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'Only President Trump knows what he's going to do!' - Leavitt asked how close US came to strikes on Iran

'Only President Trump knows what he's going to do!' - Leavitt asked how close US came to strikes on Iran

"White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "only President Trump knows what he's going to do" as she was asked how close the US came to strikes on Iran, during her briefing in DC on Thursday. "The truth is only President Trump knows what he's going to do, and a very, very small team of advisers are read into his thinking on that," she said. "And as I just told you, he continues to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Iran. And as we saw yesterday, he had heard that the killings and executions would stop, and we have seen 800 people their lives have been spared as a result of that. The president continues to closely monitor but also keep all of his options on the table." On Wednesday, Donald Trump appeared to step back from the brink - after media reports suggested strikes might be imminent - and said "we've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping" and "there's no plan for executions". Earlier, Trump reiterated to Iranian protesters that 'help is on the way' - and told them to 'keep protesting'. He did not expand on what he meant by 'help' although the White House has said airstrikes are among the 'many' options. Economic protests have been ongoing in Iran since December, and intensified in recent days and weeks, with Iran accusing Trump of inflaming tensions - after he warned the authorities he could intervene in the event of a potential crackdown. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed some rioters were destroying property to 'please' the US president. "

'He's not going in with expectations' - Leavitt says Trump-Machado meeting is about 'frank discussion'

'He's not going in with expectations' - Leavitt says Trump-Machado meeting is about 'frank discussion'

"White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump had no expectations for his meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, during her briefing from DC on Thursday. "What is it that the president feels that he needs to hear from her or from the opposition party that he hadn't heard prior to today or he wanted to hear in the meeting to be able to convince him to commit to some sort of a timeline for elections?" she was asked. "I'm not sure the president is going into such the meeting with expectations like you just laid out Fran I don't think he needs to hear anything from from Miss Machado. I think generally this is a meeting that the president was willing to take and willing to accept to meet Miss Machado in person and to just have a frank and positive discussion about what's taking place in Venezuela. That's all I want to say on the subject." Following his strikes on Venezuela, Trump insisted that Machado, who beat him to the Nobel Peace prize, "doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country" to become leader. US forces launched strikes on Venezuela and seized President Nicolas Maduro and his wife earlier this month. Trump vowed that he will 'run' Venezuela, while interim leader Delcy Rodriguez has insisted her administration is in control."

We're having 'technical talks on the acquisition of Greenland' - Leavitt

We're having 'technical talks on the acquisition of Greenland' - Leavitt

"White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the US was having 'technical talks on the acquisition of Greenland' during her briefing in DC on Thursday. "Those talks will take place, I'm told, every two to three weeks, so this is a conversation the administration intends to keep having with the Danes and with the respected delegation from Greenland," she said. "But the President has made his priority quite clear he wants the United States to acquire Greenland he thinks it's in our best national security to do that." On Wednesday, Donald Trump reiterated that he 'needed' Greenland for 'national security', after the foreign ministers of both Denmark and Greenland held crunch talks with Marco Rubio and JD Vance in DC on Wednesday. "If we don't go in, Russia is going to go in, and China is going to go in. And there's not a thing that Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything about it," Trump claimed, while joking that all Denmark had done was 'send an extra dog sled'. Earlier, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen appeared to accuse the US of lying about 'Chinese warships' near Greenland, as he and Greenland's Vivian Motzfeldt held a press briefing. "It is not a true narrative... that we have you know Chinese warships all around the place. According to our intelligence we haven't had a Chinese warship in in Greenland for for a decade or so, so from that perspective it was a very constructive meeting as I said, frank discussion among equal partners," Rasmussen said. On Thursday, NATO countries announced they were sending a handful of soldiers - with UK and Netherlands sending just one each. Earlier this week, the UK, France and Germany discussed deploying NATO troops to the region, which some media reports suggested was about 'easing Trump's security fears' and others claimed that it was about 'deterring' the US president. Trump has repeatedly said he wanted control of the Danish territory since his re-election in 2024, with it triggering debate over Greenland's own difficult relationship with its former Danish coloniser."

Europe sending troops to Greenland won't impact Trump's decision to take the territory... oh, and men can't get pregnant! - Leavitt wraps latest briefing

Europe sending troops to Greenland won't impact Trump's decision to take the territory... oh, and men can't get pregnant! - Leavitt wraps latest briefing

"White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Europe sending troops to Greenland would not change Donald Trump's mind about 'acquiring' the territory, as she wrapped her briefing in DC on Thursday. "I don't think troops in Europe impact the president's decision-making process, or nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all," she said. Leavitt also quipped that 'men cannot get pregnant... I can attest to that', when asked about a doctor who had not given a straight answer to a Senate hearing. She is pregnant with her second child. On Thursday, NATO countries announced they were sending a handful of soldiers - with UK and Netherlands sending just one each. Trump is locked in an ongoing row with Greenland and Denmark over the Arctic territory. On Wednesday, Trump reiterated that he 'needed' Greenland for 'national security', after the foreign ministers of both Denmark and Greenland held crunch talks with Marco Rubio and JD Vance. "If we don't go in, Russia is going to go in, and China is going to go in. And there's not a thing that Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything about it," Trump claimed, while joking that all Denmark had done was 'send an extra dog sled'. Earlier, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen appeared to accuse the US of lying about 'Chinese warships' near Greenland, saying it was "not a true narrative". Earlier this week, the UK, France and Germany discussed deploying NATO troops to the region, which some media reports suggested was about 'easing Trump's security fears' and others claimed that it was about 'deterring' the US president. Trump has repeatedly said he wanted control of the Danish territory since his re-election in 2024, with it triggering debate over Greenland's own difficult relationship with its former Danish coloniser."

Robert Jenrick defects to Reform UK after Conservative party suspension

Robert Jenrick defects to Reform UK after Conservative party suspension

Announcement comes after Kemi Badenoch sacked shadow justice secretary over evidence of defection plot UK politics live – latest updates Robert Jenrick made a dramatic defection to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK on Thursday, declaring the Conservatives “rotten” and a “failed” party, after being sacked by Kemi Badenoch for plotting against her. In a high-stakes day for the future of the British right, Jenrick became the most senior Tory to switch allegiance to Reform, launching into a fiery and personal denunciation of his former colleagues in the shadow cabinet. Continue reading...