Category Archives: Donald Trump

Chris Christie accuses Jared Kushner of political ‘hit job’ in explosive new book

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Exclusive: ex-New Jersey governor, who had prosecuted Kushner’s father, was sacked as head of Trump’s transition team

Chris Christie, who was ousted as chairman of Donald Trump’s White House transition team in 2016, has written a blistering attack on Jared Kushner, whom he accuses of having carried out a political “hit job” on him as an act of revenge for prosecuting his father, Charles Kushner, a decade ago.

Related: Mueller inquiry is no witch-hunt, William Barr tells confirmation hearing – live updates

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What exactly is Trump’s border wall and why does he want $5.7bn for it?

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The president backed away from his threat to declare a national emergency over the wall, but his preoccupation with it persists

Donald Trump may have backed away froma threat to declare a national emergency in order to bypass Congress and build a wall on the southern border, but his preoccupation with his 2016 campaign promise persists.

But what exactly is “the wall” and why is the president so intent on getting $5.7bn to fund it? Here are some answers to key questions:

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What is life really like in border country, where Trump wants his wall?

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The Guardian travelled to five border locations to discover how Trump’s rhetoric jars with the reality on the ground

Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful wall” has become the trademark of his presidency. It is the promise that more than any other has energized his base, and riled his opponents, and his dogged attachment to it has now brought a large part of the US government to a historic 25 days of partial shutdown.

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Trump orders McDonald’s for football champions as shutdown cuts staff

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Staff absences at White House see president set the menu, and unsurprisingly he chose a Big Mac buffet

Any champion football player disappointed with Monday’s dinner at the White House can blame Democrats, according to a presidential spokesman.

Clemson University’s football team on Thursday joined Donald Trump for dinner to celebrate their win over Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship. However, the government shutdown has left much of the White House staff furloughed, forcing the president to set the menu, the spokesperson said.

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Donald Trump: ‘I never worked for Russia’ – live updates

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  • President denies to reporters he ever worked for Moscow
  • Attacks FBI officials who investigated him as ‘scoundrels’

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge to Matthew Whitaker’s appointment as acting attorney general.

The court turned away the case without comment, the Washington Post reported.

Donald Trump is rejecting a proposal from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to allow the government to temporarily reopen while negotiating with Congress over a border wall, the Washington Post reports.

“I did reject it,” Trump told Monday. “I want to get it solved. I don’t want to just delay it.”

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Turkey will not be intimidated by Trump, says foreign minister

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Ankara hits back after Trump threatened to ‘economically devastate’ it over Syria

Turkey’s foreign minister has hit back at Donald Trump over his threat to economically devastate the country if it follows through on a planned operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria, saying Ankara will not be intimidated by its Nato ally.

“We have said repeatedly we are not scared of and will not be intimidated by any threats,” said Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in televised remarks from Ankara on Monday, before rebuking the US president for using Twitter for sensitive diplomatic matters.

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White House asked the Pentagon for plans to strike Iran – report

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The ‘mind-boggling’ request came after two incidents in Iraq last September when militia mortar and rockets exploded near US diplomatic facilities

The White House asked the Pentagon to draw up options for military strikes against Iran in the wake of two incidents in Iraq last September when mortar shells and rockets fired by militias exploded near US diplomatic facilities, it was reported on Sunday.

Related: US will expel every last Iranian boot from Syria, says Mike Pompeo

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Trump vents fury over Russia stories and again threatens national emergency

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Donald Trump has strongly denied the stunning claim that he was secretly working on behalf of Russia and again threatened to declare a national emergency to fund a border wall.

In 20-minute live phone interview with Fox News on Saturday night, he described as an “insult” the New York Times story that alleged the FBI launched an investigation into whether the he was acting as a Russian asset, against his own country’s interests.

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‘Ridiculous’: report Ivanka Trump could lead World Bank meets scorn

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First daughter’s name said to be ‘floating around Washington’ but it wouldn’t be her first unconventional role

The Financial Times reported on Friday that the name of Ivanka Trump is “floating around Washington” regarding the need for a new president of the World Bank.

The role will soon be open due to the surprise departure of the current president, Jim Yong Kim. But on politics Twitter, at least, the idea that his replacement might be the first daughter met with widespread derision.

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FBI reportedly opened inquiry into whether Trump was working for Russia

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  • Firing of Comey prompted investigation, New York Times says
  • Trump responds angrily but does not question reporting

In May 2017, the FBI opened an inquiry into whether Donald Trump was working on behalf of Russia, the New York Times has reported.

Related: Mueller closes in: what will the Trump-Russia inquiry deliver in 2019?

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US government shutdown becomes longest in history

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The US government shutdown is now the longest such closure in history. On Saturday, day 22, members of Congress were out of Washington, Donald Trump was unmoved in the White House, his border wall unbuilt, and around 800,000 federal workers were still without pay and facing mounting hardship.

Related: 'Barely above water': US shutdown hits black federal workers hardest

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Trump backs away from declaring national emergency to fund border wall

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Donald Trump has backed away from his threat to declare a national emergency to fund his long-promised border wall, as pressure mounts to find a solution to the three-week impasse that has closed parts of the government, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers without pay.

“We want Congress to do its job,” the president said Friday during a roundtable on border security at the White House. “What we’re not looking to do right now is national emergency.”

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‘He needs an out’: Trump’s demand for a wall has left him backed into a corner

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The president’s position is a non-starter with Democrats, making an end to the shutdown far from imminent

Wednesday’s dramatic showdown between Donald Trump and Democratic leaders and the president’s defiant PR trip to the border the following day seemed to confirm observers’ fears: a breakthrough in negotiations to end one of the longest shutdowns in US history is far from imminent.

As key government operations remained shuttered for a 21st day and roughly 800,000 federal workers remained without pay, both the president and the Democrats have retreated into their own corners.

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Michael Cohen to testify publicly before Congress in February

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Former Trump lawyer says he accepted invitation from top Democrat and will offer ‘full and credible account of events’

Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer and aide Michael Cohen says he has accepted an invitation from a top House Democrat to testify publicly before Congress next month.

His testimony before the House oversight and reform committee on 7 February will be the first major public oversight hearing for Democrats, who have promised greater scrutiny of Trump after winning control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections.

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Trump tours border after repeating threat to call national emergency

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President visits Texas on shutdown’s 20th day as rift with Democrats expands

Donald Trump has reiterated his threat to declare a national emergency if Congress does not meet his demand for billions of dollars to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border as part of a deal to end the partial government shutdown.

The president visited the Texas border on Thursday – the 20th day of a partial government shutdown – in a publicity ploy to help make the case for funding his long-promised wall after negotiations with Democrats broke down.

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Inside the office of missing migrant children – an animated video

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More than 2,600 children were taken from their parents at the US border under the Trump administration's policy of family separation.

Travelling from Guatemala, Tonita and her six-year-old son, Wilson, were separated at the border and Wilson held at a office building in Phoenix, Arizona.

An animated film about the story of this family who was just one of many thousands having to live apart in a foreign and unknown country. As of today, 130 kids are still separated from their parents.

This video is from Reveal and you can find more of their reporting on family separation and immigration here

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US will expel every last Iranian boot from Syria, says Mike Pompeo

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Secretary of state seeks to reassure Middle East that US is not abandoning region

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has vowed the US and its allies will “expel every last Iranian boot” from Syria as he sought to reassure Middle Eastern nations it was not withdrawing from the region despite Donald Trump’s call for troops to return home.

In a keynote speech delivered in Cairo, pitched as the centrepiece of his nine-country regional tour, Pompeo called for a common stand against Tehran. “It’s time for old rivalries to end, for the sake of the greater good of the region,” he said.

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‘If I have to I will’: Donald Trump on declaring a national emergency – video

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The US president was speaking to reporters outside the White House when he was asked for his thoughts on calling a national emergency, to which he replied: I'll probably do it, almost definitely.' Donald Trump also denied having a 'temper tantrum' during his reported confrontation with Democrats

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‘He just walked out’: Schumer on meeting with Trump over shutdown – video

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The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, condemns Donald Trump's 'temper tantrum' following a meeting he and House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, had with the president about the partial shutdown of the US government. Schumer said the president 'walked out of the meeting' after Pelosi refused to fund his US-Mexico border wall 

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