Donald Trump has hinted he could walk away from supporting Ukraine as he doubled down on his administration’s recent criticism of Europe, describing it as “weak” and “decaying” and claiming it was “destroying itself” through immigration.
In a rambling and sometimes incoherent interview with Politico, a transcript of which was released on Tuesday, the US president struggled to name any other Ukrainian cities except for Kyiv, misrepresented elements of the trajectory of the conflict, and recycled far-right tropes about European immigration that echoed the “great replacement” conspiracy theory.
Trump called for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to accept his proposal to cede territory to Russia, arguing that Moscow retained the “upper hand” and that Zelenskyy’s government must “play ball”.
Trump lambasts ‘weak’ and ‘decaying’ Europe
The US president repeatedly described what he said were Europe’s problems in entirely racial terms, calling some unnamed European leaders “real stupid”.
“If it keeps going the way it’s going, Europe will not be … in my opinion … many of those countries will not be viable countries any longer. Their immigration policy is a disaster. What they’re doing with immigration is a disaster. We had a disaster coming, but I was able to stop it.”
Trump rails on affordability ‘hoax’ and immigrants in rally-style speech
Donald Trump has sought to reboot his ailing presidency at a rally-style event with a blitz of false claims about the economy and xenophobic attacks on immigrants and “shithole countries”. In the wake of criticism that he is out of touch with America’s affordability crisis, Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania was billed as an opportunity to reclaim the economic narrative.
Trump had two mortgages he claimed were primary dwellings, records show
Donald Trump signed mortgage documents in the 1990s claiming two separate Florida properties would each serve as his principal residence – the same thing his administration is calling “mortgage fraud” when done by political rivals, records show.
ProPublica unearthed documents demonstrating that within seven weeks of each other in late 1993 and early 1994, the president obtained loans for neighboring Palm Beach homes, pledging each would be his primary dwelling. Instead of living in them, though, he rented both out as investment properties.
Tufts student can resume research after Trump officials revoked her visa, judge rules
A federal judge has allowed a Tufts University student from Turkey to resume research and teaching while she deals with the consequences of having her visa revoked by the Trump administration, leading to six weeks of detention.
Rümeysa Öztürk, a PhD student studying children’s relationship to social media, was among the first people arrested as the Trump administration began targeting foreign-born students and activists involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy. She had co-authored an op-ed criticizing her university’s response to Israel and the war in Gaza.
Justice department can release Ghislaine Maxwell court materials, judge says
Judge Paul A Engelmayer ruled after the justice department in November asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein’s cases, along with investigative materials that could amount to hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents.
Gianni Infantino accused of breaking Fifa rules with Trump’s peace prize
The Fifa president has been accused of breaching his organisation’s rules on political neutrality in relation to United States president Donald Trump.
Infantino and Trump have formed a close bond in recent years, with the US one of the co-hosts for next year’s men’s World Cup. Infantino even presented Trump with the inaugural Fifa peace prize at last Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington DC.
Catching up? Here’s what happened Monday, 8 December.