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Tag: Donald Trump

  • Turkish student detained by US immigration agents

    Turkish student detained by US immigration agents

    US authorities have detained a Turkish university student, the latest action taken against a foreign learner associated with pro-Palestinian campus activism as President Donald Trump cracks down on the movement.

    Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by federal agents late Tuesday in the town of Somerville, Massachusetts, the school’s president said in a statement.

    Ozturk filed a motion demanding authorities show lawful grounds for her detention and a judge issued a decision barring officers from removing her from Massachusetts, according to legal filings made public Tuesday.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainee locator tool showed that Ozturk was in custody Wednesday, although it did not state where.

    Ozturk co-authored an article in the university student newspaper The Tufts Daily in March 2024 criticizing the college’s handling of student anger around Israel’s war in Gaza.

    According to the newspaper, Ozturk is a doctoral candidate in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development.

    A protest was planned for 2130 GMT Wednesday in Somerville to oppose Ozturk’s detention, according to the Cambridge Day news site.

    Trump has targeted prestigious universities that became the epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.

    Critics argue that the campaign amounts to retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.

    At New York’s Columbia University, immigration officers detained one student, permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil whose lawyers are fighting his deportation, while a judge thwarted efforts to detain another, Yunseo Chung.

    Separately, a number of university professors sued the Trump administration in Massachusetts Tuesday, arguing its campaign targeting foreign academics was illegal.

    “The policy prevents or impedes Plaintiffs’ US citizen members from hearing from, and associating with, their non-citizen students and colleagues,” the lawsuit reads.

    In addition, the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers asked a New York judge to declare Trump’s slashing of $400 million from Columbia’s budget unconstitutional and to restore the funding.

    Columbia announced Friday a package of concessions to the Trump administration around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments.

    They stopped short however of some of the more strenuous demands of the Trump administration, which nonetheless welcomed the Ivy League college’s proposals.

  • Trump admin sent journalist classified US plan for Yemen strikes

    Trump admin sent journalist classified US plan for Yemen strikes

    A US journalist was inadvertently included in a group chat in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels, the White House confirmed Monday.

    President Donald Trump announced the strikes on March 15, but in a shocking security breach, The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that he had hours of advance notice via the group chat on Signal.


    “The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.


    The White House said Trump “continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team,” after the US president earlier said he did not “know anything about” the issue.


    Hegseth, a former Fox News host with no experience running a huge organization like the Pentagon, took no responsibility for the security breach as he spoke to reporters late Monday.


    He instead attacked Goldberg and insisted that “nobody was texting war plans,” despite the White House confirming the breach.


    Goldberg wrote that Hegseth sent information on the strikes, including on “targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” to the group chat.


    “According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 pm eastern time,” Goldberg wrote — a timeline that was borne out on the ground in Yemen.


    The leak could have been highly damaging if Goldberg had publicized details of the plan in advance, but he did not do so even after the fact.

    The journalist said he was added to the group chat two days earlier, and received messages from other top government officials designating representatives who would work on the issue.


    On March 14, a person identified as Vance expressed doubts about carrying out the strikes, saying he hated “bailing Europe out again,” as countries there were more affected by Huthi attacks on shipping than the United States.

    ‘Stunning and dangerous’

    Group chat contributors identified as National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Hegseth both sent messages arguing only Washington had the capability to carry out the strikes, with the latter official saying he shared Vance’s “loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”


    And a person identified as “S M” — possibly Trump advisor Stephen Miller — argued that “if the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”


    As he spoke to reporters Monday Hegseth dodged questions about the leak, in which highly sensitive material was not only shared with a reporter but also on a commercial app rather than in secure military channels reserved for such communications.


    The security breach provoked outrage among Democrats, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer describing it as “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time” and calling for a full investigation.


    Senator Jack Reed also slammed the leak, saying: “The carelessness shown by President Trump’s cabinet is stunning and dangerous.”


    And Hillary Clinton — who was repeatedly attacked by Trump for using a private email server while she was secretary of state — posted the Atlantic article on X along with the message: “You have got to be kidding me.”

    Huthi attacks

    The Huthis, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.

    They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, saying they were carried out in solidarity with Palestinians.


    The Huthis’ campaign crippled the vital route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.


    The US began targeting the Huthis in response under the previous administration of president Joe Biden, and has launched repeated rounds of strikes on Huthi targets, some with British support.


    Trump has vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” citing the Huthis’ threats against Red Sea shipping, and US strikes have continued over the past 10 days.

  • French politician wants America to return Statue of Liberty

    French politician wants America to return Statue of Liberty

    French MEP Raphaël Glucksmann has urged the United States to return the Statue of Liberty, asserting that recent U.S. actions are at odds with the values represented by the iconic monument. Speaking at an event for his center-left party Place Publique, Glucksmann criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for aligning with authoritarian governments and ignoring researchers advocating for scientific independence. 

    “We will inform the Americans who have chosen to support tyrants and have disregarded researchers fighting for scientific liberty: ‘Return the Statue of Liberty,’” Glucksmann stated to a receptive crowd. “We gifted it to you, but it seems you now disregard its significance. It would be better off back home.” 


    The Statue of Liberty, created by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, was inaugurated in New York Harbor on October 28, 1886, as a centennial present celebrating the American Declaration of Independence. A smaller version can be found on the Seine River in Paris.

    A staunch supporter of Ukraine, Glucksmann has openly criticized President Trump’s changes in policy regarding the conflict. He also denounced the administration’s cuts to research funding, which has prompted the French government to initiate efforts to attract affected scientists to France.
     

    “Moreover, we tell the Americans: if you decide to disregard your top researchers—those whose freedom, innovation, and critical thinking have driven your nation to a position of global prominence—we are prepared to welcome them,” Glucksmann continued. 

    Since President Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration has lowered federal funding for research and aimed to dismiss numerous federal employees working in the health and climate sectors.

  • $1 trillion: Trump says he will visit Saudi Arabia for major business deal

    $1 trillion: Trump says he will visit Saudi Arabia for major business deal

    US President Donald Trump said Thursday he planned to visit Saudi Arabia, suggesting a deal for major investment from the kingdom that has become the key venue for US diplomacy with Russia and Ukraine.

    Trump, asked if he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia, confirmed his intention to visit the oil-rich Gulf nation but suggested that business was the main motive.

    “I’m going to Saudi Arabia,” Trump told reporters, without mentioning a date.

    “I said, I’ll go if you pay a trillion dollars, $1 trillion to American companies, (spreading) the purchase over a four-year period, of a trillion dollars,” he said, referring to the duration of his presidency.

    “They’ve agreed to do that, so I’m going to be going there.”

    Trump, who has yet to travel overseas since returning to the White House, made Saudi Arabia his first foreign destination after he took office in 2017.

    He said recently that he decided to visit Saudi Arabia rather than Britain on his first trip in 2017 because the Arab kingdom promised to buy $450 billion worth of US products.

    Trump has forged close business ties with Saudi Arabia, with the Trump Organization in December announcing a Trump Tower in Jeddah.

    In his last term, Trump boasted of shielding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from consequences over the killing of US-based Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with the president citing the importance of Saudi purchases of US weapons.

    Former president Joe Biden initially vowed to make the crown prince a “pariah” due to human rights but his administration later courted Saudi Arabia, including with a draft defense agreement, as it sought to encourage it to recognize Israel.

    The Trump administration has vowed to move full-speed with trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize with Israel, in what would be a landmark step as the kingdom is home to Islam’s two holiest sites.

  • Trump warns Gaza ‘you are dead’ if hostages not freed

    Trump warns Gaza ‘you are dead’ if hostages not freed

    US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened further destruction of Gaza if all remaining hostages are not released, and issued an ultimatum to Hamas leaders to flee.

    Strongly backing Israel as a ceasefire teeters, Trump said he was “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job” as his administration expedites billions of dollars in weapons.

    “Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform after meeting freed hostages.

    “This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance.”

    Trump also made clear there would be repercussions for Gaza as a whole, where virtually the entire population has been displaced by Israel’s relentless military campaign in response to the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.

    “To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!”

    His comments follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning of “consequences that you cannot imagine” if Hamas does not hand over the remaining hostages seized in the October 7 attack.

    The first phase of a ceasefire ended over the weekend after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

    While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the genocide.

    Israel has ramped up pressure not just with threats but also by halting the flow of goods and supplies into Gaza.

    “Hamas has indeed suffered a severe blow, but it has not yet been defeated. The mission is not yet accomplished,” Israel’s new military chief Eyal Zamir warned Wednesday.

    Also on Wednesday, France, Britain and Germany jointly called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “catastrophic,” and urged Israel to ensure the “unhindered” delivery of aid.

    South Africa said Israel’s restriction of aid into Gaza amounted to using starvation as a weapon of war.

    Talks with Hamas

    Trump’s hawkish language came after the United States confirmed unprecedented direct talks with Hamas, with the US envoy on hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, discussing American hostages.

    “Look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people is something that the president” believes is right, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

    The United States had refused direct contact with the Palestinian militants since banning them as a terrorist organization in 1997. But Leavitt said that the hostage envoy “has the authority to talk to anyone”.

    Both the White House and Netanyahu’s office confirmed Israel was consulted in advance.

    Five Americans are believed to remain among the hostages — four have been confirmed dead and one, Edan Alexander, is believed to be alive.

    The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, most of them civilians, while the Israel-led genocide of Palestinians in Gaza has killed at least 48,440 people, also mostly civilians, data from both sides show.

    Of the 251 captives taken during Hamas’s attack, 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.

    In an interview on Wednesday night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Hamas to take seriously Trump’s threats of retaliation.

    “He doesn’t say these things and not mean it, as folks are finding out around the world. If he says he’s going to do something, he’ll do it,” Rubio said.

    Doubts on Arab plan

    Trump has floated a proposal to take over the Gaza Strip and displace its people, an idea that has drawn wide condemnation around the world.

    Arab leaders have sought support for an alternative plan that would finance Gaza’s reconstruction through a trust fund.

    A draft seen by AFP outlined a five-year roadmap with a price tag of $53 billion — roughly the amount the United Nations estimated for Gaza’s reconstruction — but the figure was not included in the summit’s final statement.

    The summit also called for unified representation under the Palestine Liberation Organization to sideline Islamist Hamas.

    Hugh Lovatt at the European Council on Foreign Relations said the Arab leaders’ plan was “far more realistic than what the Trump administration is proposing.”

    But Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian political analyst and former Palestinian Authority minister, was skeptical.

    “It doesn’t make sense to expect Israel to drop the plan of Trump and to adopt the plan of the Arabs. There’s no chance.”

    Speaking after a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza’s future, French diplomat Jay Dharmadhikari said the final plan should neither allow Hamas to continue governing nor eject Palestinians.

    “We are clear that any plan must have no role for Hamas, must ensure Israel’s security, must not displace Palestinians from Gaza,” he said.

  • New Trump policy likely to ban US entry for Pakistanis from next week: reports

    New Trump policy likely to ban US entry for Pakistanis from next week: reports

    Based on a government review of the country’s security and vetting, a new travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump could prevent people from Pakistan and Afghanistan from entering the United States (US) as early as next week.

    According to Reuters, other countries might also be included on the list. However, the country names were not mentioned.

    This action recalls the Republican president’s initial travel ban on citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries, a policy that underwent multiple revisions before being upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

    Former President Joe Biden repealed the ban in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience”.

    The new ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans who have been cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas because they are at risk of Taliban retribution for working for the country during a 20-year war in their home country, Reuters said.

    Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats. The order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 12 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient”.

    Afghanistan will be included in the recommended list of countries for a complete travel ban, and Pakistan would also be recommended for inclusion, Reuters reported.

    Afghans cleared for resettlement in the U.S. as refugees or on the special visas first undergo intense screening that makes them “more highly vetted than any population” in the world.

    The State Department office that oversees their resettlement is seeking an exemption for Special Immigrant Visa holders from the travel ban “but it’s not assumed likely to be granted,” Reuters reported citing sources.

    The Taliban, who seized Kabul as the last US troops pulled out in August 2021 after two decades of war, are confronting an insurgency by Islamic State’s regional branch. Pakistan also is grappling with violent Islamist militants.

    Shawn VanDiver, the head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of groups that coordinates evacuation and resettlement of Afghans with the US government, urged those holding valid visas to travel as soon as possible if they can.

    There are some 200,000 Afghans who have been approved for resettlement or have pending US refugee and Special Immigrant Visa applications. They have been stranded in Afghanistan and nearly 90 other countries — including about 20,000 in Pakistan — since January 20, when Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on refugee admissions and foreign aid that funds their flights.

  • Trump thanks Pakistan but leaves PTI supporters reeling

    Trump thanks Pakistan but leaves PTI supporters reeling

    United States (US) President Donald Trump thanked Pakistan for its role in arresting the mastermind behind the 2021 Kabul Airport bombing in an address to Congress, pulling off a major surprise in the country’s political circles where many had expected him to admonish Pakistan for imprisoning former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    Speaking to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, the US President announced the arrest and imminent extradition of the suspect, Mohammad Sharifullah.

    “Three and a half years ago, ISIS terrorists killed 13 American service members and many others during the Abbey Gate bombing. Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is now on his way to face American justice. I especially want to thank the Government of Pakistan for helping to arrest this monster.”

    On August 26, 2021, a bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the final days of the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan killed 13 American soldiers and at least 113 Afghan civilians. Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) had claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Later in the day, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also praised Pakistan for helping capture the terrorist.

    Speaking on an American-based news channel on Wednesday, he said, “Special thanks to Pakistan indeed. They cooperated with us. We partnered with the Pakistanis based on intelligence,” adding that the US provided the information, and Pakistan carried out the arrest and confirmed the identity of Sharifullah. 

    For some of PTI’s most vocal supporters who had been promising an intervention in Imran Khan’s incarceration by the American President, Trump’s statement prompted a host of reactions, ranging from silence to denial. 

    A PTI follower took to X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the Abbey Bomber was arrested in 2021 during Imran Khan’s tenure. “The institutions kept him safe so that he could be released at the right time for a good price. There are many more such people in their custody. In that sense, the thanks should go to Imran Khan’s government,” he wrote.

    Shahzad Akbar wrote a lengthy article on X, where he accused Pakistan’s agencies of playing a “double game” with the US. A few days earlier he had castigated supporters of the ruling PML-N for suggesting that Ukrainian President Zelensky has been “insulted” by Donald Trump because he doesn’t have an army or an atom bomb. “Why don’t you send one of your people to check,” he tweeted, suggesting that Pakistani representatives would have been insulted too. 

    Hussain Nadim, who had appeared on a podcast in February to assert that the Trump administration was giving warning “signals” to the Pakistani government, wrote now on X: “Pakistan is celebrating becoming a ‘hire gun’ as some kind of achievement, knowing full well the price Pakistan and its people have paid and will continue to pay for these security contracts. This isn’t progress, this is a return to Zia era.” 

    Former Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shahbaz Gill, who has been most active in the US in rallying support for Imran Khan’s release, addressed Trump’s statement after a few hours in a cryptic tweet.  “Your opponents are very cunning and deceptive. You don’t need to respond to everything, nor should you be worried. Such things happen in big battles. Some things must be ignored. You all are wise enough to understand the rest.”

  • Donald Trump thanks Pakistan govt for help in apprehending terrorism suspect

    Donald Trump thanks Pakistan govt for help in apprehending terrorism suspect

    In a historic joint speech to Congress on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States has captured the mastermind behind the deadly 2021 Kabul airport Abbey Gate attack and thanked the Pakistani government for assisting in the apprehension.

    The recently elected 47th president revealed that the suspect, Mohammad Sharifullah, had been apprehended and was being extradited to the U.S. to face justice.

    “Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity,” Trump declared, adding that “he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.”

    He thanked the Government of Pakistan for assisting in apprehending the “monster” and added that it was a huge day for the affected families.

    “This was a very momentous day for those 13 families, whom I actually got to know very well, whose children were murdered. What a horrible day,” he added, acknowledging the grief of the victims’ families.

    The attack during the tense withdrawal from Afghanistan claimed the lives of approximately 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members.

    Trump also criticised his predecessor, Joe Biden, calling the Afghanistan withdrawal “disastrous and incompetent” and “perhaps the most embarrassing moment in our country’s history.”  

    The Biden administration had previously defended its actions, arguing that decisions made under Trump limited its options. It has also cited delays caused by the Afghan government and US intelligence assessments.  

    Trump asserted that capturing Sharifullah was a major breakthrough in holding those responsible accountable and bringing justice to the fallen soldiers and their families.

    “As President Trump just announced, I can report that tonight the FBI, DOJ, and CIA have extradited one of the terrorists responsible for the murder of the 13 American soldiers at Abbey Gate during the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after Trump’s announcement.


    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for acknowledging Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts.  

    In a post on X, his official account stated:

    We thank US President Donald Trump for acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan’s role and support in counter terrorism efforts across the region, in the context of Pakistan Security Forces’ recent apprehension of ISKP’s top tier operational commander Shareefullah, who is an Afghanistan National. The wanted terrorist was apprehended in a successful operation conducted in Pakistan-Afghan border region. 

    As is well-known, Pakistan has always played a critical role in counter terrorism efforts aimed at denying safe havens to terrorists and militant groups the space to operate against any other country. We remain steadfast in our resolve and unwavering commitment to combating terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations. 

    In this effort, Pakistan has rendered great sacrifices, including the lives of over 80,000 of our brave soldiers and citizens. 

    The resolve of our leadership and our people remains unflinching, to eradicate the menace of terrorism from our country. We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability.

  • Internet reacts to Trump’s AI video imagining Gaza as luxury resort

    Internet reacts to Trump’s AI video imagining Gaza as luxury resort

    US President Donald Trump’s official social media accounts posted an apparently AI-generated video depicting war-ravaged Gaza rebuilt into a seaside resort, replete with a towering golden statue of himself.


    The video, which racked up more than 29 million views on Instagram and was shared thousands of times on Trump’s Truth Social network by Wednesday afternoon, prompted some commenters to question whether the president’s accounts had been hacked.


    The 33-second clip remained on Trump’s accounts without denial or retraction hours after the initial posting on Tuesday night.


    The video “Gaza 2025 What’s Next?” opens with people on a rubble-strewn street emerging from a tunnel onto a beach with palm trees and yachts.


    Trump has floated the idea of a US takeover of Gaza under which its Palestinian population would be relocated — a proposal met with global condemnation.


    He later appeared to soften his plan, saying he was only recommending the idea, and conceding that the leaders of Jordan and Egypt — the proposed destinations for relocated Gazans — had rejected any effort to move Palestinians against their will.


    In the social media clip, the soundtrack includes lyrics such as “Donald’s coming to set you free, bringing the light for all to see”, and “Feast and dance, the deal is done, Trump Gaza number one”.


    Seemingly AI-generated renditions of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sip cocktails in swimsuits by a pool, while other shots show what appears to be Elon Musk dancing under a shower of cash on the beach.


    A larger-than-life golden statue of Trump is also featured.


    Social media users reacted with both support and criticism, but many questioned whether Trump himself had posted the montage.


    AFP did not find any evidence the video had been shared online before it was posted to Trump’s Truth Social and Instagram accounts.

    Netizens reacted to the insensitive video circulating online, condemning the move made by the U.S. President.

    Matthew Stadlen, an English presenter, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “The Trump Gaza video is quite possibly the most disgusting, the most shameful, the most hideous public communication by a US President in living memory.”

    Lawyer and activist, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, wrote, “President of the United States posts video of him taking over Gaza with his statue for worship, dollars raining, Trump Gaza as centrepiece as he & Netanyahu chill at the beach. Ethnic cleansing rebranded as a real estate deal. Colonialist White Supremacist Zionism. Pure Evil.”

    Another user added, “I feel physically sick at Trump’s Gaza clip. I just can’t comprehend how a human being could be so vile. Can I ask EVERYONE TO PLEASE REPOST THIS CLIP as a counter narrative. It’s essential we tell the truth about this horror show. Let your repost finger do the talking.”

    One user, sharing the screenshots of the comments noted, “Trump biggest supporters are not happy with him for posting that AI video of Gaza.”

    Dancers and beards

    One scene closely resembles an AI-generated image of Trump and Netanyahu drinking cocktails that began circulating in early February.


    Another scene shows belly dancers shimmying on the beach, sporting thick, long beards more typically worn by Islamists.


    More than 15 months of war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, have left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins and most of its population displaced from their homes.


    Senir Hamas official Bassem Naim said in reaction to the video: “Unfortunately, President Trump is once again proposing ideas and solutions that do not take into account the cultures and interests of the indigenous population.”


    In Gaza, people who watched the video were in disbelief.


    “This video of Trump is full of fallacies and shows a lack of cultural awareness… Gaza won’t become a tourist spot like Italy or Spain,” said Nasser Abu Hadaid, a 60-year-old resident of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.


    “What I know about Trump is that he is a strange but bold president who does what he says he will do. What matters to him is money and investments — there is no humanity,” said Manal Abu Seif, a 23-year-old lawyer in Gaza City.


    “Gaza needs freedom, open border crossings and jobs for young people, and is not a playground for tourism and investment,” she added.


    UN estimates have put the cost of reconstruction at more than $53 billion.


    A fragile ceasefire, in effect since January 19, has allowed an increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza, though Hamas has accused Israel of blocking the entry of some essential supplies.

  • US govt computers hacked, show deepfake of Trump licking Musk’s feet

    US govt computers hacked, show deepfake of Trump licking Musk’s feet

    Deepfake made its way into the US Department of Housing and Urban Development headquarters on Monday after an AI-generated footage of President Donald Trump licking Elon Musk’s feet circulated across screens in the building, with a caption reading, “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING.”

    The caption refers to Trump’s post on the White House’s official social media that read: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

    As reported by independent American media platform Zeteo, the video played on “almost every floor,” with staffers gathering to record it before it was removed.

    Netizens have also reacted to the video that has now been circulating on the internet.

    Many appreciated the move made by the unknown hackers.

    “God I love hackers who use their power for good ”

    “This is true art. May it live long in the annals of history.”

    “protest art at its finest. Bravo!”

    “Cringy but accurate.”

    “This was hands down the best thing I saw today”

    “Are you Sure it’s AI? ”

    Some, however, were disturbed by the graphic nature of the footage.

    “That video is graphic ”

    “I’m not sure whether to laugh or vomit ”

    “Rated R ”

    The incident reportedly occurred on Monday, the first-day union staff (non-supervisors) had to return to the office full-time under Trump’s order to end remote work for federal agencies.

    Last week, Trump’s infamous post came after his transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul scrapping the transportation department’s agreement on Manhattan’s congestion pricing plan.

    This was followed by a backlash, including from Hochul, who issued a statement, “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.” She added: “Public transit is the lifeblood of New York City and critical to our economic future – as a New Yorker, like president Trump, knows very well.”


    Musk, with Trump at White House, says US will go ‘bankrupt’ without cuts

    Earlier in February, tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead federal cost-cutting efforts, said that the United States would go “bankrupt” without budget cuts.


    Musk leads the efforts under the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and was speaking at the White House with Trump, who has in recent weeks unleashed a flurry of orders aimed at slashing federal spending.

    In particular, Musk took aim at the country’s budget deficit, which topped $1.8 trillion in the last fiscal year.

    He said that reducing federal expenses was not optional.

    The remarks, however, came as the Trump administration finds itself on a collision course with the US courts, as federal judges questioned the legality of White House cost-cutting measures.

    Trump’s sweeping plans, which have effectively shuttered some federal agencies and sent staff home, have sparked legal battles across the country.
    Multiple lawsuits seek to halt what opponents characterize as an illegal power grab.