Jumat, 28 Juni 2019
Trump jokes with Putin about election interference - CNN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhC0f8V8H4A
2019-06-28 14:04:07Z
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Trump tells Putin 'don't meddle' in US elections - Al Jazeera English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NllFYGmsXXE
2019-06-28 12:20:21Z
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Trump can't help himself when it comes to Putin - POLITICO
Although President Donald Trump appears to be reluctant to criticize Vladimir Putin, his administration has repeatedly hit Russia with sanctions. | Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Every time the president has a chance to cast aside doubts about his relationship with the Russian leader, he does the opposite.
OSAKA, Japan — Since Donald Trump's first day in office, Russia has loomed over his presidency. Yet every time he’s had a chance to cast aside people's doubts, Trump does the opposite.
During a March 2018 phone call, Trump congratulated Putin on his reelection, despite rampant allegations of fraud and even his own aides' all-caps warning: "DO NOT CONGRATULATE." At a gathering of world leaders several months later, Trump reportedly said the contested Crimea region in Ukraine is Russian, despite his own administration's condemnation over Moscow's annexation of the area. And at a summit in Helsinki the following month, Trump appeared to accept Putin's election meddling denials, despite the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Putin himself orchestrated the interference campaign.
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On Friday, Trump added to the list.
At his first meeting with Putin since Robert Mueller's Russia probe concluded, Trump made light of the robust evidence showing Russia engaged in a “sweeping and systematic” campaign to disrupt the election in Trump’s favor.
After he was asked by reporter if he will talk to Putin about election interference — a topic he failed to mention himself, Trump responded: “Yes, of course I will.”
But he didn’t stop there. He turned to Putin, seated next to him, smiling and pointing his finger in the Russian president's direction, and said jokingly, "Don't meddle in the election, president. Don't meddle in the election." Putin, after appearing to hear the translation, laughed while Trump grinned.
The episode at the G-20 conference, an annual gathering of the world’s 20 biggest economies, will do nothing to ease the long-standing perception that Trump is too friendly toward Russia — a relationship that has alarmed Democrats and Republicans alike and led to congressional investigations.
But it could have been expected, according to his current and former advisers. Trump often bristles at being told what to say or do, they say. So when pushed, the president simply mocks what is expected of him, even when it comes to Russia.
And each time he refuses to conform to expected behavior toward Russia, it inevitably causes a firestorm in Washington. But Trump's advisers don’t think the controversies hurt him politically. Instead, they think his strategy of branding all investigations into his relationship with Russia as a “phony witch hunt” orchestrated by Democrats and the media has helped defuse the issue outside the nation’s capital.
It’s unclear whether Trump actually did press Putin on election interference when the two leaders met Friday. A White House readout of the meeting failed to mention the topic, though it did note the two discussed several points of friction, like Iran, Syria and Venezuela. “Both leaders agreed that improved relations between the United States and Russia was in each countries’ mutual interest and the interest of the world,” the White House statement read.
Before he left Washington, Trump declined to tell reporters at the White House what, if anything, he would say to Putin about election interference. “What I say to him is none of your business,” Trump pushed back when questioned about the meeting.
“Whenever President Trump and President Putin meet, there is a very strong domestic backlash after that meeting,” said Heather Conley, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of State during the George W. Bush administration and is now a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. “But, in part, it’s because there’s a total lack of transparency about the topics of discussion and what the agenda is.”
In the past, some of the meetings between the two leaders have occurred without U.S. aides or interpreters presents, alarming critics who worry about what Trump may promise Putin behind closed doors. But Friday’s meeting included members of both countries’ delegations, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, who both serve as senior advisers.
Before the meeting, a senior administration official described the talk as a “normal event” focused on improving the bilateral relationship. “With regard to the message for Putin, I think the president’s message on election interference is well known and he will be repeating it,” the official said.
But Trump's public comments on the topic have been opaque. Just two weeks ago, Trump said in an interview that he would listen if a foreign source offered him information on a 2020 election opponent, and might not report the overture to the FBI. He later tried to walk the statement back.
Although Trump appears to be reluctant to criticize Putin, his administration has repeatedly hit Russia with sanctions over issues like election interference and criticized Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine.
But Trump's bonhomie toward Putin has continued into the G-20 summit. As he left for the event, Trump blasted host county Japan and India on trade but said nothing about Russia. And when the world leaders posed for a photo at the gathering, Trump walked and chatted with Putin, patting him gently on the back as the two parted ways onstage.
The feelings between the two leaders appears to be mutual. In an interview with the Financial Times this week, Putin described Trump — who he called “Donald” — as "a talented person" who "knows very well what his voters expect from him.”
Trump did cancel a meeting with Putin at the 2018 G-20 summit in Buenos Aires after Russia seized three Ukrainian ships with dozens of sailors, saying a meeting wouldn't occur until the situation was resolved. Russia still has the ships, but Trump scheduled the Friday meeting anyway.
“He has said on a number of occasions that he was prevented from working more closely with Putin in the first two years because of the Russia investigation,” said Thomas Wright, a geopolitics expert with the center-left Brookings Institution. “This is the first meeting with Putin since the Mueller report. And so if his own remarks are anything to go by, we may sort of expect to see him trying to open up a sort of deeper period of cooperation with Putin.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/28/trump-putin-relationship-g20-1386490
2019-06-28 10:59:00Z
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Genoa bridge demolished in dramatic explosion, 10 months after lethal collapse - CNN International
Demolition experts brought down the two remaining towers of the highway bridge in dramatic fashion just after 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET), making way for a new structure to be built on the site.
4,000 people were evacuated from their homes to clear the area, AFP reported, and explosives were attached to the legs and body of the bridge, which went down in about seven seconds in a flurry of smoke.
Water tanks were on hand to prevent the spread of dust after the explosion.
Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, attended the explosion, and crowds of locals watched from a safe distance.
For 10 months, the remains of the structure have stood awkwardly on the outskirts of Italy's sixth-largest city, a painful reminder of tragedy for thousands of its residents.
The concrete viaduct collapsed in torrential rain in August 2018 after its cable stays gave way, throwing vehicles to the ground and killing scores of travelers.
The incident shocked Italy and prompted a fierce debate about the safety of the country's infrastructure.
Built in the 1960s, the Morandi Bridge was a vital link of the A10 highway that connects northwestern Italy to France, across the Polcevera river in central Genoa. It was one of the busiest bridges in the country, carrying freight and tourists to and from the port city.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/28/europe/genoa-bridge-demolition-scli-intl/index.html
2019-06-28 10:09:00Z
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What you need to know about Saturday's highly anticipated Trump-Xi meeting - CNBC
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 6, 2017.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are poised to write the latest chapter in their globe-shaking trade war when they meet Saturday morning in Japan.
The leaders of the world's two largest economies are set to discuss a range of issues when they face off around 11:30 a.m. local time in a bilateral event during the G-20 summit in Osaka. Trade, however, will be at the top of the agenda.
Not only will their highly anticipated discussion likely set the near-term tone for the U.S.-China relationship, but it may also have significant ramifications for the global economy.
"Clearly, the most suspenseful meeting in terms of the impact on markets and the global economy is going to be President Trump's meeting with President Xi," said Michael Hirson, practice head of China and North East Asia at political consultancy firm Eurasia Group.
Many experts have projected that the two leaders are likely to agree to a temporary pause in any trade war escalation, but Trump himself has suggested he may be looking to levy new tariffs on China if he doesn't like what he hears from Xi. On the other hand, there have been sporadic hopes that Saturday's meeting could result in some sort of long-term deal.
Hirson, for his part, told CNBC on Friday that a truce is likely but a concrete trade deal is more of a stretch.
"I think there will be optimism coming out of that meeting most likely," he said. "But I think there may be some over optimism as well, because I think there's a tough road ahead."
Eurasia Group isn't the only one keeping expectations low. David Adelman, a former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, said he expects a similar outcome to the December 2018 meeting between the two leaders — when they agreed to halt a planned increase in tariffs so negotiators could attempt to work out their differences.
"I expect a very similar story, but it'll be more difficult in 2019 than in 2018 because a lot has transpired in the months since then," Adelman added.
Since the latest round of talks appeared to break down in May, Washington has imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports, and Beijing has retaliated with levies on $60 billion of American goods. Trump has threatened to extend his penalties to cover another $300 billion of goods, which is essentially everything else China exports to the U.S.
Although many are predicting a pause, experts said it's not out of the realm of possibility that Trump will make good on his threat.
"I think it's quite possible that we'll see the U.S. move ahead, perhaps not immediately, with some tranche of the remaining 300 billion," said Hirson, adding that any new tariffs could be the ones that "impact U.S. households the most."
Huawei may be a factor
Beyond tariffs, the U.S. government has also imposed sanctions on China's technology, notably taking action against Huawei on several fronts.
Multiple reports suggest that Xi will be looking to include the tech giant in any deal he makes with Trump. A person familiar with the matter told CNBC that China believes any new agreement reached at the G-20 will need to be evenhanded, and two sources said Huawei is a major priority for the meeting.
In its latest escalation against the telecommunications giant, the Trump administration moved in May to blacklist Huawei from readily accessing American products. The restriction comes at a time where the two countries are racing to become leaders in 5G, the latest generation of mobile networking that's expected to be critical to connectivity and national security.
Washington has publicly warned that the tech behemoth poses a national security risk, and have asked allies to do the same. Separately, the U.S. government ordered the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Canada, and is now seeking to extradite her for alleged bank and wire fraud in relation to skirting American sanctions on Iran.
"The U.S. action against Huawei in May has really shifted the mindset in Beijing in policy circles to a belief, a common belief, that the U.S. is out to contain China and in particular to contain China's technology ambitions," Hirson said.
He added, "Unless there is some kind of modification to the Huawei export ban, I think it's going to be difficult for China's leadership to continue in trade negotiations. Or, if they do continue, to make concessions in these areas of technology policy that are at the center of the dispute."
The trade war's cost
The Trump-Xi meeting is a globally significant event because the ongoing trade war has roiled many countries' economies and disrupted businesses' international supply lines.
OECD Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria told CNBC on Friday if talks between Trump and Xi falls through, it would "be very, very destructive."
A fallout, he added, "would spillover to practically every single economy in the world ... because (the U.S. and China) have this massive relationship with the rest of the world, you would have this inevitable impact, very negative impact."
The International Monetary Fund warned in June that the implemented and proposed tariffs could potentially cut global economic output by 0.5% in 2020.
Though a "no-deal" could be consequential, Charles Freeman, senior vice president for Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said there's some truth to Trump's allegations of unfair practices from Beijing.
A US cargo ship seen at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, an automated cargo wharf, in Shanghai on Apr. 9, 2018.
Johannes Eisele | AFP | Getty Images
"The administration, from our perspective, has many of the diagnoses right in terms of the challenges in the U.S.-China relationship and many of the challenges our members face in China," said Freeman.
He added that his complaint lies in the way the administration is choosing to address its grievances. Imposing tariffs, he said, is not just creating short-term pain but also uncertainty for businesses around the world.
"It's not just U.S.-China uncertainty; it's global uncertainty," Freeman said. "Businesses hate uncertainty, it's just not good for anybody, and we need to move on."
Just one day before the meeting, Xi appeared to address the tariff battle. Some developed countries, the Chinese leader said, are taking protectionist measures that lead to trade conflicts and economic blockades.
"All this is destroying the global trade order," Xi said. "This also impacts common interests of our countries, overshadows the peace and stability world-wide."
American companies operating in China
It's not just China that is feeling economic pressure from the ongoing trade war. Many American firms are also paying for the contest between Beijing and Washington.
"Clearly we're seeing some challenges in terms of goods being held up in customs, in terms of licenses being delayed, in terms of unwanted scrutiny and unnecessary scrutiny, in terms of regulatory inference," said Freeman.
Earlier this month, Apple was said to be considering moving final assembly for some products out of China to avoid the burden of potential American tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Apple logo is seen on the window at an Apple Store on January 7, 2019 in Beijing, China.
Kevin Frayer | Getty Images
Apple isn't the only one considering a move out of China due to escalating trade tensions.
"It's pretty hard to move a supply chain on a dime and many of our companies have looked at the cost and have said 'well if we could move, we will,'" said Freeman.
He added that, in many cases, U.S. companies operating in China are thinking that they have already spent so much building up supply chain infrastructure in China that even if there will be 25% tariffs on their goods, they'll just have to figure out a way to manage.
Adelman said the manufacturing shift out of China has obviously helped some Southeast Asian countries and damaged certain Chinese manufacturers, but the biggest loser may be America's reputation.
The "protracted and prolonged trade war," he said, will impact the long-term attitude of businesses toward the United States. They may perceive the world's top economy as "not as reliable."
The goal of the G-20 is to bring together the world's largest economies to nurture constructive communication and avoid global recession. For Adelman, however, this week's summit is looking more like a "G-2 in many ways," because of the perception that the Trump-Xi meeting "is almost being treated as a summit."
–Reuters contributed to this report.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/28/trump-and-xi-to-discuss-us-china-trade-war-at-g-20-summit-in-osaka.html
2019-06-28 08:36:08Z
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Genoa bridge demolished in dramatic explosion - CNN International
Demolition experts brought down the two remaining towers of the highway bridge in dramatic fashion just after 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET), making way for a new structure to be built on the site.
4,000 people were evacuated from their homes to clear the area, AFP reported, and explosives were attached to the legs and body of the bridge, which went down in about seven seconds in a flurry of smoke.
Water tanks were on hand to prevent the spread of dust after the explosion.
Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, attended the explosion, and crowds of locals watched from a safe distance.
For 10 months, the remains of the structure have stood awkwardly on the outskirts of Italy's sixth-largest city, a painful reminder of tragedy for thousands of its residents.
The concrete viaduct collapsed in torrential rain in August 2018 after its cable stays gave way, throwing vehicles to the ground and killing scores of travelers.
The incident shocked Italy and prompted a fierce debate about the safety of the country's infrastructure.
Built in the 1960s, the Morandi Bridge was a vital link of the A10 highway that connects northwestern Italy to France, across the Polcevera river in central Genoa. It was one of the busiest bridges in the country, carrying freight and tourists to and from the port city.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/28/europe/genoa-bridge-demolition-scli-intl/index.html
2019-06-28 08:32:00Z
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Trump tells Putin not to 'meddle in the election,' his tone was criticized - Fox News
President Trump met face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Japan and told his counterpart not to "meddle" in the 2020 elections when pressed by a reporter, but his delivery faced immediate criticism as being aloof.
Trump, who was seated next to Putin, was asked by a reporter if he would tell "the Russian president to not meddle in the election." There was some cross talk in the room at the time. Trump, without looking at Putin, responded, "Of course I will. Don't meddle in the election, president. Don't meddle in the election."
Trump's tone and delivery were immediately called out. The AP ran a headline, "Trump Jokes to Putin: Don't Meddle in the Election."
The report said his tone was "open to interpretation but would seem to do little to silence questions about Trump's relationship with Russia in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller's conclusion that his campaign did not collude with Russia in 2016."
Trump's supporters will likely say the reporter's question was awkward and the serious discussion should not play out in the public eye. Trump's critics will likely conclude that he refuses to see the seriousness of defending U.S. elections from a foreign government, hence his offhanded response.
President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Friday, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
TRUMP HITS G20 READY TO MEET RUSSIA'S PUTIN AND CHINA'S XI JINPING
Friday’s meeting is the first between the two leaders since the Mueller Report documented the extensive ways in which Russia sought to influence the 2016 election. The Mueller report did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump associates and the Kremlin to sway the outcome of the election. Putin has denied that Russia meddled in the American election to help Trump win.
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The two are in Osaka for the summit. Before the meeting, Trump said he expected a "very good conversation" but told reporters "what I say to him is none of your business."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-jokes-to-putin-dont-meddle-in-the-election
2019-06-28 07:48:41Z
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