International

Donald Trump, the master of provocation who never admits defeat

Always attack, never apologize and never admit defeat. They are the lessons that Donald Trump learned as a young man and a manual that has guided his life until today, when this businessman turned politician caresses his goal of returning to the White House despite his turbulent first term.

This Tuesday’s elections between former Republican president and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris are the third to which Trump is presented, but in none of the previous polls had given him as many options to win as now.

This 78-year-old master of provocation has managed to re-elay a political career that seemed over when in 2021 he left the White House defeated with a country divided by a controversial presidency that had an explosive end with the assault on the Capitol.

For Trump, the duel with Harris is not only an opportunity to rewrite his legacy, but also a matter of almost personal survival since returning to power would allow him to avoid the pending accounts he has with Justice.

A tycoon turned president

Born on June 14, 1946 in Queens (New York) to a family of German descent, Donald John Trump graduated in Finance, at the age of 28 took over from his father’s real estate and built a millionaire empire not exempt from controversies over debts and tax evasion.

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But his political career could not be explained without the fame he acquired thanks to the world of entertainment and television. He even presented his own program, “The Apprentice”, in which he dismissed contestants who intended to work in his company.

When in 2015 he went down the golden escalators of the Trump Tower to announce his first presidential race, the Republican Party took it as a joke, but his ‘outsider’ image catapulted him to the nomination.

He promised to build a border wall and, against all odds, won the 2016 election to Hillary Clinton. The tycoon had managed to connect with the white working class who felt like a victim of globalization and wanted to make the United States “big again.”

Thus was born Trumpism, one of the most important political movements in the history of the United States and that has influenced the populist right around the world.

Donald Trump and an incendiary mandate

Since he came to power, Trump embraced insult and confrontation as a political style and ruled on Twitter. Although he popularized the concept of ‘fake news’ to attack the media, he himself was a great diffuser of lies.

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The questionable management of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial riots dynamited his re-election, which months earlier seemed assured by the good performance of the economy.

He lost in 2020 against Joe Biden although, true to his style, he never admitted defeat and spread the biggest of his lies: that of electoral fraud.

The courts rejected all their demands, but a mob of Trumpist fanatics assaulted the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a last frustrated attempt to stop the transition of powers.

“We will return somehow,” Trump said as he left Washington repudiated by his allies and when he seemed ostracized.

The resurgence

But the tycoon never disappeared from the front line; he capitalized on the discontent over the high inflation and used his various judicial messes to his advantage, including his accusation for the assault on the Capitol and the conviction for irregular payments to the porn actress Stormy Daniels, the first conviction of a former president and who is still pending sentence.

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He campaigned with a photo of his police file as if he were a politically persecuted and swept this year without rumsing his hair in the Republican Party primaries, which has been molded to his image and likeness.

A cult of the leader that reached its maximum splendor on July 13 when Trump dodged a bullet by the hair in an assassination attempt at an electoral rally, a scene that was immortalized in his iconic photo with his fist raised and his ear bloody.

Donald Trump, doesn’t change his rhetoric

The Republican has not moderated his rhetoric: he has insinuated that he would be “dictator for a day,” he has accused migrants of eating their neighbors’ pets and has refused to apologize after a comedian at one of his rallies called Puerto Rico a “garbage island.”

Although they live apart, her return to the presidency would also be the return as first lady of Slovenian model Melania Trump, her third marriage after Ivana Trump and Marla Maples.

With an unmistakable blond hairstyle and orange tan, Trump does not drink, loves hamburgers and is very superstitious: campaigning at a McDonald’s he spilled the salt and threw himself a little over his shoulder as a spell against bad luck. There is a lot at stake.

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International

Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case

10 reported dead after explosion in Dominican Republic

A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.

The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.

Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.

Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.

“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.

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The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.

“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.

“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.

The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.

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“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”

International

Venezuelan opposition leader dedicates Nobel Prize to Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he was “eager” to welcome the opposition leader, who left Venezuela clandestinely with U.S. assistance, to receive her Nobel Prize in Oslo.

Machado dedicated her Nobel Prize to Trump, who nevertheless showed a very cautious attitude toward including her in any potential political transition in Venezuela.

The opposition leader said on Monday, after an audience with Pope Leo XIV, that “the defeat of evil is closer” in Venezuela following the U.S. military operation that overthrew and removed President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the country.

Trump has claimed that he is now in control of the South American nation, stating that the primary objective at this stage is to stabilize the country before considering elections.

Venezuelan oil is Washington’s main objective, Trump added after Maduro’s overthrow.

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International

Police hunt gunmen after fatal shooting in Corsica

A man was shot dead on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, local media reported. The victim was identified as Alain Orsoni, former president of local football club AC Ajaccio, according to sources close to the investigation cited by French news channel BFMTV.

Orsoni, 71, was killed in the town of Vero, near Ajaccio, the island’s capital, while attending his mother’s funeral.

He was also a former member of the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), a nationalist organization that has long sought independence for the island, reports said.

BFMTV reported that the gunmen fled the scene and remain at large. Local police have opened an investigation into the shooting.