Category Archives: Trump administration

‘Trump is crazy’: Hezbollah sees threat in US president’s final days

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Leaders fear Donald Trump and Israel will act against Iran and Hezbollah before Joe Biden’s arrival

For the past four years, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has fought a war in Syria, supported Iraqi forces and stage-managed the politics of its homeland, all the while trying to avoid facing off with Israel. Yet its exhausted leaders fear the last gasps of Donald Trump’s presidency could deliver threats that eclipse everything else.

In the organisation’s heartland, Hezbollah members are watching the clock – and the skies. Israeli jets have been streaking overhead for more than a month, and over the past few weeks the frequency of flights has sharply increased, as has security in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the nerve centre of the region’s most powerful militant group.

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Trickle-down economics doesn’t work but build-up does – is Biden listening? | Robert Reich

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A new study confirms tax cuts for the rich do not benefit the rest. Recovery from the pandemic is a chance to change course

How should the huge financial costs of the pandemic be paid for, as well as the other deferred needs of society after this annus horribilis?

Related: Jeff Bezos became even richer thanks to Covid-19. But he still won't protect Amazon workers | Robert Reich

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‘I took a trip to the North Pole’: Anthony Fauci tells children he vaccinated Santa

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Top US infectious diseases expert tells Sesame Street event Father Christmas is ‘good to go’ for present-delivery duty

Children around the world should not worry about the logistics of Christmas present delivery while the coronavirus pandemic rages, Dr Anthony Fauci said – because he vaccinated Santa himself.

Related: US sets new record for daily Covid cases as Moderna vaccine approved

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Guardians of the galaxy: Mike Pence names members of new US space force

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Vice-president’s announcement marks first birthday of signature Trump program but social media mockery follows

Members of the new US space force will be known as “guardians”, Vice-President Mike Pence announced on Friday, at a ceremony to mark the first birthday of the newest branch of the US armed forces, one of Donald Trump’s signature policy initiatives.

Related: Trump unveils logo for Starfleet ... er, Space Force ... and Trekkers take to Twitter

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Kayleigh McEnany refuses to follow McConnell admitting Trump election defeat – video

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Kayleigh McEnany has described Monday's electoral college vote confirming Joe Biden as the nation's next president as just 'one step in the constitutional process'. The White House press secretary's assessment is the latest example of White House officials declining to accept Biden's victory, even after Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday broke his silence on the winner of the presidency, saying: 'The electoral college has spoken.'

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Barr couldn’t pass Trump’s loyalty test: shredding the US constitution | David Smith’s sketch

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The attorney general, who acted as Trump’s enforcer with apparent relish, ultimately wouldn’t help him steal an election

If Dick Cheney gained notoriety as George W Bush’s “Darth Vader”, William Barr, the US attorney general, appeared a worthy successor as Donald Trump’s Lord of the Sith.

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Trump administration puts second man to death in two days

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Alfred Bourgeois’s IQ put him in the intellectually disabled category, which should have barred execution, lawyers say

The Trump administration continued its unprecedented series of post-election federal executions Friday by putting to death a Louisiana truck driver who abused and killed his two-year-old daughter.

Alfred Bourgeois, 56, was pronounced dead at 8.21pm eastern time after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

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‘Abolish the death penalty’: Brandon Bernard execution prompts wave of anger

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Elected officials and human rights groups in renewed plea for end to federal executions after Bernard, 40, put to death in Indiana

A wave of outrage from human rights group, activists, elected officials, and others over the execution Thursday night of federal prisoner Brandon Bernard continued to grow on Friday behind a coordinated call for the abolition of the death penalty.

Related: First US Covid vaccinations expected next week as FDA emergency approval appears close – live

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Israel and Morocco agree to ‘full diplomatic relations’, says Trump

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US president’s announcement marks fourth Arab-Israel agreement in four months

Israel and Morocco have made a deal to normalise relations, Donald Trump has announced, marking the fourth agreement between an Arab government and the Jewish state this year.

“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations – a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!”

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Trump administration refused offer to buy millions more Pfizer vaccine doses

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Decision could delay the delivery of a second batch until the manufacturer meets its orders for other countries

The Trump administration passed up a chance last summer to buy millions of additional doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until the manufacturer fulfills other international contracts.

The revelation, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday, came a day before Donald Trump aimed to take credit for the speedy development of forthcoming vaccines at a White House summit.

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Melania Trump faces backlash after revealing new White House tennis pavilion

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First lady’s announcement sparked a slew of Twitter responses including a terse ‘282,345’ from Washington DC journalist David Corn

Melania Trump drew backlash on Monday after announcing that a new tennis pavilion is set to be unveiled on the south grounds of the White House, as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to surge across the country.

“It is my hope that this private space will function as both a place of leisure and gathering for future first families,” the first lady said in a written statement on Monday, which came just weeks before the Trump family turns the White House over to his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, who handily won the 2020 presidential election.

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Trump rails against election result at rally ahead of crucial Georgia Senate runoff

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President falsely claims he was ‘cheated’ and calls for people to vote in coming Senate races that will decide control of chamber

Donald Trump has held his first political rally since losing the presidential election, delivering an incoherent speech laced with baseless conspiracies theories about election fraud and attacks on Republican state officials in Georgia who have refused to help him subvert the results.

In front of a crowd of thousands of mostly maskless, non-socially distanced supporters in south Georgia, Trump repeatedly claimed, falsely, that he had won the presidential election, and called for those in government with “courage and wisdom” to help him reverse the result.

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Trump heads for Georgia but claims of fraud may damage Senate Republicans

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Donald Trump will return to the campaign trail on Saturday – not, notionally at least, in his quixotic and doomed attempt to deny defeat by Joe Biden, but in support of two Republicans who face January run-offs which will decide control of the US Senate.

Related: I beg your pardon? Does Trump really plan to absolve himself and his family?

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Trump orders US to pull troops from Somalia

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Nearly all of 700 troops will leave over next few months follow president’s latest order with short notice

The US will pull out nearly all its estimated 700 troops in Somalia over the next few months, the latest in a series of short-notice withdrawals ordered by Donald Trump in his last few weeks in power.

A Pentagon statement on Friday said that some of the troops would be repositioned in neighbouring countries while others – it did not say how many – would leave the region altogether.

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US justice department investigates alleged ‘bribery for pardon’ scheme at White House

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Heavily redacted court filing, which does not name Trump, comes as president reportedly is considering sweeping pardons

An alleged “bribery for pardon” scheme at the White House is under investigation by the justice department, according to a court filing unsealed on Tuesday.

The heavily redacted document does not name Donald Trump or other individuals and leaves many unanswered questions, but comes amid media reports that the US president is considering sweeping pardons before he leaves office next month.

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Scott Atlas resigns as Trump pandemic adviser after controversial tenure

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Neuroradiologist who has no expertise in infectious diseases downplayed the threat of coronavirus

Scott Atlas has resigned as special adviser to Donald Trump, a White House official said on Monday, after a controversial four months during which he attacked science-based public health measures and clashed repeatedly with other members of the coronavirus taskforce.

“I am writing to resign from my position as Special Advisor to the President of the United States,” Atlas said in a letter to Trump dated 1 December, according to Fox News, which first reported his resignation. Atlas later confirmed his resignation in a tweet.

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Is Iran likely to retaliate over assassination of top nuclear scientist?

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Analysis: Despite calls to attack Israel, Iran may decide that avoiding conflict is wisest

The assassination of the top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in a suspected Israeli operation raises questions over what, if anything, Iran may do to retaliate.

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Kushner heading to Saudi Arabia and Qatar amid tensions over Iranian scientist killing

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Senior White House adviser and his team to travel this week for talks with Saudi crown prince and emir of Qatar

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is headed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week for talks in a region simmering with tension after the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

A senior administration official said on Sunday that Kushner is to meet the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the Saudi city of Neom, and the emir of Qatar in that country in the coming days. Kushner will be joined by Middle East envoys Avi Berkowitz and Brian Hook and Adam Boehler, chief executive of the US International Development Finance Corporation.

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Joe Biden gains votes in Wisconsin county after Trump-ordered recount

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Milwaukee recount, which cost Trump campaign $3m, boosts Democratic president-elect days before state must certify result

A recount in Wisconsin’s largest county demanded by President Donald Trump’s election campaign ended on Friday with the president-elect, Joe Biden, gaining votes.

After the recount in Milwaukee county, Biden made a net gain of 132 votes, out of nearly 460,000 cast. Overall, the Democrat gained 257 votes to Trump’s 125.

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