‘Not going to stand for this’: Trump lashes Netanyahu corruption trial
President Donald Trump said United States was “not going to stand” for the continued prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges.
North America
Don't miss out on the headlines from North America. Followed categories will be added to My News.
President Donald Trump said United States was “not going to stand” for the continued prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges.
“The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
An Israeli court has rejected Netanyahu’s request to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial, ruling that he had not provided adequate justification for his request.
In one case, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewelry and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favors.
In two other cases, Netanyahu is accused of attempting to negotiate more favorable coverage from two Israeli media outlets.
Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and has thanked Trump for his support in Israel’s war with Iran, which saw a ceasefire agreement earlier this week.
His lawyer had asked the court to excuse the leader from hearings over the next two weeks, saying he needs to concentrate on “security issues.”
Trump on Wednesday sprung to Netanyahu’s defense, describing the case against him as a “witch hunt.”
On Saturday, he described Netanyahu as a “War Hero” and said the case would distract the prime minister from negotiations with Iran and with Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian armed group that Israel is at war with.
“This travesty of ‘Justice’ will interfere with both Iran and Hamas negotiations,” said Trump, although it was unclear what negotiations he was referring to with regards to Iran.
The US leader also likened Netanyahu’s legal troubles to his own before he took office for his second term.
“It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure,” said Trump.
Mr Tump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024 in a case related to hush money payments to a porn star. He also faced two federal cases, one related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
FOLLOW THE UPDATES
TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ UNDER DEBATE
US senators debated into the early hours of Sunday Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” spending bill, a hugely divisive proposal that would deliver key parts of the US president’s domestic agenda while making massive cuts to social welfare programs.
Trump is hoping to seal his legacy with the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which would extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion and beef up border security.
But Republicans eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over the package, which would strip health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3 trillion to the country’s debt.
The Senate formally opened debate on the bill late Saturday, after Republican holdouts delayed what should have been a procedural vote - drawing Trump’s ire on social media.
Senators narrowly passed the motion to begin debate, 51-49, hours after the vote was first called, with Vice President JD Vance joining negotiations with holdouts from his own party.
Ultimately, two Republican senators joined 47 Democrats in voting “nay” on opening debate.
Trump has pushed his party to get the bill passed and on his desk for him to sign into law by July 4, the United States’ independence day.
“Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the vote to begin debate.
“Republicans must remember that they are fighting against a very evil, corrupt and, in many ways, incompetent (Policywise!) group of people, who would rather see our Country ‘go down in flames’ than do the right thing,” he said in an earlier post.
‘GOING AT IT WITH MACHETES’: TRUMP TOUTS RWANDA-CONGO TRUCE
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a peace agreement Washington to end fighting that has killed thousands, with the two countries pledging to pull back support for guerillas - and President Donald Trump boasting of securing mineral wealth.
“Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity,” Mr Trump said as he welcomed the two nations’ foreign ministers to the White House. “This is a wonderful day.”
The agreement comes after the M23, an ethnic Tutsi rebel force linked to Rwanda, sprinted across the mineral-rich east of the DRC this year, seizing vast territory including the key city of Goma.
The deal - negotiated through Qatar since before Mr Trump took office - does not explicitly address the gains of the M23 in the area torn by decades of on-off war but calls for Rwanda to end “defensive measures” it has taken.
Rwanda has denied directly supporting the M23 but has demanded an end to another armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
The agreement calls for the “neutralisation” of the FDLR, with Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe saying the “irreversible and verifiable end to state support” to the Hutu militants should be the “first order of business.” The process would be “accompanied by a lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures,” Nduhungirehe said at a signing ceremony at the State Department.
His Congolese counterpart, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, highlighted the agreement’s call for respecting state sovereignty.
“It offers a rare chance to turn the page, not just with words but with real change on the ground. Some wounds will heal, but they will never fully disappear,” she said.
Speaking to reporters Mr Trump said the United States would be able to secure “a lot of mineral rights from the Congo.”
The DRC has enormous mineral reserves that include lithium and cobalt, vital in electric vehicles and other advanced technologies, with US rival China now a key player in securing the resources.
The agreement drew wide but not universal praise.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the deal “a significant step towards de-escalation, peace and stability” in the eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region.
The landmark agreement was also praised by the chairman of the African Union Commission.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who witnessed the signing of the deal in Washington, “welcomed this significant milestone and commended all efforts aimed at advancing peace, stability, and reconciliation in the region,” a statement said.
But Denis Mukwege, a gynaecologist who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the DRC’s epidemic of sexual violence in war, voiced alarm about the agreement, saying it effectively benefited Rwanda and the United States.
The deal “would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimising the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace,” he said in a statement ahead of the signing.
TRUMP ABRUPTLY ENDS TRADE TALKS
President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced that he was “terminating” trade talks with Canada due to a looming digital services tax targeting large American companies.
“We have just been informed that Canada … has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social early Saturday AEST.
“They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately.”
Mr Trump added: “We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Canada is moving forward with plans to slap a three per cent tax on revenue generated by platforms like Facebook and Google — with looming tax bills made retroactive to 2022 and applicable to firms that rake in more than A$22 million per year.
The immediate impact of Mr Trump’s announcement was unclear — in part because much of the US-Canada relationship is governed by the USMCA trade deal.
The announcement did cause stock prices to drop on Wall Street, though the markets were still on course for a winning end to the week.
Trump previously threatened to slap a 50 per cent duty on the European Union over its digital services tax, but delayed implementation until July 9 to allow time for negotiations.
This story originally appeared in The New York Post.
SUPREME COURT RULING BOOSTS TRUMP’S AGENDAS
US President Donald Trump hailed a “giant win” after the Supreme Court curbed lone judges from blocking the Republican’s raft of controversial policies.The 6-3 ruling, with the court’s liberal justices all dissenting, stemmed from Mr Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship.
The court said individual district judges had likely exceeded their powers by issuing nationwide injunctions, which have also blocked a string of Mr Trump’s hard line policies on immigration, diversity and firing federal employees.
“The Supreme Court has delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law,” 79-year-old Mr Trump told a hastily arranged press conference at the White House.
Mr Trump said he would now proceed with “so many policies” that had been “wrongly” blocked, including stopping funding for transgender people and “sanctuary cities” for migrants.
His initial reaction to the ruling came in a post on Truth Social, welcomed it as a “GIANT WIN.”
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi, standing alongside Mr Trump at the podium, said the ruling would stop “rogue judges striking down President Trump’s policies across the entire nation.” Mr Trump separately hailed a “great ruling” by the Supreme Court to let parents opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed books at public schools. Critics say the move threatens secular education by opening the door to religious objections.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of Mr Trump’s executive order seeking to end automatic citizenship for children born on US soil.
But the broader decision on the scope of judicial rulings removes a big roadblock to Mr Trump’s often highly contested policy agenda and has far-reaching ramifications for the ability of the judiciary to rein in Mr Trump — or future US presidents.
Originally published as ‘Not going to stand for this’: Trump lashes Netanyahu corruption trial
Billionaire Bezos and how he built his mega empire
Jeff Bezos started Amazon out of his garage in 1994. Now, 30 years later, he’s the third richest man in the world with vast business interests and philanthropic endeavours. So just how did he do it?
11 years of abuse ‘a great modern love story’ says Diddy lawyer
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyer dismissed star witness Cassie’s rape claims as lies to ‘cover-up’ her cheating, arguing her abusive 11-year relationship with the mogul was ‘a great modern love story’.