Latest news with #TrumpThreat
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
US politics live: Donald Trump floats plan to sack Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Welcome to our coverage of US politics. Donald Trump could make good on his threat to fire Jerome Powell according to a new report, drafting a letter to dismiss the Federal Reserve Chair. Though the President insisted to reporters he was not currently planning to axe Mr Powell – who he has subjected to months of escalating attacks – he did not rule out it out, either, and confirmed he had informally polled Republican politicians on the matter. 'I talked to them about the concept of firing him,' Mr Trump said. 'I said, 'What do you think?' Almost all of them said I should. But I'm more conservative than they are.' Mr Trump added: 'I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely.' The heightened rumours come as the President unleashed on some of his own supporters in a furious tirade, calling them 'weaklings' and accusing them of falling for a 'bulls**t … scam' as the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein files continues. Mr Trump is facing the most serious split of his political career from his famously loyal right-wing base over suspicions his administration is covering up lurid details of the convicted child sex offender's crimes in order to protect rich and powerful figures they say are implicated.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump says he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin invaded Ukraine in new audio
President Donald Trump said he threatened to bomb Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, according to new audio from a Trump fundraising dinner ahead of his election in 2024. He appeared to be referencing a conversation he purportedly had with the Russian leader during his first term. "With Putin, I said, 'If you go into Ukraine, I'm going to bomb the s--t out of Moscow,'" Trump can be heard saying on the recording. "He said 'No way,' and I said, 'Way.' And then he goes, 'I don't believe you,' but the truth is, he believed me 10%," Trump added. Trump then said he'd made the same threat to Chinese President Xi Jinping – that he would bomb Beijing if China invaded Taiwan. "I said, 'I have no choice, I've got to bomb them.' And he didn't believe me either, except 10%, and 10% is all you need," he continued. More: Trump escalates criticism of Putin, rearms Ukraine, as Russia's war plows on Trump made the comments to a group of private donors at a fundraising dinner during his campaign for a second term. The audio was published by CNN on July 9 and obtained by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, authors of a new book – '2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America." Trump has repeatedly insisted that the Ukraine war "never would have happened" if he were president and pledged on the campaign trail to end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office. More than six months into his presidency, Trump has shown increasing frustration with Putin as a ceasefire deal to end the conflict remains out of reach. "We get a lot of bulls--t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth," Trump said at a July 8 cabinet meeting. "He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Trump also restarted aid deliveries to Ukraine after the Pentagon said it would suspend some weapons transfers as part of an across-the-board "review" of U.S. military aid. "They have to be able to defend themselves," Trump said, adding that Ukraine was "getting hit very hard" by Russia. It is unclear who first gave the order to pause the aid deliveries. Trump, when asked by a reporter at the Cabinet meeting, said, "I don't know, why don't you tell me?" According to CNN and other reports, the Pentagon did not inform Trump when the halt first went into effect. Russia slammed Ukraine with the largest drone attack of the three-plus-year conflict overnight on July 8, launching more than 700 drones at targets across the country. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he threatened Putin with Moscow bombing in new audio
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Iran 'could blast Trump with a drone 'in the navel while sunbathing at Mar-a-Lago', official warns'
A senior Iranian official has reportedly warned that US president Donald Trump could be hit with a drone strike while sunbathing at Mar-a-Lago. Javad Larijani, a top advisor to Iran 's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, made the threat weeks after the so-called 12-Day War between Iran and Israel that America later joined. After Israeli forced bombed civilian, military and nuclear sites in Iran, which responded to with its own attacks on Israel, Trump ordered American forces to join Israel's offensive. As a result of America's involvement, Larijani said, according to Iran International: 'Trump has done something that he can no longer sunbathe in Mar-a-Lago. As he lies there with his stomach to the sun, a small drone might hit him in the navel. It's very simple.' The threat comes just weeks after a top Iranian cleric issued a fatwa against Trump, declaring him an 'enemy of god.' Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said that both Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were guilty of 'mobareb', the term in Islamic law for waging war against God. Shirazi added in the fatwa: 'Any cooperation or support for that enemy by Muslims or Islamic states is haram or forbidden. 'It is necessary for all Muslims around the world to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes.' He also said that if a 'Muslim who abides by his Muslim duty suffer hardship or loss in their campaign, they will be rewarded as a fighter in the way of God, God willing.' As Iran continues to recover from the aerial war with Israel and the US, Netanyahu said on Wednesday his meeting with Trump focused on freeing hostages held in Gaza, as Israel continued to pound the Palestinian territory amid efforts to reach a ceasefire. Netanyahu said on X that the leaders also discussed the consequences and possibilities of 'the great victory we achieved over Iran,' following an aerial war last month in which the United States joined Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites. Netanyahu is making his third US visit since Trump took office on January 20 and had earlier told reporters that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are 'certainly working' on a ceasefire. Trump met Netanyahu on Tuesday for the second time in two days to discuss the situation in Gaza, with the president's Middle East envoy indicating that Israel and Hamas were nearing an agreement on a ceasefire deal after 21 months of war. A delegation from Qatar, the host of indirect talks between Israeli negotiators and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, met senior White House officials before Netanyahu's arrival on Tuesday, Axios said, citing a source familiar with the details. The White House had no immediate comment on the report. Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, said the number of issues preventing Israel and Hamas from reaching an agreement had decreased from four to one, expressing optimism for a temporary ceasefire deal by the end of the week. Witkoff told reporters at a Cabinet meeting that the anticipated agreement would involve a 60-day ceasefire, with the release of 10 living and nine deceased hostages. Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance before visiting the US Capitol on Tuesday, and was due back in Congress on Wednesday to meet US Senate leaders. 'We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities,' Netanyahu told reporters on Tuesday. In recent weeks Israel's military has continued to hammer Gaza, where a teddy bear lay in the rubble on Wednesday at the site of one overnight airstrike in southern Gaza's Khan Younis. Umm Mohammed Shaaban, a Palestinian grandmother mourning the deaths of three of her grandchildren in the attack, questioned the timing of a proposed ceasefire. 'After they finished us, they say they'll make a truce?' she said. In Gaza City, people removed debris after another overnight airstrike, searching through a three-story house for survivors to no avail. One resident, Ahmed al-Nahhal, said there was no fuel for trucks to help in rescue efforts. 'From midnight till now, we have been looking for the children,' he said. Nearby men carried bodies in shrouds while women wept. Some kissed bodies placed in the back of a vehicle. The Gaza conflict began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed approximately 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages taken, according to Israeli figures. Around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory war has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health ministry says, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble. Hamas has long demanded an end to the war before it would free the remaining hostages. Israel has insisted it would not agree to stop fighting until all hostages are released and Hamas dismantled. The United Nations estimates that most of Gaza's population of more than 2 million has been displaced, with experts saying in May that nearly half a million people faced the risk of starvation. Netanyahu has meanwhile expressed hope that Israel could expand the Abraham Accords, normalisation deals reached between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020 under US mediation.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump threatens to arrest NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani over ICE
The Brief President Donald Trump threatened to lock up New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani after touring "Alligator Alcatraz" on Tuesday. Mamdani has pledged to "Trump-proof" New York City, vowing to kick ICE out of the five boroughs, push for city-run grocery stores, and raise taxes on the wealthy. While Mamdani has secured endorsements from progressive leaders like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, many top New York Democrats, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, have yet to back him. NEW YORK - President Donald Trump, after touring "Alligator Alcatraz" on Tuesday, threatened to lock up New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who he repeatedly calls a "pure, true Communist." The controversial facility, located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, is designed to house, process and deport undocumented immigrants. The remarks came as Mamdani officially defeated Andrew Cuomo in the third round of ranked choice voting, winning the Democratic mayoral primary, according to results released by the New York City Board of Elections. The backstory Trump has made immigration a central focus, targeting cities led by Democrats as priorities for federal immigration enforcement. He has specifically singled out New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where he claims "millions upon millions of illegal aliens reside," calling on ICE to carry out "the single largest mass deportation program in history." Now, Trump says Mamdani would be arrested if he interfered with ICE, before praising New York City Mayor Eric Adams, calling him "a good independent" candidate. "Adams is a very good person. I helped him out a little bit," Trump said. "He had a problem, and he was unfairly hurt over this question," referring to what he described as a Biden indictment. "You would think that a Republican would be able to win…or you have a good independent running for mayor." President Donald Trump on the 2025 NYC mayoral race Mamdani issued a forceful statement in response to President Trump's threat to arrest and deport him, calling it a direct attack on democracy and a message of intimidation aimed at all New Yorkers. "The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported," Mamdani said. "Not because I've broken any law, but because I refuse to let him terrorize our city." He warned that Trump's comments were meant to send a chilling message: "If you speak up, they will come for you." Mamdani rejected the threat outright, saying, "We will not accept this intimidation." He also criticized Trump's praise of Mayor Eric Adams, saying it was "unsurprising," and claimed it only underscored the urgency of replacing the current administration at City Hall. "At the very moment when MAGA Republicans are attempting to destroy the social safety net, kick millions of New Yorkers off healthcare and enrich their billionaire donors at the expense of working families, it is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes the president's division, distraction and hate," Mamdani said. "Voters will resoundingly reject it in November." What they're saying Last week, Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn he plans to "have a lot of fun" with "total nut job" socialist Zohran Mamdani if he becomes mayor of New York City, and slammed local Democrats as "crazy" for voting for him. "Because he has to go right through this building to get his money. Don't worry, he's not gonna run away with anything." Trump's border czar Tom Homan also lashed out at Mamdani's campaign warning the Democratic socialist that it's "game on." "Federal law trumps him every day, every hour of every minute," Homan said. "We're going to be in New York City, matter of fact, because it's a sanctuary city and President Trump made it clear a week and a half ago, we're going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities." Homan praised Mayor Adams for supporting ICE operations in the city. "He wants to do the right thing, he wants to be a law-and-order mayor," Homan said. Zohran Mamdani has made it clear he intends to take a hard line against ICE if elected. During the primaries he pledged to "Trump-proof" New York City, accusing the president of using ICE to "pluck New Yorkers from their families," according to his campaign website. The 33-year-old Queens State Assemblyman has quickly emerged as a leading voice in the race for mayor. Running as a democratic socialist, he surprised many by declaring victory after the initial vote count. In March, Zohran Mamdani reportedly confronted Trump's border czar Tom Homan inside the Statehouse, shouting at him as he walked through the halls of the state Capitol, according to the New York Post. Mamdani was protesting the arrest of former Columbia University student and anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, who ICE had detained. Born in Kampala, Uganda, Zohran Mamdani moved to New York City at age seven. According to the Associated Press, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen a few years after graduating from college, where he co-founded his school's first Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Mamdani comes from a prominent family. His mother, Mira Nair, is a Harvard-educated filmmaker known for her work in both Hollywood and international cinema. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a respected academic. Mamdani is married to Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-born illustrator and animator who lives in Brooklyn. Mamdani has built his political profile on grassroots organizing and progressive activism, quickly rising through the ranks of the city's left-wing political movement. Democratic socialism is a political and economic philosophy that combines democracy with social ownership of key parts of the economy. It focuses on giving people more control over their workplaces and the economy, aiming for fairness, equality, and solidarity. Mamdani, 33, identifies as a democratic socialist, a label that has helped him connect with younger voters and earned endorsements from progressive leaders like Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. While Mamdani denies being a Communist, his platform has raised eyebrows. He has proposed city-run grocery stores to drive down food prices, called for tax hikes on the wealthy, and sparked backlash for refusing to denounce the phrase "Globalize the intifada," a slogan widely interpreted as a call for violence against Jews. He's also been vocal in his opposition to law enforcement, drawing criticism for anti-police rhetoric and his hardline stance on Israel. As his platform grows, so do questions about how far his politics could reshape New York City. Many prominent New York Democrats have held back from endorsing Mamdani, including Governor Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Others, such as Long Island Representatives Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen have publicly condemned his far-left proposals. Here's a list: Sen. Bernie Sanders Sen. Elizabeth Warren Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams Rep. Jerry Nadler Rep. Nydia Velasquez Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman Comptroller Brad Lander
Forbes
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Iranian Leader Says 'The Battle Begins' As Trump Pushes 'Unconditional Surrender' (Live)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a warning to Israel in a social media post early on Wednesday, saying 'the battle begins,' a few hours after President Donald Trump directly threatened him and demanded an 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,' triggering speculation about U.S. military involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. In a statement on his main X handle, Khamenei said, 'In the name of Haidar, the battle begins.' The Iranian leader followed that up with a post on his official English language account saying: 'We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist will show the Zionists no mercy.' Trump reportedly talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, following a meeting with security officials, according to Axios. Trump warned on Truth Social earlier Tuesday: 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' referring to Khamenei, who is increasingly isolated after Israel assassinated several of his top generals. Trump said Khamenei is 'safe' and 'we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,' adding 'our patience is wearing thin.' 'We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,' Trump said in an earlier post, writing that 'Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn't compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured stuff. Nobody does it better than the good ol' USA.' In a third post Tuesday morning, Trump called for an 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!' On Monday, Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One on the way back to the U.S. from the summit in Canada he wanted to see an end to Iran's nuclear program and said he's 'not too much in the mood to negotiate now.' Trump also warned Iran against targeting U.S. personnel or assets, saying if that happens 'we'll come down so hard, it'd be gloves off...I think they know not to touch our troops.' Trump attacked French President Emmanuel Macron on Truth Social, describing him as 'publicity seeking' after he said Trump was flying out of the G7 summit early to work out a cease fire between Israel and Iran and 'then kick-start broader discussions.' Trump said Macron 'has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire,' and claimed it was something 'Much bigger than that.' Trump departed the G7 Summit early and returned to Washington on Monday night to 'attend to many important matters,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Trump said earlier on Monday evening: 'Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON…Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!' The president then blamed the situation on Iran's refusal to sign 'the 'deal' I told them to sign,' and added: 'What a shame, and waste of human life. When asked about the post, Trump said: 'I want people to be safe…That's always possible something could happen. I just want people to be safe.' It came after Israel's military issued evacuation warnings impacting around 330,000 people in the Iranian capital as it struck some parts of the city—including the main compound of Iran's state broadcaster, which was captured in a live show. In a post on X, Leavitt said Trump was leaving the summit early 'because of what's going on in the Middle East.' Shortly before he left Canada, the president told reporters Iran 'want to make a deal, and as soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something. But I have to leave here.' Fox News reported on Monday evening that Trump had asked his national security to be present in the Situation Room when he returns to the White House. A U.S. official told reporters earlier on Monday Trump would not sign a draft statement of G7 leaders, which included a call for de-escalating the Israel-Iran conflict. The president eventually agreed to sign it after some changes were made to the statement's 'initial draft language,' according to the New York Times. The final statement notes: 'We, the leaders of the G7, reiterate our commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East.' The statement affirms Israel's 'right to defend itself,' describes Iran as the 'principal source of regional instability and terror,' and notes 'Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.' It also calls for a resolution of the ongoing crisis and 'a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a cease fire in Gaza.' In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled he was open to talks resuming talks with the U.S. if Israel's strikes on Iran were halted. 'If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential. Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy,' he wrote. The post also attacked Netanyahu, calling him a 'war criminal.' Lawmakers Make Bipartisan Push To Restrict Trump From Going To War With Iran (Forbes) Iranian Missiles Cause 'Minor Damage' To US Embassy In Tel Aviv—Israel Targets Elite Quds Force HQ (Forbes) Israel Attacks Iranian State TV During Live Broadcast (Forbes)
