Trump’s chilling WWIII warning to Europe

Donald Trump has offered a chilling warning to an entire continent. Follow our live coverage.

US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron sat down for talks at the White House on Monday, amid the third year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Mr Macron – the first European leader to visit the White House since Mr Trump returned to office – sought to persuade his US counterpart to stick by Kyiv, insisting that Ukraine “must be involved” in talks to end the war.

“This peace cannot mean the surrender of Ukraine,” Mr Macron told reporters at a joint press conference.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump, who hailed Mr Macron as a “very special man”, told reporters he thinks the war could end “within weeks” and claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin said there is “no problem” with having European troops serving as peacekeepers in Ukraine whenever the war ends.

Follow our live coverage on US politics below.

Trump issues dire WWIII warning

Donald Trump has issued a chilling warning about WWIII amid Ukraine talks with Mr Macron on Monday.

Speaking at a news conference with the French President, Mr Trump said tensions between Ukraine and Russia could spill over.

“There will be a point where it is not going to stop at those two countries,” he said.

“Already there is such involvement from other countries and it could really lead to a very big war, World War III, and we are not gonna let that happen either.”

US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

‘To be frank’: Macron interrupts Trump

Mr Macron publicly interrupted and corrected Mr Trump in an extraordinary moment during talks between the pair at the Oval Office on Monday.

The interjection came as Mr Trump falsely claimed Europe was merely loaning Ukraine money to Ukraine and would get it back.

“Just so you understand, Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They’re getting their money back,” Mr Trump said.

Interrupting, his French counterpart reached over to grab his arm and set the record straight.

“No, in fact, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60 per cent of the total effort. It was like the US: loans, guarantees, grants,” Mr Macron said.

“We have $230 billion in frozen assets in Europe, Russian assets. But this is not collateral of a loan because it is not our belonging. So they are frozen.”

Appearing unfazed, Mr Trump said: “If you believe that, it’s OK with me. They get their money back, and we don’t. But now we do.”

French President Emmanuel Macron interrupted and corrected Mr Trump during talks at the Oval Office. Picture: CNN

AI video of Trump kissing Musk’s feet plays on screens

A disturbing AI video of Donald Trump caressing and kissing Elon Musk’s feet was played on screens at a US departments’ headquarters on Monday.

The fake video was played on TV screens throughout the headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), along with the message “long live the real king”.

“Not all heroes wear capes,” Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee reacted to the video on X.

It’s unclear whether hackers or another party was responsible for the prank, but the footage appears to have been taken from an X post earlier this month.

AI video of Trump kissing Musk’s feet plays on screens. Picture: X@rachsieg

Recent public polling has shown that Americans believe Mr Musk, who is overseeing the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting team auditing HUD and other agencies, has been given too much power in the executive branch.

In a statement, HUD spokeswoman Kasey Lovett said the incident was “another waste of taxpayer dollars and resources”.

“Appropriate action will be taken for all involved,” the statement read.

The footage appears to have been taken from an X post earlier this month. Picture: X@Squad_sussex96

Musk defends email and says workers may have second chance to respond

Elon Musk said federal workers who were told to respond to an email requesting they list their achievements or risk losing their jobs, will be given a second chance to respond at Donald Trump’s “discretion”.

Mr Musk warned federal government workers would “shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week”, and that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation”, in a post on X on Saturday, US time.

The email, from an HR address with the Office of Personnel Management, landed in employee’s inboxes a short time later, giving them a deadline of 11.59pm on Monday to respond.

Employees at a number of departments were advised not to respond to the request, with FBI Director Kash Patel saying workers should “pause any responses to the email”.

In an update on Monday night, US time, Mr Musk wrote on X: “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance.”

“Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he warned.

The billionaire defended the email request as “utterly trivial” in a separate post on X.

“The standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” he wrote.

“Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?” he continued, before taking a swipe at Twitter, which he acquired in 2022.

“Makes old Twitter look good. Didn’t think that was possible.”

Donald Trump earlier backed Mr Musk’s ultimatum in comments at the White House on Monday, telling reporters: “Everyone thought it was a pretty ingenious idea”.

Mr Musk warned workers within the federal government would “shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week”. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

“We have people that don’t show up to work, and nobody even knows if they work for the government, so by asking the question ‘tell us what you did this week,’ what he’s doing is saying are you actually working? And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired, or you’re fired.”

“There was a lot of genius in sending it,” he added. “We’re trying to find out if people are working, and so we’re sending a letter to people: Please tell us what you did last week. If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.”
It comes as federal workers have sued over Musk’s threat in an updated lawsuit, with attorneys alleging the billionaire had violated the law with his weekend email.

The new lawsuit, obtained by the Associated Press, was attached to another lawsuit filed last week, which attempts to block the Trump administration’s mass lay-offs.

“No OPM rule, regulation, policy, or program has ever, in United States history, purported to require all federal workers to submit reports to OPM,” said amended complaint reads.

Trump and Macron share tug a war handshake

Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump and Mr Macron shared a tense and lengthy handshake outside the Oval Office.

After the initial grip-and-grin, accompanied by mutual pats on the shoulder, the US president pulled his French counterpart close in to continue the greeting.

Mr Trump and Mr Macron then waved to the assembled media before ducking inside the West Wing.

Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron shake hands outside of the Oval Office. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

The pair greeted each other ahead of a bilateral meeting expected to be dominated by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Mr Macron said in a video last week that he would use the Oval Office meeting to try and convince Mr Trump to keep distance from Mr Putin and to continue supporting Ukraine.

“You can’t be weak in the face of President Putin,” Mr Macron said he would relay to Mr Trump.

“It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest. How can you then be credible in the face of China if you’re weak in the face of Putin?”

Trump names right-wing podcaster as FBI deputy director

Donald Trump announced on Sunday the appointment of right-wing podcaster Dan Bongino as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a break with tradition that puts yet another loyalist in a key law enforcement position.

Bongino, a former New York police officer and US Secret Service agent, currently hosts a popular right-wing podcast and is a staunch backer of Trump — whose political positions he has supported by spreading misinformation and whose opponents he regularly criticises on his show.

Donald Trump announced on Sunday the appointment of right-wing podcaster Dan Bongino as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Picture: Mandel Ngan/AFP

“Great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice! Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our Country, has just been named the next DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, by the man who will be the best ever Director, Kash Patel,” said Trump on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night.

The role does not require Senate confirmation, and would see Bongino second-in-command at the country’s top law enforcement agency, working under Patel.

Fact-checking websites have frequently cited Bongino’s podcast for spreading misinformation regarding the 2020 US election, the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol and the Covid pandemic.

In 2022, he was “banned from both YouTube and Google’s ad service for pushing Covid-19 misinformation,” according to watchdog Media Matters for America.

– With the New York Post and AFP

Originally published as Trump’s chilling WWIII warning to Europe