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USA Today
11-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump nominates self-described 'alpha male' Nick Adams as U.S. ambassador to Malaysia
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump nominated Nick Adams, an Australian-born conservative commentator who describes himself as an 'alpha male,' to be the next U.S. ambassador to Malaysia. Trump had appointed Adams to serve on the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars during his first term. Adams was previously the deputy mayor of Ashfield, a suburb in Sydney, Australia, before immigrating to the U.S. in 2012. He subsequently became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2021. 'Nick is an incredible Patriot and very successful entrepreneur, whose love of, and devotion to, our Great Country is an inspiration,' Trump wrote in a June 10 Truth Social post. 'Nick is a bestselling author, speaker, and commentator. Nick graduated from the University of Sydney and, since then, has made it his life's mission to extol the Virtues of American Greatness. Congratulations Nick!' Adams has garnered more than 600,000 followers on X promoting 'manosphere' content, such as videos on how to flirt like a gentleman or documenting 'an average day in the life of an alpha male.' He has previously said online, 'Real masculinity isn't about being feared – it's about being respected. Strength and wisdom go hand in hand. A real man knows when to fight and when to lead.' He has also repeatedly expressed his love for Hooters, the restaurant chain. Adams has penned several books, including one that calls former President Joe Biden 'the most dangerous president in history' and one entitled 'Green Card Warrior: My Quest for Legal Immigration in an Illegals' System' – which Trump deemed a 'must read.' Adams on X thanked Trump for the nomination. 'Mr. President, I pledge to you that I will never falter in representing the interest of the United States both at home and abroad,' Adams said in a short video clip shared to his account. Adams must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
NBC News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump nominates self-described 'alpha male' influencer Nick Adams as ambassador to Malaysia
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated a right-wing influencer known for his bombastic posts about his devotion to the president and tips on being an "alpha male" to be the next U.S. ambassador to Malaysia. The White House announced Nick Adams' nomination on Wednesday, and Adams himself confirmed it in a video posted to social media the following day. "Today, duty has called me to serve my country overseas, not in the uniform of combat, but armed with the pen of diplomacy," Adams, a 40-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Australia, said in a three-minute-long video on X. "Our president has extended the hand of friendship to old allies and new across the world. It is nothing short of a lifetime's honor to take the president's goodwill and spread it to the great people of Malaysia." The White House didn't return a request for comment. NBC News also reached out to Adams for further comment. During Trump's first term, Trump nominated Adams to serve on the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Before immigrating to the U.S., Adams served as deputy mayor of Ashfield, a suburb of Sydney. After he moved to the U.S., he founded the Florida-based nonprofit organization Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness, whose mission is to teach "the founding documents and American values to K-12 students." He has also developed a reputation as a conservative commentator, primarily on X, where he has more than 600,000 followers. On his personal website, Adams describes himself as "a prominent and outspoken critic of illegal immigration, discriminatory practices under the guise of critical race theory, a leading voice against the perils of radical feminism, and a champion of American exceptionalism." He promotes those stances in numerous short video clips posted to his Instagram account that show him speaking to a camera. Adams posts video messages to his account with titles like "How to be an American," "How to flirt like a gentleman," and "How to be a confident Alpha." He is also known for displays of bravado about his own machismo, including his love of the restaurant chain Hooters. In one post, he wrote: "I am based. I have rizz. I am smart. I am charismatic. I have superior genetics. I am strong. I am bold. I am intense. I have large amounts of testosterone. I am never wrong. I don't apologize. I am an alpha male." "I never asked to be turned into a sex icon, God made me this attractive," he wrote in another. In addition to the life lessons, Adams praises Trump in daily posts on social media. "President Trump is the highest IQ President this nation has ever had, and it's not particularly close!" he wrote on X this week. Last week, he wrote, "President Trump always wins, which means America always wins. Remember that." "If you love America, you love Trump — there are no exceptions to this rule," he wrote in another recent X post. While Trump has many outspoken fans on social media who have built up significant followings, Adams' enthusiasm and over-the-top style have pushed many to wonder if he was a troll or even a performance artist. Ambassadorships require Senate confirmation, and if Adams is installed as ambassador to Malaysia, he would succeed career diplomat Edgard D. Kagan, who was nominated by President Joe Biden and has served in the role since last year.
DW
10-06-2025
- Business
- DW
Pakistan boosts military spending amid India tensions – DW – 06/10/2025
Pakistan has boosted defense spending despite battling severe economic challenges. The military has seen a surge in popularity since recent clashes with India. Pakistan has decided to substantially hike its military spending in the wake of recent clashes with its archrival and nuclear-armed neighbor, India. Islamabad raised next year's defense budget to 2.55 trillion Pakistani rupees ($9 billion), compared to 2.12 trillion in the fiscal year ending this month, marking a jump of roughly 20% year over year. The announcement came as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government unveiled its annual federal budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year on Tuesday. The surge in military spending came despite Pakistan battling weak finances and tremendous economic challenges. In fact, the overall spending planned in the budget is down 7% to 17.57 trillion rupees ($62 billion). Kashmir: Students struggle with trauma from air attacks To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Pakistan army's popularity surge Pakistan and India recently witnessed a major flare-up in violence, the worst since the rivals' last open conflict in 1999, which sparked fears that it could spiral into a full-blown war. It began after a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Pahalgam town — in India-administered Kashmir — on April 22, in which 26 people, mostly Hindu men, were killed. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the attack, an allegation Pakistan denies. The crisis soon spiraled into a major military confrontation between the two nations. After four days of fierce fighting, however, both sides agreed to a ceasefire. Against this backdrop, the higher defense expenditures "aren't in the least surprising," said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "There's the fundamental issue of needing to ensure sufficient resources in the aftermath of a serious conflict with India. Furthermore, the military, which surely sought these increased expenditures, is emboldened following the conflict and will look to push its agenda more rigorously," Kugelman told DW. Pakistan's military, the country's most powerful institution, had been unpopular in recent years, as many people accused it of meddling in politics and keeping the country's most popular politician, Imran Khan, away from power. But the military establishment has seen a surge in popularity after the recent fighting. "Finally, with the nation fully behind Pakistan in its fight with India, the civilian and military leadership know that they have the political space to take these types of measures," remarked Kugelman. Pakistan celebrates its military after standoff with India To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Struggling with economic crisis Pakistan has been dealing with an economic crisis for years, marked by high inflation, a depreciating currency and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailouts. As recently as 2023, the country was staring at risk defaulting on its debts. But a multibillion-dollar support package from the IMF has helped steady the economy and bring inflation under control. In January, Pakistan agreed to an unprecedented 10-year plan with the World Bank which will see $20 billion (€19.4 billion) worth of loans for the cash-strapped economy. Sharif's government now projects 4.2% economic expansion in 2025-26. Growth this fiscal year is likely to be 2.7%, against an initial target of 3.6% set in the budget last year. The reliance on the IMF means that Islamabad will have to fulfil the institution's requirements for budget management and economic reforms. The IMF has urged Pakistan to widen the tax base through reforms which include taxing agriculture, retail, and real estate. Analysts say Sharif's government plans to offset the increased defense budget with cuts to spending in other areas, including welfare. "It's a big hike and will have to be funded from somewhere. Of course, it will have implications for expenditure on the social sectors and on development schemes," Safiya Aftab, an Islamabad-based economist, told DW. "It's unfortunate that Pakistan is once again implementing the economic policy of a security state, but to be honest, the situation on the borders makes this inevitable," she added. What role does China play in India-Pakistan tensions? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video False priorities? Pakistan has faced criticism for years for its heavy military spending at the expense of health, education and social welfare. Kugelman said raising military expenditure while slashing spending on welfare services could worsen the hardships faced by common people who are already struggling to cope with the effects of the economic crisis. "But those in power would contend that recent weeks show the imperative, for national security reasons, of these moves," he underlined. "And they would also point to some improvements in macroeconomic stability, including lower inflation, though surely that wouldn't be a winning argument for the many Pakistanis still dealing with economic stress." Farhan Bokhari, an economic analyst, said that there's broad support in Pakistan for higher defense spending, "for the moment," pointing to the tensions with India. "But for the long term, Pakistan's economy needs to grow faster to be able to support larger defense spending in the years to come," he noted. Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Opinion - How to bring down a storied think-tank? Humiliation works.
On April Fool's Day, which feels like a century ago, someone who answered to Elon Musk reportedly gave the CEO of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars an ultimatum: quit or be fired. A loyal Republican, the CEO had served several terms in Congress and as an American ambassador abroad before heading USAID in the first Trump administration. Yet, in a moment, this man of considerable stature was reduced to ignominy. Neither of us was a direct witness to the Wilson Center drama, but the emotions and the signals colleagues at the center took from this power play evoked communist Poland and resonated with our long combined experience in that country. Authoritarian regimes use humiliation, intimidation and fear as a cudgel, tools of social control. The specific ways these blows are administered differ according to time and circumstances. In this case, it sufficed to humiliate the most powerful person in the organization. Wilson Center staff went proactively silent, even when approached by the press. This was not a lack of courage. Indeed, we believe it was a collective act of kindness. No one wanted to put their more vulnerable colleagues at greater risk while sensitive negotiations were underway to secure severance and health care for people who needed to buy groceries and pay rent. Silence seemed to be a virtue. And that is precisely what authoritarians count on. Uncertainty about the present and the future is what they exploit. Intimidation need not be explicit; indeed, it is often more powerful when victims must guess how far their tormentors are willing to go and are forced to act on limited knowledge. Here is the Polish, 1980s version of how it happens, as one of us, then a Fulbright Scholar in martial law Poland, witnessed. From the street sweeper to the head of a hospital, university, theater or government agency, everyone was forced to navigate a steady state of insecurity, uncertain what provocations could happen in the next day or hour. All of society was made aware that nothing was firmly guaranteed, neither jobs nor status, and especially not human dignity. One day, university presidents were fired. The next day, the regime demanded that professors sign loyalty oaths or surrender their jobs. A respected journalist who dared, in guarded language, to report facts suddenly found himself a taxi driver to support his family. The regime honored the law when it was convenient, flouted it when inconvenient. Poles called it 'uncertain tomorrow.' This is a lesson. Humiliation can be imposed in a variety of ways: required oaths, a shocking fall from grace and position, a strip search, a searched apartment, being forced to stand in line for hours for basic food staples or watching any of that happen to family, friends and colleagues. Whole books have been written seeking to understand how human beings respond to such conditions, whether they accept dependence or take the tougher road of refusal. We do not think our country is Poland under communism yet. At the moment, humiliation is not a feature of every contact with the formal organs of our government, as it was there. On the other hand, this is a new phenomenon for Americans who have, until now, been spared these specific systematic cruelties, hurled from official positions. Now, in a time that could be a turning point, we need to school ourselves to understand and resist techniques that Trump instinctively grasps, but most Americans may not. In this strange new world of unrecognizable features, societal slides can happen rapidly, facilitated by naivety born of inexperience and denial. It took days to reduce the Wilson Center from an internationally respected think-tank that reveled in its independence and intellectual leadership to a smoldering wreck, soon to be nonexistent. The pace of repeated indignities meant that, within days of April 1, new outrages relegated the Wilson Center putsch to obscurity. As we write, public attention has moved on. In this reality, what is at first unthinkable soon becomes routine. The struggles of the Polish people also offer an alternative of resistance and hope. What Poles sought from the Solidarity movement that coalesced in 1980 and set the stage for the new democracy that began to emerge in 1989 was, first among others, dignity — the antithesis of humiliation. The Poles had to dig themselves out of a deeper hole than is currently our challenge; first the Nazi, and then the Communist regime supported by a powerful, armed neighbor. Even so, they took to the streets. They pursued every possible means of peaceful opposition to confront oppression. At this momentous historical juncture, our assignment as Americans is to find ways to turn our humiliation into action, to reclaim our dignity. Ruth Greenspan Bell, according to her dismissal letter, is, until May 31, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Janine R. Wedel, a social anthropologist in the Schar School at George Mason University, is the author of 'The Private Poland' and 'UNACCOUNTABLE: How the Establishment Corrupted Our Finances, Freedom, and Politics and Created an Outsider Class.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
How to bring down a storied think-tank? Humilation works.
On April Fool's Day, which feels like a century ago, someone who answered to Elon Musk reportedly gave the CEO of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars an ultimatum: quit or be fired. A loyal Republican, the CEO had served several terms in Congress and as an American ambassador abroad before heading USAID in the first Trump administration. Yet, in a moment, this man of considerable stature was reduced to ignominy. Neither of us was a direct witness to the Wilson Center drama, but the emotions and the signals colleagues at the center took from this power play evoked communist Poland and resonated with our long combined experience in that country. Authoritarian regimes use humiliation, intimidation and fear as a cudgel, tools of social control. The specific ways these blows are administered differ according to time and circumstances. In this case, it sufficed to humiliate the most powerful person in the organization. Wilson Center staff went proactively silent, even when approached by the press. This was not a lack of courage. Indeed, we believe it was a collective act of kindness. No one wanted to put their more vulnerable colleagues at greater risk while sensitive negotiations were underway to secure severance and health care for people who needed to buy groceries and pay rent. Silence seemed to be a virtue. And that is precisely what authoritarians count on. Uncertainty about the present and the future is what they exploit. Intimidation need not be explicit; indeed, it is often more powerful when victims must guess how far their tormentors are willing to go and are forced to act on limited knowledge. Here is the Polish, 1980s version of how it happens, as one of us, then a Fulbright Scholar in martial law Poland, witnessed. From the street sweeper to the head of a hospital, university, theater or government agency, everyone was forced to navigate a steady state of insecurity, uncertain what provocations could happen in the next day or hour. All of society was made aware that nothing was firmly guaranteed, neither jobs nor status, and especially not human dignity. One day, university presidents were fired. The next day, the regime demanded that professors sign loyalty oaths or surrender their jobs. A respected journalist who dared, in guarded language, to report facts suddenly found himself a taxi driver to support his family. The regime honored the law when it was convenient, flouted it when inconvenient. Poles called it 'uncertain tomorrow.' This is a lesson. Humiliation can be imposed in a variety of ways: required oaths, a shocking fall from grace and position, a strip search, a searched apartment, being forced to stand in line for hours for basic food staples or watching any of that happen to family, friends and colleagues. Whole books have been written seeking to understand how human beings respond to such conditions, whether they accept dependence or take the tougher road of refusal. We do not think our country is Poland under communism yet. At the moment, humiliation is not a feature of every contact with the formal organs of our government, as it was there. On the other hand, this is a new phenomenon for Americans who have, until now, been spared these specific systematic cruelties, hurled from official positions. Now, in a time that could be a turning point, we need to school ourselves to understand and resist techniques that Trump instinctively grasps, but most Americans may not. In this strange new world of unrecognizable features, societal slides can happen rapidly, facilitated by naivety born of inexperience and denial. It took days to reduce the Wilson Center from an internationally respected think-tank that reveled in its independence and intellectual leadership to a smoldering wreck, soon to be nonexistent. The pace of repeated indignities meant that, within days of April 1, new outrages relegated the Wilson Center putsch to obscurity. As we write, public attention has moved on. In this reality, what is at first unthinkable soon becomes routine. The struggles of the Polish people also offer an alternative of resistance and hope. What Poles sought from the Solidarity movement that coalesced in 1980 and set the stage for the new democracy that began to emerge in 1989 was, first among others, dignity — the antithesis of humiliation. The Poles had to dig themselves out of a deeper hole than is currently our challenge; first the Nazi, and then the Communist regime supported by a powerful, armed neighbor. Even so, they took to the streets. They pursued every possible means of peaceful opposition to confront oppression. At this momentous historical juncture, our assignment as Americans is to find ways to turn our humiliation into action, to reclaim our dignity. Ruth Greenspan Bell, according to her dismissal letter, is, until May 31, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Janine R. Wedel, a social anthropologist in the Schar School at George Mason University, is the author of 'The Private Poland' and 'UNACCOUNTABLE: How the Establishment Corrupted Our Finances, Freedom, and Politics and Created an Outsider Class.'
