May 7, 2018
Trump backs CIA nominee Gina Haspel after she offered to quit
Gina Haspel is a 33-year CIA veteran
President Donald Trump has defended his nominee to head the CIA after she offered to withdraw amid concern over her role in harsh interrogation techniques widely seen as torture.
Mr Trump said Gina Haspel had "come under fire because she was too tough on terrorists".
Ms Haspel, who faces a tough Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, has now decided not to withdraw.
The tight 51-49 party split in the Senate makes confirmation uncertain.
CIA director Gina Haspel's Thailand torture ties
Who is Gina Haspel?
The post became vacant after Mike Pompeo was appointed secretary of state last month. Ms Haspel would be the first woman to head the CIA if confirmed.
What has Mr Trump said?
The president offered his strong support for Ms Haspel in a tweet on Monday, ending it with: "Win Gina!"
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists. Think of that, in these very dangerous times, we have the most qualified person, a woman, who Democrats want OUT because she is too tough on terror. Win Gina!
9:04 PM - May 7, 2018
Why was Ms Haspel so worried?
She has been at the CIA for 33 years, almost entirely undercover but most recently as deputy director, and her time at the agency covered the period when techniques that included waterboarding were used in a controversial interrogation programme for terrorist suspects.
Ms Haspel herself ran a so-called "black site" in Thailand, a secretive overseas prison where such interrogations were carried out.
The Washington Post says she was summoned to the White House on Friday by officials worried about her previous support for the techniques.
It was at that meeting she apparently indicated her interest in withdrawing, reportedly fearing the Senate questioning could damage her reputation and the CIA's.
She also apparently feared repeating the fate of Ronny Jackson, who withdrew his nomination for Veterans Affairs secretary amid questions over alleged past misconduct.
Her misgivings prompted senior White House aides, including press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to rush later on Friday to meet her at CIA HQ in Langley, Virginia.
The Post said it was not until Saturday that Ms Haspel decided to remain the nominee.
What will happen on Wednesday?
The Senate confirmation hearing will not be easy and Ms Haspel has been preparing for it with mock questioning at CIA HQ.
Democrats will be sure to raise the question of her role in the interrogation programme and some have said she should be disqualified because of her actions at the Thailand site.
She has reportedly said she would firmly oppose the reintroduction of any such programme, something Mr Trump has hinted at in the past.
Another line of questioning could concern the destruction of videotapes showing al-Qaeda suspects being submitted to the interrogation techniques.
Ms Haspel drafted the cable that ordered their destruction in 2005, although her boss, Jose Rodriguez, reportedly sent it without her knowledge or that of then CIA director Porter Goss.
Will she be confirmed?
She certainly has her supporters.
Ms Sanders earlier tweeted: "There is no one more qualified to be the first woman to lead the CIA than 30+ year CIA veteran Gina Haspel."
CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani told the Post that those who had worked with Ms Haspel "almost uniformly support her" and would "finally have a chance to see the true Gina Haspel on Wednesday".
But human rights organisation Reprieve said Ms Haspel was "not fit" to run the CIA.
The 51-49 Republican-Democrat split in the Senate makes her confirmation vulnerable, particularly with the longstanding absence of John McCain, who is ill.
The Post said some advisers had told Mr Trump her confirmation was unlikely.
What was the interrogation programme about?
Former President George W Bush had authorised the system, known as the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation Programme, following the 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001.
The BBC's Panorama programme witnesses the first accurate public demonstration of waterboarding
Terrorist suspects were subjected to techniques such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning.
CIA interrogation report: The 20 key findings
At least two al-Qaeda suspects, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, were subjected to waterboarding at the Thailand site in 2002.
The so-called black sites were later closed by then President Barack Obama.
Who is Gina Haspel?
The 61-year-old has extensive overseas experience and has served as chief of station on several postings.
Mike Pompeo - Trump's loyalist new diplomat
The White House revolving door: Who's gone?
Her career has brought her to the UK twice, where she acted as the chief of the London station.
Her leadership positions in Washington include deputy director of the National Clandestine Service - the CIA agency that co-ordinates clandestine operations - and chief of staff for the director of the National Clandestine Service.
She became deputy to Mr Pompeo last year.
Monday, May 7, 2018
VW CEO Given Rare U.S. Safe-Passage Deal - Bloomberg
VW CEO Given Rare U.S. Safe-Passage Deal
By Tom Schoenberg and Christoph Rauwald
May 7, 2018, 6:24 PM GMT+10
Pact struck after U.S. charges ex-CEO Winterkorn under seal
Agreement may signal U.S. anticipates no charges against Diess
Not long after U.S. authorities filed sealed charges against Volkswagen AG’s old chief executive officer, they granted the new CEO a rare safe-passage deal.
The Justice Department agreement allows Herbert Diess, promoted last month to lead the German automaker, to travel the world freely without fear of being arrested in connection with the U.S.’s diesel-rigging investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Diess also received a spoken assurance that he would be given advance notice should prosecutors seek to charge him in its emissions cheating probe, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal is confidential. Diess, who joined the automaker a couple months before the scandal became public in September 2015, isn’t accused of wrongdoing.
The agreement essentially makes it possible for Diess to effectively run the sprawling 12-brand behemoth, which has 120 factories spread across the world. As CEO, one of his primary tasks will be hopping around the globe to represent the automaker at major events such as car shows, plant openings and new model releases. The deal was approved after the former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, who won’t enjoy the same freedom of movement, was indicted under seal in March. The charges against him were made public on May 3.
Former prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers described such a deal as uncommon -- implying, possibly, that the U.S. believes it won’t charge Diess, or that he may be providing useful information in the ongoing investigation.
Frequent Travels
The Justice Department agreement also suggests that Diess has some concern about potential scrutiny by U.S. authorities, or at least wanted extra insurance against being detained during his frequent travels leading a global company.
Volkswagen and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment when asked about the special arrangement for Diess.
Diess has spent more than two decades in the German auto business, including at Robert Bosch GmbH and BMW AG. As a fresh recruit at VW, Diess participated in a routine “damage table” meeting on July 27, 2015, in Wolfsburg, where emissions irregularities in the U.S. were explained to senior managers, according to a 2016 company statement.
That meeting was a key moment in the conspiracy -- one where Winterkorn “approved the continued concealment of the cheating software from U.S. regulators,” U.S. prosecutors said in the unsealed indictment against the former CEO.
Because Diess attended that meeting, he would know what was said by Winterkorn and others when they were together in the room. Diess is already under investigation in Germany -- along with Winterkorn -- for possible market manipulation for not going public sooner about the scandal.
Winterkorn Case
It’s unclear what remarks, if any, Diess made at the gathering in question. Diess didn’t help with the case against Winterkorn, according to the people familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors routinely use safe-passage letters with witnesses and subjects of investigations that allow travel for interviews or testimony. Lawyers for possible targets are sometimes allowed an opportunity to argue against prosecution ahead of any decision to bring charges. Prosecutors also sometimes give advance notice to those about to be charged if they’re in the U.S. and not considered a flight risk, so they can turn themselves in rather than face public arrest.
But it’s unusual for prosecutors to allow a blanket safe-passage agreement, former prosecutors said. It’s also rare to offer to give a heads-up about impending legal action to someone who may be outside the country and couldn’t be extradited easily, these people said.
One explanation for such an arrangement is that the Justice Department isn’t finished investigating but has already determined that Diess is unlikely to be charged, said Michael Koenig, a formal federal prosecutor now at Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP.
‘Unique Situation’
“This is certainly a unique situation, and there are likely facts that the general public is not aware of that would allow for such an arrangement,” Koenig said.
Or, Diess may be providing useful information for the wider investigation, said Andrew Friedman, a white-collar defense lawyer at Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker PA. “I would anticipate there is some level of cooperation and some level of value this individual has,” Friedman said.
Among the eight individuals charged in the case, two have been brought to court. One executive, Oliver Schmidt, was arrested in Florida while vacationing there last year. Schmidt -- one of two employees who made presentations to Winterkorn, Diess and others at the July 2015 meeting -- didn’t initially cooperate with investigators. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December to seven years in prison.
As for Winterkorn, Germany’s Justice Ministry said on May 4 that the former CEO wouldn’t be sent to the U.S. because the country refuses to extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union. That means Winterkorn can’t be arrested unless he leaves his home country.
— With assistance by Chad Thomas
By Tom Schoenberg and Christoph Rauwald
May 7, 2018, 6:24 PM GMT+10
Pact struck after U.S. charges ex-CEO Winterkorn under seal
Agreement may signal U.S. anticipates no charges against Diess
Not long after U.S. authorities filed sealed charges against Volkswagen AG’s old chief executive officer, they granted the new CEO a rare safe-passage deal.
The Justice Department agreement allows Herbert Diess, promoted last month to lead the German automaker, to travel the world freely without fear of being arrested in connection with the U.S.’s diesel-rigging investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Diess also received a spoken assurance that he would be given advance notice should prosecutors seek to charge him in its emissions cheating probe, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal is confidential. Diess, who joined the automaker a couple months before the scandal became public in September 2015, isn’t accused of wrongdoing.
The agreement essentially makes it possible for Diess to effectively run the sprawling 12-brand behemoth, which has 120 factories spread across the world. As CEO, one of his primary tasks will be hopping around the globe to represent the automaker at major events such as car shows, plant openings and new model releases. The deal was approved after the former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, who won’t enjoy the same freedom of movement, was indicted under seal in March. The charges against him were made public on May 3.
Former prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers described such a deal as uncommon -- implying, possibly, that the U.S. believes it won’t charge Diess, or that he may be providing useful information in the ongoing investigation.
Frequent Travels
The Justice Department agreement also suggests that Diess has some concern about potential scrutiny by U.S. authorities, or at least wanted extra insurance against being detained during his frequent travels leading a global company.
Volkswagen and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment when asked about the special arrangement for Diess.
Diess has spent more than two decades in the German auto business, including at Robert Bosch GmbH and BMW AG. As a fresh recruit at VW, Diess participated in a routine “damage table” meeting on July 27, 2015, in Wolfsburg, where emissions irregularities in the U.S. were explained to senior managers, according to a 2016 company statement.
That meeting was a key moment in the conspiracy -- one where Winterkorn “approved the continued concealment of the cheating software from U.S. regulators,” U.S. prosecutors said in the unsealed indictment against the former CEO.
Because Diess attended that meeting, he would know what was said by Winterkorn and others when they were together in the room. Diess is already under investigation in Germany -- along with Winterkorn -- for possible market manipulation for not going public sooner about the scandal.
Winterkorn Case
It’s unclear what remarks, if any, Diess made at the gathering in question. Diess didn’t help with the case against Winterkorn, according to the people familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors routinely use safe-passage letters with witnesses and subjects of investigations that allow travel for interviews or testimony. Lawyers for possible targets are sometimes allowed an opportunity to argue against prosecution ahead of any decision to bring charges. Prosecutors also sometimes give advance notice to those about to be charged if they’re in the U.S. and not considered a flight risk, so they can turn themselves in rather than face public arrest.
But it’s unusual for prosecutors to allow a blanket safe-passage agreement, former prosecutors said. It’s also rare to offer to give a heads-up about impending legal action to someone who may be outside the country and couldn’t be extradited easily, these people said.
One explanation for such an arrangement is that the Justice Department isn’t finished investigating but has already determined that Diess is unlikely to be charged, said Michael Koenig, a formal federal prosecutor now at Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP.
‘Unique Situation’
“This is certainly a unique situation, and there are likely facts that the general public is not aware of that would allow for such an arrangement,” Koenig said.
Or, Diess may be providing useful information for the wider investigation, said Andrew Friedman, a white-collar defense lawyer at Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker PA. “I would anticipate there is some level of cooperation and some level of value this individual has,” Friedman said.
Among the eight individuals charged in the case, two have been brought to court. One executive, Oliver Schmidt, was arrested in Florida while vacationing there last year. Schmidt -- one of two employees who made presentations to Winterkorn, Diess and others at the July 2015 meeting -- didn’t initially cooperate with investigators. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December to seven years in prison.
As for Winterkorn, Germany’s Justice Ministry said on May 4 that the former CEO wouldn’t be sent to the U.S. because the country refuses to extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union. That means Winterkorn can’t be arrested unless he leaves his home country.
— With assistance by Chad Thomas
Why Warren Buffett Thinks Buying Microsoft Stock 'Would Be a Mistake' - Fortune
2018 BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY MEETING
Why Warren Buffett Thinks Buying Microsoft Stock 'Would Be a Mistake'
By JEN WIECZNER May 6, 2018
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates have known each other 27 years, enjoy playing bridge together and rallying in ping pong at the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting.
But the billionaires’ friendship has its boundaries: Buffett will never buy Microsoft stock.
“It just would be a mistake for Berkshire to buy Microsoft,” the famous stock picker said at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting Saturday.
Buffett has been notoriously averse to tech stocks for most of his investing career, though in 2016 he stunned shareholders by buying Apple stock, which is now by far Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding.
Yet Buffett’s resistance to Microsoft (MSFT, +1.16%) has nothing to do with its business model or industry. Rather, the problem lies with Gates, who joined the Berkshire Hathaway board in 2004, and retired as chairman of Microsoft in 2014.
“If something happened a week later, a month later, in terms of [Microsoft] having better earnings than expected or making an acquisition—anything—both Bill and I would, incorrectly, but would be a target of suggestions and accusations, perhaps even, that somehow he had told me something, or vice versa,” Buffett said at the Berkshire meeting in Omaha.
In other words, Buffett is concerned with avoiding even the slightest perception of insider trading—however false—or anything that could invite such suspicions.
“I try to stay away from a few things just totally because the inference would be drawn that we might have talked, I might have talked to somebody about something,” Buffett added. “There’d be a lot of people who wouldn’t believe us if something good immediately happened after we bought it.”
Of course, Buffett had plenty of opportunities to buy Microsoft stock without any remote appearance of insider trading. Microsoft went public in 1986—more than five years before Buffett even met Gates. So why didn’t the Oracle of Omaha invest back then?
“In the earlier years, it’s very clear—the answer is stupidity,” Buffett admitted.
Now, Microsoft is just one of “a few [companies] that are off the list” of what Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, +2.30%) is willing to invest in because of ethical conflicts, Buffett said. (He did not name the others in this group.)
“But both that and my stupidity have cost us a lot of money,” he added.
At least it doesn’t seem to be getting in the way of his friendship with Gates.
Why Warren Buffett Thinks Buying Microsoft Stock 'Would Be a Mistake'
By JEN WIECZNER May 6, 2018
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates have known each other 27 years, enjoy playing bridge together and rallying in ping pong at the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting.
But the billionaires’ friendship has its boundaries: Buffett will never buy Microsoft stock.
“It just would be a mistake for Berkshire to buy Microsoft,” the famous stock picker said at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting Saturday.
Buffett has been notoriously averse to tech stocks for most of his investing career, though in 2016 he stunned shareholders by buying Apple stock, which is now by far Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding.
Yet Buffett’s resistance to Microsoft (MSFT, +1.16%) has nothing to do with its business model or industry. Rather, the problem lies with Gates, who joined the Berkshire Hathaway board in 2004, and retired as chairman of Microsoft in 2014.
“If something happened a week later, a month later, in terms of [Microsoft] having better earnings than expected or making an acquisition—anything—both Bill and I would, incorrectly, but would be a target of suggestions and accusations, perhaps even, that somehow he had told me something, or vice versa,” Buffett said at the Berkshire meeting in Omaha.
In other words, Buffett is concerned with avoiding even the slightest perception of insider trading—however false—or anything that could invite such suspicions.
“I try to stay away from a few things just totally because the inference would be drawn that we might have talked, I might have talked to somebody about something,” Buffett added. “There’d be a lot of people who wouldn’t believe us if something good immediately happened after we bought it.”
Of course, Buffett had plenty of opportunities to buy Microsoft stock without any remote appearance of insider trading. Microsoft went public in 1986—more than five years before Buffett even met Gates. So why didn’t the Oracle of Omaha invest back then?
“In the earlier years, it’s very clear—the answer is stupidity,” Buffett admitted.
Now, Microsoft is just one of “a few [companies] that are off the list” of what Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, +2.30%) is willing to invest in because of ethical conflicts, Buffett said. (He did not name the others in this group.)
“But both that and my stupidity have cost us a lot of money,” he added.
At least it doesn’t seem to be getting in the way of his friendship with Gates.
Rudy Giuliani not ruling out Trump invoking 5th Amendment in Russia investigation - NBC News
TRUMP EFFECT
Rudy Giuliani not ruling out Trump invoking 5th Amendment in Russia investigation
"He's the president of the United States. We can assert the same privileges other presidents have," Giuliani said.
by Daniella Silva / May.07.2018 / 2:06 AM ET / Updated 2:01 PM ET
President Donald Trump's new attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Sunday that he can't rule out the possibility of his client's invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the Russia investigation — and that Trump wouldn't have to comply with a subpoena to testify.
"He's the president of the United States. We can assert the same privileges other presidents have," Giuliani said Sunday morning on ABC's "This Week." He added that "we don't have to" comply if Trump is subpoenaed by the special counsel to testify.
Giuliani told NBC News on Sunday night that it was less and less likely that Trump would speak with special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He said Mueller and his investigators were being "heavy-handed" and were "setting the president up for perjury."
Referring to Martha Stewart's conviction for lying to investigators in an insider trading case in 2004, Giuliani said on ABC News: "They don't have a case on collusion. They don't have obstruction. ... I'm going to walk him into a prosecution for perjury like Martha Stewart did?"
Giuliani also doubled down on his assertion that the $130,000 hush payment from lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the presidential election wasn't a campaign contribution and therefore didn't violate campaign finance law. Daniels claims that she and Trump had an affair in 2006, which Trump denies.
"It was not a campaign contribution because it would have been done anyway," he said, adding even if it were a campaign contribution, "it was entirely reimbursed with personal funds."
Image: Rudy GiulianiRudy Giuliani speaks at the Iran Freedom Convention in Washington on Saturday.Joshua Roberts / Reuters
He added that $130,000 was "not a lot of money" for such types of settlements.
"I never thought $130,000 was a real payment. It's a nuisance payment," he said Sunday. "When I settle — when it's a real possibility, it's a couple million dollars, not $130,000. People don't go away for $130,000 with a meritorious claim."
But Giuliani walked back comments he made on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" about the timing of the payment to Daniels.
"Imagine if that came out on October 15, 2016, in the middle of the, you know, last debate with Hillary Clinton," Giuliani said on Fox on Thursday. "Cohen didn't even ask. Cohen made it go away. He did his job."
Giuliani revealed for the first time last week that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment, but he has since said that he doesn't know when the president learned what the payment was for. Giuliani's account contradicted Trump's previous statement that he didn't know of the payment.
Meanwhile, Daniels's attorney, Michael Avenatti, called the assertion that $130,000 is a minor payment "absurd."
Cohen had said previously that he paid Daniels out of his own pocket and without Trump's knowledge. Cohen is facing a criminal investigation over the payment to Daniels and a reported payment of $150,000 from American Media Inc., publishers of The National Enquirer, to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claims that she had an affair with Trump, which he also denies.
"I think it's just ridiculous," Avenatti said on "Meet The Press." "I think it's just another absurdity that's being trotted out to the American people to deflect away from the facts."
Rudy Giuliani not ruling out Trump invoking 5th Amendment in Russia investigation
"He's the president of the United States. We can assert the same privileges other presidents have," Giuliani said.
by Daniella Silva / May.07.2018 / 2:06 AM ET / Updated 2:01 PM ET
President Donald Trump's new attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Sunday that he can't rule out the possibility of his client's invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the Russia investigation — and that Trump wouldn't have to comply with a subpoena to testify.
"He's the president of the United States. We can assert the same privileges other presidents have," Giuliani said Sunday morning on ABC's "This Week." He added that "we don't have to" comply if Trump is subpoenaed by the special counsel to testify.
Giuliani told NBC News on Sunday night that it was less and less likely that Trump would speak with special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He said Mueller and his investigators were being "heavy-handed" and were "setting the president up for perjury."
Referring to Martha Stewart's conviction for lying to investigators in an insider trading case in 2004, Giuliani said on ABC News: "They don't have a case on collusion. They don't have obstruction. ... I'm going to walk him into a prosecution for perjury like Martha Stewart did?"
Giuliani also doubled down on his assertion that the $130,000 hush payment from lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the presidential election wasn't a campaign contribution and therefore didn't violate campaign finance law. Daniels claims that she and Trump had an affair in 2006, which Trump denies.
"It was not a campaign contribution because it would have been done anyway," he said, adding even if it were a campaign contribution, "it was entirely reimbursed with personal funds."
Image: Rudy GiulianiRudy Giuliani speaks at the Iran Freedom Convention in Washington on Saturday.Joshua Roberts / Reuters
He added that $130,000 was "not a lot of money" for such types of settlements.
"I never thought $130,000 was a real payment. It's a nuisance payment," he said Sunday. "When I settle — when it's a real possibility, it's a couple million dollars, not $130,000. People don't go away for $130,000 with a meritorious claim."
But Giuliani walked back comments he made on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" about the timing of the payment to Daniels.
"Imagine if that came out on October 15, 2016, in the middle of the, you know, last debate with Hillary Clinton," Giuliani said on Fox on Thursday. "Cohen didn't even ask. Cohen made it go away. He did his job."
Giuliani revealed for the first time last week that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment, but he has since said that he doesn't know when the president learned what the payment was for. Giuliani's account contradicted Trump's previous statement that he didn't know of the payment.
Meanwhile, Daniels's attorney, Michael Avenatti, called the assertion that $130,000 is a minor payment "absurd."
Cohen had said previously that he paid Daniels out of his own pocket and without Trump's knowledge. Cohen is facing a criminal investigation over the payment to Daniels and a reported payment of $150,000 from American Media Inc., publishers of The National Enquirer, to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claims that she had an affair with Trump, which he also denies.
"I think it's just ridiculous," Avenatti said on "Meet The Press." "I think it's just another absurdity that's being trotted out to the American people to deflect away from the facts."
Chinese group asks for $7bn government bailout - Financial Times
May 7, 2018
Chinese group asks for $7bn government bailout
DunAn warns of ‘systemic risk’ in plea to Zhejiang provincial authorities
DunAn Group letter blamed the country’s war on debt for fundraising difficulties affecting the company © Bloomberg
Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai
In a test of Chinese authorities’ commitment to reducing financial risk, a large Chinese manufacturing group has begged for a government bailout to avoid default on up to $7bn in debt after a regional lender withdrew loans.
Over the past year, China has tightened credit in a bid to tackle an explosion of corporate debt that the International Monetary Fund has called “ dangerous ”. But the plea highlights how painful Beijing’s deleveraging campaign has been for some indebted groups.
The letter from privately owned DunAn Group, seen by the Financial Times, appeals directly to government concerns about financial stability in asking for officials to intervene with banks to resolve a liquidity crisis. DunAn has Rmb45bn ($7bn) in outstanding debt, according to the letter.
“If a credit default happens, it will deliver a serious blow to many financial institutions in Zhejiang and may even cause systemic risks,” said the letter from DunAn to the provincial government of prosperous Zhejiang province on China’s east coast.
The letter blamed the country’s war on debt — described using military terminology as a “siege against heavily fortified positions” — for fundraising difficulties affecting the company, leading to “extremely serious liquidity difficulties”.
EM Squared
Tightening credit to choke China’s housing market
However, Ai Tangming, chief economics commentator for Sina Finance, a Chinese news portal, said: “As the deleveraging campaign gathers force, more companies will face liquidity crises and ask the government for help, but the government has to maintain its focus on market-based principles,” he said.
“Key local enterprises generate employment and tax receipts. They’re like the business card for local officials. So that’s why local governments use subsidies and other methods to keep them alive,” he added.
According to Caixin, a respected Chinese financial news website, the crisis involving DunAn began when Zheshang Bank, a regional lender in Zhejiang, demanded early repayment of loans, causing other banks to restrict lending to the group.
DunAn employs 29,000 workers and manufactures a range of equipment including air-conditioning parts, civil explosives and wind power equipment. It has also expanded into asset management and real estate.
$7bn
DunAn’s outstanding debt, according to the letter
Last week, DunAn Artificial Environment Equipment, one of two Shenzhen-listed units of the group, cancelled a planned bond issuance worth Rmb12bn. Dunan Artificial and the other listed unit, Jiangnan Chemical Industry, have both suspended trading, and the company’s exchange-listed bonds are suspended.
The Zhejiang provincial financial affairs office last week convened a meeting with a group of creditors including China Development Bank, the “Big Four” commercial banks — Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China — and three state-owned bad-loan banks — Huarong Asset Management, Cinda Asset Management, and Great Wall Asset Management.
The purpose of the meeting was to resolve “urgent issues” related to debt owed by DunAn, according to a separate document seen by the FT.
Though Chinese local governments sometimes directly use fiscal resources to conduct bailouts, a more common method is to exert pressure on banks to offer bridge loans or forbear collection of existing debt.
Government bailouts are most common for state-owned companies, but officials have also rescued private groups when their potential collapse raised the prospect of contagion.
The Shanghai government shielded investors from losses on bonds from privately owned Chaori Solar, whose 2014 default was the first in China’s domestic bond market.
Regulators last month deployed an insurance-industry rescue fund to inject capital into Anbang Insurance Group, whose chairman is awaiting the verdict of his trial at the end of March on charges of embezzlement, which he originally denied, although a court summary said he expressed “deep remorse” for his actions during the hearing.
DunAn Group declined to comment. The Zhejiang financial affairs office could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Additional reporting by Yizhen Jia
Chinese group asks for $7bn government bailout
DunAn warns of ‘systemic risk’ in plea to Zhejiang provincial authorities
DunAn Group letter blamed the country’s war on debt for fundraising difficulties affecting the company © Bloomberg
Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai
In a test of Chinese authorities’ commitment to reducing financial risk, a large Chinese manufacturing group has begged for a government bailout to avoid default on up to $7bn in debt after a regional lender withdrew loans.
Over the past year, China has tightened credit in a bid to tackle an explosion of corporate debt that the International Monetary Fund has called “ dangerous ”. But the plea highlights how painful Beijing’s deleveraging campaign has been for some indebted groups.
The letter from privately owned DunAn Group, seen by the Financial Times, appeals directly to government concerns about financial stability in asking for officials to intervene with banks to resolve a liquidity crisis. DunAn has Rmb45bn ($7bn) in outstanding debt, according to the letter.
“If a credit default happens, it will deliver a serious blow to many financial institutions in Zhejiang and may even cause systemic risks,” said the letter from DunAn to the provincial government of prosperous Zhejiang province on China’s east coast.
The letter blamed the country’s war on debt — described using military terminology as a “siege against heavily fortified positions” — for fundraising difficulties affecting the company, leading to “extremely serious liquidity difficulties”.
EM Squared
Tightening credit to choke China’s housing market
However, Ai Tangming, chief economics commentator for Sina Finance, a Chinese news portal, said: “As the deleveraging campaign gathers force, more companies will face liquidity crises and ask the government for help, but the government has to maintain its focus on market-based principles,” he said.
“Key local enterprises generate employment and tax receipts. They’re like the business card for local officials. So that’s why local governments use subsidies and other methods to keep them alive,” he added.
According to Caixin, a respected Chinese financial news website, the crisis involving DunAn began when Zheshang Bank, a regional lender in Zhejiang, demanded early repayment of loans, causing other banks to restrict lending to the group.
DunAn employs 29,000 workers and manufactures a range of equipment including air-conditioning parts, civil explosives and wind power equipment. It has also expanded into asset management and real estate.
$7bn
DunAn’s outstanding debt, according to the letter
Last week, DunAn Artificial Environment Equipment, one of two Shenzhen-listed units of the group, cancelled a planned bond issuance worth Rmb12bn. Dunan Artificial and the other listed unit, Jiangnan Chemical Industry, have both suspended trading, and the company’s exchange-listed bonds are suspended.
The Zhejiang provincial financial affairs office last week convened a meeting with a group of creditors including China Development Bank, the “Big Four” commercial banks — Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China — and three state-owned bad-loan banks — Huarong Asset Management, Cinda Asset Management, and Great Wall Asset Management.
The purpose of the meeting was to resolve “urgent issues” related to debt owed by DunAn, according to a separate document seen by the FT.
Though Chinese local governments sometimes directly use fiscal resources to conduct bailouts, a more common method is to exert pressure on banks to offer bridge loans or forbear collection of existing debt.
Government bailouts are most common for state-owned companies, but officials have also rescued private groups when their potential collapse raised the prospect of contagion.
The Shanghai government shielded investors from losses on bonds from privately owned Chaori Solar, whose 2014 default was the first in China’s domestic bond market.
Regulators last month deployed an insurance-industry rescue fund to inject capital into Anbang Insurance Group, whose chairman is awaiting the verdict of his trial at the end of March on charges of embezzlement, which he originally denied, although a court summary said he expressed “deep remorse” for his actions during the hearing.
DunAn Group declined to comment. The Zhejiang financial affairs office could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Additional reporting by Yizhen Jia
Massive Rockefeller estate auction could fetch $1 billion - CBS News
May 5, 2018, 11:36 AM
Massive Rockefeller estate auction could fetch $1 billion
The estate of David and Peggy Rockefeller, which includes pieces by Picasso, Monet and Matisse, goes up for auction at Christie's in New York next week. It's expected to be the highest grossing single-owner auction in history, prompting some to call it "the sale of the century."
David and Peggy Rockefeller's four homes were filled with masterpieces. "We never bought a painting with a view towards forming a collection," David once wrote, "but simply because, in the end, we couldn't resist it."
The longtime chief of Chase Manhattan Bank, he was the grandson of America's first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, who made his fortune in Standard Oil. David's father built Rockefeller Center, where in a 2002 interview for "CBS Sunday Morning" he gave CBS News' Anthony Mason a tour of the family offices. Even there he surrounded himself with the masters of modern art.
For him, collecting wasn't a compulsion, it was a "pleasure" -- a pleasure he could indulge as a member of what many considered America's most powerful family.
The name and the fortune behind his name helped David and his wife, Peggy, accumulate one of the 20th century's great art collections.
ctm-saturday-clean-feed-20180505-cr470c-0700-0900-02-frame-43300.jpg
Matisse's "Odalisque With Magnolias" CBS NEWS
"It's the most important collection of paintings and sculpture that's ever been sold," said Marc Porter, chairman of Christie's Americas, where the auction will be held over three days next week.
ctm-saturday-clean-feed-20180505-cr470c-0700-0900-02-frame-43974.jpg
Picasso's "Young Girl with a Flower Basket" CBS NEWS
The sale includes a Monet estimated at $50 million. Matisse's "Odalisque With Magnolias," estimated at $70 million.
"This Matisse, painted in 1924, is the greatest Matisse to come to market in 50 years," Porter said.
And arguably the crown jewel of the collection, the 1905 painting "Young Girl with a Flower Basket," from Picasso's Rose Period.
"We are giving guidance of about $100 million," Porter said.
The Picasso, which hung in the family's New York library, had belonged to American writer Gertrude Stein. It's one of 47 works bought in 1968 by a syndicate that included David Rockefeller, his brother, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, and CBS founder William Paley. They chose lots out a felt hat to get first pick. As luck would have it, David got to choose first.
The auction, which will be held in Rockefeller Center, was arranged by David Rockefeller, Jr., after his father died last year, at 101.
"It limited the amount of ball play in the house," he joked of what it was like to grow up around all that art. "But it did train us to appreciate beautiful things."
The Rockefeller kids were also given an early lesson in philanthropy. All of the proceeds from this sale will go to charity.
By some estimates, it could bring a $1 billion to the beneficiaries, which include Harvard and Rockefeller Universities, the Museum of Modern Art and the Council on Foreign Relations. There are 1,600 lots in the sale including furniture, prized porcelain including the bowl Napoleon ate ice cream out of, one of the greatest collection of ceramics in the world, and the family jewelry. It also includes some of the collection of Rockefeller carriages.
Though it may be sad to watch the dispersal of his family's estate, David Jr. said the better it goes, the happier he'll be.
"That Matisse, if it goes into hands where I think I'll never see it again, that will be hard for me. Other than that, this is a game and I'm on the same side as Christie's on this one because we're both trying to create a huge success for the benefit of wonderful institutions."
Massive Rockefeller estate auction could fetch $1 billion
The estate of David and Peggy Rockefeller, which includes pieces by Picasso, Monet and Matisse, goes up for auction at Christie's in New York next week. It's expected to be the highest grossing single-owner auction in history, prompting some to call it "the sale of the century."
David and Peggy Rockefeller's four homes were filled with masterpieces. "We never bought a painting with a view towards forming a collection," David once wrote, "but simply because, in the end, we couldn't resist it."
The longtime chief of Chase Manhattan Bank, he was the grandson of America's first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, who made his fortune in Standard Oil. David's father built Rockefeller Center, where in a 2002 interview for "CBS Sunday Morning" he gave CBS News' Anthony Mason a tour of the family offices. Even there he surrounded himself with the masters of modern art.
For him, collecting wasn't a compulsion, it was a "pleasure" -- a pleasure he could indulge as a member of what many considered America's most powerful family.
The name and the fortune behind his name helped David and his wife, Peggy, accumulate one of the 20th century's great art collections.
ctm-saturday-clean-feed-20180505-cr470c-0700-0900-02-frame-43300.jpg
Matisse's "Odalisque With Magnolias" CBS NEWS
"It's the most important collection of paintings and sculpture that's ever been sold," said Marc Porter, chairman of Christie's Americas, where the auction will be held over three days next week.
ctm-saturday-clean-feed-20180505-cr470c-0700-0900-02-frame-43974.jpg
Picasso's "Young Girl with a Flower Basket" CBS NEWS
The sale includes a Monet estimated at $50 million. Matisse's "Odalisque With Magnolias," estimated at $70 million.
"This Matisse, painted in 1924, is the greatest Matisse to come to market in 50 years," Porter said.
And arguably the crown jewel of the collection, the 1905 painting "Young Girl with a Flower Basket," from Picasso's Rose Period.
"We are giving guidance of about $100 million," Porter said.
The Picasso, which hung in the family's New York library, had belonged to American writer Gertrude Stein. It's one of 47 works bought in 1968 by a syndicate that included David Rockefeller, his brother, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, and CBS founder William Paley. They chose lots out a felt hat to get first pick. As luck would have it, David got to choose first.
The auction, which will be held in Rockefeller Center, was arranged by David Rockefeller, Jr., after his father died last year, at 101.
"It limited the amount of ball play in the house," he joked of what it was like to grow up around all that art. "But it did train us to appreciate beautiful things."
The Rockefeller kids were also given an early lesson in philanthropy. All of the proceeds from this sale will go to charity.
By some estimates, it could bring a $1 billion to the beneficiaries, which include Harvard and Rockefeller Universities, the Museum of Modern Art and the Council on Foreign Relations. There are 1,600 lots in the sale including furniture, prized porcelain including the bowl Napoleon ate ice cream out of, one of the greatest collection of ceramics in the world, and the family jewelry. It also includes some of the collection of Rockefeller carriages.
Though it may be sad to watch the dispersal of his family's estate, David Jr. said the better it goes, the happier he'll be.
"That Matisse, if it goes into hands where I think I'll never see it again, that will be hard for me. Other than that, this is a game and I'm on the same side as Christie's on this one because we're both trying to create a huge success for the benefit of wonderful institutions."
Inside Melania Trump's Complicated White House Life - NDTV ( India )
May 7, 2018
Inside Melania Trump's Complicated White House Life
Amid the chaos of her husband's presidency, the first lady Melania Trump raises her profile and defines her role.
World | (c) 2018 The Washington Post | Emily Heil, Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post | Updated: May 07, 2018 08:30 IST
Inside Melania Trump's Complicated White House Life
Noticeably, Melania Trump's presence is growing as Ivanka's fades.
WASHINGTON:
Melania Trump has settled into a a quieter routine, raising their son
Melania Trump has noticeably begun to raise her profile
The Trumps are often apart even during their free time
Donald and Melania Trump's remarkably separate daily routines begin with him getting up around 5:30 a.m., watching cable news shows and tweeting.
The first lady wakes in her own bedroom a bit later, according to two close friends of the Trumps. She then readies their 12-year-old son for school, including checking to make sure his homework is in his backpack.
melania trump wp
Melania Trump and Barron delayed her move to the White House by six months so that he could finish out school year in New York.
Amid the noise and churn of the Trump administration - most recently about how the president paid money to silence Stormy Daniels - Melania Trump has settled into a quieter routine, often apart from the president, raising their son and carving out a place for herself in a most untraditional White House.
The first lady has not directly addressed the affairs that Daniels and another woman, Karen McDougal, said they had with her husband. But she has noticeably begun to raise her profile, independent from the president's, and she has called a news conference in the White House Rose Garden on Monday, a public appearance that would have been almost unthinkable just a few months ago.
"Her focus all along has been children and this launch is meant to formalize what her role will be for the next three to seven years," said Stephanie Grisham, Melania's spokeswoman. She said the first lady will devote the rest of the Trump presidency to the issues children face today and their well-being.
melania trump wp
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted their first state dinner at the White House in April.
In recent weeks, the first lady has been at the center of more high-profile events than during the entire previous year - including attending the funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush solo.
Political marriages tend to be more complicated than most, but it's striking that the Trumps make so little effort to project a more united front. Although both are keenly aware of the power of visual images, some of their memorable moments together are awkward: Melania swatting his hand away on a tarmac, and several times caught on camera seeming to resist his outreach.
"She is a dignified, private person, and she'll deal with her personal life in private and it's no one's business," said Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a longtime friend of Melania's. "They are not that couple that holds hands just because; she is old-world European and it's not who she is."
It is unusual to see a candid shot of the president enjoying an unplanned moment with his wife, or even with Barron, the first young son in the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. in the early 1960s.
melania trump wp
Melania Trump, who has said she plans to focus on issues affecting children during her time as first lady visited a youth program at Andrews Air Force Base last year.
The Trumps are often apart even during their free time, according to several people who know the couple's schedules. At Mar-a-Lago on holidays and weekends, the president golfs or dines with politicians, business executives and media personalities on the patio, while Melania is often nowhere to be seen. According to several current and former aides, the president and first lady often do not eat together in the White House either.
"They spend very little to no time together," said one longtime friend of the president.
Grisham said the president and Melania do spend time with each other. "Aside from the president's solo trips, the family spends most evenings together." She also played down the headlines about Trump's alleged affairs and said Melania "is focused on being a mom. She's focused on being a wife, and she's focused on her role as first lady. And that's it. The rest is just noise."
A senior West Wing official, when asked about the couple's separate schedules and bedrooms, declined to comment, saying it wasn't official business.
donald trump melania trump wp
Donald Trump is the only president to be married three times.
Melania grants few interviews and declined to speak for this article, but during the campaign she told The Washington Post that she and her husband are "very independent," adding, "We give ourselves and each other space."
According to several people who know the couple, that space appears to have grown wider under the White House roof - especially since Daniels, a porn star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, as well as Karen McDougal, a Playboy model, publicly talked about their alleged affairs with Trump during his marriage to Melania. Daniels was paid $130,000 during the campaign by a Trump attorney to stop talking about the affair.
Last week, Trump tweeted that he repaid the attorney to "stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair." Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's lawyers, told NBC News that payment was made "to prevent personal embarrassment and heartache to [Trump's] wife."
Another awkward exchange happened April 26 with Trump calling into "Fox & Friends," announcing that it was Melania's birthday, and then suddenly talking about Daniels. Asked on the same TV show what he had gotten Melania for her birthday, he paused: "Maybe, I didn't get her so much. I got her a beautiful card, you know I'm very busy to be running out looking for presents."
According to several White House staff members, Melania has erected a de facto wall between the East Wing, where she is renovating her office and enjoying growing popularity, and the West Wing, where her husband and Ivanka Trump, her eldest stepdaughter, have offices.
While she goes to the West Wing for official duties, she does not walk down the hall, pop her head in and see how the president's day is going.
donald trump melania trump wp
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participate in a moment of silence in remembrance of those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, on the South Lawn of the White House.
"She seldom sets foot in the West Wing," said one person with first-hand knowledge.
Yet, many political analysts believe that Trump will need Melania at his side if he wants to win again in 2020.
The Trumps have broken the traditional mold of a presidential family from the moment he was sworn in. While Melania stood beside the president at the Capitol, his two ex-wives, Ivana Trump and Marla Maples, sat in the crowd.
Trump is the only president to be married three times. Melania is 48, and the president is 71.
Rather than move into the White House with her husband, Melania stayed in New York for six months to allow Barron to finish his school year there. That delay initially put Melania at a disadvantage, according to a friend who said the rhythm of the White House had already been established, and left her out of the mix. Some staff positions from the first lady's office were diverted to the West Wing - including to support Ivanka, who is a presidential adviser, according to a person close to the first lady.
Ivanka, 36, and Melania, both former models, do not have a close relationship and are very different from one another, several people who know them both said. Grisham said it was not only wrong to say Melania was not close to her stepdaughter but "hurtful."
Noticeably, Melania's presence is growing as Ivanka's fades.
Last year, an official White House statement described Ivanka as holding an "unprecedented role for a first daughter" and she has at times taken on the duties of a first lady. Ivanka acts as the president's policy adviser, has traveled the globe as her father's surrogate, and sat down with world leaders at the White House. But recently her public profile has been reduced.
First ladies often have had considerable influence, as an informal adviser to the president and the person closest to him. They have been the hidden hand in policy decisions and hiring and firings. And, they can command attention for causes. Most recently, Laura Bush established the National Book Festival and used her foreign trips to focus concern on HIV/AIDS, and Michelle Obama promoted girls' education globally and started a movement here to get children exercising and eating healthier.
Melania's staff is unusually small; with 10 people, it is about half the size of Michelle Obama's at its peak.
Melania has borrowed books from the White House Historical Association to study the first lady's role and plans to outline on Monday a new initiative about children.
Several polls have shown that as she becomes more visible, her popularity is rising. In many ways the image she projects is the least like Trump's of all the Trumps.
The president organizes big rallies; Melania often holds meetings with just a few people. Her husband rails against family-based "chain migration"; she is from Slovenia and now her parents, also immigrants, have become legal resident here, too.
The president mocks political enemies on Twitter with his derogatory nicknames such as "Cryin' Chuck Schumer" or "Cheatin' Obama"; Melania calls cyberbullying an "evil" and organized a White House conference to try to stop it.
Melania has complained that she doesn't deserve the mean comments she has read about herself online. She has been heard saying that she knows her husband has contributed to the combative nature of today's online chatter, and one associate said she has persisted with her anti-cyberbullying efforts despite White House advice that she pick any other issue to champion.
In March, Melania invited top executives from Twitter, Facebook and other tech companies, along with nonprofits working on Internet safety, to the White House to hold a meeting on the issue.
"I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing this topic," she told the group. "I have been criticized for my commitment to tackling this issue, and I know that will continue. But it will not stop me for doing what I know is right," she said in opening remarks. "We have to find a better way to talk to each other, to disagree with each other, to respect each other."
Stephen Balkam, the founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, was seated at a table with the first lady. "It was a pretty remarkable opening," he said. "I was pleased that she addressed the elephant in the room."
Melania has not always been willing to go in a different direction from her husband. In 2011, when Trump was one of the leading "birthers" challenging the validity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate and U.S. citizenship, Melania backed him up.
"What's this with the birth certificate obsession? Did he ask to see yours when you met him?" asked TV interviewer Joy Behar.
"Do you want to see President Obama's birth certificate or not?" Melania responded. She also said what Obama had made public to date was "different" from a birth certificate. "It would be very easy if President Obama would just show it," she said.
"It is not only Donald who wants to see it. It's the American people . . . they want to see that."
But as first lady, she has publicly praised Michelle Obama and laughed alongside President Obama, who sat beside her at Barbara Bush's funeral last month in Houston. She also shared the pew with Bill and Hillary Clinton - two favorite targets of her husband's criticism.
Melania received a warm reception from the former presidents and first ladies. Photos of them all together - the Obamas, the Clintons, George W. Bush, Laura Bush and George H.W. Bush - show Melania beaming.
She has also traveled apart from her husband - even when they are going to the same destination. In February, hours after the New Yorker published a story about Trump's alleged affair with McDougal, the Playboy model, Melania did not walk with Trump across the White House's South Lawn to board Marine One.
Both Trumps were heading to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend, but instead of making the very public walk across the White House lawn with her husband to the helicopter, she drove separately to the Maryland military airport to catch Air Force One. Grisham told reporters at the time that given the first lady's schedule, it was just easier for the couple to meet at the plane. When her motorcade pulled up, White House press aides shouted at journalists to get off the plane until she boarded. No photos were allowed of her arrival.
As first ladies often are, Melania is more popular than her husband. But two friends of the couple say the president, who pays close attention to his poll numbers, also fixates on hers. Her approval rating was 47 percent to his 40 percent in a January CNN poll.
Grisham said Melania takes her role seriously and is careful to coordinate with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. "Basically, we're like, 'OK, we'll put this out,' or, 'We'll wait for you.' . . . We don't want to conflict with the president's message of the day, nor do we want him to do that to us."
But, she added, "the 24/7 social media-cable news cycle and a West Wing that's very active . . . perhaps overshadows some of the good work she's doing."
Trump described Melania to supporters in a recent email as his "rock and foundation." "I wouldn't be the man I am today without her by my side," he said. "My BEAUTIFUL, kindhearted and exceptional wife."
"They have an unspoken affinity," said Winston Wolkoff, whose official advisory arrangement in the first lady's office ended earlier this year amid headlines about inauguration spending and the White House's move to end informal contracts.
Another person close to the president said they had heard him call Melania when he travels and "she is someone he relies on and listens to."
Melania has said she sometimes offers advice to her husband - including about his tweets - but that doesn't mean he takes it.
During one dinner in the White House in late 2017, Melania told the president that he should be more concerned about the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and that his legal team wasn't protecting him, according to a person who attended the dinner. Trump disagreed, this person said, insisting that the investigation was going to exonerate him and that he had great lawyers. Grisham disputed this account, saying: "Your anonymous sources are wrong." Since that dinner, two of three lawyers have left Trump's Russia team.
Several people in the White House, who like others interviewed for this story did not want to be quoted by name discussing the first couple's relationship, said Melania does not trust some members of her husband's staff. Two people in a position to know said she particularly disliked former chief strategist Steve Bannon and told her husband so, and she was upset about the abrupt dismissal of John McEntee, Trump's young personal assistant. He left over a security clearance issue but is now working on Trump's reelection effort.
Trump insisted on a prenuptial agreement when he married Melania 13 years ago, just as he had with his two previous wives. The terms have never been made public. A person close to Melania noted that the prenuptial was signed before his political career, which forced her to take on a whole new role and one, as a friend said, that is "unpaid."
"Free Melania!" continues to be a popular meme. Late-night TV comedy skits portray her as trapped inside the White House, unhappy.
For months, a persistent rumor has floated around Washington that Melania doesn't really live in the White House and stays in a house with her parents and Barron near his suburban Washington school.
"It's 1,000 percent false. We laugh at it all the time," Grisham said.
"It's an urban legend," said Rickie Niceta Lloyd, the White House social secretary.
Melania is exceedingly close to her parents and her son, Barron, who also speaks Slovenian with his grandparents. When she is out of the public eye, she is often with her family, friends say.
Her office declined to say where her parents live, or even whether they keep a room at the White House, as Michelle Obama's mother did.
Melania does spend a lot of time in the White House, according to people who work there, and has a very good relationship with the permanent household staff of nearly 100 that includes chefs, florists and butlers, and she oversees the residence as well as the state floor.
Friends say she is a perfectionist who oversees the tiniest details of events in which she is involved.
She enjoys putting her personal mark on the historic home and has redesigned the family living quarters. While her husband favors the lavish gold-and-glitz decor of their Trump Tower penthouse, Melania has picked neutral colors.
"It is a very comfortable and calming place to be in," Winston Wolkoff said.
Still, Trump often waves friends up to the residence after holiday parties or social gatherings and gives tours of the Lincoln Bedroom, where he remarks on how tall the former president was while showing off the Gettysburg Address and other features of the home. Melania has, however, told confidantes she wants to keep the residence private.
Although English is not her first language, she is getting more used to public speaking. She has also begun releasing videos of her work.
The latest highly produced video shows her preparing for the recent state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron and has been viewed by nearly 1.5 million people.
Twenty-two years after first coming to the United States to model, she is now one of the most-photographed women in the world.
Paolo Zampolli, who helped arrange for Melania to work in the U.S. fashion industry and sees her in the White House, said Melania is blossoming.
"It's an incredible story. It's the American Dream," said Zampolli. "She really will become the queen of people's hearts, like Princess Diana was. I think the world will be seeing more of her."
Inside Melania Trump's Complicated White House Life
Amid the chaos of her husband's presidency, the first lady Melania Trump raises her profile and defines her role.
World | (c) 2018 The Washington Post | Emily Heil, Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post | Updated: May 07, 2018 08:30 IST
Inside Melania Trump's Complicated White House Life
Noticeably, Melania Trump's presence is growing as Ivanka's fades.
WASHINGTON:
Melania Trump has settled into a a quieter routine, raising their son
Melania Trump has noticeably begun to raise her profile
The Trumps are often apart even during their free time
Donald and Melania Trump's remarkably separate daily routines begin with him getting up around 5:30 a.m., watching cable news shows and tweeting.
The first lady wakes in her own bedroom a bit later, according to two close friends of the Trumps. She then readies their 12-year-old son for school, including checking to make sure his homework is in his backpack.
melania trump wp
Melania Trump and Barron delayed her move to the White House by six months so that he could finish out school year in New York.
Amid the noise and churn of the Trump administration - most recently about how the president paid money to silence Stormy Daniels - Melania Trump has settled into a quieter routine, often apart from the president, raising their son and carving out a place for herself in a most untraditional White House.
The first lady has not directly addressed the affairs that Daniels and another woman, Karen McDougal, said they had with her husband. But she has noticeably begun to raise her profile, independent from the president's, and she has called a news conference in the White House Rose Garden on Monday, a public appearance that would have been almost unthinkable just a few months ago.
"Her focus all along has been children and this launch is meant to formalize what her role will be for the next three to seven years," said Stephanie Grisham, Melania's spokeswoman. She said the first lady will devote the rest of the Trump presidency to the issues children face today and their well-being.
melania trump wp
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted their first state dinner at the White House in April.
In recent weeks, the first lady has been at the center of more high-profile events than during the entire previous year - including attending the funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush solo.
Political marriages tend to be more complicated than most, but it's striking that the Trumps make so little effort to project a more united front. Although both are keenly aware of the power of visual images, some of their memorable moments together are awkward: Melania swatting his hand away on a tarmac, and several times caught on camera seeming to resist his outreach.
"She is a dignified, private person, and she'll deal with her personal life in private and it's no one's business," said Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a longtime friend of Melania's. "They are not that couple that holds hands just because; she is old-world European and it's not who she is."
It is unusual to see a candid shot of the president enjoying an unplanned moment with his wife, or even with Barron, the first young son in the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. in the early 1960s.
melania trump wp
Melania Trump, who has said she plans to focus on issues affecting children during her time as first lady visited a youth program at Andrews Air Force Base last year.
The Trumps are often apart even during their free time, according to several people who know the couple's schedules. At Mar-a-Lago on holidays and weekends, the president golfs or dines with politicians, business executives and media personalities on the patio, while Melania is often nowhere to be seen. According to several current and former aides, the president and first lady often do not eat together in the White House either.
"They spend very little to no time together," said one longtime friend of the president.
Grisham said the president and Melania do spend time with each other. "Aside from the president's solo trips, the family spends most evenings together." She also played down the headlines about Trump's alleged affairs and said Melania "is focused on being a mom. She's focused on being a wife, and she's focused on her role as first lady. And that's it. The rest is just noise."
A senior West Wing official, when asked about the couple's separate schedules and bedrooms, declined to comment, saying it wasn't official business.
donald trump melania trump wp
Donald Trump is the only president to be married three times.
Melania grants few interviews and declined to speak for this article, but during the campaign she told The Washington Post that she and her husband are "very independent," adding, "We give ourselves and each other space."
According to several people who know the couple, that space appears to have grown wider under the White House roof - especially since Daniels, a porn star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, as well as Karen McDougal, a Playboy model, publicly talked about their alleged affairs with Trump during his marriage to Melania. Daniels was paid $130,000 during the campaign by a Trump attorney to stop talking about the affair.
Last week, Trump tweeted that he repaid the attorney to "stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair." Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's lawyers, told NBC News that payment was made "to prevent personal embarrassment and heartache to [Trump's] wife."
Another awkward exchange happened April 26 with Trump calling into "Fox & Friends," announcing that it was Melania's birthday, and then suddenly talking about Daniels. Asked on the same TV show what he had gotten Melania for her birthday, he paused: "Maybe, I didn't get her so much. I got her a beautiful card, you know I'm very busy to be running out looking for presents."
According to several White House staff members, Melania has erected a de facto wall between the East Wing, where she is renovating her office and enjoying growing popularity, and the West Wing, where her husband and Ivanka Trump, her eldest stepdaughter, have offices.
While she goes to the West Wing for official duties, she does not walk down the hall, pop her head in and see how the president's day is going.
donald trump melania trump wp
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participate in a moment of silence in remembrance of those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, on the South Lawn of the White House.
"She seldom sets foot in the West Wing," said one person with first-hand knowledge.
Yet, many political analysts believe that Trump will need Melania at his side if he wants to win again in 2020.
The Trumps have broken the traditional mold of a presidential family from the moment he was sworn in. While Melania stood beside the president at the Capitol, his two ex-wives, Ivana Trump and Marla Maples, sat in the crowd.
Trump is the only president to be married three times. Melania is 48, and the president is 71.
Rather than move into the White House with her husband, Melania stayed in New York for six months to allow Barron to finish his school year there. That delay initially put Melania at a disadvantage, according to a friend who said the rhythm of the White House had already been established, and left her out of the mix. Some staff positions from the first lady's office were diverted to the West Wing - including to support Ivanka, who is a presidential adviser, according to a person close to the first lady.
Ivanka, 36, and Melania, both former models, do not have a close relationship and are very different from one another, several people who know them both said. Grisham said it was not only wrong to say Melania was not close to her stepdaughter but "hurtful."
Noticeably, Melania's presence is growing as Ivanka's fades.
Last year, an official White House statement described Ivanka as holding an "unprecedented role for a first daughter" and she has at times taken on the duties of a first lady. Ivanka acts as the president's policy adviser, has traveled the globe as her father's surrogate, and sat down with world leaders at the White House. But recently her public profile has been reduced.
First ladies often have had considerable influence, as an informal adviser to the president and the person closest to him. They have been the hidden hand in policy decisions and hiring and firings. And, they can command attention for causes. Most recently, Laura Bush established the National Book Festival and used her foreign trips to focus concern on HIV/AIDS, and Michelle Obama promoted girls' education globally and started a movement here to get children exercising and eating healthier.
Melania's staff is unusually small; with 10 people, it is about half the size of Michelle Obama's at its peak.
Melania has borrowed books from the White House Historical Association to study the first lady's role and plans to outline on Monday a new initiative about children.
Several polls have shown that as she becomes more visible, her popularity is rising. In many ways the image she projects is the least like Trump's of all the Trumps.
The president organizes big rallies; Melania often holds meetings with just a few people. Her husband rails against family-based "chain migration"; she is from Slovenia and now her parents, also immigrants, have become legal resident here, too.
The president mocks political enemies on Twitter with his derogatory nicknames such as "Cryin' Chuck Schumer" or "Cheatin' Obama"; Melania calls cyberbullying an "evil" and organized a White House conference to try to stop it.
Melania has complained that she doesn't deserve the mean comments she has read about herself online. She has been heard saying that she knows her husband has contributed to the combative nature of today's online chatter, and one associate said she has persisted with her anti-cyberbullying efforts despite White House advice that she pick any other issue to champion.
In March, Melania invited top executives from Twitter, Facebook and other tech companies, along with nonprofits working on Internet safety, to the White House to hold a meeting on the issue.
"I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing this topic," she told the group. "I have been criticized for my commitment to tackling this issue, and I know that will continue. But it will not stop me for doing what I know is right," she said in opening remarks. "We have to find a better way to talk to each other, to disagree with each other, to respect each other."
Stephen Balkam, the founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, was seated at a table with the first lady. "It was a pretty remarkable opening," he said. "I was pleased that she addressed the elephant in the room."
Melania has not always been willing to go in a different direction from her husband. In 2011, when Trump was one of the leading "birthers" challenging the validity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate and U.S. citizenship, Melania backed him up.
"What's this with the birth certificate obsession? Did he ask to see yours when you met him?" asked TV interviewer Joy Behar.
"Do you want to see President Obama's birth certificate or not?" Melania responded. She also said what Obama had made public to date was "different" from a birth certificate. "It would be very easy if President Obama would just show it," she said.
"It is not only Donald who wants to see it. It's the American people . . . they want to see that."
But as first lady, she has publicly praised Michelle Obama and laughed alongside President Obama, who sat beside her at Barbara Bush's funeral last month in Houston. She also shared the pew with Bill and Hillary Clinton - two favorite targets of her husband's criticism.
Melania received a warm reception from the former presidents and first ladies. Photos of them all together - the Obamas, the Clintons, George W. Bush, Laura Bush and George H.W. Bush - show Melania beaming.
She has also traveled apart from her husband - even when they are going to the same destination. In February, hours after the New Yorker published a story about Trump's alleged affair with McDougal, the Playboy model, Melania did not walk with Trump across the White House's South Lawn to board Marine One.
Both Trumps were heading to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend, but instead of making the very public walk across the White House lawn with her husband to the helicopter, she drove separately to the Maryland military airport to catch Air Force One. Grisham told reporters at the time that given the first lady's schedule, it was just easier for the couple to meet at the plane. When her motorcade pulled up, White House press aides shouted at journalists to get off the plane until she boarded. No photos were allowed of her arrival.
As first ladies often are, Melania is more popular than her husband. But two friends of the couple say the president, who pays close attention to his poll numbers, also fixates on hers. Her approval rating was 47 percent to his 40 percent in a January CNN poll.
Grisham said Melania takes her role seriously and is careful to coordinate with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. "Basically, we're like, 'OK, we'll put this out,' or, 'We'll wait for you.' . . . We don't want to conflict with the president's message of the day, nor do we want him to do that to us."
But, she added, "the 24/7 social media-cable news cycle and a West Wing that's very active . . . perhaps overshadows some of the good work she's doing."
Trump described Melania to supporters in a recent email as his "rock and foundation." "I wouldn't be the man I am today without her by my side," he said. "My BEAUTIFUL, kindhearted and exceptional wife."
"They have an unspoken affinity," said Winston Wolkoff, whose official advisory arrangement in the first lady's office ended earlier this year amid headlines about inauguration spending and the White House's move to end informal contracts.
Another person close to the president said they had heard him call Melania when he travels and "she is someone he relies on and listens to."
Melania has said she sometimes offers advice to her husband - including about his tweets - but that doesn't mean he takes it.
During one dinner in the White House in late 2017, Melania told the president that he should be more concerned about the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and that his legal team wasn't protecting him, according to a person who attended the dinner. Trump disagreed, this person said, insisting that the investigation was going to exonerate him and that he had great lawyers. Grisham disputed this account, saying: "Your anonymous sources are wrong." Since that dinner, two of three lawyers have left Trump's Russia team.
Several people in the White House, who like others interviewed for this story did not want to be quoted by name discussing the first couple's relationship, said Melania does not trust some members of her husband's staff. Two people in a position to know said she particularly disliked former chief strategist Steve Bannon and told her husband so, and she was upset about the abrupt dismissal of John McEntee, Trump's young personal assistant. He left over a security clearance issue but is now working on Trump's reelection effort.
Trump insisted on a prenuptial agreement when he married Melania 13 years ago, just as he had with his two previous wives. The terms have never been made public. A person close to Melania noted that the prenuptial was signed before his political career, which forced her to take on a whole new role and one, as a friend said, that is "unpaid."
"Free Melania!" continues to be a popular meme. Late-night TV comedy skits portray her as trapped inside the White House, unhappy.
For months, a persistent rumor has floated around Washington that Melania doesn't really live in the White House and stays in a house with her parents and Barron near his suburban Washington school.
"It's 1,000 percent false. We laugh at it all the time," Grisham said.
"It's an urban legend," said Rickie Niceta Lloyd, the White House social secretary.
Melania is exceedingly close to her parents and her son, Barron, who also speaks Slovenian with his grandparents. When she is out of the public eye, she is often with her family, friends say.
Her office declined to say where her parents live, or even whether they keep a room at the White House, as Michelle Obama's mother did.
Melania does spend a lot of time in the White House, according to people who work there, and has a very good relationship with the permanent household staff of nearly 100 that includes chefs, florists and butlers, and she oversees the residence as well as the state floor.
Friends say she is a perfectionist who oversees the tiniest details of events in which she is involved.
She enjoys putting her personal mark on the historic home and has redesigned the family living quarters. While her husband favors the lavish gold-and-glitz decor of their Trump Tower penthouse, Melania has picked neutral colors.
"It is a very comfortable and calming place to be in," Winston Wolkoff said.
Still, Trump often waves friends up to the residence after holiday parties or social gatherings and gives tours of the Lincoln Bedroom, where he remarks on how tall the former president was while showing off the Gettysburg Address and other features of the home. Melania has, however, told confidantes she wants to keep the residence private.
Although English is not her first language, she is getting more used to public speaking. She has also begun releasing videos of her work.
The latest highly produced video shows her preparing for the recent state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron and has been viewed by nearly 1.5 million people.
Twenty-two years after first coming to the United States to model, she is now one of the most-photographed women in the world.
Paolo Zampolli, who helped arrange for Melania to work in the U.S. fashion industry and sees her in the White House, said Melania is blossoming.
"It's an incredible story. It's the American Dream," said Zampolli. "She really will become the queen of people's hearts, like Princess Diana was. I think the world will be seeing more of her."
Nestle pays Starbucks $7.1bn to sell its coffee - BBC News
May 7, 2018
Nestle pays Starbucks $7.1bn to sell its coffee
Nestle has announced that it will pay Starbucks $7.1bn (£5.2bn) to sell the company's coffee into homes.
The Nescafe and Nespresso owner will own the rights to market Starbucks' coffee, which it says generates $2bn in annual sales.
Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider described it as a "significant step".
Mr Schneider, who in 2016 became the first outsider to run Nestle in almost 100 years, is attempting to boost the company's profit through expansion.
The Swiss consumer goods giant said 500 Starbucks employees will transfer over to its business but they will continue to be located in Seattle, the group's headquarters for the last 47 years.
Last year, Nestle paid an estimated $425m for a 68% stake in Blue Bottle Coffee, a California-based company that sells coffee to customers online and has a number of shops in the US and Japan.
The company recently sold its US sweets and chocolate business, including brands such as Crunch and Butterfinger, to Ferrero Group for 2.7bn Swiss francs (£1.9bn)
Mr Schneider described the "global coffee alliance" with Starbucks as "a great day for coffee lovers around the world".
Nestle pays Starbucks $7.1bn to sell its coffee
Nestle has announced that it will pay Starbucks $7.1bn (£5.2bn) to sell the company's coffee into homes.
The Nescafe and Nespresso owner will own the rights to market Starbucks' coffee, which it says generates $2bn in annual sales.
Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider described it as a "significant step".
Mr Schneider, who in 2016 became the first outsider to run Nestle in almost 100 years, is attempting to boost the company's profit through expansion.
The Swiss consumer goods giant said 500 Starbucks employees will transfer over to its business but they will continue to be located in Seattle, the group's headquarters for the last 47 years.
Last year, Nestle paid an estimated $425m for a 68% stake in Blue Bottle Coffee, a California-based company that sells coffee to customers online and has a number of shops in the US and Japan.
The company recently sold its US sweets and chocolate business, including brands such as Crunch and Butterfinger, to Ferrero Group for 2.7bn Swiss francs (£1.9bn)
Mr Schneider described the "global coffee alliance" with Starbucks as "a great day for coffee lovers around the world".
Tutankhamun 'secret chamber' does not exist, researchers find - BBC News
May 7, 2018
Tutankhamun 'secret chamber' does not exist, researchers find
A secret chamber had been thought to lie behind this wall in the boy king's tomb
Egyptian authorities have finished their quest to discover a secret chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun - concluding that it does not exist.
Previously, officials said they were "90% sure" of a hidden room behind the wall of the boy king's famous 3,000-year-old tomb.
One theory suggested it could have been the tomb of Queen Nefertiti - who some think was Tutankhamun's mother.
New research, however, has concluded the chamber simply is not there.
The search for the hidden tomb began when English archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, examining detailed scans of the chamber, discovered what looked like faint traces, or "ghosts", of doors beneath the plaster.
His 2015 paper The Burial of Nefertiti, he argued that the relatively small tomb had originally been designed for Queen Nefertiti - and her remains could possibly lie further within the tomb.
Nefertiti's remains have never been discovered, but she has been the object of much speculation. A 3,000-year-old sculpture of the queen, immaculately preserved, has made her one of the most recognisable women of ancient Egypt.
It is also thought she may have ruled Egypt as pharaoh herself between the death of her husband and the ascension of Tutankhamun.
Nefertiti 'buried with King Tut'
'Eight accused' over King Tut's beard
'High chance' of chamber in Tut's tomb
This bust of Queen Nefertiti, on display in Berlin, has added to her fame
After Mr Reeves' sensational paper, a series of radar scans seemed to support his theory, leading Egyptian authorities to declare it was "90% sure" that a further chamber existed.
A second scan also seemed to support the theory, which would have been the most significant discovery of Egyptian antiquities in decades.
However, Italian specialists from the University of Turin used new penetrating radar scans to reach their conclusion, saying they were confident in the results.
"It is maybe a little bit disappointing that there is nothing behind the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb, but I think on the other hand that this is good science," said Dr Francesco Porcelli, head of the research team.
He said they had analysed three different sets of radar data and cross-checked the results, to eliminate "complexity in the data" which affected previous scan results.
Egypt's Antiquities Minister, Khaled al-Anani, said the authorities in the country accepted the results.
Tutankhamun 'secret chamber' does not exist, researchers find
A secret chamber had been thought to lie behind this wall in the boy king's tomb
Egyptian authorities have finished their quest to discover a secret chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun - concluding that it does not exist.
Previously, officials said they were "90% sure" of a hidden room behind the wall of the boy king's famous 3,000-year-old tomb.
One theory suggested it could have been the tomb of Queen Nefertiti - who some think was Tutankhamun's mother.
New research, however, has concluded the chamber simply is not there.
The search for the hidden tomb began when English archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, examining detailed scans of the chamber, discovered what looked like faint traces, or "ghosts", of doors beneath the plaster.
His 2015 paper The Burial of Nefertiti, he argued that the relatively small tomb had originally been designed for Queen Nefertiti - and her remains could possibly lie further within the tomb.
Nefertiti's remains have never been discovered, but she has been the object of much speculation. A 3,000-year-old sculpture of the queen, immaculately preserved, has made her one of the most recognisable women of ancient Egypt.
It is also thought she may have ruled Egypt as pharaoh herself between the death of her husband and the ascension of Tutankhamun.
Nefertiti 'buried with King Tut'
'Eight accused' over King Tut's beard
'High chance' of chamber in Tut's tomb
This bust of Queen Nefertiti, on display in Berlin, has added to her fame
After Mr Reeves' sensational paper, a series of radar scans seemed to support his theory, leading Egyptian authorities to declare it was "90% sure" that a further chamber existed.
A second scan also seemed to support the theory, which would have been the most significant discovery of Egyptian antiquities in decades.
However, Italian specialists from the University of Turin used new penetrating radar scans to reach their conclusion, saying they were confident in the results.
"It is maybe a little bit disappointing that there is nothing behind the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb, but I think on the other hand that this is good science," said Dr Francesco Porcelli, head of the research team.
He said they had analysed three different sets of radar data and cross-checked the results, to eliminate "complexity in the data" which affected previous scan results.
Egypt's Antiquities Minister, Khaled al-Anani, said the authorities in the country accepted the results.
Air France could 'disappear' as more strikes begin - BBC News
Air France could 'disappear' as more strikes begin
6 May 2018
Jean-Marc Janaillac tendered his resignation after staff at the airline rejected a new pay deal.
The survival of strike-hit Air France is in the balance, according to the country's economy minister.
Bruno Le Maire's warning that Air France could "disappear" comes as staff begin another round of industrial action over a pay dispute.
Despite the French state owning 14.3% of the Air France-KLM parent group, the loss-making airline would not be bailed out, he said.
On Friday Air France-KLM's chief executive quit over the crisis.
Air France-KLM is one of Europe's biggest airlines, but has seen a series of strikes in recent weeks.
Monday's walk-out is the 14th day of action, as staff press for a 5.1% salary increase this year.
The government's response is seen as a test of labour reforms launched by French President Emmanuel Macron. There have also been strikes at the state-owned SNCF rail company.
On Sunday, Mr Le Maire told French news channel BFM: "I call on everyone to be responsible: crew, ground staff, and pilots who are asking for unjustified pay hikes.
"The survival of Air France is in the balance," he said, adding that the state would not serve as a backstop for the airline's debts.
"Air France will disappear if it does not make the necessary efforts to be competitive," he warned.
Despite the strike, the airline insisted that it would be able to maintain 99% of long-haul flights on Monday, 80% of medium-haul services and 87% of short-haul flights.
On Friday, Jean-Marc Janaillac, chief executive of parent company Air France-KLM, resigned after staff rejected a final pay offer from him, which would have raised wages by 7% over four years.
Employees of Air France-KLM's French operations have staged a series of strikes in recent days
Air France-KLM reported a net loss of €269m (£238m) in the first quarter of the year.
British Airways and Lufthansa have already undergone heavy cost-cutting in recent years, amid rising competition from low-cost airlines and carriers from the Gulf states.
But many analysts say Air France has lagged far behind when it comes to restructuring and has failed to address its continued losses.
The group has already downgraded expectations of its financial performance for 2018.
Air France merged with Dutch carrier KLM in 2004. The joint company flies tens of millions of passengers around the world every year.
6 May 2018
Jean-Marc Janaillac tendered his resignation after staff at the airline rejected a new pay deal.
The survival of strike-hit Air France is in the balance, according to the country's economy minister.
Bruno Le Maire's warning that Air France could "disappear" comes as staff begin another round of industrial action over a pay dispute.
Despite the French state owning 14.3% of the Air France-KLM parent group, the loss-making airline would not be bailed out, he said.
On Friday Air France-KLM's chief executive quit over the crisis.
Air France-KLM is one of Europe's biggest airlines, but has seen a series of strikes in recent weeks.
Monday's walk-out is the 14th day of action, as staff press for a 5.1% salary increase this year.
The government's response is seen as a test of labour reforms launched by French President Emmanuel Macron. There have also been strikes at the state-owned SNCF rail company.
On Sunday, Mr Le Maire told French news channel BFM: "I call on everyone to be responsible: crew, ground staff, and pilots who are asking for unjustified pay hikes.
"The survival of Air France is in the balance," he said, adding that the state would not serve as a backstop for the airline's debts.
"Air France will disappear if it does not make the necessary efforts to be competitive," he warned.
Despite the strike, the airline insisted that it would be able to maintain 99% of long-haul flights on Monday, 80% of medium-haul services and 87% of short-haul flights.
On Friday, Jean-Marc Janaillac, chief executive of parent company Air France-KLM, resigned after staff rejected a final pay offer from him, which would have raised wages by 7% over four years.
Employees of Air France-KLM's French operations have staged a series of strikes in recent days
Air France-KLM reported a net loss of €269m (£238m) in the first quarter of the year.
British Airways and Lufthansa have already undergone heavy cost-cutting in recent years, amid rising competition from low-cost airlines and carriers from the Gulf states.
But many analysts say Air France has lagged far behind when it comes to restructuring and has failed to address its continued losses.
The group has already downgraded expectations of its financial performance for 2018.
Air France merged with Dutch carrier KLM in 2004. The joint company flies tens of millions of passengers around the world every year.
Iran nuclear deal: Johnson tells Trump 'don't walk away' - BBC News
May 7, 2018
Iran nuclear deal: Johnson tells Trump 'don't walk away'
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has urged President Donald Trump not to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, saying "it would be a mistake to walk away".
Mr Johnson is in Washington to persuade the US to remain in the international accord, which saw Iran agree to limit its nuclear activities in return for the easing of economic sanctions.
The UK and its European allies have until 12 May to convince Mr Trump to stick with the agreement.
Mr Trump has called the deal "insane".
What is the Iran nuclear deal?
Is Iran's economy better off since the nuclear deal?
Could the deal collapse?
Britain, France and Germany have been working behind the scenes for weeks in an effort to preserve the deal, which was orchestrated under the Obama administration, and includes Russia and China as signatories.
What has Mr Johnson said?
Writing in the New York Times, he argued that "only Iran would gain" from abandoning nuclear restrictions.
"Of all the options we have for ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, this pact offers the fewest disadvantages," he wrote.
Mr Johnson said the deal "has weaknesses, certainly, but I am convinced they can be remedied", adding that the UK was working with the US, France and Germany to achieve that.
He said the deal had put restrictions on Iran's nuclear programme and "now that these handcuffs are in place, I see no possible advantage in casting them aside", adding that the handcuffs should be improved, not broken.
UK ambassador to the US, Kim Darroch, told US media: "We think that we can find some language, produce some action that meets the president's concerns."
While in Washington, Mr Johnson will meet US Vice-President Mike Pence, National Security Adviser John Bolton and foreign policy leaders in Congress.
He will not meet President Trump, but is expected to appear on the Fox & Friends morning news, which Mr Trump is known to watch avidly.
Why are there differences among the allies?
Mr Trump has called the deal the "worst ever" and has threatened to withdraw unless the signatories agree to fix its "disastrous flaws".
He believes the terms are too lenient, in particular that the deal only limits Iran's nuclear activities for a fixed period and fails to stop the development of ballistic missiles.
A timeline of what Trump's said about the Iran deal
He also said it had handed Iran a $100bn (£72bn) windfall that it used "as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression" across the Middle East.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the nuclear deal had been "built on lies", after Israel revealed "secret nuclear files" accusing Iran of having run a secret nuclear weapons programme that was reportedly mothballed 15 years ago.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have all warned Mr Trump not to walk away from the deal.
Mr Macron said he agreed the deal should have wider terms and address some of Mr Trump's concerns. He also said he feared Mr Trump would pull out.
Mr Trump must decide by 12 May whether to renew the waiver on sanctions, and has a wide range of options on whether to re-impose them.
What has Iran said?
President Hassan Rouhani said the US would face "historic regret" if it pulled out.
Iran nuclear deal: Johnson tells Trump 'don't walk away'
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has urged President Donald Trump not to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, saying "it would be a mistake to walk away".
Mr Johnson is in Washington to persuade the US to remain in the international accord, which saw Iran agree to limit its nuclear activities in return for the easing of economic sanctions.
The UK and its European allies have until 12 May to convince Mr Trump to stick with the agreement.
Mr Trump has called the deal "insane".
What is the Iran nuclear deal?
Is Iran's economy better off since the nuclear deal?
Could the deal collapse?
Britain, France and Germany have been working behind the scenes for weeks in an effort to preserve the deal, which was orchestrated under the Obama administration, and includes Russia and China as signatories.
What has Mr Johnson said?
Writing in the New York Times, he argued that "only Iran would gain" from abandoning nuclear restrictions.
"Of all the options we have for ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, this pact offers the fewest disadvantages," he wrote.
Mr Johnson said the deal "has weaknesses, certainly, but I am convinced they can be remedied", adding that the UK was working with the US, France and Germany to achieve that.
He said the deal had put restrictions on Iran's nuclear programme and "now that these handcuffs are in place, I see no possible advantage in casting them aside", adding that the handcuffs should be improved, not broken.
UK ambassador to the US, Kim Darroch, told US media: "We think that we can find some language, produce some action that meets the president's concerns."
While in Washington, Mr Johnson will meet US Vice-President Mike Pence, National Security Adviser John Bolton and foreign policy leaders in Congress.
He will not meet President Trump, but is expected to appear on the Fox & Friends morning news, which Mr Trump is known to watch avidly.
Why are there differences among the allies?
Mr Trump has called the deal the "worst ever" and has threatened to withdraw unless the signatories agree to fix its "disastrous flaws".
He believes the terms are too lenient, in particular that the deal only limits Iran's nuclear activities for a fixed period and fails to stop the development of ballistic missiles.
A timeline of what Trump's said about the Iran deal
He also said it had handed Iran a $100bn (£72bn) windfall that it used "as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression" across the Middle East.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the nuclear deal had been "built on lies", after Israel revealed "secret nuclear files" accusing Iran of having run a secret nuclear weapons programme that was reportedly mothballed 15 years ago.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have all warned Mr Trump not to walk away from the deal.
Mr Macron said he agreed the deal should have wider terms and address some of Mr Trump's concerns. He also said he feared Mr Trump would pull out.
Mr Trump must decide by 12 May whether to renew the waiver on sanctions, and has a wide range of options on whether to re-impose them.
What has Iran said?
President Hassan Rouhani said the US would face "historic regret" if it pulled out.
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