Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
Qatar has agreed to buy up to 210 aircraft from Boeing in what US President Donald Trump hailed as the largest order of jets in the history of the American aerospace company as he visited the Gulf state.
The White House announced economic deals worth more than $243bn as Qatar became the latest oil-rich country to earn plaudits from the president for buying into his “America first” investment policy as he toured the Gulf in pursuit of headline-grabbing business deals.
Qatar Airways, the state-owned national carrier, had agreed to a $96bn deal to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft, the White House said, adding that it was Boeing’s “largest-ever wide-body order”.
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“Congratulations to Boeing. Get those planes out there,” Trump said at a signing ceremony with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar’s emir. “I just want to thank you. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
Boeing shares were up 2.3 per cent on Wednesday. Airlines often receive a discount off the list price of the aeroplanes they buy.
Other multibillion dollar deals have also been reached in defence, energy and technology, the White House said.
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An Air India flight to London Gatwick has crashed in Ahmedabad in western India shortly after take-off, with 242 people on board.
Air India said that those on the Boeing 787-8 aircraft included 169 Indian nationals, as well as 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. There were also 10 cabin crew and two pilots.
An Indian government official said there were 209 confirmed deaths, including people who had been on the ground when the plane crashed.
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The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was more than 10 years old, according to Flightradar24, which added that after reaching an altitude of 625 feet, the aircraft began to descend with a vertical speed of 475 feet per minute.
The aircraft tracking service added that the plane’s signal was lost at 1.38pm local time, just after take-off.
Rohan Krishnan, head of Indian doctors’ association Faima, said the flight crashed into the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad, adding that some students had been taken to hospital.
It is the first time a 787 has crashed, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
Boeing shares were down 7 per cent in pre-market trading on Thursday.
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The crash comes as Boeing tries to rebuild trust after a series of safety crises including two fatal crashes of its 737 Max model in 2018 and 2019, which led to the departure of its then chief executive Dennis Muilenburg.
The mid-air blowout of a door plug on a 737 Max-9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines in January 2024 triggered another clear-out of top management amid concerns over the quality of Boeing’s manufacturing.
Kelly Ortberg, who became the manufacturer’s new chief executive last August, has sought to stabilise Boeing’s production and improve its quality control processes, as well as shore up its balance sheet.
The company said on Thursday that its “thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected”.
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Police in Gujarat state told the Financial Times that the plane crashed “within 10 minutes” of taking off from the airport in Ahmedabad.
The Indian aviation regulator said the aircraft made a mayday call to air traffic control “but thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC”.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote on X on Thursday: “The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating.”
“My thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time,” he added.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words.”
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An image taken from video footage of the crash site
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chair of Tata, which took over the airline from state control in 2022, said: “With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today.”
Tata had promised to modernise the carrier, and, in 2023, Air India agreed a deal with Boeing and Airbus to buy 470 new aircraft, one of the largest orders in aviation history.
John Strickland, an aviation consultant, said Boeing’s 787 had a “good in-service safety record”, adding that it was “too early to speculate on the likely cause” of the accident.
Air India had faced the “challenges of decades of state ownership and poor management”, said Strickland.
However, he said that since being sold to Tata, experienced management had been brought in and the carrier “had begun to move in the right direction both operationally and commercially”.
Video: How safety lapses hit Boeing’s reputation | FT Film
National Guardsmen deployed to Los Angeles have the authority to temporarily detain anti-ICE rioters in Los Angeles, the Department of Homeland Security says.
President Donald Trump has deployed some 4,000 National Guardsmen to the city as the riots continue, but Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said on Wednesday that there have only been a small number of cases where they have detained civilians.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin says the troops are on the ground to provide protection for ICE agents and other federal law enforcement groups.
“If any rioters attack ICE law enforcement officers, military personnel have the authority to temporarily detain them until law enforcement makes the arrest,” McLaughlin told Axios in a statement.
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NEWSOM FILES EMERGENCY MOTION TO ‘IMMEDIATELY BLOCK’ TRUMP’S USE OF MILITARY TO STOP LA RIOTS
National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles can temporarily detain anti-ICE protesters before handing them over to law enforcement, the DHS says.(RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images)
TRUMP TAKES ACTION AGAINST ‘ORCHESTRATED ATTACK’ ON LAW ENFORCEMENT BY DEPLOYING MARINES TO LA: ASSEMBLYMAN
Sherman told the Associated Press on Wednesday that about 500 National Guard troops have been trained so far to help agents carry out immigration operations in Los Angeles.
Immigration officials have already circulated photos of soldiers from the National Guard providing security for Department of Homeland Security agents.
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Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, head of Task Force 51, which is overseeing the deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, speaks to reporters Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, California.(AP Photo/Amy Taxin)
He told the AP that over the past few days, National Guard soldiers have temporarily detained anti-ICE protesters, though there have not been many as of late because things have calmed down.
Sherman also said the soldiers did not participate in the arrests or law enforcement activities. Instead, he added, they let the agitators go once police take them into custody.
U.S. National Guard soldiers are deployed around downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following an immigration raid protest the night before.(AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a public feud with the Trump administration, accusing the president of having “commandeered” 2,000 of the state’s National Guard members “illegally, for no reason” without consulting with California’s law enforcement leaders.
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The Trump administration, meanwhile, said its ICE operations are aiming to get “criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, drug dealers, human traffickers and domestic abusers off the streets.”
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Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, are scheduled to attend the opening night performance of “Les Misérables” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday night.
In some sense it is the culmination of the Trump takeover of the national cultural center. The president appointed himself chairman of the Kennedy Center in February, purged the traditionally bipartisan board and restocked it with loyalists. In March, he took a tour and met with his new board. “We’re going to get some very good shows,” he said at the time. “I guess we have ‘Les Miz’ coming.”
Mr. Trump’s tightening grip has upset a number of artists, and some members of the cast were expected to boycott the performance.
“Les Misérables” has long been one of Mr. Trump’s favorite shows, and the opening on Wednesday was expected to be a big night out on the town for the president’s friends and top allies, complete with a red carpet.
The flashy outing, to a musical with its climactic moments celebrating an anti-government uprising, coincides with one of the most volatile weeks of Mr. Trump’s second term.
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Mr. Trump’s administration has sent soldiers from the California National Guard and the Marines into Los Angeles in response to days of protests over immigration raids.
Those deployments — over the objections of state and local officials there — have set off an extraordinary standoff between Mr. Trump and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom. In a televised address on Tuesday night, Mr. Newsom accused Mr. Trump of mounting an attack on democracy: “The moment we’ve feared has arrived.”
