Category Archives: Trump administration

Missouri House passes extreme eight-week abortion ban – live

Posted on by

State’s Republican-led House joins states such as Alabama by passing sweeping bill, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest

The bill just passed in Missouri is designed not to go into effect – but to go to court. It is unconstitutional.

We published this analysis of near total abortion bans from Prof. B Jessie Hill this week. Hill is a professor at Case Western Reserve school of law and an expert in reproductive rights law.

Related: Could abortion become illegal in America? All signs point to yes | B Jessie Hill

Rather than pursuing the sort of incremental strategy that anti-abortion activists have favored in the past – such as banning abortions late in pregnancy, or attempting to gradually regulate abortion clinics out of existence with increasingly burdensome regulations – these newer laws are written to prohibit virtually all abortions in the state.

Fetal cardiac activity can be detected beginning at about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant. By banning all abortions after that point, “heartbeat” bans, if they take effect, would stop all but a very small percentage of abortions.

In addition to everything happening in Missouri today, the House debated the Equality Act, to expand protections for LGBT people.

The House just approved the Equality Act, a bill that would expand gay rights, extending to areas like employment, housing, loan applications, education and public accommodations.@SarahEMcBride of @HRC broke down the Equality Act for us ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ctY0DPxjqu

Continue reading...

John Bolton: the man driving the US towards war … any war

Posted on by

Donald Trump’s national security adviser is stoking tensions with North Korea, Iran and Venezuela, in line with decades of taking the most hawkish position on any given issue

The US is now engaged in three major confrontations around the world that have the potential to degrade into war. And in the driving seat on all three fronts is John Bolton, one of the most fervent believers in American military power ever to work in the White House.

Related: Elizabeth Warren announces plan to protect abortion rights – live

Continue reading...

Soaring oil prices cast shadow on US ahead of Opec meeting

Posted on by

Risk to oil market of three simultaneous disruptions becomes lobbying point for Iran and Libya

In November 2018, Donald Trump tweeted: “Oil prices getting lower … a tax cut for America and the world! Enjoy! $54 … Thank you to Saudi Arabia.”

Five months on, with oil prices more than $70, Trump will be in a less celebratory mood as Opec’s oil ministers and their allies gather in Jeddah on Friday, without Iran. The main agenda item will be the implications for oil of three interconnected American foreign policy crises – in Venezuela, Iran, and Libya. Together these crises, being played out simultaneously, have the potential to scrub as much as 3.5m barrels of oil per day from the markets.

Continue reading...

Trump takes war on abortion worldwide as policy cuts off funds

Posted on by

Sexual health organisations warn women will die if they are forced to seek DIY abortions

The Trump administration has taken its war on abortion worldwide, cutting off all funding to any overseas organisation or clinic that will not agree to a complete ban on even discussing it.

The Mexico City policy, dubbed the “global gag” by its critics, denies US federal funds to any organisation involved in providing abortion services overseas or counselling women about them. It was instituted by the then US president Ronald Reagan and has been revoked by every Democrat and reinstated by every Republican president since.

Continue reading...

Trump’s ‘merit-based’ immigration plan declared ‘dead on arrival’ by opponents

Posted on by

President called plan to transform the nation’s green card system ‘pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker’

Donald Trump has announced plans for “merit-based” legal immigration – but before the US president even stepped up to the lectern in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday afternoon, opponents declared the sweeping reforms “dead on arrival”.

Trump appeared to acknowledge as much when he warned that Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, might block the changes – a sign of his political impotence as the next presidential election draws ever closer.

Continue reading...

Huawei hits back over Trump’s national emergency on telecoms ‘threat’

Posted on by

Chinese firm says ban on tech from ‘foreign adversaries’ will harm US consumers

Huawei has hit back at Donald Trump’s administration after it declared a national emergency to ban technology from “foreign adversaries” and subjected the Chinese telecommunications company to strict export controls.

An executive order issued by the US president on Wednesday declared a national economic emergency that empowers the government to ban the technology and services of “foreign adversaries” deemed to pose “unacceptable risks” to national security, including from cyber-espionage and sabotage.

Continue reading...

Trump pardons fraudster Conrad Black after glowing biography

Posted on by

Former media mogul who owned Daily Telegraph spent more than three years in prison

Conrad Black, the former media mogul who owned the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator before being jailed for fraud, has been pardoned by Donald Trump – shortly after writing a book praising the US president.

The Canadian-born British citizen was once known for his extravagant lifestyle as he ran an international newspaper empire that included the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post. But he ended up serving three and a half years in prison after being convicted in 2007 of siphoning off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers owned by the company he controlled.

Continue reading...

How a rightwing group accessed the White House to spread its anti-abortion agenda

Posted on by

The outsize influence of C-Fam in the top reaches of the Trump administration has helped turn the tide on the world stage on issues involving women’s reproductive rights

Last spring, Laurie Shestack Phipps, a diplomat at the US mission to the UN, received a set of talking points from the state department ahead of an international women’s conference, setting out clear red lines against mention of “sexual and reproductive health” care.

This had become the norm in the Trump administration, where the once uncontroversial phrase was seen as code for abortion. Use of the word “gender” was also strongly discouraged, as it was viewed as a stalking horse for LGBT rights.

Continue reading...

Trump Jr to testify before Senate committee after deal reached

Posted on by

Agreement averts confrontation over subpoena of president’s son in Russia investigation

Donald Trump Jr will testify in a closed-door interview with the Senate intelligence committee next month, pulling the two sides back from a confrontation over a subpoena as part of the panel’s Russia investigation.

Under the terms of the deal between the president’s son and lawmakers, Trump Jr will talk to the committee in mid-June for up to four hours, according to two people familiar with the agreement. The people spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday to discuss the confidential terms.

Continue reading...

Trump defends China tariffs and claims ‘great patriot farmers’ will reap benefits

Posted on by
  • Trump promises new deal with China can be reached soon
  • Chinese retaliation prompted huge stock market sell-off

Donald Trump continued to defend his trade war with China on Tuesday, claiming “great patriot farmers” in the US would benefit from tariff increases that triggered sell-offs in stock markets across the world.

Related: Barr working with CIA to review Trump-Russia investigation, reports say – live

Continue reading...

Pompeo to meet Putin in Russia amid fears over US-Iran clash

Posted on by

Secretary of state’s visit will be first high-level meeting since redacted Mueller report release

Mike Pompeo is to meet Vladimir Putin in Russia at a time of heightened fears of a clash between the US and Iran, a Moscow ally.

A Kremlin spokesman, before the meeting on Tuesday, accused the US of applying a “maximum pressure policy” against Iran, a reference to a harsh US sanctions regime and military deployments to the Middle East.

Continue reading...

Steve Bannon sought alliance with FBI in 2017 White House meeting

Posted on by

Bannon, then Trump’s closest adviser, told FBI officials to put their past differences with the White House ‘behind them’

Steve Bannon urged two senior FBI officials to put their differences with the White House “behind them” at a meeting in 2017, on the day after Donald Trump asked James Comey, the then head of the FBI, to pledge his loyalty to the president.

The exchange, which occurred on 28 January 2017 and has never been publicly disclosed, offers new insights into the ways in which senior White House officials, including Bannon, Trump’s closest adviser at the time, sought to ensure the FBI saw itself as an ally of the White House.

Continue reading...

Iran-US tensions are reaching new heights – and neither is likely to blink

Posted on by

Long-term standoff threatens to turn into crisis after alleged sabotage of two Saudi tankers

A festering four-year war, crippling sanctions, threats to maritime oil trade and a US naval battlegroup steaming for the Persian Gulf. Such developments were troubling enough, before two Saudi tankers were reportedly sabotaged off the UAE coast on Sunday – a development set to ratchet tensions between Tehran and Washington to new and combustible highs.

With Riyadh claiming significant hull damage to its ships and the UAE claiming the damage was done inside its territorial waters, what last week was a looming standoff is now a real-time crisis with potent implications for both global energy security and regional stability.

Continue reading...

Better the devil they know: how Christians came to terms with Trump

Posted on by

Evangelical backing for a thrice-married celebrity is not as odd as it seems: on abortion, the supreme court and more, the president keeps delivering

After bowing his head in prayer, Donald Trump addressed faith leaders in the sunshine of the White House rose garden.

Related: Trump wants Barr to consider investigating Biden – Giuliani

Continue reading...

China expected to retaliate over Trump tariff hike, economic adviser says

Posted on by

Larry Kudlow says ‘We may know more today or this evening or tomorrow’ after Trump raises spectre of a full-blown trade war

The US expects China to retaliate over the Trump administration’s latest tariff hike, chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Sunday.

Related: Tariffs: Donald Trump's trust in trade war tactic is big electoral gamble

Continue reading...

House Democrat subpoenas six years of Trump tax returns

Posted on by

Committee chair Richard Neal says treasury secretary and IRS commissioner must provide documents by 17 May

A top House Democrat on Friday issued subpoenas for six years of Donald Trump’s tax returns, giving the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and the IRS commissioner, Charles Rettig, a deadline of next Friday to deliver them.

Richard Neal, the chairman of the House ways and means committee, , issued the subpoenas days after Mnuchin refused to comply with demands to turn over Trump’s returns. Mnuchin told the panel he wouldn’t provide Trump’s tax records because the panel’s request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose”, as supreme court precedent requires.

Continue reading...

Comey says Mueller’s evidence enough to charge Trump if he weren’t president

Posted on by

The former FBI director says there were at least two incidents that prove criminal intent on the president’s part to obstruct justice

James Comey, the former director of the FBI, has said that the Mueller report contains sufficient evidence that Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice that he would have been charged, were he not president.

Comey is the latest in a growing list of former federal prosecutors and senior judicial figures who have said that the factual details contained in Robert Mueller’s report into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race would be grounds for indicting Trump with multiple felony charges for obstruction. A joint letter to that effect has now been signed by 803 individuals.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump tells Iran ‘call me’ over lifting sanctions

Posted on by

President suggests US could help revive Iran’s economy in return for no-nuclear weapons pledge

Donald Trump has offered Iran direct talks, saying its leaders should “call me” and suggested the US would help revive the country’s economy as long as Iran did not acquire nuclear weapons.

The impromptu offer by the US president, if serious, represents a dramatic lowering of the bar set by his administration for lifting extensive sanctions, including an oil embargo. Iran is already party to a 2015 agreement that strictly limits its nuclear programme and places it under close scrutiny. Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-era treaty a year ago.

Continue reading...

#ConstitutionalCrisis? Trump’s battle with Congress comes to a head

Posted on by

The president’s claims of executive privilege over the Mueller report have set new alarm bells ringing for the fate of democracy

Police this week arrested an alleged arsonist who started a fire outside the National Archives building in Washington, claiming that voices told him to “burn buildings down”. The archives display a four-page handwritten document to countless tourists and schoolchildren: the US constitution.

While the physical object remains fragile but secure, the political framework it represents is facing one of the severest threats in its 232-year history. The arsonist is Donald Trump and he is getting ever closer with his tiki torch.

Continue reading...