There is a version of this country in which Donald Trump tells Americans the truth he has been handed: that their elections are secure. Once, he apparently wanted to. The Atlantic reported after Thursday night’s address that a February 2020 election-security briefing pleased Trump so much he wanted to announce the news himself. The press conference never happened. The election did, and Trump lost it. More than six years later, he mocked the assurances he once wanted his name on, describing a system “so broken and so vulnerable that no…
Tag: Trump administration
Fact-checking Donald Trump’s address on Chinese election interference – video
Donald Trump delivered a primetime address to the country on Thursday, claiming that declassified intelligence showed Chinese interference in US elections. The US president revived long-running attacks on election security, despite a US intelligence assessment that found no evidence Beijing altered the 2020 vote, which he lost. The Guardian’s voting rights reporter Sam Levine factchecks some of Trump’s claims The Guardian
Democrats criticize Trump’s claims of election interference – US politics live
<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"6a59fbdc8f085bcdc0081ac6","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" When asked about the unverified comments made by Donald Trump, who on Thursday accused China of interfering in the 2020 presidential election, the Kremlin said Russia has never interfered in US elections, Reuters reports. ","elementId":"c285111c-6693-4a77-ab8d-f8aeada878aa"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow categorically rejected all allegations of past election meddling. ","elementId":"f7c556e0-42b6-4bca-bd2d-140e0ceb4680"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" A 2021 US intelligence community assessment determined that Russia conducted influence operations aimed at denigrating Biden’s campaign – but concluded that no foreign actor, China included, attempted to alter any technical aspect…
China and Xi Jinping seen more favourably than the US and Trump in poll of major countries
The world has largely viewed the US more favourably than China for years, but those opinions have flipped in Beijing’s favour this year, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center, a remarkable shift driven in part by tensions between the Trump administration and US allies. More people have favourable views of China than the US in 25 out of the 36 countries and territories that were surveyed, including Canada and Mexico. The poll was conducted from February to May, a period when the United States and Israel…
New Aukus drone tech to protect critical undersea cables as Marles warns: ‘seabed is a battlefield’
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels. The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables. The same announcement also revealed that Australia would buy three secondhand Virginia-class submarines from the US under Aukus, instead of a mix of old and new, in a move…
‘Makes no sense’: experts doubt pause in US arms sale to Taiwan is due to Iran war
The Trump administration’s war against Iran should have no impact on arms sales to Taiwan, experts have said, after a US official suggested a pause in the delivery of a key weapons package was due to the Gulf conflict. Analysts told the Guardian that a $14bn arms package left in limbo after Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping could take up to six years to process, and there was a “low likelihood” of any true connection between events in Iran and weapons delivery to Taiwan. Uncertainty over Washington’s support for…
The American epoch of oil is collapsing. What comes next could be ugly | Jonathan Watts
“Farewell,” the flag-waving Chinese children chanted to Donald Trump as he strolled along the red carpet back to Air Force One at the end of his summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing. The US leader claimed he was leaving with a cluster of “fantastic” trade deals to sell US oil, jets and soya beans to China. That has not been confirmed by his smiling host, but one thing was crystal clear from the two days of meetings: the global balance of power is shifting, from the declining petrostate in the…
Men in the mirror: Trump and Xi’s suits put ‘chameleon effect’ to test in Beijing
When Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met for a welcome ceremony in Tiananmen Square this week with the world’s gaze on them, they mirrored one another in strikingly similar suits. Both were blue, single-breasted with flap pockets. Both had two buttons with only the top one done up. Both wore red ties. They were surrounded by scores of other men in different suits: Stephen Miller had his customary pocket square, ditto Pete Hegseth, who along with Scott Bessent wore flamboyantly stripy ties; Elon Musk wore a green tie; there were…
Trump-Xi accord on Iran elusive as US president’s China trip winds down
Donald Trump has claimed that the US and China “feel very similar” about ending the war in Iran but offered no details about a possible breakthrough. The US president was speaking alongside Xi Jinping of China at the Zhongnanhai garden in Beijing on the second and final day of the leaders’ summit. “We did discuss Iran,” Trump said. “We feel very similar about [how] we want it to end. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open.” He added: “We want them [Iran] to…
Trump China visit live: Rubio hoping for ‘positive response’ to appeal for release of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai
<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"6a06611b8f08f817fdb23c25","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said the US policy on Taiwan is “unchanged” after the summit talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing. ","elementId":"bf55be34-553a-461e-949f-9f953533a87c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" “Our policies on that have not changed,” Rubio told NBC News. “It’s been pretty consistent across multiple presidential administrations, and remains consistent now.” ","elementId":"eed7e547-e551-43aa-86b7-2545b2c8744e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Xi warned Trump on Thursday that China and the US could come into conflict if the issue over self-ruled Taiwan – claimed by Beijing – is mishandled. ","elementId":"b470a642-9fef-474a-af78-89bf9b588c67"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" “The Taiwan question is the…