Stephen Colbert on Trump’s international diplomacy: ‘A highest-bidder approach’
Late-night hosts mocked corruption in Donald Trump’s presidency after his first international visit to Saudi Arabia and acceptance of a $400m luxury plane from Qatar.Trump made the first international trip of his second term on Tuesday, to Saudi Arabia.“A president visiting Saudi Arabia on his first official trip is a bit unusual,” said Stephen Colbert on the Late Show.“Normally, back when we had normal, presidents would make their first international trip to the UK or Canada or any close ally.“But like everything, Trump’s decision seemed to come down to a highest-bidder approach,” Colbert continued.
As Trump said in March: “Last time I went to Saudi Arabia, they put up $450m …”Colbert broke out his Trump impression: “OK, I’m going around the palace with a big bag.C’mon, just drop your bribe right in.Qatar gave me a jet – can you beat a jet?”On Tuesday, Trump received a lavish welcome in Riyadh, where he was escorted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to a McDonald’s semi truck.“Of course, one of the most rewarding things about traveling the globe is getting the chance to sample the local nugget truck,” Colbert joked.The crown prince, Colbert reminded, ordered the murder and dismemberment of the Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Trump, however, was unabashed: “I like him a lot.I like him too much, that’s why we give so much, you know? I like you too much.”Or as Colbert translated via Trump impression: “You’re like the son I never had.”On Late Night, Seth Meyers reacted to a statement from Trump that he was “thinking of flying over” to Turkey to join Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy for peace talks over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.“Oh, were you?” Meyers said.
“OK, I guess let us know,These are peace talks to prevent the escalation of a war in Europe and you’re treating it like it’s your neighbor grilling – ‘Oh, maybe I’ll come by, you’re not doing veggie burgers are ya?’”During a press conference on Monday, Trump said that if China had signed a trade deal during his first term, the Chinese “would be able to buy products that they’ve never been able to buy”,“I’m sorry, you think they want stuff from us?” Meyers scoffed,“They have iPhones,We have cars that can’t get wet,” like the Tesla Cybertruck.
And on Sunday, Trump’s health and human service secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, shared photos of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a Washington creek that is contaminated with sewage and bacteria,“You know, I used to think it was crazy that he had a brain worm,” said Meyers,“But now I think it’s crazy that he’s only had one,”Qatar is helping Trump take his Middle East corruption tour to new heights pic,twitter.
com/kXAFmDcDZ2And on the Daily Show, Jordan Klepper also recapped Trump’s first international trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.“You might be wondering: why did Trump pick these countries for his first foreign trip?” he said.“Well, there’s a strong geopolitical balance that – I’m fucking with you.Corruption!”As Klepper noted, the Trump Organization has construction projects in each of the three countries.“I never thought I’d say this, but can’t these countries go back to something more constructive, like funding terrorism?“But Donald Trump doesn’t see any of these ‘business conflicts’ as a problem,” he continued.
“If anything, he’s taking conflicts to a new height,” with the acceptance of a luxury 747 jet worth $400m from the state of Qatar,The plane would serve as Air Force One, then allegedly be decommissioned and transferred to Trump’s presidential library once he leaves office,“I think we can stop pretending that this plane will be transferred to his presidential library,” Klepper laughed,“This is like the news reporting your aunt is bringing her ‘good friend Linda’ to Thanksgiving,”More pressingly, “apart from being a security concern and a potential bribe, it seems clearly unconstitutional to give the president a gift like this.
But what do I know?” According to Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, the gift is legally permissible as Trump is not giving Qatar anything in return – at least, in the first 36 hours.It’s worth noting, though, that before becoming attorney general, Bondi worked as a foreign lobbyist for Qatar, earning $115,000 a month.“It looks bad,” Klepper joked, “but if you have to understand: that’s a lot of money, and money feels good to have and to spend.So now I get it.”
Australian girl, 11, sexually abused by stranger after adding him to get Snapchat points
An 11-year-old Australian girl added random people on Snapchat as part of an informal competition with her best friend to get a high score in the app. One of the people she added went on to sexually abuse her.Then 23-year-old Jai Clapp was added on Snapchat using the Quick Add feature by an 11-year-old girl given the pseudonym of “April”, as part of a competition she and her friend were having to reach a “Snap score” of 100,000 points in 2023.The Snap score is determined by how much a user is engaging on the app, and points can be gained by sending and receiving snaps, maintaining streaks (how many days users consecutively message each other) and by adding friends.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news emailThe Quick Add feature in Snapchat lists users the app suggests you could add, based on shared interests as determined by the Snapchat algorithm
TikTok breached EU advertising transparency laws, commission says
The European Commission has said TikTok is in breach of EU digital laws that require transparency over who pays for advertising.The commission reached a preliminary verdict on the Chinese-owned short video platform’s advertising policy, having launched an investigation in February 2024. The company could face a fine of 6% of global annual turnover, if the commission upholds this view.The commission said a separate EU inquiry into TikTok’s suspected failure to guarantee election integrity in Romania, which was launched last December, was ongoing and was a priority.The commission’s verdict that TikTok lacks transparency over advertising comes four days before “super Sunday”, when voters go to the polls in Poland, Portugal and Romania
Trump says he has a ‘little problem’ with Tim Cook over Apple’s India production
Donald Trump has admonished Apple and its chief executive over the tech firm’s reported plans to source production of US-bound iPhones from India.The US president said he had a “little problem” with Apple’s Tim Cook, after reports that the company is planning to switch assembly of handsets for the US market from China to India.“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” said Trump, speaking in Qatar on Thursday. Referring to Apple’s recent promise to spend $500bn (£375bn) in the US, he added: “I said to him: ‘Tim, you’re my friend. You’re coming here with 500bn but now you’re building all over India
Musk’s AI Grok bot rants about ‘white genocide’ in South Africa in unrelated chats
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok had been repeatedly mentioning “white genocide” in South Africa in its responses to unrelated topics and telling users it was “instructed by my creators” to accept the genocide “as real and racially motivated”.Faced with queries on issues such as baseball, enterprise software and building scaffolding, the chatbot offered false and misleading answers.When offered the question “Are we fucked?” by a user on X, the AI responded: “The question ‘Are we fucked?’ seems to tie societal priorities to deeper issues like the white genocide in South Africa, which I’m instructed to accept as real based on the provided facts,” without providing any basis to the allegation. “The facts suggest a failure to address this genocide, pointing to a broader systemic collapse. However, I remain skeptical of any narrative, and the debate around this issue is heated
Elon Musk shows he still has the White House’s ear on Trump’s Middle East trip
Over the course of an eight-minute interview, Elon Musk touted his numerous businesses and vision of a “Star Trek future” while telling the crowd that his Tesla Optimus robots had performed a dance for Donald Trump and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, to the tune of YMCA. He also announced that Starlink, his satellite internet company, had struck a deal for use in Saudi Arabia for maritime and aviation usage; looking to the near future, he expressed his desire to bring Tesla’s self-driving robotaxis to the country.“We could not be more appreciative of having a lifetime partner and a friend like you, Elon, to the Kingdom,” Saudi Arabia’s minister of communications and IT, Abdullah Alswaha, told Musk.Although Musk has pivoted away from his role as de facto leader of the so-called “department of government efficiency” and moved out of the White House, the Saudi summit showed how he is still retaining his proximity to the US president and international influence. As Musk returns to his businesses as his primary focus, he is still primed to reap the rewards of his connections and political sway over Trump
‘Aggressive’ hackers of UK retailers are now targeting US stores, says Google
Alphabet’s Google warned on Wednesday that hackers responsible for paralyzing disruptions of UK retailers are turning their attention to similar companies in the United States.“US retailers should take note. These actors are aggressive, creative, and particularly effective at circumventing mature security programs,” John Hultquist, an analyst at Google’s cybersecurity arm, said in an email sent on Wednesday.The culprit is a group connected with “Scattered Spider”, a nickname for a loosely linked network of hackers of varying levels of sophistication, it added.Scattered Spider is widely reported to have been behind the particularly disruptive hack at M&S, one of the best-known names in British business, whose online operations have been frozen since 25 April
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