First Lady Melania Trump escaped the freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C. this weekend in a monochromatic camel ensemble with rich red accents following a weeks-long photo hiatus while the federal government was shut down.
Friday evening, Melania Trump stepped out alongside President Donald Trump and their son, Barron, in a camel and red two-tone wool and cashmere blend overcoat by Roksanda which retails for about $1,282. The coat — sort of a nod to her husband’s winter uniform — features subtle red stitching and a red stripe across the back and down the sleeves.
Mrs. Trump wore some of her favorite boots, a pair of matching Gianvito Rossi knee-high Italian leather boots which retail for about $1,625.
And because you’re Mrs. Trump, you don’t stop at simply a camel overcoat and boots. What matches that red stripe on the coat’s back? Oh yes, a $23,600 Hermès “Birkin” bag. What else?!
This look is reminiscent of the boxy long coats and knee-high boots that women typically wore in the early 1980s. Think Jessica Chastain in “A Most Violent Year” or Kerri Russell in “The Americans.” It’s a vintage vibe with some very luxurious touches.
For landing in Palm Beach, Florida, Mrs. Trump transitioned into a baby blue monochromatic look with Oscar De La Renta cropped pants and a matching cashmere sweater.
Famously foul-mouthed TV chef Gordon Ramsey may have set a record in a recent interview by letting loose the f-word a whopping 128 times in just thirty minutes.
Gordan Ramsey was appearing on the interview show, Hot Ones, where stars field questions while wolfing down increasingly hotter levels of spicy wings.
During the interview, Ramsey’s language was just as spicy as the hot wings he was chomping. BBQ sauce and f-words flew with abandon as the TV chef gobbled the bits of chicken. But as he got to a wing slathered in a sauce called “Reaper Sauce,” the 16,000 Scoville-level sauce sent him over the edge.
The burning sauce even brought out a few “shits.”
“I feel like that’s burning a new ring in my fucking ass. Shit! Now I know what that fucking song means, ‘Ring of Fire.’ Was that Johnny Cash?”
As the show came to its end, Ramsay was apparently just about finished with the whole episode. Telling the host that he was done, Ramsay blurted out, “Fuck off! Right now I need to see a fucking doctor. Fuck yourself!”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
Uber once had grounds to hope European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager would come to its rescue in Europe. Those hopes have largely vanished.
At one point, Uber and Vestager — Europe’s top competition enforcer — appeared to be a great if audacious match: a new entrant disrupting a taxi sector riddled by cartels, state aid and bullying tactics; and a ballsy commissioner with sweeping powers hunting for a landmark case to define the second half of her term.
But Uber’s brash approach to European markets, coupled with deep political hostility in the Continent’s power centers towards the $70 billion firm, left Vestager disinclined to act on competition complaints filed by Uber in early 2016.
“You should be a business as any other paying your taxes, insuring your customers and making sure working conditions are reasonable,” Vestager told reporters on May 17, when asked if she had any sympathy for Uber’s predicament in Europe.
Vestager’s cold shoulder on the podium is the latest indication that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s bold strategy to use European laws and rights to pry open billion-euro markets from Madrid to Berlin is limping toward defeat. Earlier this month, a senior adviser to the EU courts recommended rejecting the company’s claim that it is a tech company, not a transport firm. And officials at the top of the Commission squelched separate complaints invoking single market rules.
Last year, Uber filed several confidential complaints targeting France, Spain, Belgium and Italy to Vestager’s competition department, according to two people with direct knowledge of them.
The complaints allege infringements of Europe’s antitrust and state aid rules and argue that national authorities subsidize local taxi industries by granting them exclusive rights, which taxis have in turn abused — to the indifference of the local authorities. One source cited the example of Paris, where drivers with a coveted license to pick passengers up in the street dedicate more time to the more lucrative market for pre-booked rides. Many of them are part of the Groupe G7 network, which includes more than half of all taxis in Paris.
That Vestager’s team was interested is confirmed by multiple sources inside and outside the Commission. Two sources said that during 2015 she went so far as to invite Uber to file a complaint — a clear indication she was entertaining the idea of intervening.
But by the time the complaints arrived in spring 2016, Uber was beset by a series of scandals, PR setbacks and legal losses that tarnished its reputation in Europe, painting a picture of a company too ready to break laws first and ask questions later.
They “completely missed the opportunity,” said one person with direct knowledge of the discussions.
Series of setbacks
Among the issues: Uber’s tax affairs in the Netherlands garnered criticism after a report by Fortune alleged the firm, which has its international headquarters in Amsterdam, enjoys a Dutch tax ruling allowing it to funnel profits to a shell company in the Bahamas.
Uber also faces lawsuits in the U.K. accusing it of skirting local labor rules and value-added tax. The company is also under fire in the U.S. following a harassment scandal and revelations that it designed software to help drivers evade transportation regulators.
Closer to Brussels, one of Uber’s key European advisers and public champions, Vestager’s predecessor Neelie Kroes, became embroiled in a conflict of interest scandal regarding her time as competition commissioner. Kroes also launched a stinging attack on a landmark tax case that found Apple had circumvented European taxes to the tune of more than €13 billion, raising ire in Vestager’s ranks.
To cap things off, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s cabinet made clear it would not expend political capital in championing the firm against national capitals, despite support for Uber elsewhere in the Commission. Both the Commission and Uber declined to comment for this article.
In an interview earlier this month, Uber’s head of European policy and communications Christopher Burghardt said the company enjoyed some successes at the national level, citing the example of new legislation in Finland liberalizing the taxi sector. He also cautioned that the EU’s top court had yet to issue a final verdict in the case over whether it is a transport or tech company, and added that its judges do not always follow the advice of the advocate general.
The election of Emmanuel Macron as France’s president is also seen as a potential game-changer, given that he argued for restraint ahead of a crackdown by the previous French government.
And if competition authorities across Europe have stopped short of actively taking up Uber’s cause, they have been sympathetic to it. In an interview with POLITICO, France’s competition enforcer from 2004-2016, Bruno Lasserre, cited Uber as an example of how the internet is helping to “stimulate certain industries, which consumers may see as lacking in quality or service.” On Wednesday, Spain’s competition authority challenged a Catalan decree imposing what it described as “disproportionate” rules on companies like Uber. This Friday an Italian court lifted a ban threatening Uber’s professional driver services in the country.
Changing lanes
Uber now appears to be in a process of revising its approach to Europe. In the interview, Burghardt spoke of wanting “dialogue” with the taxi industry and national authorities, while the company has said it will give U.K. drivers the chance to subscribe to injury and illness insurance.
Senior employees overseeing Uber’s strategy are moving aside, including San Francisco-based communications chief Rachel Whetstone, general counsel Salle Yoo, and her European counterpart Jim Callaghan.
Their departure is noteworthy. Together they implemented a strategy that was unprecedented in its span and ambition — one that, with the good will of regulators and policymakers, could have revolutionized the way people move around European cities and captured markets worth billions.
The chances that their efforts will bear fruit are looking increasingly slim.
On Friday’s Fox & Friends, Kurt Knutsson gushed over Microsoft’s NewsGuard blacklist as “fair” and a “good idea.”
Knutsson said:
Watch the full segment here at the 36-minute mark.
Knutsson’s only concern is if Silicon Valley, is if Facebook grabs control of NewsGuard, but as is, with establishment types running the blacklist, he thinks it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.
Well, of course, the backstabbers at Fox News love this blacklist. Why wouldn’t they? 1) Fox News is not blacklisted and 2) Fox News’s competition at Breitbart News and other right-leaning sites are blacklisted.
And so, what we have here from Fox News is a perfect example of “I’ve got mine” or “I’m going to appease the alligator, hoping he eats me last.”
Question…
What is Fox News going to do when Microsoft and NewsGuard add Fox News to this blacklist?
Seriously, what is Fox going to do now that it is on record gushing over just how “fair” and “down the middle” NewsGuard is? In brief, what is Fox News going to say for itself when Fox is blacklisted just in time for the 2020 presidential election, which is probably what’s going to happen?
Fox News has no principles.
This is a news outlet that will rage against Silicon Valley when Silicon Valley harms Fox News.
But if a Microsoft (which I believe is part of Silicon Valley, Kurt) launches a blacklisting tool and Fox News is not blacklisted, well, then, Hell, yeah, this thing is awesome! And it hurts our competition and it might send more advertisers our way and since we have no principles, we love this thing, Hoss, and so should you!
Fox News is also misleading its viewers into believing Microsoft’s NewsGuard is “fair” and “straight down the middle” because, as Breitbart News reported, NewsGuard is blacklisting Breitbart News only for the sin of reporting stories the establishment does not want reported.
In its lengthy critique of Breitbart News, NewsGuard did not list one story — not one — that Breitbart got wrong. All the blacklisters do is whine about our opinion pieces (which are clearly marked opinion) and crybaby over our accurate reporting on things NewsGuard does not want the public to know. It is all laid out right here.
Meanwhile…
While NewsGuard is blacklisting Breitbart News for telling the truth, this very same NewsGuard is marking as “credible” proven hoaxes and news so fake they have been retracted.
You think I’m kidding? Read this.
Behold NewGuard’s mighty green checkmark informing readers that first lady Melania Trump was an illegal alien, the Russians hacked Vermont’s electric grid, and so on and so forth…
Microsoft’s NewsGuard is nothing less than a hoax site with two functions: 1) As you can see in the Google search screenshot above, NewsGuard is marking as “credible” the grossest lies about President Trump, so this is all about misleading voters in 2020. 2) NewsGuard wants to sucker advertisers into believing it is credible as a means to starve publications like Breitbart News that dare to report (accurately) stories the establishment does not want reported.
No decent American is okay with any kind of central authority backed by a multinational corporation like Microsoft abusing its power to publish blacklists.
But if you watch the video above, you will see the pathetic suck-up that is Fox News lapping up every treat the establishment throws its way while selling out the rest of us…
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
Pierre Moscovici: Finance commissioner should also run Eurogroup
In a POLITICO podcast, the French commissioner advocates eurozone reform with a human face.
Pierre Moscovici, the European Commissioner for economic and finance affairs, called for Germany to be more open to investment, for France to deliver credible reforms, and for a more transparent Eurogroup to kick-start deeper eurozone integration.
Speaking to POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast, Moscovici said: “It’s clear without a strong agreement between France and Germany, nothing happens,” adding “you need to have French ideas asking the Germans to do more for investment.”
The French commissioner also advocated a fully formed eurozone finance minister, and admitted that he’d be happy to do the job. “I would be honored, pleased, etc. to be in that function, I have been preparing for that,” he said, before acknowledging that the EU is far from creating such a role.
As a stepping stone, Moscovici thinks his successor as the next commissioner for economic and finance affairs should also assume the presidency of the Eurogroup.
“Without the Commission in that piloting function, you just would have rules without flexibility, without intelligence, and no democracy. The Commission at least is responsible in front of the [European] Parliament,” he said.
Moscovici, a veteran of more than 80 Eurogroup meetings, said he wanted deep reform to how the club operates. “I am very frustrated,” he said. “We are deciding behind closed doors the fate of 11 million people,” adding that the Eurogroup sometimes works with poor information and that its lack of accountability is unacceptable.
Structural reform with a human face is Moscovici’s antidote to the brutal image of austerity the EU’s institutions have projected in recent years. “I believe that we need structural reforms in Europe. But structural reforms don’t mean pain. It doesn’t mean that somebody should be punished,” he said.
That includes national government taking more responsibility for the drawn-out Greek turnaround. His message to Greeks: “You’ve made your part of the job. You have taken your responsibility. Now we need to take ours.”
Meanwhile, Moscovici rejected the idea of transforming the European Stability Mechanism into a European Monetary Fund — unless it comes with specific democratic controls.
“We don’t need more technocracy, we need less technocracy, and we need more transparency,” Moscovici said.
Rapper Azealia Banks denigrated Irish people as “inbred leprechauns” in a social media screed on Wednesday, subsequently asking mixed martial artist Connor McGregor — an Irish prize fighter — for “help” in mitigating the backlash she received.
Banks wrote that the Irish lack “white privilege.”
“Because most of you can’t talk or write lol. You lot are a bunch of prideful inbred leprechauns who have ZERO global influence and ZERO white privilege,” the New York rapper said. “The rest of the world’s white folks don’t want to associate you lot at all and it’s because you are barbarians.”
Banks also wrote: “I’m happiest knowing the Irish are all quarantined on an isle so they can continue to inbreed and keep their defective genes from the rest of humanity.”
“Don’t you have a famine to go die in?” asked Banks of a presumably Irish Instagram user.
The Daily Mail reported:
Banks had a contentious exchange with an Aer Lingus — an Irish airline — flight attendant, according to the Daily Mail. A witness claims to have heard Banks say, “I am on this flight and I am famous.”
Banks later wrote of her airline incident:
On Thursday, Azealia Banks posted a video of her disembarking a plane. She did not indicate if the video is from the aforementioned incident with Aer Lingus.
The “Broke with Expensive Taste” singer said she plans to file a complaint against Aer Lingus.
Banks said in an Instagram video, “It’s always the same sh*t when I come to the UK. Getting singled out by the haggard, old white ladies, every f*cking time…they’re like ‘Oh who is this black girl in business class?’…They always trying to play you like ‘It’s not racism’.
The 27-year-old claimed to have been “treated like a wild animal” on a “travel day from hell.”
“I am so over it. This is not what I signed up for when I was a little girl and I wanted to be a superstar,” Banks concluded.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to attend a party with some of the top stars in the music industry prior to the Grammy awards, according to a report.
The Grammy Awards air February 10 — just five days before Congress faces another partial government shutdown deadline.
Music mogul Clive Davis will host the party, typically held prior to the annual award ceremony. Tables at the party are going for up to $100,000, according to the New York Post.
A long list of celebrities, including Jamie Foxx, Post Malone, Diplo, Alice Cooper, Marc Anthony, Berry Gordy, and Smokey Robinson are all expected to attend the high-profile bash.
Nancy Pelosi, to be clear, is no stranger to star-studded events with the music elite. But her renewed status as Speaker of the House and her role as the primary political force against President Donald Trump will bring more attention to the event.
In 2017, Pelosi attended the Davis party with Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart, Tina Fey, Alicia Keys, and superstar rapper Jay-Z.
Fashion consultant Tim Gunn (Top-L) sits with musician Mickey Hart (C) along with Singer Tony Bennett (Bottom-R) and his wife Susan, await the start of the first session of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol January 03, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Musician Tony Bennett and the Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart also attended her swearing-in ceremony earlier in January.
Polish Europe Minister Konrad Szymański | Maciej Kulczynski/EPA
Threats to Poland over refugees are ‘European populism,’ says minister
Polish Europe Minister Konrad Szymański said EU plans to disperse 160,000 migrants around Europe are ‘not implementable.’
Threats to cut EU funds to Poland as punishment for refusing to take in refugees as part of a Continent-wide agreement have been dismissed as “European populism” by the country’s Europe minister.
Konrad Szymański, a former MEP, said the Polish government would block any attempt to punish the country financially over its migration stance.
“It’s European populism to say cut the funds,” he told POLITICO, adding that the government would be prepared to use its veto to block agreement on the EU budget if a compromise could not be agreed. “Everyone is ready to stop it, at the end we need to find a new [European budget] which could be defendable in our parliaments.”
Poland, along with Hungary, has refused to take in any refugees under a 2015 deal that was supposed to allocate 160,000 people among EU member countries in order to take the load off Greece and Italy.
That has led to frustration in some European capitals over what is seen as Poland’s lack of solidarity with its EU partners and prompted a hard line from Brussels. European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourová proposed making the distribution of EU funds in the next multi-year budget contingent on upholding fundamental European values — seen as a threat to bring Poland into line. The country is heavily reliant on EU funds: it is set to receive €86 billion in structural and investments funds over the period 2014-2020, compared to a GDP of €420 billion.
But Szymański said the funds are not for Poland but to advance Europe-wide goals. “When you fund an infrastructure in Poland it works well for the whole common market, because not only German but also Italian and French investors use those infrastructures.”
Separately, the European Commission has said it is prepared to open infringement proceedings against Poland over its refusal to take refugees. It if does, Szymański said that his government is ready to go to court. “We’re prepared to do it,” he said. He pointed out that the target to relocate 160,000 people is far from being reached — only 20,000 refugees have so far been relocated — and that Poland was being unfairly singled out. “We understand this decision has a legal value, and it is valid,” he said, “[but] it says something that you produced a law that is not implementable.”
Szymański was also bullish on the issue of an ongoing probe by the European Commission into the right-wing government’s clampdown on its Constitutional Tribunal — something that the Commission believes is against EU principles on upholding the rule of law. The issue was discussed at ministerial level for the first time last week, but ministers decided to resume talks and not to take action such as pursuing the potential withdrawal of Poland’s voting rights in the Council.
“[It] is definitely not a defeat, because all [that] we have heard is an invitation for a dialogue and the message of the majority of member states that the EU is a community of values. I fully agree with both sentences,” said Szymański.
He rejected the idea that the Commission should get involved, though. “I don’t believe the Commission can sort this problem because it’s already solved according to our rules and to choices made by the Polish parliament — which is much more legitimate than the Commission.”
He said there are no plans for a meeting on the subject with Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans — who initiated the investigation from the EU side.
The Blues boss has grown accustomed to seeing his side fail from the spot, with Sergio Aguero fluffing his lines in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Leicester
Pep Guardiola has boldly backed Manchester City to score their next penalty after seeing Sergio Aguero fail from the spot again in a 1-0 victory over Leicester.
Struggles from 12 yards have become an unwelcome headache for the reigning Premier League champions.
Guardiola would not expect to face such a poser, given the quality at his disposal in a star-studded squad.
More teams
Aguero, as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, can be relied upon in most instances to hit the back of the net.
He was, however, to see a spot-kick beaten away by Kasper Schmeichel at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
City have now missed five of their last seven penalties, with Guardiola previously conceding that Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson is probably his most reliable option.
The ball is yet to be thrown in his direction, but the Blues may not be far off making that call.
For now, Guardiola remains defiant and has told BBC Sport after seeing a solitary effort from Gabriel Jesus edge his side past Leicester: “We have missed four penalties in a row, but maybe we will shoot a penalty when we need it to win something.
“The keepers are good too, but the next one we are going to score.”
City’s next outing will see their attention diverted away from Premier League matters.
A heavyweight encounter with Real Madrid is set to be taken in on Wednesday, with the Blues due at Santiago Bernabeu for the first leg of an eagerly-anticipated last-16 encounter.
Guardiola will be hoping that there are no issues endured in the final third against the Blancos.
He believes his side are ready for the toughest of continental challenges.
City have suffered uncharacteristic struggles for consistency in 2019-20, but are relishing the opportunity to lock horns with 13-time champions of Europe.
Guardiola added: “The preparation after 12 days off was good, we have played two good games, and it’s good to prepare for Madrid with these good opponents.
“We are playing the kings of the competition, we will see, we will try to enjoy it and do our game.”
City are still waiting on a first triumph in Europe and know the current campaign may present their last opportunity to get their hands on an elusive trophy for some time.
UEFA have stung the Blues with a two-year ban from Champions League competition breaching Financial Fair Play regulations.
(Left to right) U.S. President Donald Trump, King Philippe of Belgium and U.S. first lady Melania Trump stand during a reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels, on May 24, 2017 | Thierry Charlier/AFP via Getty Images
Donald Trump flies in for whirlwind Brussels visit
American president who once called EU’s capital a ‘hellhole’ arrives for a first-hand look, and a NATO summit.
After sword-dancing in Saudi Arabia, reflection at the Western Wall in Israel, and an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, U.S. President Donald Trump touched down Wednesday afternoon in Brussels for a 36-hour whirlwind of meetings in the European Union capital that he once branded a “hellhole.”
Air Force One landed at a military base adjacent to the main Brussels airport, and the president and his entourage were whisked by motorcade into the center of the city. Sirens wailed and helicopters buzzed overhead.
Brussels routinely hosts the world’s top political leaders, but special security arrangements were in place for the U.S. president, with streets closed off and, in the city’s European Quarter, police officers posted every half-block.
It was the sort of display of American exceptionalism that often irks Europeans but they generally tolerate with a shrug and a sniff.
Trump was afforded a royal welcome, literally. His first stop was at the Belgian royal palace, where he and his wife, Melania, were greeted by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
The two couples posed for pictures before Trump and the king spoke for 20 minutes.
The visit with the royal family was followed by a chat with Prime Minister Charles Michel.
Frédéric Cauderlier, Michel’s spokesman, told POLITICO that Trump’s meeting with Belgian dignitaries was being held at the royal palace “for security reasons.”
“We have tried to avoid moving him around in an untimely way in Brussels,” Cauderlier said, adding that the prime minister in the meeting with Trump was expected to, “reaffirm the close alliance between Belgium and the U.S.”
When Trump arrived at the royal palace, “his first words were about his joy and pleasure to be in Brussels,” Cauderlier said. (It probably didn’t hurt that it was spectacularly sunny day in the often overcast city.)
The Trumps are reportedly staying just a five-minute walk from the palace, across the Parc de Bruxelles, at the currently vacant residence of the American ambassador to Belgium. (The Secret Service would not allow American officials to confirm where the president is staying, but the residence is centrally located and part of a well-guarded embassy compound. The president’s security detail also doesn’t particularly enjoy walkabouts, so Trump rode in his limousine back to the residence, which took all of two minutes.)
In truth, Trump had his pick of three houses. Currently, there is no United States ambassador to Belgium, to the European Union, or to NATO, leaving all three residences open.
As the president arrived in Brussels, EU officials were bullish, their post-Brexit blues eased somewhat by the victories of pro-European candidates in recent Dutch and French national elections.
“We all remember the mood which we had here not only in Brussels but all around Europe — that is anxieties and sometimes even fears on the direction which the new American administration will take, especially or in particular vis-a-vis the integration of the European Continent,” a senior EU official said at a briefing ahead of Trump’s visit. “I think now being in a situation where we can not address existential questions but talk about business, talk about cooperation, is in itself a measure of progress which took place in these last few months.”
Before taking office, Trump and some of his top advisers had expressed doubts that the EU would survive Brexit, openly questioning which country would be next to leave the bloc. Since then, however, even U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has told Trump that a strong EU is a good thing.
“Trump, he was very much under the impression of Brexit,” the senior official said, offering an explanation for the president’s initial tone. Noting the election results, the official added, “We are in a completely different place. A lot of doubts which we had at the beginning of this administration have been dispelled.”
The EU’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini told reporters Wednesday that EU leaders would not shy away from discussing points of disagreement with the U.S. president. She said the approach would be “not to hide the points of divergence that can exist and on which we keep on talking — for us is fundamental the work on climate change, and the full implementation of the Paris agreement…to continue to invest in the United Nations system, in multilateralism, in conflict prevention, in peacekeeping, in humanitarian and development aid.” All are topics on which Trump has staked out very different positions from the EU.
For Trump, among the curious aspects of visiting Brussels is that he will rarely be the only president in the room.
On Thursday morning, he is scheduled to meet European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, followed by an expanded session that will include European Parliament President Antonio Tajani.
He will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron around midday and then head to NATO where he will help dedicate the alliance’s new headquarters and attend a leaders’ dinner, which will include a discussion focused on military spending and fighting terrorism. From NATO, Trump will fly on to Sicily for a meeting of the G7 economic powers.
Many European leaders still have serious concerns about Trump and his presidency, and some of the policy divisions, including on the issues of free trade and climate change, are expected to be on display at the G7 meeting.