Category Archives: Donald Trump

Trump’s Afghanistan withdrawal announcement takes US officials by surprise

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Tweet calling for troops’ return by Christmas puts peace negotiations in jeopardy and was greeted enthusiastically by the Taliban

Donald Trump has announced on Twitter that he wants to bring all US troops home from Afghanistan by Christmas – a plan that came as a surprise to administration officials and which puts complicated peace negotiations in jeopardy.

Multiple officials told the Associated Press they had not been informed of any such deadline and military experts said it would be impossible to withdraw all 5,000 US troops in Afghanistan and dismantle the US military headquarters by the end of the year.

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Nancy Pelosi suggests future 25th Amendment discussion on Donald Trump’s fitness for office – video

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Nancy Pelosi teased a discussion about the 25th amendment, which pertains to the president’s removal from office if found unfit, which she said would be held tomorrow.

The House speaker also spoke about Trump calling himself a 'perfect physical specimen'. She said the president owed it to the American people to share when he tested positive for Covid-19 after the White House refused to provide a timeline of the president’s testing before he was admitted to the hospital

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Donald Trump says he will not participate in virtual debate with Joe Biden – video

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The US president made his announcement in a Fox Business interview, moments after the commission that oversees the presidential election debates said the next event would be conducted from remote locations after Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis. The White House has refused to say when the president's last negative test for the virus was and, as a result, it is unclear how long he has been positive. The next debate is scheduled for 15 October

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Trump says he won’t participate in virtual presidential debate with Biden – live

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It took maybe an hour for people close to Trump, as well as his opponents, to speculate that the president’s decision not to participate in the next presidential debate could change.

Trump economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, said in an interview with Fox News that Trump’s position could be a “negotiation point,” and that he would like to see the president participate.

In a wide ranging interview with Fox Business, Donald Trump provided an update on his coronavirus infection.

The president confirmed he is still taking the strong steroid dexamethasone. It’s widely available in hospitals and doctors have highlighted it can make the patient feel better than they actually are, which could help explain some of the president’s unusually upbeat descriptions of how he is feeling over the past several days.

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Mike Pence and Kamala Harris spar on Covid, race and climate in VP debate – video highlights

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Mike Pence and Kamala Harris met in Utah for the only vice-presidential debate of the election, separated by Plexiglass barriers as a protection against coronavirus.

From the pandemic to healthcare and race to the supreme court, via a fly, here are some of the key moments

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Loved ones of Covid victims appalled by Trump’s ‘don’t be afraid’ tweet

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Sister of New York nurse says president’s comments ‘physically hurt’ and implied that those that died were ‘losers’

When Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus last week, Marya Sherron and her parents were gathered in their home state of Michigan to mark what would have been their brother and son’s 49th birthday. Sherron’s brother, Kious Kelly, was a nurse in New York who died of Covid-19 in March, and the family was still deep in grief.

Related: At least 27 in Trump’s circle have tested positive for coronavirus

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Minority of Europeans think US election will be free and fair – poll

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Exclusive: majorities in seven countries favour Joe Biden and rate Donald Trump poorly

Fewer than one in 10 Europeans expect next month’s US presidential election to be completely free and fair, and an overwhelming majority say they would like Joe Biden to triumph over Donald Trump.

According to a YouGov tracker survey in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, in only one of these countries – Italy – are more than a tenth of voters confident that the American electoral process will prove irreproachable.

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Harris calls Trump’s Covid response ‘greatest failure’ of any administration – video

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Separated from vice-president Mike Pence by plexiglass barriers, Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris called the Trump administration's response to the growing coronavirus pandemic 'the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country'. 

Speaking directly to the camera, Harris said, 'They knew what was happening, and they didn't tell you.'

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Trump calls Covid diagnosis ‘blessing from God’ amid false treatment claims

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President returns to Oval Office despite concerns he should be self-isolating as virus spreads in White House

Donald Trump has called his Covid-19 infection “a blessing from God” as he returned to the Oval Office on Wednesday despite concerns that he should be self-isolating, as the virus continued to spread among senior White House figures.

In a video message posted to Twitter, Trump said that an experimental drug cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was key to recovering from his infection. He said it was his suggestion to be treated with the drug, which has rarely been used outside clinical trials.

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Donald Trump says catching Covid-19 was ‘like a blessing from God’ – video

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Donald Trump has described getting Covid-19 as 'a blessing in disguise' in a video delivered outside the Oval Office. Trump described his three-night stay at Walter Reed medical center, referring to the treatment he received as a cure, and promising to make it available to all Americans. 'I want to get for you, what I got and I'm going to make it free. You're not going to pay for it,' he said. 'It wasn't your fault that this happened. It was China's fault. And China is going to pay a big price – what they've done to this country. China is going to pay a big price.' Covid-19 has killed more than 210,000 Americans and over a 1 million people worldwide in 10 months

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Trump returns to Oval Office against CDC’s isolation guidelines – live

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Here’s a recap of today so far, from me and Martin Pengelly:

Related: Coronavirus live news: Brazil cases pass 5m; Trump calls catching Covid 'a blessing in disguise'

Facebook has announced significant changes to its advertising and misinformation policies, saying it will stop running political ads in the United States after polls close on 3 November for an undetermined period of time.

The changes, announced Wednesday, come in an effort to “protect the integrity” of the upcoming election “by fighting foreign interference, misinformation and voter suppression”, the company said in a blog post.

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White House coronavirus cluster: who has tested positive?

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After Donald Trump fell ill with Covid-19, we look at which of his close contacts have contracted the virus

For White House staff and senior visiting officials and journalists, the coronavirus outbreak in Donald Trump’s inner circle has become like a whodunnit amid a shortage of information and mounting anxiety.

As cleaners in hazmat suits have been pictured disinfecting areas – including briefing rooms and the White House press and communications “shop” where three staff have been infected – the questions now being asked are: who caught Covid from whom and when and where? And who might be next?

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Battle for the suburbs: can Joe Biden flip Texas? – video

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Texas is a rapidly changing state with the fastest growing population in the US. Hispanic Texans are expected to become the majority by 2022, but will this help Joe Biden flip a Republican stronghold? Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone travel to suburban Dallas and the border city of McAllen to look at the political impact of this diversification and the legacy of Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies 


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Two sides of DC: those threatened by Covid are unimpressed by Trump’s bravado

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The president’s words fell on deaf ears to those just down the street from the White House who wouldn’t get the same treatment

Washington’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, has struggled to bring the US capital’s coronavirus infection rate down.

In July, she ordered the wearing of masks in crowded places outside, and the order has largely been obeyed: on Tuesday afternoon, more than nine in ten people walking around the city were wearing masks, and almost everyone in shops and cafes.

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‘Be afraid of Covid’: New York governor Cuomo blasts Trump over coronavirus ‘denial’ – video

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New York governor Andrew Cuomo has denounced Donald Trump over remarks he made telling Americans 'to get out there' and not fear Covid-19. Cuomo attacked Trump's comments as 'just more denial' after the president returned from the White House following a three-night stay at the Walter Reed national military medical center. 'Don't be afraid of Covid? No. Be afraid of Covid. It can kill you. Don't be cavalier.'

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US military chiefs in quarantine as Trump Covid chaos spreads

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  • Mark Milley, chairman of joint chiefs of staff, in isolation
  • Military leaders attended event with president last week

The top general in the US military, Mark Milley, and several other members of the US joint chiefs of staff who advise Donald Trump entered quarantine on Tuesday, as the president, infected with the coronavirus himself, continued to recuperate at the White House.

While the number of White House staff and aides who have tested positive is unknown, given the administration’s cloak of secrecy around the outbreak, total cases appeared to number in the dozens, making the White House one of the hottest active zones for virus circulation in the entire US.

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‘Fear, division, chaos’: Michelle Obama video blasts Trump over racial injustice

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Former first lady says president ‘not up to the job’ in passionate plea for voters to support Joe Biden

Michelle Obama has released a video sharply criticising Donald Trump’s record as president, particularly over the coronavirus pandemic and his approach to racial injustice, and urging the Americans to vote for Joe Biden.

Describing him as “not up to the job” in the 24-minute video posted to her social media channels, the former first lady said the Trump presidency was accompanied by “a constant drumbeat of fear, division and chaos that’s threatening to spiral out of control.”

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‘Racism, fear, division’: Michelle Obama attacks Trump in election plea – video

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In a speech highly critical of the president, the former first lady made an impassioned plea to Americans to vote for Joe Biden in the election on 3 November. Among the condemnations of Trump's presidency, she criticised his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he 'doubled down on division and resentment', adding: 'What the president is doing is, once again, patently false ... it’s morally wrong ... and yes, it is racist'

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Trump tells negotiators to halt talks on Covid economic relief measures – live

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The Democratic nominee for the presidency, Joe Biden, is talking in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, right now.

He is giving a speech in that historic place, site of a turning point in the US Civil War, saying America “can and must” figure out how to work across partisan lines again.

Here’s the full statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (third in line to act as president should Donald Trump and Mike Pence become incapacitated, which is worth mentioning with coronavirus now openly stalking the White House and other corridors of federal power).

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‘Masks matter’: Biden says Trump is responsible for contracting coronavirus – video

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Joe Biden says he was not surprised by Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection and delivered a blunt rebuke to the president during a town hall event in Miami, Florida. The Democratic presidential candidate drew a stark contrast with Trump, who on returning to the White House just an hour earlier had instantly removed his face mask for a photo op.

During the NBC event, moderator Lester Holt noted that a recent poll found two in three people think the president bears some responsibility for contracting coronavirus. Biden agreed, saying: ‘Anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying, masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter, I think is – is responsible for what happens to them.’

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