UNITED STATES – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Maduro defiant in the dock as Trump talks big on oil

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Jan-26

President Donald Trump claims that US companies can rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure within 18 months, but concedes that it will require a "tremendous amount of money". He adds that oil companies will be reimbursed for this expenditure either by the US goverment or via revenue. Venezuela currently produces about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day, and Rystadt Energy estimates that increasing this to three million barrels per day will require about $US183bn of investment over the next decade. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s former president Nicolas Maduro has told a New York court that he had been kidnapped by US forces at his home in Caracas, and that he is still Venezuela’s leader.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Trump threatens to escalate trade war amid confusion over new tariff rates

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Original article by Callum Jones
The Guardian – Page: Online : 9-Jul-25

US President Donald Trump has ruled out another extension to the reciprocal tariffs deadline, which has already been pushed back to 1 August. Trump has also advised that more countries will be informed of their new tariffs in coming days; Japan and South Korea are among the 14 countries that have already received letters advising that they will face tariffs of up to 40 per cent. Meanwhile, Trump has announced punitive tariffs on a range of imports; this includes a tariff of 50 per cent on copper and up to 200 per cent on foreign-made drugs, although he indicated that pharmaceutical companies will be given at least a years’ notice.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

AUKUS under threat as Trump launches review

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: Online : 12-Jun-25

The US Department of Defense has confirmed that it will undertake a review of the AUKUS alliance with Australia and the UK. The Pentagon says the review will aim to ensure that the alliance is in the best interests of the US and that it aligns with the ‘America First’ agenda of President Donald Trump. The review is expected to be led by defence official Elbridge Colby, who has been a notable critic of AUKUS in the past; amongst other things, he has previously stated that the alliance’s benefits and viability is "questionable". Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is likely to come under pressure to obtain a firm commitment to AUKUS from Trump if the two leaders meet on the sidelines of the upcoming G7 summit in Canada.

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UNITED STATES. DEPT OF DEFENSE, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Trump suggests auto, pharma tariffs might not come on April 2

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The Australian – Page: Online : 25-Mar-25

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to announce reciprocal tariffs on the nation’s trading partners on 2 April. Trump has previously stated that sector-specific tariffs will take effect at about the same time. They were expected to include the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors; however, Trump has told a cabinet meeting that automotive tariffs will be announced "very shortly", while pharmaceutical tariffs will be revealed "at some point". Shares in Tesla rallied by nearly 12 per cent in response to indications that the tariff on automobiles may not take effect in early April. A White House official has confirmed that sector-specific tariffs "may or may not happen" on 2 April, although reciprocal tariffs will be imposed from this date. Meanwhile, Trump has revealed that a "secondary tariff" of 25 per cent on countries that buy oil from Venezuela will also take effect on 2 April; he has accused the country of sending "tens of thousands" of criminals to the US.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

All the executive orders signed by Trump on day one of his second US presidency

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Original article by Serena Seyfort, April Glover
9News – Page: Online : 22-Jan-25

US President Donald Trump has moved swiftly to wind back the legacy of his White House predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump began signing executive orders shortly after his second inauguration. They included withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement, allowing TikTok to keep operating in the US for another 90 days, and requiring all federal government communications and policies to recognise only two genders. Other executive order included issuing pardons to 1,500 participants in the Capitol Building riots on 6 January 2021, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations, directing all federal workers to return to working in the office full-time and formally changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Trump sworn in as 47th president as US braces for a new era of disruption and division

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Original article by Joan E Greve, David Smith, Robert Tait
The Guardian – Page: Online : 21-Jan-25

US President Donald Trump has used his inauguration address to state that "America’s decline is over" and the nation’s golden age "begins right now". Trump also vowed to "put America first" during every single day of his second administration. He took the oath of office from the Supreme Court’s chief justice John Roberts indoors due to sub-zero temperatures in Washington DC, and in the presence of the nation’s four other surviving presidents. Meanwhile, Trump’s aides have indicated that one of his first acts as the 47th president will be to sign 10 executive orders, which will primarily focus on immigration-related issues.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Trump offers hope, but PM and Wong turn on Israel again

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Original article by Ben Packham, Joanna Panagopoulos, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Dec-24

US president-elect Donald Trump has given Hamas an ultimatum to release its remaining Israeli hostages. Trump has indicated that Hamas will be "hit harder than anybody has been hit" before in the history of the US if the surviving hostages are not freed before his inauguration on 20 January. Meanwhile, sources have confirmed that the federal government is likely to vote against Israel on three key resolutions in the United Nations’ General Assembly.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Trade war 2.0: Trump’s China tariff bombshell sends global shockwaves

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Original article by Will Glasgow, Joe Kelly, Jack Quail
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 27-Nov-24

Professor Warwick McKibbin from the Australian National University says the new tariff regime announced by US president-elected Donald Trump represents a "dangerous step for global trade". Trump has advised via social media that one of his priorities will be signing an executive order to impose a new tariff of 10 per cent on all Chinese imports, and a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico. Trump contends that the three nations are not doing enough to stop the importation of a synthetic drug called fentanyl into the US. The move is also aimed at curbing illegal immigration into the US. Steven Hamilton from George Washington University says Trump appears to be using tariffs as a ‘bargaining chip’ to extract concessions from other countries.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Harris and Trump end campaign duel with opposing messages

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Original article by Farrah Tomazin
The Age – Page: Online : 6-Nov-24

The Republican Party’s candidate Donald Trump has cast his ballot in Florida, telling reporters that he is confident of winning a presidential election that is widely tipped to be very close. Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris both spent the last day of the election campaign in Pennsylvania, one of seven swing states that are likely to decide the outcome of the election. Harris called for unity and a "fresh start", while Trump claimed that the US has been "destroyed" under the Biden-Harris administration. He also committed to imposing punitive tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imports from Mexico of that nation’s government does not take action to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the US.

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REPUBLICAN PARTY (UNITED STATES)

Democrats’ presidential campaign redux: Kamala’s manifesto

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Original article by Cameron Stewart, Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 24-Jul-24

Associated Press has reported that at least 2,660 Democrat delegates will back Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential candidate; she requires the support of just 1,976 delegates to win the first ballot at the party’s National Convenion in August. Key Democrats have also backed Harris, including former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and a growing number of state governors. Meanwhile, Harris has used her first major speech since becoming the Democrats’ presumptive presidential election nominee to criticise Donald Trump’s stance on issues such as taxation, social welfare and abortion. President Joe Biden in turn praised Harris in a phone call to the campaign meeting; in his first public comments since withdrawing from the election race, Biden said Trump is still a danger to the community and the nation.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES)