Tag: US President Donald Trump

President-elect Biden pushes for USD 2000 ‘stimulus checks’ for Americans

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President-elect Joe Biden has called for a USD 2,000 ”stimulus checks” to his fellow Americans, arguing that the current USD 6,00 coronavirus relief payment is not enough to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table. Biden has called the current USD 600 round of cash a ”down payment,” and early last week he said USD 2,000 checks would go out ”immediately” if his party took control of both houses of Congress.

With the Democrats now having a majority in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, and Biden set to be sworn in as the 46thPresident of the US on January 20, the former vice president is likely to push for a new stimulus package later this month. ”USD 600 is simply not enough when you have to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table. We need USD 2,000 stimulus checks,” Biden said on Sunday.

Outgoing US President Donald Trump has also pitched for a USD 2,000 check. In December, the House of Representatives also passed a bill. However, the move was blocked by the Republicans who then had a majority in the Upper Chambers. Two Indian-American lawmakers, Congressman Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal, have also demanded USD 2,000 stimulus checks for Americans.

Biden is expected to present more details on his proposal in the coming week. But he has been talking about moving rapidly to get USD 2,000 into the hands of Americans. Biden made the call for new assistance – including boosting stimulus checks to USD 2,000 – after an unexpectedly poor December jobs report that reflected a plunge in restaurant employment.

President Trump signed a USD 900 billion relief bill last month, which included supplemental unemployment benefits extended to mid-March – a timeframe that could serve as a deadline for lawmakers to move on to the next package.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

President Trump won’t attend Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan 20

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Donald Trump said Friday he won’t attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, undercutting his message a day earlier that he would work to ensure a “smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power” to his successor.

Trump offered no clues for how he would spent his final hours in office and will be the first incumbent president since Andrew Johnson to skip his successor’s swearing-in. Traditionally, the incoming and outgoing presidents ride to the US Capitol together for the ceremony, as a symbol of the nation’s peaceful transition.

Trump’s comments come two days after a violent mob of his supporters occupied the Capitol for several hours as lawmakers were tallying the electoral votes that certified Biden’s victory. Biden will become president at noon on Jan. 20 regardless of Trump’s plans.

“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump tweeted. The move had been widely expected, as Trump for months falsely claimed victory in the election and promulgated baseless claims of voter fraud. His own administration said the election had been fairly run.

Vice President Mike Pence was expected to attend the inauguration. Pence spokesman Devin Malley said “Vice President Pence and the Second Lady have yet to make a decision regarding their attendance.”

Biden’s transition team had no immediate comment on Trump’s announcement. But Jen Psaki, the president-elect’s incoming White House press secretary, said last month that whether Trump attended the inauguration was not top of mind for Biden.

On Thursday, with 12 days left in his term, Trump finally bent to reality amid growing talk of trying to force him out early, acknowledging he’ll peacefully leave after Congress affirmed his defeat.

Trump led off a video from the White House Thursday by condemning the violence carried out in his name a day earlier at the Capitol. Then, for the first time on camera, he admitted his presidency would soon end — though he declined to mention Biden by name or explicitly state he had lost.

“A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20,” Trump said in the video. “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation.”

By next morning, however, Trump was back to his usual division. Instead of offering condolences to the police officer who died from injuries sustained during the riot, Trump took to twitter to commend the “great American Patriots” who’d voted for him.

“They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” he tweeted.

Thursday evening’s address, which appeared designed to stave off talk of a forced early eviction, came at the end of a day when the cornered president stayed out of sight in the White House. Silenced on some of his favorite internet lines of communication, he watched the resignations of several top aides, including two Cabinet secretaries.

And as officials sifted through the aftermath of the pro-Trump mob’s siege of the U.S. Capitol, there was growing discussion of impeaching him a second time or invoking the 25th Amendment to oust him from the Oval Office.

The invasion of the Capitol building, a powerful symbol of the nation’s democracy, rattled Republicans and Democrats alike. They struggled with how best to contain the impulses of a president deemed too dangerous to control his own social media accounts but who remains commander in chief of the world’s greatest military.

“I’m not worried about the next election, I’m worried about getting through the next 14 days,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s staunchest allies. He condemned the president’s role in Wednesday’s riots and said, “If something else happens, all options would be on the table.”

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that “the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America.” She called him “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office. This is urgent, an emergency of the highest magnitude.”

Neither option to remove Trump seemed likely, with little time left in his term to draft the Cabinet members needed to invoke the amendment or to organize the hearings and trial mandated for an impeachment.

Fears of what a desperate president could do in his final days spread in the nation’s capital and beyond, including speculation Trump could incite more violence, make rash appointments, issue ill-conceived pardons — including for himself and his family — or even trigger a destabilizing international incident.

The president’s video Thursday — which was released upon his return to Twitter after his account was restored — was a complete reversal from the one he put out just 24 hours earlier in which he said to the violent mob: “We love you. You’re very special.” His refusal to condemn the violence sparked a firestorm of criticism and, in the new video, he at last denounced the demonstrators’ “lawlessness and mayhem.”

Aides said the video was also meant to slow the mass exodus of staffers and ward off potential legal trouble for Trump once he leaves office; White House counsel Pat Cipollone has repeatedly warned the president that he could be deemed responsible for inciting Wednesday’s violence.

As for his feelings on leaving office, Trump told the nation that “serving as your president has been the honor of my lifetime” while hinting at a return to the public arena. He told supporters “our incredible journey is only just beginning.”

While Trump remained silent and ensconced in the executive mansion until Thursday evening, around him, loyalists headed for the exits, their departures — which were coming in two weeks anyway — moved up to protest the president’s handling of the riot.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao became the first Cabinet member to resign. Chao, married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of the lawmakers trapped at the Capitol on Wednesday, said in a message to staff that the attack “has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos followed. In her resignation letter Thursday, DeVos blamed Trump for inflaming tensions in the violent assault on the seat of the nation’s democracy. “There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” she wrote.

Others who resigned in the wake of the riot: Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger; Ryan Tully, senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council; and first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary.

Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff-turned-special envoy to Northern Ireland, told CNBC that he had called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “to let him know I was resigning. … I can’t do it. I can’t stay.”

“Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they’re worried the president might put someone worse in,” Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney’s predecessor in the chief of staff job, retired U.S. Marine Corps general John Kelly, told CNN that “I think the Cabinet should meet and have a discussion” about Section 4 of the 25th Amendment — allowing the forceful removal of Trump by his own Cabinet.

Staff-level discussions on the matter took place across multiple departments and even in parts of the White House, according to two people briefed on the talks. But no member of the Cabinet has publicly expressed support for the move.

In the West Wing, shell-shocked aides were packing up, acting on a delayed directive to begin offboarding their posts ahead of the Biden team’s arrival.

The president has asked aides to explore a possible valedictory trip next week to the southern border as a means to highlight his immigration policies.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump considering self-pardon: US media reports

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Embattled President Donald Trump has discussed with his close aides the possibility of pardoning himself before leaving the office on January 20, US media reports have said, amid growing calls for his removal from the White House. According to CNN, some of those conversations happened in recent weeks, and Trump has asked about the legal and political consequences of a self-pardon.

The news comes as Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike rebuked Trump’s conduct as thousands of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building on Wednesday and clashed with police, resulting in four deaths and interrupting a constitutional process by Congress to affirm the victories of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the November 3 election. It is not clear if the issue has come up since Wednesday’s mayhem at the Capitol building fomented by the President’s rhetoric or after his recent controversial call with the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the report said, citing multiple sources.

The president has also asked for legal opinions on whether he has the authority to issue a self-pardon and has been advised on the potential political fallout, it said. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Trump has suggested in conversations since Election Day that he wants to pardon himself, citing two people familiar with the discussions.

In several conversations since Election Day, Mr Trump has told advisers that he is considering giving himself a pardon and, in other instances, asked whether he should and what the effect would be on him legally and politically, according to the two people, the Times reported. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer both said that Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution to remove Trump from power.

Trump, who has issued a series of pardons to political allies and friends, said in a 2018 Twitter post: I have the absolute right to PARDON myself. ”As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?” he said in a tweet in June 2018.

Also Read: Explainer: Can anything stop Trump from pardoning his family or even himself?

A presidential self-pardon is untested and experts are divided on its constitutionality. A Justice Department legal memo says the president cannot pardon himself but he can step down and ask his vice president to take over and pardon him. However, that memo is not binding. CNN legal analyst Elie Honig noted last year that a self-pardon would likely trigger a series of legal challenges seeking to undo the maneuver.

”A prosecutor first would have to indict Trump, notwithstanding the self-pardon. Then the issue would be litigated in the courts, likely up to the Supreme Court. Given the weight of the constitutional and historical authority (including the Justice Department opinion and the stated intent of the Framers), a self-pardon likely would not stand; but there’s almost no downside to Trump in at least giving it a shot and seeing if it sticks,” Honig wrote in July.

While all presidents issue controversial pardons at the end of their terms, Trump has moved at a faster pace than his predecessors, demonstrating little inhibition for rewarding his friends and allies using one of the most unrestricted powers of his office.

The president has also reportedly considered issuing pardons to his family members, including daughter Ivanka Trump, sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr, as well as aides like Jared Kushner and his personal attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the NYT report said. Trump suggested to advisers he was concerned about the incoming administration potentially investigating his family for criminal wrongdoing, it said.

A self-pardon would complicate the already fraught question for the Biden Justice Department about whether to investigate and ultimately prosecute Trump. Democrats and former Justice Department officials contend that if Trump pardons himself and the Justice Department declines to prosecute him, it will send a troubling message to Americans about the rule of law and to future presidents about their ability to flout the law, the report said.

The only president to receive a pardon was Richard Nixon. A month after Nixon left office, his former vice president, Gerald Ford, pardoned him for all crimes he committed in office. The move was widely criticised at the time as allowing the presidency to hover above the law. Ford supporters later blamed the pardon for his election loss two years later, though ultimately the pardon came to be seen as a move that helped the country move on from the Watergate scandal.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Analysis: Trump’s rage ignites mob assault on democracy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The riotous mob that laid siege to the US Capitol on Wednesday was the product of the destructive forces that President Donald Trump has been stirring for years, culminating in the disruption of a democratic ritual that would formally end his unconstitutional bid to stay in power.

The scene that unfolded pushing through police barricades, breaking windows, then occupying seats of power was one that Americans are accustomed to watching in distant lands with authoritarian regimes. But the violence, which included gunshots fired in the Capitol, one death, and an armed occupation of the Senate floor, was born from the man who swore an oath to protect the very democratic traditions that rioters tried to undo in his name.

The rioters chose to storm the Capitol, a building symbolic as a citadel of democracy, and stirred echoes of the the angst and blood of the Civil War era. Only this time it was instigated by a duly elected president unwilling to honour the foundational creed of a peaceful transfer of power. This is an attempted coup that incited by the President of the United States, said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. We are in an unprecedented moment when a president who is willing to conspire with mobs to bring down his own government. This is totally against the idea of democracy for which the nation has stood for over two centuries.

The certification of the Electoral College votes that formalizes President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, a Constitutionally-enshrined ceremony typically designed to show American democracy’s strength, was disrupted within hours of Trump’s incendiary demand for action in a speech to his supporters, as he implored them to fight to stop the steal of the election and march on the Capitol. After this, we are going to walk down and I’ll be there with you, we are going to walk down,  we are going to walk down to the Capitol, Trump said, and we are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.

As his presidency enters its final days, Trump’s speech was a valedictory that seethed with anger and roused those who took it as a call to insurrection. Rioters overran and overmatched Capitol security forces, breaking windows, stealing mementos and mocking the institution with photos showing them in seats of power.

One in the mob seized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s dais, another her office. A sea of red Make America Great Again hats stormed through Statuary Hall, a part of the Capitol familiar to tourists. One man carried a Confederate flag under the same rotunda where Abraham Lincoln and, just last year, the congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis had laid in state. A noose was photographed not far from the Capitols west front. And the inauguration stand where Biden will put his hand on a Bible in two weeks was used by US Capitol Police to fire pepper spray into the violent crowd.

Few escaped Trump’s rage, not even his most loyal lieutenant, Vice President Mike Pence who had, for once, said he could not honour the president’s wishes that he overturn the electoral vote count because there was no legal authority for him to do so.

At his rally on the Ellipse, Trump said he would be very disappointed in his vice president, who a short time later had to be whisked to safety by Secret Service when the Capitols barriers were breached. But the groundwork for the violence was laid far before the rally, which also included a call from the president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, for a trial by combat to settle accusations of election fraud.

Trump, who has long shied away from committing to a peaceful transfer of power, spent the better part of 2020 declaring that the election was rigged while making baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud that numerous federal courts and his former attorney general said did not exist. The president was enabled by dozens of his fellow Republicans, who said they were willing to object to the count, a maneuver they knew would delay but not change the outcome. Even when it became clear he had lost the election, Trump refused to acknowledge reality, insisting repeatedly that he had won in a landslide. His lost to Biden by seven million voters.

But his supporters were more than willing to accept his effort to subvert the verdict of voters. Just weeks ago, he tweeted Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild! And even after siege began, and members of his own party including some trapped in the Capitol and hiding for their lives begged him to forcibly condemn the act of domestic terrorism, Trump refused.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US considering adding Alibaba, Tencent to China stock ban: Sources

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Trump administration is considering adding Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd to a blacklist of Chinese companies that are allegedly owned or controlled by the Chinese military, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said the plan was still under deliberation and may not go through as agencies debate its impact on markets.

Alibaba and Tencent shares were both down roughly 3 percent in morning trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Alibaba’s US-listed shares closed down just over 5 percent on the news on Wednesday but were roughly flat in after-hours trading.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group’s Alipay mobile payment app, escalating tensions with Beijing two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Alibaba and Tencent did not immediately respond to Reuter’s requests for comment.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Twitter, Facebook suspend Trump accounts after violence at US Capitol

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In an unprecedented move, Twitter and Facebook have suspended President Donald Trump’s accounts after he continued to push conspiracy theories about the November 3 election following the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters. Twitter suspended Trump’s account for 12 hours and also blocked three of his tweets including a video of his address to his supporters.

As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC, we have required the removal of three realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy, Twitter Safety said. This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked, said the social media company.

Twitter also warned of permanent suspension of Trump’s account if he continued to violate its policies. Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account, it said. ”Our public interest policy which has guided our enforcement action in this area for years ends where we believe the risk of harm is higher and/or more severe, it said, adding that it will continue to evaluate the situation in real-time, including examining activity on the ground and statements made off Twitter. We will keep the public informed, including if further escalation in our enforcement approach is necessary, it said.

Facebook said it would be blocking the president’s account from posting for 24 hours due to two policy violations. One of Trump’s tweets that was removed by Twitter included a video of him repeating unfounded claims that the election was taken from him and encouraging his supporters to disperse after violence erupted at the Capitol. He said that law and order were needed and that he loved his supporters.

Facebook and YouTube have removed the video from Trump’s accounts. Trump posted that video after protesters entered the Capitol, interrupting lawmakers meeting in joint session to confirm the Electoral College results and President-elect Joe Bidens victory in the election. I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it–especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order, Trump said in his video that lasted for less than a minute. This was a fraudulent election but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace, so go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way, others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace, Trump said.

Trump has refused to concede the election. He alleges that there was a massive fraud and electoral malpractice. Election officials have denied the allegations. Facebook’s vice president integrity Guy Rosen said: This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence. In a blog post on October 15, 2019, Twitter said that the accounts of world leaders are not above its policies entirely. It listed out areas that will result in enforcement action for an account on its service.

Prominent among them include the promotion of terrorism, clear and direct threats of violence against an individual, posting private information, such as a home address or non-public personal phone number; and posting or sharing intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

World leaders are appalled by storming of US Capitol

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Leaders around the world condemned the storming of the US. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, expressing shock at the chaos unfolding in a country they once relied upon for global leadership. Disgraceful scenes in US Congress,” tweeted Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, a staunch ally of the United States over generations. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.

Other allies were similarly appalled at what they described as an attack on American democracy, though some said they believed US democratic institutions would withstand the turmoil. Some leaders singled out Trump for harsh criticism.

Trump and his supporters should finally accept the decision of the American voters and stop trampling on democracy, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote on Twitter. ”From inflammatory words come violent deeds. He added that contempt for democratic institutions has disastrous effects.

The beauty of democracy? with a shrug emoji was the reaction tweeted by Bashir Ahmad, a personal assistant to the president of Nigeria, which has seen several coups since independence including one led decades ago by President Muhammadu Buhari, who most recently entered the office via a vote.

Chilean President Sebastin Piera and Colombian President Ivn Duque were among those in Latin America who denounced the protesters, but both also said they were confident that American democracy and the rule of law would prevail.

In this sad episode in the US, supporters of fascism showed their real face: anti-democratic and aggressive,’’ tweeted Luis Roberto Barroso, Brazilian Supreme Court justice and the head of the countrys electoral court. He said he hoped American society and institutions react with vigor to this threat to democracy.’’

Venezuela, which is under US sanctions, said the events in Washington show that the US is suffering what it has generated in other countries with its politics of aggression. Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro has survived U.S.-backed opposition efforts to oust him despite accusations of human rights abuses, civil unrest and a humanitarian crisis that has forced millions to flee the oil-rich country.

In Puerto Rico, many people took to social media and joked that the U.S. territory no longer wanted statehood. Independence, they said, looked appealing for the first time in decades.

In fact, it was that pursuit of independence that marked one of the last times the US Congress was stormed violently. Four members of Puerto Ricos Nationalist Party opened fire on the House floor in March 1954, wounding five lawmakers.

Italians watched the events with shock, having always considered the U.S. to be the model of democracy and the country that rescued Italy after its fascist descent during World War II.

This is the widely anticipated outcome of Trumpism, tweeted a retired Italian center-left politician, Pierluigi Castagnetti. And unfortunately it wont end today. When politics is replaced by deception and fanaticism of the people the drift is inevitable.

European Parliament President David Sassoli, who leads one of the largest legislatures in the world, also denounced the scenes at the Capitol. The European Union has spent four cantankerous years dealing with the Trump administration, and its top officials have repeatedly said they are looking forward to a better relationship under President-elect Joe Biden.

This is insurrection. Nothing less. In Washington, tweeted Carl Bildt, a former prime minister of Sweden.

Turkey, a NATO ally that has sometimes been at odds with Washington, expressed concern over the images of angry Trump supporters trying to thwart the certification of Biden as the new president. The chaos forced lawmakers to be rushed from the building. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement urged all parties in the United States to use moderation and common sense.

We believe that the United States will overcome this domestic political crisis with maturity, the ministry said. The ministry statement also urged Turkish citizens in the United States to stay away from crowds and demonstrations.

Trump issued a restrained call for peace well after the melee was underway but did not immediately ask supporters to disperse. Later, he urged them to go home and called them very special people.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was deeply disturbed” by the events in the US, Canada’s closest ally and neighbor. ”Violence will never succeed in overruling the will of the people. Democracy in the US must be upheld and it will be, Trudeau tweeted.

Volkan Bozkir, president of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly, said he was saddened by the developments. But, he tweeted, I believe that peace & respect for democratic processes will prevail in our host country at this critical time.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who twice visited Trump at the White House and hosted him in Poland, said on Twitter that his country had full confidence in the power of American democracy.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Woman shot inside US Capitol during riot has died

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A woman who was shot inside the US Capitol during the violent pro-Trump protest has died. That’s according to two officials familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The Metropolitan Police Department said it was taking the lead on the shooting investigation. Police did not immediately provide details about the circumstances of the shooting.

Dozens of supporters of President Donald Trump breached the security perimeter and entered the Capitol as Congress was meeting, expected to vote and affirm Joe Bidens presidential win. They were seen fighting with officers both inside the building and outside.

Hours later, police had declared the Capitol was secured.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Facebook, YouTube remove Trump’s video

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Facebook and YouTube have removed a video of President Donald Trump in which he repeated unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him after his supporters stormed the US Capitol. In the video, Trump also said that he loved his supporters. I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it–especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order, Trump said in his video that lasted for less than a minute.

He posted the video after thousands of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday and clashed with police, resulting in multiple injuries and interrupting a constitutional process to affirm Joe Biden’s victory in the November presidential election. Facebook’s vice president integrity Guy Rosen said: This is an emergency situation, and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.

Facebook prohibit incitement and calls for violence, a Facebook spokesperson says. ”We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules, the spokesperson said.

YouTube also deleted the video, saying it ”violated our policies regarding content that alleges widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 US election.”

In the video, Trump reiterated the allegations that the election was stolen. Election officials assert that there was no evidence to back his claim. This was a fraudulent election but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace, so go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way, others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace, Trump said.

Trump has refused to concede the election. He alleges that there was a massive fraud and electoral malpractice. Election officials have denied the allegations.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump orders ban on transactions with 8 Chinese apps including Alipay, WeChat Pay

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay. The order goes into effect in 45 days, at which point Joe Biden will be the president, so its fate is unclear.

The orders follow two others Trump signed in August banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as the main WeChat app. The fate of those apps in the US is still unclear, and with just 15 days left until Inauguration Day, it will likely fall to Biden to deal with them or not. The same goes for Tuesday’s executive order.

A representative for Biden’s office did not immediately return a message for comment Tuesday.

Alipay is a widely used digital wallet that is part of the empire of e-commerce billionaire and Ant Group founder Jack Ma, Chinas richest entrepreneur. WeChat Pay is a rival service operated by tech giant Tencent.

Trump’s order cites unspecified concerns about the apps collecting Americans’ personal and financial information and turning it over to Chinas communist government.

The order is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to hobble China, a rising economic superpower. Over the past several years, it has waged a trade war with China, blocked mergers involving Chinese companies and stifled the business of Chinese firms like Huawei, a maker of phones and telecom equipment.

China-backed hackers, meanwhile, have been blamed for data breaches of U.S. federal databases and the credit agency Equifax, and the Chinese government strictly limits what US tech companies can do in China.

Political analysts expect Biden to try to resume cooperation with Beijing on issues such as climate change and the coronavirus. However, economists and political analysts expect few big changes due to widespread frustration with Beijing’s trade and human rights record and accusations of spying and technology theft.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow