Donald Trump Jr. acknowledged in an interview broadcast Tuesday that his father can trust fewer people around him than he would like in the wake of an anonymous op-ed claiming there is a “resistance” within the Trump administration.
“I think there are people in there that he can trust, it’s just — it’s a much smaller group than I would like it to be,” the president’s eldest son said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Asked who he trusts, Trump Jr. declined to answer but suggested family members working in the White House remain in the fold. President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are both White House advisers.
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Donald Trump Jr. says his father can’t trust everyone around him after the anonymous op-ed
Donald Trump Jr. acknowledged in an interview broadcast Tuesday that his father can trust fewer people around him than he would like in the wake of an anonymous op-ed claiming there is a “resistance” within the Trump administration.
“I think there are people in there that he can trust, it’s just — it’s a much smaller group than I would like it to be,” the president’s eldest son said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Asked who he trusts, Trump Jr. declined to answer but suggested family members working in the White House remain in the fold. President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are both White House advisers.
“I’m talking outside family. That goes without saying,” Trump Jr. said.
[Trump officials rush to assure the president they didn’t pen op-ed criticizing him]
“It would be easier to get things done if you’re able to fully trust everyone around you,” he added. “I think that’s a shame.”
The op-ed, published by the New York Times last week, was written by a senior official in the Trump administration, according to the Times. It depicts a “two-track presidency” in which Trump acts according to his own whims while many of his top aides, in the author’s words, work to thwart his “more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”
The piece’s publication has coincided with revelations from a new book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward that depicts a chaotic White House in which some aides have even removed papers from Trump’s desk to prevent him from taking what they believe to be unwarranted actions.
During the ABC interview, Trump Jr. said he believes the op-ed was written by a “low-level person,” and he said that the Justice Department should investigate the author, as he father has suggested.
“This is very low level person who will throw their name on an op-ed, and basically subvert the vote of the American people who elected my father to do this job,” Trump Jr. said.
Asked whether he thinks any laws were broken, Trump Jr. said:“Listen, I think you’re subverting the will of the people. I mean, to try to control the presidency while not the president. You have millions and millions of Americans who voted for this.”
More than 100 migrants died in a shipwreck off the Libyan coastline earlier this month, an aid agency says.
According to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) two rubber boats set off on 1 September, but one of the vessels deflated and sank.
The 276 survivors were eventually taken to the Libyan port city of Khoms, around 100 km (62 miles) to the south-east of the capital Tripoli.
MSF says the group is now being held in "arbitrary detention".
The survivors, including pregnant women, children and infants, have been treated by MSF for pneumonia or burns from leaked fuel.
Over 1,500 migrants have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Many more have been rescued, although Italy, a primary destination for migrants travelling from Libya, has recently started to refuse entry to migrant ships.
Concerns remain for those who are returned to Libya by the country's Coast Guard, with reports emerging late last year of sub-Saharan African migrants being kidnapped for ransom or sold as slaves in the northern African country.
Libya remains unstable since the overthrow of long-term leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Hundreds of migrants held in detention had to be moved after deadly clashes broke out in the Tripoli in late August, while gunmen also attacked the National Oil Corporation on 10 September.
I meet Eric Aniva in the dusty yard of his three-room shack in Nsanje district in southern Malawi. Goats and chickens graze in the dirt outside. Wearing a grimy green shirt, and walking with a pronounced limp (he's been lame in one leg since birth, he says), he greets me enthusiastically. He seems to like the idea of media attention.In some remote southern regions of Malawi, it's traditional for girls to be made to have sex with a paid sex worker known as a "hyena" once they reach puberty. The act is not seen by village elders as rape, but as a form of ritual "cleansing". However, as Ed Butler reports, it has the potential to be the opposite of cleansing - a way of spreading disease.
Aniva is by all accounts the pre-eminent "hyena" in this village. It's a traditional title given to a man hired by communities in several remote parts of southern Malawi to provide what's called sexual "cleansing". If a man dies, for example, his wife is required by tradition to sleep with Aniva before she can bury him. If a woman has an abortion, again sexual cleansing is required.
And most shockingly, here in Nsanje, teenage girls, after their first menstruation, are made to have sex over a three-day period, to mark their passage from childhood to womanhood. If the girls refuse, it's believed, disease or some fatal misfortune could befall their families or the village as a whole.
"Most of those I have slept with are girls, school-going girls," Aniva tells me.
"Some girls are just 12 or 13 years old, but I prefer them older. All these girls find pleasure in having me as their hyena. They actually are proud and tell other people that this man is a real man, he knows how to please a woman."
Despite his boasts, several girls I meet in a nearby village express aversion to the ordeal they've had to go through.
"There was nothing else I could have done. I had to do it for the sake of my parents," one girl, Maria, tells me. "If I'd refused, my family members could be attacked with diseases - even death - so I was scared."
They tell me that all their female friends were made to have sex with a hyena.
Aniva appears to be in his 40s (he's vague about his precise age) and currently has two wives who are well aware of his work. He claims to have slept with 104 women and girls - although as he said the same to a local newspaper in 2012, I sense that he long ago lost count. Aniva has five children that he knows about - he's not sure how many of the women and girls he's made pregnant.
He tells me he's one of 10 hyenas in this community, and that every village in Nsanje district has them. They are paid from $4 to $7 (£3 to £5) each time.
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An hour's drive down the road, I'm introduced to Fagisi, Chrissie and Phelia, women in their 50s and custodians of the initiation traditions in their village. It's their job to organise the adolescent girls into camps each year, teaching them about their duties as wives and how to please a man sexually. The "sexual cleansing" with the hyena is the final stage of this process, arranged voluntarily by the girl's parents. It's necessary, Fagisi, Chrissie and Phelia explain, "to avoid infection with their parents or the rest of the community".
I put it to them that there's a much greater risk that these "cleansings" will themselves spread disease. According to custom, sex with the hyena must never be protected with the use of condoms. But they say a hyena is hand-picked for his good morals, and therefore cannot be infected with HIV/Aids.
It's clear, given the hyena's duties, that HIV is a huge risk to the community. The UN estimates that one in 10 of all Malawians carry the virus, so I ask Aniva if he is HIV-positive. He astounds me by saying that he is - and that he doesn't mention this to a girl's parents when they hire him.
As our conversation continues, Aniva senses that I am not impressed. He stops boasting and tells me that he does fewer cleansings than before. "I still do the rituals here and there," he confides. Then he tells me: "I am stopping."
Image captionAniva with a root which he grinds up and adds to water to drink before sex
All of those involved in these rituals are aware that these customs are condemned by outsiders - not just by the church, but by NGOs and the government as well, which has launched a campaign against so-called "harmful cultural practices".
"We are not going to condemn these people," says Dr May Shaba, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Gender and Welfare. "But we are going to give them information that they need to change their rituals."
Parents who have had more education than others may already choose not to hire a hyena, I am told. But the female elders I spoke to remain defiant.
"There's nothing wrong with our culture," Chrissie tells me. "If you look at today's society, you can see that girls are not responsible, so we have to train our girls in a good manner in the village, so that they don't go astray, are good wives so that the husband is satisfied, and so that nothing bad happens to their families."
According to Father Clause Boucher, a French-born Catholic priest who's lived in Malawi for 50 years and is now its pre-eminent anthropologist, the rituals date back centuries. They stem from age-old beliefs about the need for children to be passed into the "heat" of adulthood by a sexual act, he says. In the past, when girls tended not to reach puberty until they were 15 or 16, this would often have been carried out by a selected future husband. Today it's more likely to done by a paid sex worker, a hyena, and there's no shame attached to that.
Father Boucher points out that the efforts to change this sexualisation of children have been stubbornly resisted in remote southern areas, despite more than a century of Christianity and 30 years of the Aids epidemic. In most of the country - and particularly in areas close to the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe - "sexual cleansing" is rarely if ever practised.
Image captionParamount Chief Theresa Kachindamoto
In Malawi's central Dedza district, hyenas are only ever used to initiate widows or infertile women, but the Paramount Chief Theresa Kachindamoto - a rare female figurehead in Malawi - has made the fight against the tradition a personal priority.
She is trying to galvanise other regional chiefs to make similar efforts. In some other districts, like Mangochi in the east of the country, ceremonies are being adapted to replace sex with a more benign anointing of the girl.
In Nsanje, though, there is little effort to bring about change. With Malawi one of the poorest countries in the world, and suffering from growing reports of rural hunger, it's not a policy priority.
Image captionFrom left to right: Aniva, Fanny with their youngest child, Fanny's sister and a former client
In a remote village, I meet one of Aniva's two wives, Fanny, along with his youngest baby daughter. Fanny was herself widowed before being "cleansed" by Aniva with sex. They married soon after.
Their relationship looks strained. Sitting next to him, she admits shyly that she hates what he does, but that it brings necessary income. I ask her if she expects her two-year-old to be undergoing initiation too in perhaps 10 years from now.
"I don't want that to happen," she says. "I want this tradition to end. We are forced to sleep with the hyenas. It's not out of our choice and that I think is so sad for us as women."
"You hated it when it happened to you?" I ask.
"I still hate it right up until now."
When I ask Aniva too whether he wants his daughter to undergo sexual cleansing, he surprises me again.
"Not my daughter. I cannot allow this. Now I am fighting for the end of this malpractice."
"So, you're fighting against it, but you are still doing it yourself?" I ask.
A foremost traditional ruler in Edo Central Senatorial District, the Izuware of Ujiogba, has taken a swipe at the Ehidiamen of Opoji over what he described as the latter’s denial of last Saturday adoption of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, by traditional rulers in the Edo Central. The traditional ruler noted that there was no dissenting voice when the adoption of Ize-Iyamu was raised at the meeting that was attended by 32 traditional rulers in Esan Land including the Ehidiamen of Opoji. He said, “He was not even aware that our closed-door meeting was recorded. He said we will eat the Comrade Governor’s money and vote our choice. We have the recording. As he was saying it, we knew he will still deny it. “For him now to say we do not have the right to endorse anybody is an error. On that day, I spoke my mind because we only have two teachers in the primary school in my area and two teachers in the secondary school. That is the truth,” he said.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who represents the Lagos Central Senatorial District in the Senate, today requested police protection from the Acting Inspector-General of Police arising, following the menacing July 14 behavior of Senator Dino Melaye towards her during a discussion.
“It was the timely intervention of a number of colleagues which prevented Senator Melaye from unleashing a physical attack on me,” she said in a letter to the police boss. “However, as the leadership of the Senate did not call him to order in the circumstance, he proceeded to threaten my life without any provocation whatsoever.”
Melaye subsequently denied the reports, but not the altercation, without stating exactly what he had said to Senator Tinubu during his outburst.
Recalling Senator Melaye's antecedents in the federal legislature, “particularly in the House of Representatives where a brawl led by him had led to the untimely death of a member,” Senator Tinubu said in the letter she decided not to ignore his threat to her life.
Earlier today, a group of Lagos women loyal to Senator Tinubu held a street demonstration in the city against the harassment by Melaye. They demanded a written apology for their Senator.
A Facebook user, Wealths Israel shared these photos on his page with the caption:
"Beware of whom u choose to be with. What a jealous gf did to her bf. Simply because she heard a rumour dat her bf impregnate a gf. Without finding out 4rm d guy. She came to visit d guy on dat evil day. Pretend to pass d night.
At midnight wen d guy was asleep. She woke up. Bleached red oil and poured it closely to d guy face and body. Then she ran away. She is nowhere to b found. Wat a wicked heart. Dis is not tel me I tel u. I knw dem and I have seen them together havin fun,playin. Smilin and even eating together."
Wishing him quick recovery. See another photo inside...
The Senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Tuesday, formally reported Senator Dino Melaye to the All Progressives Congress and the Senate, alleging that Melaye would have beaten her up but for the timely intervention of her colleagues.
Tinubu, the wife of the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in her separate letters, said the Kogi West Senatorial District senator actually issued threats of rape and assault against her and boasted that he would face no consequence even if he fulfilled the threats.
She urged the leadership of the APC and the Senate to do the needful by investigating the development with a view to saving her from being the victim of Melaye’s threat. She stated,
“What took place at that session was nothing short of a threat of physical assault and abuse against me by Senator Melaye. As such, it was an affront to the Senate, this government and to our party.
“For a party member to so antagonise and attack another APC member in this fashion places the party in disrepute and undermines the unity needed to accomplish the sober task of reforming Nigeria for the better.
“Much of what took place has been widely reported in the media. However, I would like to place on record for the party this formal complaint in hope that the party will act to appropriately sanction Senator Melaye for his malign behaviour.
“In this way, the party will affirm its policy of zero tolerance for gender discrimination and to restore its reputation as a vehicle of positive change and not an arm of regression and intolerance towards women.
“During the 12 July Executive Session, I was duly recognised to speak by the Senate President after Senator Dino Melaye had spoken and berated some Senate colleagues for their perceived roles in the judicial case involving the Senate Ieadership.
“Although I remained silent and attempted no interjection during his statement, Senator Melaye tried to abridge my rights as a Senator by hectoring at me and interrupting my contribution.
“At one point, I cautioned him about the use of his language and the threats made, reminding him that other senators were there by equal right as he and represented their constituents.
“In a burst of apparent rage, Senator Melaye charged at me in what can only be seen as effort to physically attack me.
“The attack was only prevented by some respectful senators, who moved to impede his path or otherwise block him from approaching closer to me. I thank those senators for their personal courage and sense of decorum.
“Senator Melaye hurled foul and vulgar language at me, what he said should never be heard in any public institution, let alone the floor of the Senate.”
Tinubu further alleged that her male colleague denigrated her as a woman, adding, “Senator Melaye threatened to beat me on the floor of the Senate simply because I dared to express an opinion different from his. I am both a ranking Senator and a woman.
“Melaye took neither into consideration as he issued threats of rape and assault, whiIe boasting that he would face no consequence even if he fulfilled these criminal threats.
“Compounding the damage inflicted by Senator Dino Melaye is the fact that we are both of the APC.
“Thus, I am compelled to report this incident. It also gives me great concern that the Senate Ieadership has heretofore been silent on this matter as if condoning the errant behaviour of the Senator.”
She added, “Through this letter, I officially inform the party about the improper behaviour of Senator MeIaye and ask the party to investigate this matter in order to restore the public image and moral standing of the party and of the APC members in the Senate.
“In this manner, we show that we reject the misconduct that has wronged our nation and its people for so long. Only if we act against such excesses will the people truly believe we are committed to the reforms we have promised them.
In her letter to Saraki, Tinubu noted that a week after the indecorous eruption by Melaye, the Senate leadership had been silent and had not reacted to the threatening misconduct of Melaye.
She stated, “This serious transgression of legislative behaviour is not allowed to pass, I formally submit for the record that l object to the reckless misconduct of Melaye during the July 12 Executive Session.
“What he did was completely unjustifiable and contrary to the established customs and norms that govern the behaviour of members of this body.
“For merely voicing my opinion on the floor of the Senate, which is the fundamental right and duty of every Senator, I was verbally abused and threatened by Senator Dino Melaye.
“He did not stop there; he used blatantly sexist and misogynistic language offensive to every woman in Nigeria and offensive to every person who truly believes that gender discrimination has no place in the Nigeria we are trying to build for ourselves and all future generations.
“ln summation, unless Melaye is appropriately disciplined, he remains a danger to me and to the Senate at large. He has promised twice within one week to attack me.
“In an attempt to preserve the dignity of the Senate, I have refrained from saying anything in public outside of the Executive Chamber about this incident.
“However, Melaye has become unmoored and has since paraded his misconduct in public as if to threaten a female senator is a badge of pride. lt is a sad day for Nigeria if such misconduct is to be condoned and smiled upon.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the APC in Benue State, Abba Yaro, has called on the party to begin thorough screening, especially psychiatric tests, for all the aspirants contesting elections on the platform of the party in future elections.
Yaro said this would be necessary to forestall reckless behaviour among members, who after winning elections in the party, would turn against the leaders of the party with the aim of running down the party with their uncomplimentary attitudes.
Speaking with one of our correspondents on the reported face-off between Melaye and Tinubu, in Makurdi, Benue State capital, on Tuesday, Yaro described the purported insult on the wife of the party’s national leader as an insult on the party in general.
“For Christ’s sake, how could Melaye have got the guts to talk to our national leader in such a manner? Where was Melaye when Tinubu staked his neck out to fight the Peoples Democratic Party and bring about the desired change into this country?
“Such a person needs to have his head examined thoroughly,” he said.
The state party chairman called on Melaye to publicly apologise to the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his wife over the attack on the latter at the executive session of the Senate last week.
