US politics live: US praises Taiwan’s massive $40 billion defence announcement
One of the most heavily-watched nations on the planet has just dropped a major signal to China, signalling a massive commitment to the US in the process.
Welcome to our coverage of US politics from Wednesday, Australia time. This blog has now been closed. Thursday’s blog can be found here.
A left-wing media personality, former MSNBC host Joy Reid, has been panned after floating an outlandish conspiracy theory about Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika.
Speaking to the I’ve Had It podcast, Ms Reid suggested Vice President JD Vance’s marriage to Second Lady Usha Vance, who is Hindu, could be a problem when he tries to win the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.
She joked that it would be a MAGA “fairytale” if Mr Vance were to ditch his wife for Mrs Kirk. Who, incidentally, has already laughed off the theory.
Meanwhile, a leaked transcript has revealed the contents of a phone call between Steve Witkoff, the businessman who has been acting as Donald Trump’s envoy negotiating with Ukraine and Russia, and Yuri Ushakov, a senior foreign policy adviser to Vladimir Putin.
In part of the transcript, obtained by Bloomberg, Mr Witkoff seems to be coaching the Russians on how Putin should flatter Mr Trump, during an upcoming conversation, to make him more amenable.
“I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the president on his achievement, that you supported it, that you supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re glad to have seen it happen,” he tells Ushakov, alluding to the Israel-Hamas war.
“So I would say that. I think, from that, it’s going to be a really good call. Because let me tell you what I told the president. I told the president that you, the Russian Federation, always wanted a peace deal. That is my belief. I told the president I believe that.
“I’m even thinking we that maybe we set out, like, a 20-point peace proposal, just like we did in Gaza. We put a 20-point Trump plan together.”
At another point, Mr Witkoff says he knows “what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done” before specifying “Donetsk, and maybe a land swap somewhere”.
“But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully, because I think we’re going to get to a deal here. And I think, Yuri, the president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal.”
Read on for more updates from Wednesday.
Originally published as US politics live: US praises Taiwan’s massive $40 billion defence announcement
