All posts tagged: Steve Bannon

Vance, after rallying in Hungary for Orbán, says he wasn’t surprised by the autocrat’s defeat – POLITICO

Vance, after rallying in Hungary for Orbán, says he wasn’t surprised by the autocrat’s defeat – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

But the Hungarian election had been a major priority just days earlier. JD Vance had traveled to Budapest last week and while Trump didn’t make the trip himself, he did call into the rally. And that eleventh hour campaign push came weeks after another visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump, in his remarks via telephone during Orbán’s rally aside Vance last week, credited the autocrat for his strict immigration policy in particular, stating that he “kept your country strong, and he kept your country good, and you don’t have problems with all of the problems that so many other countries have.” Beyond his own immigration crackdown with an expanded and hyper-aggressive core of immigration agents deployed in dozens of American cities, Trump has modeled other aspects of his governance on Orbán’s own actions, be it vociferously attacking judges, bullying the media into greater submission or hollowing out the government by firing career civil servants. But in Hungary, voters revolted amid a heightened focus on Orbán’s endemic corruption during a period of economic stagnation. “This is …

Can Donald Trump save Viktor Orbán? – POLITICO

Can Donald Trump save Viktor Orbán? – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The U.S.-Israel war with Iran has only added to the uncertainty. Orbán has so far discreetly endeavored to distance himself from the Middle East war, delicately noting at a recent campaign rally that the president had sought his opinion ahead of the bombing of Iran, “given we [Hungary] have relations with Iran and friendly relations with Israel.”  He said that what’s happening isn’t what he’d advised, but added that the U.S. leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss serious measures to “stabilize the world’s state” when Trump visits Beijing, as he is expected to do later this month. Still, it’s unclear just how much MAGA’s support has actually aided the Hungarian prime minister. There’s no evidence that Rubio’s visit shifted opinion polls, noted Chatham House’s Ash. In fact, a subsequent poll published after his visit suggested Hungary’s center-right opposition widened its lead in February. Shortly before heading to Washington for last month’s inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace, Orbán reminded Hungarian radio the U.S. president “owes him” a visit. | Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via …

Inside Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein’s Disturbingly Close Friendship

Inside Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein’s Disturbingly Close Friendship

Published by Sam Flores

In July 2019, Jeffrey Epstein and Steve Bannon, the erstwhile chief strategist to President Donald Trump, were messaging back and forth about meeting up in New York. Their conversation bounced around frenetically, as their conversations tended to do. They discussed news coverage of Epstein’s alleged sex crimes, a plan to connect a Breitbart staffer with the former prime minister of Israel, and arrangements for a visit Bannon would make to Epstein’s infamous island in the Caribbean. On July 6, Bannon messaged Epstein to follow up on plans to film an interview on the island. It appears to be their last exchange. “All canceled,” Epstein messaged cryptically at 7:37 p.m. ET. By then, he’d flown his private jet from Paris to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, where he was met by federal agents who arrested him on charges of sex trafficking of minors. The exchange, certainly one of the last Epstein had as a free man, is a glimpse of the tight relationship that developed in the years after Bannon’s acrimonious ouster from the White House …

Epstein files reveal ties to Catholic conservatives’ anti-Francis campaign

Epstein files reveal ties to Catholic conservatives’ anti-Francis campaign

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Newly released files by the U.S. Department of Justice show that convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein and former Trump aide Steve Bannon discussed strategies to undermine Pope Francis, revealing how the Vatican was viewed as a geopolitical pressure point by Epstein’s network of political and financial leaders. In text messages between Bannon and Epstein from June 2019, Bannon seems to suggest that Epstein was an executive producer of a documentary film that never got made, based on a 2019 book by French journalist and researcher Frédéric Martel, “In the Closet of the Vatican.” “Will take down Francis,” Bannon writes about the film. “The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU — come on brother.” Martel’s book delves into the culture of secrecy and hypocrisy regarding homosexuality at the Vatican. When it was published, the book galvanized conservative outrage because it included claims stating that 80% of Vatican clergy are gay. Martel told Religion News Service that he had several meetings with Bannon, who told Martel that he “loved” the book. The two …

Former French minister Lang quits plum job over Epstein ties – POLITICO

Former French minister Lang quits plum job over Epstein ties – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Caroline Lang was also to inherit $5 million in Epstein’s will, according to Mediapart. Caroline Lang told the outlet that the fund was to support emerging artists and that she knew nothing of the will. “The accusations against me are inaccurate, and I will prove it, beyond the noise and fury of the media and digital courts,” Lang said in his resignation letter sent to Barrot. Contacted by POLITICO, Lang shared the resignation letter. In the latest wave of Epstein correspondence released by the U.S. Justice Department, Lang appeared in a picture with Epstein outside of the Louvre, and shared by Epstein with Steve Bannon, former chief strategist for U.S. President Donald Trump.  “Now at the pyramid,” Epstein wrote in March 2019. “With the entire govt.” Epstein and the Lang family maintained a close relationship over the years, Jack Lang and his daughter admitted last week. Jack Lang told POLITICO last week that he “never knew of Epstein’s crimes.” Jack Lang, 86, is a well known name in French politics and history after having served as …

Slovakia adviser Lajčák resigns amid Epstein revelations – POLITICO

Slovakia adviser Lajčák resigns amid Epstein revelations – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday released more than three million pages of documents in the Epstein files. The documents, which reference several prominent figures, such as Steve Bannon, Elon Musk and world leaders, also include exchanges between Lajčák and Epstein. In the newly released files, Epstein bantered with Lajčák about women while discussing Lajčák’s meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lajčák initially denied any wrongdoing, describing the communications as informal and light-hearted, and later offered his resignation to prevent political costs from falling on the prime minister, according to reports in Slovak media. “Not because I did anything criminal or unethical, but so that he does not bear political costs for something unrelated to his decisions,” Lajčák was quoted as saying. The opposition had united in calling for him to resign. The coalition Slovak National Party also joined this stance, saying that Lajčák represented a security risk, according to local media. Lajčák did not immediately respond to a request for comment by POLITICO.  In his video address, the prime minister also criticized media …

Sculpting Europe in MAGA’s image – POLITICO

Sculpting Europe in MAGA’s image – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“It is a shot across the bow of the EU, and even NATO,” he purred, seemingly astonished that the 33-page document ever saw the light of day in its published form without being muted by the more fainthearted Trump aides. Famously, Bannon had once claimed he wanted “to drive a stake through the Brussels vampire.” And now, he and other MAGA influencers get to sharpen their stake with the encouragement of U.S. government policy. Above all, it’s what Bannon describes as the commitment to “back resistance movements to the globalists” that thrills him most. “It was pleasantly shocking that it was so explicit,” he said of the document’s prioritization of support for so-called “patriotic European parties,” with the aim of halting the continent’s supposed slide into irreversible decline due to mass migration, falling birth rates and the dilution of national cultural identities. But while Bannon extols Trump’s foreign-policy priorities, former U.S. diplomats fret the administration may be signaling an intention to go beyond expressing its rhetorical support for MAGA’s ideological allies and browbeating their opponents. …