Catégorie oBox : OBOXMA
Donald Trump’s administration has put US billionaires in the front row of its peace plan for Russia’s war on Ukraine, after a detailed Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been exploring major business ventures with Moscow built around frozen Russian assets and a drive to tap into Russia’s roughly $2 trillion economy.
These revelations about a potential multitrillion-dollar business bonanza tied to a future settlement have prompted a wave of accusations from critics that Trump is effectively selling out Ukraine’s interests in exchange for profit.
A Recently Leaked 28-Point Peace Plan
Hidden beneath a 28-point peace plan for the war between Russia and Ukraine, this proposal had been kept secret until it was recently leaked, reportedly by Russian sources.
The investigation reveals that negotiators close to the Trump administration — including New York real estate developer Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump ally who now serves as a special envoy in the Trump administration, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former senior White House adviser — held talks with Russian oligarchs currently under U.S. and European sanctions in a bid to build massive commercial agreements in energy, minerals, reconstruction and other sectors, with a potential value estimated at nearly $2 trillion.
«This war could go on for years, and Russia’s got a lot more people, got a lot more soldiers, you know. So I think, if Ukraine can make a deal, it’s a good thing. I think it’s great for both.»
The recently leaked 28-point U.S. peace plan for the Russia–Ukraine war would require Ukraine to cede parts of its eastern territory, limit its armed forces to about 600,000 troops, renounce NATO membership and accept Russia’s return to forums such as the G8 — terms widely criticised as leaning heavily in Moscow’s favor.
An economic opportunity
The project’s promoters present the plan as a way to turn what they describe as a destructive war into an economic opportunity, arguing that if Russia and the United States become deep commercial partners, shared economic interests could help stabilize the region and deter future conflicts.
Ukraine’s long-term security and sovereignty
But this approach has triggered a fierce backlash: European officials, analysts and other observers warn that the plan risks tilting heavily in Moscow’s favor by dangling lucrative business deals in exchange for concessions, while sidelining Ukraine’s long-term security and sovereignty.
They see the central role given to U.S. billionaires as a form of «privatisation» of peacemaking, and argue that the economic logic behind the scheme helps explain, in their view, the Trump administration’s recent push for Ukraine to accept painful territorial concessions to Russia.
Aboard Air Force One, Trump recently defended his peace initiative by telling reporters: «This war could go on for years, and Russia’s got a lot more people, got a lot more soldiers, you know. So I think, if Ukraine can make a deal, it’s a good thing. I think it’s great for both.»
Donald Trump, whose administration is presently under fire over his declared war on drug cartels in the Caribbean, has sparked fresh controversy by using a post on Truth Social to announce that he will grant a «Full and Complete Pardon» to a former Honduran president convicted in the United States on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Donald Trump announced that he would grant a «Full and Complete Pardon» to disgraced former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in the United States on drug trafficking and weapons charges, in the same breath as he waded into Honduras’ upcoming elections.
«I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly.»
The conservative leader of Honduras
In a post on Truth Social, Trump tied his pledge of support for the country’s future leadership to Washington’s stance on Hernández and on U.S. aid to the country.
As he promoted the candidacy of conservative contender Tito Asfura, Trump wrote: «If Tito Asfura wins for President of Honduras, because the United States has so much confidence in him, his Policies, and what he will do for the Great People of Honduras, we will be very supportive.»
In the same post, Trump warned that «If he doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is.»
In his post, Trump also declared that «Additionally, I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly. This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success.»
Guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States
Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, was tried in federal court in Manhattan, New York, where a U.S. jury in March 2024 found him guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and of related firearms offenses, including possessing «destructive devices» such as machine guns.
«CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON.»
Donald Trump
Prosecutors accused him of turning Honduras into a «narco-state,» using the military, national police and state resources to protect and facilitate the trafficking of more than 400 tons of cocaine toward the U.S., while taking millions of dollars in bribes from major traffickers, including associates of Joaquín «El Chapo» Guzmán. After a three-week trial, Judge P. Kevin Castel sentenced Hernández in New York on June 26, 2024, to 45 years in U.S. prison and an $8 million fine, saying he was a «two-faced politician» who pretended to fight drugs while secretly protecting traffickers.
In closing his post, Trump issued a direct political call and a celebratory message, writing: «VOTE FOR TITO ASFURA FOR PRESIDENT, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!»
The preliminary results, which show conservative candidate Nasry «Tito» Asfura leading with around 41 percent of the vote, followed closely by Salvador Nasralla with about 39 percent and Rixi Moncada near 20 percent, come after weeks of mutual fraud accusations from both major parties, each claiming irregularities in the voting and counting process.
Trump has granted a «full and complete pardon» to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is currently in a US prison for drug-trafficking and weapons offences, according to his attorney Renato Stabile, as reported by CNN.
I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,
Hernández is serving a 45-year sentence after being convicted in March 2024 for accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect US-bound cocaine shipments belonging to traffickers he once publicly proclaimed to combat. Hernández was sentenced in June.
Pardoning a narco-king
The pardon comes after Donald Trump has publicly cracked down on drug-smugglers from Venezuela.
Over the last month, Donald Trump has threatened airstrikes on Venezuela and deported thousands of people to El Salvador under the guise of a war against ‘drug-smuggling’.
So if Trump is so focused on stopping drug trafficking, why is he pardoning one of the most notorious political drug traffickers of the 21st century?
Supporting political entities
Trump’s pardoning of Hernàndez is part of a larger mission to endorse political candidate Tito Asfura, a right-wing presidential candidate.
Honduras has been run by Xiomara Castro since 2021, a leader who has created close ties with Venezuela and Cuba, two countries that Trump has criticized and called ‘dictatorships’.
Recently, Castro has been leaning towards a left-wing stance, something Trump wants no part of.
In comes Asfura, a candidate virtually tied in the polls against the left-wing and centrist parties. Hondurans went to the polls on November 30 in a presidential election whose outcome remains uncertain after a slow and unstable virtual vote count was suspended.
Whoever wins will govern Honduras from 2026 to 2030, but experts are wary that multiple candidates will claim victory on election night.
Multiple organizations have raised concerns about Honduras’s electoral process. The election will be monitored carefully by the Organization of American States and by Washington.
Trump’s post
Trump’s rambling post on Truth Social had a couple of gems, including what may just be a new term: narcocommunists
Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists and bring needed aid to the people of Honduras.
He made it clear in his post that he believes his candidate, Asfura, has the popular vote, but that corruption can always happen (2020 election, anyone?).
Normally, the smart people of Honduras would reject her, and elect Tito Asfura, but the Communists are trying to trick the people by running a third Candidate, Salvador Nasralla. Nasralla is no friend of Freedom.
Hernàndez’s attorney commented after Trump’s announcement.
We are so grateful to President Trump and everyone who supported President Hernandez. We believe he was the victim of lawfare and a political prosecution. A great injustice has been righted and we are so hopeful for the future partnership of the United States and Honduras.
-Attorney Renato Stabile
It is not clear when Hernandez will return to his country, but it should happen expeditiously.
X introdujo recientemente una función que revela el país o la región en la que se encuentra una cuenta, y rápidamente se hizo viral después de que los usuarios detectaran que muchas de las principales cuentas de redes sociales pro-Trump parecen operar desde fuera de Estados Unidos.
X launched a feature over the weekend that displays users’ locations, renewing scrutiny of the provenance of many accounts, including those that post frequently about U.S. politics.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-11-24T13:40:04.438898Z
X presenta la actualización como una forma de ayudar a los usuarios a juzgar qué es real y qué no lo es en la plataforma. En palabras del Sr. Bier, « Este es un primer paso importante para asegurar la integridad de la plaza de la ciudad global », añadiendo que la plataforma estaba trabajando en más formas para que los usuarios verifiquen la autenticidad del contenido en la plataforma.
Sin sede en Estados Unidos
Según múltiples medios, incluidos el New York Times y The Guardian, muchas cuentas prominentes de MAGA no están basadas en Estados Unidos, sino que operan desde lugares como Europa del Este, Nigeria, el sur de Asia, Tailandia y Rusia, y los usuarios de X ahora acusan a la plataforma de haber permitido años de interferencia continua en la política estadounidense por parte de adversarios extranjeros.
El enfado entre los usuarios de X creció cuando la plataforma retiró repentinamente la herramienta apenas unas horas después de su implementación: los usuarios informaron de que la función de localización había sido retirada y, aunque algunos especularon que se debía a que exponía los orígenes extranjeros de las cuentas de extrema derecha, la plataforma la ha restablecido desde entonces con ajustes, incluyendo advertencias de que las ubicaciones pueden ser inexactas o verse afectadas por el uso de VPN.
Una red de influencia extranjera de la que se sospechaba desde hace tiempo
El comentarista liberal Harry Sisson, que recientemente fue blanco de un vídeo de Trump generado por IA en el que aparecía el presidente arrojando excrementos sobre él desde un avión del « Rey Trump », capturó el estado de ánimo en X, diciendo « Este es fácilmente uno de los mejores días en esta plataforma. Ver todas estas cuentas MAGA expuestas como actores extranjeros tratando de destruir los Estados Unidos es una reivindicación completa de los demócratas, como yo y muchos aquí, que han estado advirtiendo sobre esto », una reacción que se hizo eco de las crecientes preocupaciones sobre las redes de influencia extranjeras sospechadas desde hace tiempo que operan en el discurso político de Estados Unidos.
This is easily one of the greatest days on this platform. Seeing all of these MAGA accounts get exposed as foreign actors trying to destroy the United States is a complete vindication of Democrats, like myself and many on here, who have been warning about this.
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) November 23, 2025
Entre las cuentas con sede en el extranjero marcadas por la nueva herramienta X hay páginas pro-Trump que se presentan como totalmente estadounidenses pero que parecen operar desde el extranjero, incluyendo « Trump Is My President », que aparece como con sede en Macedonia, y « ULTRAMAGA 🇺🇸 TRUMP🇺🇸2028 », que reivindica Washington, D.C., pero aparece como situada en África.
Otros ejemplos de alto perfil documentados por los medios de comunicación incluyen MAGA NATION, con casi 400.000 seguidores, que opera desde Europa del Este, Dark Maga desde Tailandia, MAGA Beacon desde el sur de Asia y MAGA Scope desde Nigeria, lo que subraya cómo una parte del ecosistema MAGA en línea está siendo dirigido desde mucho más allá de las fronteras de Estados Unidos. « IvankaNews », una cuenta dedicada a Ivanka Trump con cerca de un millón de seguidores, aparece en la nueva función de X como una cuenta con sede en Nigeria.
From $TRUMP to WLFI and American Bitcoin Corp, Trump-branded crypto ventures are now in a steep crash, wiping out a significant chunk of the family’s newly made wealth.
Dick Cheney, longtemps considéré comme l’un des vice-présidents républicains les plus polarisants, a commencé par soutenir Trump en 2016, mais a fini par rompre avec lui après le 6 janvier et le refus de Trump d’accepter les résultats de l’élection de 2020.
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been jailed to serve a 27-year sentence over his role in an alleged coup attempt, after being taken into custody when Brazilian authorities accused him of planning to use a demonstration outside his home as cover to escape.
According to court documents, Bolsonaro was also suspected of trying to tamper with his electronic ankle monitor in the lead-up to his arrest.
«The admitted breach of electronic monitoring not only increases the risk of escape but also indicates a blatant violation of the precautionary measures»
His electronic ankle monitor
Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has overseen the coup case, has ruled that Jair Bolsonaro will remain in custody for the duration of his 27-year sentence, after ordering his pre-emptive arrest on Saturday.
The far-right former president had been under house arrest since August and was taken into custody after authorities said he tried to break or tamper with his electronic ankle monitor, leading the court to treat him as a serious flight risk.
Bolsonaro has blamed the violation of his monitoring device on «hallucinations» linked to a change in his medication, but that explanation was brushed aside in the arrest order and in subsequent votes by fellow justices.
In a written opinion backing Bolsonaro’s continued detention, Justice Flávio Dino wrote that «The admitted breach of electronic monitoring not only increases the risk of escape but also indicates a blatant violation of the precautionary measures», underscoring the court’s view that Bolsonaro knowingly defied judicial restrictions.
Let us recall that on January 8, 2023, thousands of Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters, refusing to accept his defeat in the 2022 election, stormed the three main seats of federal power on Brasília’s Praça dos Três Poderes — the National Congress, the Planalto presidential palace and the Supreme Court — vandalizing the buildings, clashing with security forces and calling for a military intervention to overturn the election results and prevent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from governing.
Trump fellow right-wing leader
Jair Bolsonaro, often described as a close ally and ideological twin of Donald Trump, has long been embraced by Trump as a fellow right-wing leader, with the two men aligned on nationalism, conservative social policies and attacks on traditional institutions and the media.
As Bolsonaro faced investigation and trial in Brazil for allegedly plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election, Trump repeatedly rushed to his defense, calling the Brazilian proceedings a case of political persecution.
On Truth Social, Trump denounced Bolsonaro’s indictment as a «terrible thing» and demanded that authorities «LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE», framing the charges as part of a broader campaign against conservative leaders.
A federal appeals court has refused Donald Trump’s attempt to restore his RICO case against Hillary Clinton and has upheld a penalty of nearly $1 million against President Donald Trump and his attorney Alina Habba, finding that they engaged in «sanctionable conduct» by filing a frivolous lawsuit targeting Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey.
In its opinion, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge William Pryor Jr. added that Trump and Habba’s accusations «were indeed frivolous», echoing the assessment of the previous judge who handled the case.
His 2016 presidential campaign
Trump’s bid sought to reinstate the 2022 lawsuit targeting Clinton, Comey and others over allegations about ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
For years, Trump has claimed that Clinton orchestrated a broad conspiracy to fabricate false accusations against his 2016 campaign and to trigger investigations such as special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, but he failed to convince the court with the lawsuit he filed in 2022.
Confusing and poorly structured
But the three-judge appeals panel composed of Chief Judge William Pryor Jr., a George W. Bush appointee, Trump appointee Andrew Brasher and Biden appointee Embry Kidd concluded unanimously that the district court judge who originally ruled against Trump had properly taken into account his «pattern of misusing the courts» when deciding to sanction him. The panel also found that the same standard justified sanctions against his attorney, Alina Habba and leaving in place a penalty of nearly $1 million against them.
In 2022, Trump filed a lawsuit claiming that Hillary Rodham Clinton, James Comey and others conspired to invent allegations of collusion with Russia during the 2016 campaign, which he argued damaged his reputation and business interests. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, a Bill Clinton appointee, dismissed the case, describing the 193-page complaint as a «shotgun pleading» that was confusing and poorly structured.
Middlebrooks found that the lawsuit failed to identify any coordinated enterprise, did not allege valid criminal acts, did not show concrete financial damages and was filed outside the statute of limitations, concluding that it served a political rather than a legal purpose and writing: «This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it».
Donald Trump can still seek a rehearing by the full appeals court or ask the Supreme Court to take up the case, and he or the White House could yet comment publicly on the appeals panel’s decision.