‘The Hitler of Our Time!’ Trump Confronted Inside DC Steak House
Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
“They feast while Gaza starves!” said members of the peace group CodePink to the far-right president and his cabinet.
Local peace activists in Washington, DC were swiftly ejected on Tuesday night after confronting President Donald Trump and several members of his cabinet who were dining in a steak and seafood restaurant, but not before they castigated the men for “feasting” in opulence while the people of Gaza “starve” under the brutal humanitarian blockade imposed by the US and Israeli governments.
The small group of CodePink activists chanted “They feast while Gaza starves!” and “Trump is the Hitler of our time!” as Trump looked on just several feet away inside Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab restaurant, alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others.
“He’s terrorizing Gaza and communities all over the world!” one activist in the group shouted at Trump while the president looked on and then shooed them to go away with a point of his finger and then a gesture to his Secret Service detail.
“While Trump, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and others feasted at a steakhouse, we stood our ground and told them the truth,” said Olivia DiNucci, the group’s DC organizer, in a statement following the confrontation. “Two years into genocide, Gaza is under evacuation orders, Puerto Rico and Venezuela are in the crosshairs, and the Pentagon proudly calls itself the Department of War. Trump looked us in the eyes, and we made sure he would never dine in peace while communities are under siege.”
CodePink said a Trump administration “prioritizing war and the wealthy over the needs of the American people and human rights abroad” should not be able to dine in luxury when it is causing so much pain and misery both abroad and in communities nationwide in the US, including the capital.
The group specifically condemned ongoing “support for the genocide in Gaza, reckless and illegal military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean, and the deployment of troops and ICE agents within US borders. As well as the growing threat of occupying U.S. cities with the deployment of the National Guard.”
With National Guard troops now deployed in Los Angeles and Washington, DC—and with the Trump administration announcing the launch of what it dubbed operation “Midway Blitz” in Chicago this week—CodePink said there is growing anger nationwide over the president’s authoritarian and fascist tactics that are reminiscent of how Adolf Hitler intensified his violent grip on power in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s.
“We hope he sees our faces in his mind, for a long time,” said one group member who confronted Trump in the restaurant. “Because he looked us all in the eyes as we were standing there. We will continue to fight for DC. We will continue to fight for a free Palestine every single day.
The activists received high praise online for their disruptive efforts.
“Pretty gutsy in my opinion. I don’t know how they got so close,” said journalist and writer Tim Shorrock.
“Amazing!” declared writer Polly Sigh. “My hats off to these brave protesters for saying it right to his ugly orange face.”
In its statement, CodePink said that while Trump’s authoritarian march at home and warmongering abroad continues, “the very programs that support struggling Americans—healthcare, education, and addiction treatment—face severe cuts.”
“This agenda, funded by a bill providing massive tax cuts for the super-rich, is being paid for by a working class that cannot afford it,” said the group, who added that their small disruption of a dinner for some of the world’s most powerful men “represents the frustration of a majority of Americans who reject these priorities.”
Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
UK public has paid £200bn to shareholders of key industries since privatisation
Analysis reveals ‘privatisation premium’ of £250 per household per year paid to owners of water, rail, bus, energy and mail services since 2010
The public has paid almost £200bn to the shareholders who own key British industries since they were privatised, research reveals.
The transfer of tens of billions of pounds to the owners of the privatised water, rail, bus, energy and mail services comes as families face soaring bills, polluted rivers and seas, and expensive and unreliable trains and buses.
As a result, citizens have been paying a “privatisation premium” of £250 per household per year since 2010 alone, the analysis found.
Recent focus has been on the privatised water industry, which has run up long-term debts of £73bn and paid out dividends of £88.4bn in the past 34 years at the same time as overseeing record sewage spills, according to the latest figures.
But for the first time the thinktank Common Wealth has drawn together the haemorrhaging of billions of pounds to shareholders across four key sectors, most of which were privatised from the 1980s and 1990s by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government – energy, transport, water and mail.
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/16/uk-public-paid-200bn-to-shareholders-of-key-industries-since-privatisation-study
[Mayor of London] Sadiq Khan: After the far right’s march on our streets, Londoners must show Trump we reject his politics of fear
These are dark times, but those who seek to divide us will not win. The capital’s soul and spirit are as inclusive and optimistic as ever
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President Donald Trump and his coterie have perhaps done the most to fan the flames of divisive, far-right politics around the world in recent years. When he came to the UK on his first state visit, I highlighted how the president had deliberately used xenophobia, racism and “otherness” as an electoral tactic, introducing a travel ban on a number of Muslim-majority countries and praising white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Six years later, the tactics we see from today’s White House seem no different. Scapegoating minorities, illegally deporting US citizens, deploying the military to the streets of diverse cities. These actions aren’t just inconsistent with western values – they’re straight out of the autocrat’s playbook.
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The president and his supporters often talk about the importance of free speech, painting a picture of Britain as a dystopian society where repression means our rights are under threat. Nothing could be further from the truth. This week, I’m sure many Londoners will speak up to tell President Trump and his followers that we cannot be divided by those who seek to sow fear. That we are determined for our city to stand strong as a bastion against hate, and shine bright as a beacon of hope. That we see strength in our diversity, not weakness. And that we hold our progressive principles high with pride, rather than hiding them in shame.
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Jeremy Corbyn: Surprise, surprise – Labour is reaping what it has sown
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jeremy-corbyn-new-party-labour-uk-poverty-b2827322.html
Instead of addressing child poverty, homelessness, poor working conditions or any of the real issues impacting this country, Labour has chosen to deflect the blame and pour billions into arms, says Jeremy Corbyn. Britain is tired of having no political choice – and we’re here to fix that
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Over the past year, the government has continued a programme of austerity and privatisation. It has refused to lift the two-child benefit cap, the single biggest driver of child poverty. It has tried to take away the winter fuel allowance. It has increased the bus fare cap. And it has tried to take away £5bn from disabled people, curating a two-tiered benefit system that deprives thousands of people of a dignified life.
There is one area where the government has been very generous, though: arms spending. Government military spending is now at £31.7bn, which is a 6 per cent increase in real terms from last year. Imagine how much better ordinary people’s lives would be if we spent that money on schools, hospitals and green energy instead.
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People have had enough of a political regime that serves the interests of billionaires and corporations. They have had enough of a government that inflicts suffering at home and enables genocide abroad. They have had enough of broken promises from political parties that fail to deliver real change.
Original article at https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jeremy-corbyn-new-party-labour-uk-poverty-b2827322.html
