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TIME magazine says Trump’s glass jaw may be exposed, dented

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Former US President Donald Trump’s “Glass Jaw” may have been exposed and dented by the eight hearings of the congressional committee on the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riot, but most Republicans believe still that his policies are right for the country but his personality might not be for the high office and the search for an alternative candidate within the party might be really tough, says TIME magazine.

Making this analysis, TIME magazine writer analyst Brian Bennet says that the eighth hearing of the Senate Select Committee could have dented his image and quoting an unnamed official further added: “Trump’s Glass Jaw may have been exposed, dented and donors may be wary of funding his 2024 presidential run.”

The eighth hearing hearing has considerably damaged Trump’s image before a prime time audience of 20 million plus that showed explosive footage of the former leader’s behaviour on January 6, 2021 and the stars witnesses lined up like press aide Sarah Mathews and deputy national security advisor Mathew Pottinger who said they resigned immediately after they found Trump was not listening to any White House staff to quell the riotous mob, TIME said in its web edition.

Most Republicans feel Trump’s policies are the right ones for America but a candidate like him may not be the right choice for the Oval Office after the exposures and testimonies in the hearings.

Who is the alternative for Trump, who is still making his 3rd bid for the presidency to be nominated by the party for the 2024 presidential run, the magazine says indicating that his donors may be wary of funding his campaign trail with the kind of dents the eight hearings have made on his personality.

Republicans still supporting Trump were a target audience for all eight of the committee’s recent hearings. But on Thursday night, Representative Liz Cheney used her closing remarks to appeal to that group directly.

“The case against Donald Trump in these hearings is not made by witnesses who were his political enemies,” said Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and the committee’s vice chair.

“It is instead a series of confessions by Donald Trump’s own appointees, his own friends, his own campaign officials, people who worked for him for years, and his own family.”

The hearing on Thursday detailed Trump’s repeated refusal to quell the deadly mob, even when he knew that some of them were armed and that former Vice President Mike Pence’s life was in danger.

Cheney suggested the former President’s supporters should view his behavior related to that day as disqualifying for future office as many of Trump’s former allies do.

“Can a president who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of January 6th ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?” she asked.

“A lot more Republicans today than before the hearings have started to say, ‘No, I think we can find someone who has less baggage, who will do the same kinds of things that I want’,” says Whit Ayers, a Republican pollster and political consultant who appears to go ahead with Trump’s policies but not Trump as a personality.

Thursday night’s hearing included new searing moments of Trump’s disinterest in helping end the violence unfolding on Capitol Hill.

Video showed how he ad-libbed support for the rioters while recording a video message in the late afternoon of January 6, as his supporters continued to engage in hand-to-hand combat with police at the Capitol. Trump told them to “go home” but also validated their behavior by saying the election was “stolen” and calling the violent mob “very special” and saying “we love you”.

The committee also showed video outtakes from January 7, when Trump recorded a video message that aides had scripted to tell the public he knew the election had ended. He refused to go that far.

“I don’t want to say the election is over,” Trump says to aides in the room, including his daughter, Ivanka Trump. “I just want to say that Congress has certified the results without saying the election’s over, OK?”

Earlier in the hearing, investigators played video footage and radio transmissions showing Pence’s Secret Service detail frantically trying to find a clear path to evacuate him from a room near the Senate Chamber as a violent mob stood off against Capitol Police officers’ steps away.

A national security official who had listened to the radio transmissions that day told the committee that members of Pence’s security detail felt they were in such life-threatening danger, that they passed along messages to tell their loved ones if they didn’t survive.

Ayers says that it’s become “an article of faith” among Republicans that only Democrats are watching the hearings. But even if many Republicans are not watching them, they have not been able to avoid learning about the information coming out of them.

“Much of the testimony is so compelling and so shocking that it seeps into the political water,” Ayers says.

“Does Donald Trump have more of a glass jaw now than people realize?” a former administration official not wishing to be named was quoted by the magazine as saying. The official says the clearest impact on Donald Trump politically can be seen in the Republican Party’s powerful donor base, many of whom have been “rattled” by the barrage of testimony that has cast the White House after the 2020 election as chaotic and him as out of control.

The official says a consistent reaction has been” “Wow, it was more effed up than I realized.” The hearings have also raised questions among some large GOP donors about the polling that suggests Trump would be tough to beat in a Republican primary, and whether it may be masking a broader weariness among his base.

Unlike other Presidents who came from the Congress and Capitol Hill, Trump was a rank outsider, who contested for the post three times and was always on the front pages of the media for 30 years on despite not being in politics.

Thursday’s hearing continued the drumbeat of revelations over six weeks of testimony. Yet none of it so far has shown to markedly dent Trump’s approval ratings among Republican voters, which remains firmly in the mid-80s. And whenever the former President holds a public appearance, he still manages to draw supporters by the thousands.

In other words, he remains the biggest star in his party by a long shot, Bennet says in his article.

And yet, the hearings appear to have inflicted some political damage on Trump. Republican strategists are seeing signs that his grip on the party is easing slightly. While polling data confirms Republican voters still like Trump, it also shows that more of them are now open to backing a different presidential candidate for 2024, even if Trump chooses to throw his hat in the ring for a third time.

A different former aide to Trump said that the hearings were unlikely to have changed many minds among Republicans. “I don’t think it moved anybody,” the former aide said. “Donald Trump lived his life for 30 years on the pages of the New York tabloids before he ever ran for office. Everybody knew who he was. We knew the bargain.”

But the former aide acknowledged that some Republicans are looking for a candidate who is not Trump.

“There’s a segment of people who would be like, �If we could get Trump policies without the drama, I would take that’,” says the former aide. But there is concern that no candidate who fits that mold could win an election. Few potential Republican challengers have ever had to go head-to-head against Trump and face the type of withering political attacks Trump built his career on.

The hearings began on June 9. Surveys released at the beginning of the month and on June 29 from Morning Consult/Politico found Trump’s support in 2024 from Republican voters held steady at 53 per cent. But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s support over those two surveys grew, from 16 per cent to 22 per cent. The same late-June poll found 51 per cent of Republican voters think Trump should continue to play a “major role” in theparty, down from 60 per cent in mid-May, before the hearings began.

For some former Trump supporters, the evidence presented by the committee has been impossible to ignore. Jeff Leach, a Republican in the Texas House of Representatives representing part of Collins County in the outskirts of Dallas, was a supporter of Trump throughout his presidency. On Twitter Thursday evening, he revealed he reached a “turning point” when he saw how Trump turned on his deputy Pence, who had been a “fiercely loyal” vice president. “That was THE moment for me,” Leach wrote, adding: “we Republicans need someone else running for President in 2024.”

The committee’s work isn’t done. The January 6 committee will spend August “pursuing emerging new information on multiple fronts,” Liz Cheney, vice chair of the senate select committee said. A Republican from Wyoming who is facing party ire for opposing Trump and stands the chance of losing her seat to a Trump nominated party member in the November 8 elections for house of reps this year. She pointed out that the committee has repeatedly succeeded in court in overcoming immunity and executive privilege claims. New witnesses have come forward, she added, and more information is coming in.

“Doors have opened, new subpoenas have been issued and the dam has begun to break,” Cheney said.

Shifting perceptions of Trump’s actions around January 6, and the possibility that he may be prosecuted for it, have colored discussions over whether he should run again, and, if so, when he should announce. As the Republican Party works to leverage Joe Biden’s dismal approval ratings into a takeover of the House and maybe even the Senate, Trump could throw a wrench in those plans by announcing before the mid-terms, as he’s repeatedly hinted, he might, the magazine said “The Republican’s best case is to make the midterms a referendum on the Biden Administration’s leadership and the Democrats’ leadership,” Bennet quoted Ayers as saying.

“But if Donald Trump announces before the midterms, it allows the Democrats to make it more of a choice, and take some of the focus away from the failures of the Biden administration ( searing inflation and soaring gas prices and the rock bottom job approval ratings for Joe Biden.”

Such a shift “would certainly help the Democrats”, Ayers is quoted by Bennet as saying.

Crime

D-Syndicate looking to expand narco trade into Southern and Northeastern routes, warn Intelligence agencies

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New Delhi, Oct 30: In recent months, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been cracking down heavily on the Dawood Ibrahim-linked drug network in India.

The arrests of Danish Chikna and Mohammed Salim Sheikh have dealt major blows to the Dawood network, and this has prompted the syndicate to look for newer avenues.

As Intelligence agencies continue to focus heavily on the networks in Maharashtra and neighbouring states, the D-Syndicate is looking to expand its networks in the northeastern and southern states of India.

Action would be taken similarly in these parts of the country. However, it is necessary to bust the networks in states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have been the traditional playground of the syndicate for a long.

While Dawood Ibrahim has diversified his business in various parts of the country, the command centre remains in Maharashtra.

The people working for the network in this sector control the businesses across the country, and hence, breaking their backs first is important. This would eventually lead to the weakening of the networks in other parts of the country.

Operations in the northeastern and southern states are currently overseen by Haji Salim, an ISI stooge and a member of the Dawood network.

Salim has been playing a big part in the D-Syndicate after Dawood’s right-hand man, Chhota Shakeel, has gone mysteriously quiet.

With Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim put in charge of the International wing, which does business mostly in African nations, the onus of the Indian markets has largely fallen upon Salim.

According to Intelligence agencies, the ISI and syndicate have now instructed Salim to focus entirely on the southern and northeastern sector as they feel that there is a major potential.

The syndicate sees potential in the northeast owing to the existing routes from Myanmar. With Bangladesh opening up completely to the ISI, the syndicate sees further potential in this sector.

In the South, the syndicate’s network exists. However, this network has largely focused on smuggling drugs out of the country. The narcotics would first be smuggled into the southern states, especially Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and later, to the international markets such as Thailand through the Sri Lanka route.

An Intelligence Bureau official says that the syndicate is also looking to bring in more drugs through Sri Lanka before distributing it in the Indian market.

While the international market is huge for the syndicate, it is not ready to let go of India, as demand is huge.

The syndicate not just wants to cover its losses in Maharashtra, but also the ones it is incurring in Punjab.

Several attempts to bring in drugs through the Punjab route using both couriers and drones are failing owing to heavy scrutiny and security. Hence, the Dawood network wants to take maximum advantage of the southern route so that it can smuggle drugs in huge quantities and then distribute them to the Indian market.

To bring in drugs from the international market, the syndicate would use the route from Sri Lanka. The network would look to smuggle the consignment into Tamil Nadu and Kerala before supplying it into the Indian market.

According to officials, the network feels that this would be an easier route, as most of the consignments in the Indian market will be transported via land route.

The scrutiny at the southern international borders is relatively less when compared to the borders along Punjab or Jammu and Kashmir. Further, using the land route to smuggle drugs into India would also attract less scrutiny, and the syndicate hopes there would be more hits than misses.

Another official also pointed out that the D-Syndicate is also tapping into the illegal immigrants who have settled in South India in huge numbers. They could be used as carriers to supply the drugs into the Indian markets, officials also warned.

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Business

US lawmakers unite to defend bilateral ties with India through letters and resolutions

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Washington, Oct 28: Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have joined hands to support the India-US relationship, months after the Trump administration announced a series of policies targeting Indian interests.

At least six bipartisan letters and resolutions have been drafted over the past 10 days defending the interests of the Indian American community, reaffirming support for the India–US partnership, and pressing the administration for accountability over its recent actions targeting New Delhi.

Last week, a group of House members expressed concern that an event at Rutgers University on Monday could “fuel further prejudice” against Hindus at a time when Hindu temples have been targets of violence.

The co-signers of the letter were Democrats Sanford Bishop from Georgia, Shri Thanedar from Illinois, and Suhas Subramanyam from Virginia, and Republican Rich McCormick, also from Georgia.

Two days earlier, another bipartisan group of six House Representatives wrote to US President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, expressing concerns over the H-1B proclamation.

“We are concerned that the recent proclamation related to H-1B visa petitions will create significant challenges for US employers and overall weaken our competitiveness,” the letter stated.

The group again included Democrat Suhas Subramanyam along with Republican Congressmen Jay Obernolte and Don Bacon, among others.

On October 17, four US lawmakers wrote to President Donald Trump, urging him to attend the Quad Leaders’ Summit in India and other meetings in Asia.

The same day, a bipartisan resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives to recognise the “contributions made to the United States by the Indian American diaspora” and condemn recent acts of racism against Indian Americans.

The resolution also termed the India-US relationship as “one of the most important democratic partnerships in the world”.

It was a sharp departure from just days earlier, when 19 House members, all Democrats with no Republican support, wrote to President Donald Trump on October 8, urging him to “reset and repair” the India-US “critical partnership”.

Leaders from both Democratic and Republican parties have faced criticism for mostly remaining silent as senior officials of the Trump administration, like Trade Advisor Peter Navarro and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, repeatedly targeted India over its purchase of Russian oil and trade imbalance.

In August, the Trump administration imposed 50 per cent tariffs on New Delhi, which included a 25 per cent levy for importing Russian oil.

Then, in September, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on H-1B visas, imposing a $100,000 application fee to restrict the programme. Over 70 per cent of the approved H-1B applications in 2024 went to Indian nationals.

While a handful of Democrats opposed the administration’s stance publicly, Republican lawmakers, until recently, decided to keep quiet.

In early October, Democratic Representative Ami Bera, a leading advocate of the US-India relationship, told Media that some Republican lawmakers have remained silent out of fear of the president.

“I think they’re certainly afraid to take on President Trump directly,” he said.

In recent weeks, ties have stabilised, and negotiators have resumed talks to finalise the first phase of a trade agreement.

Last week, President Donald Trump held a special Diwali event at the White House where he termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a great person” and said he loves “the people of India.”

Bera added that more members should come out to support the relationship.

“Instead of making this about President Trump, let’s make it about the US-India relationship. Let’s make it about what we think as members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans. I don’t want the India-US relationship to be a Democratic thing or a Republican thing. It should be an American thing,” he told Media.

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Business

US has reached a ‘substantial framework’ with China to avert tariffs: US Treasury Secretary Bessent

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Washinton, Oct 27: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that he believes the US has reached a framework agreement with China to avoid imposing an additional 100 per cent tariff on Chinese imports.

“I think we’ve reached a substantial framework for the two leaders who will meet next Thursday… that tariffs will be averted,” Bessent said on Sunday to media from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where President Donald Trump arrived on Saturday for a weeklong Asia diplomacy tour.

Trump is expected to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea later this week.

Earlier, Chinese International Trade Representative Li Chenggang said the US and China had reached “preliminary consensus” on trade issues during discussions in Malaysia, according to Chinese media.

Bessent did not provide details about the framework but said on media that he anticipates the US would get “some kind of deferral” on rare-earth export controls.

The minerals have been central to trade tensions between the top global economies.

Bessent said the framework sets up Trump and Xi “to have a very productive meeting,” adding, “I think it will be fantastic for US citizens, for US farmers, and for our country in general.”

Bessent indicated that an escalation in tariffs on China is “effectively off the table” following what he described as “very good” trade talks with his Chinese counterparts.

President Trump had threatened an additional 100 per cent tariff on China from November 1 over Beijing’s efforts to impose export controls on critical rare earths, ratcheting up tensions between the US and China.

Asked about the status of those tariffs, Bessent told media on Sunday that tariff threat has “gone away” after two days of talks in Malaysia.

“We had a very good two-day meeting. I would believe that the – so it would be an extra 100 per cent from where we are now, and I believe that that is effectively off the table.”

He added, “I would expect that the threat of the 100 per cent has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime.”

US and Chinese trade negotiators reached a “basic consensus” on how to address their “respective concerns,” Chinese state media said on Sunday, following talks between the two sides over the weekend in Kuala Lumpur.

A delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with US officials including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jameson Greer for the talks, which come days ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.

The two leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea, though Beijing, unlike Washington, has yet to confirm the meeting.

Earlier on Sunday, Bessent said the two sides had “set the stage for the leaders’ meeting” with a “very successful framework for the leaders to discuss”.

“The two sides engaged in candid, in-depth, and constructive exchanges and consultations on major economic and trade issues of mutual concern,” the Chinese state media readout said.

It listed out those issues as including US penalties on China’s maritime logistics and shipbuilding industry, reciprocal tariffs, fentanyl tariffs, agricultural trade, and export controls – a sweeping set of frictions that have set the world’s two largest economies at loggerheads.

“Two sides reached a basic consensus on arrangements to address each other’s concerns. Both sides agreed to further finalise the specific details and fulfil their respective domestic approval processes,” the readout said.

Trade and tech tensions between the world’s two biggest economies have heightened in recent weeks after the US expanded its export blacklist, hitting China’s access to American high-tech, while China ramped up its own export controls on rare earth minerals.

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