The White House released a summary of Trump’s call with Zelenskiy that lies at the heart of the impeachment inquiry
The White House on Wednesday released a five-page summary of a 30-minute call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that lies at the heart of the growing impeachment process.
Here are five key takeaways:
Continue reading...Donald Trump has said he put ‘absolutely no pressure’ on Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. He told reporters after the White House released notes of the phone call he had with the president of Ukraine that the impeachment inquiry was a 'disgraceful thing’. He added: ‘The way you built up that call it was going to be the call from hell. It turned out to be a nothing call, other than a lot of people said I never knew you could be so nice’
Continue reading...Donald Trump says growing calls for his impeachment are 'nonsense' after it emerged he withheld nearly $400m in aid to Ukraine.
The US president ordered staff to withhold the aid before demanding Ukraine’s president investigate Joe Biden and his son, it emerged on Tuesday. Trump said the controversial phone call, with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had been 'perfect'
Continue reading...Joe Biden addressed the Ukraine controversy in a statement on Tuesday, saying Congress should launch impeachment proceedings if Donald Trump continues to obstruct House Democrats’ investigations. ‘The president should stop stonewalling this investigation and all the other investigations of his wrongdoing,’ Biden said. ‘Using its full constitutional authority, Congress should demand the information it has a legal right to receive’
Continue reading...President ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m in aid days before he pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden
Donald Trump ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m in aid to Ukraine days before he repeatedly pressured the country’s president to investigate a political rival, it emerged on Monday night.
Related: Why is the Trump-Ukraine whistleblower scandal so serious?
Continue reading...The president’s tactic of redirecting accusations of misconduct back at his accuser is childish, petty … and surprisingly effective
“No, you are.”
Since he first emerged from the primordial muck of reality TV, Donald Trump has responded to attacks from political opponents with some version of that playground phrase. When accused of this, or revealed to have done that, Trump simply blurts “she did it” or “he’s guilty”, whatever the charge may be.
Continue reading...The president repeated his debunked claims that the former vice-president and his son are corrupt
That is it from me for the night. Here are the top stories to note from this afternoon:
Officials in Ames, Iowa say the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has requested the city remove inclusive multi-colored crosswalk art in a letter sent this month.
Ames, a college town with a population of around 67,000 people, installed painted sidewalks earlier this month. The new art includes gender non-binary pride colors, rainbow colors for LGBTQ rights, and colors representing support of transgender equality.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has gone on the offensive over what he and his allies claim is corruption involving Joe Biden and his son in Ukraine.
The president’s reported pressuring of the Ukrainian president to investigate claims about Biden, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, has clouded the White House in scandal. Biden has accused Trump of an 'overwhelming abuse of power'
Continue reading...Donald Trump, his aides and allies went on the offensive on Sunday, over what the president claims is un-investigated corruption involving Joe Biden and his son in Ukraine.
Related: Ukraine furore confirms Giuliani as Trump's most off-kilter advocate
Continue reading...Elizabeth Warren leads Joe Biden in Iowa for the first time, according to a new poll in the early voting state.
Related: How Trump could lose the popular vote again – and hold the White House
Continue reading...Biden calls for congressional inquiry into call in which Trump reportedly pressed Ukraine leader for damaging information
Donald Trump lashed back at his critics on Saturday, as questions swirled in the latest scandal to hit his White House and his target, Joe Biden, called for a congressional investigation of “an overwhelming abuse of power”.
Related: Ukraine imbroglio confirms Giuliani's as Trump's most off-kilter advocate
Continue reading...The man once called America’s Mayor has become the loosest of cannons, embroiling his boss in an election-meddling furore
On Thursday night Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and troubleshooter-in-chief, went on CNN to defend his boss against the latest scandal swirling round him.
Related: Rudy Giuliani's quest for dirt on Biden via Ukraine – a timeline
Continue reading...The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and Donald Trump
Continue reading...Klobuchar, Booker, Buttigieg, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Harris, Yang, O’Rourke and Castro – all 10 hopefuls rated
The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and on Donald Trump.
Related: Biden clashes with Warren and Sanders in lively Democratic debate
Continue reading...In one of the sharpest skirmishes of the evening, former housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro alluded to voter concerns about former vice-president Joe Biden's age. If elected, Biden would be the oldest first-term president at 78
Continue reading...Biden was Biden but despite a smaller field sparks failed to fly with Warren, while O’Rourke had a good night – as did Obama
The Democratic debate in Houston was a mix of smackdown, backslapping and policy gab-fest as the 10 top-tier candidates faced off against each other while at least 10 others were only able to watch from the sidelines, having failed to qualify.
Related: Biden clashes with Warren and Sanders in lively Democratic debate
Continue reading...The 10 candidates on stage in Houston offered competing visions based on Obamacare and Medicare for All
Joe Biden is taking a question on gun control and once again arguing he has the best (and certainly the longest) record on the issue. “I’m the only up here who’s ever beat the NRA,” the former vice president and senator said.
Biden then similarly applauded Beto O’Rourke for his efforts to help his hometown of El Paso heal from the mass shooting that killed 22. Biden originally referred to the former congressman as “Beto.” He then apologized and O’Rourke interjected, “Beto is good.”
In the midst of a discussion on race and criminal justice, Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot, has made this important point:
You know what else is racist? Preventing people from voting. There have been 29 presidential debates in 2020 & 2016 and no questions about voting rights
Continue reading...Candidates warn of ‘irreparable damage’ in marathon town hall but can’t agree on how aggressively to tackle problem
Democrats vying for president revealed a fundamental split over how aggressively the US should tackle climate change in a seven-hour town hall meeting on Wednesday.
Bernie Sanders painted an apocalyptic future wreaked by the climate crisis and pledged to wage war on the fossil fuel industry. A high-energy Elizabeth Warren urged optimism for building a better America and the former vice-president Joe Biden, who has a pitched a more moderate proposal, said he would push other nations to recommit to stronger action.
Continue reading...Madeleine Westerhout, who had been with Trump since his inauguration, reportedly shared details about his family and the Oval Office
The Guardian is also tracking the progress of Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to become the worst storm to hit Florida’s east coast in more than 25 years.
Hurricane #Dorian Intermediate Advisory 24A: Hurricane Hunters find Dorian a little stronger. https://t.co/CSOdLLF50S? pic.twitter.com/w5pn0XzFu0
Hurricane Dorian is likely to affect the state directly overnight Sunday, with the latest computer modeling predicting it will make landfall in the early hours of Monday, the Labor Day holiday in the US, around West Palm Beach.
But weather experts on Thursday proclaimed the state’s entire east coast at risk.
The Trump administration is exploring how to act on the president’s unfounded claims after mass shootings that more mental institutions would minimize such tragedies.
The AP reports:
When back-to-back mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, jolted the nation earlier this month, Trump again spoke of ‘building new facilities’ for the mentally ill as a way to reduce mass shootings.
‘We don’t have those institutions anymore and people can’t get proper care,’ Trump lamented at a New Hampshire campaign rally not long after the latest shootings.
Continue reading...Former vice-president disputes report that war story he’s told on the campaign trail contains many falsehoods
Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are campaigning in South Carolina this evening.
“Donald Trump thinks that climate change is a hoax,” @BernieSanders tells this South Carolina crowd, gathered in Myrtle Beach to hear him discuss climate change. “Well, I think that Donald Trump is a hoax.” pic.twitter.com/Weq4fe4cY4
Hello from Spartanburg, South Carolina.
I’m following Joe Biden as he campaigns in SC today/tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/MRXagp5uP0
A federal judge rejected House Democrats’ effort to expedite their lawsuit to obtain Trump’s tax returns.
“It may be appropriate to expedite this matter at some point, but not now,” said Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump-appointed federal judge in DC.
Related: House lawmakers sue Trump administration for president's tax returns
Continue reading...