News
Trump wanted to shut down all embassies in Africa
Former US president, Donald Trump wanted to shut down all American embassies in Africa, former US defence secretary, Mark Esper has claimed in his new book.
In excerpts of Esper’s memoir, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, published on Monday, May 9, the former Pentagon chief details a number of ‘outlandish’ proposals his old boss was prepared to undertake, including pulling the US military out of South Korea, withdrawing diplomatic personnel from Africa, and eagerness to meet with the Taliban, which the ex-president believed would ‘cast him as an extraordinary diplomat and businessman.
The meeting ended up being called off after a September 5 car bomb in Kabul killed 12 people including one American service member.
‘Some of the things he was proposing were outlandish — such as a “complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea” or the pullback of all military and diplomatic personnel from Africa,’ Esper wrote of Trump.
‘Shut down the embassies in Africa’ and ‘bring our people [US diplomats] back home.’ Esper claims Trump said.
He also said Trump was ‘irritated’ at his push-back.
Remember back in 2020 Trump infamously referred to African nations and Haiti as ‘s***hole countries’ during a discussion about the flow of immigrants to the US.
In his book, Esper details an August 30, 2020 White House situation room meeting where then secretary of state, Mime Pompeo outlined a ‘final plan’ for a peace deal with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.
‘Trump then caught everyone by surprise by declaring, “I want to meet with the Taliban” here in Washington. We all sat there stunned for a moment, carefully looking around at one another, and then at him to see if the president was serious. He was,’ the former defense secretary writes.
‘None of us liked this idea. As the president went around the room, we each tried to dissuade him in different ways,’ Esper says.
‘Trump said he wanted any public statement we might release about the peace deal to say that the U.S. would be at “zero [troops] in October” 2020, just before the election. Nov. 3, 2020, was the lens through which he viewed the agreement. It was an important takeaway for me,’ Esper claims.
He also claims Trump repeated his well-worn complaints that ‘NATO is ripping us off.’
He revealed how Trump told him about his first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which he said she asked: ‘What are you going to do about Ukraine?’
‘In his view, Germany was “closer to Ukraine than we are,” and it’s a “big buffer” for the Germans against Russia. “They should be paying Ukraine more than anyone,” he proclaimed,’ Esper recalls.
News
Kim Kardashian, Ciara, Maye Musk, and Yumi Nu cover Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has revealed the cover of its 2022 edition.
The cover features Kim Kardashian, singer Ciara, veteran model Maye Musk and recording artist Yumi Nu.
Kim graced the front magazine rocking her SKIMS brand for the cover.
Ciara looked stunning in her swimsuit.
In an interview with the magazine, Kim shared how excited but shocked she is to be on the cover at her age.
Kim said: “I vividly remember Tyra Banks on the cover and women with curves. I remember just thinking, That was cool. That was cool!”
Kardashian says in a sit-down video interview for the new issue. “But I still didn’t think that I would ever— I thought you had to be a professional model and a runway model.”
She adds, “And it’s always really young girls. I don’t wanna date myself or sound old, but in my 40s? Like, that’s crazy. I never thought in a million years that I would be shooting one myself.”
MJ Day, editor-in-chief of SI Swimsuit, said in a statement to People, “The journey we’ve been on — to break out of the mould the world put us in — may sound familiar. It’s certainly familiar to the women we’ve chosen to be our cover models: Maye, Ciara, Yumi, Kim.
“Of course, Kim, no stranger to the world’s judgment, continues to live proudly, authentically, and unapologetically through the noise.”
News
Sweden announces it will apply to join NATO
The Swedish government has confirmed it intends to apply for membership of Nato, joining neighboring Finland in a similar decision following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to date.
“There is a broad majority in Sweden’s parliament for Sweden to join Nato,” said the prime minister, Magdalena Andersson. “This is the best thing for the security of Sweden and its people … We are leaving one era behind us and entering a new one.”
Andersson told reporters after a parliamentary debate on Monday that Sweden would be “in a vulnerable position” while the application was processed, but that ministers saw no direct military threat from Russia at present.
Before the announcement, Stockholm had received security assurances from key partners, including the US, Britain, Germany, and France, she said, and on Monday Denmark, Norway and Iceland also pledged support, saying they would “assist Finland and Sweden, by all means, necessary” if they were attacked before obtaining Nato membership.
However, the government “can’t exclude that we will be subjected, for example, to disinformation and attempts to scare and divide us”, Andersson said, adding that if its application was approved, Sweden would not want permanent Nato military bases or nuclear weapons on its territory.
The decisions by the two Nordic governments drew an initial response from Moscow.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said the countries “should have no illusions that we will simply put up with it”, calling the move “another grave mistake with far-reaching consequences” and warning that the “general level of military tension will increase”.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, later said Moscow did not see Finnish and Swedish Nato membership as a direct threat in itself. “Russia has no problem with these states – none,” Putin said.
“And so in this sense there is no immediate threat to Russia from an expansion of Nato to include these countries,” he said. He warned, however, that deployment of military infrastructure on their territories “would certainly provoke our response”.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, also said Moscow would “follow very carefully what will be the consequences” of the Nordic nations’ move “for our security, which must be ensured in an absolutely unconditional manner”.
This comes after the Finnish government confirmed its intention to join Nato on Sunday, shortly before Andersson’s ruling Social Democrats abandoned decades of opposition to back a Swedish bid for membership, making Monday’s Riksdag debate a formality.
Russia has previously advised both countries against joining Nato, saying such a move would oblige it to “restore military balance” by strengthening its defences in the Baltic Sea region, including by deploying nuclear weapons.
News
“I’ve seen enough” Wofai says as she shares the phallic food she was served in Paris
Wofai Fada has shared photos of the phallic food she was given in Paris.
The actress was served a penis-shaped bun alongside the rest of her meal.
Amused by the meal, Wofai wrote on Instagram: “Wetin dey really occur for the city? I’m officially done with Paris! Ive seen enough.”
See below.
