So basically, East Germany before the wall came down.
Kremlin 'Welcomes' Trump's Approach on Ukraine Conflict
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/kremling-russia-ukraine/2025/02/24/id/1200203/
Monday, 24 February 2025 07:01 AM EST
The Kremlin praised the administration of President Donald Trump on Monday for trying to understand the "root causes" of the Ukraine conflict and bring an end to it, in what it said was a marked contrast with the approach of Europe.
The comments are one of the Kremlin's clearest acknowledgements yet of the sea-change in U.S. policy on the war since Trump took office five weeks ago.
Reversing three years of U.S. efforts to punish and isolate Moscow under the administration of Joe Biden, Trump has moved quickly to repair ties with President Vladimir Putin and endorsed parts of the Kremlin narrative on the conflict.
Last week Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator" and suggested Kyiv had started the war, which began exactly three years ago when Putin announced a "special military operation" and sent his army into Ukraine.
Asked about Trump's comments blaming Zelenskyy and Biden, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Trump administration itself had said it was reframing its approach to Russia.
"This is what we welcome and support. This is the first thing. Secondly, we hope that Washington will fully analyze the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict - this is actually what we tried to get our opponents in Europe to pay attention to, and what they have always refused to do, just like the previous Washington administration," Peskov said.
Russia has long argued that it was forced to launch the war to protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine and defend itself by making sure that Ukraine could not join NATO. Ukraine and the West say these were pretexts for a colonial-style land grab.
"Without a deep analysis and understanding of the root causes of the conflict around Ukraine, it is essentially impossible to work properly on a (peace) settlement," Peskov said.
"And here we see Washington's attempts to really understand what caused this conflict, and we hope that this analysis will help efforts in the context of conflict resolution."
In contrast, Peskov said there was no basis at the moment for Russia to resume dialog with European countries, which on Monday hit Moscow with yet another sanctions package including a ban on aluminum imports. He called the sanctions "entirely predictable."
Critics of Trump have accused him of selling out Ukraine by conceding key negotiating points even before the start of talks. Ukraine and its European allies are fearful of a hasty Putin-Trump deal that would sideline them and undermine their security.
Trump's officials say the U.S. approach simply recognizes the realities of the situation and is aimed at halting the bloodshed.
Peskov said the next contacts with the U.S. side, expected later this week, would focus on addressing "irritants" in bilateral relations and "unblocking" the work of their embassies, which has been dogged by disputes over diplomatic properties and staffing levels.
He said the Russian foreign ministry would announce in due course where and when the next talks would take place.
Apple Plans Texas Factory for AI Servers, 20,000 Research Jobs
https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/apple-texas-factory/2025/02/24/id/1200201/
Monday, 24 February 2025 06:45 AM EST
Apple Monday said it plans to help bring online a quarter-million-square-foot factory in Texas by 2026 to build artificial intelligence servers and will add about 20,000 research and development jobs across the U.S.
Apple said that it plans to spend $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, though that figure includes everything from purchases from U.S. suppliers to U.S. filming of television shows and movies for its Apple TV+ service. The company declined to say how much of the figure it was already planning to spend with its existing U.S. supply base, which includes firms such as Corning, which makes glass for iPhones in Kentucky.
The move comes after media reports that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook met with President Donald Trump last week. Many of Apple's products that are assembled in China could face 10% tariffs imposed by Trump earlier this month, though the iPhone maker previously secured some waivers from China tariffs during the first Trump administration.
Apple made a similar announcement about its U.S. spending plans during the first Trump administration, at that time saying it planned $350 billion over five years.
Most of Apple's consumer products are assembled outside the U.S., though many of Apple components are still made there, including chips from Broadcom, SkyWorks Solutions and Qorovo. Apple also said that it last month started mass producing chips of its own design at an Arizona factory owned Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC).
Bringing TSMC to Arizona and helping introduce legislation that later became the CHIPS Act to bolster U.S. semiconductor production were two of Trump's biggest industrial policy moves during his first term.
Apple said on Monday that it will work with Hon Hai Precision Industry's Foxconn to build a 250,000-squre-foot facility in Houston, where it will assemble servers that go into data centers to power Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI features that help draft emails and perform other tasks. Those servers are currently made outside of the U.S., Apple said.
Apple also said it plans to increase its Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $5 billion to $10 billion, with part of the expansion being a "multibillion-dollar commitment from Apple to produce advanced silicon" at TSMC's Arizona factory. Apple did not disclose details of its deal with TSMC, but it has in the past used the fund to help partners build out the infrastructure needed to deliver products or services for Apple.
Apple will also open a manufacturing academy in Michigan where its engineers, along with local university staff, will offer free courses for small and mid-sized manufacturing firms in areas such as project management and manufacturing process optimization.
Germany's Merz Questions Longevity of NATO's 'Current Form'
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/friedrich-merz-germany-nato/2025/02/23/id/1200183/
Sunday, 23 February 2025 07:30 PM EST
Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, questioned on Sunday whether NATO would remain in its "current form" by June in light of the comments by President Donald Trump's administration.
"I would never have thought that I would have to say something like this in a TV show. But after Donald Trump's remarks last week, … it is clear that this government does not care much about the fate of Europe," Merz told German public broadcaster ARD after his conservatives won a national election.
Last week, the Trump administration shocked European allies by telling them they must take care of their own security and rely less on the United States, while announcing talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine without involving Europe.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Europeans "stark strategic realities" would prevent the U.S. from being primarily focused on the security of Europe.
Referring to a NATO summit scheduled for June, Merz said he was curious to see "whether we will still be talking about NATO in its current form then or whether we will have to establish an independent European defense capability much more quickly."
On Friday, Merz told public broadcaster ZDF that Germany would need to come to terms with the possibility that Trump might not stick with NATO's mutual-defense pledge unrestrictedly.
He said this meant that Berlin might need to become less reliant on the U.S. with regard to their nuclear umbrella, too, and advocated talks with Europe's nuclear powers France and Britain about an expansion of their nuclear protection.
Merz, a transatlanticist, has been more hawkish against Russia than acting Chancellor Olaf Scholz, suggesting medium-range Taurus missiles might be sent to Kyiv under his reign, something Scholz has strictly rejected.
On Sunday, he was echoed by acting Economy Minister Robert Habeck, whose Greens may form part of a new coalition government with Merz's conservatives.
"We are in a historically unique situation now. The Americans do not only leave Europe alone but work against Europe," Habeck warned.
SECONDED!
Canada, Mexico Push Fentanyl, Border Talks to Avoid Trump's Tariffs
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/canada-mexico-push-talks-to-avoid-trumps-tariffs/2025/02/24/id/1200205/
Monday, 24 February 2025 07:18 AM EST
(1/2)
Canada and Mexico are expected to intensify efforts this week to avoid punishing 25% tariffs on their exports to the U.S. in talks to persuade President Donald Trump's administration that their steps to increase border security and curb fentanyl trafficking are working ahead of a March 4 deadline.
Canada and Mexico have both taken steps to beef up border security, which bought them about a month's reprieve from the tariffs that could wreak havoc on a highly integrated North American economy.
The negotiations this week, along with new reports from the Department of Homeland Security, will help determine whether the Trump administration extends the tariff suspension for longer, said Dan Ujczo, a lawyer specializing in U.S.-Canada trade matters.
Even if that happens, he said, Trump will likely maintain the tariff threat at least until there's clear evidence the border measures are halting migrant and fentanyl flows.
"There's progress being made on the security front," said Ujczo, senior counsel with Thompson Hine in Columbus, Ohio. "But it's overly optimistic to think that those tariffs would be fully rescinded."
The White House, U.S. Trade Representative's office and Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment on the negotiations expected this week ahead of the March 4 deadline to implement the tariffs, which would apply to over $918 billion worth of U.S. imports from the two countries, from autos to energy.
Since Trump's initial 25% tariff threat and imposition of a 10% duty on all Chinese imports, he has heaped on more tariff actions that could muddy the waters on border negotiations.
These include substantially raising tariffs on steel and aluminum to a flat 25%, rescinding longstanding exemptions for Canada and Mexico, the largest sources of U.S. imports of the metals. These steep increases, which also extend to hundreds of downstream steel products, are due to take effect a week after the border tariffs, on March 12.
Trump has also said he wants to impose 25% tariffs on imports of autos, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, in addition to ordering "reciprocal" tariffs to match the duty rates and trade barriers of other countries.
(2/2)
The threat of these tariffs could kick off an early launch of a renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement on trade that is due by 2026, Ujczo added.
Trump signed the USMCA into law in 2020 after renegotiating the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, but has increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with imports of autos from Mexico and Canada.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday that he had a "constructive dialog" during a meeting with Trump's top trade officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett and U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer.
Ebrard said in a post on X that the "joint work" on U.S. trade matters starts on Monday. Mexico has begun deploying as many as 10,000 national guard troops to its northern border, as part of the agreement that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said also called on the U.S. to work to stop the flow of firearms into Mexico.
Canada earlier this month created a new fentanyl czar to coordinate the fight against smuggling of the deadly opioid, appointing senior intelligence official Kevin Brosseau to the post. Ottawa also has reclassified drug cartels as terrorist entities and has deployed drones, helicopters and other surveillance technologies on the vast northern U.S. border.
In December, the Canadian government announced a C$1.3 billion ($913 million) increase in border security spending in response to Trump's tariff threat. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has kept in close contact with Trump on the border issues in recent days, including in a Saturday call that included discussions of joint efforts to curb fentanyl trade.
He has threatened retaliatory tariffs on C$155 billion ($107 billion) of U.S. imports, including American beer, wine and bourbon and Florida orange juice, but said last week that Canada is "going to do the work" to ensure that tariffs are not imposed.
White House officials say Canada, Mexico and China are conduits for shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the U.S. in small packages that are not often inspected.
A major hurdle to slowing these shipments is a pause in Trump's abrupt order to suspend the duty-free "de minimis" exemption for packages valued at under $800 from the three countries because no procedures were in place to screen the millions of low-value express packages arriving at U.S. airports daily.
It's unclear when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will be able to close the de minimis loophole again. Trump's initial fentanyl and border tariff order directed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to report regularly on the crisis to Trump and Congress.
I don't get it.
Don't they realize the whole western hemisphere is referred to as Americas, and has been for centuries.
Judge to Hear AP Challenge to Trump's Ban Over Use of Gulf of Mexico Name
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/ap-trump-administration-gulf/2025/02/24/id/1200209/
Monday, 24 February 2025 07:34 AM EST
A federal judge on Monday is set to consider a request by the Associated Press to restore full access for the news agency's journalists after President Donald Trump's administration barred them for continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in coverage.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, is scheduled to hear the AP's motion for a temporary restraining order against the administration at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) in Washington federal court.
The AP filed a lawsuit against three senior Trump aides, arguing that the decision to block its reporters from the Oval Office and Air Force One infringes on First Amendment protections by attempting to influence the language used in reporting. The news agency is seeking to immediately restore its access to all areas available to the White House press pool.
White House spokesman Steven Cheung in a statement called the lawsuit a "Blatant PR stunt." During an appearance last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "We feel we are in the right in this position."
Leavitt is one of the three White House officials named as defendants in the lawsuit. The other two, Chief of Staff Susan Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich, have not responded to requests for comment.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Trump signed an executive order last month directing the U.S. Interior Department to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The AP said in January it would continue to use the gulf's long-established name in stories while also acknowledging Trump's efforts to change it. The White House banned AP reporters in response. The ban prevents the AP's journalists from seeing and hearing Trump and other top White House officials as they take newsworthy actions or respond in real time to news events.
Setup if you have ever seen one.