Biden says Trump ‘willing to sacrifice democracy’ – as Supreme Court to rule on eligibility

Published

1 year ago

January 6, 2024

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President Biden has said Donald Trump is “willing to sacrifice our democracy” to regain power – as the US Supreme Court agreed to look at questions over his eligibility.

Mr Trump is favourite to be his rival again in November’s election.

President Biden attacked his ambitions and motivations, repeatedly referencing the 2021 storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters.

It came as the US Supreme Court agreed to hear Mr Trump‘s appeal over Colorado’s decision to disqualify him from its presidential primary elections.

The state of Maine has also followed suit.

The Supreme Court – which is weighted in his favour – could now make a decision that will settle such eligibility questions.

It indicated a speedy decision, scheduling oral arguments for 8 February, ahead of the Colorado primary on 5 March.

The states excluded him over language in the US Constitution’s 14th amendment that bars people who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office.

A statement by the Trump campaign said it looked forward to a ruling that would “affirm the civil rights of President Trump, and the voting rights of all Americans”.

Speaking in Pennsylvania on Friday, President Biden said the election would be a fight for the country’s soul and “all about whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause”.

“Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot,” he said.

He painted Mr Trump’s re-election campaign as a backward-looking ego-trip and “all about him, not America”.

The Capitol riots, in Washington on 6 January 2021, saw Trump supporters run amok after he made false claims the election had been “stolen”.

Mr Biden called the event one of the “worst derelictions by a president in US history” because Mr Trump did not intervene.

“He told the crowd to fight like hell. And all hell was unleashed,” Mr Biden told supporters near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

“Then as usual he left the dirty work to others. He retreated to the White House.”

“We nearly lost America – lost it all,” Mr Biden added.

Five people died due to the chaos and dozens were injured, as thousands descended on Washington to try to stop the election result being certified.

The ex-president is promising “revenge and retribution” if elected again and his campaign has glorified the riots, said Mr Biden.

He said Mr Trump’s description of his opponents as “vermin” was the “exact same language used in Nazi Germany.

Mr Biden also hit out at Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 result, saying he had lost 60 court cases and “exhausted every legal avenue”.

The former president faces dozens of criminal charges related to his efforts to reverse his election loss.

However, he says top Democrats are themselves trying to subvert democracy by using the legal system to stop his campaign.

Ahead of Mr Biden’s speech, the Trump team put out an ad calling Mr Biden “the true destroyer of democracy” and referencing the special counsel’s investigation into his actions on 6 January.

US

Trump just wants a Ukraine-Russia deal – will Putin or Zelenskyy blink first?

Published

11 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Trump just wants a Ukraine-Russia deal - will Putin or Zelenskyy blink first?

The tone has changed totally. It’s a remarkable turnaround from the Oval Office meltdown to the perfect phone call.

President Trump is wholly transactional. His desire for give and take far outweighs any ideological instincts. He has no particular alignment to Ukraine or, for that matter, to Russia.

He just wants a deal. Peace would stop the killing as he has said repeatedly. It would also allow for deals which can benefit America: recouping the taxpayer money spent on Ukraine and reconnecting the American economy with Russia.

But trumping all that is his legacy and his image. He wants to be seen as the peacemaker president.

Since the Oval Office moment, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy seems now to have recognised all that.

Ukraine’s approach towards Trump has changed. Zelenskyy is now playing his game: transactionalism.

The minerals deal hasn’t dissolved. The indications I am getting is that it’s essentially been upgraded and broadened to a wider scope: fuller economic cooperation.

Zelenskyy needs to encourage America deep into his country economically. Has he bought into the idea that a US economic footprint amounts to a key part of a security guarantee?

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The old adage is: “If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” That’s too true with President Trump.

Zelenskyy now feels like he’s at the table and I am told he doesn’t feel coerced.

The challenges remain huge though: he doesn’t trust Putin. That’s what he tried to tell President Trump in the Oval Office. The performance that day proved to him that Trump is inclined to trust Putin.

Zelenskyy must use transactionalism to draw an impatient Trump in.

President Trump is in a hurry for a deal. He’s inclined to accept wholly disingenuous commitments from Russia, or as one source put it to me: “Trump has a high tolerance for bullshit…”

That’s the jeopardy for Zelenskyy.

US

Trump 100, Day 60: Zelenskyy and the ‘perfect’ phone call

Published

11 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Trump 100, Day 60: Zelenskyy and the 'perfect' phone call

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From an Oval Office explosion to a “perfect phone call”, Donald Trump has spoken to Volodymyr Zelenskyy – just hours after his conversation with Vladimir Putin.

On Day 60, US correspondents James Matthews, Martha Kelner and Mark Stone discuss what’s happened to the minerals deal and ask: could the US take control of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure?

And as a constitutional showdown brews in America, Trump takes aim at the judiciary, calling for judges who block his policies to be removed. With tensions rising between the executive and judicial branches, could America be heading toward a crisis of power?

If you’ve got a question you’d like James, Martha and Mark to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

Help us understand more about our listeners by taking our survey! 👉 This form 👈 should only take a few minutes to complete, and Sky anonymises the responses as much as possible. Thank you.

Don’t forget, you can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

US

Donald Trump has ‘very good’ call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he discusses US ownership of Ukrainian energy plants

Published

20 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Donald Trump has 'very good' call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he discusses US ownership of Ukrainian energy plants

US President Donald Trump has had a “very good” call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House says, during which US ownership of Ukraine’s energy network was discussed to help protect it.

Mr Trump also agreed to “help locate” additional air defence support in Europe after a request from the Ukrainian leader, a statement about the one-hour phone call said.

Further talks will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the coming days, and the US will continue intelligence sharing with Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Mr Trump also agreed to work to ensure missing Ukrainian children are returned home and both parties agreed to a temporary 30-day ceasefire involving attacks against energy facilities, with the US president saying the US “could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise”, Ms Leavitt said.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio also issued a statement about the call saying that “President Trump also discussed Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants.

“He said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”

The White House statement added that Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy also reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely.

The presidents instructed their teams to move ahead with the details of implementing a partial ceasefire, with discussions to include expanding any ceasefire to the Black Sea.

Could US nuclear power takeover replace the minerals deal?

By David Blevins, Sky correspondent, in Washington DC

The readout of the call from President Zelenskyy was conciliatory, repeatedly thanking Donald Trump for military support and for his peace efforts.

In agreeing to a partial ceasefire, he held out the prospect of US investment in Ukrainian power – perhaps deeming that more of a security guarantee than the minerals deal.

“American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” the Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz readout of Trump-Zelenskyy call said.

Trump agreed to continue sharing intelligence but when Zelenskyy asked for additional air defence, he said he’d see what was available in Europe.

That’s a vague response from the US president as he seeks to keep both Ukraine and Putin on board.

Those ambiguous words and the change in tone are both indicative of the sensitive point they’ve reached days before fresh negotiations in Saudi Arabia.

“We have never been closer to peace,” Ms Leavitt added.

In comments later on Wednesday, Mr Zelenskyy said that Mr Trump understands that Ukraine will not recognise occupied land as Russian, and that he would like the US president to visit Ukraine – adding that “it would be helpful for Trump in his peace efforts”.

In an earlier statement, President Zelenskyy said the two leaders had “a positive, very substantive and frank conversation”.

Mr Zelenskyy echoed much of Mr Trump’s statement about what was decided, and said later that he “felt no pressure” from the US president.

“We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace. We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” Mr Zelenskyy said

He added that Ukraine would “continue working to make this happen”.

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“I stressed that Ukrainians want peace, which is why Ukraine accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,” he said. “I highlighted the importance of President Trump’s concept of peace through strength. We agreed to maintain constant contact, including at the highest level and through our teams.”

In an earlier post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said the “very good” phone call lasted around one hour.

“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” Mr Trump said.

“We are very much on track,” he added.

The call marks the first time Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy have spoken since the disastrous confrontation in the White House last month.

Mr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington expecting to sign a critical minerals deal but left early after he and Trump clashed in front of the world’s cameras.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin held a phone call lasting about an hour and a half in which the Russian leader rejected a full 30-day ceasefire.

He agreed to not attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days. The two countries also swapped 175 prisoners each earlier this morning.