Donald Trump says won't run again for president if he loses in November
Washington, Sep 24: Former US president Donald Trump has ruled out running for the White House in 2028 if he loses his presidential bid in November this year.
“No, I don’t. No, I don’t. I think that will be, that will be it. I don’t see that at all. I think that hopefully we’re gonna be successful,” Trump told host Sharyl Attkisson in an interview over the weekend.
Trump is running for presidential elections for the third consecutive term this time. He won the first time in 2016 and lost in his second attempt in 2020.
The 78-year-old former president is pitched in a tight race with Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump would be 82 by the time of the next elections in 2028.
The presidential elections in the US will take place on November 5.
When asked what keeps him healthy, Trump said he plays golf and tries to eat properly.
“Well, I used to play golf a little bit. That gave me, so I don’t know, but it seems to be quite a dangerous sport in retrospect. I try and eat properly. I try. I do the best,” the Republican presidential candidate said.
“I like perhaps all the wrong food. But then I say 'Does anybody know what the right food is?'" he asked. "I have people lecturing me for years, 'Oh don’t eat this, don’t eat that'. They’re gone, they have passed away long ago,” Trump said.
During the interview, Trump stressed that he does not get credit for the fight against COVID-19.
“I never got great credit on the fighting of the China virus, which is COVID. But we call it the China virus ’cause we like to be accurate. But if you think of what I’ve done, I took, I took a disaster that came into our shores. That dust flew in from China and we started making things like the ventilators. We were supplying the whole world with ventilators,” he said.
“Within a period of seven months, we took auto factories and started making ventilators and auto factories. We did the gowns, the cost, you know, all of the different things, all of the rubberised products, the masks, all, everything. And we also had to go, because our, you know, when I took over, the cupboards were bare. We had nothing,” Trump said.
“We had, we were supposed to have, but we had nothing. And in all fairness to previous presidents, the reason is that nobody really thought a pandemic in this world, in this age, was possible. You know, you remember 1917, we had the great pandemic that people talk about. A hundred million people they say died,” he said.
“And basically this would’ve happened here too. And it didn’t happen here. I think I did a great job. I think I will not be given credit for it. But there are a lot of people that think I did a really fantastic job on that. Nobody knew what it was. Nobody knew where it came from. And remember, we had far fewer deaths than (incumbent President Joe) Biden. And Biden just got the tail end. So we did a good job,” Trump claimed.
Biden dropped the White House bid in July after a disastrous presidential debate with Trump.
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Pakistan claims to kill 70 terrorists in strikes on Afghanistan
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan on Sunday claimed to kill 70 terrorists in the military strikes targeting at least seven militant hideouts in Afghanistan in retaliation for the recent rebel attacks in the country.
"Afghanistan has long been exporting terrorism. Pakistan is taking all actions to secure the life and property of its citizens," Pakistan State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said while speaking on Geo News' programme.
Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting confirmed the strikes in retaliation to the recent suicide bombings in Islamabad, Bajaur and Bannu, even as Kabul warned of a “necessary and measured response” to the strikes.
In the latest terrorist incident, an army lieutenant colonel and a soldier were killed in a suicide attack in the Bannu area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Pakistan has conclusive evidence that these acts of terrorism, including at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad, one each in Bajaur and Bannu, followed by another incident in Bannu on Saturday, were allegedly perpetrated by Khwarij on the behest of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.
“Responsibilities for these attacks were also claimed by Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban belonging to Fitna-al-Khwarij (FAK) and their affiliates, and Islamic State of Khorsan Province (ISKP),” the ministry said.
Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
It said that despite repeated efforts by Pakistan to urge the Afghan Taliban regime to take verifiable measures to prevent the use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups and foreign proxies to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan, it “failed” to undertake any substantive action against them.
“In this backdrop, Pakistan, in a retributive response, has carried out intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Pakistani Taliban of FAK and its affiliates and ISKP at the border region of Pakistan-Afghan border with precision and accuracy,” it said.
Chaudhry said that most of the 70 terrorists killed were Pakistani nationals. "There is ample evidence suggesting that most of the slain terrorists were Pakistanis," he said.
He emphasised that during the 2020 Doha accords, the Afghan Taliban had promised the world that they would not allow their soil to be used for terrorism, but the Kabul interim government had failed to live up to their promise to stop terrorism.
Pakistan on Sunday said that it expects and reiterates that the interim Afghan government fulfil its obligations.
Pakistan also expects the international community to play a positive and constructive role by urging the Taliban regime to stand by its commitments as part of the Doha Agreement to deny use of its soil against other countries; an act vital for regional and global peace and security, the ministry stated.
It further said that Pakistan has always strived to maintain peace and stability in the region, but at the same time, the “safety and security of our citizens remains our top priority”.
Following the attacks, the Taliban Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul, Ubaid ur Rehman Nizamani, and handed him a protest note over the attacks, according to sources.
Afghanistan, in a statement, warned that the Pakistani strikes on the provinces of Paktika and Nangarhar will be met with a “necessary and measured response”.
“Our borders and the security of our people is our sacred religious and national duty,” Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry said, adding that “at the appropriate time, a necessary and measured response will be delivered to these aggressions”.
It termed the strikes as a “clear violation” of Afghanistan’s national sovereignty, international law, principles of good neighbourliness, and Islamic values, adding that the attacks targeted civilian and religious centres, calling them “clear evidence” of intelligence and security failures within Pakistan.
The statement said that Afghanistan will not remain silent in the face of continued cross-border violations and reaffirmed the country’s right to defend its territorial integrity.
Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have deteriorated due to the alleged failure of Kabul to stop terrorists from using its soil to attack Pakistan.
Last year in October, the two sides were briefly engaged in an armed conflict in which 23 Pakistan soldiers and over 200 Afghan Taliban soldiers were killed, according to the Pakistan army.
