 'Big, Beautiful Bill' into law with his signature flair complete with a massive patriotic display at the White House on the Fourth of July. The House passed his landmark piece of tax cuts and spending legislation containing many of the Republican's campaign promises a day earlier on July 3. The president's signing ceremony for his bill on the White House was timed to coincide with the nation's 249th birthday. Trump told allies, Cabinet secretaries and administration staff that the bill signing marked his 'the greatest victory yet,' as they gathered on the South Lawn for the annual July Fourth picnic and fireworks display. The spectacle included several military flyovers - including the B-2 bombers recently deployed to Iran by Trump to take out the nation's nuclear arsenal. And Melania was in attendance for a rare public appearance in her role as first lady, wearing a crisp white dress. Dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the $3.3 trillion measure took an all-encompassing, multi-year effort from Republicans in Congress to pass. 'I think I have more power now,' Trump said following the bill's passage. 'More gravitas, more power.' 'Biggest tax cut in history, great for security, great on the southern the biggest bill ever signed of its kind,' Trump continued. The president has praised Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune for shepherding the measure through Congress despite nagging GOP pushback from conservatives and moderates. Johnson was seen mingling on the South Lawn ahead of the signing on Friday, along with other MAGA mainstays including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and his wife Kathryn, Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt - who was decked out in red. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was deep in conversation with Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, who has been working for Elon Musk, who railed against passage of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill.' The behemoth, nearly 900-page legislative package extends the president's 2017 tax cuts and further eliminates taxes on tips and overtime - a marquee promise that the president pledged repeatedly on the campaign trail. It doubles the child tax credit and includes a popular $1,000 'Trump investment account' - formerly known as MAGA accounts - for newborn babies. Also included in the measure are steep cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and renewable energy programs expanded by former President Joe Biden. 'We are delivering on our promise to make America great again,' Johnson declared on the floor just before the passing vote. Only two Republicans voted against the measure, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. In the Senate, Republican Senators Susan Collins, Maine, Rand Paul, Kentucky and Thom Tillis, North Carolina, voted with Democrats against the bill. The tax cuts alone will cost $4.5 trillion over the next ten years, according to projections from the Congressional Budget Office. To offset the massive price tag Republicans included $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, mainly trimming Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled. However, the measure stirred much controversy within GOP ranks and even drew the ire of billionaire Elon Musk for its massive spending, which he likened to 'political suicide.' Though that did not sway Trump and the White House from celebrating the measure. 'President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill delivers on the commonsense agenda that nearly 80 million Americans voted for – the largest middle-class tax cut in history, permanent border security, massive military funding, and restoring fiscal sanity,' Leavitt said in a statement following the successful vote. 'The pro-growth policies within this historic legislation are going to fuel an economic boom like we've never seen before. President Trump looks forward to signing the One Big, Beautiful Bill into law to officially usher in the Golden Age of America.' Trump wrote on Truth Social before the vote: 'The USA is on track to break every record on growth. Go Republicans, beat the Crooked Democrats tonight! Pro-growth tax cuts never fail.' 'We had great conversations all day, and the Republican House Majority is united, for the good of our country, delivering the biggest tax cuts in history and massive growth.' Using a parliamentary tactic called reconciliation, the tax and spending bill had to align the House and Senate Republicans on a single framework so they could avoid the typical 60-vote threshold needed in the upper chamber. Though no Democratic support was needed to push the bill through to completion, the process was still marred with controversies and hiccups as moderate and right-wing GOP lawmakers argued over the overall price tag and a handful of controversial provisions. Fraught negotiations between conservatives Moderates argued that spending cuts could endanger their reelection while conservative members railed against what they saw as runaway spending inside the OBBB. The Senate narrowly passed its version of the bill 51 - 50 on Tuesday. The vote was so close that Vice President JD Vance had to come in and break the tie, casting the final vote to get the bill out of the Senate and back to the House. The House's version of the bill passed in late May, also with just a one-vote margin. If more than four Republicans voted against the bill, it would have failed. Fraught negotiations between the House and Senate also endangered the final result since the House's original version of the bill was widely seen as more conservative than the Senate's copy, which was eventually swallowed by the House members. But just barely, a procedural vote setting up the final passage broke a record for the longest vote in House history, clocking in over 7 hours and 20 minutes. Putting up a fight until the end, conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) held out on supporting the bill until they made their concerns known to GOP leadership and the White House. HFC member Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said as late as Wednesday evening that he was a 'no' on the bill because it increases the deficit and does not fully repeal Biden-era renewable energy subsidies. 'We need to understand exactly, exactly how this stuff will get implemented because I need these subsidies to end because they are damaging Texas's grid,' Roy said before the final vote. HFC Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., also said on Wednesday afternoon he was still a 'no' on the bill and that he wanted the Senate to come back into town so that changes could be made to the bill before the Friday deadline. Moderate Republicans also put up a fight against the tax and spending bill. A group of centrist GOP members went to the White House on Wednesday morning to discuss the bill with the president. At the top of their minds were the deep Medicaid cuts, while others were concerned with state and local tax (SALT) provisions - a popular policy among Republicans in high-tax blue states. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., firmly said he will vote against the bill all along over his concern for the ballooning national debt and deficit. Taking matters into his own hands, Trump was reportedly calling GOP dissidents to get them to buy into the OBBB throughout the process. 'He's been working the phones pretty consistently over the last several days, and members have been calling him as well,' an administration official told Politico. 'He's going to get it over the finish line.' Ultimately, Trump and the GOP leadership's efforts paid off, and with time to spare before the 4th of July deadline. Democrats' delay tactics While Republicans worked to gather the votes necessary for final passage of the massive Trump-backed bill Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, deployed delay tactics. The New York Democrat took to the floor just before 5:00 am ET to begin an arduous, record-breaking 8-hour and roughly 45-minute speech about the dangers presented by the GOP legislation. 'I feel the obligation Mr. Speaker to stand on this House floor and take my sweet time,' the Democrat leader proclaimed well into his remarks. His speech began with stories of Americans who could be impacted by the Trump bill's cuts to Medicaid and social programs. The New Yorker was still droning on while several of his fellow Democrats could be seen behind him with eyes closed and heads folded down. Despite his enthusiasm for hampering the GOP's plans, his colleagues seemed less excited. In fact, many appeared to be asleep. But that did not deter him from breaking former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's record for the longest floor speech around 1:30 pm ET. Shortly after the Democrat leader finished, Speaker Mike Johnson took to the floor to read off the highlights of what is contained in the mega-bill. What's in the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' The president noted on Tuesday how there's 'something for everyone' in the multi-trillion-dollar bill. One of the primary functions of the bill is to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts that would have expired at the end of this year. In total, the tax cut extension is estimated to cost $4 trillion from the loss of tax revenue collected by the federal government. It also exempts pay from overtime and tips from being hit by federal income taxes - a fulfillment of one of the president's most ambitious campaign promises. It also allows individuals to deduct up to $10,000 of auto loan interest for vehicles made in the U.S. In addition, the bill allows individuals in high-tax states to deduct up to $40,000 per year for half a decade in state and local taxes (SALT) from their federal taxes - a top priority for conservatives in blue states. The big bill also increases the annual child tax credit to $2,200 and creates 'Trump investment accounts,' which will see the U.S. investing $1,000 into accounts for babies born after 2024. Border security efforts will also be getting a major cash infusion estimated to be around $150 billion for increased immigration enforcement. It includes $46 billion for Customs and Border Patrol to build border wall and enhanced security measures and around $30 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Another roughly $150 billion in the bill will be provided to the military to create Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defense system, increase U.S. ship-building capacity and to fund nuclear deterrence programs. To pay for all of this, Republicans had to cut major spending initiatives like Medicaid, SNAP and green energy initiatives. The Senate's bill has work requirements for both Medicaid and SNAP recipients, along with other cuts, which are expected to save over $1 trillion in spending in the coming years. Green energy subsidies passed under former President Joe Biden


NBC News
17 minutes ago
- NBC News
Hamas gives 'positive response' to Gaza ceasefire mediators
Hopes for an end to the bloody fighting in Gaza appeared to brighten Friday when Hamas announced that it had given a thumbs-up to the latest ceasefire proposal, but added that further talks were needed. 'Hamas has completed its internal consultations with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the mediators' latest proposal to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza,' the Palestinian militant group said in a statement. 'The movement has submitted a positive response to the mediators,' the statement added. 'The movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework.' The development came just days after President Donald Trump said Israel has 'agreed to the necessary conditions' to finalize a 60-day ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war. But in his first remarks since Trump's announcement on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not confirm Trump's claim and once again called for the elimination of Hamas. 'There will be no Hamas,' Netanyahu said. 'There will be no Hamastan. We are not going back to that. It is over. We will release all our hostages.' Netanyahu is scheduled to visit to the White House on Monday, where he is expected to discuss the situation in Gaza with Trump. Hamas has been weighing the new ceasefire proposals that it had received from the Egyptian and Qatari mediators for several days. In a statement Wednesday, Hamas said it would be 'conducting national consultations' with the final aim of ending the fighting, ensuring the withdrawal of Israeli forces and delivering 'urgent relief' to the people of Gaza. The war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead. Hamas also took 251 people hostage. And of the remaining hostages in captivity, 28 are presumed to be dead. Meanwhile, Israel's attacks in Gaza have killed more than 56,000 people and created a humanitarian crisis in the densely populated Palestinian territory, where most of the 2 million residents have been forced from their homes.


NBC News
27 minutes ago
- NBC News
Trump signs the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act'
Watch live coverage as President Donald Trump signs the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a multitrillion-dollar domestic policy bill. The House of Representatives voted 218-214 to send the bill to Trump's desk, meeting his July 4 deadline.