US President Donald Trump’s granddaughter has unveiled a clothing brand bearing her name, with promotional photos taken at the White House featuring the teen in a $130 sweatshirt.

Don Jr.’s daughter stood near the 79-year-old Republican on Friday wearing one of her brand’s pullovers, as he answered reporters´ questions outside the White House.

“This is Kai, by the way,” he told the Washington press corps, introducing his 18-year-old granddaughter who had given a short speech at last year’s Republican National Convention.

The pair, both keen golfers, then boarded a helicopter as they headed off to attend the sport’s Ryder Cup competition.

The eldest of the US president’s grandchildren, who is expected to join the golf team at the University of Miami next year, announced the launch of her clothing brand on social media Thursday.

A website selling the brand’s $130 sweatshirts — plain crew necks with her initials on the chest and her signature at the cuff — features photos of her wearing them while posing on the White House grounds.

Kai’s parents are divorced, and her mother is reportedly dating golf legend Tiger Woods.

Unlike previous officeholders, the current president of the United States is known for selling a wide variety of self-branded merchandise.

The billionaire is regularly accused of using his position to promote the Trump family’s financial interests, particularly in real estate or cryptocurrencies.

• UN inspectors return, West demands more nuclear progress.
• Sanctions start Sunday, target nuclear, missile-linked entities.
• Pezeshkian rejects uranium deal, accuses West of pressure.

Iran was set to come under sweeping UN sanctions late Saturday for the first time in a decade — barring an unexpected last-minute breakthrough — after nuclear talks with the West floundered.

The UN nuclear watchdog on Friday said that inspectors had been allowed to return to Iranian sites, but Western powers did not see enough progress to agree to a delay after a week of top-level diplomacy at the UN General Assembly.

European powers set the clock ticking a month ago for the “snapback” of the UN sanctions, accusing Iran of failing to come clean on its nuclear program — including through countermeasures it took in response to Israeli and US bombing.

Iran on Saturday recalled its envoys in Britain, France and Germany for consultations, after the three European countries triggered the mechanism, Iranian state television said.

The sanctions are set to go into effect at 0000 GMT on Sunday (8:00pm on Saturday in New York).

They will set up a global ban on working with companies, people and organisations accused of developing Iran’s nuclear program or ballistic missiles.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said there was no reason to reach a deal when, in his view, Israel and the United States were seeking to use the pressure to topple the Islamic republic.

“If the goal had been to resolve concerns on the nuclear program, we could easily do that,” Pezeshkian told reporters, as he insisted again that Iran will never pursue nuclear weapons.

Pezeshkian, who met during the week with French President Emmanuel Macron, said France had proposed that Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in return for a one-month delay in the return of sanctions.

“Why would we put ourselves in such a trap and have a noose around our neck each month?” he said.

He accused the United States of pressing the Europeans not to reach a compromise.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s friend and roving negotiator, had said that the United States does not want to hurt Iran and was open to further talks.

But Pezeshkian charged that Witkoff lacked seriousness, saying he had backtracked on agreements during earlier talks — which abruptly stopped when Israel launched its military campaign.

No Russia enforcement

The sanctions are aimed at imposing new economic pain to pressure Iran, but it remains to be seen if all countries will enforce them.

Russian deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Friday that Moscow, a top partner of Iran, considered the reimposition of sanctions “null and void.”

Russia and China sought at the Security Council Friday to delay the reimposition of sanctions until April but failed to muster enough votes.

The United States already has unilateral sanctions on Iran and has tried to force all other countries to stop buying Iranian oil, although companies from China have defied the pressure.

Trump imposed a “maximum pressure” campaign during his first term when he withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated under former president Barack Obama, which had offered sanctions relief in return for drastic curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.

The new sanctions mark a “snapback” of the UN measures that were suspended under the 2015 deal, which had been strongly supported by Britain, France and Germany after Trump’s withdrawal.

The International Crisis Group, which studies conflict resolution, said in a report that Iran seemed dismissive of the snapback as it had already learned to cope with the US sanctions.

But it noted that the snapback was not easy to reverse as it would require consensus at the Security Council.

“It is also likely to compound the malaise around an economy already struggling with high inflation, currency woes and deepening infrastructure problems,” the report said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a defiant UN address Friday urged no delay in the snapback and hinted that Israel was willing to again strike Iran’s nuclear program, after the 12 days of bombing in June that Iranian authorities say killed more than 1,000 people.

Pezeshkian said that Iran would not retaliate against the sanctions by leaving the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, warning that unnamed powers were seeking a “superficial pretext to set the region ablaze.”

• Comey indictment faces significant legal hurdles, experts say.
• Trump’s actions may aid Comey’s defense against prosecution.
• Indictment seen as part of broader effort against adversaries.

WASHINGTON: The US criminal case against former FBI director James Comey shatters norms of independence in federal investigations and will face significant hurdles in court, according to legal experts.

But for President Donald Trump, the final verdict may matter less than the move to exact retribution against an official who investigated him and the warning to others he sees as political enemies.

Comey, who was indicted on Thursday on charges of false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, led the FBI when it began an investigation into ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government.

Comey has professed his innocence and vowed to fight the case in court.

Since Trump returned to office in January, he has used his powers as president to hamstring law firms that represented causes he dislikes, leveraged federal funding to force changes at universities and fired prosecutors who took part in investigations against him.

He has also pushed for charges against former National Security Adviser John Bolton, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff.

When asked about the Comey indictment on Friday, Trump told reporters, “I think there will be others.”

The indictment marked the first time his administration used the power of criminal prosecution against a prominent adversary. It came after Trump openly demanded Comey face charges and called for the removal of a prosecutor who did not think the case was strong.

“The ripple effect from this is huge,” said Rebecca Roiphe, a law professor at New York University. “If you are someone who opposes the president or the administration or poses some kind of obstacle to its agenda, you are doing so at grave risk.”

Justice Department leaders have depicted the case as a strike against political corruption and the improper use of law enforcement. Trump and his allies have long claimed the Russia investigation was a politically biased effort to undermine his first administration.

“Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied that the Justice Department was pressured to indict Comey, telling Fox News’ “America Reports” that Trump “wants us to do our job.”

Legal hurdles ahead

The case against Comey faces several legal obstacles to a potential conviction, legal experts said.

It is being led by Lindsey Halligan, a lawyer who represented Trump in civil litigation and has no previous prosecutorial experience.

In an unusual move, Halligan, whom Trump named US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, personally presented the case to a grand jury, sources told Reuters. No career prosecutors in the office signed the indictment.

Prosecutors must prove both that Comey’s statement was false and that it had a substantial impact on a congressional investigation into the FBI’s handling of probes into Trump and his 2016 election rival Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The indictment alleges that Comey lied when he told Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in 2020 that he stood behind previous testimony that he had not authorised anyone at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports.

The indictment does not name the investigation or the news report at issue, but a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that it relates to Comey’s alleged move to authorise his friend, law professor Daniel Richman, to share information about an investigation related to Clinton. The document does not detail the evidence gathered against Comey.

“The underlying premise of the false statement charge is at best incredibly thin,” said Bradley Moss, a lawyer specialising in national security cases.

Another potential obstacle is Trump’s own intervention in the probe. Halligan’s predecessor Erik Siebert, another Trump appointee, resigned under pressure after expressing misgivings about the case.

Trump then mentioned Comey by name in a social media post, demanding “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!” After the indictment, Trump wrote of Comey, “HE LIED” and “there is no way he can explain himself out of it.”

Such statements could be grist for a defense argument that the prosecution is vindictive or selective, meaning that Comey was improperly singled out for prosecution.

Legal experts said such arguments are difficult to win, but the record of Trump’s actions and statements could give Comey a strong case.

A larger message

The indictment against Comey comes as the Justice Department is pursuing investigations of James and Schiff, who have both played roles in investigations into Trump, over claims of mortgage fraud. 

Bolton is under probe for potential mishandling of classified documents.

All have denied wrongdoing.

Critics of the administration fear the Comey indictment could presage a larger effort to use criminal law against Trump’s rivals and critics, part of a broader push to intimidate adversaries and stifle dissent.

It also shatters decades-old Justice Department norms that criminal investigations should be insulated from political pressure. An indictment puts a defendant at risk of prison time and even a successful defense can cost huge sums of money.

Trump successfully campaigned in 2024 in part on a vow of political retribution against those he argued had improperly targeted him and his political movement. Trump, who faced four criminal indictments during his years out of power, has long claimed that the legal system was improperly turned against him.

In July, the White House X account posted an image of Trump against a backdrop of fireworks and American flags.

“I was the hunted,” the text on the image read. “NOW I’M THE HUNTER.”