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Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Photos of Juneteenth celebrations commemorating end to slavery
Juneteenth celebrations took place across the U.S., commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved Black people in Texas learned of their freedom. While long honored by Black Americans, the holiday has gained broader recognition since becoming a federal holiday in 2021 under President Joe Biden, who attended an event in Galveston, Texas, where Juneteenth began.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump says number of 'non-working holidays' in America 'must change' in Juneteenth social media post
Trump criticized the number of American holidays and claimed they cost billions in productivity. The post was made on Juneteenth, a federal holiday that Trump previously supported. The president said the number of non-working holidays "must change." In a social media post on Juneteenth, President Donald Trump said America has "too many" holidays where people don't work. "Too many non-working holidays in America," Trump wrote on Truth Social late Thursday. "It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed." The president said that the frequency of holidays "must change" and that workers didn't want them, either. "The workers don't want it either!" he continued. "Soon we'll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Juneteenth, held on June 19 every year, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and has long been celebrated by Black Americans. It became the 11th federal holiday in 2021 with a law signed by then-President Joe Biden. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support, receiving unanimous approval in the Senate and all but 14 votes in the House of Representatives. Most federal offices, such as the US Postal Service, are closed during Juneteenth. Markets like the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange don't trade during the holiday, either. But whether private companies and state governments remain open varies. Most major banks are closed for the holiday, but not all companies provide paid time off. The White House press office didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment regarding Trump's Truth Social post. Earlier on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing that the White House was open. When asked by a journalist about commemorating Juneteenth, she said she was "not tracking" Trump's signature on any proclamations for the holiday. "I know this is a federal holiday," she said. "I want to thank all of you for showing up to work. We are certainly here. We're working 24/7 right now." Trump himself supported making Juneteenth a federal holiday in the wake of widespread protests following the killing of George Floyd. "Make Juneteenth a National Holiday" was included among his "Promise to Black America over 4 years" policy proposals in his 2020 presidential campaign. During that campaign, Trump took credit for publicizing Juneteenth after moving one of his rallies from June 19 to June 20 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous," Trump told The Wall Street Journal at the time. "It's actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it." In the same interview, Trump expressed surprise that his administration had commemorated Juneteenth every year. "Oh really? We put out a statement? The Trump White House put out a statement?" he said, according to the Journal. "OK, OK. Good." The White House did not publish a statement on its website commemorating Juneteenth this year. Read the original article on Business Insider
LeMonde
an hour ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
The US's slow abandonment of Ukraine since 2014
In the recent history of relations between Europe and the United States, two dates stand out: February 24, 2022, and February 24, 2025. The first marked the return of war to Europe, which united the two main partners of the Western community against Russia. The second sealed their divorce. Battered for two decades, their alliance finally broke over Ukraine. In 2022, for months, President Joe Biden's team tried, in vain, to persuade its European allies that Vladimir Putin, leader of Russia, was preparing his troops to invade Ukraine. Europeans did not want to believe it. Even Ukrainians were skeptical. Russia had been waging a low-intensity war in the east of their country for eight years, after seizing Crimea in 2014. They were familiar with the Kremlin's intimidation tactics. On February 19, at the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Kamala Harris made a final private attempt to warn Volodymyr Zelensky. Washington had evacuated its embassy in Kyiv. In reality, by then, the Ukrainian president was aware of what was coming, but just as conscious of the balance of power with Moscow. Frustrated, he finally said to Harris, "What do you want me to do? What will that give you? If I acknowledge it here in this conversation, will you impose sanctions? Close ports to Russian ships?" The vice president replied that sanctions would come later, according to journalist Bob Woodward's account in his 2024 book War: "The punishment can only come after the crime."
CNN
an hour ago
- Politics
- CNN
Biden shares message of unity and action during Juneteenth celebration at historic Black church
Former President Joe Biden celebrated Juneteenth on Thursday at a historic Black church in Texas, calling for Americans to come together to push the country forward. 'I don't come here today to only commemorate the past. I come here because we know the good Lord isn't done with us yet,' Biden said, adding, 'We have work to do. We need to keep pushing America forward.' 'We're the United States of America,' Biden said. 'There's nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we act together.' Biden's remarks at the historic Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Galveston, Texas, come nearly four years after he made Juneteenth a national holiday — the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Biden said he was 'very proud' to sign the bipartisan legislation. 'It made me proud. Proud that we were united,' Biden said. 'Proud, despite all our differences, we can still come together for things that matter most.' Juneteenth is a celebration of the end of slavery, commemorating the day Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston and told a group of slaves that the Civil War had ended and they were free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 'Juneteenth is a day of liberation, a day of remembrance and a day of celebration,' Biden said. 'Juneteenth represents both the long and hard night of slavery and subjugation and the promise of joyful morning to come.' 'Our federal holidays say … who we are as Americans,' Biden later added. 'What we celebrate says what we value.' President Donald Trump — who has not signed a proclamation this year observing Juneteenth — took to social media on Thursday to criticize the number of non-working holidays in the United States. 'Too many non-working holidays in America. It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, adding, 'It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' Trump's post comes as he continues to make the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs a centerpiece of his second administration, ordering a ban on DEI programs in federal agencies on his first day in office. Without mentioning Trump by name, Biden reflected on the nation's history and the current political climate. 'We need to be honest about our history,' Biden said on Thursday, pointing to 'efforts to erase history from our textbooks and our classrooms.' Biden's administration — which came in the aftermath of widespread protests against racial injustice following George Floyd's killing in 2020 — embraced diversity and DEI efforts. Biden ran alongside the first Black, South Asian and woman vice president in 2020, and he had the most racially diverse presidential Cabinet in US history. Biden also nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the first Black woman Supreme Court justice. Biden also signed legislation to rename nine military bases that were named after Confederate leaders. The Trump administration has since moved to restore the names of each of the bases. Biden's Thursday remarks come two months after his office announced that the former president, 82, has been diagnosed with an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer that spread to his bones. Late last month, the former president struck an optimistic tone when he spoke publicly for the first time about his cancer diagnosis, telling reporters: 'We're going to be able to beat this.' He similarly ended on an energized chord Thursday, telling the churchgoers in Galveston, 'Let's get the hell to work and get more done.'
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Failures' of Joe Biden exposed during committee hearing
Republican Senator Katie Britt has hit out at the Democrats for refusing to show up to a committee addressing the 'failures' of former US president Joe Biden. The senator's comments came at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing named 'Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-Up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution'. Senator Britt condemned the Democrats who did not attend the hearing, saying the American people 'deserve better'. 'You look at what the administration did, you look at what the democrat party did, you look at what the legacy media did, it is absolutely inexcusable, it is not only dangerous, it is disgusting,' she said. Britt then drew into question Joe Biden's time as president and his most controversial decisions. 'When we're looking at what Joe Biden did while he was in office, you have a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving equipment, leaving allies, changing the way the world viewed us,' she said. 'You look at an emboldened Russia, Iran … you look at millions flooding across our border … you look at hundreds of thousands of Americans dead because of fentanyl poisoning … who was in charge?'
