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Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by President Donald Trump to downsize the US government, suggested Thursday that members of Congress should get salary increases as a way to discourage corruption.Although the tech billionaire is officially only an advisor, Trump has bestowed him with enormous power to cut federal spending and bureaucracy, as part of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”It might make sense to increase compensation for Congress and senior government employees to reduce the forcing function for corruption, as the latter might be as much as 1,000 times more expensive to the public,” Musk posted on his social media platform X.Lawmakers in both parties are typically wary of the optics of large pay rises but acknowledge that competitive salaries are the best way of ensuring that the less well-off can serve.The first draft of a short-term government funding bill that Musk helped defeat in December would have allowed for a modest salary increase by reenacting an automatic cost-of-living adjustment for lawmakers.Congress has been blocking the adjustments every year since 2009.Musk argued against the provision, claiming falsely that it would mean a lavish 40 percent rise, and it was removed from the package.The real increase for members of both chambers would have been about $6,600 per year, or 3.8 percent.Their $174,000 annual salary has been frozen for 15 years but is still far more than the average household income.Musk, the world’s richest person, spoke about the controversial DOGE program at Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday. “If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” the tech tycoon said, adding that he was “taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot of death threats.” – ‘Musk in charge’ -One-third of his DOGE staff resigned in protest on Tuesday after he engineered a mass email to the federal government’s two million workers, ordering them to justify their work.Cabinet members have voiced frustration over the DOGE emails, according to US media, but Trump insisted that his team was “thrilled” with Musk.The operation has been shrouded in mystery, with the government only naming its administrator this week, after weeks of DOGE announcements of firings, aid freezes and other cuts that angered critics.Amy Gleason, a former official at the US Digital Service, is the acting DOGE administrator, a White House official said, without revealing when she was formally appointed.The White House argued in a court filing last week that Musk doesn’t even work for DOGE, let alone lead it, despite Trump repeatedly implying that Musk is in charge.”I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,” Trump said in a speech in Miami as recently as last week. “Thank you, Elon, for doing it.”Musk — who was not accompanied by Gleason — met Republicans in the Senate’s DOGE Caucus at the White House on Thursday to brief them on the task force’s work. Mike Lee, a hardline Trumpist, posted on social media that Musk had clarified that DOGE personnel “have no authority to fire federal workers or cancel federal contracts or payments.””Rather, they make recommendations to department heads and other executive-branch personnel who have such authority,” he added.”Those most inclined to demagogue @DOGE are attributing to @DOGE authority it does not have.”

The Earth’s next ice age is expected to begin in about 11,000 years — unless human-caused global warming disrupts natural cycles.That’s according to a new study published Thursday in Science, which analyzed how subtle shifts in Earth’s orbit around the Sun have historically triggered massive climate changes.A research team examined a million-year record of climate change, focusing on land-based ice sheets across the Northern Hemisphere and deep ocean temperatures. They then paired this data with small but cyclical variations in Earth’s orbital patterns.”For many years, the difficulty in answering how small changes in Earth’s orbit around the Sun translate to large shifts between glacial and interglacial states has been a central theme in paleoclimate research,” lead author Stephen Barker, a professor at Cardiff University, told AFP.Earth has long alternated between ice ages and warmer interglacial periods, with the last glaciation ending approximately 11,700 years ago. This transition marked the beginning of the Holocene epoch, an era of relative climate stability that enabled early human societies to shift from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled agriculture.Scientists have long recognized a connection between Earth’s orbit and ice ages. However, due to challenges in accurately dating climate changes that occurred so far in the past, they struggled to pinpoint which orbital parameters were responsible for starting and ending these glacial cycles.According to Barker, the key breakthrough came from analyzing the “shape” of the ancient climate record — the curves showing how temperatures rose and fell over time — rather than just the timing of ice age transitions.This approach allowed the team to determine how the three orbital factors — tilt, wobble, and the shape of Earth’s orbit around the Sun — interact to drive ice age cycles over the past 900,000 years.Barker said that without the Industrial Revolution, assuming fossil fuels had never been burned, “we would expect a glaciation to occur within the next 11,000 years, and it would end in 66,000 years’ time.”Co-author Lorraine Lisiecki, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, emphasized the significance of the study, stating that it “confirms the natural climate change cycles we observe on Earth over tens of thousands of years are largely predictable and not random or chaotic.”However, Barker strongly cautioned against interpreting the findings to suggest that human-caused climate change is beneficial.Carbon dioxide levels have nearly doubled since the Industrial Revolution, and if emissions remain unchecked, “then in around 8,000 years’ time, Antarctica would have melted, leading to around 70 meters of sea-level rise,” said Barker.”Instead of there being glaciers, you’ll be underwater,” he warned.Looking ahead, the research team aims to expand on their findings by investigating the long-term impact of human-driven climate change and how it may reshape the planet’s natural climate cycles.

Donald Trump said he trusted Russia’s Vladimir Putin to stick to any Ukraine ceasefire Thursday, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to win security guarantees for Kyiv — with the help of a royal invitation to visit Britain. Trump struck a friendly tone as he and Starmer met in Washington, and even walked back a comment about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being a dictator that alarmed European capitals, saying: “Did I say that?”But Trump also insisted that he trusted Putin to honor any truce with Ukraine, contradicting Starmer’s warnings that a lack of a US “backstop” for a deal would encourage Putin to stage a repeat of his February 2022 invasion.Britain and France have both offered to deploy peacekeeping troops for Ukraine but want US guarantees of help, including aerial and satellite surveillance and possible air power.”I think he’ll keep his word,” Trump told reporters as he sat alongside Starmer in the Oval Office when asked about Putin.”I spoke to him, I’ve known him for a long time now, I don’t believe he’s going to violate his word.”Trump added that Britain can “take care of themselves, but if they need help, I’ll always be with the British.” Starmer had said on the plane to the US capital that a “ceasefire without a backstop” would let Putin “wait and to come again” at Kyiv.- ‘Did I say that?’ -The British premier told Trump at the White House that he wanted to “work with you to make sure that peace deal is enduring” but that it was also a “deal that nobody breaches.”Starmer then handed Trump — a long-term fan of Britain’s royals — a letter from King Charles III inviting him for an unprecedented second state visit by a US president.”This has never happened before, this is unprecedented,” said Starmer.The invitation was a clear attempt to woo Trump amid growing concerns in Europe that the US leader is ready to sell Kyiv short and take Russia’s position on a deal.Those fears intensified last week when Trump called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” — but with Starmer at his side, Trump jokingly downplayed the jibe.”Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” Trump responded when asked whether he stood by the comment he made on his Truth Social network. “Next question.”Trump will host Zelensky at the White House on Friday where the two leaders are expected to sign a deal giving Washington access to Ukraine’s rare minerals, which Trump has demanded as payback for US military aid.Zelensky had hoped the deal would contain US security guarantees but it appears to omit them.- ‘Trade-off’ -Starmer’s visit comes days after a similar visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who came away effectively empty handed despite saying there had been a “turning point” with Trump.Trump has long pushed for European nations to take more of the burden for Ukraine’s defense, and their own.A senior Trump administration official said the backstop was “obviously very high on our European allies’ agenda” but said securing a proper ceasefire first was more important.”The type of force depends very much on the political settlement that is made to end the war. And I think that trade-off is part of what the leaders today are going to be discussing,” the official told reporters.The meeting promised to be a clash of styles between the mild-mannered Labour leader, a former human rights lawyer, and the brash Republican tycoon.Starmer, who will hold a joint press conference with the US president, has pitched himself as a “bridge” between Trump and Europe on Ukraine.The British premier came bearing another gift for Trump — an increase in defense spending.A Trump administration official said they were “very pleased” by Starmer’s announcement on Tuesday that UK defense spending will rise to 2.5 percent by 2027.

Andrew Tate, a right-wing influencer charged with rape and human trafficking in Romania, arrived in the United States on Thursday — the first time he has been out of the eastern European country since his 2022 arrest.Romanian prosecutors allege that former kickboxer Tate, 38, his brother Tristan, 36, and two women set up a criminal organization in Romania and Britain in early 2021 and sexually exploited several victims.The brothers traveled to Florida together on a private jet, their lawyer Ioan Gilga told CNN — but received a frosty reception just before landing as state authorities said they were not welcome. The Tates have not stated publicly the purpose of this trip. The government in Bucharest said the Tates, who have British and US nationality and have been under judicial supervision in Romania, need to return to court on March 24 and a no-show could lead to “preventive arrest.”Four British women, who have accused Tate of rape and coercive control in a separate case, voiced concern last week that the US government might push Romania to ease the Tates’ travel restrictions and let them escape.Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu has said Richard Grenell, special envoy for President Donald Trump, raised the case at the Munich Security Conference earlier in February.But Trump denied all knowledge of any advocacy for the Tates from his administration — or help in bringing them to Florida.”I know nothing about that. I don’t know — you’re saying he’s on a plane right now? Yeah, I just know nothing about it. We’ll check it out. We’ll let you know,” he told reporters when asked about the visit.Justice Minister Radu Marinescu told AFP on Thursday he was “not aware of any pressure from anyone” and had “not received any kind of request from the US authorities.”A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who was visiting Trump in Washington — declined to comment on the situation or whether the UK wanted to see Tate extradited to Britain.A Romanian court has already granted a British request to extradite the Tates, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.- Not welcome -In a joint statement on Thursday, the four British women said they “feel retraumatized by the news that the Romanian authorities have given in to pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel.” The women are bringing a civil case in the UK against Tate, accusing him of rape and coercive control between 2013 and 2016.Matthew Jury, their lawyer, said Starmer should raise the issue “on behalf of the many British women who Tate is alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted who may now be denied justice.”On Thursday, a Romanian court granted the Tate brothers’ appeal to lift the seizure of their assets — properties, vehicles, bank accounts and company shares, their PR team said.Andrew Tate moved to Romania years ago after first starting a webcam business in the UK.He leapt to fame in 2016 when he appeared on the UK’s “Big Brother” reality television show, but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.He then turned to social media platforms to promote his often misogynistic and divisive views on how to be successful.Banned from Instagram and TikTok for his views, Tate is followed by more than 10 million people on X watching his homophobic and racist posts.Last year, the Tates were sentenced in a tax fraud case in Britain.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said before the brothers landed that the state was not involved in organizing their trip, did not welcome them and had been exploring legal options to prevent the visit.”Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct in the air,” he told a news conference.”And I don’t know how it came to this. We were not involved, we were not notified.”

King Charles III has invited US President Donald Trump for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said while visiting the White House on Thursday.Trump will become the first political leader to receive a second state visit to Britain, after he visited in 2019 during his first term as president.”This is really special, this has never happened before, this is unprecedented,” Starmer said in the Oval Office as he handed Trump a hand-signed letter from the monarch containing the invitation.”This is truly historic.”The US president has long been a vocal fan of the British royal family.He also has a close affinity to the UK due to the fact his mother was born in Scotland.Political observers will see the offer as clever ploy by Starmer to try to flatter Trump as he seeks to win over the US president on Ukraine and tariffs, among other contentious issues.Britain rolled out the red carpet for Trump six years ago when he met the late Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles’s mother.”His majesty the king wants to make this even better,” said Starmer, who was at the White House to push Trump to give US security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a deal to end the war with Russia.Reading the letter, Trump pointed out that he had been invited to Windsor Castle, near London, one of the royal family’s ancient homes.But the letter from Charles also suggested Trump might want to visit Balmoral in northeast Scotland, which is close to a golf resort Trump has there.After reading the letter, Trump said of Charles: “He’s a beautiful man, a wonderful man — I’ve gotten to know him very well, actually. First term and now second term.”He added: “On behalf of our wonderful First Lady Melania and myself, the answer is yes and we look forward to being there and honoring the King and honoring really your country.”Your country is a fantastic country and it’ll be our honor to be there. Thank you very much,” he told Starmer.Starmer said the offer of a second state visit “symbolizes the strength of the relationship between us”.

Oscar-winning cinema giant Gene Hackman and his wife have been found dead in their home in an incident police are calling “suspicious.”The bodies of Hackman, 95, and his classical pianist wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, along with that of a pet dog, were discovered at their property in New Mexico on Wednesday.Authorities initially reported there were no signs of foul play, but a search warrant said a detective believed the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”Police officers called to the home by maintenance workers found the door unlocked and open, and pills scattered next to Arakawa’s body, which was in the bathroom with a space heater near to her head.It appeared Arakawa had been dead “for some time,” with the body in a state of decomposition, the warrant noted.Hackman’s body was found in another room, fully clothed, with sunglasses next to his body, apparently having fallen suddenly.A German Shepherd was found dead in the bathroom, and two other healthy dogs were at the house.Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza did not provide a cause of death for the couple, who had been married since 1991, but Hackman’s daughter Elizabeth Jean told entertainment outlet TMZ that carbon monoxide poisoning may be to blame.Initial testing by the local fire department found no signs of a gas leak, the search warrant said.Hackman, a two-time Academy Award winner, was credited for intense performances of everyman characters inspired by his troubled upbringing, notching up dozens of movie credits extending into his 70s.He is perhaps best known as vulgar New York cop Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in the 1971 crime thriller “The French Connection” — for which he won an Oscar for best actor.He won another golden statuette two decades later for best supporting actor for his portrayal of the brutal small-town sheriff “Little Bill” Daggett in the 1992 western “Unforgiven.”- ‘Inspiring and magnificent’ -Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola on Thursday mourned his death.”The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,” Coppola wrote in a post on Instagram.Not blessed with leading man good looks, Hackman drew on his talents and versatility, taking on a series of gritty roles and delivering thoughtful, intelligent performances.”I wanted to act, but I’d always been convinced that actors had to be handsome,” the actor once said.”We have lost one of the true giants of the screen. Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it,” “Star Trek” actor George Takei wrote on X.Born in Illinois during the Great Depression, Hackman came from a broken family.His father left when he was 13, waving enigmatically as he drove away one day, and his mother later died in a fire.He also served an unpleasant stint in the US Marines, which he joined at 16 by lying about his age. But he later used his personal turmoil to flesh out his characters.Hackman came to acting relatively late in life after dabbling in a series of jobs and only attracting attention in his 30s.According to Hollywood legend, after his enrollment at the Pasadena Playhouse in California in the late 1950s, he and a fellow student, one Dustin Hoffman, were voted the “least likely to succeed.”On graduation, Hackman found work off-Broadway and began to turn heads. He earned his first Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in “Bonnie and Clyde.” That landmark 1967 film, in which Hackman played Clyde’s brother Buck Barrow, put him on track for stardom. Into the 21st century, he starred in “The Heist” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” in 2001, the latter winning him his third competitive Golden Globe, before announcing his retirement in 2008.”It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on screen,” Hackman once said. “I think of myself, and feel like I’m quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that.”

Venezuelan migrant Omar Virguez took to the streets of New York to protest, hiding his face fearing he would be targeted by immigration enforcement carrying out President Donald Trump’s promised mass deportations.Panic is spreading among undocumented migrants and their supporters in the United States following Trump’s return to the White House and the Democratic mayor of New York’s alignment with the Republican president on the issue of migration.”I’m afraid, like all immigrants, because we don’t know what’s going to happen to us,” said nurse Virguez, 42, who recently arrived from Venezuela. “I hide when I see police officers.” He joined the February protest against ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are uniformly known as “la migra” among Spanish-speaking migrants.He stood well back from the police lines, his face hidden by a thick black covering.The melting pot city of 8.3 million people has seen an inflow of 232,000 migrants since 2022, and migrant advocacy groups accuse the mayor of abandoning its status as a sanctuary city.Sanctuary city status means that local officials, including the police, do not routinely cooperate with national immigration enforcement operations, and provide other relief to undocumented migrants.In a stark break with his past positions, Mayor Eric Adams has raised the prospect of immigration officers returning to the city’s largest prison complex, Rikers Island.He has also warned that churches, hospitals and schools — previously spared from immigration raids under a memo protecting sensitive locations that Trump tore up — should not obstruct officers.”With this new president… we are always with that fear on our minds that they are going to stop us to ask us for documents or… look for undocumented people like me,” said Victor who was living in a church that offers shelter to people in his situation.- ‘Time to prepare’ -At the entrance of Manhattan’s Trinity Lutheran Church, a sign taped to a gate announces that “law enforcement, ICE and DHS cannot enter without a warrant signed by a judge.””Repeal of the sensitive space memo has hit our congregants,” said pastor Alyssa Kaplan who added “there’s so much anxiety” among those using the church against a backdrop of visceral anti-migrant rhetoric.”The veil of respect for those places is gone.””He’ll bark if they come,” Pastor Alicia said jokingly, petting the church dog, a black Labrador.”We are in a good position here with the (camera) doorbell and the gate, it gives us time to prepare.”In a sign of mounting fear, migrant associations have been deluged by requests for “bust cards” — legal crib sheets in 19 languages to which undocumented migrants can refer if they stopped by officers.One symptom of the fear in the community has been a jump in migrant children missing school, warns Yari Michel, a Brooklyn teacher and member of the United Federation of Teachers.”Our kids need to know… what to do if ICE shows up at home, what to do if they’re approached in the streets,” said Michel who helped start a local collective supporting migrants.She suggested that Trump’s move to drop corruption charges against Adams was “in exchange for Adams to let ICE carry out mass deportations un-interfered.”Adams has denied that, saying Monday that New York remains a sanctuary city.Despite Trump’s visceral language on deportations, there has not yet been the promised waves of mass round-ups.Levels remain similar to under former president Joe Biden when thousands of undocumented migrants were also deported. But anxiety is up, with Amy Vazquez, a 21-year-old Mexican-American telling AFP that she had to become the head of her household in case her undocumented parents were caught up in raids.”When Trump went into office, that’s when the fear really started hitting,” she said.Her parents, a waitress and a Mexican carpenter who have been living in New York for 20 years, put everything in her name.”(They are) making sure that if anything were to happen, I have custody of my little sister” — as well as control of the family’s affairs, she said.Many in the Latino community report that they have stopped venturing out.”I don’t want to wake up one day and then come home from school and they’re not there,” she said tearfully.

Andrew Tate, a right-wing influencer facing charges of human trafficking and rape in Romania, left for the United States on Thursday, the first time he has been out of the eastern European country since his 2022 arrest.Romanian prosecutors allege that former kickboxer Tate, 38, his brother Tristan, 36, and two women set up a criminal organisation in Romania and Britain in early 2021 and sexually exploited several victims.Ioan Gilga, their lawyer, told CNN the brothers, who have British and American nationality and have been under judicial supervision in Romania, were headed to Florida together on a private jet.Justice Minister Radu Marinescu said the brothers need to return to Romania for their next court appearance on March 24 and could be subject to “preventive arrest” if they fail to appear.Four British women, who have accused Tate of rape and coercive control in a separate case, voiced concern last week that the US government might push Romania to ease the Tates’ travel restrictions and let them escape.Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu has said Richard Grenell, special envoy for President Donald Trump, raised the case with him at the Munich Security Conference earlier in February.But Marinescu, the justice minister, told AFP on Thursday that he was “not aware of any pressure from anyone” and had “not received any kind of request from the US authorities.”A Trump administration official said they “have no insight right now on anything related to the Tate brothers” when asked by reporters if there had been any involvement in their departure.A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office declined to comment on the situation or whether the UK wanted to see Tate extradited to Britain.”But more widely, the prime minister has been clear that human trafficking should be viewed as a global security threat, similar to terrorism,” the spokesperson added.A Romanian court has already granted a British request to extradite the Tates, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.- ‘Retraumatised’ -In a joint statement on Thursday, the four British women said they “feel retraumatised by the news that the Romanian authorities have given into pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel.” The women are bringing a civil case in the UK against Tate, accusing him of rape and coercive control between 2013 and 2016.Matthew Jury, the lawyer for the four women, said Starmer should raise the issue “on behalf of the many British women who Tate is alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted who may now be denied justice.”Starmer is currently visiting the United States for a meeting with Trump.On Thursday, a Romanian court granted the Tate brothers’ appeal to lift the seizure of their assets — properties, vehicles, bank accounts, and company shares, their PR team said.Andrew Tate moved to Romania years ago after first starting a webcam business in the UK.He leapt to fame in 2016 when he appeared on the UK’s “Big Brother” reality television show, but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.He then turned to social media platforms to promote his often misogynistic and divisive views on how to be successful.Banned from Instagram and TikTok for his views, Tate is followed by more than 10 million people on X watching his homophobic and racist posts.Last year, the Tates were sentenced in a tax fraud case in Britain.

Pop star Katy Perry is set to “shoot across the sky” this spring when she lifts off as part of a six-member, all-female crew on Blue Origin’s next space flight, the company announced Thursday.As if answering the call of her hit song “E.T.,” Perry will embark on a star-studded journey alongside journalist Lauren Sanchez, who is Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos’s fiancee, and CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King.Blue Origin began launching wealthy tourists and celebrities into space in 2021 aboard its New Shepard rocket, named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.To date, the company has flown 52 people to suborbital space across 10 crewed missions.New Shepard missions launch from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas.Flights typically last just 10 or 11 minutes from liftoff to landing, with passengers experiencing a few minutes of microgravity as their capsule soars beyond the Karman line — the internationally recognized boundary of space, 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level.The rocket booster makes an upright vertical landing, while the capsule deploys parachutes for a gentle touchdown in the Texas desert.Also on board will be research scientist Amanda Nguyen, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.Past luminaries aboard New Shepard include Star Trek legend William Shatner, as well as Bezos himself, who flew on the inaugural crewed flight.Ticket prices remain undisclosed, though celebrities are often given complimentary seats.This mission will mark the first all-female spaceflight crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s historic solo flight in 1963.Like Elon Musk — the only person wealthier than him — Jeff Bezos has an enduring passion for space.But while Musk dreams of colonizing Mars, Bezos envisions shifting heavy industry off-planet onto floating space platforms to preserve Earth, “humanity’s blue origin.”In January, the company successfully launched its giant New Glenn rocket for the first time — a crucial step in its expansion into the lucrative commercial launch sector.Blue Origin already holds a NASA contract to build a lunar lander for one of the upcoming Artemis missions, which will return Americans to the Moon.New Glenn will also support the deployment of Project Kuiper, a satellite internet constellation designed to rival Musk’s Starlink.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets Donald Trump Thursday to plead for a US “backstop” to any Ukraine ceasefire, insisting it would be the only way to deter Russia’s Vladimir Putin from invading again.Starmer’s trip to the White House builds on a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, amid growing concerns in Europe that the US leader is about to sell Kyiv short in negotiations with Putin.London and Paris are spearheading proposals to send a European peacekeeping force to Ukraine if Trump’s shock decision to pursue talks directly with Russia’s president brings a deal to end the war.But they are calling for US security guarantees in return, amid spiraling concerns in Europe that Trump is taking Russia’s side and will sever the decades-old transatlantic alliance.”The security guarantee has to be sufficient to deter Putin,” Starmer told reporters on the plane to Washington.”If there is a ceasefire without a backstop, it will simply give him the opportunity to wait and to come again, because his ambition in relation to Ukraine is pretty obvious.” The Europeans are seeking possible US contributions like air cover, intelligence and logistics to support any troops sent to monitor a ceasefire.- ‘Trade-off’ -Trump has appeared cool on providing US security, with the president having long pushed for European nations to take more of the burden for supporting Ukraine.”Well I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We’re going to have Europe do that,” Trump told reporters as he held the first cabinet meeting of his second term on Wednesday.A senior Trump administration official said the backstop was “obviously very high on our European allies’ agenda” but said securing a proper ceasefire first was more important.”The type of force depends very much on the political settlement that is made to end the war. And I think that trade-off is part of what the leaders today are going to be discussing,” the official told reporters.The Oval Office meeting promises to be a clash of styles between the mild-mannered Labour leader, a former human rights lawyer, and the brash Republican tycoon.Starmer, who will hold a joint press conference with the US president, has pitched himself as a “bridge” between Trump and Europe on Ukraine.The British premier also comes bearing a gift for Trump.His announcement Tuesday that UK defense spending will rise to 2.5 percent by 2027 was particularly aimed at the American leader, who has regularly badgered European countries to pay more towards NATO.”We are very pleased with Prime Minister Starmer’s announcement,” the senior US official said.- ‘Nice guy’ -Starmer will meanwhile hope to avoid sweeping tariffs that Trump has promised to slap on the European Union.Trade “will certainly be part of the conversation,” added the US official.But like Macron on Monday, he will have his work cut out to persuade Trump on Ukraine.Last week Trump called Starmer a “very nice guy” — but complained that he and Macron had done “nothing” to end the war in Ukraine.The US president stunned allies when he began negotiations with Russia, without including Ukraine or its European allies.Concerns deepened when Trump attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” and echoed Moscow talking points blaming Kyiv for Russia’s February 2022 invasion.Despite that, there have been growing signs of movement in recent days on a deal to end more than three years of bloody fighting.Zelensky is due at the White House on Friday to sign a deal giving Washington access to Ukraine’s rare minerals, which Trump has demanded as payback for US military aid.The Ukrainian president is hoping the deal will provide a guarantee of future US support.Starmer is then hosting Zelensky, Macron and other European leaders in Britain on Sunday as momentum grows.In Moscow, Putin on Thursday said that initial Russia-US talks “give some hope” of resolving “problems” like the Ukraine conflict.