Robert De Niro calls Donald Trump a ‘monster’ outside New York hush money trial

Published

6 months ago

May 30, 2024

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Robert De Niro has told Sky News that Donald Trump “should not be allowed” to be president of the United States again after turning up outside his criminal hush money trial in New York.

The Oscar-winning actor branded the former president a “monster” as he spoke outside the court in Lower Manhattan, accusing Mr Trump of wanting to destroy the city and the country.

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He was joined by two former police officers who were at the Capitol riots on January 6 2021 as he appeared outside the courthouse on behalf of President Joe Biden’s campaign team, which has largely ignored Mr Trump’s legal battles thus far.

A top President Biden campaign adviser said they were not there to talk about the trial – and De Niro and the officers did not reference the criminal case directly.

“We’re not here today because of what’s going on over there,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler told reporters, gesturing towards the courthouse.

“We’re here today because you all are here.”

The court is hearing the closing arguments in the case where the former president is accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to the adult actress Stormy Daniels.

‘Trump’s a monster’ – De Niro

Speaking to Sky News, De Niro said: “You know my view of Donald Trump, he’s a monster.

“He should not be allowed… listen – he cannot be president of the United States again, never, ever.

“People know that, and many people know that and are afraid to say something, but people have to speak up now and say, and acknowledge to themselves that he’s a monster, and they might be afraid, but they’ve got to speak up.

“This is the moment of truth for this country. Period.”

Asked what his fear was surrounding the upcoming verdict in the hush money trial, he added: “If it’s a hung jury or whatever it is, he’ll use it with his big mouth. He’ll use it and say a bunch of stuff as usual, and the people like the ones behind us yelling [pro-Trump protesters], they’ll go ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’.

“But the fact is whether he is acquitted, whether it’s a hung jury, whatever, he is guilty and we all know that.

“I have never seen a guy get out of so many legal situations, and we all know this, get out when he shouldn’t have.”

As he left the scene, the 80-year-old, famed for his roles in Goodfellas and The Godfather, accused a crowd of Trump supporters who had gathered of being “gangsters” before getting into a car.

However, Mr Trump’s team argued in a duelling press conference that the presence of the Taxi Driver star validated the Republican’s claim that his prosecutions are political.

Mr Trump’s senior campaign adviser, Jason Miller, called De Niro – who won Oscars for his roles in The Godfather: Part II and Raging Bull – “a washed-up actor” and said the pro-Biden news conference proved Trump’s arguments that the trial, like the others the former president is facing, was motivated by politics.

“After months of saying politics had nothing to do with this trial, they showed up and made a campaign event out of a Lower Manhattan trial day for President Trump,” Mr Miller said.

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, called the Biden campaign “desperate and failing” and “pathetic” and said its event outside the trial was “a full-blown concession that this trial is a witch hunt that comes from the top”.

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Five things to expect from White House meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

Published

7 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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Five things to expect from White House meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

President Joe Biden has invited Donald Trump for a meeting at the White House today.

This is what we expect is likely to happen.

Guest List

The meeting takes place at 11am local time (4pm UK time). It’s unclear whether they’ll be joined by anyone else for the “meet and greet”.

The final plans are still fluid but, as of last night, vice president Kamala Harris wasn’t expected to attend and JD Vance, the vice president-elect, hadn’t received an invitation from her.

The future first lady, Melania Trump, has been invited to accompany her husband on the visit but it’s thought unlikely she will attend. She did make the visit in 2016 and had tea in the Yellow Oval Room with the then first lady Michelle Obama.

It’s unclear whether the current first lady, Dr Jill Biden, will participate, although she is scheduled to be at the White House.

Enemies Reunited

The Oval Office meeting will be the first between Mr Biden and Mr Trump since the pair shared a TV debate stage in Atlanta last June. It was the night Mr Biden’s gaffes cost him the candidacy.

On that occasion, there was no handshake between the two old enemies and the mood darkened as the verbal sparring began.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” said Mr Trump. “I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

Mr Biden said of Mr Trump: “You’re the sucker, you’re the loser.”

It was the language of loathing that has long characterised the pair’s interactions. In the past, Mr Biden has called Mr Trump a “threat to this nation”, and Mr Trump has called Mr Biden “stupid”, and a “low-IQ individual”.

And remember, Mr Trump has threatened to pursue retribution against Mr Biden, stating he would hire a “real special prosecutor” to go after him.

On this historic occasion, expect the coldest handshake in American history.

Precedent

Former president Barack Obama invited then president-elect Trump to meet at the White House two days after the 2016 election.

The sit-down in the Oval Office lasted approximately 90 minutes and Mr Obama called it “an excellent conversation” that was “wide-ranging”.

Then vice-president Biden met with then VP-elect Mike Pence during that time as well.

Six days later, the Bidens hosted the Pences at their home.

Mr Trump did not invite Mr Biden for a 2020 visit to the White House, while refusing to concede the election.

In snubbing Mr Biden, Mr Trump bucked a presidential tradition that had gone back decades.

Former president George W Bush hosted Mr Obama in 2008 and Laura Bush hosted Michelle Obama, while former president Bill Clinton hosted Mr Bush in 2000.

What will Mr Biden and Mr Trump discuss?

There is no published agenda but there’s every chance we’ll hear it first hand from either, or both. TV cameras will film the event and both men will have the opportunity to take questions.

Following his 2016 meeting with Mr Trump, then president Barack Obama said: “We talked about some of the organisational issues in setting up the White House. We talked about foreign policy.

“We talked about domestic policy and, as I said last night, my number-one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful.”

It is a familiarisation meeting, as much as anything else. Senior staffers, on both sides, will also meet their counterparts.

What’s in it for them?

For both men, this meeting symbolises an orderly transition of power.

Presidents, outgoing and incoming, working for the good of the country. It works for Mr Trump because why wouldn’t it? He won decisively and will survey the spoils.

It works for Mr Biden because a peaceful transition represents everything that, for him, Mr Trump doesn’t: respect for the office, respect for the people and respect for democracy.

As much as this meeting is wrapped up in the politeness of protocol, it has hard politics at its heart.

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Donald Trump confirms Elon Musk will co-lead new department of government efficiency

Published

10 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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Donald Trump confirms Elon Musk will co-lead new department of government efficiency

Donald Trump has confirmed Elon Musk will co-lead the new department of government efficiency.

The president-elect said on Tuesday that the Tesla and X owner – who is also the world’s richest man – will work with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the department, which is known as DOGE for short.

The appointment fulfils a promise Mr Trump made to the tech billionaire after he endorsed him in the race for the White House, and poured more than $119m (£92m) canvassing for him in the seven battleground states.

In a statement, the president-elect said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Despite its name, the DOGE is not a government agency and is instead set to provide “advice and guidance” from the outside of government.

The statement released by Mr Trump said it will partner with the office of management and budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before”.

This will likely mean both Mr Musk and biotech entrepreneur Mr Ramaswamy will be allowed to continue working in the private sector and serve without Senate approval, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported, as they would technically not be federal workers.

Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work.

After being elected president in 2016, Mr Trump handed over control of his business empire to his sons in order to try and avoid a conflict of interest. The move was later criticised by the director of the office of government ethics that it did not go far enough and Mr Trump “still [knew] what he owned”.

‘More efficiency and less bureaucracy’

A deadline of 4 July 2026 has been put in place for the new DOGE to conclude its work.

The DOGE acronym coincides with a popular meme and the name of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin that Mr Musk promotes.

Mr Trump added: “A smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!”

Mr Musk said in the statement that the department will “send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste”.

The billionaire has said in the past he wants to cut $2trn from the federal budget but has provided few details on what he would cut.

Meanwhile, Mr Ramaswamy, who threw his support behind Mr Trump after suspending his own bid for the presidency in January, previously called for mass lay-offs in federal agencies.

The union representing federal workers said in a statement on Tuesday that if the DOGE implements these recommendations, or ones similar, it would “mean massive cuts” to multiple departments.

In a string of picks for his second administration, Mr Trump also named Fox New host and army veteran Pete Hegseth as defence secretary and said he would nominate former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to be director of the CIA.

Earlier this week, the president-elect named Susie Wiles – who ran his 2024 presidential campaign – as his White House chief of staff, the first woman in history to take up one of the most important non-elected roles in Washington.

Florida senator Marco Rubio is reported to be named as secretary of state, who serves as the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser and the country’s top diplomat.

If chosen, Mr Rubio would be first Latino member of the president-elect’s top team, but Mr Trump could still change his mind on the appointment.

Below is a list of all the appointments Mr Trump has made for his administration so far:

• Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff
• Pete Hegseth, secretary of defence
• Mike Waltz, national security adviser
• Tom Homan, “border czar”
• Elise Stefanik, United Nations ambassador
• Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy
• Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency
• Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel
• Steven Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East
• John Ratcliffe, CIA director
• William McGinley, White House counsel
• Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security.

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Pentagon leaker sentenced to 15 years in jail after sharing military secrets online

Published

12 hours ago

November 12, 2024

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Pentagon leaker sentenced to 15 years in jail after sharing military secrets online

A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who leaked classified Pentagon information has been jailed for 15 years.

Jack Teixeira shared documents that contained information about the war in Ukraine on the messaging platform Discord.

The leak exposed information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Kyiv’s soldiers.

He began sharing the documents in 2022, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported, and had held top-secret security clearance since the year before.

Teixeira pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of wilful retention and transmission of national defence information following his arrest in the most consequential national security case in years.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, he showed no visible reaction as he was sentenced by US district judge Indira Talwani.

Before being sentenced, he apologised for his actions, saying: “I wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harm that I brought and caused.”

He referenced the “maelstrom” he created and added: “I understand all the responsibility and consequences fall upon my shoulders alone and accept whatever that will bring.”

Afterwards, Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, hugged one of his lawyers and looked toward his family and smiled, before being led away.

The security breach raised alarm over America’s ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets and left the Biden administration scrambling to try to contain the fallout.

The leaks were also embarrassing for the Pentagon which tightened controls and disciplined members who failed to take necessary action over the 22-year-old’s suspicious behaviour.

Assistant US attorney Jared Dolan said Teixeira’s sentencing would “be a cautionary tale for the men and women in the US military”.

Teixeira’s own lawyers said that while his actions were criminal, they were never intended to “harm the United States”.

“Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” the lawyers claimed.

Prosecutors in court said he tried to cover his tracks as they found a smashed tablet, laptop and Xbox in a rubbish bin at his house.

Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cyber transport systems specialist – an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.