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Trump hints at US military action in Greenland as Biden reveals details about private meeting with president-elect: Live

Incoming commander-in-chief holds alarming press conference at Mar-a-Lago, wandering from topic to topic and threatening allied nations

Oliver O'Connell,Joe Sommerlad,Katie Hawkinson
Wednesday 08 January 2025 11:08 GMT
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Donald Trump says he won’t ‘commit’ to ruling out using military force to reclaim the Panama Canal

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Donald Trump gave his first rambling press conference of the new year at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, bafflingly leaping from one topic to another.

Ostensibly arranged to announce new foreign investment in the US, the president-elect took the opportunity to attack Joe Biden over the transition process and refused to rule out using military or economic coercion to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal.

Trump further railed against windmills, electric heaters, water pressure, soap, dishwashers, Canada and the legal cases brought against him in 2023.

At one point, he said he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and then claimed Hezbollah might have been at the US Capitol on January 6 2021.

His dark hints of military action overseas has already inspired an angry reaction from France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who told French radio on Wednesday morning: "There is obviously no question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are. We are a strong continent.”

President Biden has meanwhile given an interview to USA Today in which he reveals telling details about his private meetings with his incoming succcessor.

EU will defend any attack on sovereign borders, French minister warns Trump

The president-elect’s dark hints of military action overseas has already inspired an angry reaction from France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

He told French radio on Wednesday morning: “There is obviously no question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are. We are a strong continent.”

Here’s more from Maddy Sherratt.

EU will defend any attack on sovereign borders says French minister

‘We are a strong continent’, Barrot fiercely stated Wednesday

Joe Sommerlad8 January 2025 11:05

Recap: Trump kicks off 2025 with attacks on Biden – then threatens military action in Greenland and Panama

Donald Trump gave his first rambling press conference of the new year at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, bafflingly leaping from one topic to another.

Ostensibly arranged to announce new foreign investment in the US, the president-elect took the opportunity to attack Joe Biden over the transition process and refused to rule out using military or economic coercion to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal.

Trump further railed against windmills, electric heaters, water pressure, soap, dishwashers, Canada and the legal cases brought against him in 2023.

At one point, he said he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and then claimed Hezbollah might have been at the US Capitol on January 6 2021.

Here’s Andrew Feinberg with a full report on Trump’s alarming performance.

Trump kicks off 2025 with attacks on Biden — then threatens U.S. allies

Trump suggests he could use force — economic or military — to turn American allies into vassal states

Joe Sommerlad8 January 2025 10:35

Trump posts Canada memes but silent on devastating Los Angeles wildfires

Good morning!

The president-elect may not be inaugurated for another 12 days but he has been pretty outspoken on world events throughout the transition period, yesterday shockingly hinting that he could send in the US military to annex Greenland and reclaim the Panama Canal.

For all that he has, so far, still not said a single word about the wildfires currently raging through the suburbs of Los Angeles, endangering American lives.

You may recall Trump dismissing a major California wildfire during his last term in the White House as the result of poor “forest management” rather than climate change.

What has he been doing? Posting memes about his fantasy of incorporating Canada into the United States, of course.

If you are interested in the environmental disaster currently tearing through California, you can follow live coverage in our dedicated liveblog below.

Palisades fire live updates: Nearly 3,000 acres burn as 30,000 forced to evacuate

Roaring LA brush fire is fueled by dangerous fire weather and whipping winds in the state of California

Joe Sommerlad8 January 2025 10:05

Judge Aileen Cannon blocks Merrick Garland from releasing Jack Smith’s Trump report

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case is blocking Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing a report prepared by the prosecutor who led the federal criminal cases against the president-elect.

A stunning order from District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday arrived hours after the former president and his co-defendants urged the courts to prevent special counsel Jack Smith from publishing a report that is expected to detail his investigations, which he effectively drew to a close following his presidential election victory.

Cannon — who was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020 — is effectively ordering the Department of Justice to reject guidelines that put decisions about special counsel reports in the hands of the attorney general.

Alex Woodward reports.

Trump-appointed judge blocks Merrick Garland from releasing Jack Smith report

Trump blasts ‘fake’ final report moments after Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily blocks DOJ from publishing

Oliver O'Connell8 January 2025 09:45

Trump kicks off rambling press conference by airing grievances — then starts threatening U.S. allies

With less than two weeks until he’s once again ensconced in the Oval Office, Donald Trump opened his first press conference of 2025 in his usual style — with a laundry list of grievances against his political nemesis Joe Biden.

The former president turned president-elect had ostensibly called a small group of reporters from a hand-picked selection of news outlets to his Mar-a-Lago residence to announce a new $20 billion investment in American data centers by an Emirati billionaire, Hussain Sajwani, with whom his eponymous real estate and hospitality firm has partnered on several Trump-branded projects in the Persian Gulf region.

Things then took a turn as Andrew Feinberg reports.

Trump kicks off 2025 with attacks on Biden — then threatens U.S. allies

Trump suggests he could use force — economic or military — to turn American allies into vassal states

Oliver O'Connell8 January 2025 09:15

‘That’s like the whole ocean!’: Trump rants about Biden’s offshore 625 million acre drilling ban,

Donald Trump ranted about Joe Biden’s 625 million acre offshore drilling ban in the Atlantic and wrongly claimed it covered almost “the whole ocean.”

“Take an acre, you have a house on a half-acre or a quarter-acre, or an acre, you have a big deal,” the President-elect exclaimed during a wild press conference on Tuesday. “Now you multiply that by 625 million acres. That’s like... it feels like the whole ocean!”

However, Trump’s math was off by some margin, as Mike Bedigan reports.

Trump claims Biden’s offshore 625 million acre drilling ban covers ‘the whole ocean’

The President-elect’s math was off by large margin during latest wild press conference at Mar-a-Lago

Oliver O'Connell8 January 2025 08:45

Elon Musk finds a friend in first lady Melania Trump

Melania Trump is glad to have found a “babysitter” for her husband in Tesla CEO Elon Musk, according to a new report.

Musk has become one of President-elect Donald Trump’s closest confidantes and has spent nearly “every single day” (including New Year’s Eve) at Mar-a-Lago, which has become Trump’s transition headquarters.

Michelle Del Rey has the story.

‘Melania is glad to have a babysitter for Donald’: Report

‘Melania is glad to have her husband busy with his work,’ a source said

Oliver O'Connell8 January 2025 08:15

Trump loses last-ditch attempt to stop hush money sentencing

An appeals court judge has rejected Donald Trump’s last-ditch attempt to stop this week’s sentencing hearing in his hush money trial.

The president-elect has desperately fought to return to the White House with a clear record. But after his latest courtroom failures to overturn his conviction and sentence, Trump is set to enter office as the first criminally convicted president in U.S. history.

Alex Woodward reports.

Trump loses last-ditch attempt to stop hush money sentencing

New York appeals court rejects president-elect’s latest move to halt his imminent sentencing date

Oliver O'Connell8 January 2025 07:45

Why does Trump want to buy Greenland?

It’s a question for the ages. Why is this a thing?

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Why does Donald Trump want to buy Greenland?

‘We are not for sale and will never be for sale,’ Greenland prime minister says

Oliver O'Connell8 January 2025 06:45

Enrique Tarrio, former Proud Boys ringleader, begs Trump for Jan. 6 pardon

The former leader of the Proud Boys has asked President-elect Donald Trump for a pardon.

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio once served as the national chairman of the far-right group, which federal prosecutors said played a “central role” in the breach of the Capitol building four years ago.

More than a year after he was sentenced to 22 years in prison and 36 months behind bars for his role in the Capitol riot, Tarrio has asked to be pardoned by Trump, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

Kelly Rissman has the story.

Former Proud Boys ringleader Enrique Tarrio begs Trump for Jan. 6 pardon

‘Henry is nothing more than a proud American that believes in true conservative values,’ his lawyer argued

Oliver O'Connell8 January 2025 05:45

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