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Tag: reject

Allies and foes reject Trump’s ‘Riviera’ plans for Gaza: ‘new suffering and new hatred’

The world reacted in unified shock on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced his intention that the U.S. develop the Gaza Strip to create a “Riviera of the Middle East,” and that millions of Palestinians living there would be relocated.

The bombshell proposal was made during a press conference on Tuesday when Trump, standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, refused to rule out U.S. military intervention and said Washington “will take over the Gaza Strip.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt looked to ease concerns on Wednesday and said the president has not “committed to putting boots on the ground” or to paying for the reconstruction plans.

But her assurances came after the president’s proposal was met with swift resistance from leaders across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, South America and Oceania.

RAND PAUL RECOILS AT TRUMP’S GAZA TAKEOVER PLANS: ‘I THOUGHT WE VOTED FOR AMERICA FIRST’

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer questions during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House, Feb. 4, 2025. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

MIDDLE EAST

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, which Trump has pushed to “normalize ties” with Israel, flatly rejected Trump’s proposal and in a statement issued by the foreign ministry said there could be no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state without a two-state solution for the Palestinians.

“Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom’s position in ‘a clear and explicit manner’ that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances.”

United Arab Emirates

The UAE, which did sign on to the Abraham Accords during the first Trump administration, responded to his remarks in a statement from the foreign ministry and issued a “categorical rejection of violating the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and attempting to displace them, and called for the need to stop settlement activities that threaten regional stability and undermine opportunities for peace and coexistence.”

The ministry “stressed the importance of avoiding everything that could lead to the expansion of the conflict in the region, and explained that the priority now after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip must focus on ending extremism, tension and violence, protecting the lives of all civilians, and delivering urgent, safe and sustainable humanitarian aid.”

Hamas

A senior official with the terror group Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said, “Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass. What is required is to end the [Israeli] occupation and aggression against our people, not to expel them from their land.”

Destruction from Israeli airstrikes is seen in Gaza City on Oct. 11. (AP/Adel Hana)

SAUDI ARABIA CONTRADICTS TRUMP, VOWS NO TIES WITH ISRAEL WITHOUT CREATION OF PALESTINIAN STATE

Palestinian leadership

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas echoed the shared sentiment and said, “The Palestinians will not relinquish their land, rights and sacred sites, and that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the land of the State of Palestine, along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”

Iran

A senior Iranian official told Reuters, “Iran does not agree with any displacement of Palestinians and has communicated this through various channels.”

EUROPE

United Kingdom

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has been toeing the line when it comes to relations with the U.S. amid the second Trump administration, for the first time on Wednesday broke with Trump and said Palestinians “must be allowed home.”

“They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution,” he added, speaking from the House of Commons, Politico EU reported.

Germany

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock took a more direct approach and, in a statement, said, in accordance with international law, “It is clear that Gaza – just like the West Bank and East Jerusalem – belongs to the Palestinians. It forms the basis for a future state of Palestine.

“A displacement of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not only be unacceptable and in breach of international law. It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred,” she added.

Palestinians gather in the hope of obtaining aid delivered into Gaza through a U.S.-built pier, May 19, 2024. (Reuters/Ramadan Abed/File Photo)

‘LEVEL IT’: TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST

Russia

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed Russia’s support for a two-state solution and said, “This is the thesis that is enshrined in the relevant U.N. Security Council resolution, this is the thesis that is shared by the overwhelming majority of countries involved in this problem. We proceed from it, we support it and believe that this is the only possible option.”

France

French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine also released a statement warning that anything but a two-state solution would have destabilizing consequences for the entire region. “France reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of Gaza’s Palestinian population, which would constitute a serious violation of international law,” he said.

“Gaza’s future must lie not in the prospect of control by a third State but in the framework of a future Palestinian State, under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority.”

China

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, “China has all along believed that ‘the Palestinians governing Palestine’ is the fundamental principle of post-conflict governance of Gaza.

“We oppose the forced displacement of the people in Gaza, and hope that relevant parties will take the opportunity of the ceasefire and post-conflict governance in Gaza to bring the Palestinian question back to the right track of a political settlement based on the two-state solution, so as to realize lasting peace in the Middle East,” he added, during a Wednesday press conference.

Palestinians carry belongings as they leave al-Ahli hospital, which they were using as a shelter, in Gaza City, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

Turkey

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told local news outlets that Trump’s proposal was “unacceptable” and argued that plans to leave Palestinians “out of the equation” would lead to more conflict.

Turkish President Recep Erdoğan does not appear to have publicly commented yet, though his strong stance against Israel’s deadly operations in Gaza could signal the two leaders may geopolitically butt heads over how to handle the post-war era in the Gaza Strip.

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OCEANIA

Australia

Australia, which has become a chief ally of the U.S. in countering China – a push Trump has named one of his top priorities – made its position on Trump’s comments clear after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “Australia’s position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year. The Australian government supports on a bipartisan basis a two-state solution.”

SOUTH AMERICA

Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called Trump’s comments “bravado” and said in an interview with local radio stations, “No country, no matter how important, can fight the entire world all the time.”

“It makes no sense,” he argued while defending a two-state solution. “Where would Palestinians live? This is something incomprehensible to any human being.

“Palestinians are the ones who need to take care of Gaza,” he added.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.

February 5, 2025
Voters reject Trump’s tariff push; most believe policy will hurt economy

The Claman Countdown panelists Kenny Polcari and Dryden Pence explain the impact of tariffs on foreign relations.

President Donald Trump has followed through on his campaign promise to impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners to secure concessions on a variety of trade and security issues, although a recent poll suggests voters are skeptical of that strategy and expect tariffs will hurt the economy.

Over the weekend, Trump announced 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as 10% tariffs on China effective on Feb. 4, though on Monday he delayed the Canada and Mexico tariffs for at least 30 days after each country agreed to deploy 10,000 personnel to work on securing their borders with the U.S. He told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that “tariffs are very powerful both economically and in getting everything else you want.”

“Tariffs, for us, nobody can compete with us because we’re the pot of gold,” Trump said. “But if we don’t keep winning and keep doing well, we won’t be the pot of gold and then tariffs won’t be so good for us. But when you’re the pot of gold, the tariffs are very good, they’re very powerful, and they’re going to make our country very rich again,” Trump added.

While Trump is continuing to leverage tariffs against other countries in negotiations over trade, immigration and drug policies, a Fox News Poll conducted from Jan. 10-13 found that a majority of Americans expect tariffs will hurt the U.S. economy.

HOW TRUMP’S TARIFFS CLOSED THE LOOPHOLE USED BY CHINESE RETAILERS

President Donald Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to use tariffs as a negotiating tool – though a recent poll shows voters worry tariffs will hurt the economy. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Fox News poll, which interviewed a sample of 922 registered voters on a mix of landlines, cell phones, and an online survey after receiving a text, asked respondents if imposing tariffs on products imported from other countries helps the U.S. economy, hurts the economy, or doesn’t make much of a difference either way.

It found that 50% of all respondents think tariffs will hurt the U.S. economy, while 32% believe they will help, and 15% think they won’t make a difference.

CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE

There was a notable partisan split in respondents’ views of the impact of tariffs on the U.S. economy.

Among Republicans who were surveyed, 55% said they think tariffs help, while 23% said they hurt and 17% thought there was no difference.

Over three-quarters of respondents who identified as Democrats, or 77%, said tariffs hurt the economy – while 11% said they help and 11% didn’t see a difference.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reached a deal with Trump to delay U.S. tariffs for at least 30 days while Mexico deploys 10,000 troops to the U.S. border to counter illegal immigration and drug smuggling. (Emmanuel Rosas/ObturadorMX/Getty Images, left, and Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images, right. / Getty Images)

HOW TRUMP’S TARIFFS COULD AFFECT THE PRICE OF POPULAR FOODS

A majority of independent voters were opposed to tariffs, with 55% saying they hurt the economy compared with 22% saying they help and 19% thinking they don’t make a difference.

Separately, the poll asked voters whether they support Trump’s proposals to impose large tariffs on Canada and Mexico to get them to change their immigration policies. A 53% majority of respondents opposed the policy, while 42% were in favor and 6% said they don’t know.

TRUMP REASSERTS TOWERING 100% TARIFF THREAT AGAINST BRICS COUNTRIES

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to a deal that would see the U.S. delay tariffs for 30 days while Canada acts to help secure the border. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) / Getty Images)

Voters were also asked what they think Trump’s top priority should be as president and while economic issues ranked near the top, implementing tariffs ranked near the bottom of the list.

Immigration issues such as building the wall, curbing illegal immigration and deporting illegal immigrants were tied with the economy and job creation at 13% each.

Those were followed by addressing inflation and prices, which 11% of respondents viewed as their top priority for the president.

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Just 1% of respondents indicated that implementing tariffs should be Trump’s top priority – which was tied at the bottom with eight other responses.

February 4, 2025
Costco shareholders reject anti-DEI measure

Former executive NYSE floor governor Jay Woods explains why some big companies might be scrapping their DEI initiatives on Cavuto: Coast to Coast.

Costco shareholders have roundly rejected a proposal calling for a report on the risks associated with keeping its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in place, the wholesale club said Thursday.

Preliminary results show that some 98% of shareholders voted against the measure, according to the company.

Costco shareholders overwhelmingly vote against assessing the risk of keeping the company’s DEI programs in place. (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Last month, Costco’s board of directors came out unanimously against the proposal, which was brought by activist shareholder the National Center for Public Policy Research, which raised concerns of risk from Costco’s DEI program after the Supreme Court’s ruling in SFFA v. Harvard that discriminating on the basis of race in college admissions violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

TARGET SCALING BACK DEI POLICIES AFTER TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER

The proposal cites how attorneys general of 13 states have warned Fortune 100 companies that the ruling implicated corporate DEI programs, and a number of lawsuits have been filed.

OpenTheBooks’ CEO John Hart discusses how billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted on DEI measures, on ‘The Bottom Line.’

But Costco’s board defended its programs.

“Consistent with our commitment to ‘obey the law,’ we regularly evaluate our practices concerning compliance with law, including evolving Supreme Court decisions,” the board wrote in response to the proposal. “We believe that our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are legally appropriate, and nothing in the proposal demonstrates otherwise.”

WHAT CAUSED THE REVOLT AGAINST DEI IN AMERICA?

Costco’s and its shareholders’ continued embrace of DEI comes as support for the programs is faltering in the private sector as well as the public sector.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %

COST COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP. 942.16 -2.54 -0.27%

Over the past year, more than a dozen major companies, including Walmart, McDonald’s, Ford and Amazon, have scaled back their DEI initiatives, and shareholder resolutions at U.S. corporations looking to counter DEI programs and other corporate social considerations garnered less than 2% support on average in 2024.

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to eliminate all DEI programs from the federal government.

FOX Business’ Danielle Wallace and Reuters contributed to this report.

January 24, 2025
VA Dems reject Youngkin’s antisemitism expert pick from George Mason Univ board amid troubling incidents

As George Mason University grapples with the latest incident of antisemitism linked to its Fairfax, Virginia, campus, Democrats in the Virginia State Senate rejected Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s nomination of one of the nation’s preeminent antisemitism scholars to its Board of Visitors.

Kenneth Marcus, the Brandeis Center’s founder and a former undersecretary in the Education Department’s civil rights division, was one of a few Youngkin nominees who were struck from consideration by the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee on a party-line vote.

Marcus has been described by The New York Times as “the man who helped redefine campus antisemitism,” and told Fox News Digital in a Wednesday interview he had hoped to continue that work at GMU.

“It was disappointing to see Democratic senators moving to block my nomination at precisely the same time that we were achieving a fairly significant victory over antisemitism in our Harvard University case,” Marcus said, noting he had served without incident on the GMU board since mid-2024.

HARVARD SETTLES TWO LAWSUITS DEALING WITH ALLEGATIONS OF ANTISEMITISM

George Washington University students take part in a Gaza solidarity encampment in conjunction with other Wasington, D.C.-area universities. (Getty)

“There’s really nothing that I can think of that I have done that would stir any controversy other than working to protect George Mason students from antisemitism,” he said, noting the school has struggled with the issue as of late.

A GMU freshman IT major and Egyptian national is being investigated by the FBI on charges of distributing information on weapons in furtherance of a violent crime and threats against a foreign official, according to NBC News.

Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, 18, of Falls Church, Virginia, was allegedly trying to orchestrate a bombing of the Israeli Consulate in New York City.

Leaders from Students for Justice in Palestine were also banned from campus after police found “Death to Jews” and “Death to America” signage along with firearms.

“This is a huge issue right now at George Mason with some very disturbing high-profile issues happening,” Marcus said.

A person familiar with Youngkin’s thoughts on the situation said the governor has “kept his cool” and is not engaging publicly but is incensed about the Democrats’ move.

“He is quietly working in hopes Democratic senators are seeing the error of their ways,” the person told Fox News Digital.

YOUNGKIN ‘PERSONALLY INVITES’ NEW TRUMP ADMIN WORKERS TO SETTLE IN VA OVER DC, MD

Marcus said he worked hard to combat antisemitism on campus in the seven months he has been on campus. “I have been very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the administration and board of that institution to address a very serious problem going on here.”

Marcus said one item he had been working on was incorporating antisemitism definitions into GMU’s anti-discrimination policy.

“Since I joined the board, the most significant thing I’ve done has been to work with the administration to incorporate the idea of a working definition of antisemitism into George Mason’s anti-discrimination policy. That was a huge advance, and it’s been very influential. It was disappointing to see members of the General Assembly respond as they have,” he said.

GMU has also been subject to anti-Zionist vandalism. As of last February, GMU President Gregory Washington said there had been at least 70 antisemitism incident reports to administrators and acknowledged a federal probe into reported malign activity.

“I have been asked on numerous occasions to stop the student protests. Even when you’re protesting against me, I still support it because I support freedom of speech,” Washington told the Fourth Estate student newspaper.

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The Virginia State Capitol. (Getty)

The Senate P&E Committee also removed nominations for former Vice President Mike Pence Chief of Staff Marc Short and Nina Rees, a senior official for the George W. Bush Presidential Library, as well as an education attorney from the Richmond firm McGuire-Woods.

Richmond Republicans are hoping to add Marcus’ name back to the legislation listing confirmed nominees on Thursday, but a source suggested their path remains unlikely without any Democrat defections in the 21-19 Senate.

Fox News Digital reached out to both Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Alexandria, and Senate P&E Committee Chair Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, about Marcus’ rejection.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

January 23, 2025