Former US president Donald Trump was the elephant not in the room at the first Republican debate of the 2024 election cycle, instead turning to an interview with alt-right media figure Tucker Carlson to have his say.
The pre-recorded 45-minute discussion failed to provide any new insight into Mr Trump's posture or beliefs.
His main points were clear, but well-worn: his top priority is the southern border, the media is “corrupt”, the establishment Republicans are out to get him and the 2020 election results were a “fraud”.
The former president briefly addressed his administration's 2020 killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force commander Maj Gen Qassem Suleimani.
“We killed many using the CIA. I have to say this bad, very bad actors. Were very good at it,” Mr Trump said, before backtracking on his comments that the CIA was seriously involved in the Iranian military leader's killing.
“That was really us [the White House] … Not so much CIA, but we did some very good work with the CIA.”
The assassination of Maj Gen Suleimani in Iraq set off an escalating war of words between Tehran and Washington. In its aftermath, Iranian politicians voted to designate all US forces around the world as “terrorists”.
Later in 2020, Iran sentenced a man to death over allegations that he provided information on Maj Gen Suleimani to US and Israeli intelligence agencies.
Mr Trump aimed a number of foreign policy-related barbs at US President Joe Biden and said that Washington would be a stronger competitor against China with the Republican back in office.
When Carlson asked Mr Trump what he believed leaders of rival nations, namely Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, thought of Mr Biden, he replied: “I think they can't believe it … they had great respect for our country. They respected me, they had great respect for our country.”
On the war in Ukraine, he called Mr Biden “incompetent”.
“That's a war that should end immediately … it would have never started if I were president,” he said.
Mr Trump was accused of cozying up to Moscow during his time in office and even faced impeachment over allegations he attempted to coerce Ukraine into handing over damaging information about the Bidens, threatening to pull military aid.
In a 2018 meeting in Helsinki, Mr Trump failed to challenge Mr Putin on any major issue and blamed the decline in relations on both sides, saying: “The United States has been foolish. I think we’ve all been foolish … We’re all to blame.”
One analyst at Brookings wrote following that summit: “In a matter of minutes in Helsinki, and in front of the entire world, the Kremlin won the narrative and Russian President Vladimir Putin strutted out of his joint press conference with President Trump with the glow of victory.”
The Wednesday night discussion with Carlson at times waded into much darker waters, sidelining kitchen-table policy issues in favour of discussing the potential for his own assassination, the possibility of civil war and conspiracies around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The interview was streamed at the same time as the first Republican debate, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and hosted by Fox News.
Mr Trump declined to participate in the Fox News debate, citing his high polling numbers.
It was an awkward absence for the main debate stage; the former president is well ahead in the polls, with none of his challengers so far posing a substantial risk to his achieving the Republican nomination.
Adding to the irony is Carlson's own interest in outcompeting the network debate event.
He was fired from his primetime slot on Fox News earlier this year, less than a week after the network agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a defamation lawsuit, during which a series of concerning text messages sent by Carlson around the time of the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection were revealed.
The interview was streamed hours before Mr Trump was due to turn himself in for his indictment in Georgia over allegedly attempting to reverse his loss in the state in the 2020 presidential election.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
More on Quran memorisation:
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
