26 Aug, 2025 03:28

Trump wants US to own land for military bases in South Korea

The American president said Washington should seek to purchased the leased sites from Seoul. Trump wants US to own land for military bases in South Korea

US President Donald Trump has said he would like the United States to obtain ownership of the land where its military bases are located in South Korea, instead of leasing it.

Sitting alongside South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, on Monday, Trump claimed thatWashington has invested heavily in infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula and maintains “over 40,000 troops” there, yet the land under those facilities remains leased from Seoul.

“Maybe one of the things I’d like to do is ask them to give us ownership of the land where we have the big fort,” he said. “I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base.”

Trump did not specify which military “fort” he meant.The largest US facility in South Korea, Camp Humphreys, was completed in 2018after a decade-long relocation project and billions in funding from both governments. The United States currently operates its overseas bases under long-term lease agreements and Status of Forces treaties, which grant Washington operational control while maintaining de jure sovereignty for the host country.

The actual number of American troopscurrently stationed in South Korea is estimated at around28,500, making it one of the largest US military presences abroad after Japan and Germany. Trump said that during his previous term Seoul had agreed to cover the costs of US troops’ upkeep, but that President Joe Biden had reversed the arrangement.

“We were getting paid billions of dollars. But then Biden ended that for whatever reason,” Trump said, calling the move “unbelievable.”

Trump’s remarks are consistent with his long-standing view that Washington’s partners must pay more for American “protection,” whether through direct financial contributions, larger defense budgets, or expanded economic ties with the US.

During both his first and current term, he has pressed NATO members to increase their military spending, repeatedly threatening to reconsider commitments and arguing that US taxpayers should not shoulder what he calls a “disproportionate burden.”

The South Korean leader has not publicly responded to Trump’s comments. North Korea has for decades criticized the US military presence as an occupation force and condemned its drills with Seoul as rehearsals for invasion.

https://www.rt.com/news/623523-trump-land-us-bases/

26 Aug, 2025 20:12

Trump threatens sanctions and tariffs on Ukraine

Russia will not face restrictions alone if no progress in settling the conflict is made, the US president has warned

Washington could impose sanctions and tariffs on both Russia and Ukraine if the two adversaries fail to make progress in settling hostilities, US President Donald Trump has said.

Trump made the remarks to reporters at the White House on Tuesday. The US president said thatit “takes two to tango,” suggesting that Ukraine’s leader, VladimirZelensky, “was not exactly innocent” as far as the lack of progress in ending the conflict.

“Thousands of young people, mostly young people, are dying every single week. If I can save that, by doing sanctions or by just being me, or by using a very strong tariff system that’s very costly to Russia or Ukraine or whoever we have,” Trump stated.

He also reiterated his readiness to slap new restrictions on Moscow. “We want to have an end. We have economic sanctions. I’m talking about economic because we’re not going to get into a world war,” he said.

Trump also seized the opportunity to take jabs at his predecessor Joe Biden, calling him “grossly incompetent” for allowing the Russia-Ukraine conflict to happen in the first place.

“Nobody goes into a war thinking they’re going to lose. They go in – I’m sure that Ukraine thought they were going to win. It’s going to be, you know, we’re going to win.You’re going to beat somebody that’s 15 times your size. Biden shouldn’t have let that happen,” Trump stated.

The US president also appeared to dismiss Moscow’s concerns about the legitimacy of Ukraine’s leader, suggesting that such statements were mere talk.

“Doesn’t matter what they say. Everybody’s posturing. It’s all bullsh*t, ok? Everybody’s posturing,” Trump told reporters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s stance in an interview with NBC aired on Sunday. Russia’s top diplomat called Zelensky the “de facto head of the regime,” and stressed the person signing any peace deal must have legal authority to do so.

https://www.rt.com/news/623558-trump-threatens-ukraine-sanctions/

26 Aug, 2025 14:30

Apple defies Trump with India production plans – media

The iPhone maker plans to invest $2.5 billion to boost manufacturing in the South Asian country

Apple Inc. is defying US President DonaldTrump’s request to reduce manufacturing in India and is planning to invest about $2.5 billion to boost iPhone production in the South Asian country, the Times of India (TOI) reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper cited Indian government sources as saying that the company would make 60 million iPhones per year in the country, up from the current 40 million.

In May, Trump told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he didn’t want the tech giant to manufacture in India. “I said to him [Cook], ‘my friend, I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India,’” the US President told reporters in May.

During the company’s quarterly earnings call in May, Cook said themajority of iPhones sold in the US “will have India as their country of origin.”

An Indian government source told TOI this week that such “expansion plans will continue as previously envisaged.”

Imports from India to the US will get more expensive as of Wednesday, when Trump’s 50% tariffs come into place. However, smartphones, computers, and other electronics are exempted from these tariffs.

Apple exported $17 billion-worth of iPhones from India last year and also secured a significant double-digit market share in the country’s domestic premium smartphone sector.

With more than 60 million iPhones expected to be sold annually in the US by the end of 2026, Apple would need to double production in India, according to analysts.

https://www.rt.com/india/623541-apple-defies-trump-with-india/

The Cost of Making an iPhone

updated July 27, 2025

Labor Costs

The iPhone is primarily assembled in China by Taiwanese companies, such as Foxconn.The hourly wage during the iPhone 16 surge was $3.63, with a $1,000 signing bonus, according to the South China Morning Post.7 Some have accused Apple and Foxconn of using temporary workers who make up as much as half of the workforce in an attempt to keep labor costs down, more than the 10% limit mandated by Chinese labor law.8

According to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, the reason to build in China is not because of the lower labor costs. If this were the case, Apple could make its phones in even cheaper locations. The main reason, according to Cook, is the skill required in tooling engineering. He claims that the specific skill set is no longer available in the United States, but in China, the expertise is prevalent.9

https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/the-cost-of-making-an-iphone.aspx

RFK Jr. Touts Big Beautiful Bill’s Massive Funding Boost for Rural Hospitals

Nick Gilbertson 26 Aug 2025

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted that the One Big Beautiful Bill dramatically raises funding for rural hospitals, during Tuesday’s White House Cabinet meeting.

Kennedy was the first member of Trump’s Cabinet to provide an update on their work and emphasized the meeting is “about working Americans, bringing jobs back to this country, and particularly rural America.”

“I want to mention the Big, Beautiful Bill. Right now, we spend 7 percent of Medicaid dollars on rural hospitals. They’re getting the short end of the stick. It’s about $19 billion a year,” he explained.

“Under the Rural Transformation Program, we give theman extra $10 billion a year, so we’re raising aninfusion of cash to rural hospitals and rural communities by 50 percent,” Kennedy added.

Kennedy said the funding boost will do wonders for rural communities.

“It’s going to be the biggest infusion in the history, and it’s going to restore and revitalize these communities,” he said.

“We can’t survive as a nation if we don’t honor our rural communities.

They’re the source of our values, our virtues, our character, our economy, our food, and you are bringing that back,” he told Trump. “You are bringing those communities back.”

Kennedy also detailed thatthe United States is deep into Most Favored Nation (MFN) status negotiations with 14 different drug companiesas he and Trump look to lower prices for American consumers.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has worked with Kennedy in the administration’s effort to bring down costs, and Lutnick stated that the MFN, in conjunction with the 232 pharmaceutical tariffs, will “really give Bobby the tools to go execute” the president’s plan.

Trump told Kennedy thatsecuring MFN drug prices is the “most important thing that can be done.”

“We’re not talking about a 25% cut…we’re talking about a 1,500% cut,”Trump said.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/08/26/rfk-jr-touts-big-beautiful-bills-massive-funding-boost-for-rural-hospitals/

This issue is the reason that the Drug Companies, and hidden men decided to wage war on him and stole the 2020 election from him. So the Trump Admin got it done now. Kind of the miracle, but Trump never forgets his promises.