Category Archives: Trump administration

US coronavirus: Trump says national guard to be sent to New York, California and Washington – live

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The vice-president, Mike Pence, is speaking now. He says there is a “bipartisan” spirit to the fight against Covid-19 and it is a great credit to America. He says testing is becoming more widely available every day.

Peter Gaynor, the Fema administrator, speaks and emphasizes that the deployment of the National Guard does not mean martial law has been imposed in the three states where they will serve.

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Congress and White House resume talks on $1tn pandemic rescue deal

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Officials say the economic package could pump $2tn into the US economy which would provide paychecks and funds to hospitals

Negotiators from Congress and the White House resumed top-level talks Saturday on a ballooning $1tn-plus economic rescue package, urged by Donald Trump to strike a deal to steady a nation thoroughly upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

It was an extraordinary moment in Washington: Congress undertaking the most ambitious federal effort yet to shore up households and the US economy and a president angry and lashing out at all comers. All while the global outbreak and the nationwide shutdown grip an anxious, isolated population bracing for a healthcare crisis and looming recession.

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Strangely competent Mike Pence finds his 9/11 moment in coronavirus crisis

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Critics flagged up his anti-science background and questionable record as governor but the vice-president has won praise as the Covid-19 taskforce head

His past record made him seem an odd choice. He remains as servile to Donald Trump as ever. But Mike Pence, the US vice-president, is said to be having “a good war” against the coronavirus outbreak.

Related: Coronavirus travel updates: which countries have restrictions and FCO warnings in place?

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US state department warns against all Americans leaving country amid pandemic – live

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Connecticut has become the latest state to announce it is moving its presidential primary, which was originally scheduled to take place on April 28.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said the primary would instead take place on June 2.

In coordination with other states and our Secretary of the State, and in an effort to carry out Democracy while keeping public health a top priority, I have decided to move our presidential primary to June 2nd. I will provide more information later today. #COVID19 #2020Primaries

The State Department’s Level 4 advisory on all international travel comes a week after the government issued a Level 3 advisory, which urged Americans to reconsider their travel plans.

A number of Americans are already trying to get back home from countries like Guatemala, which has implemented harsh restrictions on flights going into and out of the country.

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‘Not racist at all’: Donald Trump defends calling coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus’ – video

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The US president has dismissed accusations that his use of the term 'Chinese virus' to refer to the coronavirus is racist. Speaking at his daily coronavirus taskforce briefing, he said it was 'not racist at all. It comes from China; I want to be accurate.' The World Health Organization has advised against terms that link the virus to China to avoid stigmatisation 

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Donald Trump ‘strongly considering full pardon’ for Michael Flynn

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Donald Trump is “strongly considering a full pardon” for Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his dealings with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office.

Flynn cut a deal as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow.

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Donald Trump is the very worst person to handle the coronavirus crisis

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The president responded to the pandemic with denial and blaming foreigners. His incompetence and selfishness will be lethal

Coronavirus is the first major crisis Donald Trump has faced that is not of his own making. People who know what it is like to be in charge when disaster strikes have warned us this moment would come eventually – and we can now see why they were so terrified.

Trump in a time of coronavirus is a lethal combination. Everything about the president – his reliance on his gut instincts in place of expertise, his overwhelming selfishness, and his unfailing tendency to lash out at others when things go wrong – make him the worst person imaginable to hold the world’s most powerful job in the face of pandemic.

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Trump announces travel ban from Europe to the US in bid to stem coronavirus – video

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US president Donald Trump has announced a ban on travellers to the United States from Europe during a televised address to the nation. The ban will be in place for the next 30 days in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus

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Mike Pence presents US plans to tackle coronavirus – video

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Vice-president Mike Pence has outlined the White House's plan to tackle the economic and health consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Trump administration has pledged to increase testing and help blue-collar workers

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Senior ICC judges authorise Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

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Decision overturns earlier rejection of request to examine actions of US soldiers

Senior judges at the international criminal court have authorised an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, overturning an earlier rejection of the inquiry.

The ICC investigation will look at actions by US, Afghan and Taliban troops. It is possible, however, that allegations relating to UK troops could emerge in that process.

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Mike Pompeo hails Taliban agreement as Trump allies voice concerns

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Lindsey Graham said he is ‘very suspect of the Taliban’ while John Bolton said signing the agreement is an ‘unacceptable risk’

In Doha on Saturday US secretary of state Mike Pompeo hailed the “historic talks” which led to the signing of an agreement with the Taliban which will see the US begin to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan after more than 18 years of war.

But at home in Washington, the deal was not greeted with universal enthusiasm even by allies of Donald Trump such as Lindsey Graham or former aides, among them the former national security adviser John Bolton.

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Trump reportedly calls John Bolton a ‘traitor’ and wants to block his book

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  • President said book shouldn’t be published before election
  • Key impeachment witness Marie Yovanovitch to release memoir

John Bolton is “a traitor” and his book should not be published before the election in November, Donald Trump reportedly told aides and media figures.

The president’s views on news of a book deal for Marie Yovanovitch, another key figure in the Ukraine scandal which led to Trump’s impeachment, were not immediately clear.

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How the American dream died on the world’s busiest border

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It is a place where worlds converge, a vast melting pot of different peoples, all in search of a better life. Yet the US-Mexico border is also, increasingly, a focal point for human suffering

Milson, from Honduras, sits with his 14-year-old daughter, Loany, on the reedy riverbank beside the bridge connecting Matamoros, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, with downtown Brownsville, Texas, across the Rio Grande.

On the far reach – a few yards but another world away – is a vast tent (officially a “soft-sided facility”) erected to cope with the sheer numbers seeking asylum in the US. In a few weeks’ time, on the date stipulated on their “notice to appear” document, the people staying here will have their “credible fear interview” by video link.

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US intelligence warned House members Russia is working to get Trump re-elected – reports

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Briefing to members of Congress is said to have led to abrupt removal of acting director of national intelligence

US intelligence officials are reported to have warned members of Congress last week that Russia was trying to interfere in the 2020 election campaign in favour of Donald Trump, in a briefing that led to the abrupt removal of the acting director of national intelligence.

When Trump heard about the briefing, he railed at the acting DNI, Joseph Maguire, in the Oval Office, over what the president saw as disloyalty, the Washington Post reported. Until then, Maguire had been a leading candidate to become permanent DNI and is understood to have told colleagues he expected to stay on in the position.

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Barr reportedly considers quitting as attorney general over Trump tweets

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Revelation comes days after Barr took swipe at president over apparent intervention in Roger Stone case

The attorney general, William Barr, has told people close to him he is considering quitting his post, after Donald Trump failed to heed his warning to stop tweeting about justice department cases, administration officials told the Washington Post and Associated Press.

The revelation came days after Barr took a public swipe at the president, saying in a television interview that Trump’s tweets about justice department cases and staffers made it “impossible” for him to do his job. The next day, Trump ignored Barr’s request and insisted that he had the “legal right” to intervene in criminal cases and sidestep the department’s historical independence.

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Trump calls for Roger Stone’s conviction to be thrown out

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President condemns ‘fraudulent investigation’ and falsely claims that he is the country’s chief law enforcement officer

Donald Trump has called for his longtime ally Roger Stone’s recent conviction for witness tampering and lying to Congress to be thrown out.

Trump’s barrage of Tuesday morning tweets comes days after his own attorney general, William Barr, sparked a furore over his apparent intervention in the case.

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NSA whistleblower who leaked Russian hacking report petitions for clemency

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Reality Winner was sentenced to five years in 2018 after leaking classified report about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election

Supporters of Reality Winner, a National Security Agency whistleblower who leaked classified information about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, petitioned Donald Trump on Monday for her early release from prison.

Alison Grinter, an attorney representing the former US air force intelligence specialist, announced at a press conference in Dallas that she had submitted 4,500 letters of support to the federal office of the pardon attorney, the division of the Department of Justice that advises the US president on executive clemency decisions.

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‘Trump is deciding who is American’: how the new travel ban is tearing families apart

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As six countries are added to the list of restrictions, Nigerian and Eritreans in the US say the ban is devastating their lives

It started out as a joyous day for Olumide. On 31 January, the 32-year-old Nigerian American learned in an email that the US was finally processing the visa applications of his wife and daughter in Nigeria.

Hours later, Donald Trump shattered their celebration, announcing that he was adding six countries to the travel ban, including Nigeria. The decision cuts off pathways to permanent US residency for Nigerians, throwing Olumide’s case into limbo at the final stage of the process. It leaves his wife and and 11-year-old girl stuck across an ocean with little hope of making it to the US.

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William Barr says Trump’s tweets ‘make it impossible to do my job’

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Attorney general says he will not be ‘bullied’ over decisions but some observers question his motives

The US attorney general, William Barr, publicly rebuked Donald Trump on Thursday, saying that the president’s tweets about the case of Roger Stone “make it impossible for me to do my job” and that he would not be “bullied or influenced” over justice department decisions.

In an interview with ABC News, the attorney general acknowledged his comments could leave him open to backlash from the president, who is notoriously intolerant of criticism from his aides. But Barr said he was determined to lead the justice department without being influence by outside forces, including the president.

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Marie Yovanovitch: former ambassador warns of ‘amoral’ US foreign policy

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She cited a need for the country to be ‘principled, consistent and trustworthy’ while accepting an award for diplomacy

The former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, has warned that the US had adopted an “amoral” foreign policy that “substitutes threats, fear and confusion for trust”.

In her first public remarks since leaving the US foreign service two weeks ago, Yovanovitch said that the Trump administration’s handling of foreign policy risked alienating allies and driving them into the arms of other partners they find more reliable.

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