US President Donald Trump was “caught” by pool reporters on Sunday prior to boarding Air Force One in New Jersey, who addressed pressing foreign and domestic issues.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday before boarding Air Force One in New Jersey that the United States would not do any business with the Chinese tech giant, citing “national security reasons”. Trump stressed that a decision on the matter will be made on Monday.
The US president also noted that the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Grace 1 was released by the authorities of Gibraltar. Trump is reported to have suggested that “Iran would like to talk” about the tanker.
“We can do something very fast, but they don’t quite know how to begin”, Trump told reporters on Sunday.
Later on Sunday, a marine traffic monitoring site also showed that the Iranian supertanker was moving away from Gibraltar.
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Abbas Mousavi, stressed that the Grace 1 never headed to Syria, adding that written proof in the form of a logbook aboard the ship, as well as legal notes that Iran passed on to Gibraltar on Thursday, provided concrete evidence of its innocence.
Trump, asked about his alleged plans to acquire Greenland, the world’s largest island, told reporters on Sunday that he was merely interested ‘strategically” in the purchase and that the issue was “not number 1 on the burner”.
“It’s something we talked about […] “The concept came up and I said certainly, strategically it’s interesting and we’d be interested, but we’ll talk to (Denmark) a little bit”, Trump said.
When asked if he would consider trading a US territory for Greenland, Trump replied that “a lot of things could be done”. “Essentially, it’s a large real estate deal […] It’s hurting Denmark very badly because they’re losing almost $700 million a year carrying it… and strategically, for the United States, it would be nice”, Trump said.
White House chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, confirmed earlier on Sunday that Trump was “looking at” the possible purchase of Greenland, even though authorities of this Danish autonomous country refused to entertain the story.
Earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources in the White House, that Trump had inquired about the possibility of purchasing the island “with varying degrees of seriousness” and listened as his advisers discussed the territory’s “abundant resources and geopolitical importance.” The US leader reportedly asked his counsel in the White House to study the idea of a purchase that could boost the US military presence in the Arctic.
Reacting to reports, Greenland’s Foreign Ministry said that while the world’s largest island is open for tourism and business, it is “not for sale”.
For decades, Palestinians have sought recognition of their independent state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli government has refused to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity and continues to build settlements in the occupied territories.
In late June, the Trump administration unveiled only economic offers of a so-called peace plan, including a purported $50 billion investment. Palestinian leadership boycotted the meetings and the plan as a bribe attempt.
Trump said on Sunday that he would keep Vice President Mike Pence as his running mate while campaigning for his 2020 re-election. “I’m very happy with Mike Pence”, Trump declared.
According to the latest reports, US voters are paying attention to the 2020 presidential campaign with a level of interest not seen in the past 30 years, with Democrats particularly excited by a large field of candidates seeking their party’s nomination, as well as the necessity of unseating the Republican incumbent.
Trump touched upon economic issues, asserting that his administration’s tax cuts and reforms have given consumers money to spend.
“I don’t think we’re having a recession […] We’re doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich. I gave a tremendous tax cut and they’re loaded up with money”, Trump said.
Earlier, the US Treasury Department revealed that the US government’s budget deficitsoared by almost 27 percent, compared to the same 10-month period the previous fiscal year.
The US deficit for the first ten months of Fiscal Year 2019, according to the data, rose to $866.8 billion, exceeding the full-year figure for last year which was $779 billion.
For the month of July alone, the deficit rose to $119.7 billion, $48 billion above the same month last year.
The Congressional Budget Office expects the deficit to break the $1 trillion mark in 2020, largely due to Trump’s massive tax cuts for the wealthy.