Donald Trump Announces 2016 White House Bid

[spaminator]

Inmate accused of framing witness for deportation by writing letters threatening Trump
Demetric D. Scott was charged with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail jumping

Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Jun 03, 2025 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 3 minute read
Join the conversation

Demetric Scott. (Source: Milwaukee County Jail)
Demetric Scott. Photo by Milwaukee County Jail
Article content
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin man is facing charges accusing him of forging a letter threatening President Donald Trump’s life in an effort to get another man who was a potential witness against him in a criminal case deported.


Prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed Monday that Demetric D. Scott was behind a letter sent to state and federal officials with the return address and name of Ramón Morales Reyes.


Scott was charged Monday with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail jumping. His attorney, Robert Hampton III, didn’t immediately return an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Immigration agents arrested Morales Reyes, 54, on May 21 after he dropped his child off at school in Milwaukee. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the arrest, saying he had written a letter threatening to kill Trump and would “self-deport” to Mexico. The announcement, which also was posted by the White House on its social media accounts, contained an image of the letter as well as a photo of Morales Reyes.

But the claim started to unravel as investigators talked to Morales Reyes, who doesn’t speak English fluently, and obtained a handwriting sample from him that was different from the handwriting in the letters, according to court documents.

Morales Reyes is listed as a victim in the case involving Scott, who is awaiting trial in Milwaukee County Jail on armed robbery and aggravated battery charges. The trial is scheduled for July.



According to a criminal complaint and an information, another form of a charging document, Scott knocked a man identified by the initials R.M. off his bicycle in Milwaukee in September 2023, cut him with a box cutter and then rode off on R.M.’s bike.

R.M. was taken to a hospital and treated for what the documents called “a small laceration” that did not require stitches. Police arrested Scott a few hours after the alleged robbery. According to the documents, he told investigators that he saw a man riding his bicycle, he wanted it back and he may have struck the man with a corkscrew.

Prosecutors charged Scott with armed robbery, bail jumping, battery and reckless endangerment, all felonies.

Law enforcement officers listened to several calls Scott made from the jail in which he talked about letters that needed to be mailed and a plan to get someone picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement so Scott’s trial could get dismissed, according to the criminal complaint. He also admitted to police that he wrote the letters, documents said.


Morales Reyes works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee, where he lives with his wife and three children. He had recently applied for a U visa, which is for people in the country illegally who become victims of serious crimes, said attorney Kime Abduli, who filed that application.

Abduli told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday that she was glad Morales Reyes was being cleared of any involvement in the letter writing.

His deportation defense lawyer, Cain Oulahan, wrote in an email Monday night that the main focus now is to secure Morales Reyes’ release from custody and the next step will be to pursue any relief he may qualify for in immigration court.

“While he has a U visa pending, those are unfortunately backlogged for years, so we will be looking at other options to keep him here with his family, which includes his three US citizen children,” Oulahan wrote.

The White House on Instagram: "FAFO: Threaten to Kill the President as an Illegal Alien—You’ll Be Captured, Deported, and Never Set Foot on American Soil Again. Visit link in story for full story!"

61K likes, 6,939 comments - whitehouse on May 28, 2025: "FAFO: Threaten to Kill the President as an Illegal Alien—You’ll Be Captured, Deported, and Never Set Foot on American Soil Again. Visit link in story for full story!".

instagram.com

Inmate accused of framing witness for deportation by writing letters threatening Trump

Demetric D. Scott was charged Monday with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail jumping.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Correspondent Terry Moran out at ABC News over Stephen Miller post
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
David Bauder
Published Jun 11, 2025 • 1 minute read

Correspondent Terry Moran is out at ABC News, two days after the organization suspended its correspondent for a social media post that called Trump administration deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller a “world class hater.”


The network said Tuesday that it was at the end of its contract with Moran “and based on his recent post — which was a clear violation of ABC News policies — we have made the decision not to renew.”


The Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance, quickly condemned Moran for his late-night X post criticizing Miller, which was swiftly deleted.

Moran had interviewed President Donald Trump only a few weeks ago. He said in his X post that the president was also a hater, but that his hatred was in service of his own glorification.

But for Miller, Moran said, “his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”

Moran, 65, had worked at ABC News since 1997. He was a longtime co-anchor of “Nightline,” and covered the Supreme Court and national politics. During an interview with Trump that was broadcast in prime-time a month ago, the president said “you’re not being very nice” in the midst of a contentious exchange about deportations.



In a particularly bad case of timing for him, Moran’s contract with ABC had been due to expire on Friday, according to people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly about personnel issues.

His post, a breach of traditional journalism ethics on expressing personal opinions on reporting subjects, came at what was already a sensitive time for ABC News. The network agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library in December, in order to settle a defamation lawsuit over George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate assertion that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

Trump aide Steven Cheung responded to Moran’s exit on Tuesday with a profane comment on X, saying those who talk down the president and his staff “get hit.”

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1931687759447556395

Correspondent Terry Moran out at ABC News over Stephen Miller post

Moran had interviewed President Donald Trump only a few weeks ago.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Who is pistol-packing Homeland Security boss Kristi Noem?

Author of the article:Brad Hunter
Published Jun 11, 2025 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 3 minute read

x
DO YOU FEEL LUCKY: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. DHS
Like a rock star on a whirlwind tour, Homeland Security boss Kristi Noem is everywhere there’s action.

Here she is on an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raid in Boston, another in New York City and others in the United States, where there are illegal immigrants.


Wearing her baseball hat, a T-shirt and packing a gun, Noem has the fervour of a true believer. And what she believes in is God, guns and Donald J. Trump, and not necessarily in that order.

Newly-appointed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on social media that she joined an “enforcement operation” in New York City early Tuesday. It appeared to yield one arrest.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem takes part in an “enforcement operation” in New York City on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in an image she posted to X. Photo by @Sec_Noem /X
Now, Noem, 53, is at the forefront of the battle to deport illegal immigrants from Los Angeles, a place she has slammed as a “city of criminals.”

“Kristi Noem hates America and hates Americans,” one critic wrote.



Just who the hell is Kristi Noem?

X
LOVES HER GUNS: Kristy Noem. INSTAGRAM
NOEM SWEET NOEM

411: The former governor of South Dakota and U.S. Air Force reservist grew up on a ranch and was crowned South Dakota Snow Queen. She has three children and is a grandmother.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Tours Notorious Prison During Trip To El Salvador
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends a Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Memorandum of Cooperation signing ceremony, at the presidential palace on March 26, 2025 in San Salvador, El Salvador. Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool /Getty Images
THUNDER NOEM

411: Noem’s political career began in the South Dakota House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011. She was elected as the first female governor of the state in 2018. President Donald Trump endorsed her.

x
Noem is a huge proponent of the Second Amendment. She shot one of her dogs. Presumably not this one. KRISTI NOEM/ INSTAGRAM
CRICKET FILES

411: Noem wrote in her autobiography, No Going Back, about shooting and killing a puppy named Cricket that she didn’t like. She claimed the dog was “untrainable” and attacked chickens. The revelation caused outrage.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem may have her chances at being Donald Trumps running mate. KRISTI NOEM/ INSTAGRAM
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem may have her chances at being Donald Trumps running mate. Photo by INSTAGRAM
QUOTE

“You know, that story was a choice as a mom. The safety of my children versus a dangerous dog that was killing livestock and attacking people.” — KRISTI NOEM


TUBBY TYRANT

411: Critics have said Noem tells whoppers, like meeting the doughy North Korean despot, Kim Jong Un, in an early version of her book. Whoops!

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
I LOVE YOU, KRISTI!
QUOTE

“I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all),” Noem wrote, according to The New York Times.

Corey Lewandowski.
HMMM? Rumours linked Noem to Corey Lewandowski. She denied it. Photo by Al Drago /Bloomberg
WICKED WHISPERS

411: Noem torpedoed a 2021 story alleging that she was having a torrid extramarital affair with political operative Corey Lewandowski. Calling the rumours a “disgusting lie”, she added, “these old, tired attacks on conservative women are based on a falsehood that we can’t achieve anything without a man’s help.” Two years later, the rumour resurfaced. Her peeps denied it.


DONALD’S DISS

411: Noem hosted a town hall with Trump last October, but the prez didn’t want to play ball. After a few lobball questions, Trump was done and wanted to dance to his campaign playlist. Noem’s attempts to dance with Trump were rebuffed.

x
SD Gov. Kristi Noem in action. INSTAGRAM
QUOTE

“Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music – who the hell wants to hear questions, right?” — DONALD TRUMP

NOT WELCOME: Noem remains under fire from the Lakota for linking the tribe to Mexican dope cartels. INSTAGRAM
NOT WELCOME: Noem remains under fire from the Lakota for linking the tribe to Mexican dope cartels. INSTAGRAM
TRIBAL TROUBLE

411: Noem was banned from all nine of South Dakota’s reservations. She said: “Make no mistake, the cartels have a presence on several of South Dakota’s tribal reservations … They have been successful in recruiting tribal members to join their criminal activity.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem takes questions from the press before boarding her plane at Comalapa International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador, Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem takes questions from the press before boarding her plane at Comalapa International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Photo by Alex Brandon /AP
NOEM WAY!

411: In April, the Homeland Security Secretary’s purse was stolen from a D.C. burger joint. Among the loot: Her government access badge, apartment keys, $2,000-3,000 in cash, her passport, and blank cheques.


SHES A RIOT! Midwestern marm turned California girl, Kristi Noem. INSTAGRAM
SHES A RIOT! Midwestern marm turned California girl, Kristi Noem. INSTAGRAM
LA WOMAN

411: Noem has been vocal about the raids in Los Angeles designed to deport illegal criminals. She claims L.A.’s hapless Mayor Karen Blass “protected” thugs for years and that ICE is looking for “400 to 500 targets.” Cali Gov. Gavin Newsom has done “absolutely nothing.”

Demonstrators smash the windshield of a vehicle next to a burning Waymo vehicle as protesters clash with law enforcement in the streets surrounding the federal building during a protest following federal immigration operations in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. (Photo by RINGO CHIU / AFP) Photo by RINGO CHIU /AFP via Getty Images
LA LATEST

411: Trump has doubled the number of National Guardsmen in the City of Angels, with 2,000 more troops joining those on the ground on Monday. A contingent of 700 U.S. Marines has also been deployed.

AYE CORUMBA!

411: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is Noem’s latest scapegoat, claiming the former has been “encouraging violent protests” in L.A. Sheinbaum called the allegations “absolutely false.”

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1903453792835616890

ICE BARBIE: Who is pistol-packing Homeland Security boss Kristi Noem?

Like a rock star on a whirlwind tour, Homeland Security boss Kristi Noem is everywhere there's action.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Judge blocks Trump’s election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Christina Cassidy
Published Jun 13, 2025 • Last updated 16 hours ago • 4 minute read

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to overhaul elections in the U.S., siding with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who challenged the effort as unconstitutional.


The Republican president’s March 25 executive order sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to vote for federal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day and condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to the new ballot deadline.


The attorneys general had argued the directive “usurps the States’ constitutional power and seeks to amend election law by fiat.” The White House had defended the order as “standing up for free, fair and honest elections” and called proof of citizenship a “commonsense” requirement.

Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts said in Friday’s order that the states had a likelihood of success as to their legal challenges.


“The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” Casper wrote.

Casper also noted that, when it comes to citizenship, “there is no dispute (nor could there be) that U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal elections and the federal voter registration forms require attestation of citizenship.”

Casper also cited arguments made by the states that the requirements would “burden the States with significant efforts and substantial costs” to update procedures.

Messages seeking a response from the White House and the Department of Justice were not immediately returned. The attorneys general for California and New York praised the ruling in statements to The Associated Press, calling Trump’s order unconstitutional.


“Free and fair elections are the foundation of this nation, and no president has the power to steal that right from the American people,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.

The ruling is the second legal setback for Trump’s election order. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., previously blocked parts of the directive, including the proof-of-citizenship requirement for the federal voter registration form.

The order is the culmination of Trump’s longstanding complaints about elections. After his first win in 2016, Trump falsely claimed his popular vote total would have been much higher if not for “millions of people who voted illegally.” Since 2020, Trump has made false claims of widespread voter fraud and manipulation of voting machines to explain his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.


He has said his executive order secures elections against illegal voting by noncitizens, though multiple studies and investigations in the states have shown that it’s rare and typically a mistake. Casting a ballot as a noncitizen is already against the law and can result in fines and deportation if convicted.

Also blocked in Friday’s ruling was part of the order that sought to require states to exclude any mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day. Currently, 18 states and Puerto Rico accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Oregon and Washington, which conduct their elections almost entirely by mail, filed a separate lawsuit over the ballot deadline, saying the executive order could disenfranchise voters in their states. When the lawsuit was filed, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs noted that more than 300,000 ballots in the state arrived after Election Day in 2024.


Trump’s order has received praise from the top election officials in some Republican states who say it could inhibit instances of voter fraud and will give them access to federal data to better maintain their voter rolls. But many legal experts say the order exceeds Trump’s power because the Constitution gives states the authority to set the “times, places and manner” of elections, with Congress allowed to set rules for elections to federal office. As Friday’s ruling states, the Constitution makes no provision for presidents to set the rules for elections.

During a hearing earlier this month on the states’ request for a preliminary injunction, lawyers for the states and lawyers for the administration argued over the implications of Trump’s order, whether the changes could be made in time for next year’s midterm elections and how much it would cost the states.


Justice Department lawyer Bridget O’Hickey said during the hearing that the order seeks to provide a single set of rules for certain aspects of election operations rather than having a patchwork of state laws and that any harm to the states is speculation.

O’Hickey also claimed that mailed ballots received after Election Day might somehow be manipulated, suggesting people could retrieve their ballots and alter their votes based on what they see in early results. But all ballots received after Election Day require a postmark showing they were sent on or before that date, and that any ballot with a postmark after Election Day would not count.

Judge blocks Trump’s election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach

The group of attorneys general said the directive "usurps the States' constitutional power and seeks to amend election law by fiat."

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

As Trump heads to the G7, Canada hopes to avoid another Charlevoix-style eruption
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Jun 14, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read

OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump is set to arrive Sunday in Alberta for the G7 summit — his first visit to Canada since leaving in a huff seven years ago.


Ottawa could use everything from golfing and creative scheduling to special cabinet orders to make the visit successful and avoid a repeat diplomatic disaster.


“He is somebody who is very prickly when he feels like he’s not being fully respected,” said Eric Miller, president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group, a cross-border consultancy.

“You want to make absolutely sure that … he walks away and says, ’You know, those Canadians aren’t so bad after all.”’

Better than last time
The last time Trump was in Canada — for the G7 summit in the Charlevoix region of Quebec — things ended in a blowout.

Trump refused to sign the communique, the published list of statements on common G7 issues that are mostly negotiated and agreed to by member nations ahead of time. He left early and lambasted Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak” in a spat over tariffs.


The summit included what Miller called the “photograph for the ages” — of then German chancellor Angela Merkel and others standing sternly over a seated Donald Trump, who appeared to be glaring back with crossed arms.

German Ambassador to Canada Matthias Luttenberg put it bluntly when he told a June 4 panel that Ottawa was again navigating “very difficult circumstances” as G7 chair — and capably, in his view.

“I mean, I wouldn’t like to negotiate with a country at the table who’s questioning my sovereignty as a state,” he said.

Sen. Peter Boehm, who was summit head in 2018, recalled two late nights of negotiations because the Trump administration didn’t align with the others on including climate change or references to the “rules-based international order.”


Informal talks
Prime Minister Mark Carney won office in April after repeatedly saying he could stand up to Trump’s threats to ruin the Canadian economy in order to make the country an American state.

Carney had a cordial visit to Washington in early May and even got praise from Trump on social media and in person, despite the president insisting Canada should still become a U.S. state.

The two have continued talking. U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra revealed earlier this month that the president and Carney have exchanged frequent calls and texts on trade and tariffs.

Miller said facetime between the two leaders in Alberta could help them make progress on economic concerns, as well as Trump’s pitch to bring Canada into his proposed Golden Dome missile shield project.


“Given that there is this conversation underway, it is important that they have an opportunity to continue that, and to meet perhaps in a setting that is less structured and formal than the Oval Office,” Miller said.

“Life is about imperfect choices, and it’s absolutely the right thing to have Mr. Trump come to Canada.”

He said he’s not sure if there will be any formal announcement, though he added Trump is keen to sign agreements with multiple countries ahead of his self-imposed July 9 deadline for so-called retaliatory tariffs.

Miller said both Canada and the U.S. are likely to take credit for Ottawa announcing this month it will drastically speed up its pledge to meet NATO’s defence spending target.

Trump might also take note of the fact that he’s in one of the few provinces that have opted to resume sales of U.S. alcohol, after all provinces banned it from their liquor store shelves in response to U.S. tariffs.


Lower expectations
Ottawa’s decision to schedule relatively short group discussions among G7 leaders, and to invite numerous other world leaders, could mean more of the one-on-one meetings that Trump prefers.

“Trump does not like multilateral meetings particularly. He loses interest,” Boehm said.

Canadian officials have said they are concentrating on releasing shorter, focused statements, which could avoid the sort of major blowups that may come from trying to craft the massive joint communiques typical of almost all prior G7 summits.

Former prime minister Jean Chretien told a panel Thursday that if Trump does have an outburst, G7 leaders should ignore him and “keep talking normally.”

Miller said that for Canada, “ensuring a positive agenda that doesn’t lead to acrimony afterwards” means advancing its interests without isolating the U.S., particularly with so many guest leaders attending.


“The trick that Mr. Carney has to pull off is to reassure the U.S. that it wants a good, positive relationship — while at the same time running vigorously, as quickly as possible, to try to build new relationships,” he said.

It’s also entirely possible that Trump will leave before the meetings conclude.

A visiting felon
Keeping it positive is also likely why Ottawa will skirt rules that might bar Trump from crossing into Canada after he was found guilty on 34 criminal counts in a “hush money” trial in May 2024.

Immigration lawyers say those convicted of serious crimes abroad must serve their time and wait five years before seeking a certificate of admissibility to Canada, though there are loopholes if someone seeks a visa for a compelling reason.


The federal cabinet passed a formal order published in February that gives diplomatic immunity and privileges to “representatives of a foreign state that participate in the G7 meetings.”

The office of Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab would not say whether she had issued a special exemption, with her department citing privacy legislation.

“Inadmissibility decisions are made on a case-by-case basis,” spokesman Remi Lariviere wrote.

Fore!
Another way Canada could ensure a successful visit could be to get Trump to the Kananaskis Country Golf Course — a prospect much discussed in media reports that remained unconfirmed as of Friday afternoon.

Carney gave Trump a hat and golf gear from that course during his visit to the Oval Office in May.

Miller said that wasn’t just a gimmick — Trump loves making deals while teeing off, and it could provide Carney or others with hours of facetime on a golf cart, which is Trump’s comfort zone.

“Golf has been pretty central to his life,” he said. “It makes eminent sense to have Mr. Trump playing at a high-quality golf course.”

As Trump heads to the G7, Canada hopes to avoid another Charlevoix-style eruption

Donald Trump is set to arrive in Alberta for the G7 summit -- his first visit to Canada since leaving in a huff seven years ago.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

As Trump heads to the G7, Canada hopes to avoid another Charlevoix-style eruption
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Jun 14, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read

OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump is set to arrive Sunday in Alberta for the G7 summit — his first visit to Canada since leaving in a huff seven years ago.


Ottawa could use everything from golfing and creative scheduling to special cabinet orders to make the visit successful and avoid a repeat diplomatic disaster.


“He is somebody who is very prickly when he feels like he’s not being fully respected,” said Eric Miller, president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group, a cross-border consultancy.

“You want to make absolutely sure that … he walks away and says, ’You know, those Canadians aren’t so bad after all.”’

Better than last time
The last time Trump was in Canada — for the G7 summit in the Charlevoix region of Quebec — things ended in a blowout.

Trump refused to sign the communique, the published list of statements on common G7 issues that are mostly negotiated and agreed to by member nations ahead of time. He left early and lambasted Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak” in a spat over tariffs.


The summit included what Miller called the “photograph for the ages” — of then German chancellor Angela Merkel and others standing sternly over a seated Donald Trump, who appeared to be glaring back with crossed arms.

German Ambassador to Canada Matthias Luttenberg put it bluntly when he told a June 4 panel that Ottawa was again navigating “very difficult circumstances” as G7 chair — and capably, in his view.

“I mean, I wouldn’t like to negotiate with a country at the table who’s questioning my sovereignty as a state,” he said.

Sen. Peter Boehm, who was summit head in 2018, recalled two late nights of negotiations because the Trump administration didn’t align with the others on including climate change or references to the “rules-based international order.”


Informal talks
Prime Minister Mark Carney won office in April after repeatedly saying he could stand up to Trump’s threats to ruin the Canadian economy in order to make the country an American state.

Carney had a cordial visit to Washington in early May and even got praise from Trump on social media and in person, despite the president insisting Canada should still become a U.S. state.

The two have continued talking. U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra revealed earlier this month that the president and Carney have exchanged frequent calls and texts on trade and tariffs.

Miller said facetime between the two leaders in Alberta could help them make progress on economic concerns, as well as Trump’s pitch to bring Canada into his proposed Golden Dome missile shield project.


“Given that there is this conversation underway, it is important that they have an opportunity to continue that, and to meet perhaps in a setting that is less structured and formal than the Oval Office,” Miller said.

“Life is about imperfect choices, and it’s absolutely the right thing to have Mr. Trump come to Canada.”

He said he’s not sure if there will be any formal announcement, though he added Trump is keen to sign agreements with multiple countries ahead of his self-imposed July 9 deadline for so-called retaliatory tariffs.

Miller said both Canada and the U.S. are likely to take credit for Ottawa announcing this month it will drastically speed up its pledge to meet NATO’s defence spending target.

Trump might also take note of the fact that he’s in one of the few provinces that have opted to resume sales of U.S. alcohol, after all provinces banned it from their liquor store shelves in response to U.S. tariffs.


Lower expectations
Ottawa’s decision to schedule relatively short group discussions among G7 leaders, and to invite numerous other world leaders, could mean more of the one-on-one meetings that Trump prefers.

“Trump does not like multilateral meetings particularly. He loses interest,” Boehm said.

Canadian officials have said they are concentrating on releasing shorter, focused statements, which could avoid the sort of major blowups that may come from trying to craft the massive joint communiques typical of almost all prior G7 summits.

Former prime minister Jean Chretien told a panel Thursday that if Trump does have an outburst, G7 leaders should ignore him and “keep talking normally.”

Miller said that for Canada, “ensuring a positive agenda that doesn’t lead to acrimony afterwards” means advancing its interests without isolating the U.S., particularly with so many guest leaders attending.


“The trick that Mr. Carney has to pull off is to reassure the U.S. that it wants a good, positive relationship — while at the same time running vigorously, as quickly as possible, to try to build new relationships,” he said.

It’s also entirely possible that Trump will leave before the meetings conclude.

A visiting felon
Keeping it positive is also likely why Ottawa will skirt rules that might bar Trump from crossing into Canada after he was found guilty on 34 criminal counts in a “hush money” trial in May 2024.

Immigration lawyers say those convicted of serious crimes abroad must serve their time and wait five years before seeking a certificate of admissibility to Canada, though there are loopholes if someone seeks a visa for a compelling reason.


The federal cabinet passed a formal order published in February that gives diplomatic immunity and privileges to “representatives of a foreign state that participate in the G7 meetings.”

The office of Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab would not say whether she had issued a special exemption, with her department citing privacy legislation.

“Inadmissibility decisions are made on a case-by-case basis,” spokesman Remi Lariviere wrote.

Fore!
Another way Canada could ensure a successful visit could be to get Trump to the Kananaskis Country Golf Course — a prospect much discussed in media reports that remained unconfirmed as of Friday afternoon.

Carney gave Trump a hat and golf gear from that course during his visit to the Oval Office in May.

Miller said that wasn’t just a gimmick — Trump loves making deals while teeing off, and it could provide Carney or others with hours of facetime on a golf cart, which is Trump’s comfort zone.

“Golf has been pretty central to his life,” he said. “It makes eminent sense to have Mr. Trump playing at a high-quality golf course.”

As Trump heads to the G7, Canada hopes to avoid another Charlevoix-style eruption

Donald Trump is set to arrive in Alberta for the G7 summit -- his first visit to Canada since leaving in a huff seven years ago.

torontosun.com

perhaps they could trick him into eating exlax.

 

[Taxslave2]

“You want to make absolutely sure that … he walks away and says, ’You know, those Canadians aren’t so bad after all.”’

Doesn't matter if he walks, crawls, or packed off in a hearse. As long as he leaves.

 

[pgs]

Doesn't matter if he walks, crawls, or packed off in a hearse. As long as he leaves.

Why ?

 

[pgs]

Doesn't matter if he walks, crawls, or packed off in a hearse. As long as he leaves.

Yes he shouldn’t be allowed into Canada to make our leader look weak and inept . Carney could only manage a bunch of ums and was

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Yes he shouldn’t be allowed into Canada to make our leader look weak and inept . Carney could only manage a bunch of ums and was

To be fair, he's not "weak and inept" enough to be spewing his bile on an obscure internet site.

 

[Taxslave2]

Why ?

We already have a leader that can't decide which country he is a citizen of on any given day.

 

[pgs]

To be fair, he's not "weak and inept" enough to be spewing his bile on an obscure internet site.

Are you looking in the mirror ?

 

[spaminator]

Jury finds MyPillow founder defamed former voting equipment company employee
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Colleen Slevin
Published Jun 16, 2025 • 3 minute read

Mike Lindell walks into federal district court for a defamation trial on Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Denver.
Mike Lindell walks into federal district court for a defamation trial on Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Denver.
DENVER — A federal jury in Colorado on Monday found that one of the nation’s most prominent election conspiracy theorists, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, defamed a former employee for a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 presidential election.


The employee, Eric Coomer, was awarded $2.3 million in damages. He had sued after Lindell called him a traitor and accusations about him stealing the election were streamed on Lindell’s online media platform.


Coomer was the security and product strategy director at Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, whose voting machines became the target of elaborate conspiracy theories among allies of President Donald Trump, who continues to falsely claim that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was due to widespread fraud.

Dominion won a $787-million settlement in a defamation lawsuit it filed against Fox News over its airing of false claims against the company and has another lawsuit against the conservative network Newsmax.


Newsmax apologized to Coomer in 2021 for airing false allegations against him.

Coomer said during the two-week Lindell trial that his career and life were destroyed by the statements. His lawyers said Lindell either knew the statements were lies, or conveyed them recklessly without knowing if they were true.



Lindell’s lawyers denied the claims and said his online platform, formerly known as Frankspeech, is not liable for statements made by others.

Lindell said he went to trial to draw attention to the need to get rid of electronic voting machines that have been targeted in a web of conspiracy theories. He said he used to be worth about $60 million before he started speaking out about the 2020 election and is now $10 million in debt.


Reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss in 2020 all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Trump’s attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and Trump and his allies lost dozens of court cases seeking to overturn the result.

Lindell stuck by his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen during the trial, but did not call any experts to present evidence of his claims.

Lindell said his beliefs that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud were influenced by watching the 2020 HBO documentary Kill Chain and by the views of Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In an interview for a documentary Lindell made in 2021, Flynn said foreign interference was going to happen in U.S. elections, and Lindell said he had no reason to doubt the claim since Flynn had worked for both political parties in intelligence.


Lindell distanced himself from an account by a Colorado podcaster who claimed to have heard a conference call from the anti-fascist group Antifa before the 2020 election. The podcast claimed that on the call someone named Eric from Dominion said he would make sure that Trump would not win, a story that was recounted on Frankspeech during a 2021 event. Lindell said he only learned about that during the trial.


Lindell said he never accused Coomer of rigging the election, but he did say he was upset because he said Newsmax blocked him from being able to go on air to talk about voting machines after it apologized to Coomer. Coomer denied there was any such deal to block Lindell under his agreement with the network.


Coomer’s lawyers tried to show how their client’s life was devastated by the conspiracy theories spreading about him. Lindell was comparatively late to seize on Coomer, not mentioning him until February 2021, well after his name had been circulated by other Trump partisans.

Coomer said the conspiracy theories cost him his job, his mental health and the life he’d built and said Lindell’s statements were the most distressing of all. He specifically pointed to a statement on May 9, 2021, when Lindell described what he believed Coomer had done as “treason.”

Lindell’s attorneys argued that Coomer’s reputation was already in tatters by the time Lindell mentioned him. They said that was partly because of Coomer’s Facebook posts disparaging Trump, which the former Dominion employee acknowledged were “hyperbolic” and had been a mistake.

Lindell denied making any statements he knew to be false about Coomer and testified that he has called many people traitors. His lawyers argued the statements were about a matter of public concern — elections — and therefore protected by the First Amendment.

But Coomer’s lawyers said the statements crossed the line into defamation because Lindell accused Coomer of treason, a crime.

Jury finds MyPillow founder defamed former voting equipment company employee

A federal jury found MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed a former employee for a voting equipment company after the 2020 U.S. election.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Yes he shouldn’t be allowed into Canada to make our leader look weak and inept . Carney could only manage a bunch of ums and was

justineisms

 

[pgs]

justineism. Sounded the same as his predecessor always searching for non commiteied words .

 

[spaminator]

Axworthy accuses Carney of taking ’bootlicking’ approach to Trump
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Jul 02, 2025 • 4 minute read

OTTAWA — Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy is accusing Prime Minister Mark Carney of taking a “bootlicking” approach to U.S. President Donald Trump at the expense of Canadian values.


“You have to be principled, you have to be tactical, you have to be pragmatic. But you also have to be tough and know what you stand for,” Axworthy said in an interview with The Canadian Press.


“Flattery is always part of the game, but you can take it to the point where you actually become unctuous.”

Axworthy spoke to The Canadian Press after issuing an online broadside last Sunday against the Carney government.

Axworthy, whom prime minister Jean Chretien appointed as foreign affairs minister from 1996 to 2000, oversaw the Ottawa Treaty that banned landmines in numerous countries. He has been a prominent voice on international relations, including through advocacy with the World Refugee and Migration Council.


In a blog post following the NATO summit — where alliance members agreed to Trump’s demand for a massive increase in the alliance’s defence spending target — Axworthy accused Carney and other world leaders of bending a knee to Trump.

“NATO now risks letting one craven, mendacious man set the tone for a strategy of unrestrained militarism,” Axworthy wrote, arguing it’s dangerous to let defence policy be decided by “the abusive, racist bullying of Donald Trump.”



He also argued that the summit did not adequately push to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and instead committed alliance members to a level of defence spending that will lead to cuts to social programs and likely foreign aid.


“A pattern is now set: Trump harrumphs, we comply. What else will we quietly surrender? Cultural industries? Environmental standards, agriculture security, Arctic sovereignty?” he wrote.

In the interview, Axworthy singled out NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s exchange with Trump during the NATO summit — which saw Rutte refer to the president as “daddy” — as an “embarrassing” moment.

He also said his concerns have been further bolstered by Carney’s decision to rescind the Digital Services Tax that targeted American tech giants, as the prime minister and Trump undertake what he calls “secret” trade negotiations with no parliamentary scrutiny.

“When do we stop pretending it’s all part of some clever negotiating strategy that justifies bootlicking in hopes of tariff concessions?” he wrote in the blog post.


Trump suggested in March that the U.S. might sell allies fighter jets that lack the same capabilities as those used by the U.S. military. Axworthy told The Canadian Press it’s unwise to accept a situation where “the Pentagon controls the black boxes in your airplanes and your destroyers.”

Axworthy said he sees the Carney government pushing ahead with foreign policy and domestic legislation focused on economic security, while ignoring the need to invest in diplomacy to prevent conflicts and defend Canadian values abroad.


Instead of solely focusing on military spending, he said Ottawa could mobilize investment and governments of various countries to have better freshwater management, because numerous countries are on track for major droughts that can lead to armed conflict.


Axworthy said Carney’s major-projects legislation, Bill C-5, has undercut reconciliation efforts with First Nations and the government “ignored” Indigenous Peoples in its rush to get the bill passed.

“It’s way past (just) being consulted. They have to be partners. They have to be involved. They’re basically the third pillar of this country,” the former Manitoba MP said of Indigenous Peoples.

“You’re going to get the machinery working, but you’re going to leave a lot of roadkill along the way.”

The government fast-tracked the sweeping legislation and opted against shortening the 12-week summer break to give it more study.

Carney’s office has not yet responded for a request for a comment.

The prime minister himself was extolling the virtues of Canadian democracy Tuesday.


“We find ourselves in a situation where our values are being tested by attacks on democracy and freedoms — attacks that we must resist,” Carney said in his Canada Day remarks.

“In a world that’s fraught with division … we’ve decided not to pull apart and fight, but to come together and to build.”

Axworthy noted that Carney came from a life outside of politics and said that’s among the reasons why he endorsed Chrystia Freeland instead of Carney in this year’s Liberal leadership race.

“I don’t think he’s ever knocked on that door or gone to a constituency meeting until he became a leadership candidate,” he said in the interview.

Axworthy repeated an idea he floated in January — that Ottawa should work with the countries Trump has talked of absorbing to mount a campaign to promote rules-based trade and peace in the Arctic.

Axworthy accuses Carney of taking ’bootlicking’ approach to Trump

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy issued an online broadside last Sunday against the Carney government.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Axworthy accuses Carney of taking ’bootlicking’ approach to Trump
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Jul 02, 2025 • 4 minute read

OTTAWA — Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy is accusing Prime Minister Mark Carney of taking a “bootlicking” approach to U.S. President Donald Trump at the expense of Canadian values.


“You have to be principled, you have to be tactical, you have to be pragmatic. But you also have to be tough and know what you stand for,” Axworthy said in an interview with The Canadian Press.


“Flattery is always part of the game, but you can take it to the point where you actually become unctuous.”

Axworthy spoke to The Canadian Press after issuing an online broadside last Sunday against the Carney government.

Axworthy, whom prime minister Jean Chretien appointed as foreign affairs minister from 1996 to 2000, oversaw the Ottawa Treaty that banned landmines in numerous countries. He has been a prominent voice on international relations, including through advocacy with the World Refugee and Migration Council.


In a blog post following the NATO summit — where alliance members agreed to Trump’s demand for a massive increase in the alliance’s defence spending target — Axworthy accused Carney and other world leaders of bending a knee to Trump.

“NATO now risks letting one craven, mendacious man set the tone for a strategy of unrestrained militarism,” Axworthy wrote, arguing it’s dangerous to let defence policy be decided by “the abusive, racist bullying of Donald Trump.”



He also argued that the summit did not adequately push to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and instead committed alliance members to a level of defence spending that will lead to cuts to social programs and likely foreign aid.


“A pattern is now set: Trump harrumphs, we comply. What else will we quietly surrender? Cultural industries? Environmental standards, agriculture security, Arctic sovereignty?” he wrote.

In the interview, Axworthy singled out NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s exchange with Trump during the NATO summit — which saw Rutte refer to the president as “daddy” — as an “embarrassing” moment.

He also said his concerns have been further bolstered by Carney’s decision to rescind the Digital Services Tax that targeted American tech giants, as the prime minister and Trump undertake what he calls “secret” trade negotiations with no parliamentary scrutiny.

“When do we stop pretending it’s all part of some clever negotiating strategy that justifies bootlicking in hopes of tariff concessions?” he wrote in the blog post.


Trump suggested in March that the U.S. might sell allies fighter jets that lack the same capabilities as those used by the U.S. military. Axworthy told The Canadian Press it’s unwise to accept a situation where “the Pentagon controls the black boxes in your airplanes and your destroyers.”

Axworthy said he sees the Carney government pushing ahead with foreign policy and domestic legislation focused on economic security, while ignoring the need to invest in diplomacy to prevent conflicts and defend Canadian values abroad.


Instead of solely focusing on military spending, he said Ottawa could mobilize investment and governments of various countries to have better freshwater management, because numerous countries are on track for major droughts that can lead to armed conflict.


Axworthy said Carney’s major-projects legislation, Bill C-5, has undercut reconciliation efforts with First Nations and the government “ignored” Indigenous Peoples in its rush to get the bill passed.

“It’s way past (just) being consulted. They have to be partners. They have to be involved. They’re basically the third pillar of this country,” the former Manitoba MP said of Indigenous Peoples.

“You’re going to get the machinery working, but you’re going to leave a lot of roadkill along the way.”

The government fast-tracked the sweeping legislation and opted against shortening the 12-week summer break to give it more study.

Carney’s office has not yet responded for a request for a comment.

The prime minister himself was extolling the virtues of Canadian democracy Tuesday.


“We find ourselves in a situation where our values are being tested by attacks on democracy and freedoms — attacks that we must resist,” Carney said in his Canada Day remarks.

“In a world that’s fraught with division … we’ve decided not to pull apart and fight, but to come together and to build.”

Axworthy noted that Carney came from a life outside of politics and said that’s among the reasons why he endorsed Chrystia Freeland instead of Carney in this year’s Liberal leadership race.

“I don’t think he’s ever knocked on that door or gone to a constituency meeting until he became a leadership candidate,” he said in the interview.

Axworthy repeated an idea he floated in January — that Ottawa should work with the countries Trump has talked of absorbing to mount a campaign to promote rules-based trade and peace in the Arctic.

Axworthy accuses Carney of taking ’bootlicking’ approach to Trump

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy issued an online broadside last Sunday against the Carney government.

torontosun.com

carney is also known to perform the hindlick maneuver.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

carney is also known to perform the hindlick maneuver.

I did that to a woman in a restaurant who was choking.

I got arrested.

It was all a misunderstanding.

 

[spaminator]

Musk vows to start a third party. Funding’s no issue, but there are others.
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Faiz Siddiqui, Beth Reinhard, Julian Mark, The Washington Post
Published Jul 02, 2025 • 6 minute read

If money talks in American politics, Elon Musk is bellowing. Having spent $288 million last year to spur Donald Trump and his allies into office, Musk has a new message as the president’s massive tax and immigration bill appears headed for passage: Get in line with the cost-cutting agenda you campaigned on or get out of office.


There’s no doubt that the richest man in the world could make a sizable impact at a time of widespread distrust of the political system and other democratic institutions. But his threat this week to start a third major political party has been met with widespread skepticism, as critics pointed to numerous failed bids over decades – including by lesser business titans – to disrupt America’s two-party system.


Musk’s challenges go far beyond the fraught history of third-party attempts. His business empire is struggling in the wake of his aggressive foray into politics. His clash with Trump and his costly and unsuccessful effort to elect a Wisconsin Supreme Court judge have eroded his political capital. And his popularity plummeted as the U.S. DOGE Service, the cost-cutting effort he oversaw, upended the federal government, further exposing Americans to his polarizing persona and ideas.


Even some of Musk’s own supporters have expressed doubts about the direction he now plans to take, preferring that he stay focused on the business ideas that fueled his net worth of roughly $400 billion.

But as his improbable bid to buy Twitter and front-and-center role in the 2024 election showed, Musk has defied expectations before. If nothing else, he could make life difficult for lawmakers he says have reneged on their promise to cut spending.

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!” Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he bought when it was still named Twitter, this week. “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”


Musk, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, has already identified his next target: the reelection campaign of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who opposes Trump’s signature legislative package. Urged to support Massie by former GOP congressman Justin Amash, a Trump foe who declared himself an independent in a 2019 op-ed decrying the two-party system as an “existential threat,” Musk replied, “I will.”

Massie did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about Musk starting a third party, but he posted a Fox News story about the chief executive’s plans to donate to his campaign. “An interesting thing just happened,” Massie wrote on X.

With Trump already working to defeat Massie next year, the race in northern Kentucky appears to be the first to pit the two billionaires against each other.


On Capitol Hill, where the Senate passed the massive tax and spending bill Tuesday afternoon, there were few signs of alarm about Musk. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), when asked by reporters Monday evening about Musk’s threats to punish Republicans who vote for Trump’s plan, said the billionaire is not top of mind at the Capitol.

“Doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter at all, no. It’s not even been a conversation of ours,” he said. “I mean, if we ran every time someone said something about our election, we’d live in fear the whole time.”

Unless that someone is Trump. Two Republican lawmakers who have been at odds with Trump both said in rapid succession this week that they would not seek reelection. Rep. Don Bacon (Nebraska), who has taken issue with Trump’s tariffs and policy toward Russia, announced his retirement Monday. The day before, Sen. Thom Tillis (North Carolina) said he would not seek a third term after Trump vowed to punish him for opposing his legislative package.


That leaves Massie as one of the only points of Republican resistance in Congress to Trump’s agenda.

Musk’s decision to cast himself as a potential third-party leader raises questions about his political vision. It has just been in the last few years that he has evolved from Democratic-leaning Trump critic to staunchly Republican Trump acolyte.

Trump allies mocked his latest incarnation.

“I think it’s the ketamine talking in the middle of the night,” said Trump pollster Jim McLaughlin, referring to media reports about Musk’s drug use that he has denied. “Trump is the Republican Party right now. He is the conservative movement. There’s not a hankering for a third party with Elon Musk.”

A Gallup poll last year found that 58 percent of U.S. adults agree that a third party is needed in the U.S. because the Republican and Democratic parties “do such a poor job” of representing the American people. Support for a third party has averaged 56 percent since 2003, according to Gallup.


History shows that third-party candidates are rarely victorious. Ross Perot, one of the most successful independent candidates for president in American history, received about 19 percent of the popular vote and no electoral college votes.

“Third parties are traditionally spoilers or wasted votes,” said Lee Drutman, senior fellow at the New America think tank. “But if Musk’s goal is to cause chaos and make a point and disrupt, it gets a lot easier.”

Ralph Nader’s presidential bid in 2000 was a classic example of a disruptive campaign, Drutman said, contributing to an outcome so close that Republican George W. Bush prevailed over Democrat Al Gore only after the Supreme Court weighed in.

The trend in the U.S. toward increased political polarization also makes it more difficult for third-party candidates, Drutman said. When Perot ran in 1992, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush were both running as centrists, allowing Perot to argue that there wasn’t much daylight between the two major parties. By contrast, the differences between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the 2024 election were much more stark.


America’s political diversity also complicates matters, Drutman said.

“If there clearly was a party in the center that was more popular than the Democrats or the Republicans, then someone would have organized it by now,” he said. “It’s not like we’ve just been waiting for Elon Musk to show up.”

Musk entered politics in earnest during the 2024 presidential election. Beyond his massive financial investment, Musk frequently appeared alongside Trump at rallies and cheered him on over X.

But since Trump’s win, Musk’s experience in politics has been turbulent. Earlier this year, the billionaire and groups affiliated with him donated more than $20 million in a bid to help conservatives take control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In the final stretch of the campaign, Musk drew derision for wearing a foam cheesehead at a town hall and for directing his America PAC to pay registered voters for signing petitions. A couple of voters won $1 million prizes.


But even with the race flooded with Musk’s cash, the conservative judicial candidate – whom Trump also endorsed – lost by a wide margin in April. Musk’s personal presence in the race did his candidate harm, said Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Elections Research Center.

Conservative voters appreciated Musk’s money, but that wasn’t enough to overcome negative perceptions of an ultra-wealthy outsider injecting himself into the state’s politics, Burden said, adding that Musk’s presence galvanized greater liberal turnout.

“A new party is going to benefit most from Musk if they can draw on his resources but keep him in the background,” Burden said. “And if he can portray himself as an innovator and a tech entrepreneur – and somebody who is really contributing to the American economy and funding this new operation without being its front person – I think that’s probably going to lead to the most success.”


Musk floated his idea of a new party nearly one month ago on June 5, after days of criticizing the massive GOP tax bill as a measure that would burden the country with “crushingly unsustainable debt.”

“Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?” Musk wrote, along with a poll.

Since then, Musk has regularly posted about starting a new party and going after lawmakers who vote for the spending bill. “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Musk wrote Monday.

A person who has served as a sounding board for Musk, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, questioned Musk’s ultimate strategy in undermining a party he had hoisted to victory beyond wanting “to be in the driver’s seat.”

“I agree our government is broken, but it’s a tougher problem to fix than landing a rocket,” the person said.

Musk vows to start a third party. Funding’s no issue, but there are others.

Funding’s no issue, but there are others.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Trump said he didn’t know an offensive term he used in a speech is considered antisemitic
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michelle L. Price
Published Jul 04, 2025 • 2 minute read

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he didn’t know the term “shylock” is considered antisemitic when he used it in a speech to describe unscrupulous moneylenders.


Trump told reporters early Friday after returning from an event in Iowa that he had “never heard it that way” and “never heard that” the term was considered an offensive stereotype about Jews.


Shylock refers to the villainous Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” who demands a pound of flesh from a debtor.

The Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, said in a statement that the term “evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump’s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible.”

Democrat Joe Biden, while vice president, said in 2014 that he had made a “poor choice” of words a day after he used the term in remarks to a legal aid group.


Trump’s administration has made cracking down on antisemitism a priority. His administration said it is screening for antisemitic activity when granting immigration benefits and its fight with Harvard University has centered on allegations from the White House that the school has tolerated antisemitism.

But the Republican president has also had a history of playing on stereotypes about Jewish people.

He told the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015 that “you want to control your politicians” and suggested the audience used money to exert control.

Before he kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump drew widespread criticism for dining at his Florida club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist.


Last year, Trump made repeated comments accusing Jewish Americans who identify as Democrats of disloyalty because of the Democratic leaders’ criticisms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Critics said it perpetuated an antisemitic trope about Jews having divided loyalties and there being only one right way to be Jewish.

On Thursday night in his speech in Iowa, Trump used the term while talking about his signature legislation that was passed by Congress earlier in the day.

“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing some from, in some cases, a fine banker and in some cases shylocks and bad people,” he said.

When a reporter later asked about the word’s antisemitic association and his intent, Trump said; “No, I’ve never heard it that way. To me, a shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. I’ve never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that.”

The Anti-Defamation League said Trump’s use of the word “underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States.”

Trump said he didn’t know an offensive term he used in a speech is considered antisemitic

Trump told reporters early Friday after returning from an event in Iowa that he had "never heard it that way".

torontosun.com