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Donald Trump’s first 100 days back in the US presidency have showcased his unique ability to shock — and sometimes entertain — with outrageous remarks that pull no punches.From stroking his own ego to berating American allies, here are some of Trump’s most memorable quotes since he returned to the White House:– “I was saved by God to make America great again”Trump cast himself as a messianic-like figure on his first day back in office, as he recounted to US lawmakers how he survived an assassination attempt at a campaign event in Pennsylvania last year.– “A Dictator without Elections”The president’s extraordinary verdict on Volodymyr Zelensky marked a major shift in previously friendly US relations toward the Ukrainian leader, who accused Trump of succumbing to Russian “disinformation.” Trump later walked back the comment made in February on his Truth Social platform, asking a journalist, “Did I say that?”– “These countries are calling us up, kissing my ass”This mocking remark about world leaders made at a Republican conference in April came as countries desperately sought to temper Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which upended global markets before he announced a 90-day pause.– “The Riviera of the Middle East”Trump’s startling vision for a US-led takeover and transformation of war-torn Gaza into a luxury resort drew audible gasps at a February news conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.– “Canada should become our Cherished 51st State”America’s northern neighbor was furious about this Truth Social post by Trump in February, which sparked real concerns among some Canadians of a looming US annexation attempt.– “The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States”Trump set the tone for hostile trade relations with the EU at his first cabinet meeting in February, reversing course on a decades-long record of US backing for the 27-nation economic and political bloc. — “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED”Trump, the first convicted felon to be elected president, drew a rare public rebuke from the Supreme Court chief justice after he called for the impeachment of Judge James Boasberg in a Truth Social post in March.Boasberg was one of several judges to curtail Trump’s executive power — in this case over migrant deportation flights — due to concerns about the legality of his administration’s actions.

Josh Staph fears the fun-packed shelves of his toy warehouse might start looking joyless in the months ahead, with made-in-China flying discs and model gliders grounded -– like much of his product line –- by Donald Trump’s tariffs.”Things have ground to a halt,” said Staph, chief executive of Duncan Toys Company, which has a warehouse in Indiana. With his products now facing a steep 145 percent levy, “we stopped shipping goods into the US,” he added.Nearly 100 days into President Donald Trump’s White House return, US businesses are scrambling to adjust to fast-changing trade policies.The $40 billion toy industry, which heavily relies on production in China, is hard hit, companies tell AFP.Of over $17 billion worth of toys imported to the US last year, more than $13 billion came from China.Duncan’s entire product range is designed and developed in the United States, Staph said, but Chinese factories make almost all the toys.Firms there have developed specialized abilities to produce intricate parts for items like its best-selling yo-yos.Most American toy companies have halted shipments since Trump imposed new tariffs on many products from China this year, Staph said.The move raised the duty that US firms pay when they import any Chinese-made toys — from plushies to action figures — from zero to 145 percent, more than doubling import costs.”It’s pretty debilitating,” Staph added. “As a business leader, after 100 days of the administration, I’d say that the most challenging part is the uncertainty.” “It’s tough to build any sort of strategy and go for a plan when we know that things are changing almost on a daily basis.”- ‘Tariff surcharges’ -Rita Pin Ahrens, who runs three toy stores including one in Washington, started receiving “tariff surcharges” of 15 percent to 25 percent in March. She expects them to mount to 145 percent.Many of the thousands of toys she sells are either imported from places like China, or are partially made in the world’s second biggest economy.Still, she said: “We’re trying to minimize the cost to our consumers.”This has meant holding off purchases that become too pricey or stocking up before tariffs kicked in. And shipment delays have already begun.”It has been a complete nightmare,” she said. “I am really, truly worried about whether we can actually sustain the store.”Many US brands are small businesses with limited cashflow, said Greg Ahearn, chief executive of industry group The Toy Association.They struggle to pay sudden tariffs on containers of toys that may have already been manufactured.Meanwhile, “production of toys has all but stopped in China,” he said.- ‘Difficult Christmas’ -Staph of Duncan Toys said inventory to supply US retailers like Target and Walmart through year-end holidays has not entered the country yet.Typically, toys produced in spring arrive over the summer for shipping in the fall as stores prepare for the holiday shopping boom, with around 90 percent of stock coming from overseas.”If this isn’t cleared up in 30 to 60 days, it’s going to be a really difficult Christmas season with empty shelves in a lot of major retailers,” Staph warned.And if tariffs remain in force, “the pricing of those toys that are even available will probably be twice, if not more, the price they were last year,” said Ahearn of The Toy Association.While the United States makes some toys, many products require hand labor and it will take years to grow the US manufacturing base, Ahearn believes.The injection molding process used to produce many items requires extremely large, heavy tools that cannot be moved and must be installed from scratch.Companies were ready to work around Trump’s 10 percent additional tariff on Chinese imports, imposed in February over China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain.But in March, Trump raised the level to 20 percent. In April, the figure exploded to 145 percent.Staph hopes the toy industry can gain exemptions, noting that Trump has begun targeting specific industries.”Toys are important for children’s development,” Ahrens said, noting that toys were excluded from tariffs during Trump’s first administration.”I really urge the president to do that again.”

A businessman and television personality long before he turned politician, US President Donald Trump has shattered the mould of how White House leaders typically act — and talk.On stage he often appears to be shooting from the hip, with his meandering digressions, catchphrases, blunt insults and constant use of superlatives.But what stands out from a closer look at Trump’s distinctive rhetoric style? As he reaches the first 100 days of his second term, here is a roundup of findings from an AFP analysis of 433 hours of Trump’s public speaking.These are compared with millions of sentences of conversations and speeches from average Americans transcribed by the collaborative project American National Corpus.- Winners and losers -Competition-related rhetoric dominates, with the world frequently divided between “winners” and “losers”,  “us” and “them”, those who are “very interesting” and those who are “pathetic”. The data shows that competition-related words are 5.4 times more present than in the speech of regular Americans.Trump also uses superlative adjectives twice as much as average, and superlative adverbs 3.6 times more than average.Descriptions of others are rarely neutral in Trump speak. They are rather depicted as enemies or insulted as animals or pollutants, often through schoolyard-type nicknames like “Sleepy Joe” Biden or “Crazy Kamala” Harris.The demonizing simplifies issues — or oversimplifies — on purpose.”Mapping politics onto warlike competition results in a problematic reduction in complexity,” wrote linguist Anthony Koth from the Rice University, in his contribution to the 2022 book “Linguistic Inquiries into Donald Trump’s Language.” Rules, referees, and opponents become “one and the same: the enemy or opposing force whose objective is to deny Trump”.Linguist Ulrike Schneider from the University of Mainz pointed to Trump’s recent rhetoric on global tariffs.Politics and the economy are a zero-sum game, “where one’s perceived losses come about because of another’s perceived illegitimate gain,” he told AFP.- Trump as exceptional -Trump seeks to appeal to the common American while simultaneously emphasizing a vision of himself as an exceptional figure.”I think that’s what (his) language does, he performs being ordinary and he performs being extraordinary: strong and clear in his vision,” said Schneider.”You need to be perceived as the guy next door. But at the same time you also need to prove that you’re this kind of messiah, this leader figure”, said Schneider.Trump uses a superlative every 19 adjectives — twice as often as the average American (every 41 adjectives).Among his favourites is “greatest.” He insists he is there to beat records, his pledges and actions are “never seen”, “never happened”, “like never”, preferably “in the history of our country”.The data finds that Trump says “in the history of our country” on average every five minutes.- Businessman banter -Before the White House Trump was a property developer and TV star on “The Apprentice,” where he played a successful tycoon. He continues to talk in the same style, with repetitive, short sentences — two words shorter than the standard — and relentlessly self-promoting.One of his most unusual traits is to refer to himself in the third person: Trump says the word “Trump” every six minutes.For example, take the president’s performance at an Oval Office meeting this April where he signed a decree ending protections for a large swath of ocean. At the ceremony, he boasted that he had previously ended the protections during his first term, only for his successor, Biden, to return the area to a no-fishing zone.”I did it last time. And they undid it. That’s why we have to stay president for a long time,” Trump said, referring to himself as “we.”

As he marks 100 days in office, much ink will be spilt on Donald Trump’s divisive transformation of the US government, but Democrats are themelves under scrutiny over missteps in opposing his blitz of reforms.In AFP interviews, multiple political analysts said Democrats have become a rudderless, divided party struggling to decide what it stands for.”If I were giving them a letter grade, it would be a C-, below average. They don’t understand yet why they lost to Donald Trump,” said veteran political strategist Matt Klink.”The party continues to focus on issues that are unpopular with the American public — men playing in women’s sports, support for illegal immigration and fighting cuts, any cuts, to the federal bureaucracy.”What’s more, “most voters (are) not listening or caring” to Democrats’ allegations that Trump is a dictator or authoritarian, Klink said.Booted out of the White House and reduced to a minority in Congress, Democrats’ opportunities to make their mark in Trump’s Washington are threadbare. But most analysts interviewed by AFP said the party could have better articulated a coherent message, unified around priorities and tactics and figured out how and when to oppose Trump. “Broadly speaking, I think most Americans would regard congressional Democrats as failing to meet the moment,” said Flavio Hickel, a politics professor at Washington College.Central to the frustration is the disconnect between their dire warnings of the threat Trump poses to democracy and their enthusiasm for being seen cooperating with his administration. In a whirlwind first three months in office, Trump has unleashed a trade war, stoked allies’ fears America has switched sides in the Russia-Ukraine war and unleashed tech billionaire Elon Musk to dismantle much of the federal bureaucracy.Meanwhile Democratic senators have voted to confirm Trump cabinet appointees, doing little to slow down his breakneck agenda and even voting with Republicans to pass immigration legislation.- Resistance -“We’re not going to go after every single issue,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told the New York Times in February. “We are picking the most important fights and lying down on the train tracks on those fights.”But Schumer — and potential 2028 presidential contenders like governors Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer — have infuriated grassroots activists over various efforts to cooperate with the White House or build bridges with Trump’s “MAGA” movement.Meanwhile Democratic lawmakers have been mocked on social media for ineffective gestures such as silently waving paddles bearing protest slogans during Trump’s speech to Congress.Rare glimpses of a fightback have included victory in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, and a hugely popular “Fighting Oligarchy” tour by progressive lawmakers Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.Popular New Jersey senator Cory Booker provided a possible roadmap for eyecatching opposition, say analysts, with a blockbuster 25-hour Senate speech that made headlines for days. But Madeline Summerville, a former communications advisor and speechwriter for Democratic state senators, said Booker’s actual message had been lost in the noise.”The Dems struggle with messaging. They don’t understand that you need a rallying cry — a slogan — to motivate the masses. And that slogan needs to be clear, concise and inspiring,” she said.”They’re calling on people to ‘fight oligarchy’ but they’re not telling us how — nor is that a very catchy slogan.”Andrew Koneschusky, a former communications aide to Schumer, said that he would give Democrats in Congress a D grade, noting that while individual lawmakers were making a splash, “no one seems to be conducting the orchestra.”But he was more optimistic about grassroots opposition, which he awarded a B grade, pointing to lawsuits that have had some success in reining Trump in.”After a deafening silence, we’re also seeing more visible signs of resistance such as the recent marches in Washington DC and across the country that drew hundreds of thousands of people,” he said.”It feels like Democrats are finally emerging from their post-election funk.”

JD Vance has taken the historically thankless job of US vice president by the scruff of the neck, carving out a role as the Trump administration’s global attack dog in its first 100 days.Whereas some of his predecessors have waited out their time a heartbeat away from the presidency, the ambitious 40-year-old has not been afraid to insert himself into world events.Vance exploded onto the world’s television screens in February when he triggered a blazing row with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, before President Donald Trump jumped in to berate the Ukrainian president too.And it was the former Ohio senator that Trump dispatched to Greenland to back up his extraordinary territorial claims over the Danish-ruled island.Beijing also lashed out at him for saying Washington borrowed money from Chinese “peasants.””In some ways, Vance is in the mold of other vice presidents. He’s unfailingly loyal to the president, knows not to overshadow the boss, and acts as an attack dog,” said Matt Dallek, a professor of political management at George Washington University.But Vance has also made “in-your-face comments that represent something of a departure from his predecessors.”- ‘Disrespectful’ -Nobody quite knew which version of Vance to expect when he started the job.Was he the Vance from his bestselling 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” widely viewed as an explainer for the right-wing Rust Belt politics that helped drive Trump’s first election win? Was he the US Marine veteran, the Yale-trained lawyer, the devout Catholic convert, or the tech investor who came later? Or was he indeed the Trump critic who once compared the Republican to Adolf Hitler?But within weeks of taking office it was clear Vance had reinvented himself again — as the ultimate “Make America Great Again” enforcer on the world stage.During his first big foreign trip he launched a withering attack against Europe on culture war issues at the Munich Security Conference, warning there was a “new sheriff in town.”Then in February he proved his fealty to Trump with the Zelensky clash.”Have you said ‘thank you’ once, this entire meeting?” Vance said to Zelensky, calling the Ukrainian leader “disrespectful” before Trump took over.Vance later insisted he had not been the “bad cop” in a premeditated row. – ‘Very lonely’ -But the Zelensky clash reflected Vance’s growing ideological clout in the Trump administration. He has long been hawkishly skeptical on US aid for Ukraine while pushing for Europe to do more for its own defense.Commentators have described him as the most influential vice president since Dick Cheney, who under George W. Bush championed the war in Iraq, where Vance was once deployed.Vance’s key role in the administration burst into the open with the “Signalgate” scandal, when a journalist was mistakenly looped into a group chat about US airstrikes on Yemen’s Huthi rebels.”I just hate bailing out Europe again,” Vance lamented, saying that it was the EU that would benefit most from US military action to stop Huthi attacks on shipping in the Middle East.Then Vance became the frontman for Trump’s claims over Greenland, making a visit that NATO ally Denmark condemned as provocative.”We can’t just ignore the president’s desires,” Vance said during his trip.The world got a rare glimpse during the visit of Usha Vance, his wife and mother of their three children, whom he has credited as steadying influence.Usha Vance admitted in a recent interview that it could be a “very lonely, lonely world” for her husband in his new role.That role is also seen as a natural stepping stone for the highest US office.Vance himself has admitted that he could run for president in the 2028 election, but only after consulting with Trump.Trump however has declined to endorse him just yet — amid speculation that the incumbent could himself somehow defy the US Constitution and run for a third term.”No,” Trump told Fox News’s Bret Baier in February when asked if he viewed Vance as his successor. “But he’s very capable.”

With Donald Trump back in the White House you never know what you’re going to get. Will he berate a foreign leader? Rock the global markets? Take vengeance against his foes?But there has been one constant behind the chaos of his first 100 days — Trump is pushing US presidential power to almost imperial limits.”I think the second term is just more powerful,” the 78-year-old Republican said during a recent event. “They do it — when I say do it, they do it, right?”Trump has been driven by a sense of grievance left over from an undisciplined first term that ended in the shame of the 2021 US Capitol riots after his election defeat to Joe Biden.And while Trump freed hundreds of those attackers from jail on his first day back in office, he is taking no prisoners when it comes to consolidating the power of the White House.”Trump 2.0 is far more authoritarian-minded and authoritarian in its actions than Trump 1.0,” political historian Matt Dallek of George Washington University told AFP.Trump has also stepped up the sense of an endless reality show in which he is the star, as he signs executive orders and takes questions from reporters in the Oval Office almost daily.That slew of orders has unleashed an unprecedented assault on the cornerstones of American democracy — and on the world order.”We have seen certainly not in modern times such a sustained attack to unwind constitutional safeguards,” added Dallek.- ‘Brazen’ -Controversially aided by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, Trump has launched a drive to gut a federal government he regards as part of a liberal “deep state.”He has invoked a centuries-old wartime act to deport migrants to a mega prison in El Salvador — while warning that US citizens could be next.He has dug in for a confrontation with judges, and forced a string of punishing deals on law firms involved in previous criminal or civil cases against him.He has cracked down on the media — which he still dubs the “enemy of the people” — and limited access to news outlets covering him at the White House.And he has launched an ideological purge, cutting diversity programs, targeting universities and even installing himself as head of a prestigious arts center.The US Congress, which is meant to have ultimate control over the government’s purse strings, has been sidelined. Republicans have abetted his power grab while crushed Democrats have struggled to muster a response.”We are all afraid,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said recently.”The president appears indifferent to formal — even constitutional — checks on his power,” added Barbara Trish, professor of political science at Grinnell College.On the foreign stage Trump has made territorial claims over Greenland, Panama and Canada — asserting a sphere of influence that echoes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist bent.Trump is meanwhile backed by a court of true believers. Aides with often fringe views, like vaccine-skeptic health secretary Robert Kennedy, take turns to praise him at cabinet meetings.”Compared to the first term, the president has completely surrounded himself with aides who not only facilitate, but in some cases catalyze, his brazen power moves,” added Trish.- ‘Instinctively’ -But Trump’s comeback has highlighted some familiar themes.Trump is closing out his first three months with approval ratings well below all other post-World War II presidents — except for himself, in his first term, according to Gallup.And there are signs of the same volatile leader the world saw from 2017 to 2021.Trump’s wild televised meltdown in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — abetted by hawkish Vice President JD Vance — deeply alarmed allies who were already unnerved by his pivot to Russia.Then there was his introduction of sweeping global tariffs — only to reverse many of them after tanking global markets proved to be the only real check on his power.When asked how he had reached one of his tariff decisions Trump replied: “Just instinctively.” The question now is whether Trump — who at one point referred to himself as “THE KING” on his Truth Social platform — will be willing to give up power.Trump recently said that when he repeatedly mentioned a Constitution-defying third term he was “not joking.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared information on forthcoming US air strikes on Yemen in a private Signal chat group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, the New York Times reported on Sunday.AFP was not able to independently verify the Times’ report, which detailed what would be the second time Hegseth has been accused of sharing sensitive military information on the commercial messaging app with unauthorized personnel.Last month, The Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently included in a Signal chat in which officials including Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz discussed the strikes, which took place on March 15.The revelation sparked an uproar, with US President Donald Trump’s administration facing a scandal over the accidental leak. A Pentagon Inspector-General’s probe into that leak is ongoing. On Sunday, the Times reported that Hegseth had shared information on the same March 15 strikes with the second Signal group chat.The information shared “included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen,” the newspaper reported.The outlet said that unlike the accidental leak where journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included in the group, this group chat was created by Hegseth. The other chat was initiated by Waltz.”It included his wife and about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle in January, before his confirmation as defense secretary,” the Times’ reported, citing unnamed sources.Hegseth’s wife Jennifer is a journalist and former Fox News producer. The group also included his brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, both of whom serve in roles at the Pentagon.Parlatore also continues to serve as Hegseth’s personal lawyer, the Times reported.The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.- ‘Unconscionable’ -Trump largely pinned the blame for the earlier leak on Waltz, but has dismissed calls to fire top officials and insisted instead on what he called the success of the raids on the Yemeni rebels.This week, three top Pentagon officials were put on leave pending investigations into unspecified leaks in the Defense Department. Deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, senior advisor Dan Caldwell and Colin Carroll hit back on Sunday, releasing a statement saying Pentagon officials had “slandered our character with baseless attacks.””At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with,” they said in a joint statement posted on social media.”While this experience has been unconscionable, we remain supportive of the Trump-Vance Administration’s mission to make the Pentagon great again and achieve peace through strength.”

El Salvador’s top Catholic leader on Sunday urged President Nayib Bukele not to turn the country into a Guantanamo-style US prison, after Bukele made a deal with Washington to house deported migrants from the United States in a notorious jail.”We ask that our authorities not allow our country to become a big international prison,” Jose Luis Escobar, the archbishop of San Salvador, told reporters. Bukele’s visit Monday to the White House confirmed his growing alliance with like-minded US President Donald Trump. The Salvadoran leader has agreed to imprison hundreds of migrants, many of them Venezuelans, expelled by the United States. They are being held in an enormous mega-prison where rights groups have decried conditions as inhumane. Trump has invoked the little-known Alien Enemies Act of 1798, previously used only in times of war, as he moves to expel migrants who he says are mostly violent criminals.Families and lawyers of many of those expelled under the crackdown dispute that characterization, with some saying their family members were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.Escobar mentioned recent opinion articles warning that “El Salvador could become a new Guantanamo” — the sprawling Cuban territory leased by the United States to serve as a naval base. In recent decades it has seen use by Washington as a prison for detainees accused of terrorism but held without trial and for expelled migrants.Bukele has said he is eager to help with Trump’s effort to drastically reduce the number of undocumented migrants in the United States.But Escobar warned that El Salvador “could become a prison where the United States could send prisoners at a lower cost than what they spend in Guantanamo.””We ask the government not to allow it,” he added.Several of those expelled to El Salvador were first jailed in Guantanamo.

The clash over President Donald Trump’s bid to exercise unprecedented powers in deporting migrants deepened Sunday as he again bashed the judiciary, while a top Democrat warned the country was “closer and closer” to a constitutional crisis.The latest events followed a dramatic intervention by the Supreme Court in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday to temporarily block Trump’s use of an obscure law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process.Trump lashed out Sunday on his Truth Social platform, not specifically naming the high court but slamming the “WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue, an attack so violent that it will never be forgotten!”Samuel Alito, one of two conservative high-court justices to vote against the halt, called the emergency ruling by the court’s majority “legally questionable.””Literally in the middle of the night, the Court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief… without hearing from the opposing party,” Alito wrote in his dissent.The court’s order at least temporarily halted what rights groups warned were imminent deportations of Venezuelan migrants being held in Texas, who have been accused of being gang members.More broadly, the decision temporarily prevents the government from continuing to expel migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act — last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II.The Trump administration has been butting heads with federal judges, rights groups and Democrats who say he has trampled or ignored constitutionally enshrined rights in rushing to deport migrants, sometimes without the right to a hearing. “We’re getting closer and closer to a constitutional crisis,” Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar told CNN.”Donald Trump is trying to pull us down into the sewer of a crisis.”The Republican president has insisted that he is protecting American citizens against a wave of undocumented migration — including, he says, murderers, terrorists and rapists — while carrying out the will of the voters who returned him to the White House.- ‘Put up, or shut up’ -Last month, the Trump administration sent hundreds of migrants, most of them Venezuelan, to the maximum-security CECOT prison in El Salvador, alleging they were members of violent gangs.In the most publicized case, Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to the infamous El Salvador mega-prison without charge.The administration admitted that Abrego Garcia had been included among the deportees due to an “administrative error,” and a court ruled that the government must “facilitate” his return.Trump has since doubled down, however, insisting that Abrego Garcia is in fact a gang member, including posting an apparently doctored photo on social media Friday of a gang symbol tattooed on his knuckles.CECOT inmates are packed in windowless cells, sleep on metal beds with no mattresses, and are forbidden visitors.Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen managed on Thursday to secure a meeting with Abrego Garcia and said the man was bewildered by his detention and felt threatened in prison.On Sunday, Van Hollen challenged the Trump administration to provide evidence that it is respecting US laws in its deportation sweep.”I’m okay with whatever the rule of law dictates,” he told CNN, “but right now we have a lawless president… a lawless president who is ignoring the order of the Supreme Court of the United States to facilitate (Abrego Garcia’s) return.””They need to put up or shut up in the courts of the United States.”

The United States would drastically reduce its diplomatic footprint in Africa and scrap State Department offices dealing with climate change, democracy and human rights, according to a draft White House order.The executive order, framed as a strategy to cut costs while “reflecting the priorities” of the White House, also lays out measures to slash US soft power around the world.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said The New York Times, which first reported the existence of the draft order, had fallen “victim to another hoax.””This is fake news,” Rubio posted Sunday on X.However, a copy of the draft viewed by AFP calls for “full structural reorganization” of the State Department by October 1 of this year.The aim, the draft order says, is “to streamline mission delivery, project American strength abroad, cut waste, fraud, abuse, and align the Department with an America First Strategic Doctrine.”The biggest change would be organizing US diplomatic efforts into four regions: Eurasia, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Pacific — with no equivalent focus on Africa.The current Africa Bureau would be eliminated. In its place would be a “Special Envoy Office for African Affairs” who reports to the White House’s internal National Security Council, rather than the State Department.”All non-essential embassies and consulates in Sub-Saharan Africa shall be closed,” the draft order says, with all remaining missions consolidated under a special envoy “using targeted, mission-driven deployments.”Emphasis in Africa would be placed on counterterrorism and “strategic extraction and trade of critical natural resources.”The US footprint in Canada — a historic US ally that President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested should be annexed and made a 51st state — would likewise get a downgrade.The diplomatic presence would see a “significantly reduced team” and the embassy in Ottawa would “significantly downscale.”Tom Yazdgerdi, president of the American Foreign Service Association, which represents US diplomats, said officers support making the government more efficient, but this “looks like a hatchet job.””It looks like we’re pulling back from the world,” he said.- Soft power scrapped -The plan would impose far-reaching cuts to American soft power around the world and weaken participation in multilateral bodies.While the draft executive order obtained by AFP has not been discussed publicly by officials, it comes amid a flurry of moves to cut decades-old US initiatives and to question long-held alliances, including with NATO.An earlier proposed plan leaked to US media would see the State Department’s entire budget slashed by half.While that proposal also has yet to be confirmed, the State Department did announce last week that it has scrapped an agency built to track and combat aggressive disinformation campaigns run by foreign governments.The administration has also already axed the US government’s foreign aid arm, USAID.The new draft order says current offices dealing with climate change, oceans, global criminal justice, and human rights would be “eliminated.” Also on the scrap list is the State Department’s separate office for Afghan women and girls.A decades-old program to project US cultural and English-language contacts around the globe would be partially dismantled.The Fulbright program funds research and teaching scholarships for Americans abroad, as well as attracting foreign students to US institutions. Under the executive order, many of those opportunities would vanish.This would follow Trump’s already ongoing dismantlement of Voice of America, the network built to broadcast into repressive countries.Yazdgerdi criticized what he described as a “self-inflicted wound” for the United States.Soft power is “what showcases America. This is the inspiring element. Yes there’s a fearful element in that we have an awesome military and you need that of course, but this is what inspires people,” he said.”You’re basically ceding the field to countries that have no issue filling the void — Russia and China immediately spring to mind.”