President Donald Trump confirmed on March 29 that he would allow a Russian tanker to supply Cuba despite the blockade against the island.

“I told them if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that, whether it’s Russia or no,” Trump told reporters March 29 aboard Air Force One. “Whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter. I’d prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and everything else.”

The United States has blocked shipments from Venezuela, which supported Cuba before the U.S. removed its former leader, Nicolas Maduro. Ship-tracking data showed the sanctioned Russian-flagged tanker, Anatoly ⁠Kolodkin, was just off the eastern tip of Cuba and due to reach the port of Matanzas on March 30, Reuters reported, citing Cuban news site Cuba debate.

However, Trump repeated his vow that Cuba would be next, which critics have worried could mean military action against the island nation after the military removal of Venezuela’s leader and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. By “next,” Trump has said that could mean helping free it or “taking it.”

Trump’s latest comments marked a stark change from January.  After removing Maduro, Trump had said on social media Jan. 11: “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” He also signed an executive order Jan. 29 threatening new duties on countries that provided oil to Cuba.

The oil would provide relief to Cuba, which, according to President Miguel Diaz-Canel, has not received any oil imports for three months. The lack of oil led to strict rationing of gasoline and worsened an energy crisis that resulted in power outages across Cuba.

The post President Trump says he has ‘no problem’ with allowing Russian oil into Cuba appeared first on NEWSMAN.

The move makes Trump the first sitting president to have his signature on American paper currency.

“The President’s mark on history as the architect of America’s Golden Age economic revival is undeniable. Printing his signature on the American currency is not only appropriate, but also well deserved,” Treasurer Brandon Beach said in a statement.

 “There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S. dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

This is not the first time the Trump’s signature and name will be closely attached to money in Americans’ pockets. Last year, the administration initiated “Trump checks,” or seeded, tax-free investment accounts for American children born between 2025 and 2028. And during the early days of the Covid lockdown, stimulus checks to all American’s bore the president’s signature.

The Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comment on the duration of the change or where on bills the signature will appear, though the official announcement did note that the signature would appear on “future” U.S. paper currency “along with” the Treasury secretary’s signature, which is on the bottom right of the face of bills.

The post Trump’s signature to appear on US dollar bill appeared first on NEWSMAN.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said. Araghchi briefed Lavrov on Iran’s attempts to repel the attacks and said Iran would seek to convene an urgent U.N. Security Council session, it said. Lavrov reiterated Russia’s condemnation of the U.S.-Israeli strikes and Moscow’s readiness to help broker peace.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin discussed the situation in Iran with Russia’s Security Council via videoconference, but did not give details.

In a statement posted to Telegram, the Foreign Ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.

It warned the attacks risked triggering a “humanitarian, economic and possibly radiological catastrophe” in the region and accused the U.S. and Israel of “plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation.”

In the Foreign Ministry statement, Moscow called the bombing of nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards “unacceptable” and said it stood ready to help broker a peaceful resolution, while placing full responsibility for the escalation on the United States and Israel.

“Responsibility for the negative consequences of this manmade crisis, including an unpredictable chain reaction and spiraling violence, lies entirely with them,” the statement said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also condemned what it called “the serial nature of destabilizing attacks carried out by the U.S. administration,” accusing the U.S. of attacking “the international legal pillars of the world order.”

Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact in January last year as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging Western sanctions.

Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducted annual drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean last week aimed at “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The post Russia condemns U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran as ‘preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression’ appeared first on NEWSMAN.

The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was greeted on the South Lawn by an Army mounted honor guard and black horses bearing American and Saudi flags, with six warplanes conducting a flyover of the White House for a touch of military drama as bin Salman reached Trump’s side.

 “Trump doesn’t give a fist bump,” Trump said after shaking the crown prince’s hand in the Oval Office. “I grab that hand. I don’t give a hell where that hand has been, I grab that hand.”

Saudi Arabia pledged to increase its US investments from $600 billion to almost $1 trillion — with investments across the US economy and a focus on sectors including artificial intelligence and rare earth materials.

“Today and tomorrow, we are going to announce that we are going to increase that, that $600 billion to almost $1 trillion of investment, real investment and real opportunity in many areas,” bin Salman said.

Trump celebrated the scale of the commitment, saying, “we’re doing numbers that nobody’s ever done.”

“You know, that’s great. I appreciate that. That’s great,” he said. “…That means investments in plants, in companies, money on Wall Street. And what it really means for everybody, what really counts is jobs. A lot of jobs. We have a lot of jobs.”

Trump further noted that the investment was a reflection of the state of the US economy under his leadership.

“In all fairness, if you didn’t see potential in the US, you wouldn’t be doing it,” he said. “You don’t want to lose money.”

Details on the defense and minerals investment were not yet available, but the prince told the president the US is the “hottest country on the planet” for foreign investment.

“What you’re creating is not about an opportunity today. It’s also about long-term opportunity,” Mohammed said.

The president brushed off a reporter’s question about whether his family’s business dealings with Saudi Arabia constituted a conflict of interest in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

“I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left and I’ve devoted 100% of my energy [to running this country],” Trump said.

“What my family does is fine. They do business all over. They’ve done very little in Saudi Arabia, actually, though I’m sure they can do a lot, and anything they’ve done has been very good.”

On defense, Trump indicated that Saudi Arabia would buy F-35 stealth jets, a move that would mark a major policy shift as critics warned that the deal could lead to the highly advanced aircraft ending up in the wrong hands.

The two leaders also suggested deeper cooperation on regional security, including in Gaza, though precise terms have not been publicly disclosed.

Saudi Arabia was among several countries that played a key role in getting Hamas to agree to President Trump’s historic peace plan there last month.

Trump thanked bin Salman “for the role he played in the transformational peace deal that was achieved last month and so many of the other things that happened to end the war in Gaza.”

 “Gaza, while it looks a little bit messy — it has for many, many years, I will tell you, many decades — but it’s getting very close to being perfected, and people are shocked,” Trump said. “And even the great experts that have gone around criticizing badly every country and every president and everything, they’re all saying that what’s taking place in the Middle East is a miracle.”

President trump  further announced the US would designate Saudi Arabia as a “major non-NATO ally” at white house dinner in the crown prince’s honor Tuesday night.

 “We’re taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them,” Trump said, noting that the designation came shortly after he and bin Salman signed “a historic strategic defense agreement.”

The defense agreement will make it “easier for US defense firms to operate in Saudi Arabia, secur[e] new burden-sharing funds from the Saudi Arabia to defray US costs, and affirm[s] that the Kingdom views the United States as its primary strategic partner,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday evening.

Trump said he received a “positive response” about the prospects for Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel. But the crown prince made clear that while he wanted to join the Abraham Accords, he was sticking to his condition that Israel must provide a path to Palestinian statehood, which it has refused to do.

During  formal  dinner at the White House later on Tuesday, Trump said he was “taking our military cooperation to even greater heights” by designating Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO Ally, a status that provides a U.S. partner with military and economic privileges but does not entail security commitments. U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June had made Saudi Arabia safer, Trump added.

The post President Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince in a display of pageantry fit for a king appeared first on NEWSMAN.

“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us, and we’ll work something out. But he would like to come to Washington,” Trump told reporters on Nov. 16. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to USA TODAY that Trump meant Mamdani .

Mamdani said on Nov. 17 he had reached out to the White House to follow through on his commitment to work with anyone on affordability in New York City, per comments provided by a spokesperson.

“We are seeing his actions and that of his administration in Washington leading to the exact opposite effect for New Yorkers,” he said. “I will go to make the case to the President and to anyone, frankly, that these are the kinds of things we need to change if we want to make it easier for New Yorkers and for Americans to afford the day to day necessities of their life.”

While  announcing his transition team the day after the election, Mamdani said the White House had not reached out to congratulate him, but he was interested in speaking with Trump.

“I continue to be interested in having a conversation with President Trump on the ways in which we can work together to serve New Yorkers,” Mamdani said on Nov. 5. “Whether that be delivering on his campaign promises around cost of living or the many issues that New Yorkers have been sharing with me about the drastic impacts that the legislation that President Trump has ushered through Washington will mean for them and their lives.”

The post President Trump says he will meet with NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani appeared first on NEWSMAN.

“I’m thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom,” Trump said May 8 from the Oval Office, noting that the agreement happened to fall on “Victory Day” in celebration of the end of World War II in Europe. “There could be no more perfect morning to reach this historic agreement.”

Final details are still in the works, though U.S. stocks traded higher in the immediate hours of the news spreading of a broad deal between the two longstanding global allies. Surrounded by U.S. and UK officials who helped broker the agreement, Trump promised that their efforts would provide billions of dollars in access for U.S. agricultural products such as beef and ethanol.

“They’re opening up their country,” Trump said. “Their country is a little closed and we appreciate it.”

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keri Starmer was put on a speaker phone for the announcement and called it a “really fantastic, historic day” coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the key moment at the end of World War II.

“This is going to boost trade between and across our countries,” Starmer siad.

Trump had imposed reciprocal tariffs on a slew of countries April 2 but later paused most of them for 90 days, saying those nations’ leaders were eager to negotiate trade deals. Since then administration officials repeatedly have said they are close to making deals.

The UK wasn’t hit with a reciprocal tariff during Trump’s April roll out, but faced a 10% universal tariff and 25% tariffs that Trump imposed on foreign automobiles, steel and aluminum.

President Trump said he made a special exception for the United Kingdom by lowering auto tariffs from 25% to 10% to help high-end vehicles such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Jaguar vehicles that are manufactured in Britain.

“It’s a very special car, and it’s very limited number, too,” Trump said. “It’s not one of the monster car companies that makes millions of cars. They make a very small number of cars that are super luxury.”

“That’s really handmade stuff, they’ve been doing it for a long time in the same location,” he said. “So I said, ‘Let’s help the out with that one.’”

Trump said he will “rarely” make the same decision in negotiations with other countries when it comes to other foreign automobiles.

Trump says 10% tariff could still increase for other countries

Trump’s trade deal with the United Kingdom maintained a 10% universal tariff on the country.

Asked if trade deals with other countries also could result in tariffs staying at 10%, rather than the higher reciprocal tariffs the president threatened last month before pausing most of them, Trump said no.

The post Trump announces trade deal with UK appeared first on NEWSMAN.

Gates’ donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years.

The pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever – outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett’s pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations.

“It’s kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes,” Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates’ organization, Pivotal Ventures.

His announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the U.S., and an eventual end to the foundation’s immense worldwide influence. Gates says spending down his fortune will help save and improve many lives now, which will have positive ripple effects well beyond the foundation’s closure. It also makes it more likely that his intentions are honored.

“I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone,” Gates said.

The Gates Foundation has long been peerless among foundations — attracting supporters and detractors but also numerous unfounded conspiracy theories.

In addition to the $100 billion it has spent since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and nurtured long-term partnerships with countries and companies.

About 41% of the foundation’s money so far has come from Warren Buffett and the rest from the fortune Gates made at Microsoft.

Started by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation plays a significant role in shaping global health policy and has carved out a special niche by partnering with companies to drive down the cost of medical treatments so low- and middle-income countries could afford them.

“The foundation work has been way more impactful than I expected,” Gates said, calling it his second and final career.

Gates said, like any private citizen, he can choose how to spend the money he earns and has decided to do everything he can to reduce childhood deaths.

“Is that a bad thing? It’s not an important cause? People can criticize it,” he said, but the foundation will stick to its global health work.

The foundation’s most prized metric is the drop in childhood deaths from preventable causes by almost half between 2000 and 2020, according to United Nations figures. The foundation’s CEO Mark Suzman is careful to say they do not take credit for this accomplishment. But he believes they had a “catalytic role” — for example, in helping deliver vaccines to children through Gavi, the vaccine alliance they helped create.

The foundation still has numerous goals — eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases, like malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other illnesses.

Gates hopes that by spending to address these issues now, wealthy donors will be free to tackle other problems later.

The Gates Foundation had planned to wind down two decades after Gates’ death, meaning today’s announcement significantly moves up that timetable. Gates plans to stay engaged, though at 69, he acknowledged he may not have a say.

In its remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of around $9 billion a year, which represents a leveling off from its almost annual growth since 2006, when Buffett first started donating.

In 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the foundation’s trustee. They recruited a new board of trustees to help govern the foundation, and in 2024, French Gates left to continue work at her own organization.

French Gates said she decided to step down partly to focus on countering the rollback of women’s rights in the U.S. At the ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, she said she wanted to leave the foundation at a high point.

The post Bill Gates pledges 99% of his remaining  fortune to Gates Foundation appeared first on NEWSMAN.

The theft took place in Greencastle, Pennsylvania — located approximately 65 miles southwest of the state capital of Harrisburg — when the eggs were stolen from the rear of a distribution trailer on Saturday around 8:40 p.m. while it was parked outside Pete & Gerry’s Organics.

Pennsylvania State Police Chambersburg responded to the location and discovered that around 100,000 eggs worth an estimated $40,000 had been stolen.

Pete & Gerry’s Organics has been around as a brand since the early 1980s but transitioned to organic farming in 1997, according to their website. The egg company works with 200 independent, family owned and operated farms.

“Setting a higher standard for farming practices and animal care across an entire industry doesn’t happen without ruffling a few feathers — we squawk the squawk and walk the walk,” Pete & Gerry’s Organics said. “Pete & Gerry’s is recognized as a 2022 Best For The World B Corp in the Community impact area, scoring in the top 5% of their size group for their efforts in the community, including charitable giving, investment in diversity, and educational opportunities.”

The company works with over 200 independent, family owned and operated farms in our network, mainly located across New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, the company said.

 “These farms are typically run by a single family and small enough for each partner farmer to manage, delivering hands-on care to our hens, while still leading rich and fulfilling lives,” Pete and Gerry’s Organics said.

The investigation is currently ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police Chambersburg.

The post 100,000 eggs worth $40,000 stolen from trailer appeared first on NEWSMAN.

Axios first reported the number of accepted buyouts.

In a push to drastically reduce the size of the federal workforce, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management last Tuesday offered all federal employees eight months of pay and benefits through September if they resign by Feb 6, this Thursday.

The offer, which came in a mass email to all employees, is part of billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy and reshape the government through the Department of Government Efficiency he leads.

Federal employees who want to remain in the federal workforce were told via email they must return to in-person work, embrace new “performance standards” and be “reliable, loyal and trustworthy” in their work. The email also warned that most federal departments and agencies will be “downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force.”

Layoffs across the federal government are “likely” if not enough employees take the buyout, Erv Koehler, assistant commissioner of general supplies and services at General Services Administration, said in an email to GSA staff reported Tuesday by the Washington Post.

The buyout offer to federal workers came in an email titled “Fork in the Road.”

In a follow-up email titled “Fork in the Road FAQs,” the Office of Personnel Management clarified employees are not expected to work during the deferred resignation period and can accept a job elsewhere while still getting paid through September.

The post At least 20,000 federal workers have taken Trump’s buyout offer appeared first on NEWSMAN.

“Three days ago, I took the oath of office. And we began the golden age of America,” Trump opened over a large screen over the stage, explaining later that he couldn’t be in Davos due to a quick turnaround from his inauguration, but he hoped to attend in person next year.

“The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,” Trump boasted. “Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, it will make the United States a manufacturing superpower and the world capital of artificial intelligence and crypto. My administration has also begun the largest deregulation campaign in history, far exceeding even the record setting efforts of my last term.”

President Trump shared a direct message to the wealthy businessman: Invest in the U.S. or else.

“My message to every business in the world is very simple: Come make your in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth. We’re bringing them down very substantially, even from the original Trump tax cut,” Trump said. “But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then, very simply, you will have to pay a tariff. Differing amounts, but a tariff which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt.”

Later, Trump put pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

“With oil prices going down, I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately,” he said. “And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us all over. The progress that you’re seeing is happening because of our historic victory in a recent presidential election, one that has become quite well-known throughout the world.”

“Our efforts to secure a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine are now hopefully underway. It’s so important to get that done,” Trump told the forum, calling the war “an absolute killing field.”

Millions of soldiers are being killed. Nobody’s seen anything like it since World War II. They’re laying dead all over the flat fields. It’s a flat field, farmland. And there’s millions of Russians and millions of Ukrainians, and nobody’s seen anything like it since World War II. It’s time to end it,” Trump said.

Trump said he would talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping in efforts to end the war. Former President Joe Biden seemed to give Xi a similar message during a rare bilateral meeting on the sidelines of APEC in November.

“Hopefully, China can help us stop the war with, in particular, Russia, Ukraine. They have a great deal of power over that situation. And we’ll work with them,” Trump said. And I mentioned that with, during our phone conversation with President Xi and hopefully we could work together and get that stopped,” Trump said.

Trump called for NATO nations to up their defense spending from 2% to 5%, something he has advocated for since his first term in office. Asked if there would be a peace agreement with Ukraine and Russia by the time Trump takes the stage next year, he pointed his finger at Russia.

“Well, you’re going to have to ask Russia,” he said. “Ukraine is ready to, to make a deal.”

On Wednesday Trump called out Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Truth Social post, telling him “It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL.’ NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!”

The post Trump tells the World to invest in the US or face tariffs appeared first on NEWSMAN.