Donald Trump dozes through cabinet meeting as US government reels from ‘war crime’ allegation
Donald Trump has provoked the ire of yet another country by threatening it with military action, saying it’s “subject to attack”.
Welcome to our coverage of US politics on Wednesday, Australia time. For Thursday’s coverage see our new US blog here.
President Donald Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake, at times, during the televised portion of a cabinet meeting today, which saw, among other things, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth seek to dodge responsibility for a potential war crime.
The most amusing example from the cabinet meeting came when Mr Trump was “listening” to Secretary of State, Marco Rubio bang on about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if he were president at the time.
“It never would have happened if you were president,” said Mr Rubio, glancing at Mr Trump in search of affirmation. The president was not interested.
“The war is going on, and the president is trying to end it, not because – look, we have a million things to focus on in the world, as a country. But he’s the only leader in the world who can help end it. That’s why, even as we speak to you now, (special envoy) Steve Witkoff is in Moscow, trying to find a way to end this war, to save the lives of eight, nine thousand people, Mr President, who are dying every week.”
Mr Trump, eyes shut, offered a lethargic, lukewarm nod when Mr Rubio mentioned him.
Elsewhere, the singer Sabrina Carpenter has blown up at the Trump administration for using her music in one of its social media videos.
“Wanna try out some freaky positions? Have you ever tried this one?” the lyrics say, over footage of immigration enforcement agents handcuffing people on the ground.
“This video is evil and disgusting,” Ms Carpenter tweeted in reply to it.
“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
The White House was unmoved by her objection.
“Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologise for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists and pedophiles from our country,” said one of the President’s spokeswomen, Abigail Jackson, having some fun with one of Ms Carpenter’s album titles.
“Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”
Read on for more updates from Wednesday, Australia time.
Originally published as Donald Trump dozes through cabinet meeting as US government reels from ‘war crime’ allegation
