Trump makes new appointments including new 'border czar' | ABS-CBN

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Trump makes new appointments including new 'border czar'

Trump makes new appointments including new 'border czar'

Agence France-Presse

 | 

Updated Nov 12, 2024 10:08 AM PHT

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Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures at supporters after speaking as he holds hands with former US First Lady Melania Trump during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, early on November 6, 2024. Jim Watson, AFP 

US President-elect Donald Trump named new members for his incoming administration on Monday, tapping loyalist hardliners for several key posts including a "border czar" who will be in charge of mass deportations.

His staffing picks are the subject of intense speculation and scrutiny, with Trump vowing that his second administration will oversee a radical shake-up of the federal government.

The 78-year-old Republican tycoon said Sunday he would nominate immigration official Tom Homan as the country's "border czar," while Lee Zeldin, an early political ally, was proposed as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief.

"I've known Tom (Homan) for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders," Trump said on Truth Social, adding that Homan would be in charge of "all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin."

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New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik got the nod for UN ambassador, while US media say Stephen Miller, who was the architect of Trump's so-called "Muslim ban" immigration policy during his first term, was set to be his deputy chief of staff with a broad portfolio.

Another hardliner, Florida Senator Michael Waltz, a noted China critic, is reportedly in line to take the crucial National Security Advisor role, according to The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.



Waltz, an army special forces veteran, delivered a speech praising Trump at the Republican National Convention in July in which he called for "peace through America's strength".

Asked about Trump's plans to end the war in Ukraine, he told CNN on election night last week that there was "a way to drive this war to an end, we can do it economically, we can do it diplomatically."

He mentioned specifically enforcing sanctions on Russia's energy sector.

Stefanik, who has voiced strong support for Israel, will represent the administration at the UN as the world body grapples with the war in Ukraine as well Israel's bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon.

Stefanik's and Zeldin's nominations would need approval by the Senate, but Trump is hoping to bypass oversight by the upper chamber by making appointments while it is in recess.

He has turned the issue into a loyalty test, insisting Saturday that any Republican seeking to be the leader of the Senate "must agree" to recess appointments.

The three senators jockeying for the post immediately issued statements saying they supported the move, or were at least open to the idea.

DEREGULATION

Trump will not be inaugurated until January, and had previously made one cabinet-level appointment, naming his campaign manager Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Homan, a former acting director of ICE, holds hardline views on immigration, as does Miller, who served as Trump's senior advisor and speechwriter during his first term.

Curbing illegal immigration served as one of Trump's central campaign promises as he pledged to launch the largest deportation operation of undocumented migrants in US history beginning on day one.

As Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head, Trump said Zeldin would be tasked with making "fair and swift deregulatory decisions" with the Republican president promising to shred rules on safety and pollution that he considers red tape for businesses.

Stefanik, a key Trump ally now in her fifth term in office, has been a staunch defender of Israel and will head to the UN as the wars in Gaza and Lebanon dominate diplomacy.

"The work ahead is immense as we see antisemitism skyrocketing, coupled with four years of catastrophically weak US leadership that significantly weakened our national security and diminished our standing in the eyes of both allies and adversaries," she said in a statement on Monday.

Israel welcomed the appointment.

"At a time when hate and lies fill the halls of the UN, your unwavering moral clarity is needed more than ever," its UN ambassador Danny Danon wrote on X, wishing her "success in standing firm for truth and justice."

© Agence France-Presse

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US pushes Zelensky to sign Ukraine resources deal

US pushes Zelensky to sign Ukraine resources deal

Agence France-Presse

 | 

Updated Feb 22, 2025 03:09 AM PHT

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faced pressure on Friday to sign a deal to hand the United States preferential access to Ukraine's mineral deposits following harsh criticism from US President Donald Trump.

Trump wants Ukraine to give US companies access as compensation for the tens of billions of dollars of aid delivered under his predecessor Joe Biden.

But Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from the United States in exchange for signing away precious rights to vast amounts of its natural resources and critical minerals.

Mike Waltz, Trump's national security adviser on Friday predicted that Zelensky would sign the deal soon.

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"Look, here's the bottom line, President Zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine," Waltz told a conference on the outskirts of Washington.

Trump's top advisers have doubled down on their attacks on Zelensky in recent days, after Trump branded him a "dictator" and falsely claimed Ukraine had "started" the war with Russia.

The war of words has stunned Kyiv and European capitals, a sign of just how rapidly Trump is overhauling Washington's long-standing support for Ukraine as he opens talks with Moscow on a settlement to the conflict.

Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House he had "very good talks" with his Russian counterpart, while adding Ukrainian leaders "don't have any cards, but they play it tough".

The United States had been Ukraine's most important financial, military and political backer since Russia invaded in February 2022, in what the West's top powers had condemned as an unprovoked and illegal war of aggression.

A senior Ukrainian official earlier Friday told AFP that despite the tensions between Zelensky and Trump, talks on a possible agreement were "ongoing".

"There is a constant exchange of drafts, we sent another one yesterday," the Kyiv source said, adding that Ukraine was now waiting for a US response.

Kyiv had rejected a first attempt by Trump's team to strike a deal for Ukraine's natural resources, saying the proposal did not include security guarantees for Kyiv -- a move that infuriated Trump.


- Three-year war -


Ukraine is pressing for NATO membership or for the deployment of Western troops and masses of advanced equipment as part of any wider ceasefire agreement with Russia.

Zelensky said earlier this week he would not "sell" Ukraine in any deal with the United States.

The spat risks undermining Western support for Kyiv at a critical juncture in the conflict, ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia's invasion on Sunday.

Russia's army on Friday said it had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine.

Europe has also been left scrambling to respond, though Zelensky has held a flurry of calls in recent days with European leaders reiterating their support for Ukraine, including French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Finland and Denmark.

Macron will travel to Washington next week where he will tell Trump: "You can't be weak with President Putin," he said in an address on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also visit Trump, as Paris and London seek to marshal Europe's response to the Republican's first month in office.


- 'Despised' -


Zelensky met this week in Kyiv with Trump's envoy Keith Kellogg whose description of meetings with Ukrainian officials came in stark contrast with rhetoric from his counterparts in Washington.

In a social media post Kellogg called Zelensky "the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war".

But in Washington there was little sign Trump's team was looking to dial down tensions.

Trump told Fox News on Friday that "I don't think he's very important to be in meetings", referring to Zelensky, adding "he makes it very hard to make deals".

Tech tycoon and Trump backer Elon Musk weighed in on Thursday, saying Ukrainians "despised" their president and that the US leader was right to leave him out of talks with Russia.

"Some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable," Waltz said during a briefing at the White House.

In his most pointed criticism yet, Zelensky earlier this week said Trump had succumbed to Russian "disinformation" over the US president's repetition of debunked Kremlin talking points on the conflict.

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