Trump | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been invited to be a part of the Gaza “Board of Peace” that is being formed by United States President Donald Trump, the Foreign Office has said. “The prime minister of Pakistan has received the invitation from the president of the United States to join the Board of Peace on Gaza,” said FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi in response to media queries. “Pakistan will remain engaged with international efforts for peace and security in Gaza, leading to a lasting solution to the Palestine issue in accordance with United Nations resolutions,” he added. The so-called “Board of Peace” has begun to take shape as the US moves on to the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which stands decimated after two years of Israel’s bombardment. Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory. The United States has invited the heads of around 60 states to join the Board of Peace, including those...

The Netherlands’ foreign minister on Sunday said that US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on European allies until they agree to sell Greenland to the United States is “blackmail”. “It’s blackmail what he’s doing … and it’s not necessary. It doesn’t help the alliance (Nato) and it also doesn’t help Greenland,” David van Weel said in an interview on Dutch television. In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said additional 10 per cent import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain countries that have agreed to contribute personnel to a Nato exercise on Greenland. Van Weel said the Greenland mission was intended to show the US Europe’s willingness to help defend Greenland, and he was opposed to Trump making a connection with diplomacy over the island and trade. Trump has insisted he will settle for nothing less than full ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, which he ...

US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for post-war Gaza began to take shape on Saturday, with the leaders of Egypt, Turkiye, Argentina and Canada asked to join. The announcements from those leaders came after the US president named his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the panel. Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, which lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment. The moves came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo which was attended by Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has partnered with Witkoff for months on the issue. In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkiye, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had bee...

Thousands of people took to the streets of Denmark’s capital on Saturday to protest at US President Donald Trump’s push to take over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. The protest followed Trump’s warning on Friday that he “may put a tariff” on countries that oppose his plans to take over mineral-rich Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark. They also coincided with a visit to Copenhagen by a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress that has made clear the opposition of many Americans to the Trump administration’s sabre-rattling. Waving the flags of Denmark and Greenland, the protesters formed a sea of red and white outside Copenhagen city hall, chanting “Kalaallit Nunaat!” — the vast Arctic island’s name in Greenlandic. Protesters wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a rally under the slogans ‘Hands off Greenland’ and ‘Greenland for Greenlanders’, in front of the City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 17. — AFP Thousands of people had said on social media they would take ...

US President Donald Trump said Friday he may impose trade tariffs on countries that don’t support his plans to take over Greenland, part of the territory of Denmark. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said at a health roundtable at the White House. “I may do that,” added Trump. Trump compared the possible Greenland tariffs to those that he threatened on France and Germany last year over the price of pharmaceutical products. The threat is the latest pressure tactic by Republican Trump as he steps up his bid to acquire the autonomous Arctic island, a goal that he has threatened to achieve by military means if necessary. Trump claims the United States needs mineral-rich Greenland and has accused Greenland of not doing enough to ensure its security against rivals Russia and China. European nations have in recent days shown their support for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) ally Denmark and Greenland over Trump’s ...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was backing the newly appointed “Palestinian Technocratic Government” in Gaza, where Washington has announced the launch of a second phase in a ceasefire that went into effect in October but remains fragile. “I am backing a newly appointed Palestinian Technocratic Government, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, supported by the Board’s High Representative, to govern Gaza during its transition,” Trump said on social media. Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas signed off in October on Trump’s plan, which says the Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by an international so-called “Board of Peace” that is meant to supervise Gaza’s governance for a transitional period. In another post, Trump said the “Board of Peace,” of which Trump himself is the chair, was formed, and its members would be announced shortly. Israel and Hamas have accused each other of ceasefire violations in Gaza, where, since the start of the truce in October, over 440 ...

WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged United States President Donald Trump to delay any American military strike on Iran, according to a report by The New York Times, a development that highlights growing regional unease over the risk of a wider conflict. Netanyahu spoke to President Trump on Thursday, the same day the US president publicly suggested that Tehran had eased its internal crackdown and halted executions, citing information from “very important sources on the other side”, remarks that were widely read in Washington as a signal of hesitation about imminent military action, the report said. The Israeli leader’s intervention comes as several key Arab partners of the US have also pressed the Trump administration to avoid an attack on Iran, warning that such a move could trigger a broader regional war, according to a senior official from a Gulf Arab country cited by the newspaper. Officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt have contacted senior US officials over the pa...

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump on Thursday during a White House meeting, as she tries to gain some influence over how the president shapes the South American country’s political future. A White House official confirmed that Trump intends to keep the medal. In a social media post on Thursday evening, Trump wrote: “Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you Maria!” Machado, who described the meeting as “excellent,” said the gift was in recognition of what she called his commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people. Machado’s attempt to sway Trump came after he dismissed the idea of installing her as Venezuela’s leader to replace the deposed Nicolas Maduro. Trump openly campaigned for the prize before Machado was awarded it last month and complained bitterly when he was snubbed. Though Machado gave Trump the gold medal that honorees receive with...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but expressed uncertainty over whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over. In an exclusive Reuters interview in the Oval Office, Trump said there was a chance Iran’s government could collapse and blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the stalemate in negotiations with Russia over the war in Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran. But he was reluctant on Wednesday to lend his full support to Pahlavi, the son of the late shah of Iran, who was ousted from power in 1979. “He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump said. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet. I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.” Trump’s comments went further in questioning Pahlavi’s ability to lead Iran, after he...

ISLAMABAD: Iran’s envoy to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, revealed on Thursday that US President Donald Trump informed Tehran that he will not attack the country and asked that Iran also exercise restraint. Moghadam made the remarks during a visit to the National Rahmatul-lil-Alameen Authority, where he met the authority’s chairman, Khurshid Ahmad Nadeem. Protests have taken place across Iran in a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, leading to authorities imposing internet restrictions. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters. On Wednesday, Trump said that he had been informed the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted, and added that he would “watch and see” about threatened military action. The Iranian envoy also disclosed that he received information at around 1am, which indicated that Trump did not want war and had asked Iran not to attack the US interests in the region. Speaking of the protests, the envoy maintained that the ...

Oil prices fell more than three per cent on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said killings of demonstrators in nationwide protests in Iran were stopping, tempering concerns over military action against Iran and supply disruptions. Brent futures LCOc1 were down $2.19, or 3.3pc, at $64.33 a barrel by 8:45am GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1had slipped $2.07, or 3.34pc, to $59.95 a barrel. Brent futures rose above $66.50 a barrel on Wednesday before giving back most gains after Trump’s remarks reduced expectations of a potential US attack on Iran. Trump turned the oil market mood by saying he had received assurances that killings of demonstrators in Iran had stopped, said PVM analyst John Evans, adding that prices on Thursday reflect the narrative of a near-term future of oversupply. Further weighing on prices, US crude and gasoline inventories rose last week more than analysts had estimated, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Also on the supply side, Venezuela has be...

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Wednesday that the United States needs Greenland and that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island, even as he said that “something will work out” with respect to the future governance of the Danish overseas territory. The remarks, which came after a high-stakes meeting between US, Danish and Greenlandic officials, indicate that there are still fundamental, if not intractable, differences between how Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk see the political future of the island. “Greenland is very important for the national security, including of Denmark,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “And the problem is there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there’s everything we can do. You found that out last week with Venezuela,” he said. After meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance at the White House on Wednesday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenland...

Denmark and Greenland’s top diplomats held high-stakes talks at the White House on Wednesday, with US President Donald Trump warning it was “vital” for the United States to take control of the Arctic island. Shortly before the meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Denmark announced it was immediately boosting its military presence in strategic Greenland. Footage from CNN showed Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt arriving at the White House campus, while AFP journalists saw Rubio and Vance heading into the talks. Trump’s escalating threats over Greenland — a vast and sparsely populated autonomous territory belonging to Nato ally Denmark — have deeply shaken transatlantic relations. The 79-year-old Republican insisted ahead of the talks that Nato should support the US effort to take control of Greenland, saying it was crucial for his planned Golden Dome air and missile defence system. “Nato becomes far more formidab...

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Iranians should continue nationwide protests and take over the country’s institutions. “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” Later, when asked what he meant by saying “help is on its way” to protesters in Iran, Trump told reporters that they would have to figure it out. “You’re going to have to figure that one out. I’m sorry,” Trump said in response to a question. On Monday, his Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that a channel for diplomacy with Tehran remained open, saying that Iran was taking a “far different tone” in private discussions with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump on Monday also announced a 25 per cent tariff on any country doing business with Iran. Following the US pre...

US President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, ramping up pressure as a crackdown on protests continues. Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said in a social media post on Monday that the new levies would “immediately” hit the Islamic republic’s trading partners who also do business with the United States. “This Order is final and conclusive,” he wrote, without specifying who they will affect. Iran’s main trading partners are China, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, according to economic database Trading Economics. Trump has been mulling his options on Iran, which has been roiled by more than two weeks of demonstrations that have defied a near-total internet blackout and lethal force. Sparked by economic grievances, the nationwide protests have grown into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah. Iranian authorities have blamed f...

A bipartisan group of United States lawmakers will visit Denmark this week as President Donald Trump threatens a takeover of Greenland, an autonomous part of the kingdom of Denmark that houses a US airbase. The delegation will be led by Democratic US Senator Chris Coons and will include Republican US Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Dick Durbin along with some members of the House of Representatives, Coons’ office said in a statement on Monday. Why it’s important Democratic and Republican US lawmakers said last week they expected the US Senate would eventually vote on legislation seeking to rein in Trump’s ability to attempt to seize Greenland from Denmark, a long-time US ally. Trump has repeatedly said Washington must own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying the strategically located and minerals-rich Arctic territory. He says a US military presence there is not enough. “One way or the other we are going to take Greenland,” Trump has said while adding he would pre...

Iran, which has accused the US and Israel of fomenting the ongoing unrest in the Middle Eastern country, said on Monday it strongly condemned “interventionist statements” by US President Donald Trump and other officials regarding its internal affairs. Trump has warned Tehran of strikes over the crackdown on the protests and also said on Sunday that he was weighing a range of strong responses, including military options, to action against protesters. Iran’s latest condemnation of his statements came in a press release titled “Fact Sheet on Recent Protests in Iran”, which was shared by the Iranian embassy in Islamabad on the social media platform X. In the statement, Tehran expressed “deep concern regarding overt and increasing foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs and recent protests”. “The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the interventionist statements made by the president of the United States of America and other American officials,” it said. “Such coercive and unlawful positions ...

US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to “make a deal” soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana’s key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The threatening social media post drew an angry retort from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who said “no one” would tell his country what to do. Washington has imposed economy-crippling sanctions on its island neighbour for decades, but Trump has ramped up the pressure in recent days. US special forces seized Maduro and his wife this month in a lightning raid that left dozens of the ousted Venezuelan president’s security personnel dead — many of whom were Cuban. Though Maduro’s allies have become interim leaders, Trump has claimed the United States now actually controls Venezuela through a US naval blockade of its vital oil sector. “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” ...

Nordic diplomats rejected US President Donald Trump’s claims of Russian and Chinese vessels operating near Greenland, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. There have been no signs of Russian or Chinese ships or submarines around Greenland in recent years, the FT said, citing two senior Nordic diplomats with access to NATO intelligence briefings. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and NATO did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. It is simply not true that the Chinese and Russians are there. I have seen the intelligence. There are no ships, no submarines, the FT quoted one senior diplomat as saying. Another Nordic diplomat said claims that waters around Greenland were crawling with Russian and Chinese vessels were unfounded, adding that such activity was on the Russian side of the Arctic. Trump has repeatedly said Russian and Chinese vessels are operating near Greenland, a claim Denmark disputes. He has not provided evidence to support it. Trump said on Friday the US mu...

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iranians were “looking at freedom, perhaps like never before” and that Washington was ready to offer support as protests continued to spread across the Middle Eastern country. “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “The USA stands ready to help!!!” The president later repeated the message in other posts as well while US media reported that Washington was mulling potential strikes against Iran. Iran has witnessed waves of protests since late December, triggered largely by a sharp decline in the value of the Iranian rial and worsening economic conditions. The demonstrations began on Dec 28 near Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and later spread to several other cities. On Friday, Trump said Iran was “in big trouble” as unrest grew, adding that the United States was “watching very closely” and warning Iranian authorities against using lethal force against protesters. Iranian officials have ac...