For two weeks, Donald Trump has welcomed Elon Musk into his world. On Tuesday, it was Musk’s turn to play host to the president-elect. Trump flew to South Texas to watch as Musk’s SpaceX launched a Starship rocket near the Mexican border. Trump listened intently as the world’s richest man explained how the test would work and demonstrated with a model. And then Trump squinted into the bright sky to watch liftoff. It didn’t go perfectly -– the reusable booster did not return to the launch pad as it had done on a previous test last month. Instead, the booster was directed to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. But Trump’s presence at the launch was a remarkable display of intimacy between the two men, one with implications for American politics, the government, foreign policy and even the possibility of humans reaching Mars. Biden slams Elon Musk over allegations of illegal work in US Musk spent around $200 million to help Trump beat Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race, and he's been given unparalleled access. He's counseled Trump on nominees for the new administration, joined the president-elect's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and been tapped to co-chair an advisory panel on cutting the size of the federal bureaucracy. In addition to political influence, Musk could benefit personally as well. SpaceX, his rocket company, has billions of dollars in government contracts and the goal of eventually starting a colony on Mars. He's also CEO of Tesla, which manufactures electric vehicles, and has battled with regulators over safety concerns involving autonomous driving. “Trump has the biggest possible regard for people who break the rules and get away with it," said William Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. "Musk has demonstrated extraordinary accomplishment in doing that.” To top if off, Musk owns the social media company X, formally known as Twitter, which he has harnessed as an influential perch to promote Trump and his agenda. “Stop the Swamp!” he wrote Tuesday as he shared a warning that entrenched Washington interests are trying to undermine Trump before his inauguration. Before the election, Musk rejected the idea that he was expecting any favors in return for supporting Trump in the presidential race. “There is no quid pro quo,” he posted on X in September. “With a Trump administration, we can execute major government reform, remove bureaucratic paperwork that is smothering the country and unlock a new age of prosperity.” However, Trump has hardly gone anywhere without Musk in the two weeks since beating Harris. Musk joined Trump at a meeting with House Republicans in Washington and sat next to him at an Ultimate Fighting Championship match in New York. The trip to Texas for the rocket launch was just Trump's third time outside Florida since the election. As Trump's protective motorcade left the launch site Tuesday evening to return to the airport, one of Musk's angular, shiny Tesla Cybertrucks was tucked in the middle of the formation of black SUVs. Italy's president sharply rebukes Elon Musk over comments on X about migration court rulings Much of Trump's activity is happening with little public access for the press. Unlike his predecessors, he has opted against regularly making his travel plans or events open to journalists. The relationship between Trump and Musk was not always so close. Two years ago, Trump was mocking Musk in stump speeches and Musk was saying it was time for Trump to “hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.” “Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America,” Musk wrote on social media. But Musk swiftly endorsed Trump after the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. He quickly became a central figure in Trump’s orbit, appearing at times more like his running mate than Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Trump started boasting about Musk's accomplishments at campaign rallies, such as when Starship's reusable rocket booster returned to the launch tower on a previous occasion and was caught by mechanical arms. “Those arms grab it like you grab your baby, just like you grab your little baby. And it hugged it and just put it down, and there it was,” Trump said. Musk was with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort on election night and has spent much of the two weeks since there. Trump’s granddaughter Kai Trump posted a photo of her with Musk at one of Trump’s golf resorts, writing that Musk was "achieving uncle status.” Last week, Musk appeared in a golden ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, seated in the center of the room as a guest of honor at an event. Trump, in his remarks at the black tie event, said Musk’s IQ is “about as high as they can get” and praised him as “a really good guy.” “He launched a rocket three weeks ago and then he went to Pennsylvania to campaign because he considered this more important than launching rockets that cost billions of dollars,” Trump said. He joked about Musk’s constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, saying: “He likes this place. I can’t get him out of here." He added, “And you know what, I like having him here.” Musk said of the election results, “The public has given us a mandate that could not be more clear."

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has said he does not see any negative thing emerging suddenly because Donald Trump (President-elect) is President of the United States, stressing that he does not have any problem with Trump in a personal way. “I think foreign policy of the United States is not something that switches back and forth depending on who is the President,” he said while responding to a question during an interview with Qatar-based media Al Jazeera, adding that there is a stable part of that policy. Prof Yunus said he has no problem as far as the Republican Party or Democratic Party is concerned, or even Trump is concerned. Trump names fossil fuel executive Chris Wright as energy secretary The chief adviser said he had no interaction with President Trump in the past and he has friends in both the parties.   Donald Trump will officially become the 47th President of the United States at a ceremony called the inauguration. The inauguration day will take place on January 20, 2025 and it is the day Donald Trump moves into the White House. Until then President Joe Biden remains in the top job. It will be the second time that Trump is going to take up the role - after previously having served as president between 2017 and 2021. Before the US election, Trump condemned the "barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh.” “It would have never happened on my watch. Kamala and Joe have ignored Hindus across the world and in America. They have been a disaster from Israel to Ukraine to our own Southern Border, but we will Make America Strong Again and bring back Peace through Strength!” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Responding to a question by an Al Jazeera journalist on this, Prof Yunus said this is mostly propaganda – totally baseless propaganda. “It’s unfortunate.” He said most of the propaganda originates from the Indian side for whatever reason it may be – to keep the tensions alive, probably.  Majority Whip Durbin expresses support for Dr. Yunus at US Senate “But in reality, it does not exist,” said Prof Yunus, adding that violence started during the period of revolution not because they are Hindus or other religions but because mostly they were Awami Leaguers. “Most of the Hindus happened to be Awami Leaguers.” In his televised speech on Sunday evening, the chief adviser said the minorities were subjected to violence in some cases but it was ‘completely exaggerated’. “When we took over the charge, Bangladesh was a completely unguarded country. At that time, there was an attempt to spread unnecessary panic among religious minorities,” he said. The chief adviser said the main reason for the few incidents of violence that occurred was political.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has made many countries anxious and recalculating where they stand with the U.S., but India appears to be welcoming the change that may embolden nationalist leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I know today a lot of countries are nervous about the U.S., let’s be honest about that,” India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said over the weekend. India was “not one of them.” A call from Modi “was among the first three calls, I think, that President (elect) Trump took," he added. A second Trump presidency is likely to play out in New Delhi’s favor, experts say, especially as Modi seeks to reset India’s relationship with the West after recent frictions over his refusal to join sanctions against Russia or condemn its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Modi has also been criticized over India's democratic backsliding. “Trump’s victory means that the Indian policies that have put New Delhi at odds with the West … will no longer be a cause of concern for Washington,” said Michael Kugelman, South Asia director at the Wilson Center. There could be ruptures on trade, immigration and climate change goals — but on balance, “the return of Trump means that India’s relations with the West – and specifically its most powerful country — will get a boost,” he added. Modi has sought to cast India as a rising global player with a fast-growing economy that can counter China. But critics say his authoritarian politics and right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party have deeply polarized the country with minorities increasingly marginalized and the right to free speech and press under attack. When President Joe Biden honored Modi with a state visit last year, he walked a tightrope as activists and groups pressured him to confront Modi over his human rights record. Still, the two leaders rolled out new business deals on defense and technology. Such concerns won't be an issue with Trump, said Uday Chandra, an expert on South Asia and foreign policy. “He is a refreshing reset from the Indian perspective … he is much more transactional.” Trump, long an open admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also likely to be more understanding of India’s strategic partnership with Moscow, which dates back to the Cold War, its record purchases of Russian crude, and its refusal to pick a side in the war in Ukraine. “This was the real sort of thorn in India-U.S. relations over the past two years … but with Trump, I don’t see this being an issue,” Chandra said. Read: Modi, Trump commit to strengthening India-US ties during phone call: MEA One hot-button issue is trade. In his first term, trade differences between the two countries came to the fore with Trump calling India the “tariff king” over disagreements on farm goods, Harley Davidson motorcycles and medical devices. In 2019, he canceled the country's special trade privileges and India responded by slapping tariffs on more than two dozen U.S. goods. This time, Trump wants to impose a “universal” tax of 10% or 20% on all imports and raise tariffs on Chinese goods to 60%. India, which counts the U.S. as its second-largest trading partner, won't be an exception. “New Delhi will have to do more than just tinkering with its policies to deal with Trump’s emphasis on fair trade,” said C Rajamohan, a professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore. Immigration could turn into a sore point if Trump attempts to also curb skilled migration. Indians have often been the largest group applying for the H1-B work visa but Trump had called the visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. Progress on climate change and clean energy could also be hit. “India and the U.S. have done quite a lot on this front over the past four years — but this is something that could unravel because a Trump administration is more aligned with the fossil fuel industry than with green technology,” said Milan Vaishnav, South Asia Program director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Both Trump and Modi embody strongmen tactics, count on an impassioned support base and have ramped up polarization to consolidate votes. And unlike liberal leaders in the West, Trump doesn’t view Modi’s policies at home problematic – or even relevant, said Kugelman. “They’re both ardent nationalists committed to making their nations stronger at home and abroad,” he added. Analysts also point to the personal bond between the two. When Trump visited India in 2020, Modi threw him an event in the world's largest cricket stadium. Read more: BRICS Summit: Putin hosts Xi, Modi, other Global South leaders in move to counter western influence The year before that, Trump held a massive rally for Modi in Texas and likened him to Elvis Presley for his crowd-pulling power. In his congratulatory post to Trump on X last week, Modi shared photos of the two leaders hugging, smiling and holding hands. “There’s a bromance between the two,” said Chandra. "But they're also united by a shared worldview — that we are in a post- liberal world and that liberalism as an ideology for conducting global politics is no longer viable. That’s as true in India as it is in America.”

There have been no arrests or crackdowns on the supporters of US president-elect Donald Trump in Bangladesh, said Chief Adviser's press wing on Sunday night. Some Indian newspapers have been "aggressively spreading misinformation" about the student-led mass uprising since former Prime Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a popular revolution in August, said the press wing through its fact-checking Facebook page. 'They have hugely exaggerated the violence against minorities during the post-revolution days. They just repeated the same canards over today's arrest of AL supporters," the message reads. Dozens of activists of the Awami League party, whose leadership, officials, and members have been accused of mass murders, corruption, and laundering of tens of billions of dollars, were arrested in the country on Sunday on charges of planning subversive activities in the capital, Dhaka, said the press wing. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police has issued a statement to this effect. "Some of these people were carrying Donald Trump's photos after the fugitive AL leader, Sheikh Hasina, reportedly ordered her supporters to carry his portrait and use them as a shield against arrests," said the press wing. "They told police they didn't follow US politics and only carried Trump posters at the order of Hasina," the press wing claimed. It may be mentioned that some sections of the Indian media, notably India Today, reported yesterday's events in Bangladesh in a completely wrong light. Read: INR survey: Bangladesh faces media credibility crisis amid disinformation surge and digital literacy gaps For example, they described the rally called for by Awami League at Gulistan's Zero Point on the occasion of Noor Hossain Day (Nov. 10), an annual event, as one called for by 'Trump supporters' to celebrate the Republican candidate's victory in the US presidential election last week. There is no record of any group identifying themselves as "Trump supporters" or celebrating his successes in the past in Bangladesh. There is also no mention of the US president-elect in any of the Awami League literature surrounding their programme on Noor Hossain Day, which in the end failed to materialise due to a lack of participants. There is however an instruction from ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, that the CA Press Wing's statement alluded to briefly, for the AL activists attending Sunday's programme, to carry posters of Trump alongside those of Sheikh Hasina and Bangabandhu, and specifically to use the ones of Trump to shield themselves against police action. The AL activists were to take photos of these incidents and provide them to their leadership, so that they could be passed on to Trump - all with the intention, presumably, of riling the next US president into going against the interim government led by Prof. Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. These potentially seditious instructions were contained in a call record that leaked last week, between Hasina and one of her party workers. Although UNB has not independently verified the authenticity of the recording, the fact that many AL activists were later arrested carrying out the same instructions verifies itself. Members of the interim government had already made clear on Saturday that no AL rally or programme would be allowed to go ahead on Sunday, and the raids and arrests that followed must be seen in that light.  

With her selection as President-elect Donald Trump 's incoming White House chief of staff, veteran Florida political strategist Susie Wiles moves from a largely behind-the-scenes role of campaign co-chair to the high-profile position of the president's closest adviser and counsel. She's been in political circles for years. But who is Wiles, the operative set to be the first woman to step into the powerful role of White House chief of staff? She has decades of experience, most of it in Florida The daughter of NFL player and sportscaster Pat Summerall, Wiles worked in the Washington office of New York Rep. Jack Kemp in the 1970s. Following that were stints on Ronald Reagan's campaign and in his White House as a scheduler. Wiles then headed to Florida, where she advised two Jacksonville mayors and worked for Rep. Tillie Fowler. After that came statewide campaigns in rough and tumble Florida politics, with Wiles being credited with helping businessman Rick Scott win the governor's office. After briefly managing Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's 2012 presidential campaign, she ran Trump's 2016 effort in Florida, when his win in the state helped him clinch the White House. She has a history with Ron DeSantis Two years later, Wiles helped get Ron DeSantis elected as Florida's governor. But the two would develop a rift that eventually led to DeSantis to urge Trump's 2020 campaign to cuts its ties with the strategist, when she was again running the then-president's state campaign. Wiles ultimately went on to lead Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis and trounced the Florida governor. Trump campaign aides and their outside allies gleefully taunted DeSantis throughout the race — mocking his laugh, the way he ate and accusing him of wearing lifts in his boots — as well as using insider knowledge that many suspected had come from Wiles and others on Trump’s campaign staff who had also worked for DeSantis and had had bad experiences. Wiles had posted just three times on X this year at the time of her announcement. Shortly before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January, Wiles made a rare appearance on social media. She responded to a message that DeSantis had cleared his campaign website of upcoming events with a short but clear message: “Bye, bye.” She shuns the spotlight — most of the time Joining up with Trump's third campaign in its nascent days, Wiles is one of the few top officials to survive an entire Trump campaign and was part of the team that put together a far more professional operation for his third White House bid — even if the former president routinely broke through those guardrails anyway. She largely avoided the spotlight, even refusing to take the mic to speak as Trump celebrated his victory early Wednesday morning. Read: Canada's Trudeau revives a Cabinet-level panel to address concerns about a Trump presidency But she showed she was not above taking on tasks reserved for volunteers. At one of Trump’s appearances in Iowa in July of last year, as the former president posed for pictures with a long line of voters, Wiles grabbed a clipboard and started approaching people waiting to get them to fill out cards committing to caucus for Trump in the leadoff primary contest. “If we leave the conference room after a meeting and somebody leaves trash on the table, Susie’s the person to grab the trash and put it in the trash can,” said Chris LaCivita, who served as campaign co-chair along with Wiles. Another of her three posts on X this year was in the closing days of the campaign, clapping back after billionaire Mark Cuban remarked that Trump didn’t have “strong, intelligent women” in his orbit. After Wiles’ selection as White House chief of staff, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a Trump backer, quipped on X that the president-elect had chosen a “strong, intelligent woman” as his chief of staff. She can control some of Trump's worst impulses Wiles was able to help control Trump’s worst impulses — not by chiding him or lecturing, but by earning his respect and showing him that he was better off when he followed her advice than flouted it. At one point late in the campaign, when Trump gave a widely criticized speech in Pennsylvania in which he strayed from his talking points and suggested he wouldn't mind the media being shot, Wiles came out to stare at him silently. Trump often referenced Wiles on the campaign trail, publicly praising her leadership of what he said he was often told was his “best-run campaign.” “She’s incredible. Incredible,” he said at a Milwaukee rally earlier this month. Will she have staying power? In his first administration, Trump went through four chiefs of staff — including one who served in an acting capacity for a year — in a period of record-setting personnel churn. A chief of staff serves as the president’s confidant, helping to execute an agenda and balancing competing political and policy priorities. They also tend to serve as a gatekeeper, helping determine whom the president spends their time and to whom they speak — an effort under which Trump chafed inside the White House. Trump has repeatedly said he believes the biggest mistake of his first term was hiring the wrong people. He was new to Washington then, he has said, and didn’t know any better. But now, Trump says, he knows the “best people” and those to avoid for jobs.

Donald Trump has promised sweeping action in a second administration. The former president and now president-elect often skipped over details but through more than a year of policy pronouncements and written statements outlined a wide-ranging agenda that blends traditional conservative approaches to taxes, regulation and cultural issues with a more populist bent on trade and a shift in America’s international role. Trump’s agenda also would scale back federal government efforts on civil rights and expand presidential powers. A look at what Trump has proposed: Immigration “Build the wall!” from his 2016 campaign has become creating “the largest mass deportation program in history.” Trump has called for using the National Guard and empowering domestic police forces in the effort. Still, Trump has been scant on details of what the program would look like and how he would ensure that it targeted only people in the U.S. illegally. He’s pitched “ideological screening” for would-be entrants, ending birth-right citizenship (which almost certainly would require a constitutional change), and said he’d reinstitute first-term policies such as “Remain in Mexico,” limiting migrants on public health grounds and severely limiting or banning entrants from certain majority-Muslim nations. Altogether, the approach would not just crack down on illegal migration, but curtail immigration overall. Abortion Trump played down abortion as a second-term priority, even as he took credit for the Supreme Court ending a woman’s federal right to terminate a pregnancy and returning abortion regulation to state governments. At Trump’s insistence, the GOP platform, for the first time in decades, did not call for a national ban on abortion. Trump maintains that overturning Roe v. Wade is enough on the federal level. Trump said last month on his social media platform Truth Social that he would veto a federal abortion ban if legislation reached his desk — a statement he made only after avoiding a firm position in his September debate against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. But it’s unclear if his administration would aggressively defend against legal challenges seeking to restrict access to abortion pills, including mifepristone, as the Biden administration has. Anti-abortion advocates continue to wage legal battles over the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug as well as the agency’s relaxed prescribing restrictions. Trump is also unlikely to enforce Biden’s guidance that hospitals must provide abortions for women who are in medical emergencies, even in states with bans. TaxesTrump’s tax policies broadly tilt toward corporations and wealthier Americans. That’s mostly due to his promise to extend his 2017 tax overhaul, with a few notable changes that include lowering the corporate income tax rate to 15% from the current 21%. That also involves rolling back Democratic President Joe Biden’s income tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans and scrapping Inflation Reduction Act levies that finance energy measures intended to combat climate change. Those policies notwithstanding, Trump has put more emphasis on new proposals aimed at working- and middle class Americans: exempting earned tips, Social Security wages and overtime wages from income taxes. It’s noteworthy, however, that his proposal on tips, depending on how Congress might write it, could give a back-door tax break to top wage earners by allowing them to reclassify some of their pay as tip income — a prospect that at its most extreme could see hedge-fund managers or top-flight attorneys taking advantage of a policy that Trump frames as being designed for restaurant servers, bartenders and other service workers. Tariffs and tradeTrump’s posture on international trade is to distrust world markets as harmful to American interests. He proposes tariffs of 10% to 20% on foreign goods — and in some speeches has mentioned even higher percentages. He promises to reinstitute an August 2020 executive order requiring that the federal government buy “essential” medications only from U.S. companies. He pledges to block purchases of “any vital infrastructure” in the U.S. by Chinese buyers. DEI, LGBTQ and civil rightsTrump has called for rolling back societal emphasis on diversity and for legal protections for LGBTQ citizens. Trump has called for ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government institutions, using federal funding as leverage. On transgender rights, Trump promises generally to end “boys in girls’ sports,” a practice he insists, without evidence, is widespread. But his policies go well beyond standard applause lines from his rally speeches. Among other ideas, Trump would roll back the Biden administration’s policy of extending Title IX civil rights protections to transgender students, and he would ask Congress to require that only two genders can be recognized at birth. Regulation, federal bureaucracy and presidential powerThe president-elect seeks to reduce the role of federal bureaucrats and regulations across economic sectors. Trump frames all regulatory cuts as an economic magic wand. He pledges precipitous drops in U.S. households’ utility bills by removing obstacles to fossil fuel production, including opening all federal lands for exploration — even though U.S. energy production is already at record highs. Trump promises to unleash housing construction by cutting regulations — though most construction rules come from state and local government. He also says he would end “frivolous litigation from the environmental extremists.” The approach would in many ways strengthen executive branch influence. That power would come more directly from the White House. He would make it easier to fire federal workers by classifying thousands of them as being outside civil service protections. That could weaken the government’s power to enforce statutes and rules by reducing the number of employees engaging in the work and, potentially, impose a chilling effect on those who remain. Trump also claims that presidents have exclusive power to control federal spending even after Congress has appropriated money. Trump argues that lawmakers’ budget actions “set a ceiling” on spending but not a floor — meaning the president’s constitutional duty to “faithfully execute the laws” includes discretion on whether to spend the money. This interpretation could set up a court battle with Congress. As a candidate, he also suggested that the Federal Reserve, an independent entity that sets interest rates, should be subject to more presidential power. Though he has not offered details, any such move would represent a momentous change to how the U.S. economic and monetary systems work. Read: Tarique Rahman Congratulates Donald Trump EducationThe federal Department of Education would be targeted for elimination in a second Trump administration. That does not mean that Trump wants Washington out of classrooms. He still proposes, among other maneuvers, using federal funding as leverage to pressure K-12 school systems to abolish tenure and adopt merit pay for teachers and to scrap diversity programs at all levels of education. He calls for pulling federal funding “for any school or program pushing Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.” In higher education, Trump proposes taking over accreditation processes for colleges, a move he describes as his “secret weapon” against the “Marxist Maniacs and lunatics” he says control higher education. Trump takes aim at higher education endowments, saying he will collect “billions and billions of dollars” from schools via “taxing, fining and suing excessively large private university endowments” at schools that do not comply with his edicts. That almost certainly would end up in protracted legal fights. As in other policy areas, Trump isn’t actually proposing limiting federal power in higher education but strengthening it. He calls for redirecting the confiscated endowment money into an online “American Academy” offering college credentials to all Americans without a tuition charges. “It will be strictly non-political, and there will be no wokeness or jihadism allowed—none of that’s going to be allowed,” Trump said on Nov. 1, 2023. Social Security, Medicare and MedicaidTrump insists he would protect Social Security and Medicare, popular programs geared toward older Americans and among the biggest pieces of the federal spending pie each year. There are questions about how his proposal not to tax tip and overtime wages might affect Social Security and Medicare. If such plans eventually involved only income taxes, the entitlement programs would not be affected. But exempting those wages from payroll taxes would reduce the funding stream for Social Security and Medicare outlays. Trump has talked little about Medicaid during this campaign, but his first administration reshaped the program by allowing states to introduce work requirements for recipients. Affordable Care Act and Health CareAs he has since 2015, Trump calls for repealing the Affordable Care Act and its subsidized health insurance marketplaces. But he still has not proposed a replacement: In a September debate, he insisted he had the “concepts of a plan.” In the latter stages of the campaign, Trump played up his alliance with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines and of pesticides used in U.S. agriculture. Trump repeatedly told rally crowds that he would put Kennedy in charge of “making America healthy again.” Climate and energyTrump, who claims falsely that climate change is a “hoax,” blasts Biden-era spending on cleaner energy designed to reduce U.S. reliance on fossil fuels. He proposes an energy policy – and transportation infrastructure spending – anchored to fossil fuels: roads, bridges and combustion-engine vehicles. “Drill, baby, drill!” was a regular chant at Trump rallies. Trump says he does not oppose electric vehicles but promises to end all Biden incentives to encourage EV market development. Trump also pledges to roll back Biden-era fuel efficiency standards. Workers’ rightsTrump and Vice President-elect JD Vance framed their ticket as favoring America’s workers. But Trump could make it harder for workers to unionize. In discussing auto workers, Trump focused almost exclusively on Biden’s push toward electric vehicles. When he mentioned unions, it was often to lump “the union bosses and CEOs” together as complicit in “this disastrous electric car scheme.” In an Oct. 23, 2023, statement, Trump said of United Auto Workers, “I’m telling you, you shouldn’t pay those dues.” Read more: Right on cue, Hasina greets Trump on his ‘resounding victory’ National defense and America’s role in the world Trump’s rhetoric and policy approach in world affairs is more isolationist diplomatically, non-interventionist militarily and protectionist economically than the U.S. has been since World War II. But the details are more complicated. He pledges expansion of the military, promises to protect Pentagon spending from austerity efforts and proposes a new missile defense shield — an old idea from the Reagan era during the Cold War. Trump insists he can end Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war, without explaining how. Trump summarizes his approach through another Reagan phrase: “peace through strength.” But he remains critical of NATO and top U.S. military brass. “I don’t consider them leaders,” Trump said of Pentagon officials that Americans “see on television.” He repeatedly praised authoritarians like Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Congratulating US President-elect Donald Trump, interim government chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday said he looks forward to working together with the new US administration to further strengthen the Dhaka-Washington partnership and foster sustainable development. “I firmly believe that the possibilities are endless as our two friendly nations work towards exploring newer avenues of partnership,” said the Nobel Peace Laureate in his message conveying his heartfelt felicitations to Trump on behalf of his government and the people of Bangladesh on his victory in the US Presidential Election 2024. Prof Yunus said electing Trump as the US President for a second term reflects that his leadership and vision have resonated with the people of the United States of America. “I am confident that under your stewardship, the United States will thrive and continue to inspire others around the world. Bangladesh and the United States share a long history of friendship and collaboration across numerous areas of mutual interest,” said the chief adviser. He said the relationship continued to grow in depth and breadth during Trump’s previous term in the office. “Aligning with our commitment to a peaceful and inclusive society, the government and the peace-loving people of Bangladesh look forward to partnering and collaborating in your efforts in addressing the global challenges in the pursuit of peace, harmony, stability and prosperity for all,” Prof Yunus said. He conveyed his best wishes for Trump’s success as he embarks on this momentous journey of leading his great nation. Donald Trump wins US presidency for the second time "We welcome him (Trump). We hope Bangladesh-US relations will be deepened and relations will reach a new height," Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters at a media briefing at the Foreign Service Academy on Wednesday evening. Responding to a question on Trump’s remarks on Bangladesh recently, Alam said they think he (Trump) was misinformed and hoped that he will know what the actual picture is.  The Press Secretary said the US wants to see democracy is practiced globally and the relations between the two countries will be strengthened. Deputy Press Secretaries Apurba Jahangir and Abul Kalam Azad Majumder were also present. Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States which is seen as an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago. On November 1, the Press Secretary said what Donald Trump thinks about the events in Bangladesh “does obviously matter”, but stressed that their task in the government is to tell the truth. On a separate occasion, he said the results of the US election will not pose any challenge for the relations between the two countries. Prof Muhammad Yunus, as a global leader, has very good ties with senior leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties, he added. "He [Prof Yunus] has friends in both parties. The relationship depends a lot on personal attachment. Prof Yunus is a global leader. So, whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump wins the US election, there will be no challenge for our relationship," he said while speaking as the chief at a debate competition in the capital. Shafiqul Alam said Donald Trump's statement on minorities in Bangladesh is a completely domestic political issue, and lobbyists may have influenced this issue. On Thursday, Trump strongly condemned the "barbaric violence" against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are "getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos."

Global leaders have extended early congratulations to Donald Trump on what many are calling a “historic comeback” to the White House. Despite the official results not yet being declared, the election has drawn considerable international response. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán were among the first to issue congratulatory statements, followed by leaders from France, the UK, and India. Writing on X, Zelenskyy expressed a warm message to Trump, recalling their recent discussions. "I had a great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine," he shared. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also posted a celebratory message on X, noting his excitement about Trump’s projected victory: "Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” Hungary's Viktor Orbán, known for his right-wing stance, called it "the biggest comeback in US political history!" Orbán added, "Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his enormous win. A much-needed victory for the World!" Read: "Have to put country first for at least a period of time": Trump in election night speech French President Emmanuel Macron extended his message of congratulations in both French and English, underscoring a willingness to work together again: "Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump,” he posted on X. "Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.” In the UK, newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour government recently took office, offered his best wishes to Trump, posting, "Congratulations President-elect @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. I look forward to working with you in the years ahead." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also joined in, congratulating Trump on his return to the presidency. “Heartiest congratulations my friend @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory," Modi wrote on X, adding, "As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let's work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity."

Outside the major international sporting events, i.e. the Olympics and the football World Cup, the US presidential election may well lay claim to being the greatest show on Earth. Every four years, it captures the world’s attention (sometimes even its imagination) unlike any other electoral race, and due to the particulars of the election schedule, we can now see it more or less dominate the news agenda for the entire year in which the election is held. When the race is as close as the one this year between Donald Trump, representing the Republican party on the ticket for the third time in a row, and vice president Kamala Harris, representing the Democrats, it makes for an even more engrossing contest. Harris and Trump spent the closing stretch of the race crisscrossing the country  - the ‘battleground states’ this time are spread across the vast landscape - to rally voters in the states that matter most. They tried to stay focused on a clear and concise closing message - although the Republican let slip on a few occasions in a manner that would’ve counted for major gaffes in any other politician’s CV. With him, there is no telling though.  As usual, each side has invested massively to drive up turnout in the final early voting period, coinciding with the campaign's finish line. And in this critical phase, the flow of misinformation intensified By general consensus, he results on Election Day will come down to seven ‘battleground states’: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have visited them the most. Together, these states are likely to deliver the Electoral College votes needed for the winning candidate to get a majority of 270. But they are proving impossible to predict, with the candidates running almost neck-and-neck in all of them. Nate Silver, the polling guru, writing in the New York Times over the weekend, asserts that in an election where the seven battleground states are all polling within a percentage point or two, “50-50 is the only responsible forecast”. With the US handling of the Israel-Hamas war and conflict in the Middle East looming over the White House race this time, many American Muslim voters — most of whom backed President Joe Biden four years ago — have been wrestling with voting decisions. After US support for Israel left many of them feeling outraged and ignored, some are turning their backs on the Democrats. For voters in swing states like Georgia, which Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes, the weight of such decisions can be amplified. Read: How AP has declared US election results since 1864 In 2020, among Muslim voters nationally, about two-thirds supported Biden and about one-third supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast. That Biden support has left many feeling betrayed or even guilty. The reasons behind what is essentially a choice for the American electorate becoming a global hot button issue every four years, with stakeholders seemingly spread in every corner of the world, are many-faceted. What is common among them all is that they each derive from the US hegemony that still prevails in the world today.  That means as the world’s most powerful nation, which is only one component of its hegemony, America is uniquely placed to involve itself in global hotspots, and frequently does so. As the world’s richest nation, or at least its biggest economy, the number of people looking in its direction for reasons of trade alone far outnumber any other nation. The occupant of the White House is often described as ‘the leader of the free world’, positioning itself as the world’s leading democracy, as well as its leading defender of democracies. Last but by no means least, the cultural hegemony or ‘soft power’ that America established over the course of the 20th century means that events in the American cultural or political calendar attract global interest, and this election is no different.  This time, Trump is looking to overcome another historic candidate, after Hillary Clinton in 2016. As the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both highly respected academics in the liberal bastion of Berkeley, Kamala Harris represents an even more historic candidacy than Clinton. Seeking to become the first woman (among other things) to be elected president in US history, her great strength may lie in women, who are expected to outnumber men at the polling booths, buoyed by a number of issues deemed endangered under Trump, including reproductive rights.  Read more: ChatGPT being used to influence US elections, alleges OpenAI As the hours trickle down to the closing of the first polls on Election Day in America, all eyes were on Pennsylvania - a traditionally Democrat stronghold that Trump memorably flipped in 2016, but lost in 2020 in his loss to Biden. This time again, the Keystone State’s votes in the electoral college may prove decisive in deciding his fortunes. And the fortunes of the world’s premier democracy, that in this intervening period has been caught up in a culture war between new, emerging, diverse forces, and an old vanguard not quite willing to let go. It’s all on the line, in what some are calling ‘the most consequential presidential election in history.’ May the best candidate win.  Enayetullah Khan is Editor-in-Chief of UNB and Dhaka Courier. 

Outside the major international sporting events, i.e. the Olympics and the football World Cup, the US presidential election may well lay claim to being the greatest show on Earth. Every four years, it captures the world’s attention (sometimes even its imagination, although that is becoming increasingly rare) unlike any other electoral race, and due to the particulars of the election calendar, we can now see it more or less dominate the news agenda for the entire year in which the election is held. When the race is as close as the one this year between Donald Trump, representing the Republican party on the ticket for the third time in a row, and vice president Kamala Harris, representing the Democrats, it makes for an even more engrossing contest. Harris and Trump are crisscrossing the country to rally voters in the states that matter most. They’re trying — with varying degrees of success — to stay focused on a clear and concise closing message. At the same time, each side is investing massive resources to drive up turnout for the final early voting period. And in these critical days, the flow of misinformation is intensifying. This time, the results on Election Day will come down to seven ‘battleground states’: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have visited them the most. Together, these states are likely to deliver the Electoral College votes needed for the winning candidate to get a majority of 270. Nate Silver, the polling guru, writing in the New York Times, said that in an election where the seven battleground states are all polling within a percentage point or two, “50-50 is the only responsible forecast”. That is how close it is this time. With the US handling of the Israel-Hamas war and conflict in the Middle East looming over the White House race this time, many American Muslim voters — most of whom backed President Joe Biden four years ago — have been wrestling with who to cast their vote for this time. Read: When polls close in battleground states on Election Day After US support for Israel left many of them feeling outraged and ignored, some seek a rebuff of the Democrats, including by favouring third-party options for president. Others grapple with how to express their anger through the ballot box amid warnings by some against another Trump presidency. For voters in swing states like Georgia, which Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes, the weight of such decisions can be amplified. In 2020, among Muslim voters nationally, about two-thirds supported Biden and about one-third supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast. That Biden support has left many feeling betrayed or even guilty. The reasons behind what is essentially a choice for the American electorate becoming a global hot button issue every four years, with stakeholders seemingly spread in every corner of the world, are many-faceted. What is common among them all is that they each derive from the US hegemony that still prevails in the world today. That means as the world’s most powerful nation, which is only one component of its hegemony, America is uniquely placed to involve itself in global hotspots, and frequently does so. As the world’s richest nation, or at least its biggest economy, the number of people looking in its direction for reasons of trade alone far outnumber any other nation. The occupant of the White House is often described as ‘the leader of the free world’, positioning itself as the world’s leading democracy, as well as its leading defender of democracies. This of course has also extended, controversially, to propagating democracy in other parts of the world, even at the barrel of a gun, with the overall record being mixed at best. Last but by no means least, the cultural hegemony or ‘soft power’ that America established over the course of the 20th century means that events in the American cultural or political calendar attract global interest. Having said that, what is also not deniable is that the gap between America and the rest of the world has been closing, with a new, multipolar order set to emerge on the horizon. US hegemony persisted through the bipolar era that emerged in the aftermath of World War II, and lasted till the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The unipolar era that followed has completely flipped the script in its manifestation, heralding a world of democratic backsliding, and capitalism beset by crises. Accordingly, despite its leading position, US power and influence around the world today are in relative decline. Read more: Harris and Trump focus on Sunbelt states during final weekend push for votes Throughout 2023, and in fact going back further, we saw the Biden administration deploy all the levers at its disposal, to impress upon the now deposed Awami League government that it needed to deliver a free-and-fair election, and by doing so return the country to the path of democracy. But in a sign of America’s relatively diminished stature, the government here was able to successfully resist these attempts and hold another farcical vote on January 7. One of the most salient features of the interim government in Dhaka is the almost unanimous show of support it has received from Western governments, particularly Washington. Yet a nagging concern among Bangladeshis has been whether a changeover in Washington may occasion a change in their Bangladesh policy as well. A tweet by Trump on Thursday, incorporating Indian talking points about the situation here, probably serves as the strongest indication yet, that such an expectation is not at all unfounded. But in choosing how to react to it, the IG will do well to also remember the limits on American power in this day and age. And instead of wedding itself to the result one way or another, the IG must forge ahead with its resolve undiminished.