February 10, 2025 9:07 AM

Trump wants US to own Gaza, suggests Middle East states aid in reconstruction

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is committed to buying and owning Gaza, but could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other states in the Middle East. “I'm committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back.” Trump made his remar...

February 6, 2025 12:41 PM

China challenges Trump tariffs at WTO, package shippers warn of chaos

China filed a World Trade Organization complaint on Wednesday against U.S. President Donald Trump's new 10% tariff on Chinese imports and his cancellation of a duty-free exemption for low-value packages, arguing the actions are "protectionist" and break WTO rules. Beijing's request for U.S. trade consultations came as confusion reigned among shippers and retailers over Trump's closure of the "de minimis" exemption for package imports valued under $800 and widely used by e-commerce firms includi...

February 6, 2025 8:46 AM

Trump aides defend Gaza takeover proposal but walk back some elements

President Donald Trump's top aides staunchly defended his push to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza and have the U.S. take over the war-ruined enclave, but they also backed away from elements of his proposal in the face of international condemnation. A longtime New York property developer, Trump drew rebukes on Wednesday from world powers Russia, China and Germany, which said it would foster "new suffering and new hatred." Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright. Bare...

February 4, 2025 9:46 AM

Trump makes Musk, the world’s richest man, a ‘special government employee’

Elon Musk, who has moved swiftly to shrink the size of the U.S. government at President Donald Trump's behest, is now considered a "special government employee," the White House said on Monday. The designation allows Musk, the world's richest man, to work for the federal government but potentially avoid disclosure rules about conflicts of interest and finances that apply to regular government employees. Musk still runs electric car company Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX while chairing Trum...

February 4, 2025 8:46 AM

Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but not China

U.S. President Donald Trump suspended his threat of steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Monday, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighboring countries. U.S. tariffs on China are still due to take effect within hours. Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they had agreed to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump's demand to crack down on immigration and drug s...

February 3, 2025 11:20 AM

Trump says Americans may feel ‘pain’ in trade war with Mexico, Canada, China

President Donald Trump said the sweeping tariffs that he has imposed on Mexico, Canada and China may cause "short term" pain for Americans as global markets reflected concerns the levies could undermine growth and reignite inflation. Trump said he would talk on Monday with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, which have announced retaliatory tariffs of their own, but downplayed expectations that they would change his mind. "I don't expect anything dramatic," Trump told reporters as he retu...

February 3, 2025 9:02 AM

Asian stocks slump, dollar soars as Trump tariffs trigger trade war fear

Asian stock markets slumped on Monday and U.S. equity futures pointed sharply lower after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China triggered fears of a broad trade war and hit to global growth. The U.S. dollar shot to a record peak against the Chinese yuan in offshore trading, and its highest against Canada's currency since 2003 and the strongest against the Mexican peso since 2022. Japan's Nikkei share average tumbled as much as 2.3% in early trading, and Australia'...

January 31, 2025 1:19 PM

Trump FBI nominee Patel questioned on Capitol riot, retribution claims

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, vowed on Thursday to protect FBI employees against "political retribution" even as the Trump administration has begun to fire and sideline Justice Department officials who were involved in investigations into the president. Pressed by Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal to commit to not fire FBI agents who worked on investigations into Trump's mishandling of classified documents and attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Pat...

January 31, 2025 10:10 AM

Trump repeats tariffs threat to dissuade BRICS nations from replacing US dollar

President Donald Trump on Thursday warned off BRICS member countries from replacing the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency by repeating a 100%-tariffs threat he had made weeks after winning the November presidential elections. "We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs," Trump said on Truth Social in a statement nearly...

January 29, 2025 3:26 PM

Trump, Musk suggest sped-up return of NASA astronauts, but details scarce

President Donald Trump said Tuesday night he had asked Elon Musk's SpaceX to return two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station, who were already scheduled to fly back on a SpaceX capsule in March. Musk earlier on Tuesday said Trump had asked him to return the two astronauts "as soon as possible," suggesting a change to NASA's current plan for a late March return. "We will do so," Musk said. "I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to 'go get' the 2 brave astronauts who have been ...