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Greenland’s prime minister on Wednesday hit back at President Donald Trump’s pledge to take the Arctic territory “one way or the other”, insisting that islanders did not see their future with the United States or even Denmark.Mute Egede rejected Trump’s expansionist ambitions to annex the sparsely populated but mineral-rich and strategically placed island, in a partisan address to the US Congress in Washington on Tuesday.”We don’t want to be Americans, or Danes either. We are Greenlanders. The Americans and their leader must understand that,” Egede wrote in a Facebook post.”We are not for sale and can’t just be taken. Our future is decided by us in Greenland,” he said, six days before the island’s legislative elections where the longstanding question of independence tops the agenda.Trump offered only passing lines on world affairs in his speech, focusing on his domestic goals like rounding up undocumented immigrants and slashing government spending.But he repeated his aspirations to take Greenland and claimed an initial victory on retaking control of the Panama Canal.Trump said he had a message for the “incredible people” of Greenland. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” he added.But he made clear he would not give up if persuasion fails, saying: “One way or the other we’re going to get it.”We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.”- ‘Won’t happen’ -Denmark, of which self-governing Greenland is part, also rebuffed Trump’s aspirations to take the island, with China and Russia increasingly active in the Arctic, as climate change opens up sea routes.In Copenhagen, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told public broadcaster DR that US annexation of Greenland “won’t happen”.”The direction that Greenland wants to take will be decided by Greenlanders,” he said.Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called for cool heads to prevail.”I think everyone, including us, should be cautious about having all kinds of opinions about the future” of Greenland, he told Danish television TV2.US threats to take Greenland would once have been unthinkable, with Denmark a treaty ally of the United States under NATO.But Trump has made clear he has little patience for European allies, which he again denounced for not spending more on their militaries, with Trump instead seeing a return to an era of big powers taking what they want.He has similarly vowed to take back the Panama Canal, the crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that the United States handed to Panama at the end of 1999.- ‘Taking it back’ -Trump declared triumph after Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison decided to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had complained that rival China had gained too much influence over the canal and could shut it down in a conflict with the United States.”To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” he said, as he mentioned the port deal.”We didn’t give it to China. Gave it to Panama — and we’re taking it back,” he said.Trump had earlier not ruled out military force to seize either the Panama Canal or Greenland.Trump has paradoxically sought to cast himself as a peacemaker. He has vowed to end the war in Ukraine and has rattled allies by suspending aid to the country, which Russia invaded three years ago.Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he visited the White House on Friday, calling him ungrateful.Addressing Congress, Trump read a message from Zelensky in which the Ukrainian leader sought to repair the damage and voiced a willingness to a sign a deal in which the United States would take much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.”It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides,” Trump said.The Trump administration at the same time has cancelled more than 90 percent of US development assistance, traditionally a key source of US non-military influence.Trump has described aid as not in the US interest.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky has told him Kyiv was ready for talks with Russia and the finalization of a US minerals deal, days after the pair’s explosive White House meeting.The dramatic collapse of Kyiv and Washington’s wartime alliance has played out in the open since the televised dispute in the Oval Office last week, followed by Ukraine’s top ally suspending crucial military aid.Zelensky has since sought to bring Trump back onside, posting on social media that their clash was “regrettable” and he wanted “to make things right”.In his address to US Congress later on Tuesday, Trump read aloud from a letter he said he recently received from Zelensky, which matched the social media statement.”The letter reads, ‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians,” Trump told US lawmakers in his first address since returning to office.”We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.'”Addressing Congress, Trump added that, “regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you.”Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has meanwhile offered to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks.”Tell Trump that I expect him here with Putin and Zelensky,” Lukashenko proposed to the three leaders in a video interview with US blogger Mario Nawfal, reported by state news agency Belta on Wednesday.”We are going to sit down and calmly make an accord,” said Lukashenko, adding there had to be a deal with Zelensky “since a large part of Ukrainian society is with him”.In the Oval Office on Friday, Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for US assistance and Trump berated the wartime leader as not having “cards” to play.Zelensky left without signing an agreement pushed by Trump for the United States to secure control over Ukrainian mineral resources.While Trump was expected to use Tuesday’s speech to lay out a plan for the Ukraine war, he did not further detail how he envisages ending the grueling three-year conflict.He did say he had engaged in “serious discussions with Russia”.Trump’s rapprochement with Moscow and decision on Monday to halt military assistance to Kyiv has stunned allies.Like Ukraine, the European Union has been excluded from US-Russian negotiations towards a potential truce, prompting fears any deal proposed would be on Moscow’s terms.Moscow, which has hailed Trump’s decision to halt assistance to Ukraine as a “solution which could really push the Kyiv regime to a peace process,” said Wednesday news that Zelensky was ready for peace talks was “positive”.The US pause impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.- ‘Stab in the back’ -Ordinary Ukrainians speaking to AFP were shocked at what they viewed as a betrayal by Trump.”It’s like a stab in the back,” a 33-year-old financial assistant in Kyiv who gave only her first name, Sofia, told AFP.Trump “wants Ukraine’s surrender, the deaths of our people, the surrender of our territories,” army volunteer Sergiy Sternenko said on Telegram.Poland’s government noted that Washington’s decision was made without consulting NATO allies, and said the impact was already being felt.French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told lawmakers in Paris that “entire trains” carrying US supplies for Ukraine “are being stopped and prevented from reaching their destination”.- Troops on the ground? -Last week, Zelensky had travelled to Washington expecting to sign a US-Ukrainian deal for the joint exploitation of Ukraine’s vast mineral resources, as part of a post-war recovery in a US-brokered peace deal.The proposal was to give Washington financial benefits for helping Ukraine in a truce, even if Trump has repeatedly refused to commit any US military force as a back-up to European troops who might act as peacekeepers.After the fiery Oval Office exchange, Zelensky was asked to leave.On Tuesday, Zelensky said that Kyiv remained ready to sign the deal at “any time and in any convenient format”.Ukraine is also seeking tough security guarantees for an end to the war.After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce — potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.Vance, in an interview with Fox News on Monday, mocked the idea of “some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years” sending soldiers to Ukraine. That prompted angry responses from French and British politicians.Vance insisted Tuesday he had not mentioned France or Britain, and said both had “fought bravely” alongside the United States over the past two decades.

President Donald Trump urged Greenland to choose to join the United States but vowed to take the Danish-ruled island “one way or the other” — a bid Denmark swiftly rejected on Wednesday.”That won’t happen,” Danish Defence Minister Trouls Lund Poulsen told public broadcaster DR.”The direction that Greenland wants to take will be decided by Greenlanders,” Lund Poulsen said.In a partisan speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump offered only passing lines on world affairs, focusing on his domestic goals like rounding up undocumented immigrants and slashing government spending.But he underlined his expansionist vision of the United States, as he repeated his aspirations to take Greenland and claimed an initial victory on retaking control of the Panama Canal.One week before general elections in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark with an independence movement, Trump said he had a message for the “incredible people” of the sparsely populated but mineral-rich and strategically-placed island.”We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump said.But he made clear he would not give up if persuasion fails, saying: “One way or the other we’re going to get it.””We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.”China and Russia have been stepping up activity in the Arctic as climate change opens further sea routes.- ‘Taking it back’ -Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called for cool heads to prevail.”I think everyone, including us, should be cautious about having all kinds of opinions about the future” of Greenland, he told Danish television TV2.US threats to take Greenland would once have been thinkable, with Denmark a treaty ally of the United States under NATO.But Trump has made clear he has little patience for European allies, which he again denounced for not spending more on their militaries, with Trump instead seeing a return to an era of big powers taking what they want.He has similarly vowed to take back the Panama Canal, the crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that the United States handed to Panama at the end of 1999.Trump declared triumph after Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison decided to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had complained that rival China had gained too much influence over the canal and could shut it down in a conflict with the United States.”To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” he said, as he mentioned the port deal.”We didn’t give it to China. Gave it to Panama — and we’re taking it back,” he said.Trump had earlier not ruled out military force to seize either the Panama Canal or Greenland.Trump has paradoxically sought to cast himself as a peacemaker. He has vowed to end the war in Ukraine and has rattled allies by suspending aid to the country, which Russia invaded three years ago.Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he visited the White House on Friday, calling him ungrateful.Addressing Congress, Trump read a message from Zelensky in which the Ukrainian leader sought to repair the damage and voiced a willingness to a sign a deal in which the United States would take much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.”It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides,” Trump said.- Overseas aid -The Trump administration at the same time has canceled more than 90 percent of US development assistance, traditionally a key source of US non-military influence.Trump has described aid as not in the US interest, with his advisor Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, pushing massive cuts to make way for tax cuts.Trump rattled off a list of previous aid grants and reserved mockery for a project in the landlocked African country of Lesotho, which has one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS.”Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho,” Trump said, struggling with the pronunciation.”Which nobody has ever heard of,” Trump added to laughter from Republican lawmakers.

Mexico’s booming tequila industry was left reeling Wednesday after US President Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on the Central American nation that producers say threaten the popularity of its most famous liquor.Trump imposed 25 percent levies on Mexico and Canada, and doubled tariffs on China, prompting jitters on global markets and fears the spat is devolving into a brutal trade war.More than two-thirds of tequila produced last year was exported to the United States — 335 million liters of almost 500 million, according to Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council.The US market makes up 83.6 percent of tequila exports, representing $4.5-billion worth of liquor.”The possible increase in tequila prices in the United States could encourage substitution with other alcoholic drinks,” said Ana Cristina Villalpando Fonseca, head of the National Chamber of the Tequila Industry (CNIT). The tariffs risk affecting the whole supply chain, from producers of agave — the plant used to make tequila — to bottlers and transporters, the CNIT added in a statement.The industry employs more than 100,000 people in Mexico, Villalpando said.Fast-rising demand for tequila has seen American celebrities cash in on the tipple in recent years — and in 2020 tech billionaire Elon Musk joined the party with the launch of a limited edition Tesla Tequila.In January 2025, tequila exports jumped 34.6 percent compared to the same month the previous year, although the CNIT attributed the rise to stockpiling ahead of Trump’s anticipated tariffs.The CNIT said it would promote expansion to other international markets and that it was confident the Mexican government’s efforts will help mitigate the effects of the tariffs.President Claudia Sheinbaum pushed back on Trump’s duties saying her government would retaliate with unspecified tariff and non-tariff measures of its own.US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said however that Trump could dial down hefty levies on Mexico and Canada this week, while maintaining pressure on China.

There was dismay on the left and jubilation on the right as Donald Trump addressed the US Congress on Tuesday in a tense atmosphere and with Washington’s political divisions rarely more visible. Trump entered the chamber to cheers from Republicans and took a languid stroll down the center aisle to the podium, taking his time and pressing flesh along the way. As he passed Democrat Melanie Stansbury, the New Mexico congresswoman held up a sheet of paper reading “This is not normal.” A Republican politician snatched the sign out of her hands — a harbinger of the tensions to come. The ultra-Trumpist Marjorie Taylor Greene, always a politician to wear her support on her sleeve, sported a red “Trump was right about everything” cap — in violation of a ban on headwear introduced almost two centuries ago.When Trump arrived at the podium, the Republican half of the chamber chanted “USA! USA!” their jubilation evident in their broad grins. On the other side of the room, the Democratic members remain seated and stony-faced. The only (presumed) Republican who might have bested the president on the applause-o-meter: his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, who waved to acknowledge the raucous applause as she took her place, wearing a charcoal gray suit. “To my fellow citizens, America is back!” Trump enthused as he began his address, whose theme was “Renewal of the  American Dream.”- Yellow and blue -Minutes later, Democrat congressman Al Green stood up and yelled at the president: “You don’t have a mandate.” His protest was drowned out by the uproarious Republicans, who ordered him to take a seat as they dived into another stirring round of patriotic chants. Green refused to sit down, and was quickly escorted out of the chamber, as he was jeered by his political opponents on the Republican side. When Trump called predecessor Joe Biden the “worst president” in history, there were whistles from a few triggered Democrats, some of whom denounced the “lies.” Many were wearing scarves, striped ties, or lapel ribbons in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag, as a sign of solidarity for a war-torn ally they consider the Trump administration to have betrayed.Indeed, the speech came just after Trump had ordered a pause in American military aid to Kyiv, and the atmosphere was markedly different from Biden’s March 2022 address to Congress, five days after the start of the Russian invasion.On that occasion marked a demonstration of unity from both sides of Congress, and both chambers, as Democrat and Republican alike rose at Biden’s beckoning to offer solidarity with the Ukrainian people. That unanimity is decidedly a thing of the past in the Washington of the “America First” movement which has Trump as its standard-bearer. In addition to Ukrainian yellow and blue, a number of Democrats came in pink outfits to protest against what they see as the Trump administration’s anti-women policies.Some of the House Democrats left the chamber before Trump had even got into his stride and Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett removed her jacket to reveal a t-shirt with the word “Resist” emblazoned on the back. – Musk the spectator -Some traditions hold, even in the norm-breaking Trump era, and the usual bevy of Supreme Court justices could be found in the front row, enjoying the pomp and circumstance. With many of the Trump administration’s decisions already the subject of legal challenges, the judicial panel — with its strong conservative tilt —  is likely to have its hands full in the weeks and months ahead. But if Trump was expecting a sold-out speech, he will have been disappointed. A number of Democrats, such as left-winger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, had previously announced that they would be giving the event a wide berth. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and Trump’s point man on drastically downsizing the federal government, watched from the galleries, a spectator to the drama for once. Yet, even from the sidelines, he still managed to command the attention of the TV cameras as Trump invited applause for a man whose millions helped get the Republican elected.A few hours before Trump’s arrival, a dozen protesters outside the US Capitol waved signs reading “Stand up to tyranny” and “Musk must go.” Trump seemed to provide a direct retort during his speech, as he warned: “We’re just getting started.”

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is considering letting go up to half of its approximately 90,000 employees, a source with knowledge of the situation told AFP on Tuesday.The bloodbath would be the latest drastic cut to a federal agency under President Donald Trump’s administration. When asked about US press reports of the plans to halve the IRS headcount, the source confirmed such a project was being discussed internally. Last month, the IRS laid off around 7,000 probationary employees, amid similar cuts at other federal agencies.Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has launched a vast offensive aimed at slashing public spending and reducing the federal bureaucracy, one of the goals he promised on the campaign trail. To that end, he has tapped billionaire Elon Musk, his top campaign donor turned close adviser, to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has cut thousands of government jobs and upended federal agencies. Among his first targets were members of the federal bureaucracy overseeing policies that promote diversity. Trump’s return also saw the dismantling of the US Agency on International Development (USAID), ending humanitarian and international development projects around the globe.

More than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered Tuesday in front of Columbia University in New York to demonstrate against former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, who was at the campus for a speaking engagement.After more than a year of protests at the campus by both supporters of Israel and opponents of the assault on Gaza after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the appearance of the former leader of Israel’s far-right was met with expected pushback.”The decision to host a man with such a violent and openly discriminatory record sends a message that the university values some voices over others,” a spokesperson for Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition — one of the groups taking part in the protest — said in a statement.None of the individual protesters at the event, many of whom wore masks or traditional Palestinian keffiyehs, agreed to speak with AFP journalists.Police at the scene worked to separate the protest from a small group of pro-Israel counter-demonstrators nearby, though the two demonstrations passed without any incident.The protest was held at the same time as US President Donald Trump’s administration threatened federal funding for the New York university over an anti-semitism row.The federal government on Monday said it was considering ending contracts it has with Columbia worth over $50 million, blaming it for failing to protect its Jewish students from anti-Semitism amid the protests.”All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote Tuesday on his platform Truth Social.”Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on …the crime, arrested,” the post continued.

Taiwanese chip-making giant TSMC plans to invest a whopping $100 billion in the United States, after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on overseas-made chips.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is the world’s biggest maker of the critical technology that has become the lifeblood of the global economy.This week’s announcement takes the total amount TSMC has pledged to invest in the United States to $165 billion, which the company says is the “largest single foreign direct investment in US history”.It follows Trump’s accusations that Taiwan stole the US chip industry and his threats to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent — and Taipei’s promises to invest more in the United States.AFP looks at what TSMC’s investment could mean for Taiwan.- ‘Silicon shield’ -Semiconductor chips are used in everything from smartphones and televisions to electric vehicles and missiles — and more than half of them are made in Taiwan.The concentration of chip manufacturing on the island has long been seen as a “silicon shield” protecting it from an invasion or blockade by China — and an incentive for the United States to defend it.China has upped military pressure on Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty over the self-ruled island, where TSMC has its headquarters and the bulk of its fabrication plants.That has fuelled calls for the firm to move more of its production off the island to avoid supply disruptions if China did attack. Trump recently warned of import levies of 25 percent, or higher, on overseas-made chips, which one analyst has said could trigger a recession in the industry.While TSMC’s latest investment might deflect the threat of tariffs, there are fears it could hurt Taiwan’s economy and weaken its “silicon shield”. “The more TSMC produces in the United States, the less important Taiwan will be in geopolitics and the less incentives the United States will have to help Taiwan in the future,” said Ko Ju-chun, a lawmaker with the main opposition Kuomintang party.- Control of TSMC -Taiwan’s leaders are aware of the risks as they try to stay onside with their most important security backer Washington and protect the island’s status as a chip-making powerhouse.President Lai Ching-te’s office said Tuesday the government would review TSMC’s deal “in accordance with the law” and ensure that the “most advanced” chip-making processes stayed in Taiwan.TSMC had already pledged to invest more than $65 billion in three factories in the US state of Arizona, one of which began production in late 2024. The $100 billion investment will be used to expand its US footprint further, with three new fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities and a research and development team centre.Richard Hu, deputy director of the Taiwan Center for Security Studies think tank, said Trump wanted to prevent TSMC from falling into China’s hands and to make it a “technological asset of the United States”.”Trump’s ultimate goal is to ensure that the US can fully or critically control TSMC’s semiconductor production, making it a de facto part of America’s chip industry,” Hu said.- Defence guarantees -Taipei security analyst Su Tzu-yun was more optimistic, telling AFP that TSMC’s investment would make Taiwan “safer” and help grow the chip industry.It would also build trust between Taipei and Washington, and ease Trump’s concerns about US economic security, said Su, from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.”I think the importance of Taiwan is not only TSMC but also the geostrategy,” Su said, noting the importance of global shipping lanes near Taiwan. However, James Yifan Chen of Tamkang University said higher manufacturing costs in the United States would drive up prices of products using TSMC chips.And there were no guarantees the investment would make the mercurial Trump more inclined to defend Taiwan.”The deal’s effect on US willingness to defend Taiwan is unclear,” said Wen-Ti Sung, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.”It really depends on how Trump feels on any particular day, and whether Beijing will attempt to outbid Taiwan subsequently.” 

Donald Trump declared “America is back” Tuesday in his first address to Congress since returning to power, touting his radical policies in the face of raucous Democratic hostility while proclaiming a breakthrough on Ukraine.In the longest presidential speech to lawmakers on record, the Republican repeatedly hailed billionaire advisor Elon Musk’s controversial assault on the federal bureaucracy and said his administration was “just getting started”.”The American Dream is unstoppable,” said Trump in a speech lasting over one hour and 40 minutes, which beat Bill Clinton’s record for his State of the Union speech in 2000.Almost every line got loud applause from Republican Party members, including on two occasions when Trump singled out SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Musk, who stood up to salute Congress.But protests also began within minutes.One Democratic congressman, Al Green, was ejected because he refused to stop heckling Trump over healthcare programs, and shaking his walking stick at the president.Other Democrats silently held up placards including “False” and “Musk steals” and “That’s a lie!”And at one moment, numerous Democrats yelled “January 6!” at Trump, referring to his supporters’ violent attack on the Capitol in 2021 after he refused to concede his election loss.The 78-year-old president was undeterred, hailing his first six weeks and vowing to press on with his polarizing bid to reshape the US government and end the Ukraine war — whatever the cost.- Reality TV style -Trump reverted to his tried-and-tested reality TV instincts. At one point he called attention to a boy with brain cancer who — in front of Congress — was handed an official ID by the head of the Secret Service.But in what mostly sounded like a campaign speech rather than an address to the nation, Trump made no attempt to reach out to opponents and at times mocked them.To cheers of “USA” and “Trump, Trump, Trump”, he proclaimed that his culture war on diversity programs and transgender rights meant “our country will be woke no longer.”He claimed that he was trying to resolve an “economic catastrophe,” despite inheriting the strongest developed economy in the world from his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.He defended his disruptive economic moves — even as the trade war he launched against Canada, China and Mexico is prompting jitters on world markets.”We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on earth,” Trump said.After a torrent of warnings that tariffs will badly hurt US exporters, including politically powerful farmers, he conceded they would bring “a little disturbance.”And after enumerating a series of murders committed by migrants, Trump got big applause when he vowed to “wage war” on Mexican drug cartels.Well before he had finished, dozens of Democrats had already walked out.- Quest for power -Trump is pushing to extend presidential power to its limits, with the popular vote behind him and a Republican-controlled House and Senate doing his bidding.Aided by Musk, Trump has cracked down on the federal bureaucracy, firing thousands of workers, shuttering entire agencies and decimating foreign aid.”The days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over,” Trump said.But there are early signs in the polls that Trump’s sweeping cuts and his failure to tackle inflation are hitting his popularity.Trump is also upending US foreign policy with his pivot to Moscow over the Ukraine war, which has stunned Kyiv and allies alike.Days after a televised row in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump said Ukraine’s leader had told him he was now ready for talks with Russia and a US minerals deal.”I received an important letter from President Zelensky of Ukraine. The letter reads (that) Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said.Trump also doubled down on his controversial vows on “taking back” the Panama Canal and getting Greenland from Denmark by “one way or another.”Democrats have so far struggled to counter Trump’s flood-the-zone strategy and his hogging of the news cycle with constant press conferences.On the Democrats’ rebuttal speech, Senator Elissa Slotkin aimed her sober address at middleclass Americans, calling Trump and Musk “reckless” at home and giving up on “American leadership” abroad.

A US judge on Tuesday denied Elon Musk’s request to prevent OpenAI from becoming a for-profit business in a loss for the Tesla tycoon amid his feud with Sam Altman.US District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk and his xAI startup failed to prove an injunction against OpenAI was necessary as the case heads to trial.Musk sued in California federal court to stop OpenAI from transitioning from a nonprofit to a for-profit business, arguing the startup violated antitrust law and betrayed his trust in their mission as a co-founder of OpenAI.The judge wrote that, while Musk did not prove the need for an injunction, she is prepared to expedite a trial on that claim later this year.The ruling leaves OpenAI free to continue its transition from nonprofit to for-profit enterprise.Musk’s injunction bid argued that OpenAI’s co-founders, including chief executive Altman, “took advantage of Musk’s altruism in order to lure him into funding the venture,” according to court documents.Musk contended in filings that it was clear his backing of OpenAI was contingent on it remaining a nonprofit, offering a few email exchanges to support the claim.”Whether Musk’s emails and social media posts constitute a writing sufficient to constitute an actual contract or charitable trust between the parties is debatable,” the judge said in her ruling.OpenAI’s board chairman in February rejected a Musk-led offer to buy the valuable artificial intelligence company for $97.4 billion.”OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” OpenAI Board Chair Bret Taylor said in a statement posted by the company on Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter.OpenAI currently operates in a hybrid structure, as a nonprofit with a money-making subsidiary.The change to a for-profit model — one that Altman considers crucial for the company’s development — has exacerbated ongoing tensions with Musk.Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015, with the former providing initial funding of $45 million. Three years later, Musk departed the company, with OpenAI citing “a potential future conflict for Elon… as Tesla continues to become more focused on AI.”Musk established his own artificial intelligence company, dubbed xAI, in early 2023 after OpenAI ignited global fervor over the technology.The massive cost of designing, training, and deploying AI models has compelled OpenAI to seek a new corporate structure that would give investors equity and provide more stable governance.