Donald Trump forces General Motors to make ventilators, invokes wartime law

US President Donald Trump on Friday invoked a wartime law to force "time-wasting" auto giant General Motors to make ventilators to save lives, amid a shortage of the critical medical equipment to deal with the mounting coronavirus cases in America, now the global epicentre.

Trump invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act, which allows a president to force companies to make products for national defence.

He said on Friday that "GM was wasting time" on price negotiations and action was needed to save American lives.

The ventilator machines that keep patients breathing are much in demand amid the respiratory illness' outbreak across the world, which in the most serious cases attacks the lungs.

The US now has over 104,000 cases of the virus, the most in the world. With over 1,700 fatalities, America's Covid-19 death toll still lags far behind Italy and China.

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Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Healt and Human Services to use any and all authority available under the Defense Production Act to require General Motors (GM) to accept, perform, and prioritize federal contracts for ventilators.

"Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course," Trump said.

"GM was wasting time. Today's action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives," Trump said.

"The virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course," he said.

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Earlier he took to Twitter to complain that GM had lowered the number of ventilators they had promised to deliver from 40,000 to 6,000 and had wanted "top dollar".

He also criticised GM chief executive Mary Barra, saying things were "always a mess" with her at the helm of the Detroit-based auto giant.

On Thursday, Trump told reporters at the White House that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has shipped 6,000 ventilators to the states.

Thousands of ventilators are being required in the treatment of coronavirus patients, the number of which has surged from just 8,000 about 10 days ago to nearly one lakh. It has also resulted in deaths of nearly 1,500 Americans and about 2,500 COVID-19 patients are in critical condition.

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Vice President Mike Pence, who is in-charge of America's efforts to combat the coronavirus, said the White House is working with a number of suppliers to manufacture ventilators, even while they work with state leaders to assess "not just what ventilators are available in their state hospitals, but what ventilators are available in private hospitals across their state".

"Governors across the country are doing great work evaluating the full supply of tens of thousands of ventilators that are available," Pence said.

New York, which is the hotspot of coronavirus in the US, needs around 40,000 ventilators as early as possible. New York has more than 45,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and there has been 519 deaths due to the pandemic.

New York itself is reported to have requested 30,000 ventilators, but Trump said during Friday's briefing that he felt that was a "high" estimate.

Louisiana's governor said on Friday that New Orleans could run out of ventilators by 2 April.

The Society of Critical Care Medicine has estimated that some 960,000 intensive care patients will require a ventilator at some point during the coronavirus outbreak in America.

US imposes international travel restrictions after first coronavirus death

US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced restrictions on travel from Iran and advised fellow citizens not to travel to certain areas of South Korea and Italy.

The announcement came as the first death from coronavirus was reported in the US from the Washington state.

"Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight. She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s," Trump told reporters at the White House.

"Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover. If you are healthy, you will probably go through a process and you will be fine," he said and urged people not to panic.

As many as 15 people have recovered from the virus so far in the US.

"There is no reason to panic at all. Our country is prepared for any circumstance," the president said at his second press conference in the White House briefing room on his return from India on Wednesday.

Joining the press conference, Vice President Mike Pence said Trump had authorised a ban on entry of foreign nationals who travelled to Iran in the last 14 days.

The United States also advised its citizens not to travel to parts of South Korea and Italy, from where reports of coronavirus have appeared. The vice president has been tasked by Trump to lead the administration's efforts in the fight against the coronavirus.

According to Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield, 22 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the US so far.

Trump said various wings of the US government were working on the coronavirus round the clock.

"It is a tough one, but a lot of progress has been made," the president said, adding that his administration had taken the most aggressive action in modern history to confront the disease.

In a statement, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee announced the death of an individual from the coronavirus.

"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to their family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," he said.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there was an outbreak of a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that was first detected in the Wuhan city of China's Hubei province and has now been detected in 50 locations internationally, including cases in the United States.

It said the potential public health threat posed by the coronavirus was high, both globally and to the US, adding that to effectively respond to the coronavirus outbreak, rapid detection of cases and contacts, appropriate clinical management and infection control, and implementation of community mitigation efforts were critical.

This could best be achieved with wide availability of testing capabilities in healthcare settings, reference and commercial laboratories, and at the point of care, the FDA said.

It added that it would allow some 300 to 400 academic-hospital laboratories to begin testing for the virus, allowing for checks of thousands of people rather than the few hundred already tested.

"We believe this policy strikes the right balance during this public health emergency.

"We will continue to help to ensure sound science prior to clinical testing and follow-up with the critical independent review from the FDA, while quickly expanding testing capabilities in the US. We are not changing our standards for issuing Emergency Use Authorisations. This action today reflects our commitment to addressing critical public health needs and rapidly responding and adapting to this dynamic and evolving situation," FDA Commissioner Stephen M Hahn said.

The FDA guidance provides recommendations for test developers, including information regarding test validation, FDA notifications and interim confirmatory clinical testing.

Responding to a question, Trump said he was considering closing the southern border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"We are looking also at (the) southern border. We have received a lot of power on the southern border over the last couple years from the courts, but we are looking at that very strongly," he said.

In a letter on Friday, several senators, including Ted Cruz, Martha McSally and John Cornyn, called for closing the coronavirus.

"As southern border Senators, we are concerned about the possible spread of the coronavirus across our borders," they said in the letter to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan.

"We are similarly concerned about recent reports that the virus is spreading in Europe. Border shortcomings by the European Union have resulted in the spread of the virus across a number of nations, and it is essential that the United States not repeat these mistakes. We write to ask how your agency is prepared to address the threat presented by the coronavirus at US borders," the senators said.

Will be meeting Taliban leaders soon; time to bring our troops back: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he planned to meet Taliban leaders in the "not-too-distant future", asserting that it was time that the war against terrorism was fought by someone else, particularly the countries in the region.

"I will be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-too-distant future. And we will be very much hoping that they will be doing what they say they are going to be doing: they will be killing terrorists. They will be killing some very bad people. They will keep that fight going," Trump told reporters at a White House press conference.

"We have had tremendous success in Afghanistan in the killing of terrorists, but it is time, after all these years, to go and bring our people back home. We want to bring our people back home," the president said hours after the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban in Doha, under which it has committed to withdrawing all its troops from Afghanistan in 14 months' time.

"We just signed an agreement that puts us in a position to get it done, bring us down to in the vicinity of 8,000 troops. The United Nations was informed of everything," Trump said.

The US currently has some 13,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The president said it had been a long journey in Afghanistan.

"It's been a very long journey. It's been a hard journey for everybody. We are, very largely, a law enforcement group. And that is not what our soldiers are all about. They are fighters. They are the greatest fighters in the world," he said.

"As you know, we have destroyed, in Syria and Iraq, 100 per cent of the ISIS caliphate. One hundred per cent. We have thousands of prisoners. We have killed ISIS fighters by the thousands and, likewise, in Afghanistan. But now it is time for somebody else to do that work and that will be the Taliban and it could be the surrounding countries. There are many countries that surround Afghanistan that can help. We are 8,000 miles away," Trump said.

"So we will be bringing it down to 8,000 to approximately 8,600 -- in that vicinity -- and then we will make our final decision (at) some point in the fairly near future. But this was a very spirited agreement. There was a lot of talk. There was a lot of everything. They have been trying to get this for many years," he said.

The president said he really believed that the Taliban wanted to do something to show that they were not wasting time.

"If bad things happen, we will go back. I let the people know: we will go back and we will go back so fast, and we will go back with a force like nobody has ever seen. I do not think that will be necessary. I hope it is not necessary," he said.

Responding to a question, Trump said the Taliban wanted this to happen.

"The Taliban wanted it to happen. President (Ashraf) Ghani was very much involved in this, as you know. And he is now dealing with the Taliban," he said.

The Taliban, Trump said, had given a very strong pledge.

"We will see how that works out. We hope it is going to work out very well. I think they have big incentives to do it, but they have to take care of the terrorists and kill the terrorists. We will be working in a different kind of a fashion toward that end.

"But the job we have done has been a fantastic one in terms of terrorists and terrorism, and it is time for our people to start coming home," he added.

Best most feared military equipment': Trump announces $3-bn arms sales

Visiting US president Donald Trump, addressing a cheering throng of 125,000 Indians in Ahmedabad’s Motera Stadium soon after landing in India on Monday, talked up US-India defence cooperation and pitched to sell India “some of the best, most feared, military equipment on the planet.”

“We make the greatest weapons ever made – aeroplanes, rockets, ships, missiles. We make the best and we are dealing now with India,” said Trump.

“I am pleased to announce that tomorrow (Tuesday) our representatives will sign deals to sell over $3 billion in the absolute, finest, state-of-the-art helicopters and other equipment to the Indian armed forces,” said the US president.

Washington has already logged $15-18 billion in defence sales to India over the preceding decade, including C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, P-8I Poseidon long range maritime aircraft, M777 ultralight howitzers and CH-47F Chinook and AH-64E Apache helicopters. With equipment worth billions more in the pipeline, Trump stated confidently: “I believe the United States should be India's premier defence partner and that's the way it's working out.”

On the agenda on Tuesday, say US and Indian official sources, is the signature of a $2.6 billion contract for the supply to India of 24 Sikorsky NH-60R (popularly called “Romeo”) naval multirole helicopters, worth an estimated $2.6 billion.

The Romeo is badly needed, say naval planners, to operate off Indian frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers. The navy’s dozen-odd Seaking helicopters are well past their retirement dates.

The Romeo provides its parent warship with greatly enhanced anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability. Its “dunking sonar” detects enemy submarines, which are then sunk with its formidable on-board torpedoes. In addition, the chopper can patrol a vast expanse of ocean and destroy enemy ships with air-to-surface (A2S) missiles. The Romeo can also fly naval commandoes to enemy shores, landing them there with covering fire from its on-board machine guns.

The Romeo’s versatility, large weapons payload and sophisticated avionics have earned it the nicknames of “flying frigate” and “Swiss army knife of naval choppers.”

While Tuesday will witness the signing of a contract for just 24 helicopters – insufficient to equip even the navy’s current warships – the requirement is actually for 123 such helicopters. After buying the current 24 off the shelf, the navy will initiate another procurement to build 99 more in India under the “strategic partner” (SP) programme. This will involve selecting a private Indian company as SP, which would then partner a foreign vendor to manufacture the equipment in India.

With 24 Romeos already in the fleet, Sikorsky would be in pole position in any competitive procurement to build more naval helicopters in India.

However, “Make in India” would cost some 50 per cent more than buying off the shelf, since it would involve setting up a new factory after obtaining a manufacturing licence from the original vendor, creating an eco-system of Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 sub-vendors, training workers and creating a testing and licensing eco-system.

New Delhi and Washington are also keen to complete the signing of a contract for six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, for an estimated $930 million. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already contracted for 22 Apaches, delivery of which will be completed this year. Now all further Apaches contracted will equip the army’s mechanised strike corps.

Also in the pipeline, but unlikely to be signed on Tuesday, is an Indian procurement of about 30 high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), of the Sea Guardian category. This tri-services procurement is likely to cost about $3 billion.

The biggest and most lucrative tender, however, is the IAF’s ongoing tender for 114 medium fighters, which would cost $15-20 billion. Two American firms are in the running for that contract: Boeing, with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin which has offered the F-21 fighter – a renamed version of the F-16 Block 70.

Ahmedabad, Agra, Delhi fortified as India awaits PM Modi's 'friend' Trump

Ahmedabad, Delhi, Agra, the three stops on US President Donald Trump’s itinerary has been put under a massive security blanket ahead of his arrival on Monday. Anti-sabotage teams involving the Army and the paramilitary are conducting checks on the routes to be taken by the visiting dignitaries in New Delhi, as ITC Maurya, the hotel where the US President will check-in has been brought under an unprecedented security cover.

The Indian security agencies are working in close proximity with their US counterpart to make the visit hassle-free for the President and the First Lady. Anti-drone detachment of NSG, snipers, elite SWAT commandos, kite catchers, canine units, sharpshooters on high-rise buildings and Parakram vans have also been deployed along the routes and areas in and around the hotel where Trump will be staying, PTI quoted officials as saying.

Delhi buzzes with Secret Service, SPG personnel

At the ITC Maurya, located in Diplomatic Enclave in Chanakyapuri, three-layered security has been put in place with police personnel in plain clothes patrolling every floor. Delhi Police's security wing personnel will form part of the inner cordon that will work in close coordination with the United States Secret Service. The security wing of the Delhi Police is a specialised unit tasked with the security of VIPs and visiting foreign dignitaries. The second layer of security will be deployed around the hotel's lobby area, parking, lawn area, and the pool area, while the third one will comprise police personnel from the district police.

trump securityBikers ride past life-size cut-outs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on a street. PTi

Hundreds of high-definition CCTV cameras with night vision ability have been installed across the Sardar Patel Marg where hotel ITC Maurya is located to monitor the situation round-the-clock and police personnel from six districts have been deployed for the security arrangements along with nearly 40 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

A senior police officer told PTI that in view of the spiraling tensions between Iran and the US, there is a higher threat assessment this time and the agencies are more "cautious and alert" than ever. "We have also requested the anti-sabotage checking teams from paramilitary and army. They have been regularly conducting anti-sabotage checks along every route to be taken by the US President during his visit here," the officer said maintaining anonymity.

ALSO READ: Agra's Taj Mahal goes for speed cleaning ahead of Donald Trump's visit

Multi-level security around Taj Mahal

A multi-level security cover has been planned for the visit with police, paramilitary and other forces keeping a hawk-eyed vigil in Agra, where the US President is scheduled to visit the Taj Mahal. The huge police deployment will be in addition to officials of the United States Secret Service, and officials of the National Security Guards (NSG).

trump securityRapid Action Force (RAF) personnel patrol a street, ahead of US President Donald Trump's maiden visit to India. PTI

The Agra commissioner said Trump's convoy route from the airport to the Taj Mahal will span about 13 km, and along the way thousands of artistes will welcome him with special performances. "Along the route, 21 designated areas have been marked, some with stages and others on the ground level, where artistes will present the dance forms of Brij region (Mathura-Vrindavan), like Krishna Lila, dances themed on Radha, and other cultural assets of the region,” Kumar said.

Ahmedabad fortified for ‘Namaste Trump’

More than 10,000 security personnel, led by 25 senior IPS officers will be deployed for the roadshow and the “Namaste Trump” event in Ahmedabad, where the PM Narendra Modi and the US top leader will inaugurate the world's biggest cricket stadium Motera.

ALSO READ: Motera Stadium: All you need to know about world's largest cricket venue

The massive deployment will be in addition to officials of the United States Secret Service, and personnel of the National Security Guards (NSG) and the Special Protection Group (SPG) guarding the events. The police will be using the anti-drone technology to neutralise any suspicious drone on the route, officials said, adding that an anti-sniper team of the NSG will also be stationed along the route.

Meanwhile, PM Modi said, "India looks forward to welcoming @POTUS @realDonaldTrump. It is an honour that he will be with us tomorrow, starting with the historic programme in Ahmedabad!." This is Trump's maiden India visit since entering the White House in 2016.

Trump shares edited Baahubali video, says eager to meet friends in India

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was looking forward to being with his "great friends" in India next week as he retweeted a short video in which his face was superimposed on the hit movie-character Bahubali, showing the president as a great saviour bringing peace to his kingdom.

President Trump will pay a state visit to India on February 24 and 25 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including First Lady Melania Trump, the President's daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and a galaxy of top American officials.

"Look so forward to being with my great friends INDIA!" Trump said in a tweet on Saturday.

 

Donald J. Trump

✔

@realDonaldTrump

Look so forward to being with my great friends in INDIA! https://twitter.com/solmemes1/status/1231326273894526976 …

Sol 🎬

@Solmemes1

To celebrate Trump's visit to India I wanted to make a video to show how in my warped mind it will go......

USA and India united!

Embedded video

70.9K

4:00 AM - Feb 23, 2020

Twitter Ads info and privacy

27.7K people are talking about this

The president, who arrived at the White House following four days of hectic political campaigning in the western parts of the country, had no public engagements on Saturday.

Trump did not go for a round of golf, which is normally the case for him on a bright sunny weekend day in Washington.

Along with the tweet, Trump retweeted an 81-second video by a Twitter account identified as "Sol" with the handle Solmemes1.

"To celebrate Trump's visit to India I wanted to make a video to show how in my warped mind it will go... USA and India united!" the handle Solmemes1 tweeted in the original post with the video.

Trump appears as a great saviour, in the short animated clip, riding on a chariot with First Lady Melania. A few stills later, Trump is seen riding a horse carrying on his soldiers his son Donald Junior and daughter Ivanka.

Later, he is welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a village setting. Hundreds and thousands of people are seen welcoming Trump in the video.

"This week Trump will visit India and in celebration I have created a new meme for the occasion... You few, who are my patrons, get to see it first!" Sol told viewers on subscription content service Patreon on Saturday. A few hours later, Trump retweeted the video.

In the Twitter description, Sol describes herself as "award winning master memetician, professor of memology at University of GFY, my views are my own and not associated with real life."

The Trump-Bahubali video, which ends with "USA and India United", went viral after Trump retweeted it. In a few hours, it was seen by nearly 6 lakh people.

Sol in one of her previous posts, dated January 23, writes she was inspired by a video of Bahubali sent to her by a friend, which is the story of 'good defeating evil.'

This inspired Sol to create her first Bahubali-theme meme. The video, lasting 93 seconds, is titled "Jiyo Re Baahu Trump", in which the First Lady is seen wearing a saree. "Jiyo Re Bahubali," is the theme song of the video.

"I just loved this video when I saw it! A friend sent it to me and he told me that it is the story of Good defeating evil... it was so fitting I had to make it (meme)..." Sol wrote in her post.

Sol's posts show that she is an admirer of the President and the First Lady.

Sol's January 23 video was released at the peak of Trump's impeachment proceedings.

Trump is seen being greeted by an elephant, who bears the logo of the Republican Party.

Towards the end of the video, Trump is seen riding the elephant, and putting on fire the effigy of "Raavan" marked as "D" in a big circle representing the opposition Democratic Party.

An arrow is given by warrior Narendra Modi to the First Lady, who then passes it on to Trump, before he lights the effigy.

Trump's visit to India provides an opportunity for the two countries to improve their bilateral relationship and strengthen strategic interests, say senior officials.

After Barack Obama, Trump is the only other US President to visit India in his first term.

Issues expected to be discussed during the visit include an open Indo-Pacific, reduced trade barriers, boost to counter-terror cooperation and mitigating Indian concerns over H-1B visas.

A Beast of a bodyguard to keep US President safe during his India visit

Donald Trump is arriving in India on February 24 – and he’s bringing The Beast with him. The limousine worth $1.56 million was presented to the US President in 2018, replacing the previous Cadillac One, used by Barack Obama.

Interestingly, for most world leaders, the limousine is an essential component of a grand entry. While Queen Elizabeth II travels in her Bentleys, Japan's Emperor prefers a Toyota Century. For German Chancellor Angela Merkel it's got to be armoured Mercedes-Benz and Audi limos, while a Hongqi L5 works fine with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and an Aurus Senat goes well with Russia President Vladimir Putin.

Over the years, US presidents have been loyal to General Motors' Cadillac. From Ronald Reagan to Obama, and now Trump, the vehicle of choice has been a Cadillac limo.

Here's all you need to know about Donald Trump's monster car 'The Beast'

Make: Cadillac

Category: Armoured Limousine

The BeastThe Beast (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)

A brief history of US Presidents' cars and 'The Beast'

William Taft was the first president to switch from horse-drawn carriages to horsepower in 1909. The US Congress bought three cars -- a Pierce-Arrow, a Baker electric and a steam-powered Model M from The White Motor Company. Franklin D Roosevelt had several private cars and was the first to have a car designed specifically for him. John F Kennedy’s Lincoln Continental Convertible was greatly admired until he was assassinated while riding in it. President Herbert Hoover introduced the first Cadillac. George W Bush's car was nicknamed "The Beast", a nomenclature that persisted through the presidency of Barack Obama and now Trump.

When did Trump's 'The Beast' debut?

Trump’s presidential car made first run on September 2018. Prior to the latest model, President Obama rode around in his 'Beast', launched on January 20, 2009.

The Beast features

The latest model of The Beast comes with a satellite phone, puncture-resistant tyres, tear gas cannons, bullet-proof windows and pump-action shotguns. It was commissioned by the Secret Service in 2014 and weighs around 20,000 pounds.

Security features

The Secret Service is careful not to reveal too many features of the vehicle for security reasons. However, according to reports, the car has been designed to help the President survive virtually every possible form of attack from a terrorist or assassin.

If he gets injured, the vehicle has an extensive range of medical supplies on board, including a refrigerator full of Trump’s own blood type. Reportedly, The Beast combines a variety of different technologies, starting out with a heavily modified platform from a Chevrolet Kodiak (heavy-duty GM truck).

Is it foolproof?

Nothing is foolproof. However, The Beast is apparently the closest thing to being so. Its windows are built with more than five layers of glass and polycarbonate. The windows and doors are bullet-proof and do not open. In fact, the only window that does open is the driver’s, and by just three inches. The doors weigh as much as the cabin door of a Boeing 757.

Tyres are puncture-resistant. The inner body of this monster car is made up of steel, ceramic and titanium plates, which protect the vehicle from bombs. The driver's cabin has proper communication and a GPS tracking centre. The vehicle's front has tear gas grenade launchers and night vision cameras.

The rear seat has a satellite phone with a direct line to the US vice-president and Pentagon. A glass partition separates the driver and the president, and only Trump has the switch to lower it.

Driver

The driver is trained by the US Secret Service to cope with challenging conditions. The highly skilled chauffeur is trained to make emergency escapes and evasions. and can do 180-degree turns.

The BeastThe Beast (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)

The Beast features

* Windows: Five layers of glass and polycarbonate, can withstand armour piercing bullets.

* Only driver's window can open

* Defence add-ons: Hidden pump-action shotguns, tear gas cannons. Blood bags for President

* Body: Five-inch thick military-grade armour of steel, titanium, aluminium and ceramics

* Front: Tear gas grenade launchers and night vision cameras

* Chauffeur: Trained by US Secret Service, can do 180-degree turns

* Rear seat: Satellite phone with a direct line to vice-president and Pentagon

* Interior: Partitioned by glass; has panic button, oxygen supply

* Fuel tank: Armour-plated, filled with explosion-preventing foam

* Doors: Armour-plated, 8 inches thick, protects it against chemical weapons

* Tyres: Steel rims and puncture-resistant

* Car boot: Tear gas, firefighting system, smoke screen dispensers

Deal or no deal: Trump flip-flops keep all guessing ahead of India visit

US President Donald Trump kept everyone guessing on the much-anticipated trade deal with India as he flip-flopped on the issue through the day, ahead of his India visit next week.

Speaking in Las Vegas, Trump hinted that a “tremendous deal” might be achieved during his maiden visit to India. However, political pundits were left baffled by his choice of words. “Maybe we’ll slow down. We’ll do it after the (US presidential) election. I think that could happen too. So, we'll see what happens,” PTI reported Trump as saying.

Later in the day at a political rally in Colorado, he adopted a harder stance, accusing India of hitting the US “very hard” with high tariffs for many years. Trump said he would “talk business” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote American products. “We’ve got to talk a little...We’ve got to talk a little business. It’s been hitting us hard. They give us tariffs, one of the highest in the world,” he said.

Trump’s latest comments came a day after the Ministry of External Affairs said India would continue to discuss trade issues with the US and not rush the already contentious negotiations.

On Wednesday, the US president had said a comprehensive trade agreement with India would take much longer to finalise.

The Indian government indicated that the talks would now mostly focus on boosting defence cooperation, expanding the engagement between both nations in the Indo-Pacific region, and India’s concerns over the H1B visa issue.

ALSO READ: Changes in CCI norms proposed to bring buyer cartels under competition law

Trump has called India a “tariff king” multiple times, blaming “unfair market access policies” for stifling the growth of American goods like Harley-Davidson motorcycles and high-value electronic products, among others.

On Thursday, he also spoke about the grand welcome he was expected to get in the country. “I hear they are going to have 10 million people. They say anywhere from six to 10

million people are going to be showing up along the route to one of the largest stadiums in the world, the largest cricket stadium in the world, which is brand new and beautiful,” Trump said.

He said the "Namaste Trump" rally in Ahmedabad would spoil him.

ALSO READ: Look back in anger: Why aren't economists setting down roots in India now?

"Prime Minister Modi said, we will have 10 million people greet you. Here's my problem. We have a packed house. We have a lot of people, thousands of people that couldn't get in. It's going to look like peanuts from now on," he said. "I'll never be satisfied with the crowd. If we have 10 million people in India, how can I be satisfied when we fill up like a 60,000-seat stadium? I am getting spoiled," Trump said.

He is scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad, Agra, and New Delhi on February 24-25.

Senior Indian officials say India is now hoping to sign a smaller pact focusing on agriculture goods.

“The US wants a big deal which can match the one signed with China earlier this year to slowly wind down the trade war. But the sudden cancellation of US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s visit to New Delhi as part of the vanguard negotiations team has almost shut down the talks,” an official said.

Lighthizer, considered Trump's point man on trade, was responsible for shutting down the vast majority of India's export promotion schemes last year after a sustained fight at the World Trade Organization.

India hitting US very hard on trade; will 'talk business' with Modi: Trump

India has been hitting the US "very hard" on trade with high tariffs for many years, Donald Trump complained ahead of his first visit to the country during which the President said he will "talk business" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote American products.

President Trump and First Lady Melania are scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad, Agra, and New Delhi on February 24 and 25.

"I'm going to India next week and we're talking trade. They've been hitting us very hard for many, many years," Trump said at a 'Keep America Great' rally in Colorado on Thursday.

Trump told thousands of his supporters that he "really likes" Prime Minister Modi and they would be talking business.

"We've got to talk a little...We've got to talk a little business. It's been hitting us hard. They give us tariffs, one the highest in the world is India," he said.

Ahead of Trump's visit, there have been reports on India and the US agreeing on a trade package as a precursor to a major trade deal.

Downplaying the expectation of a trade deal with India during his visit, Trump said the two countries could make a "tremendous" trade deal, but indicated that the talks on this might slow down if he did not get a good deal.

"We're going to India, and we may make a tremendous deal there," Trump said in his commencement address at the Hope for Prisoners Graduation Ceremony in Las Vegas on Thursday.

"Maybe we'll slow down. We'll do it after the election. I think that could happen too. So, we'll see what happens," he said.

"But we're only making deals if they're good deals because we're putting America first. Whether people like it or not, we're putting America first," Trump said.

The bilateral India-US trade in goods and services is about three per cent of the US' world trade.

Trump spoke about his India visit at the Colorado rally and the grand welcome he is expected to get in the country.

"I hear, they are going to have 10 million people. They say anywhere from six to 10 million people are going to be showing up along the route to one of the largest stadiums in the world, the largest cricket stadium in the world, which is brand new and beautiful," Trump said.

He said the "Namaste Trump" rally in Ahmedabad would spoil him.

"Prime Minister Modi said, we will have 10 million people greet you. Here's my problem. We have a packed house. We have a lot of people, thousands of people that couldn't get in. It's going to look like peanuts from now on," he said.

"I'll never be satisfied with the crowd. If we have 10 million people in India, how can I be satisfied when we fill up like a 60,000 seat stadium? I am getting spoiled? He said build a bigger stadium visit," Trump said.

One of his supporters from the audience suggested that he built a bigger stadium.

Trump, who is seeking reelection in the November presidential polls, indicated that his visit will result in more products "proudly stamped with the beautiful phrase Made in the USA".

Multiple rounds of talks have taken place between Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in the past few weeks over telephone to sign a possible trade deal during Trump's visit.

India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under their Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), greater market access for its products from sectors including agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering.

On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, and cut on import duties on some ICT products. The US has also raised concerns over high trade deficit with India which was USD 16.9 billion in 2018-19.

In a recent report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said the trading relationship is more consequential for India - in 2018 the US was its second largest goods export market (16.0 per cent share) after the European Union (EU, 17.8 per cent), and third largest goods import supplier (6.3 per cent) after China (14.6 per cent) and the EU 28 (10.2 per cent).

India is now the United States' eighth-largest trading partner in goods and services and is among the world's largest economies.

India's trade with the US now resembles, in terms of volume, America's trade with South Korea (USD 167 billion in 2018) or France (USD 129 billion), according to Council on Foreign Relations.

India set to finalise long-pending defence deal with US during Trump visit

India is set to finalise a long-pending defence deal with the United States during President Donald Trump two-day visit to India from February 24, a senior official has told ANI.

Trump will arrive in India on his maiden visit, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, Senior Advisor to the President of the United States Jared Kushner or daughter Ivanka Trump, along with United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Secretary of Energy Dan Brouille.

The US President will reach Gujarat's Ahmedabad around the noon of February 24 and will address a mammoth crowd of more than 100,000 people which is expected to turn up for an event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the lines of the 'Howdy Modi' function that was addressed by the US President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston in September last year.

"The fact that a US President is going outside New Delhi to other cities -- and if you look at the reception that he will receive -- shows the admiration that the people of India have for the United States. And that's the biggest message that will come back to Washington," the senior official said.

The President is also likely to visit the Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati.

The senior official reiterated that POTUS and FLOTUS are most likely to make a quick pit stop at Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, however, the trip is subjected to change, considering the short time frame of the travel.

On 24th February itself, POTUS will arrive in the evening to attend talks in New Delhi. On Tuesday morning, the US President will first receive a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan as per protocol. Prime minister Modi could then accompany the US leader to the Gandhi Ashram (subjected to time availability if the Sabarmati ashram cannot be visited). The two leaders will then meet at the Hyderabad house and will call on official state meetings.

Both countries are separately working on a limited trade agreement ahead of the trip, after earlier imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's imports. While there have been reports that a possible trade deal appears unlikely, the official conveyed, "the leaders are likely to discuss and possibly finalize not a complete but maybe a 'part' of a bilateral trade deal during the visit."

On Tuesday President Trump will meet with executives of Indian companies -- with business interests in the United States during his visit to the capital -- at an event organized by the US embassy in New Delhi. The companies expected to be represented at the meeting include the Indian oil and gas company Reliance Industries, Tata Sons, Bharat Forge, Mahindra and Mahindra.

POTUS's visit will conclude with an early banquet dinner, following which he will depart for Washington.

When asked about speculations of POTUS visiting Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other country in the South Asia region, the official said it's POTUS's 'stand-alone India visit.

Trump told Bolton military help to Ukraine was tied to Biden probe: Report

President Donald Trump told his national security adviser he wanted to maintain a freeze on military assistance to Ukraine until it aided political investigations into his Democratic rivals, according to a report in The New York Times on Sunday.

The newspaper said John Bolton's description of his exchange with Trump appears in drafts of his forthcoming book. The revelation challenges the defense offered up by Trump and his attorneys in his Senate impeachment trial and raises the stakes as the chamber decided this week whether to seek sworn testimony from Bolton and other witnesses.

Bolton, who acrimoniously left the White House a day before Trump ultimately released the Ukraine aid on Sept. 11, has already told lawmakers that he is willing to testify, despite the president's order barring aides from cooperating in the probe.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment Sunday night. Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who has played a prominent role in the Ukraine affair, replied to a request for comment with a text: I used to like and respect John and tell people they were wrong about how irresponsible he was. I was wrong. Democrats need at least four Republicans to vote with them to seek witness testimony. Those prospects looked unlikely in recent days and it's unclear if the new revelations about Bolton's book will sway any GOP senators.

Democrats quickly sought to ramp up the pressure on their Republican counterparts.

John Bolton has the evidence, tweeted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. It's up to four Senate Republicans to ensure that John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, and the others with direct knowledge of President Trump's actions testify in the Senate trial.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had no immediate comment, according to his office.

The Associated Press has not confirmed the content of Bolton's draft book. A person familiar with the matter told the AP the book had been submitted to the White House for pre-publication review, which is standard for the work of former officials with security clearances. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject.

The book's publisher, Simon & Schuster, declined to comment.

Sarah Tinsley, an adviser to Bolton, said: The ambassador's manuscript was transmitted to the White House in hard copy several weeks ago for pre-publication review by the NSC. The ambassador has not passed the draft manuscript to anyone else. Period.

Bolton attorney Charles J. Cooper said in a statement that the pre-publication review process had been corrupted and that information has been disclosed by persons other than those properly involved in reviewing the manuscript.

Democrats accuse Trump of abuse of power in withholding the military assistance to Ukraine to push that country to mount investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukraine gas company, Burisma, while his father was in office.

On Saturday, the president's attorneys said during their opening day of defense arguments that there was no evidence that Trump made the military aid contingent on the country announcing an investigation into Biden.

The Times also reported that Bolton says he told Attorney General William Barr that he was mentioned by Trump on his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. A Justice Department official on Sunday disputed Bolton's account that he had told Barr about the president's call with Zelenskiy but did say that Bolton had called Barr to raise concerns about Giuliani's shadow diplomacy efforts.

Trump on Wednesday told reporters in Davos, Switzerland, that he didn't want Bolton to testify before the Senate.

The problem with John is it's a national security pro

All is well, says Donald Trump after Iran missile attack on US forces

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that "all is well" following a retaliatory Iranian missile attack on US led forces and that he would make a statement on the situation on Wednesday morning.

Iran said it had launched the missile attack on two Iraqi military bases hosting US led coalition personnel as retribution for the US killing last week of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.

"All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

Donald J. Trump

✔

@realDonaldTrump

All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

666K

8:15 AM - Jan 8, 2020

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284K people are talking about this

"I will be making a statement tomorrow morning," he added.

In phone call with Trump, Xi says US interfering in its internal affairs

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and claimed progress on issues from trade to North Korea and Hong Kong, but China said Xi accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs.

The two leaders spoke a week after their envoys sealed a "Phase 1" agreement aimed at ending an 18-month trade war that has rattled markets and raised tensions. Trump announced the phone call in a tweet. A White House official said they spoke on Friday morning. China Central Television said Xi spoke to Trump at the request of the US president.

"Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchase of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong (progress!)" Trump tweeted.

China's Xinhua news agency said Xi told Trump that China is deeply concerned about "the negative words and deeds" of the United States on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

"These actions have interfered in China's internal affairs, harmed China's interests and undermined mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides," Xinhua said. The United States has called for the closure of mass detention camps in China's western region of Xinjiang and expressed concern about the treatment of demonstrators in Hong Kong.

Xinhua said Xi hoped Trump would implement "the important consensus" reached during their meetings and phone calls and "pay close attention to and attach importance to China's concerns, and prevent the interference of bilateral relations and the important agenda."

China was angered when Trump last month signed legislation that authorizes sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong, in what was seen as support for pro-democracy activists.

Of paramount concern to the United States is a threat by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for what Pyongyang has called a "Christmas gift."

U.S. officials have interpreted this to mean either a nuclear weapons test or a ballistic missile test. Trump and Kim have held three summits but failed to reach an agreement on lifting sanctions on North Korea in exchange for denuclearization by Pyongyang.

China and Russia on Monday proposed that the U.N. Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exports such as seafood and textiles, in a move the Russian U.N. envoy said was aimed at encouraging talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

The State Department, in response, said the U.N. Security Council should not be considering “premature sanctions relief” for North Korea as it is “threatening to conduct an escalated provocation, refusing to meet to discuss denuclearization." Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng met U.S. special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun on Friday, China's foreign ministry said, Biegun's second high-level meeting in Beijing in two days amid growing tension on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests in recent weeks and some experts say the reclusive state may be preparing for an intercontinental ballistic missile test soon.

Such a test would mark a break from the detente reached with the United States last year, dash any hopes of resuming talks on ending North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and put the two countries back on a path of confrontation.

Xinhua said that Xi stressed to Trump that all parties need to seek a political settlement on the North Korean issue and that "all parties should meet each other halfway and maintain the momentum of easing dialogue, which serves the common interests of all parties."

Impeachment: US House panel approves charges against Donald Trump

A bitterly divided Judicial Committee voted on Friday to present two scaled-down charges against US President Donald Trump to the House of Representatives for impeaching him, setting in motion a historic process.

The charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, which form the Articles of Impeachment as the chargesheet against Trump is known, will be voted next week by the entire Democrat-controlled House and sent to the Republican-majority Senate to hold a formal trial against him that will be presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

In the end, Trump will face no consequences because his party controls the Senate reducing the exercise to a political campaign.

The historic vote in the Judicial Committee came after two days of angry debate, with one marathon sitting of 14 hours on Thursday.

The charges are based on Trump asking Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelentsky to investigate former US Vice President Joe Biden while military aid to that country was pending.

Democrat Committee Chair Jerry Nadler shut down the debate after a series of failed amendments by the Republicans past 11 p.m. on Thursday night and held a quick vote Friday morning that went along party lines in the Democrat-controlled panel.

The impeachment issue has deeply polarised the nation and RealClear Politics, the authoritative aggregator of polls, found that 46.5 per cent of voters supported it, while an equal percentage opposed it. It said that the support for impeachment fell by 2.5 per cent over the last two days as the Judicial Committee took up the charges.

Nadler said after the vote, "This is a solemn and sad day." This is only the third time that a president will be impeached, he added.

Trump's spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said after the vote, "This desperate charade of an impeachment inquiry in the House Judiciary Committee has reached its shameful end."

Trump, who furiously tweeted about 100 times on Thursday, has called it a hoax and a witch hunt. Nadler said the House will act expeditiously on the impeachment.

The Democrats are running against the clock and calendar, as the Republicans have said leading to a narrowing of the charges.

After proposing impeachment from the day after Trump's election, this was the last window for the Democrats to proceed with it as the presidential election will be held next year.

The accusations of Trump's collaboration with Russia in the 2016 election, on which they had been relying, did not pan out when an inquiry by a special counsel reported that there was no such collusion.

While the Democrats had raised accusations of bribery, obstruction of justice and treason during the investigations none of them has been included in the impeachment charges as they raced to get the impeachment voted by Congress before it goes on its Christmas vacation.

Asked by reporters why those charges have not been included in the final Articles of Impeachment, Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she deferred to lawyers. "I, myself, am not a lawyer, although sometimes I act like one," she said.

But she added the two charges are very powerful and very strong.

Another factor for lowering the pitch on impeachment charges is that some moderate Democrats who won last year in historically pro-Republican constituencies feel they may antagonise Republican voters who swung to their side.

Pelosi is expected to schedule the vote by the full House on impeachment earlier in the week and leave the final days for substantial issues like funding the government to avoid a shutdown and the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada to tamp down accusations that the party was obsessed with impeachment.

The charges are centered on Trump asking Zelentsky to investigate the involvement of former Vice President Biden and his son Hunter in a business in that country.

Nadler said that this amounted to inviting a foreign country to influence US elections - an echo of the Russian meddling through computer hacking and social media campaigns in 2016 - because Biden is bidding for the Democrat nomination to take on Trump next year.

About $400 billion in military aid to Ukraine was withheld by the Trump administration for some months and Nadler said that this was done to force Zelentsky to probe the Bidens amounting to abuse of power that endangered US national security because that country was under Russian threat.

The Republican leader in the Judicial Committee Doug Collins defended Trump saying that the aid was released without Zelentsky ordering an inquiry and Trump wanted to root out corruption.

Republicans tried to put a spotlight on the Bidens with an amendment to the charges, substituting Hunter for his father saying that what Trump's request centered on his business dealings which got him a directorship paying as much as $83,000 a month on a gas company, Burisma, even though he did not have experience in the energy field.

They also referred to the former vice president's boast that he had had the prosecutor looking into Burisma fired by threatening to stop $1 billion in aid.

Trump has said that he welcomed a trial in the Senate, which is expected early next year, and wanted several witnesses called up.

In the investigations by House panels, Republicans were not allowed to call witnesses.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate that is controlled by his party, will be setting the rules for the trial.

Trump ex-Russia adviser Fiona Hill slams Ukraine talk, says it's fictional

US President Donald Trump’s former Russia adviser Fiona Hill urged lawmakers in the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry on Thursday not to promote “politically driven falsehoods” that cast doubt on Russia's interference in the 2016 US election.

In her testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, Hill said some members of the panel based on their questions and statements appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against the United States during the 2016 presidential race and that perhaps Ukraine did.

Some Republican members of the Democratic-led committee, which is leading the impeachment inquiry, have advanced a discredited conspiracy theory, embraced by Trump and promoted by his political allies, that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the last US presidential election.

“This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves," said Hill, who until July served as the director for European and Russian affairs at the White House National Security Council.

“In the course of this investigation, I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests,” she said.

Trump impeachment hearings begin Wednesday. Here's how it will unroll

The start of open hearings in the impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump on Wednesday will give the American public their first chance to witness live the explosive showdown between Democrats and Republicans over the US leader's future.

The hearing before the House Intelligence Committee marks the second phase of the impeachment investigation into allegations that Trump abused his powers by seeking help for his 2020 reelection campaign from Ukraine.

Trump is under threat of becoming only the third president in US history to be impeached -- formally charged with violating his duties as president or committing crimes, and placed on trial in the Senate.

With Democrats in control of the House of Representatives, impeachment appears highly likely, as soon as the end of 2019.

But the Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, a bulwark against him being convicted and removed from office -- unless they turn against him.

There is still much to do, but analysts believe the entire process could be completed before the end of January.

On Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committee takes the impeachment investigation public after six weeks of closed-door depositions from White House, State Department and other officials.

Those depositions have already painted a fairly complete picture of how Trump and aides, including personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, pressured Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to open investigations that could conceivably find political dirt against the Democrats and Trump's possible 2020 election rival Joe Biden.

Some of the witnesses who already testified privately will be recalled to face the public panel, starting with Ambassador William Taylor, Washington's top diplomat in Ukraine, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent on Wednesday, and former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch on Friday.

The aim is to further compile the evidence against the president, or, for Republicans, in his support.

Democrats chose all the witnesses for the initial private depositions phase.

In the open hearings, both parties can propose and subpoena witnesses -- although Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff will be able to prevent Republicans from inviting witnesses who have no relation to the core allegations or who simply seek to stall the proceedings.

The next step is hearings by the Judiciary Committee, under Chairmen Jerry Nadler, a longtime Trump nemesis, to decide whether the evidence is strong enough to support formal charges, or articles of impeachment.

Trump and his lawyers will be able to appear, cross-examine witnesses, and submit evidence in their favour.

At the end of those hearings, the Democratic-controlled committee will vote on specific articles of impeachment, based on the US Constitution's standard of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors," and whether Trump's actions constituted abuse of presidential power.

Currently, the charges are expected to be abuse of power and obstruction of the investigation.

The Judiciary Committee then sends the articles of impeachment to the entire House for a vote.

Only a basic majority of the 435 member House is required to approve impeachment. Democrats currently hold a solid majority, 233 seats to 197 for Republicans, with four seats currently vacant and one held by an independent.

That suggests that, if the evidence is strong enough, Democrats will easily pass the impeachment resolution.

The resolution would then go to the Senate, where Trump would stand trial, with the 100 senators his jury.

Democrats from the House would act as the prosecuting team, while Trump's lawyers would defend him, and Trump could argue in his own favor. Both sides can call witnesses and present testimony.

Presiding over the trial would likely be Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who was appointed to the court by Republican President George W Bush in 2005.

A trial could take a few weeks.

The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999 lasted five weeks, and ultimately ended in his acquittal: while Republicans had a majority in the Senate, Clinton had enou

US judge blocks Trump's mandatory health insurance rule for immigrants

A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday put on hold a Trump administration rule requiring immigrants prove they will have health insurance or can pay for medical care before they can get visas.

US District Judge Michael Simon granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the rule from going into effect Sunday. It's not clear when he will rule on the merits of the case.

Seven US citizens and a nonprofit organization filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday contending the rule would block nearly two-thirds of all prospective legal immigrants.

The lawsuit also said the rule would greatly reduce or eliminate the number of immigrants who enter the United States with family sponsored visas.

"We're very grateful that the court recognized the need to block the health care ban immediately," says Justice Action Center senior litigator Esther Sung, who argued at Saturday's hearing on behalf of the plaintiffs.

"The ban would separate families and cut two-thirds of green-card-based immigration starting tonight, were the ban not stopped," he said.

The proclamation signed by President Donald Trump in early October applies to people seeking immigrant visas from abroad not those in the US already. It does not affect lawful permanent residents. It does not apply to asylum-seekers, refugees or children.

The proclamation says immigrants will be barred from entering the country unless they are to be covered by health insurance within 30 days of entering or have enough financial resources to pay for any medical costs.

The rule is the Trump administration's latest effort to limit immigrant access to public programs while trying to move the country away from a family based immigration system to a merit-based system.

The White House said in a statement at the time the proclamation was issued that too many non-citizens were taking advantage of the country's "generous public health programs," and said immigrants contribute to the problem of "uncompensated health care costs."

Under the government's visa rule, the required insurance can be bought individually or provided by an employer and it can be short-term coverage or catastrophic.

Medicaid doesn't count, and an immigrant can't get a visa if using the Affordable Care Act's subsidies when buying insurance. The federal government pays for those subsidies.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan immigration think tank, 57% of US immigrants had private health insurance in 2017, compared with 69% of US-born, and 30% had public health insurance coverage, compared with 36% of native-born.

The uninsured rate for immigrants dropped from 32% to 20% from 2013 to 2017, since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to Migration Policy.

There are about 1.1 million people who obtain green cards each year.

"Countless thousands across the country can breathe a sigh of relief today because the court recognized the urgent and irreparable harm that would have been inflicted" without the hold, said Jesse Bless, director of federal litigation at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Earlier this year, the administration made sweeping changes to regulations that would deny green cards to immigrants who use some forms of public assistance, but the courts have blocked that measure.

Trump calls for Romney's impeachment over criticism on Ukrainian issue

US President Donald Trump has called for the impeachment of his bitter critic and Republican Senator Mitt Romney.

Trump's tweet in this regard came a day after Senator Romney, who during the 2016 presidential elections had called the president a "con artist" and criticised him for his handling of the Ukrainian issue.

"I'm hearing that the Great People of Utah are considering their vote for their Pompous Senator, Mitt Romney, to be a big mistake. I agree! He is a fool who is playing right into the hands of the Do Nothing Democrats! #IMPEACHMITTROMNEY, tweeted the US President on Saturday.

"Not only are the Do Nothing Democrats interfering in the 2020 Election, but they are continuing to interfere in the 2016 Election. They must be stopped!" he said in another tweet.

In a third tweet, Trump said that Romney's time was up.

"Mitt, get off the stage, you've had your turn (twice)!" Trump tweeted along with a news video of Romney.

On Friday, Romney had slammed Trump for asking China and Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

"By all appearances, the President's brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling," Romney had tweeted.

"When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated," he had said in another tweet.

Trump may be the most committed globalist, but not a patriot for sure

Donald Trump says he opposes globalists. Which is odd, because he acts an awful lot like one.

Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly last week, the US president insisted: “The free world must embrace its national foundations. … The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.”

This is the same man who said it was “perfect” to ask the Ukrainian president to investigate an American political rival; who once called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails; and who, according to the New York Times, pressured the Australian prime minister to help undermine the Mueller inquiry. Trump certainly doesn’t believe his own interests should be constrained by anything as prosaic as national borders -- or the national interest.

Back in the early 2000s, during the high noon of the first wave of resistance to globalization, people like economist Amartya Sen used to point out that the resistance to globalization was itself globalized. The anarchists at the Battle of Seattle or the activists at the World Social Forum thought nothing of sourcing their arguments or their support from anywhere in the world.

Theirs was an effortlessly internationalist movement. The more thoughtful among their number accepted that they were globalists, just angered by the specific form that globalization had taken. They represented globalization’s triumph, even as they railed against it.

In the same way, Trump is a product of borderless capitalism. He has raised money from investors in a dozen countries across the world and sold his name to builders in half a dozen more. Interests and resources can’t be constrained by national boundaries; the builder Trump knows that, even if the politician Trump pretends he doesn’t.

For those who run that sort of global business, there’s nothing inherently immoral or unacceptable about asking help from a business associates in a foreign country to undermine a rival back home. That’s smart, in fact.

Politics, on the other hand, is a little more old-fashioned. In fact -- if you’ll pardon the lapse into Trump-speak -- one might even call it “patriotic.” It stops at the water’s edge, remember? People worry if you look outside your borders to deal with domestic problems.

What Trump has to offer to his foreign associates is the power of the presidency itself. Democrats in Congress are moving ahead with an impeachment inquiry because they think it’s still beyond the pale, even in a more globalized era, to hawk the power of office internationally for personal or political gain.

Perhaps Trump is right to imagine, as it appears through his behavior he does, that populist politicians around the world will recognize each other as allies against those pesky, unpatriotic liberals who oppose them all. At a joint rally this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rephrased his own election slogan in a manner that was seen as a quasi-endorsement of Trump. The US president himself was clearly willing to help Benjamin Netanyahu during Israeli elections in April.

But, if Trump is right that there is a global community of populists who should defend and support each other, then he is probably wrong that the future will not belong to globalists. Globalization triumphs by forcing itself into the assumptions and operations of even its most bitter opponents. Trump himself may be the most committed globalist of them all.

Trump to meet Modi, Imran soon; says progress made in reducing tensions

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he will be meeting the prime ministers of India and Pakistan soon, even as he maintained that tension between the two Asian countries had reduced.

While Trump will address Indian-Americans, along with PM Modi, at the "Howdy Modi!" event in Houston on September 22, the American president did not say when or where will he be meeting PM Khan.

"I'll see Prime Minister Modi and I will -- we'll -- be meeting with (prime ministers of) India and Pakistan," Trump told reporters in response to a question at the White House on Monday.

According to Trump's schedule, he could meet the Pakistani Prime Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session in New York later this month.

After addressing a record crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans at the "Howdy Modi!" event , Trump will travel to Ohio and then is expected to fly to New York to attend the Annual General Assembly Sessions of the United Nations.

Without mentioning Kashmir, Trump said a "lot of progress has been made in reducing tension" between India and Pakistan.

Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5. Reacting to India's move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its "internal matter". New Delhi has also asked Islamabad to accept the reality and stop its anti-India rhetoric.

The "Howdy, Modi!" event would the first time that an American president addresses thousands of Indian-Americans at one place in the US.

It comes ahead of the 2020 presidential elections in the US in which the influential Indian-American community members are expected to play a greater role. President Trump, a Republican, has already announced his candidature.

India's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla has called Trump's participation in the "Howdy, Modi!" event "historic" and "unprecedented".

"It is reflective of the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation that has developed between India and the US," Shringla told PTI.