Latest news with #June14
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
US Jobless Claims Tick Down, Remaining at Elevated Levels
Applications for US unemployment benefits ticked down last week, stabilizing near the highest levels in eight months. Initial claims decreased by 5,000 to 245,000 in the week ended June 14, in line with the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, also fell slightly, to 1.95 million, in the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump raged at Hegseth over birthday parade where military had too much fun: ‘He's p***ed off at the soldiers'
President Donald Trump raged at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over Saturday's military parade, arguing that the soldiers were 'hamming it up,' biographer Michael Wolff has said. saying that the president wanted a 'menacing' show of force in honor of the Army's 250th, and his 79th, birthday on June 14. Instead, Trump got a 'festive' parade, said the author. 'He's p***ed off at the soldiers,' he said. 'He's accusing them of hamming it up, and by that, he seems to mean that they were having a good time, that they were waving, that they were enjoying themselves and showing a convivial face rather than a military face.' Social media users noted that the soldiers weren't marching in lockstep during the parade as they made their way down Constitution Avenue in downtown Washington, D.C. Wolff claimed that Trump blamed Hegseth for the lacklustre performance. 'He kind of reamed out Hegseth for this,' Wolff said of the president. 'Apparently, there was a phone call, and he said to Hegseth, the tone was all wrong. Why was the tone wrong? Who staged this? There was the tone problem. Trump, he keeps repeating himself.' 'It didn't send the message that he apparently wanted, which is that he was the commander-in-chief of this menacing enterprise,' the biographer added. The White House called Wolff a 'lying sack of s***' and a 'proven … fraud.' 'He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain,' Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, told The Daily Beast. Trump, meanwhile, has claimed that the parade was a 'tremendous success.' 'Last night was a tremendous success with a fantastic audience,' Trump told the press on Sunday. 'It was supposed to rain. They gave it a 100 percent chance of rain, and it didn't rain at all. It was beautiful.' The parade didn't attract as many people as expected, while thousands of 'No Kings' demonstrations were held across the country on Saturday. On Monday, Trump appeared alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. 'We had the parade the other day. They said 100 percent chance of rain. It didn't rain,' Trump told Carney. The president departed from the summit early to return to Washington, D.C., pointing to the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Connor Norby's RBI single
"No Kings" protests planned for Baltimore area Saturday. What you need to know. Several Maryland communities are planning to hold "No Kings" protests on Saturday, June 14, joining what organizers are calling "a nationwide day of defiance."
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sparse Attendance, Confusion and Disorganization: Dismal Scenes From Trump's Military Parade
Donald Trump threw a military parade in honor of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary on Saturday, June 14 (a date that happens to be the president's birthday) to the tune of $25 to $45 million. But unfortunately for Trump, photos and videos from the big day show sparse attendance and a lack of organization from top to bottom. 50 Thirteen founder Doug Landry shared a series of tweets that documented many issues with the parade Saturday. Landry described the event as 'legitimately the worst executed mass attendance event I've ever seen' before sharing photos of a sparsely populated Washington Mall, the single checkpoint to which approximately 15,000 people were sent, maps that failed to offer clear direction, dozens of empty checkpoints, and empty VIP bleachers. Those scenes were replicated by HuffPost deputy editor Phil Lewis, who shared his own photos on BlueSky. YouTube Brian Tyler Cohen slammed the event on the same platform. 'Donald Trump does NOT want you to share this footage of his pathetically tiny birthday parade crowd,' he captioned a video of attendees. Trump shared a portion of his speech from the event on Truth Social, as well as an uncharacteristically brief summation of the day: 'What a GREAT Parade. THANK YOU, ARMY!' The parade prompted several 'No Kings' rallies and protests held on the same day across the United States. The post Sparse Attendance, Confusion and Disorganization: Dismal Scenes From Trump's Military Parade appeared first on TheWrap.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Trump celebrates 79th birthday at $45m military parade as America stirred by deep unrest
Heavy lies the crown. On a sullen and forbiddingly hot Saturday in Washington, DC, Donald Trump celebrated his 79th birthday by watching centuries of US Army tradition and prowess roll past him on Constitution Avenue. The military parade he ordered was, in the end, a $45 million dollar exercise in immaculate planning and choreographed imagery. But it took place against the backdrop of deep unrest across America. In Minnesota, a manhunt was under way for the latest name in the list of notorious killings, with suspect Vance Boelter wanted for killing state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in the early hours of Saturday morning. Meanwhile, some 2,000 'No Kings' protests drew millions of people in major and minor US cities, culminating in a tense stand-off between protesters and officials in Los Angeles, which remains under curfew. READ MORE Even before the fireworks lit the skies over the Lincoln Memorial, Israel launched retaliatory strikes on Tehran. Few public figures seem to shrug off internal turmoil as easily as Trump but even he must have been struck by the singular strangeness of the national mood on this date, June 14th. The date will also be recorded for perhaps the shortest public speech Trump has given since parachuting on to the American political consciousness. Wisely, he trained his remarks on the stars of the event: the army. His 10-minute delivery was a paean to the fighting tradition of an army that he said 'are the bedrock on which our entire nation stands since the founding of the Continental Army on June 14th, 1775″. President Donald Trump salutes the troops marching past during the US army's 250th Anniversary Parade along the National Mall in Washington, DC. Photograph: Doug Mills/The New York Times 'Liberty got its shield and freedom got its sword,' Trump told the crowd, whose modest turnout must have wounded his vanity. The immediate parade route was lined with people but the overhead images, taken during the parade, showed vast sections of green, unoccupied viewing space. One particular clip that did brisk business online showed a tank rolling by a barren section in the viewing stand, the smattering of applause so low that you could hear the tracks squeaking. 'With the frostbitten feet and bloody fist they have marched into the flames and fury of combat, charged up mountains, stormed beaches, waded through torrents of gunfire and leapt into skies thick with smoke and shrapnel,' Trump said in the underwhelmed tone he adopts when sticking to the script. 'Time and again America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people our soldiers are coming for you.' The mood along Constitution Avenue and on the green field areas around the National Monument was easy-going, but muted and governed by the oppressive heat. The crowd was largely composed of army veterans, family members and supporters, spectators drawn to the uniqueness of the event and all-weather Trump loyalists out to pay homage to the birthday boy. Mike Frey, an army engineer of 20 years, stopped to chat as the tanks rolled by. He had driven 15 hours from Missouri to be here. His son is re-enlisting so they made a weekend of it. He was eager to hear about what Ireland makes of Trump and listened carefully before offering his perspective in a low-key, serious voice. 'I just want a country. I think I am overtaxed. I think we have too much government.' Mike Frey, an army engineer of 20 years, stopped to chat as the tanks rolled by. Photograph: Keith Duggan Asked about the No Kings protests taking place across the country, he had this to say. 'It's because of illegals in this country. That's what is happening. It is not about Trump. But if I do something illegal, what happens to me? The double standard of the Democrats is what it is. The Republicans don't bitch. The white American males made America, you know? There were some blacks, too. 'And so we haven't got pissed off yet and I think everybody knows we won't get pissed off because when we get pissed off, some bad shit's gonna happen. And it's what Jefferson said: the blood of the patriot needs to be refreshed from time to time. 'We're the bastards of America now. And it's terrible. I need a country. I love this country.' [ Millions protest against Donald Trump across the US Opens in new window ] It is during occasions like this that one is reminded that Washington, DC, was not designed with its residents in mind. It was conceived as the symbol of the US empire and so the city provided a perfect canvas for this parade. Among the 6,000 troops were those in the uniforms of the revolution and civil war marching across the Arlington Memorial bridge with Robert E Lee's old house looming behind them. Military aircraft, from 80-year-old bombers to Chinooks, flew low in the summer gloom across the city landmarks. There were drones. There were even robotic dogs. For fans of military history – and for children – the event was a fantasia. And it was clear from the faces of the army participants that this novel moment in the spotlight was enjoyable. And Washington, DC, was alone among the major American cities in that it was without a No Kings protest because the organisers felt it important not to deflect from the military parade. Respect for the military is one of the few remaining bipartisan pillars. But earlier in the afternoon, a crowd of several hundred gathered near Lafayette Square to participate in a protest organised by the 'Refuse Fascism' movement. 'I am here for a lot of reasons,' explained Andrew Hall, who grew up in Virginia and works in the city. 'I think we are in a very dangerous situation. And I think it's important that people like me, a college-educated white guy, come out and support our brothers and sisters who are being abducted and detained under disgusting conditions. Both of my grandfathers fought fascism in Europe. I am just doing the best I can.' Andrew Hall, who grew up in Virginia and works in the city, believes America is in a 'very dangerous' situation. Photograph: Keith Duggan His fear is that Maga Republicanism ultimately wants 'to turn America into an apartheid South Africa'. 'Because in 15 years' time white folks like me will be a statistical minority so that means to maintain white power you have to implement an apartheid-type regime. 'We are in the majority and we are going to take our country back.' Inside the vast parade enclosure, which is bordered by eight-foot-high metal fencing, there were a few protesters holding placards in protest against the president. Christopher Moffatt paced along the parade route holding aloft a banner alluding to Trump's civil case sexual assault finding, a gesture that seemed foolhardy, given the occasion. 'A little bit,' he replied, when asked if he was trepidatious. 'I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. But when I was walking through there were a bunch of soldiers standing there and they were questioning, can you bring that sign in. And a secret service guy said: yeah he can bring it in, he just has to get his bag searched. They let me through. And I have been walking up and down ever since. Not way down there near [where] the VIP area is. They do not like me down there.' The army organisers, tasked with putting this extravaganza together with just a few months' notice, must have been relieved by 10 o'clock on Saturday evening. They had been asked to organise a parade, and they did so without a hitch. The fireworks display, with the Lincoln Memorial backlit and splendid and the anticipated summer rainstorm staying away, meant that for those watching on television around the country, the closing minutes of the event had the power of a prime time recruitment drive. Trump swayed to the triumphant rendition of God Bless America at the end of the night and did his signature pointing at faces in the crowd. But by then, many of the crowd had headed for home. By the end of it all, the president seemed preoccupied as he stood with the first lady behind bulletproof glass, the full glory and omnipotence of the army's prowess fading with the last of the fireworks – and another birthday over.
