"India An Economic Superpower In The Making": UK PM Keir Starmer

10/09/25 8:51 PM

India is an economic superpower in the making, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday, adding the world's largest democracy is also on track to become its third largest by 2028.

'Dude!' Trump secretary stuns by revealing taxpayer bailout to sway Argentina election

09/24/25 4:57 PM

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted that Donald Trump's administration was trying to help Argentina President Javier Milei maintain power by extending billions of loans to boost that nation's economy.The U.S. will extend a $20 billion swap line to Argentina and may purchase debt from its government to boost the political fortunes for the libertarian Milei, a close ally of Trump, Bessent and other American conservatives, the treasury secretary told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.“I don’t think the market has lost confidence in [Milei],” Bessent said. “I think the market is looking in the rearview mirror and looking at decades — about a century — of terrible Argentinian mismanagement.”Milei is facing growing financial pressure since his party lost a key provincial election earlier this month in a landslide, just weeks ahead of Argentina's Oct. 26 midterm elections, and Bessent told Bartiromo the aid was intended as a political boost."The plan is as long as President Milei continues with his strong economic policies to help him, to bridge him to the election, we are not going to let a disequilibrium in the market cause a backup in his substantial economic reforms," Bessent said.The admission stunned social media users, some of whom wondered why he'd say that out loud."'To bridge him to the election' – dude, you're not supposed to say that part out loud," posted author Rob Tracinski."Scott Bessent links bailout of Argentina to Trump's election interference, even as Argentina poaches U.S. soybean markets," wrote legal expert Marcy Wheeler, linking to her blog post on the topic."Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explicitly states that U.S. intervention in the Argentinian economy is to help Javier Milei in his upcoming election," said political and media researcher Craig Harrington."BESSENT: INVESTMENTS HINGE ON A POSITIVE ELECTION OUTCOME," noted Bluesky user Nacmtrader17. "Vote for our preferred candidate and we will bail you out.""Absolutely NOT!" added Bluesky user Tamela Ehlinger. "None of our tax $$$ go to Argentina for the mad man who tanked their economy & will do the same with a cash infusion Bessent & the orange-tainted howler monkey want to do this to make sure that Milei wins the next election to keep another bastard in power." — (@)

'Everyone else is corrupt': Trump accused of borrowing 'cynical ploy' from Putin playbook

09/26/25 4:23 PM

President Donald Trump has corrupted the Department of Justice to target his political enemies as part of a "cynical ploy" borrowed from Vladimir Putin, according to a former federal prosecutor.A federal grand jury indicted former FBI Director James Comey for making alleged false statements to Congress and obstruction of justice, both based on his denial that he had authorized leaks to the media about the 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails, and former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade published a column for Bloomberg examining the case on its merits."The indictment came a week after Trump posted a demand to Attorney General Pam Bondi to charge Comey and other perceived enemies, calling them 'guilty as hell,'" McQuade wrote. "Perhaps cognizant that the five-year statute of limitations would be expiring within days, Trump added, 'We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.'"That social media post made plain the DOJ was acting on Trump's orders, but he made that even more obvious by replacing the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who questioned the case's strength with a former personal attorney of his who has never prosecuted a single case before presenting the Comey evidence to a grand jury."By directing his DOJ to charge Comey, Trump appears to be borrowing a tactic from the playbook of Vladimir Putin," McQuade wrote. "According to Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser, Putin doesn’t try to convince the Russian people that he is honest. Instead, he works to persuade them that everyone else is corrupt.""It’s a cynical ploy meant to condition people to tolerate corruption," she added. "If voters believe that all public officials are crooks, then they will overlook the crooked leader who professes to share their values."Trump, of course, is the only president who has ever been convicted of a felony – all 34 counts against him in the only criminal case out of four in which he faced trial – and McQuade suspects his vindictive prosecution of Comey, and the others he's threatened, shows he's playing the same game as the Russian president he admires."If Trump can make people believe that indictments like the one targeting Comey are meaningless, then the indictments against him can be dismissed just as easily," McQuade wrote. "Indeed, following the Comey indictment, New York Democratic Representative Dan Goldman said, 'The problem is how are you ever going to know whether an investigation by the FBI, an investigation by the Department of Justice, is legitimate or is corrupt.'""Exactly," she added. "When everyone is corrupt, then no one is."

'First time ever': Trump makes vague comments about 'greatness in the Middle East'

09/28/25 1:03 PM

Donald Trump on Sunday made a vague statement about "greatness in the Middle East."The president took to his own social media site, Truth Social, at a time when Israel and Hamas are continuing to fight over the remaining hostages.Without stating anything specific, Trump wrote, "We have a real chance for GREATNESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST.""ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER," the president then added. "WE WILL GET IT DONE!!! President DJT"Read the post here.

'Give It To Trump: Netanyahu's Last Push For Nobel On Day Of Announcement

10/10/25 12:16 AM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised United States President Donald Trump, saying he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

'He was ranting and raving': Ex-Trump operative blows up president's new 'sleight of hand'

09/24/25 11:52 AM

Donald Trump is pushing "theatrics" on war, but behind the scenes he's ranting about late night TV hosts, according to an ex-operative of the president.Soviet-born Lev Parnas, who worked closely with Rudy Giuliani during Trump's first administration, was purportedly sent to Ukraine to help Trump and Giuliani make contacts there for the purposes of digging up negative info on Hunter Biden. Parnas was later convicted of campaign finance violations, and today reports on Trump from outside the administration.Parnas, who has said he was a "trusted operative" of Trump during the president's first term, wrote a new piece in which he purports to expose lies surrounding Ukraine and Russia. In an article called "Trump’s UN 'Pivot' on Ukraine Is a Lie — and His NATO Answer Proves It," Parnas argued, "The media sees a 180, but when pressed on defending NATO, Trump said only two words: 'It depends.' Empty rhetoric for Ukraine, real danger for the world."He added, "Folks — I want to start bluntly: don’t be fooled by headlines. The media today is spinning Donald Trump’s appearance at the United Nations as some kind of dramatic turnaround — a 'Trump 180' they’re calling it. Suddenly he’s talking about Ukraine taking back their land. Suddenly he’s saying Ukrainian fighters are strong, maybe even capable of winning. Suddenly he’s 'not happy' with Vladimir Putin."That narrative, according to Parnas, doesn't line up with reality."That’s the story they want you to believe. But as I’ve told you over and over again: watch the actions, not the words," he wrote. "At the UN podium, Trump did what he always does — he lashed out at the institution itself. He railed against globalism. He mocked the very leaders sitting before him. He fed his base the red meat of nationalism, of borders, of isolation. It was performance, not policy."Parnas went on to argue that Trump's words to Ukraine were just a "sleight of hand.""And tucked inside the theatrics was a bone tossed to Ukraine. He called them fighters. He said maybe, just maybe, they could win. And the press — desperate for a narrative shift — latched onto it like it was salvation. But let’s pause. Because this isn’t salvation. It’s sleight of hand," the analyst wrote. "What happened after the speech tells you everything. Trump told NATO allies they should shoot down Russian planes or drones violating their airspace. A strong line, right? But when asked if America would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO, his answer wasn’t the obvious 'Of course.' It was two words: 'It depends.'"For Parnas, "it’s all theatrics." Trump's true focus is likely elsewhere, according to the former insider."And my sources are telling me that while Trump was berating the U.N. and putting on his theatrics about Russia and the Ukraine war, behind the scenes he was ranting and raving — pissed off that Jimmy Kimmel is back on the air and didn’t get fired," he wrote.Read the full piece here.

'He's effectively walking away': Analysts skeptical of Trump's 'delusional' Ukraine shift

09/23/25 9:59 PM

President Donald Trump's announcement on Tuesday that Ukraine should "take back their Country in its original form" had some analysts skeptical about the president's true intentions. Trump threw his support behind Ukraine in its war against Russia in a Truth Social post on Tuesday afternoon. He said that Ukraine has shows "Great Spirit" in the war and that the U.S. is prepared to continue supplying Ukraine and NATO with the weapons it needs to fight back against Russia's aggression. "Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act," the post reads in part. "In any event, I wish both Countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them."The announcement marks a significant shift in Trump's policy stance towards Russia's war in Ukraine, according to multiple analysts who responded to Trump's claims on social media. "Lots true in this Trump post, such as on Ukraine’s military again surpassing expectations on the ground and on the severe problems facing Russia’s economy," journalist Alex Wickham posted on X. "But the repeated references to Europe will do little to change the concern among many that he is effectively walking away.""President Trump is delusional. Without stronger US support, which Trump has refused to provide, Ukraine will die a slow death," Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) posted on X. "Make no mistake: Trump is siding with Putin’s dictatorship over Ukraine’s democracy.""I suppose it's an improvement that Trump's rhetoric has moved from siding with Russia to Europe's position of Ukraine winning... while still doing nothing," Garry Kasparov posted on X. "Remember when Trump was "frustrated" with Putin and everyone got excited about a tough new US line? How many times now?""Wish people would stop saying Trump has done a U-turn on Ukraine," journalist Edward Luce posted on X. "He does this every few weeks. Putin then makes a violent point of ignoring him. Trump's alleged change of heart is just a prelude to his next humiliation by Putin.""Nine months in, Trump with a full 180 on Ukraine policy. As of today. Could change," political strategist Ian Bremmer posted on X.

'It's a talent tax': AI CEOs fear demise as they accuse Trump of launching 'labor war'

10/06/25 11:02 AM

Flanked by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted a White House dinner with some of the richest and most powerful leaders of the world’s tech giants.To Fraser Patterson, CEO and founder of Skillit, an AI-powered construction hiring platform, it was no coincidence that after the meeting last month of more than 30 Silicon Valley power players and Trump advisers, the administration unveiled a plan to charge $100,000 one-time application fees for H-1B visas, which tech companies typically use to employ highly skilled foreign workers.“It can appear as though, rather than it being an improvement to immigration policy, it feels a little more like a labor war strategy,” Patterson said.“Isn't one of the great tenets of the American way of life and Constitution the separation of church and state? Wouldn't that extend to business, too, between business and state?”Patterson’s New York-based company employs eight — an infinitesimal fraction of the workforce at giants like Amazon, with more than a million employees and nearly 15,000 H-1B visa holders.“The largest technology companies are going to be able to hoard the best global talent, and I think it's easy to be able to draw a straight line between that and shutting out the smaller startups and the smaller firms that can’t enforce that price tag,” Patterson said. “I think it scales back the competitiveness of the technology industry, broadly speaking.”‘Global war on talent’The Trump administration says the current H-1B visa program allows employers “to hire foreign workers at a significant discount to American workers,” and the program has been “abused.”Last week Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced bipartisan legislation, The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act, to close loopholes in programs they say tech giants have used while laying off Americans.But, Patterson said, limiting H-1B visas will effectively end up “closing the door on skilled workers” and “gift Europe the best possible opportunity to label itself as the tech talent hub. “The general consensus is this is going to narrow the pool,” Patterson said. “There's going to be just fewer nationalities represented, fewer ideas. The U.S. becomes less of a magnet.”Rich Pleeth, CEO and founder of Finmile, an AI-powered logistics and delivery software, agreed that the fee might tilt the scales of tech dominance away from the U.S., where places like San Francisco and New York have long been considered global hubs for innovation.“The global war on talent is real,” Pleeth said. “Europe has a golden opportunity … Canada, Singapore, Berlin, they're all going to benefit.” Rich Pleeth (provided photo)Finmile employs 15 people in the U.K., seven in Romania and two in the U.S.“It's very challenging for smaller companies like us,” Pleeth said. “Talent is everything, and if the U.S. makes it harder to bring in the world's best talent, where do you set up headquarters?”While the Trump administration says the new H1-B fee will help American workers, particularly recent college graduates seeking IT jobs, Patterson said it would have the opposite effect, likely leading to “greater offshoring.”Thanks to Trump’s array of trade tariffs, which he says will bring jobs back to the U.S., many American small businesses are already struggling to survive as they face increased costs.“In reality, it's probably going to lead to labor shortages,” Patterson said. “You can't just turn on a faucet overnight to really highly skilled local workers.”Nicole Whitaker, an immigration attorney in Towson, Md., said the proposed $100,000 fee sends the message to foreign workers seeking job opportunities in the U.S. that "our doors are closed ... find another country.""This is a part of a bigger and broader push by this administration — even if things don't go into effect— to make it look like we are shutting down our borders. We are not open, and we're not welcoming toward immigrants," Whitaker said.‘The next Googles’ Pleeth, a former marketing manager at Google, pointed to tech leaders including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who were born in India but came to the U.S. for college and to work.“If you suddenly make it hard for talented people to come in, the next Googles are not going to be built in the U.S.,” Pleeth said. “Talent is the oxygen for the tech industry. For decades the U.S. had an open pipeline … we don't expect the $100K toll to hit the tech companies who are the ones who can afford it the most.”Skillit currently does not have any employees sponsored through the H-1B visa program but Patterson said he had used it when the fees were more reasonable, around $2,500.Patterson, who was born in Scotland, came to the U.S. on an O-1 visa for foreign workers of “extraordinary talent.” He is now close to becoming a U.S. citizen. Fraser Patterson (provided photo)“Very onerous, nerve-racking, even to get here … but I would say it wasn't disproportional to the value of coming here,” he said.Pleeth wants to move from the U.K. to the U.S. with his wife, two daughters and dog, a process he expects some challenges with but is hopeful will “eventually move forward.”“It's just going to become a lot harder for junior people who can share cultures, can come in with new ideas,” Pleeth said. “It's a talent tax.”

'No sign of Chinese buying': Trump credited for 'devastating' US farmers' soybeans market​

09/24/25 4:03 PM

President Donald Trump's tariffs have decimated U.S. farmers' soybean market and there is "no sign of Chinese buying."The fall harvest has started without any orders from China, the world's biggest buyer, according to a new report published on agriculture.com's Successful Farming.American farmers are reporting record yields for crops this fall but it's unclear who will buy them. The USDA estimates that American farmers are harvesting 4.3 billion bushels, however there is no indication if or when shipments to China will continue. Most years, China buys more than half of U.S. soybean exports — but not this year. Brazil, however, has had record demand from China from January to August 2025 for Brazilian soybeans. And in the new report, experts "consider the possible consequences if a trade deal is not reached this fall.""From the 2017/18 to the 2024/25 crop season, Brazil jumped its soybean production from 4.5 billion bushels to 6.3 billion bushels, according to the National Supply Company (Conab) – Brazil’s food supply and statistics agency."There is speculation that Chinese buyers importing soybeans could be "accelerating shipments to avoid sourcing from the United States."The ongoing trade war between China and the U.S. is testing farmers' faith in the Trump administration. During the first trade war in 2018 during Trump's first term, farmers took a hit and during President Joe Biden's term had begun to recover. Now under Trump's second term, farmers have called for more assistance during the prolonged economic uncertainty. "Some relief might come from federal government payments to producers, as happened during the first round of trade war, but in many cases, that assistance may not be enough to prevent an uptick in financial stress," according to the report.Chinese buyers are expected to continue shifting soybean purchases to other South American countries, including Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. These countries are planning to expand planting acreage for their crops and focusing on planting soon for the 2025 and 2026 crop in the Southern Hemisphere. Critics are pointing to Trump's trade policies as a major disruption to the U.S. agriculture industry. "Until Trump's first term, the US was by far the world's largest exporter of soybeans. Now Brazil dominates," David Frum, writer at The Atlantic, wrote via X."Has Iowa thanked Trump/Vance for devastating their soybeans market?" Former U.S. Representative Barbara Comstock (R-VA) wrote on X.

'Prospects Remote': Experts On Trump Winning Nobel Peace Prize

10/09/25 8:33 PM

US President Donald Trump's bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize has drawn added attention to the annual guessing game over who its next laureate will be.