Headline

Trump Pleads Not Guilty In Federal Classified Documents Case

Published

2 years ago

June 14, 2023

Former U.S. president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges on Tuesday in connection with his handling of classified documents and alleged attempts to prevent the government from recovering them.

It marks the first time an American president has been charged with a federal crime.

If found guilty in the case, he could face a lengthy prison term.

Trump was brought in about 15 minutes before the hearing began and sat slumped over in his chair, hands clasped in his lap, as he waited for the judge to arrive, ABC News reported.

He looked down at the floor for most of the hearing and his lawyer waived a reading of the 49-page indictment.

Special counsel Jack Smith sat in the front row watching Trump closely, but didn’t speak, CBS News reported.

“We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche told federal Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, who oversaw the arraignment.

Trump was released on his own recognisance, wasn’t asked to surrender his passport and is still allowed to travel internationally, according to news reports.

Goodman ordered Trump not to discuss the case with his personal aide and co-defendant Walt Nauta or witnesses.

Trump, who is again seeking the Republican presidential nomination, was scheduled to return to his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Tuesday night for a private fundraiser, where he planned to deliver live remarks.

It was not immediately clear whether the date of his next hearing had been set.

After a year-long investigation, the Justice Department on Friday unsealed the indictment of the former president, charging that he improperly took classified documents when his presidency ended and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve hundreds of secret documents – some of them related to U.S. nuclear weapons operations and national defense vulnerabilities.

The indictment states that Trump kept them in unsecured areas of his Florida estate, including a bathroom, ballroom, and storage room.

The Mar-a-Lago property is a private club that hosts thousands of people each year.

According to the indictment, top-secret and other classified records the FBI recovered after a subpoena and a search of the property included details on U.S. and foreign nations’ nuclear and other defense and weapons capabilities, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies to military attack, and plans for possible retaliation in response to such an attack.

The indictment also details two instances in which Trump discussed and showed classified documents to people who did not have security clearances.

Trump is charged with willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding documents or records, corruptly concealing documents in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal, and making false statements and representations.

In a Truth Social post hours before his appearance, Trump called Smith a “thug” and accused him, his friends, and his family of planting evidence in the case.

Trump also questioned why Smith had not reviewed allegations against President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which Smith doesn’t have the authority to review.

Nauta faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding documents or records, corruptly concealing documents in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal, and making false statements and representations.

His arraignment was delayed for several weeks after he was unable to secure local counsel.

This is the second time this spring that Trump has been in court to enter a not-guilty plea.

He was indicted in New York City in March on charges related to an alleged hush money payment made to a porn actor in the final days of the 2016 campaign.

He also faces two ongoing criminal probes into his role in 2020 election interference.

The magistrate judge refused a request by media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, to allow photos and videos of the unprecedented proceedings.

Chief U.S. Judge for Southern District of Florida Cecilia Altonaga separately banned reporters from carrying any electronics into the courtroom.

Outside the courthouse, supporters of the former president chanted, “Free Donald Trump!” and “USA!” while waving “Make America Great Again” flags.

Opponents held up signs that read, “Trump, you are not above the law” and “31 counts of espionage; lock him up!”
(tca/dpa/NAN)

Headline

Christian Genocide’: Trump Designates Nigeria As Country Of Particular Concern

Published

9 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

United States President, Donald Trump, has named Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” citing what he described as a growing threat to Christianity in the nation.

In a statement on Truth Social on Friday, Trump claimed thousands of Christians have been killed by radical Islamist groups and urged U.S. lawmakers to investigate the situation urgently.

Trump maintained that the United States would not stand by while Christians in Nigeria and other parts of the world face persecution, adding that America remains ready to protect Christian populations globally.

He said, “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.

“When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.

“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”

His declaration follows increasing criticism from U.S. politicians and public figures who claim that Christians in Nigeria are facing systematic violence.

Recently, US comedian and HBO host Bill Maher accused Islamist groups of carrying out a genocide against Christians in the country.

“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over a hundred thousand since 2009. They’ve burnt 18,000 churches. These are the Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.

“They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” Maher said.

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Similarly, US Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Nigerian government officials were “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.”

Cruz also lamented that Christians in the country were being targeted for their faith by terrorist groups and “are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.”

He said it was “long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities,” adding that he had introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act to the US Senate to sanction such officials.

In the same vein, Riley Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District in the US Congress, wrote to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging him to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

Moore also called for a suspension of arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government demonstrates commitment to ending what he described as “a reign of persecution and slaughter against Christians.”

However, both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Presidency have dismissed the allegations of a Christian genocide.

While CAN described the reports as false narratives peddled by foreign agents, the Presidency insisted that there is no religious war taking place in the country.

Headline

Trump Breaks Silence On ‘Christian Genocide’ In Nigeria

Published

9 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

In a stark rebuke to months of escalating violence, President Donald Trump has declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over what he described as an “existential threat” to Christianity, accusing radical Islamists of orchestrating a mass slaughter of believers in the West African nation.

The announcement, posted on Truth Social on Friday, marks the administration’s most direct intervention yet in a crisis that has claimed thousands of lives this year alone, reigniting debates over US policy toward religious persecution abroad.

Full statement below;

“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.

Headline

Tanzania Protesters Loot Singer Juma Jux Fashion Store

Published

14 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Tanzanian protesters have reportedly looted singer Juma Jux’s fashion store.

Unrest erupted on Thursday after a disputed general election marked by disqualification and detention of the key opposition figures in Tanzania.

The protesters are demanding cancellation of the election results, alleging irregularities in the country’s presidential election.

Amid the development, a controversial post by an X user Bolaji Fesomade alleged that the singer store valued at $780 million has been set ablaze by protesters.

Reacting to the report, Juma Jux’s wife, Priscilla Ojo on her Snapchat account, dismissed the claims, noting that the store was looted and not burnt.

She simply wrote; “Looted not Burnt”.