USA: Hegseth fires head of popular military newspaper

News blog about US politics

Hegseth fires head of popular military newspaper

Trump can continue building his ballroom. The head of a military newspaper is fired. All developments in the news blog.

The US government under President Donald Trump wants to transfer $725 million in outstanding contributions to the United Nations (UN). This emerges from a letter from the State Department to Congress dated August 4th, which is available to the Reuters news agency. However, according to a US government official, the payment is linked to further reforms by the world organization. As of Friday, no money had flowed. The U.N. are in a deep financial crisis. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of an impending insolvency this year.

The USA are the UN’s largest donor, but under Trump have withheld mandatory contributions and pushed for drastic cuts. According to the UN in May, the US debt amounts to more than four billion dollars Washington but rejected.

The Pentagon fired the editor-in-chief of the military newspaper “Stars and Stripes” as well as its publisher and a reporter on Friday. The editor-in-chief himself told the AP news agency. He cited insubordination as the reason – after an interview in which he spoke out against possible censorship by the military.

Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, which is partially funded by the Pentagon but traditionally operates editorially independently, said he and the others had received termination letters.

Slavin said he was being fired because he said in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for soldiers would be a red line. He continues to stand by the principle that “Stars and Stripes” must remain editorially independent. In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, the newspaper’s ombudsman, whose job it had been to protect editorial independence. The newspaper is particularly popular with soldiers overseas because it provides them with current news from home.

The US Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to continue construction of a new ballroom at the White House. The court temporarily stayed a judge’s order that would have halted much of the $400 million project. This gives the judges time to decide on a government application. They want to continue the work while a monument protection organization is suing the project.

The Justice Department argued in a letter dated August 14 that the project was imperative for national security reasons. The lawyers referred to assassination attempts and other recent threats against the president. Trump himself described the complex, which is also said to include bunkers and medical facilities, as a military center. The nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation sued last year after the government demolished the east wing of the White House and began construction on the 8,360-square-foot hall. There was no express consent from Congress.