SINCERETALK

President Donald Trump is accused of having a conflict of interest in a Trump Tower he plans on building the capital city of a former Soviet republic. Planned for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, the potential Trump Tower is slated to be constructed on land currently part-owned by the son of a leader who was sanctioned by the United States, according to a Monday report by The Guardian . Specifically it is owned by the International Charity Fund Cartu, which is solely owned by Cartu Group JSC. That group is in turn mainly owned (with a 35 percent stake) by Uta Ivanishvili, the eldest son of the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is honorary chair of Georgia’s ruling party and regarded as the de facto leader of the Georgian government. While the younger Ivanishvili is not under sanctions, Trump’s willingness to do business with them constitutes a potential conflict of interest given that he is still serving as president. By contrast the White House has insisted that “neither the president ...

President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" slush fund appears to be the straw that broke the camel's back for many Republicans in Congress, but as a Republican strategist wrote for MS NOW , this pushback might, in reality, be more self-serving than noble. Susan Del Percio is a GOP strategist who serves as a political analyst for MS NOW, and on Monday, she published a new piece for the network digging into the pushback Trump's fund is getting from his own party. While Republicans have largely gone along with much of Trump's agenda, this latest cash grab for himself and his allies appears to have been too much for them, at last, with Senate Republicans torpedoing a key immigration funding bill over the situation and some lawmakers signing on to a plan to kill the fund altogether . "Senate Republicans typically offer more muted criticism, but this fund’s legal and ethical problems — or at least, the perception of those problems — was too m...

Amid reports that a new ceasefire deal was imminent, the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board warned President Donald Trump to avoid a deal that functions as an economic bailout for Iran. Over the weekend, Trump claimed that the U.S. and Iran were close to reaching a deal for a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict that has ravaged the world economy and sent oil prices skyrocketing . Iranian officials confirmed that talks were progressing, but stressed that major sticking points were still holding it back, adding that a deal was nowhere near as close as the president suggested. Nevertheless, news of an impending reprieve sent oil prices tumbling slightly. In response to these reports, the WSJ board — which is commonly viewed as a major conservative voice on economic and political issues — published a new piece, warning Trump that one aspect of the supposed plan would amount to an economic bailout for Iran, and would leave the U.S. with only the most extreme leverage to get a ...

Along with other currencies, the rand benefited as hopes of ‌a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ⁠pushed oil prices below $100 per barrel, even as the US played down ⁠the chances of reaching an agreement with Iran soon. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/fjtoCEb via sinceretalk

A gunman opened fire near the White House, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shootout during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/thCLaEM via sinceretalk

A law firm report into allegations of extortion at City Power has instead implicated utility spokesperson Isaac Mangena in alleged tender interference; towering schoolboy rugby star Sebastian Vermeulen is heading to the Sharks; Mel Viljoen marked her release from US immigration detention with Starbucks coffee; and a comparison of municipal bills in Johannesburg and Cape Town suggests fixed charges and rates are increasingly driving the cost of city living. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/fgZpqSH via sinceretalk