The astonishing moment Trump had Barack Obama in tears
Barack Obama was spotted shedding a tear as he addressed senior White House staff in the wake of Donald Trump's shock 2016 election victory, according to a new interview archive that has laid bare the inner workings of Obama's administration.
'Obama came to speak to his senior staff. He got up to give a speech and he started crying."
Even Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew and National Security Adviser Susan Rice were overcome with emotion.
'All these people were tearing up,' Jean Psaki recalled.
But the tear-stained faces in the West Wing were a world away from the mocking laughter and derision that had filled a Washington ballroom just five years earlier.
It was the high-society event of the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, a night remembered for its glitz and sharp-tongued barbs.
David Axelrod, the veteran strategist behind Barack Obama's campaign, was weaving through the sea of tuxedos and evening gowns when he caught the unmistakable voice of Donald Trump,
In a massive undertaking that reveals eight years in the West Wing, a colossal new archive has laid bare the inner workings of the Obama administration. One thing was made abundantly clear: Obama and his minions never anticipated a Trump presidency
Obama and his first lady greet Trump and his wife Melania for tea before the inauguration at the White House in 2017
Trump was heard crowing, 'I'm in front of the polls.'
The real estate tycoon, years away from his own White House run, was already holding court.
As Axelrod passed by, he overheard the future president talking to a circle of guests about his burgeoning popularity with the electorate.
Axelrod said. 'I don't think any of us really anticipated that Donald Trump would be president.'
During the comedy portion of the evening, Obama even mocked Trump.
One thing was made abundantly clear: Obama and his team never anticipated a Trump presidency.
'The outcome of the election was a direct rebuke of everything that Obama had been trying to do for the last 10 years.'
'Trump's candidacy was anathema to everything that the Obama campaign and the Obama era, the Obama administration, had been about.'
Trump fired off his campaign four years later, in June 2015.
'Nobody took it seriously at the time,' said Cody Keenan, another speechwriter for Mr. Obama.
A black-run cafe in Harlem has become the newest victim of the ongoing economic warfare waged by Hamas supporters.
by Dr. Rafael Medoff
The Tsion Cafe, owned by a black Jewish refugee from Ethiopia, Beejhy Barhany, is the latest target of Hamas supporters. Ms. Barhany says it has become impossible for her cafe to function, as a result of what she called “a changed environment for Israeli restaurants in the city since the Oct. 7 terror attacks and over the course of the ensuing war in Gaza."
In other words, Hamas supporters harassed, bullied, and smeared Ms. Barhany until she couldn’t take it any longer-just as they have targeted many other kosher restaurants around in the United States and around the world.
In Los Angeles, a caravan of cars pulled up in front of Sushi Fumi, a kosher eatery, and passengers yelling “Dirty Jews!" and “Israel kills children!" piled out and began assaulting diners.
In Philadelphia, several hundred Hamas supporters descended upon Goldie Falafel, screaming “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!" and plastering its front windows with “Free Palestine" stickers.
In Melbourne, dozens of Israel-haters invaded the Miznon restaurant, smashing windows and hurling furniture at diners. At Miznon’s branch in Notting Hill, London, Hamas supporters used megaphones to blast their chants of "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!" and "Long live the intifada!" into the ears of customers.
Similar harassment recently succeeded in shutting down both branches of Shouk, a kosher restaurant in the Washington D.C. area.
There is an extra layer of ironic tragedy with regard to the Tsion Cafe, however-in this case, the Hamas supporters, who claim to defend “people of color," have victimized a black restaurant owner in Harlem.
Israel-haters often describe Israel as a “white" country that is fighting “brown" Palestinian Arabs. That characterization is absurd, because the majority of Israelis were born in either the Middle East or Africa.
Jews born in Ethiopia are just as much “people of color" as Muslims born in neighboring Somalia, such as Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. And Jews born in Jerusalem are just as much “people of color" as Muslims who are born a few miles down the road in Ramallah, such as Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.
A Palestinian activist has called for dogs to be banned as pets in New York City.
Congressman Randy Fine said: “It’s not enough for Democrats to think anyone who wants to come here illegally should be able to do that. Now they’re demanding that we change our values and how we live as Americans.”
A major Muslim leader in NYC is calling for dogs to be forbidden because they “bother some Muslims.”
Democratic politicians have found themselves indirectly defending Islam’s 7th-century hatred of man’s best friend, dogs.
Nerdeen Kiswani
A New York-based Muslim advocate, Nerdeen Kiswani said pet house dogs will not be welcome in Islamic New York.
“NYC is coming to Islam,” said Kiswani, referring to the November electoral victory of Zohran Mamdani, the Ugandan-born immigrant and Muslim Mayor of New York.
"Like we Muslims have said all along, dogs are unclean [“najis”].
Fine responded: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
Kiswani gained notoriety for leading Pro-Palestine protests in New York City with her organization Within Our Lifetime (WOL), which calls for the eradication of Israel.
She led several rallies across the boroughs, where protesters marched down busy streets chanting for the 'full liberation of Palestine' and 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.'
She poked ire with Jewish New Yorkers after WOL suggested the October 7 massacre, where more than 200 Israelis were taken hostage and 1,400 died, was justified.
At the time, Kiswani shared a post by WOL on X, which called for a rally 'as we mobilize to defend the heroic Palestinian resistance, honor our martyrs and let the world know that NYC stands with Gaza.'
The WOL website states that oppressed people 'have the right to win their liberation by any means necessary.'
Kiswani's activism goes back to the early 2010s.
Muslims typically do not keep dogs as pets as they believe that dogs are meant to be used for work
Kiswani gained notoriety over the years for her Pro-Palestine stances and for leading protests
In 2014, Kiswani shared a statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) after it killed four worshippers in a shooting and meat cleaver attack in a Jerusalem synagogue, which said their actions were a 'natural response' to Israeli aggression, the ADL says.
Kiswani and WOL have also shared material venerating PFLP and one of its leaders, Leila Khaled, known for her role in the hijacking of two civilian airliners, TWA Flight 840 in 1969, bound for Tel Aviv from Rome, and El Al Flight 219 in 1970, traveling from Amsterdam to New York City.
In 2022, Kiswani shared a meme of the Little Miss children's cartoon character on her Instagram page in 2022 that read: 'Little Miss telling everyone Israel is [sic] will be wiped off the map inshallah [God willing].'
She was accused of anti-Semitism that same year after delivering a speech for CUNY Law School in Queens, New York, in which she excoriated 'Zionists' and condemned 'normalizing' trips to Israel.
On January 8, 2017, Kiswani praised on Facebook Palestinian celebrations of a vehicular ramming attack that killed four people and injured 17 others on a Jerusalem promenade. Kiswani encouraged celebrations of the murders, writing: “While Palestinians and ‘allies’ in the west scramble to condemn, apologize, explain, hide, rationalize, etc what happened this morning, Palestinians in Palestine are giving out sweets in celebration. I will not hide from this. I will not be ashamed or embarrassed by this. These celebratory actions are what keep the resistance moving forward, they are what keep it alive.”
On July 31, 2021, after fireworks were lit at a WOL rally, Kiswani told the crowd: “I hope that a pop-pop is the last noise that some Zionists hear in their lifetime!”
On January 25, 2025, Kiswani posted on X: “So many are captivated by the newly released footage of Yahya Sinwar. What Zionists intended as proof of his death has instead immortalized him. His name, meaning ‘one who lives and does not die,’ now resonates across generations. They didn’t kill him—they made him eternal.”
Yahya (Yehiya) Sinwar masterminded the October 7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel and had been a Hamas leader since the 1980s.
On January 19, 2025, Kiswani posted on X: “Al-Aqsa flood made these scenes of our prisoners being freed possible. Al-Aqsa flood shattered their chains and soaked the world in the reality that a colonized people will always resist and will always inevitably win.”
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is the name Hamas used for their terror operation on October 7, 2023.
It won’t end with Israel. Obviously.
“Finally, NYC is coming to Islam. Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we’ve said all along, they are unclean,” Nerdeen Kiswani tweeted.
I’m thinking that washing your feet in public sinks, a ritual Islamic practice, is far more unclean, but Mohammed hated dogs. Probably because they’re excellent judges of character and were good at spotting robbers and rousing an alarm.
Islam has an endless escalating set of demands and there is never enough to appease it.
Police are investigating after a group of pro-Palestine canvassers were accused of engaging in a 'Jew hunt' as they went door-to-door asking locals to boycott Israeli products.
Campaigner Jean Hatchet and her partner confronted members of the Sheffield Apartheid-Free Zone (AFZ) campaign on Sunday as they went canvassing in the Woodseats area of the northern city.
The altercation turned ugly as Ms Hatchet and her partner yelled 'Jew Hunt' at the trio of men. One of the men appeared to headbutt Ms Hatchet's partner.
And later, after being followed to outside a local Asda, another activist appears to grab a sign out of Ms Hatchet's partner's hand and fold it up; video footage appears to show the woman's hand grabbing his backpack before he spins around.
Police say they are investigating multiple reports of assault. They are also enquiring whether video footage of the incidents was 'edited'.
The Sheffield AFZ is one of a number of grassroots groups that has sprung up seeking to encourage people not to support Israeli businesses amid the country's ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
But critics say that groups like these may actually encourage antisemitism - or leave Jewish people frightened if they are confronted on their own doorsteps.
Ms Hatchet - who is not Jewish - told the Daily Mail that she and her partner went to find the doorknockers after being alerted to their activities on social media.
Pro-Palestine activists got into an altercation with people who accused them of 'Jew hunting' in Sheffield last weekend
Jean Hatchet's partner (pictured) carried a sign that read 'no tolerance for Jew hatred'
She later shared multiple videos of the confrontation online. Some were filmed on her phone, while others were captured on her partner's body-worn camera, which appeared to be worn underneath a jacket.
'We thought we'd go down there and see what they were doing,' Ms Hatchet said.
'That was the only intention we had, to see if it was as bad as it looked and sounded.
'We found these guys in the street and as you can see in the video it was a few questions about what they were looking to do.
'They were handing out leaflets that they were targeting a specific set of people [Jews] even if they weren't naming them.
'One of the men stood on the path and he headbutted her. We began shouting what we thought they were doing, which was "Jew hunt", trying to embarrass them into leaving, which worked.
'They packed up and headed off down the street. We were walking behind them when one of them grabbed the sign from my partner. She reached to grab it and she was assaulted. She has put that to the police.'
Ms Hatchet said that video footage showing the man in red stumbling backwards before he headbutted her partner was the result of 'a very steep hill', and alleged that he had stepped into her path.
The AFZ activists say they are advocating for a boycott of Israeli products because Israel 'thrives on international support'.
A leaflet it makes available online reads: 'When we choose not to buy Israeli goods, it hits them where it hurts most - their economy. Boycotts have worked before.
'They were a powerful factor in ending South African apartheid and together we can make them a success again.'
Ms Hatchet says that she convinced the activists to retreat by loudly accusing them of a 'Jew hunt' in the streets
However, Ms Hatchet is convinced that the group is deliberately marking out homes that do not show support for the boycott.
'It makes no real difference what they think they are doing. They are taking addresses of people who don't agree with their point of view,' she added.
'We have GDPR in this country. They are not a political party. They aren't governed by a private company. They're overstepping a mark.'
The Daily Mail has made attempts to contact the Sheffield AFZ group for comment.
South Yorkshire Police says it is investigating reports that a man was assaulted and that a person was the victim of a religiously motivated assault in Woodseats, Sheffield on Sunday morning.
NPT Inspector Amy Mellor said: 'I am aware that videos about yesterday's incident in Woodseats are circulating on social media, and that some of these may have been edited. Our officers are working hard to understand the full circumstances.
'I know that residents may be concerned, and I would like to reassure you that our officers have been in the area over the weekend and will be back today to provide reassurance to the community. If you have any concerns, please speak them, they are there to support you.'
Last week, Jewish activists in Brighton accused pro-Palestine canvassers of engaging in a 'campaign of intimidation' by knocking on the doors of locals and asking them to boycott Israeli products.
Members of the Brighton and Hove Apartheid-Free Zone group were filmed going door-to-door in the city on February 7, asking residents to sign a pledge against goods manufactured in Israel.
The group says it is expressing solidarity with Palestinians who have been killed and displaced in Gaza, taking inspiration from the Anti-Apartheid Movement that targeted South Africa in the latter half of the 20th century.
But local Jewish activists have accused the group of engaging in a targeted campaign to whip up feelings of antisemitism towards British Jews.
Vicky Bhogal, who runs local campaign group Jewish and Proud, alleged that by engaging in door knocking the group was 'finding out who has got Zionist leanings and who hasn't, and where they live'.
'It was insidious, and it was dangerous,' she told the Jewish Chronicle, describing their activities as a 'campaign of intimidation that is next level'.
She followed the Brighton AFZ group - who wore bright pink high-visibility jackets - around, filming them as they went door-to-door. The campaigners, in turn, appeared to be filming her on a body-worn camera.
The group says it wants people to boycott Israeli goods in line with the wider Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to pressure Israel into ceasing its military action in Gaza as it continues its war with Hamas.
Pro-Palestine activists are seen knocking on a door in Brighton as they seek to discourage people from buying Israeli products
The activists handed out leaflets expressing solidarity with Palestinian people with the goal of creating an 'apartheid-free zone' in Brighton
Jewish activist Vicky Bhogal accused the group of seeking to invoke antisemitism - a claim that it has denied
Describing Israel as a 'racist and genocidal state' on its website, it accuses the country of the 'illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian land', a claim Israel denies.
Activists told Sky News that they viewed Zionism - the movement that supports the creation and maintenance of a Jewish homeland - as akin to apartheid, but have denied claims that they are antisemitic or racist.
Asked if the group was antisemitic, one doorknocker called Seymour, told the broadcaster: 'No. We're anti-racist.' But asked if they were anti-Zionist, he replied: 'Yeah, sure. Because the Zionist ideology is an apartheid ideology in our view.'
He added of door-knocking: 'It's no different from the actions of a political party like the Conservative Party or the Labour Party who also go door to door and ask people how they feel.'
Challenged on the fact the activists were not asking people to oppose Jews, Ms Bhogal said: 'They know they can get away with this.
'They know they can go around door to door eliciting support for this seemingly really nice... 'just don't buy Israeli avocados'.
'Any campaign against Israel is a campaign against British Jews. You can't separate it. The way I see it, the modern face of antisemitism is anti-Zionism.'
The Brighton AFZ did not respond to a request for comment. But the issue has split communities in a city normally famed for its reputation for tolerance and inclusion.
It prompted Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, to call for police to investigate the AFZ activists.
But Sussex Police says it had been unable to find any evidence of criminal activity and will not be investigating.
Mark Sewards, the chair of Labour Friends of Israel, wrote to local Green MP Sian Berry urging her to condemn what he called the 'dangerous, divisive and intimidatory' door-knocking campaign.
But Ms Berry told Sky News that she believed the activists were 'well intentioned, and were not intending to alarm any Jewish residents specifically with this choice of engagement activity'.
She added: 'Seeking to raise awareness of the horrific recent actions against Palestinians in Gaza of the current government in Israel, and the wide international recognition of these as war crimes, is legitimate, and can extend to boycott(s).'
Israeli boycott groups like the Brighton and Hove AFZ have sprung up in greater numbers following Israel's incursion into Gaza following the October 7 attacks by Hamas, which killed over 1,200 people, mostly Israelis.
Since then, the war with Hamas has killed an estimated 72,000 Palestinian people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Authority. It has also levelled most of the Gaza Strip and displaced 1.9million Palestinians.
But those who believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians are behind campaigns like the AFZ and calls to boycott companies that do business with the state, and companies of Israeli origin.
The activists wore bright pink high-visibility jackets and carried Palestine flags ahead of the campaign a week ago
The issue has divided locals in Brighton, a city normally renowned for its tolerance
It has also pressured local councils into divesting pension funds from Israeli firms.
The campaign against Israel has echoes of the Anti-Apartheid Movement of the late 20th century, which was credited with putting the issue of South African apartheid, and how to oppose it, front and centre among the general public.
By the 1980s, almost every region in the UK had an AAM group seeding local opposition to South African goods; wider campaigns even targeted sports teams, musicians and global corporations that continued to do business with the country.
In the years since the October 7 attacks, and Israel's ongoing campaign in Gaza, there has also been a rise in antisemitic incidents across Britain.
A poll by YouGov last year, commissioned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, also found that half of young Brits feel uncomfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel.
It also concluded that half of Brits believe Israel is treating Palestinians in the same way that Nazis treated the Jews.
Imam is guilty of raping women and girls as young as 12, after convincing them he had magical powers when they met at mosque
An imam has been found guilty of raping women and girls as young as 12 after using his position as a faith leader at his east London mosque to convince them he had magical powers.
Abdul Halim Khan, 54, has been found guilty of twenty one counts of rape and sexual assault as well as child sexual offences against seven women and girls at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
The offences took place between 2004 and 2015, and three of his victims were young teenage girls at the time.
All seven were members of the local Muslim community, and Khan abused his position to convince them all to meet him in isolated places to carry out the sex attacks.
Khan would claim he needed to meet with the girls and women to prevent anything bad happening to them.
He then raped or abused them and claimed he had been possessed by a 'Jinn', or evil spirit, while doing so.
His victims were left too scared to tell friends or family for fear of him doing them harm via 'black magic', the CPS said.
Khan's actions were finally discovered in February 2018 when his youngest victim bravely told a teacher what had happened to her.
Abdul Halim Khan, 54, has been found guilty of twenty one counts of rape and sexual assault as well as child sexual offences against seven women and girls
At Snaresbrook Crown Court (pictured) Khan was convicted of offences against seven victims, including three who were young teenage girls at the time
On Friday, Khan was convicted of nine counts of rape, four counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, five counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of assault by penetration.
Officers from the Met Police interviewed more than 50 witnesses as part of their investigation. They charged Khan in March 2023.
Following the verdicts on Friday, one of the former imam's victims said: 'The abuse I suffered as a child has had a profound and lasting impact on my life.
'What happened to me did not end when the abuse stopped, it affected my sense of safety, my ability to trust others, and the way I understood relationships and authority.
'Someone who should never have harmed me violated that trust, and the effects of that betrayal have stayed with me for many years and I continue to carry that trauma with me.
'Like many survivors of childhood sexual abuse, I lived with shame, fear, and confusion that were not mine to carry. The loss of trust, in people, in systems, and at times in myself, shaped much of my adult life.
'Coming forward was an extremely difficult decision. Speaking about what happened meant revisiting painful memories and facing emotions I had tried to suppress for years.
'However, being listened to, believed, and treated with dignity throughout the investigation helped restore some of the trust that had been taken from me. I am grateful to the Metropolitan Police officers who handled my case with care, professionalism, and sensitivity.
'I hope this outcome acknowledges not only the abuse itself, but the deep and lasting harm it causes.
'I also hope it encourages other survivors of childhood sexual abuse to know that they are not alone, they are not to blame, and that what happened to them matter, regardless of how much time has passed.'
Khan has been remanded into custody ahead of sentencing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Thursday, May 14.
Detective Sergeant Sara Yems, who led the investigation, said: 'It shows remarkable strength for anyone to report abuse, especially when the abuser is believed to be a trusted figure.
'The seven woman who came forward have shown extraordinary courage in speaking with police and I hope they serve as inspiration to other victims and survivors.
'While nothing will undo the harm suffered by these women – yesterday's conviction will hopefully offer a small measure of comfort. I'd like to thank the dedicated team of Met officers who left no stone unturned in their pursuit of justice.
'We remain absolutely committed to tackling violence against women and girls, targeting dangerous offenders and removing them from London's streets.'
Melissa Garner, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Abdul Halim Khan a former imam abused his position of trust and authority to carry out a vicious series of rapes and sexual abuses against seven victims including three vulnerable teenage girls.
'Khan coerced and deceived them into thinking that he possessed supernatural powers which could protect them and their families from harm in exchange for hideous acts of sexual abuse without their consent.
'The lifelong physical and emotional trauma caused to victims by men like Khan cannot be understated.
'We would like to thank the victims in this case for coming forward and reporting this devastating crime. I hope this conviction sends a clear message that the CPS will relentlessly pursue justice and prosecute those who sexually exploit women and children, whenever that abuse took place.
'I encourage any victims of child sexual abuse and sexual violence to report the crimes committed against them to the police. You are not alone and there is always help available.'
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