Tag: donald trump

‘Ambush’: Watch network interrupt live footage of Trump airing montage of South Africans calling for genocide against whites

CNN cut away from live footage of President Donald Trump airing footage of South Africans calling for violence against white people during his Wednesday Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

During his meeting with the South African president, Trump aired a montage of the minority party in South Africa calling to kill the Boers, a term that refers to white farmers, by shooting them and “cutting their throat[s].” While the video played, CNN cut away so viewers could only hear “Inside Politics” host Dana Bash and her panelists react to Trump forcing Ramaphosa to watch the video.

“[The video] is obviously playing right now and our understanding is that the point of this video is to back up some of the claims that Trump has made about South Africa. It seems this is clearly a well orchestrated effort. They brought screens, there’s not usually TVs in the Oval Office. And they were prepared to do this,” one panelist said. Another panelist called this act an “ambush.”

The moment the video ended, the network returned to airing the meeting live so viewers could hear Ramaphosa’s response, where he stated that the utterances made in the video are not “government policy.” The South African president and members of his government all maintained that there is no genocide against white people happening in their country, which Trump firmly disagreed with.

Besides the opposition party calling to kill white farmers, other parts of the video showed burial sites where white farmers are said to be laid to rest. While the montage played, Ramaphosa spent much of his time facing forward or glancing at Trump rather than watching the video.

“Burial sites. Right here. Burial sites. Over a thousand white farmers and those cars are lined up to pay love on a Sunday morning. Each one of those white things you see is a cross. And there is approximately a thousand of them. They are all white farmers, the family of white farmers. And those cars aren’t driving. They are stopped there to pay respects to their family member who was killed,” Trump said during the video.

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South Africa’s Julius Malema Responds to Trump’s Claim of ‘Genocide’ by Doubling Down: ‘Kill the Farmer!’

South African politician Julius Malema, the leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, responded to President Donald Trump’s claims about “genocide” Wednesday by reiterating calls to kill white farmers.

Earlier that day, Trump had shown visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa video of Malema leading rally chants of “Kill the Boer!”, “Kill the farmer!”, “Shoot to kill!”, and other incendiary slogans.

Ramaphosa tried to argue that Malema’s rhetoric did not represent the government’s policies, but Trump countered that South Africa had passed a law allowing expropriation of land without compensation, that it had racially discriminatory laws, and that thousands of white farmers were attempting to leave to the U.S.

Malema reacted angrily on X, reiterating his commitment to expropriation without compensation.

His party later issued a statement in which it declared: “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer! Victory is Certain!”

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Zelensky to Trump: ‘Ukraine Is Ready for a Full and Unconditional Ceasefire’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared in a statement following a conversation with President Donald Trump on Monday his country “is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire,” asserting that Russia, the invading country, must be convinced to agree to one.

President Trump spoke to Zelensky on Monday before and after a separate phone conversation with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, which the American president spoke favorably about. Trump’s direct conversation with Putin followed a chaotic week for Ukraine peace talks in which Putin initially proposed a ceasefire, Zelensky responded by flying to Turkey and challenging Putin to meet him in person, and Putin rejected the invite. Low-level Ukrainian and Russian delegations held talks in Istanbul of Friday that did not lead to any meaningful reduction in violence.

“Russian demands are detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed. They include ultimatums for Ukraine to withdraw from its territory for a ceasefire and other non-starters and non-constructive conditions,” an unnamed Ukrainian official complained, the U.K. Times reported.

Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, colonizing its Crimean peninsula, and has been actively backing “pro-Russian” separatists in the eastern Donbass region since. In 2022, Putin announced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, arguing that Zelensky, who was democratically elected, was an illegitimate “Nazi” dictator. That invasion has led to the Russian conquest of the entire Donbass region and the Ukrainian territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Under former President Joe Biden, the United States effusively financed the Ukrainian war effort and did not effectively advocate for an end to the conflict. President Trump has prioritized dialogue leading to an end in the video and proposed several potential mediating entities in addition to America, including Turkey and the Vatican.

Zelensky announced in a message posted to social media on Monday that he held two separate phone conversations with Trump, the second a conference call also featuring several heads of government around the world including French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

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Trump confronts South African President Ramaphosa in Oval Office over ‘white genocide’ in South Africa

President Donald Trump hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office on Wednesday, during which Trump confronted the South African leader about the violent persecution being faced by white residents of the country. This comes as the US has accepted Afrikaner refugees.

While fielding questions from reporters, one asked Trump, “What does it take from you for you to be convinced that there’s no white genocide in South Africa?” 

Ramaphosa replied, “Well, I can answer that for the president… It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, like those who are here when we have talks between us.”

“I’m not going to be repeating what I’ve been saying. I would say, if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my minister of agriculture. He would not be with me,” Ramaphosa continued.”

Trump interjected, “we have thousands of stories talking about it. We have documentaries, we have news stories.” Trump then directed for the lights to be turned down in the room, and for Ramaphosa to direct his attention to video that was played behind him.

Included in the video clips played were officials saying that “killing is part of a revolution,” that they can take land without permission and without compensation, and chants of “kill the Boer.”

Additional footage played, with Trump explaining that these were burial sites of “over 1,000 white farmers” in South Africa. “It’s a terrible sight. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Have they told you where that is, Mr. President?” Ramaphosa asked. “I’d like to know where that is, because this I’ve never seen.”

Trump also flipped through a large stack of printed articles, saying, “these are articles over the last few days, death of people, death, death, death, horrible death, death.” He noted articles about white South Africans fleeing their home country due to violence, a white South African couple that was violently attacked, and burial sites all over the country. 

“When you look at the videos, I mean, how does it get worse? And these are people that are officials, and they’re saying that, ‘kill the white farmer and take their land.’ And I have other friends in South Africa, people that left, one in particular that says you can’t go there. He said they will want to take your land. They take your land and they kill you,” Trump said. 

In response, Ramaphosa said that the speeches seen in the clips “is not government policy,” and that in South Africa’s multi-party democracy, people are allowed to “express themselves” and political parties can “adhere to various policies.” 

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Trump’s ‘big’ and ‘beautiful’ tax bill retains hundreds of billions (maybe trillions?) in ‘Green New Deal’ spending

Congressional Republicans are the absolute worst, for many reasons, but this time, it has to do with the “big” and “beautiful” tax bill that’s working its way toward Donald Trump’s desk—Republicans, despite holding both houses, as well as the Oval Office, are set to retain hundreds of billions of dollars in Green New Deal provisions, if they get their way. Here’s the context, from Adam N. Michel and Joshua Loucks at the Cato Institute:

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was pitched as a climate solution. In practice, it turned the tax code into a multi-trillion-dollar energy entitlement program, creating subsidies without caps, sunsets, or accountability. The recently passed House Ways and Means Committee tax bill repeals eight of the IRA credits, phases out five, and keeps or expands several others.

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Cyril Ramaphosa meeting with Trump in attempt to salvage South Africa’s relationship with US

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is slated to meet with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday in an attempt to salvage the fraught relationship between the two countries.

Ramaphosa pushed for the meeting amid growing tensions with the Trump administration, which has accused the Black-led South African government of being racist against its white citizens, seizing white farmers’ land and letting a “genocide” take place.

The South African leader said he hopes to correct what he views as damaging mischaracterizations of its government during his meeting, which will be Trump’s first with an African leader during his second term.

A White House official told The Associated Press the meeting is likely to focus on topics including the need to condemn politicians who “promote genocidal rhetoric” and a push for South Africa’s government to classify farm attacks as a priority crime.

Some white farmers have been killed in violent home invasions, but the South African government has said these attacks are part of the country’s crime problem and not motivated by race, noting some Black farmers have also been killed.

The White House official also told the AP that Trump is likely to call on the South African government to “stop scaring off investors,” in reference to its race-based trade barriers.

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Trump Unveils $175 Billion Plan for ‘Golden Dome’ Missile Defense System

The Department of Defense has selected a design for President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative, Trump announced on May 20.

“I’m pleased to announce that we have officially selected an architecture for this state-of-the-art system that will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea, and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

In his first week in office, Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Defense to devise a plan to implement his missile defense proposal.

“It should be fully operational before the end of my term. So we’ll have it done in about three years,” the president said.

Trump said the plan that the Department of Defense has selected should cost about $175 billion to complete.

The plan will meld new technologies with existing U.S. missile defense systems.

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Trump Suggests Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis Is Part Of A Bigger Coverup

President Trump noted Monday that there could be a more encompassing scandal behind Joe Biden’s sudden diagnosis of advanced cancer. 

During an open briefing in the Oval Office, the president suggested that an investigation should be conducted into how Biden’s cancer could have gone undetected for so long.

“If it’s the same doctor who said there was nothing wrong there, that’s being proven to be a sad situation,” Trump stated.

He added, “In other words, there are things going on that the public wasn’t informed. And I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor, if it’s the same or even if it’s two separate doctors.”

“Why wasn’t the cognitive ability — why wasn’t that discussed?” Trump continued, adding “I think the doctors said he’s just fine, and it’s turned out that’s not so.”

“It’s very dangerous. Look, this is no longer politically correct. This is dangerous for our country,” the President urged.

From all accounts, if this diagnosis is to be believed, Biden must have had cancer before he entered office in 2021.

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Trump Signs Take It Down Act

President Donald Trump has now signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure designed to address the spread of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including increasingly prevalent AI-generated deepfakes.

While the legislation is being celebrated by both major parties as a victory for online safety, particularly for children and victims of abuse, it has also raised concerns about the potential for overreach, selective enforcement, and the erosion of free speech under the guise of digital protection, particularly because of the broad wording of the bill.

The law’s most prominent advocate within the administration has been First Lady Melania Trump, who campaigned heavily for its passage and made rare public appearances to promote it. During the Rose Garden signing ceremony, President Trump invited her to add her signature beneath his, an unusual but symbolic gesture that underscored her role in pushing the legislation forward.

“This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused,” Mrs Trump said. In her remarks, she repeated her criticism of AI and social media, calling them “the digital candy for the next generation,” and warned that these technologies “can be weaponized, shaped beliefs, and sadly affect emotions and even be deadly.”

President Trump, for his part, appeared to dismiss constitutional concerns. “People talked about all sorts of First Amendment, Second Amendment. They talked about any amendment they could make up, and we got it through because of some very brave people,” he said.

Earlier in the year, during his March 4 address to Congress, Trump had signaled his intent to sign the bill. “The Senate passed the Take It Down Act…Once it passes the House, I look forward to signing that bill into law. And I’m going to use that bill for myself too if you don’t mind, because nobody gets treated worse than I do online, nobody.”

While made in jest, the remark pointed to an unresolved issue: how this law will be enforced, and who will benefit most from it.

There is no denying the harm caused by NCII. Victims often struggle to remove intimate images, whether real or AI-generated, while the content continues to spread. The Take It Down Act requires websites to remove flagged content within 48 hours of a complaint. But, just like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), platforms have little way of determining if a complaint is legitimate or being used as a censorship mechanism.

That timeline is designed to offer swift recourse to victims. However, the law’s broad wording leaves its applications open to interpretation.

The bill defines a violation as involving an “identifiable individual” engaged in “sexually explicit conduct,” without offering a clear or narrow definition of what that conduct entails. This vagueness creates a gray area that could easily be used to suppress satire, parody, or even critical political speech.

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Trump’s Former Spokesperson Liz Harrington SLAMS FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino for Downplaying Trump Butler Assassination Plot

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is facing fierce backlash from conservatives after downplaying the chilling July 13th assassination attempt on President Donald J. Trump at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally — and none other than Trump’s former spokesperson, Liz Harrington, is leading the charge.

During a recent appearance on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Bongino, who once earned grassroots praise as a fearless whistleblower of Secret Service failures, appeared to parrot the official FBI line, offering a stunning defense of the so-called “investigation” into the Trump rally attack.

Bongino: You know what, Maria? Kash is not kidding. We’ve been personally briefed extensively on every single detail, nugget, and tendril of this case. One is actively in court right now, so out of respect for the case, it’s probably more appropriate that I stay quiet on that.

However, I’m not going to tell people what they want to hear—I’m going to tell you the truth. And whether you like it or not is up to you.

If there was a big, explosive “there” there—given my history as a Secret Service agent and my personal friendship, as the Director does, with the President—give me one logical, sensible reason we would not have [told you]. If you can think of one… there isn’t.

In some of these cases, the “there” you’re looking for is not there. I know people… I get it. I understand. It’s not there. If it was there, we would have told you.

Liz Harrington, Trump’s former spokesperson and trusted ally, obliterated Bongino’s comments.

“I’m sorry, the investigation into J13 is closed? Who were you briefed by? The people who came in, hosed down the crime scene, cremated the body, stonewalled congressional investigators, and lawyered up the family?

There is a “there” there because we know NOTHING about Crooks, or who he was talking to.

If this is true, they need to come out with everything they know about why and HOW a 20 year old pulled that off.

The former FBI director just called for ANOTHER hit on President Trump. We must get serious about what is going on.”

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