NEW YORK: When a White House adviser in the first Trump administration told TV viewers to “Go buy Ivanka stuff,” top government lawyers sprang into action, telling her she had violated ethics rules and warning her not to do it again.
Government ethics experts have varying opinions on whether the 2017 criticism of Kellyanne Conway went far enough, but many agree such violations now might not even draw an official rebuke.
A week after President Donald Trump turned the White House lawn into a Tesla infomercial for Elon Musk’s cars, a second sales pitch by a US official occurred, this time for Tesla stock.
“It will never be this cheap,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday. “Buy Tesla.”
Government ethics experts say Lutnick broke a 1989 law prohibiting federal employees from using “public office for private gain,” later detailed to include a ban on ”endorsements.” Although presidents are generally exempt from government ethics rules, most federal employees are not and are often punished for violations, including rebukes like the one Conway got.
As of Friday, no public action had been taken against Lutnick and it was unclear whether he would suffer a similar fate.
“They’re not even thinking of ethics,” said Trump critic and former Republican White House ethics czar Richard Painter of administration officials.
Painter has equally low expectations of that other possible brake to future violations — public opinion: ”I don’t know if people care.”
In his first term, Trump opened his hotel near the Oval Office to foreign ambassadors and lobbyists in what many legal scholars argued was a violation of a constitutional ban against presidents receiving payments or gifts that could distort public policy for private gain. His company launched a new hotel chain called “America Idea” in hopes of cashing in on his celebrity. Trump even once proposed holding a G-7 meeting of world leaders at his then-struggling Doral golf resort.
The ‘Buy Ivanka’ rebuke
But the reaction to Conway’s “Ivanka stuff” comment suggested certain lines couldn’t be crossed.
Within days of Conway’s TV comments, the head of the federal ethics agency, the Office of Government Ethics, wrote a letter to the White House saying Trump’s adviser may have broken the law and urging a probe. A White House lawyer then met with Conway to remind her of the law and reported to the ethics office that she had assured him she would abide by it in future.
But this time, there is no head of the Office of Government Ethics. He was fired by Trump. Ditto for the inspector generals of various agencies who would head any investigation.
“What is likely to happen now? I really don’t know,” said Kedric Payne, chief lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit watchdog that sent a letter to the government ethics office on Friday calling for an investigation. “We no longer have the head of the Office of Government Ethics to push the Commerce Department to make sure the secretary acknowledges the law.”
Payne said Lutnick’s comment on TV may seem like a small transgression but it could snowball into a bigger problem if not punished.
“It starts with one TV appearance, but can develop into multiple officials asking people to support companies and products,” Payne said. “If there are no consequences, you get into a danger zone of a corruption.”
Trump critics point to other signs that Trump is careless with the law and ethical norms, citing his pardons for Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, a decision to allow his Trump Organization to strike business deals abroad and his attack on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act banning US company bribes abroad to win business.
Jelly beans and airlines
When it comes endorsing products, presidents used to be far more circumspect.
Their comments were mostly quick asides expressing opinions of taste, such as when Harry Truman called Pillsbury flour the “finest” or John F. Kennedy said United Airlines was “reliable.”
Ronald Reagan famously enthused about his jelly beans habit, remarking that they were the “perfect snack.”
Trump had five Teslas lined up in the White House driveway last week as he praised Musk’s company. Then he slipped into a red Model S he had targeted for personal purchase, exclaiming, “Wow. That’s beautiful.”
“Presidents are allowed to have personal opinions on products they like and dislike,” said ethics lawyer Kathleen Clark, referring to the Truman through Reagan examples. ”But what Trump did was transform the White House into a set for advertising the products of a private company.”
“It’s the difference between holding an extravaganza and holding an opinion.”
Calls for Musk investigation
In the aftermath of the Tesla White House event, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three other senators wrote a letter to the Office of Government Ethics saying that, while presidents are exempt from ethics law banning endorsements, Elon Musk isn’t and calling for an investigation.
A spokeswoman from Warren’s office said the government ethics office had not yet responded about what it planned to do about the White House Tesla endorsement. The Office of Government Ethics itself said it would not comment on either the Warren letter or Lutnick’s TV appearance.
The Commerce Department did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment.
Asked whether Lutnick would be reprimanded or an investigation opened, White House spokesman Kush Desai defended Lutnick, lauding “his immensely successful private sector career” and his “critical role on President Trump’s trade and economic team.”
Former White House ethics chief Painter says Democrats have also played loose with the ethics law.
He is harshly critical of the Clinton charity, the Clinton Foundation, which was taking donations from foreign governments when Hillary Clinton was the country’s chief diplomat as secretary of state. Painter also blasts former President Joe Biden for not removing his name from a University of Pennsylvania research institute when he was in office even though it appeared to be helping draw donations overseas.
But Painter says the slide from caring about ethics laws and norms to defiance has hit a new low.
“There’s been a deterioration in ethics,” he said. “What Biden did wasn’t good, but this is worse.”
Legal experts say Trump official broke law by saying ‘Buy Tesla’ stock but don’t expect a crackdown
https://arab.news/9wftb
Legal experts say Trump official broke law by saying ‘Buy Tesla’ stock but don’t expect a crackdown
- “It will never be this cheap,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday. “Buy Tesla.”
Ukraine completes steps for minerals deal with US, deputy prime minister says
Ukraine has concluded procedures for implementation of a deal with the United States on exploiting minerals, including the operation of an investment fund, the country’s first deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.
Yulia Svyrydenko gave few details of the latest step in securing approval of the accord, promoted by US President Donald Trump, but it was known that two additional documents were drawn up as part of its implementation.
“Another milestone on the path to launching the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund: Ukraine has completed all necessary procedures on schedule,” Svyrydenko wrote in English on social media.
She said a note certifying completion of the process had been handed to interim US Charge d’Affaires Julie Davis.
“These are equal agreements — forward-looking, aligned with Ukraine’s national interests, and structured to ensure investment flows exclusively into Ukraine’s recovery and growth,” Svyrydenko wrote.
After weeks of tough negotiations following a shouting match between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office, Svyrydenko signed the minerals agreement in Washington and it was ratified last week by the Ukrainian parliament.
After that vote, Svyrydenko described the accord as “not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner.”
The minerals agreement hands the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and sets up the investment fund, which could be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine for the first 10 years.
Ukraine also sees the deal as a way to unlock supplies of new US weapons, especially additional Patriot air defense systems it sees as vital to protect against Russian air attacks.
Zelensky hailed the reworked draft of the agreement as a marked improvement over earlier versions that some critics in Ukraine had denounced as “colonial.” The accord also acknowledges Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union.
Macron says France does not want ‘World War III’ over Ukraine
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France did not want to unleash “World War III” over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and vowed referendums on key issues as he outlined his aims for for the remaining two years of his mandate in a marathon television appearance.
Macron, who came to power in 2017 promising radical change, will step down in 2027 after serving the maximum two terms allowed under the constitution.
On occasion over the last year, Macron has appeared as a lame duck especially after his decision to hold snap legislative elections backfired, leaving the far-right as the biggest party in parliament and his own party a diminished, minority presence.
But recent months have seen a newly energised Macron, boosted by his presence on the international front as he seeks to bring an end to the three-year-war sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We must help Ukraine defend itself but we do not want to unleash a Third World War,” Macron said in the interview that lasted more than three hours.
“The war must cease and Ukraine must be in the best possible situation to go into negotiations,” he added.
But Macron said France was ready to start discussing with other European countries deploying French warplanes armed with nuclear weapons on their territory, as the United States does.
“The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkiye,” Macron said.
“We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come,” he said.
Those who put their points of view in front of Macron ranged from the head of the hard-line CGT union, Sophie Binet, to Tibo Inshape, a muscular and massively followed fitness influencer.
Amid concern about some 600 jobs in France, Macron told Binet that the French operations of steelmaker ArcelorMittal would not be nationalized but vowed to save its two plants in the country.
In a key announcement, he said he favored holding several referendums on the same day for voters to decide on French social and economic “reforms.”
“I want us to organize a series of consultations,” Macron said, adding that the votes would take place on one day in coming months and address “major” economic and social reforms.
While he would not go into details, he was open to a suggestion by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who has proposed holding a referendum on a plan to reduce France’s debt.
However, Macron rejected the idea of putting immigration issues to a popular vote despite repeated requests from the right and far right.
Tackling delicate social issues, the French president spoke out against the wearing of religious symbols, such as the Islamic veil, in sports competitions, but he added that for non-competitive sports practice it was up to sports federations to decide.
While Macron, 47, must step down in 2027 after serving two consecutive terms, he could in theory return in 2032, something no French leader has ever done before.
But he said at the end of the TV marathon he had not yet thought about his future after 2027 and was only thinking of France in his daily work.
New suburban Chicago mayor promises equal rights for Arabs ‘disrespected’ by predecessor
- Jim Dodge tells Arab News all residents deserve same level of respect ‘regardless of their race, religion or national origin,’ and irrespective of any issue they might raise
- He defeated Keith Pekau, who last year clashed during a village meeting with Arab Americans who asked him to support a ceasefire in Gaza, telling them to ‘go to another country’
ORLAND PARK, ILLINOIS: Jim Dodge, who on April 1 won the election to become mayor of Orland Park in suburban Chicago, unseating a predecessor accused of disrespecting and bullying local Arab Americans, vowed that those residents will now receive “the respect they deserve as community residents, business owners, taxpayers and families.”
In an interview with Arab News, he said that every resident deserves to receive the same level of respect “regardless of their race, religion or national origin,” and irrespective of any particular issue they might want to raise.
Dodge’s comment related to a confrontation during a village board meeting on Feb. 5, 2024, between the former mayor, Keith Pekau, and 75 members of the Arab American community who asked him to support a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The board had passed a similar resolution on Ukraine a few months earlier but Pekau responded to the Gaza request by brushing it aside, criticizing the residents and telling them to “go to another country” if they did not like living in America.
When Arab Americans attending the meeting protested against his comments, Pekau ordered them out of the chamber, paused the meeting until they were gone, and then reconvened with no members of the public present and continued to berate the community over its request.
Dodge described Pekau’s response to the residents of the village as “inappropriate” and “disrespectful,” adding: “We are all people who live in Orland Park and we want to see the best things for our community, for our families and for our children. It’s about attitude. That’s not what we saw at that meeting.
“Nobody should be prejudged because of their race, religion or ethnicity. Orland Park has a strong and vibrant, diverse community of residents and they all deserve respect, regardless of the issues. Arab Americans are no different than any other community we have in Orland Park; Irish, Polish, Hispanics, many others — everyone should be treated with respect and that is what I promise my administration will do.”
Pekau’s abusive response motivated Arab Americans in the area to make an effort to increase voter engagement in the run-up to the elections. More than 1,000 Arab Americans subsequently registered to vote, which played a part in removing Pekau from office.
Dodge, who received 9,539 votes in the mayoral election to Pekau’s 6,960, said what Arab Americans had experienced was similar to the experiences of other communities in the village under Pekau’s brand of leadership. “Together, they all brought this important change,” he added.
Dodge, who held his first board meeting last week, said one of his first priorities will be to restore the village’s committee system, which Pekau dismantled, that allows residents to participate in policy decisions and engage with officials directly on a variety of important issues. He added that he would meet with leaders from all communities to ensure they can engage in this way.
Arab American community leaders welcomed Dodge’s “open-minded approach to government and inclusion.”
Mohammed Jaber, who serves as a board trustee for High School District 230, which contains three high schools with a large proportion of Arab students, said the approach promised by the new mayor was exactly what Orland Park and its Arab American residents need.
“The most important thing is to be involved and work with one another for the betterment of Orland Park,” Jaber told Arab News.
“It doesn’t mean that everyone agrees on an issue, it means that our officials listen and consider the positions and ideas we have as constituents, especially since we are 25 percent of the tax base. That in itself is a major change from the past administration.”
Lena Matariyeh, who won a seat on the Orland Township Board of Trustees in another local election on April 1, said past experiences with Pekau and other nonresponsive local elected officials had shown Arab Americans the importance of being actively engaged with local elections and speaking out on community issues.
“What happens in our local communities, like Orland Park, truly matters,” she told Arab News. “Change begins at the grassroots level and when we come together, regardless of background, we can help shape the future we want to see.
“The recent elections showed an inspiring level of engagement from the Arab American community, and many others who are stepping up, getting involved and making their voices heard. It’s about ensuring that all communities feel represented, respected and included in the decisions that impact their daily lives.”
Hassan Nijem, president of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, praised Dodge for his commitment to respecting all residents, including Arab Americans.
“This is significant that a mayor of a major suburban city has said that he rejects the disrespect the former mayor showed to our community,” Nijem told Arab News.
“Our community came together and we got involved to make change happen, and we did that. We are looking forward to being actively involved in local government issues, to being heard, and to participating in forging the future of Orland Park, which has a large Arab American community.”
Arab Americans need to develop stronger voices in their communities, and the wider country, if they hope to increase their ability to help bring about peaceful, positive change in the Middle East, where their origins lie.
Arab American candidates won 18 of 36 election contests in the Chicagoland suburbs last month, a feat that surpassed previous voting achievements. Orland Park has more than 58,000 residents and is the largest municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago.
Uruguay’s ex-president Jose 'Pepe' Mujica dead at 89
- Jose 'Pepe' Mujica was a guerrilla fighter and hero of the Latin American left
- Mujica won fame as the 'world’s poorest president' for giving away much of his salary to charity
MONTEVIDEO: Uruguay’s former president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a guerrilla fighter and hero of the Latin American left, has died at the age of 89, the government in Montevideo said Tuesday.
“With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” the country’s current president, Yamandu Orsi, said on X.
Mujica won fame as the “world’s poorest president” for giving away much of his salary to charity, during his 2010-2015 presidency.
In May 2024, he was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, which later spread to his liver.
His wife Lucia Topolansky said this week he was receiving palliative care.
The man who made Uruguay into a paragon of progressive politics by legalizing abortion, gay marriage and the use of recreational cannabis, campaigned for the left until the end.
In a November 2024 interview with AFP he described the presidential victory of his political heir, history teacher Orsi, as “a reward” at the end of his career.
The blunt-spoken, snowy-haired politician was a fierce critic of consumer culture.
As president he walked the talk by actively rejecting the trappings of office.
He attended official events in sandals and continued living on his small farm on the outskirts of Montevideo, where his prized possession was a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.
Tupamaros movement
In the 1960s, he co-founded the Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla movement Tupamaros, which started out robbing from the rich to give to the poor but later escalated its campaign to kidnappings, bombings and assassinations.
During those years, Mujica lived a life of derring-do. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and took part in a mass prison breakout.
But when the Tupamaros collapsed in 1972, he was recaptured and spent all of Uruguay’s 1973-1985 dictatorship in prison, where he was tortured and spent years in solitary confinement.
After his release, he threw himself into politics and in 1989 founded the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP), the largest member of the leftist Broad Front coalition.
Elected to parliament in 1995, he became a senator in 2000 and then agriculture minister in Uruguay’s first-ever left-wing government.
He served just one five-year term as president, in line with Uruguay’s term limits.
Mujica had no children and is survived by fellow ex-guerrilla Topolansky.
Carney says new govt will ‘relentlessly’ protect Canada sovereignty
- “Canadians elected this new government with a strong mandate to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States,” Carney said
- Carney replied the Canada “won’t be for sale, ever“
OTTAWA: Canada’s new government will relentlessly protect the nation’s sovereignty as it works to redefine fraught relations with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday as his cabinet was sworn in.
Carney’s election win two weeks ago was largely defined by threats from President Donald Trump, whose trade war and repeated talk of annexing the United States’ northern neighbor upended Canadian politics.
Carney, a former central banker with experience leading through major financial crises, convinced enough voters that he was the right choice to take on Trump, whose tariffs on imported autos and other goods have already cost Canadian jobs.
“Canadians elected this new government with a strong mandate to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States,” Carney said in a statement before his new ministers took their oaths.
Addressing reporters after the ceremony, with a cabinet of Liberal Party loyalists assembled behind him, Carney said his “government will work relentlessly to keep Canada secure as a sovereign nation.”
Trump discussed absorbing Canada into the United States on several occasions in his first Oval Office meeting with Carney last week.
The president insisted it would be a “wonderful marriage” if Canada agreed to his repeated calls to become the 51st US state.
Carney replied the Canada “won’t be for sale, ever,” and referenced the deep hostility among Canadians toward the prospect of a political union with the United States.
Carney’s cabinet retains several key figures involved in negotiating with the Trump administration over tariffs, although some job titles have shifted.
Dominic LeBlanc, who has dealt directly with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in recent weeks, has been named the minister responsible for Canada-US trade.
Former foreign minister Melanie Joly has been moved to industry minister, with Anita Anand replacing her as Canada’s top diplomat.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is keeping his post.
Since taking over from Justin Trudeau on March 14 as prime minister, Carney has tried to create distance from the previous Liberal regime, which became deeply unpopular over its decade in power.
His cabinet includes Trudeau allies, but also brings in new faces.
Evan Solomon, a prominent former journalist entering parliament for the first time, has been named minister for artificial intelligence, a new post nodding at Carney’s pledge to transform Canada’s economy.
Carney said his cabinet will be focused on a “core mission,” which is “to create the strongest economy in the G7.”
He promised to act fast on a middle class tax cut and remove inter-provincial trade barriers by Canada Day, on July 1, a move some economist believe could soften the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
Carney had a lucrative career as an investment banker before serving as the governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England.
He is a political novice who will be new to parliament when the House of Commons reconvenes on May 27, opening with a throne speech by King Charles III, the head of state in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth.
But Carney assured voters his experience in the private sector and as a central banker will help him rebuild Canada’s economy, a message that resonated with voters.
Opinion polls showed the Liberals trailing the Conservatives by more than 20 points at the start of the year, but Carney’s replacing Trudeau, combined with Trump’s threats, sparked an unprecedented comeback.
The Liberals fell just short of the 172 seats needed for majority control of Parliament, but with 170 confirmed wins they will be in a strong position to pass legislation.
