Assassination attempts and new threats have reshaped how Donald Trump campaigns

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is seen with a bandage on his ear after being wounded in an assassination attempt during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 05 October 2024
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Assassination attempts and new threats have reshaped how Donald Trump campaigns

  • Beyond the two attempts on his life, the former president and GOP nominee faces ongoing death threats from Iran
  • Trump speaks more often publicly of divine intervention, musing that God saved him in order to save the country

NEW YORK: Donald Trump was onstage at a rally on Long Island last month, talking about taxes, when he appeared momentarily spooked by something he’d spotted over his shoulder.
“I thought this was a wise guy coming up,” he explained, joking that he was getting his elbow ready to fight back.
“You know I got a little bit of a yip problem here, right?” he added to laughs, using a term familiar to golf aficionados to describe a phenomenon once blamed on performance anxiety where players suddenly lose the ability to make easy shots. “I was all ready to start duking it out.”
It was a fleeting moment passed off as a joke. But as he returns to Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for a rally at the site where a gunman opened fire in July, grazing his ear with a bullet, the scare underscores the lasting fallout for the candidate and his campaign even as much of the national attention has shifted to other crises.
Beyond the two attempts on his life in as many months, the former president and GOP nominee faces ongoing death threats from Iran, which has also been blamed for hacking top campaign officials and allies, exacerbating anxieties already heightened by a stepped-up security apparatus and new restrictions on how he can campaign.
Trump’s allies insist he was not fundamentally changed by the gunman who fired from an unsecured roof at the rally in July or the would-be assailant in September who shoved a rifle barrel through the fence at his West Palm Beach golf course.
The picture of Trump standing, with blood streaked across his face, as he raised his fist and shouted “Fight!” has become the indelible image of the campaign.
“When you almost lose your life, it stays with you. It stays with him,” said Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a close Trump ally. “But that doesn’t change his resolve. His resolve is just as strong as it ever has been.”
Threats have reshaped how he campaigns
Trump staffers are on edge. There have been death threats directed at his aides, and his team isn’t as able to quickly organize the mass rallies that have always been the signature of his campaigns.
Armed security officers now stand guard at the campaign’s Florida headquarters, and staff have been told to remain vigilant and alert.
Events have been canceled and moved around because the US Secret Service lacked the resources to safely secure them. Even with the use of glass barricades to protect Trump onstage, there are concerns about holding additional rallies outdoors due to fears about drones.
Trump has accused President Joe Biden’s administration of intentionally denying security resources to help Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, by preventing him from addressing large crowds.
“They couldn’t give me any help. And I’m so angry about it because what they’re doing is interfering in the election,” he said in a recent Fox News interview.
US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that Trump “is receiving heightened levels of US Secret Service protection” and that “our top priority is mitigating risks to ensure his continued safety at all times.” Biden expressed concern for Trump after both assassination attempts, saying in September, “Thank God the president is OK.”
Trump also now travels with a larger security footprint, with new traffic restrictions outside his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, and a line of dump trucks and big guns on display outside Trump Tower in New York when he’s staying there.
As reporters filed into his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for a press conference this summer, guests — including a little girl wearing a red, white and blue bathing suit — were forced to exit their cars and go through airport-style metal detectors as their vehicles were searched for bombs.
Trump’s campaign last week was briefed on continued threats from Iran in presumed retaliation for his administration’s killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to vow revenge. In August, a Pakistani man alleged to have links to Iran was charged in a plot to carry out political assassinations on US soil. Law enforcement did not name the targets of the alleged plot, but legal filings suggest Trump was a potential target.
Iranian hackers have also been charged with stealing information from Trump’s campaign and trying to pass it along to news organizations. In May, prosecutors say, the men charged began trying to penetrate the Trump campaign, successfully breaking into the email accounts of campaign officials and other Trump allies. They then sought to “weaponize” the stolen campaign material by sending unsolicited emails to people associated with Biden’s campaign. None of the recipients who worked for Biden responded.
The cyberattacks have forced some staff to change their email addresses and others to be wary of communicating online.
Trump already faced unprecedented legal jeopardy for a presidential candidate, with four criminal indictments — one resulting in a felony conviction with sentencing delayed until after the election, one case dismissed, and two pending — along with civil lawsuits that carry hundreds of millions of dollars in potential penalties.
“I think that from our perspective, just from the campaign standpoint, operationally, if there’s one group of people that can handle something like this thrown in their lap, it’s the team that Donald Trump assembled to run this campaign, just based on everything we’ve had to deal with, whether it’s lawsuits to keep him off the ballot, to indictments, to assassination attempts,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita said.
Trump talks of divine intervention
As for Trump, he speaks more often publicly of divine intervention, musing that God saved him in order to save the country. He also often says that assailants only go after consequential presidents.
“Obviously, when you come within a half an inch of a very different outcome, that’s going to impact you,” said New York Rep. Elize Stefanik, another ally who said she spoke to Trump the morning after the Butler shooting.
“Of course, those moments really make you consider a higher power, why you are so committed to helping save this country,” she said. “I think it has further empowered and energized President Trump.”
Trump was recently asked by NewsNation if he’s concerned about his safety ahead of his return to Butler. “Well, I’m always worried,” he responded.
“I’m going back to Butler because I feel I have an obligation to go back to Butler. We never finished what we were supposed to do,” he said. “And I said that, when I was shot, I said, we’re coming back. We’re going to come back. And I’m fulfilling a promise; I’m fulfilling really an obligation.”
His most loyal supporters at his rallies, including the one on Long Island where he joked about the “yips,” haven’t been dissuaded from seeing him in person.
“I know some people are scared to come, but I’m not,” said Eileen Deighan, 63, a nurse from nearby Yonkers, New York, who said she was inspired by Trump’s decision to keep on campaigning given the threats.
“The fact that he didn’t give up, he’s willing to fight for our country, how could you not support that?’ she asked. “That will that he has — doesn’t give up. It’s very contagious.”
Trump told his supporters at a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday that he would continue fighting “no matter what obstacles and dangers are thrown on our path.” But he had another point to make.
“I tell you what, I had a good life before I did this,” he said. “Nobody was shooting at me. I had a hell of a life.”


 


US ready to abandon efforts to broker Russia-Ukraine peace deal, Rubio says

Updated 6 sec ago
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US ready to abandon efforts to broker Russia-Ukraine peace deal, Rubio says

  • Trump was still interested in a deal but had many other priorities around the world
Paris: The United States will stop trying to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be done, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.
Rubio, speaking in Paris after meeting European and Ukranian leaders, said that President Donald Trump was still interested in a deal but had many other priorities around the world and was willing to move on unless there are signs of progress. (Reporting by Bart H. Meijer and Dominique Vidalon Writing by Gabriel Stargardter Editing by David Goodman )

Over 170 arrested for attacks on Pakistan KFC outlets in Gaza war protests

Updated 18 min 43 sec ago
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Over 170 arrested for attacks on Pakistan KFC outlets in Gaza war protests

  • Attacks sparked by anti-US, anti-Israel sentiment
  • Several Western brands face boycotts in Pakistan over Israel-Palestine conflict

KARACHI: Police have arrested scores of people in Pakistan in recent weeks after more than 10 mob attacks on outlets of US fast-food chain KFC, sparked by anti-United States sentiment and opposition to its ally Israel’s war in Gaza, officials said.
Police in major cities in the Islamic nation, including the southern port city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore and the capital Islamabad, confirmed at least 11 incidents in which KFC outlets were attacked by protesters armed with sticks and vandalized. At least 178 people were arrested, the officials said this week.
KFC and its parent Yum Brands, both US-based, did not respond to requests for comment.
A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one KFC employee was shot and killed this week in a store on the outskirts of Lahore by unknown gunmen. The official added there was no protest at the time and they were investigating whether the killing was motivated by political sentiment or some other reason.
In Lahore, police said they were ramping up security at 27 KFC outlets around the city after two attacks took place and five others were prevented.
“We are investigating the role of different individuals and groups in these attacks,” said Faisal Kamran, a senior Lahore police officer, adding that 11 people, including a member of the Islamist religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), were arrested in the city. He added the protests were not officially organized by TLP.
TLP spokesman Rehan Mohsin Khan said the group “has urged Muslims to boycott Israeli products, but it has not given any call for protest outside KFC.”
“If any other person claiming to be a TLP leader or activist has indulged in such activity, it should be taken as his personal act which has nothing to do with the party’s policy,” said Khan.
KFC has long been viewed as a symbol of the United States in Pakistan and borne the brunt of anti-American sentiment in recent decades with protests and attacks.
Western brands have been hit by boycotts and other forms of protests in Pakistan and other Muslim-majority countries in recent months over Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The war was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.
Yum Brands has said one of its other brands, Pizza Hut, has faced a protracted impact from boycotts related to Israel’s war in Gaza.
In Pakistan, local brands have made inroads into its fast-growing cola market as some consumers avoid US brands. In 2023, Coca-Cola’s market share in the consumer sector in Pakistan fell to 5.7 percent from 6.3 percent in 2022, according to GlobalData, while PepsiCo’s fell to 10.4 percent from 10.8 percent.
Earlier this month, religious clerics in Pakistan called for a boycott of any products or brands that they say support Israel or the American economy, but asked people to stay peaceful and not destroy property. 


Chinese foreign minister calls on Global South to safeguard multilateral trade

Updated 9 min 12 sec ago
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Chinese foreign minister calls on Global South to safeguard multilateral trade

  • Wang said the world is again at a critical crossroads

BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Global South countries to safeguard multilateral trading systems, warning that power politics and “unilateral bullying” are creating divisions, in a statement his ministry released on Friday.
In a written speech to a roundtable meeting in Beijing on Thursday and referred to in the statement, Wang said the world is again at a critical crossroads, urging countries to oppose “unilateral protectionism” and build an open world economy. 


US YouTuber remains in custody in India after visiting restricted island with a Diet Coke can

Updated 55 min 31 sec ago
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US YouTuber remains in custody in India after visiting restricted island with a Diet Coke can

  • Polyakov is suspected of violating Indian laws that carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine

NEW DELHI: A 24-year-old American YouTuber who was arrested after visiting an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean with hopes of establishing contact with a reclusive tribe was further detained in custody on Thursday.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov will next appear before a local court in Port Blair — the capital of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands — on April 29, police said.
Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe.
He left a can of Diet Coke and a coconut as offering for the tribe this time after he failed to contact the Sentinelese. He shot a video of the island on his camera and collected some sand samples before returning to his boat.
“It may be claimed to be an adventure trip, but the fact is that there has been a violation of Indian laws. Outsiders meeting Sentinelese could endanger the tribe’s survival,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity as he isn’t authorized to speak about the case under investigation.
Polyakov is suspected of violating Indian laws that carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine.
Visitors are banned from traveling within 3 miles of North Sentinel Island, whose population has been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The inhabitants use spears and bows and arrows to hunt the animals that roam the small, heavily forested island. Deeply suspicious of outsiders, they attack anyone who lands onto their beaches.
In 2018, an American missionary who landed illegally on the beach was killed by North Sentinelese Islanders who apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach. In 2006, the Sentinelese killed two fishermen who had accidentally landed on the shore.
An official from the US consulate visited Polyakov in jail earlier this week. “We take our commitment to assist US citizens abroad seriously and are monitoring the situation,” the US Embassy in New Delhi said in a statement, while declining to divulge further details due to privacy considerations.
Police said Polyakov had conducted detailed research on sea conditions, tides and accessibility to the island before starting his journey. He stayed on the beach for about an hour, blowing a whistle to attract attention but got no response from the islanders.
On his return he was spotted by local fishermen, who informed the authorities and Polyakov was arrested in Port Blair, an archipelago nearly 750 miles east of India’s mainland.


France hails ‘positive process’ as Europe, US discuss Ukraine ceasefire

Updated 18 April 2025
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France hails ‘positive process’ as Europe, US discuss Ukraine ceasefire

  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressed a US peace plan during the discussions in Paris
  • Russian strikes overnight Thursday killed two people and wounded dozens of others in the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy

Paris: France said talks Thursday between top US and European officials on the war in Ukraine had launched a “positive process,” as Europe seeks to be included in efforts to end the three-year-old conflict.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio again pressed a US peace plan during the discussions in Paris.
The meetings included French President Emmanuel Macron, Rubio, US envoy Steve Witkoff, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German officials and Ukrainian ministers.
They took place as US President Donald Trump’s push to end the war stumbles, with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin rebuffing a complete truce.
“Today in Paris, we launched a positive process in which the Europeans are involved,” the French presidency said.
A new meeting of envoys from the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Ukraine will take place next week in London, it added.
Rubio later called Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the Paris meeting.
“President Trump and the United States want this war to end, and have now presented to all parties the outlines of a durable and lasting peace,” Rubio told his Russian counterpart, according to the US State Department.
“The encouraging reception in Paris to the US framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement,” he added.
In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said Lavrov “reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to continue collaborative efforts with American counterparts to comprehensively address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Lavrov and Rubio agreed on the need to maintain “prompt communication channels,” in light of the London meeting next week, the statement said.

’Europeans at the table’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has clashed with Trump, praised the talks, saying it was important to work toward “real security” in Europe.
Posting on Telegram, Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak on Friday thanked Macron “for your efforts in the process of achieving a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov however dismissed the Paris meeting, saying earlier that Europeans seemed to have “a focus on continuing the war.”
France and Britain have sought a coordinated European response to defending Ukraine, during the conflict and in any ceasefire, after Trump shocked them by opening talks with Russia.
Macron said the Paris talks were “a very important occasion for convergence,” as everybody wanted “a robust and sustainable peace.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters the talks had made a breakthrough because the United States, Ukraine, and European ministers had “gathered around the same table” when Europe had previously feared it would be excluded from decision-making.
The United States “has understood that a just and sustainable peace ... can only be achieved with the consent and contribution of Europeans,” he added later on LCI television.

Two dead in fresh strikes
Russia’s strikes, which have recently killed dozens of people including children in Ukrainian cities, have increased pressure for new diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
Russian strikes overnight Thursday killed two people and wounded dozens of others in the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy, local and regional authorities said Friday.
Zelensky earlier accused Witkoff of “spreading Russian narratives” after the US envoy suggested a peace deal with Russia hinged on the status of Ukraine’s occupied territories.
“I believe that Mr.Witkoff has taken on the strategy of the Russian side,” Zelensky told reporters.
“It is very dangerous, because he is consciously or unconsciously, I don’t know, spreading Russian narratives.”
Witkoff said this week that Putin was open to “permanent peace” after talks with the Kremlin chief in Saint Petersburg, their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Putin last month rejected a US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, after Kyiv gave its backing to the idea.
He also suggested Zelensky be removed from office, sparking an angry response from Trump who said he was “very angry” with the Russian leader.
France’s Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu held talks in Washington on Thursday with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called on France to boost military spending, a Pentagon spokesman said.
“The secretary urged France to increase defense spending and, alongside other NATO allies, take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense,” the spokesman said.