Latest news with #AndrewJackson
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jen Psaki calls out Trump for focusing more on White House redecorating than Texas floods
Jen Psaki is calling out Donald Trump over the shocking vanity of comments he made during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. 'Have you ever heard the expression 'rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic'?' Psaki asked viewers at the top of Tuesday night's show. 'It's supposed to be an unbelievable exaggeration of someone engaging in a trivial task during a crisis. Today, Trump one-upped it.' Psaki spoke about ongoing rescue efforts in Texas following last weekend's devastating and deadly floods that set the backdrop to Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. While Trump did speak briefly about the ongoing federal response, including his plan to visit Texas on Friday, as Psaki noted, 'He also had another pressing matter he felt the need to address in that meeting.' 'He spent almost 15 minutes talking about how he redecorated the Cabinet room of the White House,' Psaki said, before playing several clips of the president boasting about his interior decorating efforts, including his choice to hang a portrait of Andrew Jackson and to fit the room with new drapes and lamps. The president also mused about adding gold leaf to the walls. 'Painting the ceilings gold isn't exactly a pressing issue for Trump's Cabinet right now,' Psaki quipped. 'But it does tell you a little bit about where Trump's head is at.' You can watch Psaki's full take on Trump's comments in the clip below. This article was originally published on
Associated Press
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Trump on past presidents: Ike was 'underrated,' FDR 'amazing,' Polk 'sort of a real-estate guy'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Turns out Donald Trump gauges his esteem for presidential predecessors by how well their portraits fit into his White House redecorating scheme. Or sometimes how well the frames around those portraits do. 'I'm a frame person,' Trump said Tuesday during a meeting with his Cabinet. 'Sometimes I like frames more than I like the pictures.' Trump wrapped up a 90-plus-minute session by explaining how he personally worked to redecorate the White House's Cabinet Room, seeming to take real joy in choosing which portraits were hung. The president also said he helped choose the room's drapes and polled those present about whether he should repaint the room in gold leaf. (Cabinet members think he should.) 'I actually spent time in the vaults. The vaults are where we have a lot of great pictures and artwork. And I picked it all myself,' Trump said. 'I'm very proud of it.' The president said that meant 'a lot of time, effort' and 'very little money.' And he even recounted having gone to the State Department and told its head, Marco Rubio, to have a grandfather clock there moved to the White House. That's despite there not being any record of Trump having paid a public visit to the State Department during Rubio's tenure. Trump also pointed out each portrait and shared what he thought of each past president depicted. He started by indicating 'the great Andrew Jackson " and went from there — renewing his frequent praise for William McKinley and getting in a dig about how Bill Clinton once offered donors overnight stays in the Lincoln bedroom in exchange for campaign contributions. Here's what Trump said about some of his other presidential predecessors: James K. Polk (1845-49): 'That's a gentleman named — and we call him — President Polk. He was sort of a real-estate guy. He was — people don't realize — he was a one-termer. But he was a very good president. But, and I'm not sure I should be doing this, he actually gave us the state of California.' Then Trump revealed that his choice of Polk's picture might have had more do with the portrait's frame being almost the same size as the frame surrounding Jackson's portrait, which he suggested was especially aesthetically pleasing: 'Polk is actually a very good president who's got the same frame that I needed, OK.' Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-61): 'A very underrated president. Built the Interstate (Highway) System. And he was the toughest president, I guess, until we came along. But I don't mind giving up that crown, because, I don't want to be too tough on it. But we want to be humane. But he was the toughest president on immigration. He was very strong at the borders. Very, very strong. And, sometimes you can be too strong. He was strong at the borders and, during a certain period of time, there was so strong that almost every farmer in California went bankrupt. And we have to remember that. We have to work together. We have to remember that. But he was a very good president, and a very good general and a very good president and I thought he deserved a position somewhere on this floor.' Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45): 'He was not a Republican, to put it mildly. But he was, you know, a four-termer. He was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And, if you notice, we have a lot of ramps outside. You have a ramp. People say, 'It's an unusual place for a ramp.' It was because of him. He was wheelchair bound. But he was an amazing man.' Abraham Lincoln (1861-65): 'Over there is 'Honest' Abe Lincoln. And that picture was in his, ugh, in his bedroom. And we thought this would be a very important place because this is where wars are ended. I'm not going to say wars are declared. I'm going to say wars are ended. OK? We'll be positive. And, that's the picture of Abe Lincoln from his bedroom, sat in the bedroom for many, many years. That was his favorite picture of himself. And the Lincoln Bedroom's very famous. You remember when Bill Clinton had it and he rented it out to people. We don't do that.' John Adams (1797-1801): 'They were the first occupants of the White House. 1800. And John Quincy Adams, Mrs. Adams, they were the first occupants. So we have them looking at each other and, in between their stares is Abraham Lincoln trying to make peace.' (Trump is correct that John Adams, the nation's second president, and his wife Abigail, were the first first couple to move into the White House in 1800. But he was mistaken about John Quincy Adams, who was John and Abigail's son and the sixth president. He served from 1825 to 1829). William McKinley (1897-1901): 'McKinley was a great president who never got credit. In fact, they changed the name of Mount McKinley and I changed it back because he should have been — the people of Ohio, he was the governor of Ohio — the people of Ohio were very happy when I did that. I heard they were very insulted. They took the name of Mount McKinley off. That was done by Obama a little while ago and I had to change it back. I changed it back. He actually was a great president. He was a president. He was the tariff, the most, I guess since me — I think I'm gonna outdo him — but he was a tariff president. He believed that other countries should pay for the privilege of coming into our country and taking our jobs and taking our treasure. That's the way he explained it. They took our jobs and they took our treasure. And for that he should pay. And he made them pay. And he built a tremendous fortune.' ___ Will Weissert covers the White House for The Associated Press.
TAG 91.1
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- TAG 91.1
G42, UAE Team Emirates-XRG unveil first AI-powered cycling helmet
G42 and UAE Team Emirates-XRG have launched the world's first cycling helmet powered by generative AI that blends data, performance and creativity, interpreting movement through airflow and negative space. Developed in collaboration with the helmet manufacturer MET, riders from UAE Team Emirates-XRG will wear the helmet during the ongoing Tour de France. G42 is the official AI partner of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, working closely to explore new opportunities across cycling, from optimizing training, race strategies and team performance to fan engagement. 'Partnering with a world-class team like UAE Team Emirates-XRG allows us to showcase the power of AI, not just in performance, but also in creativity. Helmetverse is an example of human-AI collaboration, providing a platform for people to design something personal. It's AI at its most accessible, and most exciting," said Andrew Jackson, G42 Group Chief AI Officer, said. The launch also includes Helmetverse, a global design challenge at where fans can generate and submit their own AI helmet designs. All submissions can be viewed, shared and voted on, with the ten most-voted entries to be reviewed by a panel of judges from G42, UAE Team Emirates–XRG and MET Helmets. The winning helmet will be produced and worn by UAE Team Emirates–XRG, becoming a first for fan-created AI design in a UCI WorldTour race. Submissions are open now and will close on September 15, 2025.
Deccan Herald
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
Donald Trump and his transactional presidency
If, shortly, you read that Donald Trump has managed to annex Greenland, Canada, Panama, and Palestine, you should not in the least bit be surprised. After all, Trump, no original thinker, has been following in the footsteps of Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the US, and Adolf Hitler – two men for whom territorial expansion through military might, economic blackmail, and genocidal practices was perfectly acceptable. Thucydides, the 5th century BC historian and author of The History of the Peloponnesian War, famously wrote, 'the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.' It is only a matter of time before Trump's bullying tactics will result in the whole world, save China, giving in to his Trump's territorial expansion plans to come true, the new US would be the largest country in the world, and its population density would go down almost 50%. Annexing Canada and Greenland will add 4.8 million square miles and 43 million people to the American Empire. The latter figure would only be 33 million if one takes into account Trump's plans to deport over ten million 'illegal' immigrants, almost all of whom are non-white, to various third countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and South Sudan, which would result in a 30% increase in the combined population density of these countries. Contrast this with the 100-year Pax Britannica period, 1815 to 1914, when Britain added around 10 million square miles of territory and 400 million people to its is an ulterior motive behind Trump's plan to grab Canada and Greenland. These two countries have enormous mineral resources, especially rare earth minerals that are essential in powering electric vehicles, data centres, and consumer/military electronic products. Currently, the US relies on China for its supply of rare earth minerals, a state of affairs that challenges its hegemonic status in the stated intention to grab Palestine and expel its occupants to parts unknown is reminiscent of what President Andrew Jackson (1829-37), labelled 'King Andrew', achieved through the genocidal Indian Removal Act of 1830. The act, which authorised the president to grant Indian tribes unsettled western prairie land in exchange for their desirable territories, resulted in the militarily forced displacement, by foot, of over 100,000 native Americans (thousands died along the way) from the southeastern states to the less desirable central regions. The native Americans were granted US citizenship only in 1924 through an act of Congress; however, they could not vote – a right that was conferred upon them only in 1965. In his second term as President, Trump has been actively pursuing the elimination of birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, and, unfortunately, he seems to be succeeding..A major cause of World War II was a wrongly perceived need for more living space ('Lebensraum'), Hitler's desire to expand Germany's borders to the east. Hitler was motivated by the so-called Septemberprogramm, a memorandum of German war goals in 1914 which proposed economic and military dominance through territorial expansion in Europe and the colonies in 'Make America Great Again' is no different from the British Empire's rationale for justifying the Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-60 between Qing-dynasty China and Britain – two wars that were more about European mercantile interests forcing China to legalise opium, thereby protecting an illegal and very profitable opium trade by East India Company to overcome a huge trade deficit. The US has a current trade deficit of $295 billion with most punitive of Trump's latest tariffs have been directed at China and many developing and less developed economies in the Global South, in particular Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar – countries which are easily susceptible to being economically and militarily coerced by the US into forming alliances against China. Just recently, Vietnam was coerced into allowing Trump to set up his first golf course in the country. The latest US Defence Intelligence Agency's report characterised China, not Pakistan, as India's principal adversary. If India is forced into an alliance with the US against China, it will end up as collateral damage, much like Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam keeping with his goal of attaining national purity by getting rid of 'undesirable' populations, Trump has dismantled all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) programmes set up by previous presidents and shut off their funds. Eager to please Trump and ensure their government contracts are not impacted, private companies and universities have followed suit by cancelling their own DEI programmes. Trump and his MAGA followers are committed to making America white again, a hearkening back to a pre-civil rights, slave-holding America. Were you aware that the grandfather of Trump acolyte Elon Musk moved from Canada to South Africa because he preferred to live in racist white South Africa, and that some of Trump's forebears actively collaborated with elements of the Third Reich? As the saying goes, 'the apple never falls far from the tree'..Martin Luther King's dream of his children 'one day living in a nation where they are not judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character' is far from being realised. Trump's slogan of making America great again is only about making America a right-wing white Christian nation and spreading, through military might and economic domination, this unipolar message across the globe. The unipolar message, greatly amplified by social media and Big Tech, does not resonate with China. Pax Britannica culminated in the First World War. Will Pax Americana follow in its footsteps?.History teaches us that trade wars invariably end up being shooting wars. A third Opium War is in the offing, and it is not going to be pretty..(The writer is a retired professor; he has written extensively and presented lectures on the societal and geo-political implications of technology)
The Independent
02-07-2025
- The Independent
Amtrak revives Gulf Coast service 20 years after Hurricane Katrina brought it to a standstill
Tickets are now on sale for a train service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, that has been revived 20 years after it was halted by Hurricane Katrina. The new, twice-daily Amtrak Mardi Gras Service begins on August 18, and will take three hours and 43 minutes to travel the 145-mile Gulf Coast route. End-to-end adult fares start at $15 each way and the trains will offer coach and business-class seats, as well as Wi-Fi and a café service. The first stop after New Orleans is Bay Saint Louis, which offers white sand beaches, downtown art galleries and antique stores, notes Amtrak. Next is Gulfport, where visitors can book fishing charters and explore Fishbone Alley, an "ever-evolving" public art space tucked into a historic alley. Top seafood restaurants await at the following stop, Biloxi, says Amtrak, and "incredible" 19th-century antebellum architecture at the penultimate stop of Pascagoula. Amtrak continues: "Pirate Jean Lafitte, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Zachary Taylor and Jimmy Buffet all spent time in Pascagoula and considered it home, a hideaway or a respite throughout the years. Visit La Pointe-Krebs House, circa 1718, with a panoramic view of Krebs Lake or simply relax with a picnic at Beach Park for the day, overlooking the Mississippi Sound. 'The Mardi Gras' final stop is known as the Paris of the South, a city, says Amtrak, with a vibrant history that stretches back nearly 325 years — each chapter brimming with fascinating stories and timeless traditions." Hurricane Katrina, which began as a tropical storm and intensified to a category 5 hurricane, struck the Gulf Coast region in August 2005, causing $125 billion worth of damage and leading to the deaths of 1,800 people. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), senior member of the US Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said: "I'm thrilled to have the Amtrak service restored along the Gulf Coast. "It has been almost 20 years since Hurricane Katrina interrupted this service, and its reopening has been a lot of hard work. The Mardi Gras Rail will expand travel options and allow more Americans to experience the beauty and economic benefits of the Gulf Coast. "Mississippians deserve access to reliable transportation, and the Mardi Gras Rail will provide more options for communities along the Gulf Coast. I am looking forward to joining Amtrak and thousands of fellow Mississippians at the grand opening." David Clark, Visit Mobile President & CEO, commented: "This is an incredible moment for the City of Mobile. "The twice-daily service will provide substantial options for easy and experiential travel for visitors and citizens while creating a new avenue of economic impact for the City of Mobile and Gulf Coast communities." Amtrak President Roger Harris said: "We encourage customers to get their tickets now to experience this new scenic service. "Guests can plan travel for football trips this fall, for November and December holiday travel – and even Mardi Gras Season next year."
