President’s visit to military academy also faced protest over bringing graduates back during coronavirus pandemic
Donald Trump’s address to graduates at West Point on Saturday was controversial both by its very occurrence and due to tensions between the president and leaders of the US armed forces.
Related: Bolton book claims Trump committed other ‘Ukraine-like transgressions’
Continue reading...The killing of George Floyd has been a turning point for for everyone but the president – who has seldom been so isolated from his own party and the public
Longtime observers of Donald Trump have often compared him to an old man sitting at the end of a bar, holding forth with crazed opinions, overwhelming self-assurance and taboo-busting shock value guaranteed to draw a crowd.
Now, perhaps for the first time, it seems the US president may have lost the room.
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That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Lois Beckett, will be taking over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
The Trump administration has finalized a rule rolling back Obama-era protections for transgender Americans under the Affordable Care Act’s non-discrimination policy.
According to the new version of the policy, the department of health and human services will be “returning to the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.”
Continue reading...She was the White House’s top Russia expert catapulted to fame by Trump’s impeachment. She reflects on her journey from County Durham to Washington
In the last days before Washington was locked down, Fiona Hill was standing on the street on her phone dealing with a domestic crisis.
Hill’s daughter had become ill, it was unclear whether it was coronavirus (it later turned out to be regular flu) and the family had relatives flying in that weekend for a visit. As she paced up and down making contingency plans, passersby on Connecticut Avenue looked and looked again on recognising her. The British-born White House adviser had temporarily become one of the most famous faces in America after testifying in Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings in November.
Continue reading...Seattle's mayor has defended the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or 'Chaz', a space over several blocks transformed into a community without police which Donald Trump has threatened to disband.
In a tweet, Donald Trump described the protesters as 'domestic terrorists', In another tweet addressing the Seattle mayor, Jenny Durkan, and the Washington governor, Jay Inslee, he told them to 'take back your city NOW… If you don’t do it, I will.'
Melania Trump delayed coming to the White House after her husband Donald Trump won the 2016 election because she was renegotiating her prenuptial agreement, a new book has claimed.
Related: Trump’s joke about Melania is just one of their many awkward moments
Continue reading...Pyongyang says since summit two years ago US has appeared friendly but has instead sought regime change
North Korea sees no future benefit in maintaining a relationship between its leader, Kim Jong-Un, and Donald Trump, the country’s state media has said on the two-year anniversary of the pair’s first summit.
US policies prove Washington remains a long-term threat to the North Korean state and its people, foreign minister Ri Son Gwon said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.
Continue reading...Gen Mark Milley has said it was a mistake to have been present at Donald Trump's photo op in front of a church in Washington. 'I should not have been there,' he said in a pre-recorded video commencement address to the National Defense University.
Milley and the defense secretary, Mark Esper, were widely criticised for participating in the photo-op during George Floyd protests in Washington, with many former defence officials saying the two were helping Trump’s efforts to politicise the military
Joe Biden has predicted the military will escort Donald Trump from the White House should the president lose November’s election but refuse to leave office.
Biden, speaking to the Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, said that his single greatest concern is that the president will “try to steal this election”.
Continue reading...Officer involved in George Floyd killing freed on bail, as statue of Confederate president toppled in Richmond, Virginia
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
Trump’s most recent tweet that the National Guard troops who patrolled Washington amid the George Floyd protests “could hardly believe how easy it was” is at odds with recent reports about the troops.
The first days of June, a calamitous period for the Trump presidency, have been a debacle for the National Guard.
There has been a torrent of criticism from Congress, senior retired military officers and Guard members themselves since more than 5,000 Guard troops — from the District of Columbia and a dozen states — were rushed to the streets of the capital to help in the crackdown on mostly peaceful protesters and occasional looters after the killing of George Floyd in police custody. The D.C. Guard has halted recruiting efforts, and at least four National Guard troops have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Donald Trump is up and tweeting, and is straight on the attack against “Antifa”.
Our great National Guard Troops who took care of the area around the White House could hardly believe how easy it was. “A walk in the park”, one said. The protesters, agitators, anarchists (ANTIFA), and others, were handled VERY easily by the Guard, D.C. Police, & S.S. GREAT JOB!
Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle, run by Radical Left Democrats, of course. LAW & ORDER!
Continue reading...President announces rally in Tulsa, city with a history of deadly racial violence, even as Covid-19 cases continue to rise
Donald Trump will hold a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next Friday – his first since since states began shutting down in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 110,000 lives in the US.
Related: Trump would 'not even consider' renaming bases with Confederate links
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Hallie Golden reports for The Guardian:
Governor Jay Inslee of Washington has ordered a new investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis, an African American man who died more than three months ago in police custody, following questions over the independence of the investigation.
Related: Washington governor orders new investigation into police custody death
Lane was released after posting bond. His bail was set for $1m.
Lane was one of the officers — including Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng — who stopped George Floyd while responding to a call about the alleged use of a counterfeit $20 bill.
Continue reading...President contradicts defense secretary who said he was open to discussing new names for military bases named after Confederates
Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would “not even consider” renaming US military bases that are named after Confederate military leaders, even though the Pentagon has indicated it is open to the idea.
The statement from the US president came amid widespread anti-racism protests that have convulsed the country and were triggered by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
Continue reading...A former federal judge appointed to review the justice department’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn has found that the government’s request should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power”.
Related: George Floyd's brother testifies before House: 'I'm here to get justice' – live
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The Guardian’s Vivan Ho reports from Houston, Texas:
Supporters of George Floyd stood outside the church in the punishing Houston humidity, waiting for the procession to Floyd’s final resting place.
Joe Biden expressed support for the Buffalo protester who was shoved to the ground by police officers, after Trump suggested the 75-year-old man might be an Antifa plant.
My Dad used to say there's no greater sin than the abuse of power.
Whether it's an officer bloodying a peaceful protester or a President defending him with a conspiracy theory he saw on TV.
I'm a Catholic – just like Martin. Our faith says that we can't accept either.
Related: Trump makes baseless claim about man, 75, shoved by police: ‘Could be a set-up?’
Continue reading...President’s latest decisions – deploying military forces against protesters, and the church photo op – are chipping away at his base
Donald Trump once famously boasted he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and not lose supporters. For years that seemed true.
Related: Trump reaches for Nixon playbook after protests that have rocked America
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On Saturday night, 23-year-old Erik Salgado was shot and killed by California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland. His pregnant girlfriend was also injured in the shooting, NBC Bay Area reported.
Last night in East Oakland CHP officers shot and killed Eric Salgado during a traffic stop on the 9600 block of Cherry St. His family is out here mourning.
Police have not released much information about the incident. pic.twitter.com/e4JxH7Xjln
This is the block where the CHP shooting happened last night. Eric’s family is out here. Witnesses, including neighbors say the police shot upwards of 20 rounds into the car. pic.twitter.com/po1C3kFNbF
There’s thousands here. And they keep coming. CHP isn’t getting away with this. We’re putting an end to cops killing with impunity.
No justice, no peace. No racist police. #JusticeForErik pic.twitter.com/LQjmfZMbln
Related: 'George Floyd happens every day': activists seek justice for police killings the media forgot
The force of furious national protests over racist policing is rippling through many different industries now, as workers speak up about racist practices and racist bosses in culture industries like fashion, publishing, and media.
The editor-in-chief of beloved cooking brand Bon Appetit announced today that he is stepping down after photographs of him in “brown face” were recirculated on social media, and an editor spoke out about the “systemic racism” she had experienced at Bon Appetit and its parent company Conde Nast, including alleging that “currently only white editors are paid for their video appearances.” (A company spokesperson told Variety that was not true, but did not offer details.)
Condé Nast’s Bon Appetit Allegedly Pays Only White Editors for Videos, Image of EIC Adam Rapoport in Brown Face Surfaces https://t.co/vleRO9UvWN
Adam confusing Priya for Sohla told us all we needed to know pic.twitter.com/zWn6gIIcKj
Bon Apetit editor stepping down: pic.twitter.com/XSVmC6Do9Z
Continue reading...Donald Trump plans to start holding campaign rallies in person again in the next two weeks, despite the coronavirus pandemic continuing in the US and experts warning about the public health dangers of crowding at events.
Related: George Floyd killing: judge sets $1m bail for ex-officer Derek Chauvin
Continue reading...UK politicians and military experts warn decision could hand advantage to Russia
British politicians and European military experts have warned that Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany risks handing a strategic advantage to the Kremlin and undermining the postwar western military alliance.
It would also affect the United States’s ability to operate in the Middle East and Africa – although there is scepticism as to whether the notoriously fickle president will be able to carry out the threat before November’s election.
Continue reading...Former senior officials also worry Britain may be sidelined if Joe Biden becomes president
The UK’s special relationship with the US may end if Donald Trump wins a second term, some of the UK’s most senior retired diplomats and Conservative foreign policy specialists have said. They also say that if the Democrat Joe Biden wins, Washington may view the EU rather than the UK as its primary partner.
The anxious assessment of what is at stake for Britain in the US presidential election in November has been made on and off the record in a variety of seminars over the past month, and underlines concerns at Trump’s performance during the coronavirus pandemic. It also reflects diplomatic outreach to the UK by Biden’s chief foreign policy adviser, Antony Blinken.
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