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An AP reporter Wednesday was barred from attending White House events for the second straight day, as Donald Trump’s administration sought to justify its actions against media that refuse to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”A day earlier the Associated Press said its reporter was blocked from covering an Oval Office signing because the AP “did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order” that renamed the body of water as the Gulf of America.On Wednesday the reporter for the 180-year-old media organization was again prevented from attending an Oval Office event, the swearing in of new Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.Asked about the restriction, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration was guarding against media “lies.””We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office,” Leavitt told reporters, describing the act of asking questions of the US president an “invitation” and not a right.”If we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,” Leavitt said. “It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America. And I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that, but that is what it is.”She noted how the US secretary of interior has officially designated the new name, and that Google and Apple have both complied with Trump’s executive order and made the changes on their popular map applications used in the United States.In the Tuesday statement, Associated Press Executive Editor Julie Pace called the White House’s decision “alarming.””Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment” right to freedom of speech.Trump has also ordered changing the name of North America’s highest peak from Denali to Mount McKinley, reversing then-president Barack Obama’s 2015 decision to officially recognize the name used by Alaska Natives for centuries.In a style note last month, AP said Trump’s executive order “only carries authority within the United States.””As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” it added.However AP said it would refer to Mount McKinley since it “lies solely in the United States and as president, Trump has the authority to change federal geographical names within the country.”

US President Donald Trump revealed Wednesday he expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine peace talks, in an extraordinary thaw in relations after a surprise phone call between the two leaders.In their first confirmed contact since Trump’s return to the White House, the US president said he had held a “lengthy and highly productive” conversation with the Russian counterpart who ordered the bloody 2022 invasion of Ukraine.Trump, who has been pushing for a quick end to the nearly three-year war, also denied that Ukraine was being left out in the cold by the direct negotiations between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.”We expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there — and we’re going to meet probably in Saudi Arabia the first time,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about his plans to meet Putin.Trump said he expected it to happen “in the not too distant future” and added that Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who played a key role in a Russia-US prisoner exchange this week — would also be involved.The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours. Putin and Trump had agreed that the “time has come to work together” and that the Russian leader has invited his US counterpart to Moscow, it said.Republican Trump had previously promised to end the Ukraine war “within 24 hours” before taking office on January 20.- ‘Make peace’ -Trump took the world by surprise as he announced the call on his Truth Social network earlier, saying they had “both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the conflict.The US president said he and Putin had agreed to “work together very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations” and to “have our respective teams start negotiations immediately” on Ukraine.Trump later called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included on the call with Putin. Zelensky said afterwards that he had a “meaningful” call with Trump in which he had “shared details” of his talks with Putin.Trump said after the conversation that Zelensky “like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”But the move sparked concerns that Ukraine will be left out of talks on its own fate.Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told European counterparts earlier Wednesday that Ukraine’s dream of returning to its pre-2014 borders was an “illusionary goal” — and that Kyiv’s wish for NATO membership was “not realistic.”Both are key demands of Moscow.Trump denied that Zelensky was being frozen out, and rejected criticism that Hegseth’s comments meant Washington was agreeing to Russia’s preconditions.He added that NATO membership for Ukraine was “impractical.”The Ukrainian leader is calling for tough security guarantees from Washington as part of any deal with Russia. Trump has meanwhile suggested a deal for Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for its continued military aid.- ‘Root causes’ -Zelensky is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, after meeting US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv on Wednesday.The Kremlin’s statement on the call with Trump was more measured. It said Putin “agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations” but said he wanted to “address the root causes of the conflict,” which Russian blames on western influence on Kyiv.There had been signs of a thaw this week with a prisoner swap deal that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel and Belarus release a US citizen, while Washington released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.Trump has previously expressed admiration for Putin and heaped praise on the Russian president in his Truth Social post. He said Putin “even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE.'” and thanked him for Fogel’s release.However, concern has been mounting in Kyiv and European capitals about the shape of a possible deal.The French, German and Spanish foreign ministers insisted Wednesday that there could be “no just and lasting peace” without the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.burs-dk/jgc

Republicans vowed Wednesday to tackle the “stunning” US national debt, as lawmakers began work on President Donald Trump’s plan for the most radical downsizing of the federal government in decades. The House of Representatives Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee will be the legislative arm of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts as Trump’s right-hand man to save $1 trillion by attacking fraud and waste.Its first hearing — “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud” — featured testimony from a former FBI agent and the head of a welfare fraud watchdog.”This committee will be laser-focused on bringing full transparency to waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government, and presenting the plans to fix the tremendous problems we expose,” subcommittee chair Marjorie Taylor Greene said in her opening statement.The hearing was convened with government workers staging demonstrations against deep staffing cuts ordered by Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).Critics say the world’s richest man has enormous conflicts of interest as a major government contractor, although Trump — without producing any evidence — claims his “efficiency czar” has uncovered fraud amounting to tens of billions of dollars.A prominent voice on the party’s hard right with a history of bigoted comments, Greene has been brought from the fringes into the center of Republican politics as Trump’s influence has grown.”We, as a country, are $36 trillion in debt. That is such a stunning amount of money,” she told the panel.”It’s absolutely staggering to even comprehend how we as a people, we as a country, found ourselves here.”- ‘Meat axe’ -Musk, newly emboldened by a Trump executive order giving him a veto over government hiring and firing, told reporters in the White House on Tuesday that DOGE was “maximally transparent.”Democrats, initially open to the concept, have soured on Musk over his efforts to dismantle federal agencies, which they say are unlawful and shrouded in secrecy.Democrats have upbraided Republicans for making strident pledges to save money while proposing a budget that would raise the national debt limit by $4 trillion.”We all agree — I’ve said many times — that cutting waste in government and increasing efficiency is a good thing,” Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Party’s leader in the Senate, said in a floor speech.”But what DOGE is doing is something else entirely. DOGE is taking a meat axe and attacking vital programs indiscriminately.”Trump and Musk are facing multiple legal challenges, however, as they try to lift emergency orders blocking the dismantling of federal agencies, holds on grants and the firing of government watchdogs.The White House lost an appeal in Boston on Tuesday upholding a decision to block Trump’s freeze in federal grants and loans.On the same day, Trump fired an inspector general overseeing USAID, after the nonpartisan official filed a report critical of efforts to close the agency.As with all his firings of inspectors general, the move looks on its face to be illegal, as Congress is supposed to be given 30 days’ notice.Meanwhile the Homeland Security Department fired the Federal Emergency Management Agency chief financial officer and three other employees for approving payments for migrant housing in hotels.And Trump’s spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, accused courts “in liberal districts” of abusing their power — although DOGE’s defeats have been delivered by judges nominated by presidents from both parties. 

Donald Trump was appointed chairman of the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, as a new board of trustees loyal to the US president brought his aggressive rightwing, anti-“woke” stamp to Washington’s premier arts venue.Trump first broke the news Friday that he would make himself the Kennedy Center chairman, as he fires off a blitz of policy changes that are upending the city and the country, and attacking people, causes and policies he says are dangerously liberal.As with much that comes with Trump, this is unprecedented: it is the first time a US president has removed his predecessor’s Kennedy Center board chairman and taken the job himself at the stately white marble complex overlooking the Potomac River. It is named for the late president John F Kennedy.In a post Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was elected unanimously by a new board of trustees loyal to him. The center itself confirmed this in a statement.Quoting himself, Trump added: “The President stated, ‘It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees. We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!’”The appointment is also another form of Trump retribution as he seeks to punish perceived enemies at the outset of his second term in the White House.In his first term, from 2017 to 2021, the Republican regularly skipped the Kennedy Center’s yearly gala event because people slated to receive awards criticized him and said they would not show up if he did.”So we took over the Kennedy Center. We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office late Monday, The Washington Post reported.”I’m going to be chairman of it, and we’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be woke.”Trump on Friday lashed out at the institution, calling it too liberal and out of tune with American values.That same day he fired the man serving as chairman, the billionaire Democratic philanthropist David Rubenstein, and other members of the board of trustees.This week Trump appointed a new board made up entirely of people loyal to him.The center’s long-time president, Deborah Rutter, has been fired, the institution said. The Kennedy Center is home to the National Symphony Orchestra and also offers theatre, opera, comedy and other productions.The orchestra’s artistic adviser, the musician Ben Folds, announced his resignation after Trump became chairman.

US President Donald Trump committed Wednesday to announcing “reciprocal tariffs” on other countries, saying he could sign an order for them within a day, a move that could open new fronts in a trade war.During election campaigning, Trump had promised: “An eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”Analysts expect reciprocal duties involve hiking tariff rates on US imports to match the rate that exporting countries charge on American products.Speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said that he could sign an order for reciprocal duties later in the day, or on Thursday morning.Analysts have warned that such levies could bring a broad tariff hike to emerging market economies like India and Thailand.Earlier on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she believed Trump’s tariff plan could be announced before he meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.Since taking office on January 20, Trump has unveiled sweeping levies on US trading partners.On Wednesday, a White House official told AFP that Trump’s planned 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports will stack on top of the hefty duties he earlier announced on Canada and Mexico.Trump had in early February unveiled sweeping tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian and Mexican goods, with a lower rate of 10 percent on Canadian energy imports.But shortly after making that announcement, he halted the blanket levies on the United States’ immediate neighbors for a month as both countries vowed to implement measures against illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. If those tariffs are reimposed at the end of a 30-day deadline, the levies on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum could hit 50 percent, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Canada’s finance minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is in Washington with Canadian provincial leaders, told reporters Wednesday that Ottawa would not get ahead of America’s decision on tariffs.”We have a number of weeks to work together, and President Trump’s words were very precise to structure an economic deal with Canada,” said LeBlanc, who is meeting US policymakers including National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick.Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba in western Canada, added that his country has critical minerals that could help the US economy.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum separately added that economy minister Marcelo Ebrard has been in talks with his expected US counterpart.While talks between the North American trading partners continued, Trump signed separate orders to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from March 12.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for last month’s unexpected acceleration in consumer inflation, as he looked to deflect a moment of potential political peril early in his second term.The consumer price index (CPI) edged up to 3.0 percent in January from a year ago, the Labor Department said in a statement — slightly above economists’ estimates. Stripping away volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation rose by 3.3 percent over the past 12 months, which was also slightly above expectations. “BIDEN INFLATION UP!” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after the data was published, seeking to blame Biden for the CPI figures, which included 12 days in which was Trump was in office.”It’s far worse than I think anybody anticipated, because unfortunately, the previous administration was not transparent in where the economy truly was,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington later Wednesday. Inflation increased by 0.5 percent in January from a month earlier, while core inflation rose by 0.4 percent. – ‘Close but not there’ -On the campaign trail, Trump frequently touted inflation and the cost of living under his predecessor as key issues, along with immigration, as he looked to capitalize on negative public perceptions of Biden’s handling of the economy.Now Trump faces the worrying prospect that the increase in prices of essential items could continue to accelerate on his watch.The cost of eggs surged more than 15 percent last month as farmers contended with avian flu, marking the largest increase in the index since June 2015, according to the Labor Department. Gasoline prices also jumped, along with several other politically potent price points.  “President Trump campaigned on lowering costs for working families but today’s inflation data highlights how he is failing to deliver on that promise,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement. The January inflation data will likely fuel calls for the Federal Reserve — the independent US central bank — to hold its key lending rate at between 4.25 and 4.50 percent as it waits for price pressures to ease.Speaking in Congress on Wednesday, Fed chair Jerome Powell said the CPI data reinforced the bank’s recent cautious approach on interest rate cuts.”We’re close but not there on inflation,” he said. “And you did see today’s inflation print which says the same thing.”Financial markets have pared back their rate cut expectations in recent days, and now see a chance of close to 70 percent that the Fed will make no more than one rate cut in 2025, according to data from CME Group.- ‘Hand in hand’ -Trump on Wednesday also called for interest rates to be lowered, adding they would “go hand in hand” with his plans to impose tariffs on major US trading partners — despite many economists arguing that both measures could boost inflation. Also on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed to AFP that Trump’s planned 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports would be imposed on top of 25 percent tariffs the US president has threatened to slap on Canada and Mexico.If those sweeping 25 percent tariffs are imposed in early March, the levies on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum could hit 50 percent, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.That could sharply raise the cost of materials that are crucial to US construction and manufacturing.”Any administration is always going to be looking for lower interest rates, as they tend to be growth stimulative,” EY chief economist Gregory Daco told AFP. “The paradox is that the policies that are being promoted by the administration tend to have an inflationary lean, and therefore would favor the Fed maintaining a higher-for-longer stance,” he added.

Chevron will cut 15 to 20 percent of its workforce as part of a reorganization to save money and to position the oil giant for the long-term, the company said Wednesday.The job cuts will begin in 2025 and be mostly complete by the end of 2026, Chevron said in a statement to AFP. The moves are in line with a previous company pledge to remove $2 to $3 billion in “targeted structural costs” by the end of next year.The move is expected to reduce headcount by thousands. Chevron employed 39,800 at the end of 2024, not counting service-station employees.”Chevron is taking action to simplify our organizational structure, execute faster and more effectively, and position the company for stronger long-term competitiveness,” said a statement from Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson.”We do not take these actions lightly and will support our employees through the transition,” Nelson said. “But responsible leadership requires taking these steps to improve the long-term competitiveness of our company for our people, our shareholders and our communities.”The announcement comes after Chevron last month reported annual profits of $17.7 billion, down 17 percent from 2023. The company returned a record $27 billion last year to shareholders in share repurchases and dividends.Shares of Chevron fell 1.4 percent in early afternoon trading.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone Wednesday and agreed to immediately start talks to end the Ukraine war, in an extraordinary thaw in relations that could leave Kyiv out in the cold.Trump described the call as “lengthy and highly productive” in a post on Truth Social, saying the two leaders had also agreed to visit each other to address the deep tensions since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours and that Putin and Trump had agreed that the “time has come to work together”.”I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia,” Trump said, adding that they had discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence and other subjects.Trump said they agreed that “we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine” — with Trump using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the Ukraine conflict.”We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” said Trump.”We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately” on Ukraine.Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war “within 24 hours” before taking office and has been pushing for a peace settlement while remaining coy until now about any possible contact with Putin.But in a sign that Ukraine could see its fate decided by Washington and Moscow, Trump said that “we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation.”Volodymyr Zelensky said he had discussed “opportunities to achieve peace” in a “meaningful” call with Trump, during which the US president had “shared details of his conversation with Putin.”Trump said after the conversation that Zelensky “like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”Zelensky has been trying to keep on the right side of Trump and maintain US support while pushing his own nation’s demands for peace with Russia.- ‘Stopping hostilities’ -There had been earlier signs of a thaw this week with a prisoner swap deal that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel while Washington released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.The Trump administration said Wednesday it had also secured the release of a US citizen held in Moscow’s ally Belarus.Trump heaped praise on the Russian president in his Truth Social post, saying that Putin “even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE.'” and thanking him for Fogel’s release.The US president has repeatedly expressed admiration for the Russian leader in the past. Two investigations into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign resulted in a number of convictions but found no evidence of criminal cooperation.The Kremlin’s statement on the call was more measured, saying that Putin “agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations.””President Trump spoke in favor of stopping hostilities as soon as possible and solving the problem by peaceful means,” Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his readout of the call.Putin had also invited Trump to visit Moscow, he said.Zelensky this week floated the idea of exchanging occupied land but Russia rejected the proposal, hours after launching a fresh barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv.He is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where the Ukrainian leader said he hoped to finalize an economic agreement with Washington.Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth had earlier said trying to return Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders was an “illusionary goal” and that NATO membership for Kyiv was “not realistic.”Trump’s shock announcement of the Putin call has caused consternation in Europe.The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Spain insisted on Wednesday that there could be “no just and lasting peace in Ukraine” without the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.burs-dk/sms

US President Donald Trump’s planned 25-percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports will stack on the hefty duties earlier announced on Canada and Mexico, a White House official told AFP Wednesday.Trump had in early February unveiled sweeping tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian and Mexican goods, with a lower rate of 10 percent on Canadian energy imports.But shortly after making that announcement, he halted the blanket levies on the United States’ immediate neighbors for a month as both countries vowed to step up measures against illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. If those tariffs are reimposed at the end of a 30-day deadline, the levies on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum could hit 50 percent, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Canada’s finance minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is in Washington with Canadian provincial leaders, told reporters Wednesday that Ottawa would not get ahead of America’s decision on tariffs.”We have a number of weeks to work together, and President Trump’s words were very precise to structure an economic deal with Canada,” said LeBlanc, who is meeting US policymakers including National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba in western Canada, added that his country has critical minerals that could help the US economy.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum separately said that economy minister Marcelo Ebrard has been in talks with his expected US counterpart.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico’s Sheinbaum had struck deals for a postponement of initial US tariffs, following calls with Trump just hours before the levies were due to take effect.While talks between the North American trading partners continued, Trump signed separate orders to impose 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from March 12, widening a trade war despite warnings from other countries.Canada and the European Union have since vowed to stand firm against Trump’s latest salvo on steel and aluminum.

A new civil claim alleging sexual abuse against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey was filed on Wednesday at London’s High Court, the legal team representing the accuser confirmed to AFP.Actor Ruari Cannon is suing Spacey, 65, and two organisations connected to London’s Old Vic Theatre, where the actor was artistic director between 2003 and 2015, the claimant’s legal firm Fieldfisher confirmed to AFP.Details of the allegations have not yet been published.Spacey was in 2023 found not guilty of several criminal sexual charges alleged by four men.The star of “American Beauty” and drama series “House of Cards” was acquitted by majority verdicts in London following a trial lasting several weeks.One of the accusers in the criminal trial has also launched civil action against Spacey. The claim filed on Wednesday does not relate to any of the accusers involved in the criminal trial.Spacey won the best supporting actor Oscar for 1996 film “The Usual Suspects” and best actor in 2000 for “American Beauty”.But his once-stellar career has been halted by the various allegations of sexual offences, which first emerged in 2017 as part of the nascent #MeToo movement, and which he has always denied.The 2023 acquittal followed a New York court in 2022 dismissing a $40 million civil sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against him.