AFP USA

With Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs against Brazil poised to take effect within days, Latin America’s largest economy is bracing for a virtual embargo on its planes, grains, and crude oil.The mercurial US president has penciled in 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods starting August 1, swatting aside centuries-old ties and a US trade surplus which Brasilia put at $284 million in 2024.Trump has not attempted to hide the political motivation behind the sanctions — citing a judical “witch hunt” against his right-wing ally, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.The former artillery officer is on trial, accused of plotting a coup after losing re-election in 2022 to now-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.While Brazil’s seasoned trade diplomats rush to avoid a damaging trade war that would hurt the country’s already slow-growing economy, key sectors are bracing for impact.- Who will feel the pain? -Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, chicken, soybeans, corn, coffee, sugar and orange juice.Its main exports to the United States are crude oil, semi-finished iron and steel products, coffee and aircraft.The agriculture sector alone is projecting losses of $5.8 billion, according to the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock. Other sectors, such as aeronautics, fisheries and defense, allocate more than half of their exports to the US market and may suffer “an impact on jobs,” according to economist Felipe Salto, former secretary of finance of Sao Paulo state. In the aeronautics sector, the tariff hike is “almost an embargo” and may lead to a “workforce adjustment similar to the Covid-19 pandemic,” according to Francisco Gomes Neto, CEO of Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer.- When will the impact be felt? – Trump has become notorious for changing his mind on tariff rates, for stalling deadlines, and for claiming epic deals that fail to materialize. He may yet change his mind again.But in Brazil, the impact of his threats is already being felt.There is a preventive suspension of shipments of meat, fruit, fish, and grains, according to industry sources.About 77,000 tons of fruit are sitting in containers awaiting a diplomatic resolution before they spoil, according to the Brazilian Association of Fruit Export Producers. New shipments of beef to the United States are “under analysis” as they would only arrive after August 1, the powerful Brazilian Beef Association said. – Making a deal? -The political nature of the spat seems to make a last-minute deal less likely. Brazil has insisted the case against Bolsonaro will go ahead unless prosecutors decide otherwise.Trump “doesn’t want to talk,” leftist Lula lamented recently, reiterating that his Plan A is to continue “negotiating.” Lula has tasked Vice President Geraldo Alckmin with reaching out to the White House.But a Brazilian negotiating proposal sent in May has received no response, according to Brasilia.Ricardo Alban, president of the National Confederation of Industry, believes Brazil will continue trying to negotiate as long as possible.Its “largest bilateral trade relationship in manufactured products is with the United States,” he said.- Damage control? -As a Plan B, Lula’s government is already considering offering credit lines for tariff-hit companies. In the longer term, Brazil is trying to “restructure” its trade ties with countries beyond the United States, top government official Rui Costa said recently.The European Union, Mexico, and Canada are all potential partners. When it comes to increasing exports to China, economists see a more difficult path for some sectors.”It’s easier to redirect oil or coffee production to other countries than aircraft parts,” said Marcos Mendes of the Insper research center. “Highly specialized sectors will suffer more,” he explained.Lula promised to apply “reciprocity” if Trump’s tariff threat materializes, measures that could deepen the economic impact on both economies.

US President Donald Trump was due to arrive in Scotland on Friday for a mix of diplomacy, business and leisure, with a huge security operation swinging into place and protests planned near his family-owned golf resorts. The president, whose mother was born in Scotland, is expected to split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, in southwestern coastal Turnberry and Aberdeen in the northeast.Air Force One carrying the president and White House staff was due to arrive around at 8:20 pm local time (1920 GMT) and Trump has no public events scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, the White House said.Police Scotland, who are bracing for mass protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen as well as close to his golf courses, said there will be a “significant operation across the country over many days”.An avid golfer, Trump is expected to tear himself away from the greens to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at some point, but details of that meeting have not been released.Starmer is not reputed to be as passionate about golf as the 79-year-old Republican, and may have other concerns to tee off on.The US and the UK announced a trade agreement in May, but London is worried about Trump’s stated intention to “refine” the deal.The British leader, who has dodged the exorbitant import/export tariffs other countries have been saddled with, will aim to stay in the good graces of the unpredictable American leader.The international outcry over the conflict in Gaza may also be on the agenda, amid growing pressure on Starmer to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and announce the UK will also recognise a State of Palestine.- Protests -Trump is expected to return to the UK in September for a state visit — his second — at the invitation of King Charles III, which promises to be lavish.During a 2023 visit, Trump said he felt at home in Scotland, where his mother Mary Anne MacLeod grew up on the remote Isle of Lewis before emigrating to the United States at age 18.The affection is not necessarily mutual in Scotland.Residents, environmentalists and elected officials have also voiced discontent over the Trump family’s construction of a new golf course, which he is expected to open before he heads back to the UK on Tuesday.Scotland’s leader, First Minister John Swinney, said the country “shares a strong friendship with the United States that goes back centuries”.He said he would  meet with Trump during the visit and said the US leader’s trip provided Scotland with a “platform to make its voice heard on the issues that matter, including war and peace, justice and democracy”.Trump has also stepped into the sensitive debate in the UK about green energy and reaching net zero, with Aberdeen being the heart of Scotland’s oil industry.He said the UK should “stop with the costly and unsightly windmills, and incentivise modernised drilling in the North Sea, where large amounts of oil lay waiting to be taken”.”A century of drilling left, with Aberdeen as the hub,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform about Europe’s oil and gas hub.- US discontent -The trip to Scotland puts physical distance between Trump and the latest twists in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier accused of sex trafficking who died in prison in 2019 before facing trial.In his heyday, Epstein was friends with Trump and others in the New York jet-set, but the president is now facing backlash from his own MAGA supporters who demand access to the Epstein case files.Many support a conspiracy theory under which “deep state” elites protected rich and famous people who took part in an Epstein sex ring. But Trump is urging his supporters to move on and drop the case.The Wall Street Journal, which published an article detailing longstanding links between Trump and the sex offender, is being punished by the White House.Its reporting staff plans to travel to Scotland on its own and join the White House press pool. But it has now been denied a seat on Air Force One for the flight back home.While Trump’s family has undertaken many development projects worldwide, the president no longer legally controls the family holdings.But opponents and watchdog groups have accused him of many conflicts of interest and using his position as US president to promote private family investments, especially abroad.The American NGO Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in May that 21 development projects were already underway abroad during Trump’s second term.

US President Donald Trump travels to Scotland on Friday for a mix of diplomacy, business and leisure, as he stays at family-owned golf resorts. The president is expected to split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, Turnberry and Aberdeen.Trump is due to arrive in Scotland Friday at 8:20 pm local time (1920 GMT) and has no public events scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, the White House said.An avid golfer, Trump is expected to tear himself away from the greens to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at some point, but details of that meeting have not been released.Starmer is not reputed to be as passionate about golf as the 79-year-old Republican, and may have other concerns to tee off on.The US and the UK announced a trade agreement in May, but London is worried about Trump’s stated intention to “refine” the deal.The British leader, who has dodged the exorbitant tariffs other countries have been saddled with, will aim to stay in the good graces of the unpredictable American leader.Trump is also expected to return to the UK in September for a state visit — his second — at the invitation of King Charles III, which promises to be lavish.- Trumpist discontent -The trip to Scotland puts physical distance between Trump and the latest twists in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier accused of sex trafficking who died in prison in 2019 before facing trial.In his heyday, Epstein was friends with Trump and others in the New York jet-set, but the president is now facing backlash from his own MAGA supporters who demand access to the Epstein case files.Many support a conspiracy theory under which “deep state” elites protected rich and famous people who took part in an Epstein sex ring. But Trump is urging his supporters to move on and drop the case.The Wall Street Journal, which published an article detailing longstanding links between Trump and the sex offender, is being punished by the White House.Its reporting staff plans to travel to Scotland on its own and join the White House press pool. But it has now been denied a seat on Air Force One for the flight back home.- Protests -During a previous visit in 2023, Trump said he felt at home in Scotland, where his mother Mary Anne MacLeod grew up before emigrating to the United States at age 18.The affection is not necessarily mutual in Scotland, where protests are planned Saturday in Edinburgh and Aberdeen to oppose his visit. A significant police presence will be deployed.Residents, environmentalists and elected officials have also voiced discontent over the Trump family’s construction of a golf course in Balmedie, a village in Aberdeenshire.While Trump’s family has undertaken many development projects worldwide, the president no longer legally controls the family holdings.But opponents and watchdog groups have accused him of many conflicts of interest and using his position as US president to promote private family investments, especially abroad.The American NGO Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in May that 21 development projects were already underway abroad during Trump’s second term.The group also noted that the Trump Organization revised its own ethical charter in January to remove any prohibition from launching new international ventures with private actors, departing from the moratorium it had imposed during Trump’s first term. 

The White House lashed out at the creators of “South Park” Thursday after the bawdy satire skewered Donald Trump in an episode featuring an AI-generated version of the US president crawling naked through a desert.In a no-holds-barred season premiere, the animated Trump character is also seen begging Satan for sex, only to be rebuffed — in part because his penis is too small.The White House was not amused.”This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention,” spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.”President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.”The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season and remains one of the world’s most valuable TV shows.The season premiere begins with the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by the president, while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school.Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars.Meanwhile, animated Trump is threatening to bomb Canada “like I did Iraq.””I thought you just bombed Iran,” the Canadian prime minister replies.”Iran, Iraq, what the hell’s the difference?” replies Trump.The episode, which sees the fictional Trump ride rough-shod over many aspects of American life, ends after the town of South Park makes a financial deal with the president that includes an agreement to make public service announcements.The AI generated short that follows — ostensibly one of those announcements — shows an overweight Trump staggering through a desert as a narrator casts him as a latter-day Jesus.The short ends with a naked Trump as the narrator says: “Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large.”At a Thursday panel at pop culture event Comic-Con in San Diego, “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed internal discussions over depicting a fake presidential phallus.”They’re like, ‘Okay, but we’re gonna blur the penis.’ And I’m like, ‘No, you’re not going to blur the penis’,” Parker told the audience. After “a whole conversation with a lot of grown up people for about four … days,” Parker said they decided to add eyes to it to avoid it being blurred. – Merger -The episode aired days after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reportedly penned a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount that gives the company global rights.The deal comes at a sensitive time for Paramount, which is trying to secure government approval for a multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance.The CBS parent caused a furor this month when it agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump had brought over an interview the storied “60 Minutes” current affairs program aired with Kamala Harris ahead of last November’s election.The payment was criticized by Democrats as little more than a bribe to help smooth the merger, with Paramount initially dismissing Trump’s lawsuit as meritless.Last week CBS sparked fury after it cancelled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” whose host is a pointed critic of the president.The network insisted it was a financial decision, but opponents have painted the move as the latest example of American institutions bowing to Trump.

Far-right MAGA influencers are treading a tightrope as outrage escalates over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: they are caught between a fired-up base demanding more information and President Donald Trump, who is eager to turn the page.Trump’s core Make America Great Again base has erupted in anger over the White House’s handling of the so-called “Epstein files,” viewing it as a betrayal by the Republican and his allies who have long championed the unfounded theory that powerful elites orchestrated a massive child sex trafficking cover-up.Calls for the release of those files could intensify after a US media report on Wednesday said Trump’s name was among hundreds found during an official review of documents on Epstein, a claim the White House has denied.Faced with a choice between alienating a base fervently demanding answers or defying Trump — who has implored them to move on — MAGA-aligned influencers and podcasters find themselves in a political bind.MAGA media are “definitely walking a fine line with the Epstein debacle,” Mike Rothschild, an expert on conspiracy theories, told AFP.”Trump demanding that nobody talk about Epstein should be a betrayal for them. But they’re so invested in supporting Trump, and have built their financial support around it, that they really can’t do anything but make excuses and tie themselves in knots.”Some MAGA influencers, however, turned sharply critical in recent weeks.Among them is Rogan O’Handley, who was invited to the White House in February alongside a handful of influencers and presented with binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” only to find they offered little new information.”This is a shameful coverup to protect the most heinous elites,” O’Handley told his 2.2 million followers on X earlier this month.”We were told multiple times the files would be released and now it looks like backroom deals have been made to keep them hidden.”- ‘Fanatically loyal’ -Charlie Kirk, a Trump loyalist and podcaster, faced an avalanche of criticism from the MAGA base after he initially said he was “done talking” about Epstein, and added he was going to trust “my friends in the administration.””Trump’s base has been fanatically loyal, and influencers are hesitant about opposing Trump directly if that threatens the size of their audiences,” Matt Gertz, senior fellow at the watchdog Media Matters for America, told AFP.Fueling the MAGA base’s anger were conclusions from the Justice Department and FBI that Epstein — a disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 — did not maintain a “client list” as conspiracy theorists have contended. Attorney General Pam Bondi emerged as their key target for criticism after announcing no more information would be forthcoming. But Trump has defended Bondi, while claiming without evidence on Truth Social that the Epstein files were written by his political rivals “Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the losers and criminals of the Biden administration.”That response prompted disbelief from Benny Johnson, a longtime Trump supporter and right-wing podcaster.” By admitting that the Epstein Files are real, and that you’ve read them, and you don’t like their contents, and they were written by your enemies, it doesn’t make the most compelling case as far as I’m concerned. Holy moly,” Johnson said.- ‘Moving target’ -Seeking to redirect attention within the MAGA base — an echo chamber fueled by constant grievance and outrage — Trump has launched attacks on familiar enemies: former president Barack Obama and the media.The White House has promoted the unfounded claim that Obama led a “years-long coup” against Trump around his victorious 2016 election. The former president has rejected the claim.The White House has also barred The Wall Street Journal from traveling with Trump during his upcoming visit to Scotland, after the newspaper reported that he wrote a bawdy birthday message to Epstein.Trump on Friday sued the WSJ and its media magnate owner Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion over the allegation in the article, which Trump denies.Following those moves, Stephen Bannon, host of the influential “War Room” podcast, sought to rally influencers behind Trump, telling US media that the MAGA base was “completely unified because now we’re on offense.””The MAGA media’s take on the Epstein case is both fractured and very much a moving target,” said Gertz.”Trump’s recent attacks on The Wall Street Journal and new conspiracy theories about Obama seem to be refocusing their attention away from Epstein — though it’s unclear for how long, particularly given the new revelation that Trump himself is named in the files.”

US regulators on Thursday approved an $8 billion deal for Skydance to acquire Paramount Global amid tumult in the latter’s news and late night programming on CBS, a leading American broadcaster.Clearance of the acquisition comes after Paramount settled US President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes,” and a week after CBS canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The comedian had blasted the $16 million settlement of Trump’s lawsuit as “a big fat bribe” to win approval of the merger with Skydance. Colbert’s show is slated to end in 2026, and is staple of late-night US television that often mocks Trump.CBS said in a statement the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” and was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”Paramount reached the settlement with Trump this month in a lawsuit the entertainment giant itself had described as meritless.The Republican president had sued Paramount for $20 billion last year, alleging that CBS News’ “60 Minutes” news program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.To promote the show, “60 Minutes” had shown a shortened clip or “tease” of Harris speaking on earlier network programming, and the full quote was aired on the Sunday evening broadcast. Trump objected to the use of the shorter clip.The FCC chair doubled down on the Trump administration’s criticisms of CBS News.“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly,” Carr said in the statement. “It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”- Suspicious timing? -The FCC’s approval of the merger “reeks of the worst form of corruption,” Democratic Senators Edward Markey and Ben Ray Lujan said in a joint statement.”The timing speaks for itself,” Markey and Lujan said.”Paramount settled with Trump on Tuesday and the FCC approved the merger on Thursday.”Markey last week sent a letter to Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone demanding details about the decision to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” specifically whether anyone in the Trump administration asked for the show to be cancelled, according to a copy posted at his official website.Colbert said on Thursday the cancellation was not just the end of his show but the end of the decades-old “Late Show” franchise, which has been broadcast continuously on CBS since 1993 and was previously hosted by David Letterman.Trump celebrated the cancellation, writing on his Truth Social platform, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”Trump’s political opponents and other critics drew attention to the timing of the decision.”CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on social media platform X.Colbert, once a regular on Comedy Central, made use of humor in his incisive political commentary and succeeded Letterman as the host of “The Late Show” in 2015.The late-night television landscape has long been dominated by satirical comedy shows that blend entertainment with news and political commentary. As a condition of approval, Skydance will put in place an “ombudsman” who will evaluate complaints of bias, according to Carr.”Skydance, which has no DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs in place today, has committed that it will not establish any such initiatives at the new company,” Carr said in a release.

Enid Medina Guzman always has candles on hand — not for creating ambiance, but because one of the blackouts that plague Puerto Rico could strike at any time.But she is hopeful the lingering hardship will soon be a thing of the past: solar panels are being installed on her home as part of a community program promoting energy independence.At her house nestled high in the mountains of the lush tropical forests of the archipelago’s central city Adjuntas, “it rains a lot and when there’s a little wind, the power goes out really quickly,” Medina Guzman told AFP.She has lived in Adjuntas, which has a population of about 20,000, virtually all her life. She said blackouts have always been a feature.”Sometimes it’s at night when it’s super hot, and you can’t sleep, you can’t rest,” the 60-year-old said. “It’s difficult.”Puerto Rico is a Caribbean territory of more than three million people that has been under US control since 1898. Its chronic infrastructure woes were exacerbated by 2017’s devastating Hurricane Maria, which razed the island’s already deteriorating power grid.After the massive storm, it took roughly 11 months to restore power across the island.The electrical grid went private in June 2021 in an apparent effort to resolve the problem of perennial blackouts.But outages persist: this past year, Puerto Rico experienced massive blackouts in April and also on New Year’s Eve.”It’s not normal,” Medina Guzman said, as a crew installed the battery that will soon store captured energy from the sun.- ‘Hands of the people’ -Like everywhere in Puerto Rico, Adjuntas went dark during Maria — but in the city’s main square, a pink, 1920s-era house was a beacon of light.It was Casa Pueblo, the nucleus of a grassroots non-profit focused on ecological protection and community support. It became a haven in the storm’s aftermath: the solar panels on its roof meant Casa Pueblo had precious power. People could charge their electronic devices, and crucially plug in medical equipment like oxygen machines.Cell towers and power lines were down, but Casa Pueblo’s community radio station still functioned, becoming a vital source of information in the mountain town.Casa Pueblo came into being in 1980 — the brainchild of a citizens group whose original mission was to thwart a series of planned open-pit mines in the region. They were successful. Over the years, the organization bloomed into a model of bottom-up energy independence, on an island frequently hampered by economic crisis and natural disaster.”Our aspiration isn’t just a technological transition away from fossil fuels to solar. Yes, we need to produce clean and renewable energy, but we are aspiring towards a transformation — a just, eco-social transition,” said Casa Pueblo’s director Arturo Massol Deya, a biologist by training.”That means the energy infrastructure being in the hands of the people,” added Massol Deya, whose parents were the group’s original founders.- ‘Path to change’ -Among Casa Pueblo’s efforts is sustaining a community solar belt that gives vulnerable populations control over their own energy. The group also has distributed solar lamps and solar refrigerators, especially in rural communities.Casa Pueblo has so far helped install solar panels on nearly 300 homes, with over 400 projects in total including businesses. Massol Deya told AFP those initiatives are primarily funded through grassroots donations and philanthropy.Their microgrids — a localized energy system — are interconnected and self-sufficient.And net metering — a billing mechanism that credits consumers for excess power produced from renewable systems — allows Casa Pueblo’s center to sell back what it doesn’t use.That is particularly meaningful given that average Puerto Ricans pay more than double the price for electricity than mainland US residents, according to US Energy Information Administration data.”The traditional model is a unilateral, exploitative, monopolistic, dictatorial model,” Massol Deya said. “They decide the price of fuel and whether they give it to you or not. Sometimes they fail and can’t provide the service,” he said.”This energy insecurity translates to many issues — well, not anymore.”Approximately 10 percent of Puerto Rican households currently have solar panels, according to the energy authority, a number that reflects households with net-metering agreements. There is no publicly available data for structures that operate off-grid.Sergio Rivera Rodriguez is part of a team of academic researchers studying the public health impact of energy security on populations like those in Adjuntas. He told AFP the Casa Pueblo model could be successful elsewhere.”I think it’s making a difference — it’s of course just one municipality,” he said. But “structural changes take years.”Casa Pueblo functions above all, Massol Deya said, because it is a social program that fosters communal control of resources.”The people are doing it,” he said. “This is the path to change.”

A top US Justice Department official spent hours on Thursday grilling Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as President Donald Trump struggles to tamp down a furor over his handling of the explosive case.David Markus, Maxwell’s attorney, said the former British socialite answered every question she was asked during a day-long meeting at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.”She never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer,” Markus told reporters. “She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly, and to the best of her ability.”Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he would continue interviewing Maxwell on Friday and “share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”Markus said he was not going to comment on the “substance” of the meeting with Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer for his hush money trial and two federal criminal cases.Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of recruiting underage girls for Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial in his own sex trafficking case.Earlier this week, Blanche said if Maxwell has “information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.”No one is above the law — and no lead is off-limits,” he said.Trump, 79, was once a close friend of Epstein and The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the president’s name was among hundreds found during a DOJ review of the so-called “Epstein files,” though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.Trump filed a $10 billion defamation suit against the Journal last week after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate convicted in connection with his activities, which right-wing conspiracy theorists allege included trafficking young models for VIPs.The meeting with Maxwell marks another attempt by the Trump administration to defuse anger among the Republican president’s supporters over what they have long seen as a cover-up of sex crimes by Epstein, who was a wealthy financier with high-level connections.- ‘Corrupt deal’ -Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the meeting between Maxwell and a Justice Department official who used to be Trump’s own lawyer smacks of a “corrupt deal so that she can exonerate Donald Trump.”Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said it raises a number of troubling questions.”Is he really going as (deputy attorney general) or is he going de facto as Trump’s personal criminal attorney, Tom Hagen style?” the senator said in a reference to the Corleone family lawyer in “The Godfather.””Will he promise her a pardon for silence, or for a Trump-friendly tale?” Whitehouse asked.Many of the president’s core supporters want more transparency on the Epstein case, and Trump had promised to deliver that on retaking the White House in January.But he has since dismissed the controversy as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” and the DOJ and FBI released a memo this month claiming the Epstein files did not contain evidence that would justify further investigation.Epstein committed suicide while in jail and was not murdered, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a “client list,” according to the July 7 FBI-DOJ memo.Seeking to redirect public attention, the White House has promoted unfounded claims in recent days that former president Barack Obama led a “years-long coup” against Trump around his victorious 2016 election.The extraordinary narrative claims that Obama had ordered intelligence assessments to be manipulated to accuse Russia of election interference to help Trump.Yet it runs counter to four separate probes between 2019 and 2023 — each of them concluding that Russia did interfere and did, in various ways, help Trump.Epstein was found hanging dead in his New York prison cell while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited hundreds of victims at his homes in New York and Florida.

Intel on Thursday posted quarterly revenue that topped market expectations, saying it has cut about 15 percent of its workforce to be “more agile.”The US chip maker also said it “will no longer move forward” with projects in Germany and Poland as part of a push to save billions of dollars.The struggling chip maker’s earnings report came as rivals specializing in graphics processing units (GPUs) for artificial intelligence thrive due to rapid adoption of the technology.Intel is one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic companies, but its fortunes have been dwarfed by Asian powerhouses TSMC and Samsung, which dominate the made-to-order semiconductor business. The company was also caught by surprise with the emergence of Nvidia as the world’s preeminent AI chip provider.Intel’s niche has been in chips used in traditional computing processes, steadily being eclipsed by the AI revolution.Intel reported $12.9 billion in sales in the recently ended quarter, topping forecasts, but logged a $2.9 billion loss that included $1.9 billion in restructuring charges.”Intel has completed the majority of the planned headcount actions it announced last quarter to reduce its core workforce by approximately 15 percent,” the company said in an earnings release.”These changes are designed to create a faster-moving, flatter and more agile organization.”Intel shares were down slightly in after-hours trades that followed the release of the earnings figures.Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan took the helm in March, announcing layoffs as White House tariffs and export restrictions muddied the market.Malaysia-born tech industry veteran Tan has said it “won’t be easy” to overcome challenges faced by the company.- Demand and Turmoil -Meanwhile, South Korean chip giant SK hynix reported record quarterly profits Thursday thanks to soaring demand for artificial intelligence technology.The world’s second-largest memory chip maker dominates the market for high-bandwidth memory semiconductors and is a key supplier for US titan Nvidia.Riding the AI wave, last week Taiwan chip giant TSMC announced a surge in net profit for the second quarter.”Nvidia suppliers like SK hynix will continue to enjoy strong demand in the coming months and years for memory chips due to the high memory content needed to make AI chips functional,” G. Dan Hutcheson of TechInsights told AFP.Dutch tech giant ASML last week said it booked higher net profits in the second quarter of 2025 compared with the same period last year.The firm, which makes cutting-edge machines for the manufacture of semiconductors, warned that the growth outlook for next year was somewhat less rosy than before.”Looking at 2026, we see that our AI customers’ fundamentals remain strong,” said Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet in a statement.”At the same time, we continue to see increasing uncertainty driven by macro-economic and geopolitical developments,” he cautioned.Washington has sought to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, concerned that they could be used to advance Beijing’s military systems and otherwise undermine American dominance in AI.