State of the Union: Trump to call for unity as he tries to reboot presidency

Trump will tout economic strength and border security as he faces an audience with an unprecedented number of women and high degree of skepticism

Donald Trump will attempt to reboot his presidency on Tuesday with a State of the Union address that will tout economic strength and border security – but he will face an audience with an unprecedented number of women and a high degree of scepticism.

Halfway into his term, having just endured a drubbing in November’s congressional elections and after prompting the longest government shutdown in US history, Trump will seek to regain momentum by calling on Congress to come together on infrastructure projects and his trade deal with Canada and Mexico.

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State of the Union one day away as next government shutdown looms – live

We are 11 days away from another potential government shutdown and three days into the political crisis in Virginia

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is hitting the fundraising circuit for the Ohio Republican Party.

New: @CLewandowski_ will be raising money for the Ohio Republican Party in Youngstown, Cleveland, and Sandusky, Ohio, later this month.

Axios obtained President Donald Trump’s private schedules on Sunday which show that a majority of his day is left in unstructured “executive time.”

The unprecedented leak shows Trump’s unique governing style. In contrast to past presidents who had tightly regimented schedules, Trump has much of the day open for freewheeling phone conversations, private meetings and, of course, time watching cable news.

What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these don’t show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history. https://t.co/n1HrxmCsiB

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US troops do not have permission to ‘watch Iran’, says Baghdad

Comments come after Donald Trump suggested US forces in Iraq were monitoring activity in Iran

Iraq’s president has hit back at comments made by Donald Trump, saying that the US president did not ask Iraq’s permission for US troops stationed there to “watch Iran”.

A day after Trump said US soldiers in Iraq would be tasked with monitoring Iran, Barham Salih told reporters at a forum in Baghdad that the US military presence in the country was the result of a bilateral agreement with the specific goal of fighting terrorism.

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Venezuela: Maduro hits back at ‘gringo plot to overthrow revolution’

Address comes after EU countries and US throw weight behind challenger Juan Guaidó

Nicolás Maduro has hit back at the “cowardly” and “disastrous” decision of a succession of European countries to recognise his rival, Juan Guaidó, as interim president, as Venezuela enters what many observers believe could be a critical week in its fast-escalating political crisis.

Addressing a military rally in the northern state of Aragua, Maduro said he was the target of a “gringo” plot to overthrow the Bolivarian revolution he had inherited from his political mentor, Hugo Chávez, after his death in 2013.

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Venezuela: Maduro warns White House will be ‘stained with blood’ if Trump invades

Embattled president signals he has no plans to go and asks if the US would like ‘a repeat of Vietnam’

Venezuela’s embattled leader, Nicolás Maduro, has warned Donald Trump he will leave the White House “stained with blood” if he insists on pursuing what he called a “dirty” imperialist conspiracy to overthrow him.

“Stop. Stop, Trump! Hold it right there! You are making mistakes that will leave your hands covered in blood and you will leave the presidency stained with blood,” Maduro warned during a combative interview with the Spanish journalist Jordi Évole. “Why would you want a repeat of Vietnam?”

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Trump wants to keep US troops in Iraq to ‘be able to watch’ Iran

Trump said he wanted to maintain a military presence, despite saying the invasion of Iraq was ‘one of the greatest mistakes’

Donald Trump wants to keep US troops in Iraq, in order to “watch” Iran.

Related: Super Bowl: Donald Trump would have 'hard time' letting son play football

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Donald Trump says he would have a ‘hard time’ letting his son play American football – video

In an interview broadcast on the biggest day in the NFL calendar, Donald Trump said he would have a 'hard time' letting his son Barron play American football.

The president made the statement during an interview set to be broadcast on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, hours before Super Bowl LIII kicks off in Atlanta. 

Asked if he would be comfortable letting 12-year-old Barron  play a sport that has been repeatedly linked to brain trauma injuries, he described it as a 'tough question'.

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Ronny Jackson: Trump makes controversial doctor his chief medical adviser

Pentagon is still investigating misconduct claims that scuppered rear admiral’s attempt to head Veterans Affairs

President Donald Trump has appointed his former doctor to be his assistant and chief medical adviser.

Saturday’s announcement by the White House follows Trump’s decision to re-nominate Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson for a second star due to inaction by the previous Congress.

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Roger Stone case: judge ‘considering gag order’ against Trump adviser – as it happened

Judge cautioned Stone against treating trial build-up ‘like book tour’ and said he should not argue his case ‘on the talkshow circuit’

Thanks for tuning in, everyone.

With the government shutdown over, President Trump can finally return to Mar-a-Lago, the Associated Press is reporting.

Trump typically spends many winter weekends at the Palm Beach estate, golfing at another nearby private club he owns and dining on an outdoor terrace at Mar-a-Lago, where he catches up with friends and club members.

But that routine was interrupted by the partial government shutdown, which ended a week ago after a record 35 days.

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Donald Trump confirms US withdrawal from INF nuclear treaty

Announcement gives Russia 180 days to destroy violating missiles and launchers to avoid new arms race

Donald Trump has confirmed that the US is leaving the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, saying “we will move forward with developing our own military response options” to Russia’s suspect missile.

In a written statement, Trump said that the US would be suspending its compliance with the 1987 treaty on Saturday, and would serve formal notice that it would withdraw altogether in six months.

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US North Korea envoy says Trump is ready to ‘end this war’

Stephen Biegun says Kim Jong-un has committed to ‘destruction’ of plutonium and uranium sites ahead of talks

The US’s special envoy for North Korea has said Donald Trump was willing to offer diplomatic relations and economic aid in return for progress towards “closing the door on 70 years of war and hostility” on the Korean peninsula.

Stephen Biegun, who is due to visit Seoul on Sunday for talks with his counterpart, Kim Hyok-chol, warned that Washington has “contingencies” in place if denuclearisation talks fail, but said: “President Trump is ready to end this war. It is over. It is done. We’re not going to invade North Korea. We are not seeking to topple the regime.”

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Trump appoints climate change skeptic to EPA science board – latest news

Controversial climatologist John Christy, who once said scientists believed Earth was flat, to join advisory board at environment agency

Progressives are preparing to take on Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz — who is considering a run for president in 2020 as an independent — hoping to arm themselves with information about the billionaire’s governmental dealings.

Axios reports that Democratic super PAC, Priorities USA, has requested documents from roughly 70 national and state agencies who may have connected with Shultz or his coffee company over the last 3 decades:

The group is gathering as much potential opposition research as they can on Schultz and his business in anticipation of his decision to possibly run for president as an independent. This is yet another example of liberals trying to push Schultz out of the 2020 race before he begins, in part because they view his candidacy as a “threat” that could be “a major step toward re-electing Donald Trump,” Priorities USA communications director Josh Schwerin told Axios”.

A new poll released by Monmouth University says more than 60% of Americans think the president knew that high-ranking members of his campaign lied to investigators and half believe he asked them to do it.

The survey also found that there’s still significant concern among the electorate that Russia has influence over Trump, and that not enough has been done to stop the Kremlin from meddling into elections.

Was Trump aware of campaign associated trying to mislead investigators or Congress?

62% Yes
32% No

Do you think Trump personally asked people to mislead investigators or Congress?

50% Yes
42% No

Monmouth poll

‘Views of the president’s ties to Russia look like almost any other aspect of public opinion related to Trump. Very few Republicans believe anything negative about him and nearly all Democrats are inclined to accept damaging information, while independents are almost evenly split’, said Murray.

Just over half of Americans (51%) feel that the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election interference and possible links to the Trump campaign should continue. Another 45% say this investigation should be brought to an end. Support for continuing the special counsel investigation has hovered between 52% and 54% in polls taken between April and November 2018. Prior to that, about 6-in-10 Americans supported continuing the investigation (60% in March 2018 and 62% in July 2017)“.

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Mueller will use Roger Stone’s bank records, texts and emails as evidence

Legal analysts say sizable amount of potential evidence seems to go well beyond the current known charges against Stone

Special counsel Robert Mueller has signaled to defense lawyers for Roger Stone, the longtime adviser to Donald Trump, that prosecutors might brandish Stone’s bank records and personal communications going back several years as evidence in the case against him.

Legal analysts said the move could be significant because the sizable amount of potential evidence listed by Mueller – and its nature, in the case of the bank records – seemed to go well beyond the current known charges against Stone.

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How the religious right gained unprecedented access to Trump

As the president offers a sympathetic ear – and policies to match – critics see a de facto advisory committee, violating federal law

The US health secretary sat for an interview with a man experts say is the leader of a hate group known for “defaming gays and lesbians”, just two days after Karen Pence, the US second lady, was criticized for teaching at a Christian school that bans homosexuality.

Alex Azar, secretary of health and human services, was interviewed by the Family Research Council President, Tony Perkins, at an anti-abortion event called ProLifeCon in mid-January.

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State of the Union: Stacey Abrams to deliver Democrats’ response – live

George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign aide who served a brief prison stint for lying to FBI agents in the Russia investigation, has a new job at a medical marijuana company.

Papadopoulos joins a medical marijuana startup https://t.co/oIAw6Jzcqs

Coffee magnate Howard Schultz will take his time to decide to pursue a third party presidential bid. The former Starbucks CEO has become a lightning rod on the left in recent days with his public musing about running as an independent.

New: @HowardSchultz may not decide on a presidential run until "summer or fall," his political adviser Bill Burton tells me.https://t.co/0nYekuZNUD

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Trump-Russia investigation almost complete, says acting attorney general – as it happened

Thanks for staying with us through another eventful day. We’ll see you tomorrow.

The Guardian’s Erin Durkin is at former Starbucks CEO and possible independent 2020 presidential candidate Howard Schultz’s first stop of his book tour, which has turned into a town hall of sorts.

Speaking at a New York Barnes and Noble, he ruled out any possibility that he would run as a Democrat, despite his life-long affiliation with the party.

In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President. That's a risk I refused to run in 2016 and we can't afford to run it now. https://t.co/SmHM6cYUg7 pic.twitter.com/iQ2CK5o2k6

Howard Schultz doesn’t have the “guts” to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the “smartest person.” Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!

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Trump steps up Maduro pressure with sanctions against Venezuelan oil giant

  • Sanctions on $7bn in assets intended to boost Guaidó
  • John Bolton keen to counter ‘penetration’ from Cuba and Iran

The Trump administration has tightened the screws on Venezuela’s embattled president, Nicolás Maduro, announcing sanctions against the country’s state-owned oil giant PDVSA in what the US national security adviser admitted was partly an attempt to counter strategic threats from Cuba and Iran.

Related: Juan Guaidó: Venezuela has chance to leave chaos behind

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Juan Guaidó: Venezuela has chance to leave chaos behind

Exclusive: self-declared interim president tells the Guardian he is set on forcing out Nicolás Maduro

The opposition leader who last week declared himself Venezuela’s rightful interim president has played down fears of a possible armed conflict and claimed his economically devastated nation was living through an “almost magical moment” in its newly revived quest for democracy.

In one of his first interviews since last Wednesday’s surprise move, Juan Guaidó told the Guardian he was set on “getting the job done” to force Nicolás Maduro from power and ending a humanitarian emergency which has fuelled the largest exodus in modern Latin American history.

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Trump signs bill to end $6bn shutdown and temporarily reopen government

Measure will fund government for three weeks after US economy lost more than the $5.7bn funding president requested for wall

Donald Trump has signed legislation to end temporarily the longest-ever partial shutdown of the US government, which has left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay for more than a month.

The US economy lost $6bn during the month-plus hiatus because of lost productivity and business, according to a finance industry estimate – more than the $5.7bn of taxpayer funding the president demanded for his long-promised wall along the US-Mexico border but failed to get Congress to agree to.

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Trump raises white flag as shutdown gambit fails gradually then suddenly

Caught between the political savvy of Nancy Pelosi and the wrath of Ann Coulter the president secured not a penny for his wall

Richard Nixon once said there can be no whitewash at the White House. But it would be fair to say there is now a white flag.

It was metaphorically waved by Donald Trump in a chilly yet sunny Rose Garden on Friday when he declared an end to the partial government shutdown after 35 tortuous days.

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