Norwegian Politician Christian Tybring-Gjedde has nominated Donald Trump for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize following his role in helping broker the peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates – only the third Israel-Arab peace deal since the Jewish state’s conception in 1948. *Popcorn*
Nominations for this year’s prize closed in February, so a successful nomination would see Trump shortlisted for the 2021 competition. 2020’s betting markets see Greta Thunberg tied in first with the World Health Organisation, and followed closely by Jacinda Ardern – none of whom have done anything to broker world peace…
Trump went on one of his usual mind-boggling tangents at his latest rally:
“They were saying the other night – They were saying, ‘Oh sharks, we have to protect them,’ I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait.’
“They actually want to remove all the seals in order to save the shark. I said, ‘Wait a minute. Don’t you have it the other way around?’
“I’m not a big fan of sharks either – I don’t know how many votes I am going to lose. I have people calling me up, ‘Sir, we have a fund to save the sharks,’ I say no thank you, I have other things I can contribute to.”
Trump’s former top advisor and Breitbart editor Steve Bannon has been arrested this afternoon on charges of defrauding donors to Trump’s wall fundraising scheme, along with three associates. Always trust the US to bail Westminster out of a slow news day…
The accusations level charges of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors through their campaign “We Build the Wall”, and all four men have been indicted by New York investigators, with the US Postal Inspection Service having “assisted the investigation”. The accusation of fraud is of $1 million being taken from the scheme with Bannon using “hundreds of thousands of dollars in [his] personal expenses”…
Read the charges and details in full here [Indictment PDF].
Donald Trump has caused a storm this morning by waving around charts on pieces of paper when challenged about his administration’s record on Coronavirus by Axios’s Jonathan Swan. The US President was touting his country’s record when it comes to death as a proportion of cases, pointing to formidable success when it comes to the scale of testing. When it comes to deaths as a proportion of the population on the other hand, the US does not fare so well…
The interview, filmed in a style remarkably reminiscent of mockumentaries The Thick Of It and Veep, felt like a comedy skit more than a serious political interview. Watch the full – highly entertaining – 38 minute back and forth here…
There may be more to the former Prime Minister’s anger in the Commons earlier today than the immediate issue of the appointment of David Frost as National Security Adviser. Guido understands Theresa May has been fuming all day about reports she was “bullied and humiliated” by Donald Trump over the phone during her premiership. Her commons performance allowed her to both let off steam and appear less of a victim…
President Trump has written to the Director General of the World Health Organisation, with the conclusion of his administration’s review into the conduct of the WHO and its “failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak”. The letter lays out a cogent timetable of missteps, cover ups, and demands changes, not least demonstrable independence from China. The letter ends by threatening permanent US secession from the organisation if changes are not made…
“The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste.
That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization.”
Punchy. Read the letter in full here:
