US President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a bid to stage the World Expo 2035 in Florida, entering what is expected to be a crowded race for the prestigious international showcase.The 79-year-old Republican leader said Miami had expressed interest, and named Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a native of the city, to oversee the bid for an event he framed as an economic boon and another marker of US resurgence.”Miami Expo 2035 can be the next big milestone in our new Golden Age of America,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.World Expos, held in recent decades every five years, typically require years of international lobbying and multibillion-dollar commitments from host governments — and Rubio already has a burgeoning portfolio.As well as heading up the State Department, Rubio has been named chief of the now-defunct US Agency for International Development, acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration and acting national security advisor.World Expos funnel vast crowds into a designated host city, a tradition that traces its origins to London’s 1851 Great Exhibition staged beneath the Crystal Palace.That showcase — featuring some 14,000 exhibitors representing 40 nations — gave birth to the Expo tradition, which over time unveiled innovations ranging from ketchup and the telephone to x-ray technology.Since 1928, stewardship of the Expos has rested with the Paris-headquartered International Exhibitions Bureau, whose more than 180 member states select host cities through a vote.Roughly 160 countries and regions presented their technological prowess and cultural heritage at last year’s six-month Expo in Osaka, Japan, which drew upwards of 27 million visitors.The United States was once a regular host of what it calls World’s Fairs, bequeathing enduring symbols like Seattle’s Space Needle and New York’s Unisphere, but the world’s largest economy has not staged one since 1984.Although World Expos continue to highlight visions of future technology, skeptics contend that the rise of the internet, global media and affordable international travel has eroded their relevance.At the same time, a turbulent global backdrop of wars and trade disputes has prompted critics to challenge the lofty ideals of unity and progress that the events traditionally promote.But Trump called a potential Miami 2035 an “exciting opportunity to convene the World” that would create thousands of jobs and “add Billions of Dollars in GROWTH, to our Economy.” 

US President Donald Trump sued JPMorgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon on Thursday, alleging he was wrongly “debanked” for political reasons, according to a civil complaint.Trump is seeking at least $5 billion in damages in a civil suit filed in a Florida state court. The complaint focuses on the nation’s biggest bank’s moves to cut ties following the January 6 siege on the US Capitol after Trump refused to concede following his loss in the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.JPMorgan said the case has “no merit,” but called for regulatory reform to “prevent the weaponization of the banking sector.”Trump was notified on February 19 that JPMorgan was closing several accounts, resulting in “considerable financial harm,” according to the complaint.Trump and his businesses were hurt “not only by the interruption to their access to JPMC’s banking services, but also by the devastating impact of plaintiff’s ability to transact and access their monies, and by having to enter into less favorable business arrangements with other financial institutions,” the complaint said.”Plaintiffs are confident that JPMC’s unilateral decision came about as a result of political and social motivations, and JPMC’s unsubstantiated ‘woke’ beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Donald Trump and his conservative political views.”Trump’s suit said the president raised the issue with Dimon, who “assured” the president he would offer a detailed response. But Dimon “ultimately never did” get back to Trump, according to the complaint.JPMorgan said it would fight the litigation, adding it does “not close accounts for political or religious reasons,” according to a statement.”We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company. We regret having to do so but often rules and regulatory expectations lead us to do so,” said the bank, adding that it favors reform to “prevent the weaponization of the banking sector.””While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit,” the bank added. “We respect the President’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves — that’s what courts are for.” Trump’s suit describes his experience with JPMorgan as part of a “systemic and widespread” practice of debanking in the United States over political viewpoints, an allegation that has also been heavily promoted by Republican-led congressional committees. Banking industry officials reject charges that they debank people over political viewpoints but have echoed JPMorgan’s statement in calling for reform.- Rewriting January 6 -While the suit targets a specific commercial actor in JPMorgan, the complaint is part of a broader move directed by Trump and his allies to reframe the events of January 6, 2021.Trump called supporters to Washington to protest Congress’s certification of his election defeat.Following a rousing speech from Trump, several thousand breached the Capitol grounds, overwhelming police lines and wounding more than 140 officers, smashing windows and doors, ransacking offices and forcing lawmakers into hiding as the electoral count was halted for hours before Biden’s victory was certified.Upon retaking the White House in January 2025, Trump granted pardons to more than 1,500 people who stormed the Capitol. Earlier this month, the White House unveiled a website labeling the rioters as “peaceful patriotic protesters” and accusing police of provoking the violent clashes. At a congressional hearing Thursday, former special counsel Jack Smith defended his handling of criminal investigations into Trump, rebuffing Republican lawmakers who cast his prosecutions as politically motivated.”No one should be above the law in this country and the law required that he be held to account,” Smith told the panel. “President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the very laws that he took an oath to uphold.”

The US attorney general announced Thursday the arrest of three people for allegedly disturbing a church service while protesting the massive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, as Vice President JD Vance blamed local leaders for disorder.Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly were arrested in connection with a Sunday protest at Cities Church in the state capital St. Paul, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on X.St. Paul and the neighboring metropolis of Minneapolis have been the epicenter of a major deployment of federal agents by the Trump administration to the Democratic-led northern US state.Tensions have flared in the state over a wave of arrests and the killing of protester Renee Good, 37, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.Vance, who has aggressively defended the officer who shot Good in her car on January 7, was in Minnesota Thursday and blamed local Democratic leaders for the chaotic rollout of ICE raids in the state.”Yes, protest. Protest me. Protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully. If you assault a law enforcement officer the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you,” Vance said, flanked by ICE officers and vehicles.He attacked elected local leaders, both political and policing, in Minneapolis which is a sanctuary city, meaning police do not cooperate with federal immigration sweeps. Vance claimed these leaders were hindering ICE efforts.”The lack of cooperation between state and local officials makes it harder for us to do our job and turns up the temperature,” Vance said.Trump made cracking down on undocumented migrants the centerpiece of his campaign for reelection and has overseen a rapid expansion of ICE’s ranks and immigration sweeps, with Maine in the northeast singled out this week for intensified enforcement.Department of Homeland Security and FBI “agents executed an arrest in Minnesota,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X.”So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church,” Bondi said.”Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” she warned.- Tear gas -She later wrote that officers had also arrested Allen and Kelly for the action where an immigration official was apparently leading a service, according to US media.”WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP,” she posted.FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that Armstrong had been arrested under the FACE Act, a law intended to protect those seeking to access abortion clinics and places of worship.Minnesota has sought a temporary restraining order for the ICE operation in the state which, if granted by a federal judge, would pause the sweeps. There will be a hearing on the application Monday.There have been confrontations between federal agents and protesters who have demanded a full investigation of Good’s killing, with officers frequently deploying pepper spray and tear gas.A number of school children have walked out of classes in protest at the ICE operation in the city.ICE has detained at least four children from the same Minneapolis school district this month, including a five-year-old boy, administrators said according to local media Wednesday.”The five year old was not arrested… his dad was an illegal alien, and then they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran,” Vance claimed.The officer who fired the shots that killed Good, Jonathan Ross, has neither been suspended nor charged with any crime. Trump and his officials quickly defended his actions as being legitimately made in self-defense.The federal immigration sweeps in Minneapolis have occurred amid a highly politicized fraud investigation in Minnesota.

US President Donald Trump headed home from Davos on Thursday after unveiling his new “Board of Peace” and once again casting himself as a global peacemaker, despite widespread scepticism over a plan that aims to rewrite the world order.Trump officials also unveiled ambitious plans for a “New Gaza” during the ceremony at the World Economic Forum, the US leader describing the devastated Palestinian territory as “great real estate”.Trump later met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with both describing their talks as good and the US leader saying Russia’s nearly four-year-old war with Kyiv “has to end”.Zelensky announced “trilateral” talks between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days, and said he had reached agreement with Trump on post-war US security guarantees for Ukraine — though he conceded that dialogue with the US president was “not simple”.And the Ukrainian leader hit out at European allies for being too slow to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking: “What’s missing: time or political will?”- ‘Board of Peace’ -Trump’s “Board of Peace” was created after he expressed frustration at failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize and ramped up accusations the United Nations had failed to resolve a host of international conflicts.”Well this is exciting,” Trump said as he was joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign the board’s founding charter in the Swiss ski resort.”This board has the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created,” he said.The body, of which Trump is the chairman, was initially designed to oversee the Gaza truce and the reconstruction of the strip after the war between Hamas and Israel.But its purpose has since morphed into resolving all sorts of international conflicts, sparking concerns that Trump wants to create a rival to the UN.Key US allies including France and Britain have expressed doubts.Countries have been asked to pay $1 billion for permanent membership of the board, and the invitation for Putin, whose country invaded Ukraine in 2022, has drawn criticism.Trump said the organisation would work “in conjunction” with the United Nations.- Gaza ‘master plan’ -A large part of the ceremony was devoted to talking about its plans for shattered Gaza.Gaza’s newly appointed administrator said in a video message that the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip would reopen in both directions next week.Then Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, like the president a former property developer, showed slides of what he billed as a “master plan” for Gaza’s reconstruction.They included maps of new settlements and artist renderings of gleaming seafront hotels and apartments under the caption “New Gaza”.”It could be a hope. It could be a destination,” Kushner said.Trump told Hamas to disarm under the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire accord or it would be the “end of them”. He added that he was ready to “talk” with regional foe Iran.- ‘Not so popular’ -The representatives of the 19 countries on stage with Trump included two close populist allies, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Argentine President Javier Milei, and officials from a host of Middle Eastern monarchies keen to curry favour.Trump said he expected around 50 countries to join — including Putin, though the latter said he was still studying the invitation.Zelensky, also invited, has said he could not envisage working alongside the Russian leader.Trump said he was hopeful of a deal soon to end the Ukraine war, and Zelensky told the forum that documents being drafted with Washington to end the war were “nearly, nearly ready”.Zelensky has voiced concern that Trump’s push to seize Greenland — which dominated Davos on Wednesday — could divert focus away from Russia’s invasion.Tensions over Greenland eased, however, after Trump announced a “framework of a future deal” over the Danish territory and dropped his threat to hit European allies with new tariffs.Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the Arctic island wanted a “peaceful dialogue” with Washington and it wanted to remain part of Denmark for now.”We have some red lines,” he told a press conference. “We have to respect our territorial integrity. We have to respect international law, sovereignty.”Global stock markets rallied with relief at Trump’s Greenland climbdown, riding what some called the “TACO” trade — for “Trump Always Chickens Out”.But as European leaders gathered in Brussels for a summit, worries lingered over lasting damage to transatlantic ties.burs-dk-lt/jhb/jj