&w=3840&q=100)
F-16 intercepts civilian plane over Trump's Bedminster golf club in New Jersey
Trump has turned the Oval Office into a hub for his allies, friends and staff. Reuters/File Photo
An F-16 fighter jet intercepted a civilian plane on Saturday after it entered restricted airspace over President Donald Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, the US military said.
The fighter jet, sent by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), escorted the plane safely out of the area, according to the New York Post. Trump was spending the holiday weekend in New Jersey at the time.
NORAD said this was the fifth time on Saturday that a civilian aircraft had entered the temporary flight restriction (TFR) zone. To get the pilot's attention, the F-16 performed a maneuver known as a 'headbutt,' before guiding the plane away.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Such airspace violations have become more frequent in recent weeks, prompting NORAD to urge civilian pilots to carefully check all flight notices before taking off.
Similar incidents have happened before, including in March when a civilian plane entered restricted airspace near Trump's residence in Florida. That incident occurred just after Trump finished a round of golf in West Palm Beach. At the time, F-16s fired flares to alert the pilot.
Despite the repeated incursions, officials say none have disrupted Trump's schedule or security. NORAD explained that the flares used by fighter jets can be seen from the ground but quickly burn out.
General Gregory Guillot, commander of NORAD and US Northern Command, stressed the importance of following TFR rules to protect flight safety, national security, and the President.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
5 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Ball in Washington's court on India-US interim trade pact before July 9
With India setting its red lines on key issues in sectors such as agriculture and dairy for the proposed interim trade agreement with the US, the ball is now in Washington's court to finalise the deal, sources said. They said if issues are settled, an interim trade pact could be announced before July 9, which marks the end of the 90-day suspension period of the Trump tariffs announced on April 2 on dozens of countries, including India. "India has drawn its red lines... now the ball is in the US court," they said. In February, the two countries announced starting negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). They fixed a deadline to conclude the first tranche or phase of the BTA by fall (September-October) this year. Before that, the two sides are locking to finalise an interim trade pact. On April 2, the US imposed an additional 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods but suspended it for 90 days. However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed by America remains in place. India is seeking full exemption from this 26 per cent tariff. "If the proposed trade talks fail, the 26 per cent tariffs will come into force again," one of the sources said. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal last week stated that India does not enter into any trade agreement based on deadlines and will accept the proposed trade deal with the US only when it is fully finalised, properly concluded and in the national interest. FTAs are possible only when both sides get benefitted and it should be a win-win agreement, he has said. "National interest should always be supreme. Keeping that in mind, if a deal is made then India is always ready to deal with developed countries," Goyal had said on July 4. The Indian team returned from Washington last week after holding talks with the US on an interim trade pact. Differences are also there on steel, aluminium (50 per cent) and auto (25 per cent) tariffs. India has hardened its position on giving duty concessions to the US on agriculture and dairy products as both are sensitive subjects. India has never opened the dairy sector in any of the previous trade pacts signed. US President Donald Trump last week said his administration is sending letters to the first batch of 10-12 countries, sharing details of reciprocal tariff rates and the entire process could be completed by July 9. His comments came amid increasing suspense in India on whether New Delhi and Washington would be able to firm up a much-anticipated trade deal before the US president's tariff deadline ends. He has, however, not named the countries. The president has stated that the reciprocal tariffs would come into effect from August 1. While the US is looking at duty concessions in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles (electric vehicles particularly), wines, petrochemical products, dairy, and agriculture items such as apples, tree nuts, and alfalfa hay; India may look at duty cuts for labour-intensive sectors like apparels, textiles, gems and jewellery, leather, plastics, chemicals, oil seeds, shrimp, and horticulture products. The US is India's largest trading partner from 2021-22. During 2024-25, the bilateral trade in goods stood at $131.84 billion ($86.51 billion worth of exports, $45.33 billion of imports and $41.18 billion trade surplus). India's merchandise exports to the US rose 21.78 per cent to $17.25 billion in April-May this fiscal year, while imports rose 25.8 per cent to $8.87 billion. The two-way trade in services expanded from $54.1 billion in 2018 to an estimated $70.5 billion in 2024. India is also a key destination for American businesses such as professional, scientific, and technical services, manufacturing, and IT. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports and over 6 per cent in imports and about 11 per cent in bilateral trade. India received $70.65 billion between April 2000 and March 2025, making Washington the third largest investor. In 2024, India's main exports to the US included drug formulations and biologicals ($8.1 billion), telecom instruments ($6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones ($5.3 billion), petroleum products ($4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery ($3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton, including accessories ($2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel ($2.7 billion). Imports included crude oil ($4.5 billion), petroleum products ($3.6 billion), coal, coke ($3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds ($2.6 billion), electric machinery ($1.4 billion), aircraft, spacecraft and parts ($1.3 billion), and gold ($1.3 billion).
Time of India
13 minutes ago
- Time of India
Musk should stay out of politics, US Treasury Secretary Bessent says
Elaan Musk's new political party faced immediate backlash. Treasury Secretary questioned Musk's focus. Investment firm Azoria Partners delayed Tesla-linked fund launch. They cited conflict with Musk's CEO role. Musk's party aimed to unseat Republicans over Trump's spending bill. Trump threatened to pull government contracts from Tesla and SpaceX. Azoria CEO James Fishback criticized Musk's political ambitions. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads INVESTOR REBUKE Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A day after Elon Musk escalated his feud with Donald Trump and announced the formation of a new U.S. political party, the president's Treasury secretary said Musk should stick to running his investment firm Azoria Partners , which had planned to launch a fund tied to Musk's automaker Tesla, said it was delaying the venture because the party's creation posed "a conflict with his full-time responsibilities as CEO".Musk said on Saturday he was establishing the " America Party " in response to Trump's tax-cut and spending bill, which Musk claimed would bankrupt the on CNN on Sunday, Treasury chief Scott Bessent said the boards of directors at Musk's companies - Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX - likely would prefer him to stay out of politics."I imagine that those boards of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities," Bessent who served as a top adviser to the White House on trimming the size of government during the first few months of Trump's presidency, said his new party would in next year's midterm elections look to unseat Republicans in Congress who backed the "big, beautiful bill".Musk spent millions of dollars underwriting Trump's re-election effort and for a time, regularly showed up at the president's side in the Oval Office and elsewhere. Their disagreement over the spending bill led to a falling out that Musk briefly tried unsuccessfully to bill, which cuts taxes and ramps up spending on defense and border security, passed last week on party-line votes in both chambers. Critics argue it will damage the economy by significantly adding to the federal budget has said Musk is unhappy because the bill, which Trump signed into law on Friday, takes away green-energy credits for Tesla's electric vehicles. The president has threatened to pull billions of dollars Tesla and SpaceX receive in government contracts and subsidies in response to Musk's suggested Musk holds little sway with voters who, he said, liked his Department of Government Efficiency more than him."The principles of DOGE were very popular," Bessent said. "I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not."Musk's announcement immediately brought a rebuke from Azoria Partners, which said on Saturday it will postpone the listing of its Azoria Tesla Convexity exchange-traded fund. Azoria was set to launch the Tesla ETF this CEO James Fishback posted on X several critical comments about the new party and reiterated his support for Trump."I encourage the Board to meet immediately and ask Elon to clarify his political ambitions and evaluate whether they are compatible with his full-time obligations to Tesla as CEO," Fishback Sunday, Fishback added on X, "Elon left us with no other choice."The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Musk's announcement, but Stephen Miran, the chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, defended the bill on ABC's "This Week"."The one, big, beautiful bill is going to create growth on turbo charge," Miran said.
Time of India
15 minutes ago
- Time of India
BRICS summit opens in Brazil overshadowed by Trump's tariff policies and Middle East tensions
Brazil is playing host to a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies Sunday and Monday during which pressing topics like Israel's attack on Iran, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and trade tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to be handled with caution. Analysts and diplomats have said the lack of cohesion in an enlarged BRICS, which doubled in size last year, may affect its ability to become another pole in world affairs. They also see the summit's moderate agenda as an attempt by member countries to stay off Trump's radar. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has some of his priorities, such as debates on artificial intelligence and climate change, front and center for the talks with key leaders not in attendance. Lula said in his speech on Sunday that "we are witnessing the unparalled collapse of multilateralism" and that the meeting is taking place "in the most adverse global scenario" of the four times Brazil has hosted it. He called for the group to promote peace and mediate conflicts. "If international governance does not reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it is up to the BRICS to contribute to its renovation," Lula said at the opening of the summit. Live Events China's President Xi Jinping did not attend a BRICS summit for the first time since he became his country's leader in 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will make an appearance via videoconference, continues to mostly avoid traveling abroad due to an international arrest warrant issued after Russia invaded Ukraine. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Egypt's Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi are also absent from the gathering in Rio de Janeiro. Three joint statements expected The restraint expected in Rio de Janeiro marks a departure from last year's summit hosted by Russia in Kazan, when the Kremlin sought to develop alternatives to U.S.-dominated payment systems which would allow it to dodge Western sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A source involved in the negotiations told journalists Friday that some members of the group want more aggressive language on the situation in Gaza and Israel's attack on Iran. The source spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly. "Brazil wants to keep the summit as technical as possible," said Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank and university. Consequently, observers expect a vague final declaration regarding Russia's war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East. As well as suiting Brazil, a watered-down and non-controversial statement may be made easier by the absences of Putin and Xi, Stuenkel said. Those two countries have pushed for a stronger anti-Western stance, as opposed to Brazil and India that prefer non-alignment. A Brazilian government official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the group is expected to produce three joint statements and a final declaration, "all of which less bounded by current geopolitical tensions." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the summit's preparations. Joao Alfredo Nyegray, an international business and geopolitics professor at the Pontifical Catholic University in Parana, said the summit could have played a role in showing an alternative to an unstable world, but won't do so. "The withdrawal of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the uncertainty about the level of representation for countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are confirming the difficulty for the BRICS to establish themselves as a cohesive pole of global leadership," Nyegray said. "This moment demands high level articulation, but we are actually seeing dispersion." Avoid Trump's tariffs Brazil, the country that chairs the bloc, has picked six strategic priorities for the summit: global cooperation in healthcare; trade, investment and finance; climate change; governance for artificial intelligence; peace-making and security; and institutional development. It has decided to focus on less controversial issues, such as promoting trade relations between members and global health, after Trump returned to the White House , said Ana Garcia, a professor at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University. "Brazil wants the least amount of damage possible and to avoid drawing the attention of the Trump administration to prevent any type of risk to the Brazilian economy," Garcia said. While Brazil advocated on Sunday for the reform of Western-led global institutions, a cornerstone policy of the group, the country's government wants to avoid becoming the target of tariffs - a predicament it has so far largely escaped. Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs against the bloc if they take any moves to undermine the dollar. 'Best opportunity for emerging countries' BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but the group last year expanded to include Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. As well as new members, the bloc has 10 strategic partner countries, a category created at last year's summit that includes Belarus, Cuba and Vietnam. That rapid expansion led Brazil to put housekeeping issues - officially termed institutional development - on the agenda to better integrate new members and boost internal cohesion. Despite notable absences, the summit is important for attendees, especially in the context of instability provoked by Trump's tariff wars, said Bruce Scheidl, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo's BRICS study group. "The summit offers the best opportunity for emerging countries to respond, in the sense of seeking alternatives and diversifying their economic partnerships," Scheidl said. For Lula, the summit is a welcome pause from a difficult domestic scenario, marked by a drop in popularity and conflict with Congress. The meeting also represents an opportunity to advance climate negotiations and commitments on protecting the environment before November's COP 30 climate talks in the Amazonian city of Belem.
