Aurelia Butler

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    Trump Family’s Cash Registers Ring as Financial Meltdown Plays Out

    The party was on at a Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament at the president’s Doral resort in Florida and a fund-raiser at Mar-a-Lago, even as markets tumbled.The financial market meltdown was underway when President Trump boarded Air Force One on his way to Florida on Thursday for a doubleheader of sorts: a Saudi-backed golf tournament at his family’s Miami resort and a weekend of fund-raisers attracting hundreds of donors to his Palm Beach club.It was a fresh reminder that in his second term, Mr. Trump has continued to find ways to drive business to his family-owned real-estate ventures, a practice he has sustained even when his work in Washington has caused worldwide financial turmoil.The Trump family monetization weekend started Thursday night, as crowds began to form at both the Trump National Doral resort near Miami International Airport, and separately at his Mar-a-Lago resort 70 miles up the coast.Mr. Trump landed on the edge of one of the golf courses in a military helicopter — just in time for a dinner at Doral. The next day, LIV Golf, the breakaway professional league backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, was scheduled to hold a tournament at the course for the fourth time.On Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, hundreds of guests gathered for the American Patriots Gala, a conservative fund-raiser that featured Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and President Javier Milei of Argentina, who told his supporters back home that he was hoping to catch up with Mr. Trump while there, seemingly unaware that Mr. Trump was double-booked at two of his family properties that night.And that was just the weekend’s lead-up.Mr. Trump ordered a new set of global tariffs on Wednesday from the White House using his trademark Sharpie pen, a version of which is on sale at Mar-a-Lago for $3.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Musk Says He Hopes Europe and U.S. Move to a ‘Zero-Tariff Situation’

    Only three days after President Trump announced sweeping tariffs, including a 20 percent tariff on goods from the European Union, Elon Musk said on Saturday that he hoped that Europe and the United States moved “to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free-trade zone.”Mr. Musk made the remarks during a videoconference appearance with Italy’s far-right League party in Florence. They came after the tech billionaire turned presidential confidant had stayed largely silent about Mr. Trump’s tariffs.During Mr. Trump’s first term, Mr. Musk had said there should be “no tariffs at all either way” between the United States and Britain.Mr. Musk also said that he hoped that the United States and Europe could “establish a very close partnership,” a statement that contrasted with the contempt members of Mr. Trump’s administration have shown for Europe, and statements by Mr. Trump himself, who claimed the European Union was created to “screw” America. He added that he wished there were “more freedom of people to move between Europe and North America.”Mr. Musk’s appearance at the League’s meeting, in which he warned of the dangers of censorship and mass immigration, came as he continued to use his influence to bolster far-right forces across Europe.Just a day earlier, Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump had voiced support for Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader, who was convicted this week on embezzlement charges and disqualified from running for public office. Earlier this year, Mr. Musk publicized the German far-right Alternative for Germany party and weighed into Italy’s immigration debate, prompting the country’s president to rebuke him.On Saturday, he appeared at the party conference with Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League party. During his brief intervention, Mr. Musk also promoted the activities of his cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, supported Mr. Trump’s position on the war in Ukraine and attacked what he called the overregulation of the European Union. More

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    Former Aides to Ken Paxton Win $6.6 Million in Whistle-Blower Case

    A judge found that four whistle-blowers who accused Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, of corruption and reported him to the F.B.I. were unjustly fired.A judge awarded a total of $6.6 million to four former high-level aides to Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, who claimed that they were unduly fired after reporting him to federal investigators and accusing him of corruption in 2020.The plaintiffs — Blake Brickman, Mark Penley, David Maxwell and Ryan Vassar — proved that the attorney general’s office violated the state’s whistle-blower act, Judge Catherine Mauzy of a district court in Travis County ruled on Friday.Each plaintiff was awarded between $1 million and more than $2 million for lost wages, emotional pain, legal fees and other costs associated with the trial.“The Court finds that Plaintiffs have proved liability, damages, and reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees by a preponderance of the evidence,” Judge Mauzy wrote in her ruling.Judge Mauzy also noted that Mr. Paxton never disputed any issue or fact in the case, opting not to contest his office’s liability. Mr. Paxton did not testify.Tom Nesbitt, a lawyer for Mr. Brickman, celebrated the decision.“Yesterday’s judgment is the natural and intended consequence of Ken Paxton’s choice to surrender rather than fight the whistle-blowers’ claims in court,” he said in a statement on Saturday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Prosectors on George Santos Case Seek 7-Year Sentence

    The disgraced former congressman is set to be sentenced on April 25. His lawyers asked for a penalty of two years, the minimum allowed.Federal prosecutors on Friday asked for a prison sentence of more than seven years for George Santos, the former Republican congressman from New York whose career unraveled after he told a series of lies, and who later pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft.Prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York asked in a court filing for a sentence of 87 months to reflect the “seriousness of his unparalleled crimes.”Mr. Santos, 36, is set to be sentenced on April 25, bringing to an end a criminal case that began in 2023. Prosecutors charged him with 23 felony counts while he was still a representative in Congress.A provocateur who insisted on his innocence even as his serial falsehoods came to light, Mr. Santos pleaded guilty last August to two of the counts and admitted to an array of other frauds. Guidelines call for a sentence of roughly six to seven years in prison, though a judge will make the final decision later this month.In his drive to seek higher office, the prosecutors’ filing said, Mr. Santos fabricated his past and engaged in deceitful schemes, including inflating his fund-raising numbers and stealing from donors. “He lied to his campaign staff, his supporters, his putative employer and congressional colleagues, and the American public,” the prosecutors wrote.“Santos’s conduct has made a mockery of our election system,” they added.Lawyers for Mr. Santos, Robert M. Fantone and Joseph W. Murray, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday morning. In a separate filing on Friday, they asked for a sentence of two years, the minimum allowed for the crimes involved, followed by probation. Mr. Santos had acknowledged the gravity of his crimes, the filing said, and agreed to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Communities Brace for Flooding as Storm Moves Across Central U.S.

    The rising water levels have prompted rescues and road closures. The storm, which has already wreaked havoc across the South and the Midwest, doesn’t show signs of letting up.Rivers were rising rapidly across much of the Midwest and South on Saturday, prompting water rescues and road closures as a relentless storm continued to dump rain and to rage across the country. The increased flooding, which was happening from Texas to Ohio, came after days of heavy rains and tornadoes that killed at least nine people, including a Missouri firefighter who died while responding to a water rescue call on Friday. Forecasters warned that the floods might continue well into next week, with rivers not expected to crest in some places until Tuesday or Wednesday.Emergency workers reported overnight water rescues in Texarkana, Texas; Izard County, Ark.; and several places in southern Missouri, including around Cape Girardeau. “We’ve got flooded streets everywhere — and lots more rain on the way,” the Texarkana police posted on Facebook.On Friday, the local sheriff in Izard County, in northern Arkansas, was traveling to rescue a family when he crashed his truck on a washed-out road. The sheriff was not injured, but photos showed his truck partially submerged.“All county roads will have major damage like this for the coming days that can be hidden by the water,” the department warned, adding that people should stay home if possible. More

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    Dave Pelz, Scientist Turned Golf Instructor, Is Dead at 85

    After working at NASA, he became a renowned expert on putting and shots close to the green through his coaching, books, television appearances and training aids.Dave Pelz, who left his job as a scientist at NASA to study the short game of golf, a detour that would make him a celebrated guru of putts and wedge shots, died on March 23 at his home in Dripping Springs, Texas, near Austin. He was 85.David Pelly, Pelz’s stepson and the chief executive of his company, Dave Pelz Golf, said the cause was prostate cancer.While most golfers focus more on how to drive long distances, Pelz concentrated on the short game — shots from within 100 yards, including putting and chipping and blasting out of bunkers with a wedge. In his early statistical research, he found that 80 percent of shots lost to par occur within that distance, and that putting makes up 43 percent of the game.“Golfers think that their first two shots are the game,” he said on the PBS talk show “Charlie Rose” in 2010. “They drive almost every hole. They hit to the green almost every hole. But what they don’t think about is that after you hit those first two shots, and you don’t hit the green, there are two, three or four more shots.”As a golf instructor, Pelz demonstrated putting techniques in 1999. He found that putting makes up 43 percent of the game.Bill Kennedy/The New York TimesPelz, recognizable in his trademark broad-brimmed sun hat, became a major influence on the short game. He developed training aids and created clubs (he had about 20 patents); wrote instruction books; had his own Golf Channel show; opened schools for amateurs at golf resorts; and coached professional golfers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Netanyahu Will Meet Trump in Washington

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is set to meet with President Trump at the White House on Monday, according to a White House official, in the second such visit by the Israeli leader since the new administration began in January.Mr. Netanyahu will arrive in Washington after renewing Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza late last month, despite efforts by Mr. Trump’s aides to broker a new truce to stop the fighting there and free more hostages.A spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli prime minister has been in Hungary on a state visit, where he met with the country’s leader, Viktor Orban.During Mr. Netanyahu’s last visit, Mr. Trump described a vision for Gaza that involved a U.S. takeover and the mass exit of Palestinians from the enclave. Mr. Netanyahu has since issued a call for what he calls voluntary emigration by Gazans, which critics have denounced as effectively forced displacement.Israeli forces have been steadily bombarding Gaza and advancing deeper into the enclave since the war resumed in late March. Israel has also barred aid from entering Gaza in an apparent attempt to pressure Hamas, leading to fears of a worsening humanitarian crisis for Gaza’s civilians.The Trump administration has thrown its weight behind Israel, blaming Hamas for the return to fighting. Hamas has accused Israel of overturning the cease-fire that Mr. Trump’s aides had helped broker. More

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    Firing of National Security Agency Chief Rattles Lawmakers

    As soon as word spread that President Trump had fired Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, current and former administration officials began floating theories about why he had been let go.Had General Haugh opposed one of Mr. Trump’s initiatives, perhaps moved too slowly on purging officers who had worked on diversity issues? Or was he a casualty of the administration’s shifting priorities to counter narcotics?Whether any of that was true, it had little, if anything, to do with why he was fired.General Haugh was ousted because Laura Loomer, a far-right wing conspiracy theorist and Trump adviser, had accused him and his deputy of disloyalty, according to U.S. officials and Ms. Loomer’s social media post early Friday. He was one of several national security officials fired this past week on her advice.“I predict you are going to see some nonsense statement about some policy difference or something General Haugh wasn’t doing, but we all know what happened,” said Senator Angus King, a Maine independent who is on the intelligence and armed services committees. “Laura Loomer said it. She is the one who told Trump to fire him.”Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and former majority leader, lamented that the Trump White House had ousted General Haugh and was appointing people to Pentagon posts who were skeptical of America’s engagement with allies and the world.“If decades of experience in uniform isn’t enough to lead the N.S.A. but amateur isolationists can hold senior policy jobs at the Pentagon, then what exactly are the criteria for working on this administration’s national security staff?” Mr. McConnell said. “I can’t figure it out.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More