Sinking in the Swamp says Trump’s ‘lead point of contact’ for US allies seemed unaware of alliance members’ commitment to defend each other from attack
Though Jared Kushner was a “lead point of contact” for US allies worried about Donald Trump’s threats to Nato, the president’s son-in-law did not “seem to know what Nato actually did”, a new book claims.
Related: Jared Kushner may have an ethics problem - to the tune of $90m | Vicky Ward
Continue reading...How did Trump and his team pull off his successful defense? Here’s a look at key factors
Will historians find Donald Trump’s impeachment remarkable because Republican politicians turned a blind eye to such egregious wrongdoing and acquitted him? Or will they find it remarkable because it was the last time a cadre of Republican officials publicly turned against Trump?
While most of the career civil servants who defied the president by testifying in the impeachment inquiry do not publicly identify as Republican, many were Trump appointees with strong Republican ties, while other key figures such as former national security adviser John Bolton are wizened party warriors.
Continue reading...In a hyperpartisan era, Republicans cast Trump as a victim while Democrats lamented his ‘normalisation of lawlessness’
Donald Trump’s short but indelible political career has been based around the principle of divide-and-fool. His acquittal in the impeachment trial by the US Senate will further fan the flames of the most profound national split since the Vietnam war, perhaps even the civil war.
First, expect Trump to be cocky and take a victory lap, falsely claiming “exoneration” just as he did after special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation left him bruised but unbowed. A day after Mueller’s leaden testimony to Congress, the president felt able to act with such impunity that he made his bullying phone call to the leader of Ukraine.
Continue reading...President becomes third in US history to be impeached by the House and acquitted in Senate trial
Donald Trump has been acquitted in his Senate trial on both of the articles of impeachment he faced, ending the threat that he would be removed from office and concluding the impeachment process.
Voting largely along party lines, the senators found Trump not guilty of the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, by a 52-48 tally, and not guilty of the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress, by a 53-47 tally.
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Pete Buttigieg threw everything into winning the Iowa Democratic caucuses and – with 71% of the vote in following Monday’s results debacle – his gamble may well have paid off.
If so, the former mayor of tiny South Bend, Indiana, may look back on this moment as the peak of his political career, or the start of a long, hard slog that could take him all the way to the White House.
Hello and welcome to another big day in American politics.
It’s fair to see Donald Trump is probably having a pretty good week. Last night he got 80 minutes to make his case for a second term on primetime TV with his State of the Union address, as the Democrats continued to struggle to publish results from their first primary contest on Iowa on Monday.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has delivered his third State of the Union address, bragging about the ‘great American comeback’ in a speech resembling an 81-minute re-election rally. It prompted Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful woman in Congress, to rip up her copy of the speech on national television
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch says 138 Salvadorans were murdered from 2013 to 2019 and 70 others were abused or sexually assaulted
At least 200 Salvadoran migrants and asylum seekers have been killed, raped or tortured after being deported back to El Salvador by the United States government which is turning a blind eye to widely known dangers, a new investigation reveals.
Related: How the US helped create El Salvador’s bloody gang war
Continue reading...Donald Trump appeared to snub Nancy Pelosi's request for a handshake during the start of his State of the Union address. At the speech's conclusion, Pelosi was seen tearing up her copy of the speech, later saying 'it was the courteous thing to do'
Trump used speech to brag about ‘the great American comeback’ but House speaker said she couldn’t find ‘one page with truth on it’
An emboldened Donald Trump bragged about the “great American comeback” in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, in a speech resembling an 81-minute re-election rally that prompted the most powerful woman in Congress to rip up her copy of the speech on national television.
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said she tore up the address, which he delivered on the eve of the verdict in his impeachment trial, because she couldn’t find “one page with truth on it”.
Continue reading...Bernie Sanders has questioned the move by Democratic rival Pete Buttigeig to declare victory in the Iowa caucus. The voting has been marred by a technical error that has led to a delay in releasing the results
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Some Iowans expressed frustration on Tuesday that the state Democratic party had bungled its moment in the national spotlight after the state Democratic party delayed releasing the results of the caucuses because of a technical glitch.
“They’re not complete, but results are in from a majority of precincts, and they show our campaign in first place,” said Pete Buttigieg, grinning widely as he addressed supporters in New Hampshire. “This is what we have been working more than a year to convince our fellow Americans: that a new and better vision can bring about a new and better day.
Continue reading...Iowa Democratic party announces partial results with former South Bend mayor trailed closely by Bernie Sanders
Pete Buttigieg, the previously little-known former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, held a narrow lead in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday night, according to a partial release of a majority of the results by the state Democratic party a day after an embarrassing organizational breakdown that marred the biggest night of the election year so far.
With 71% of the precincts reporting from all of Iowa’s 99 counties, Buttigieg held 26.8% of the state’s delegate count, trailed closely by the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders with 25.2%, the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren with 18.4% and the former vice-president Joe Biden falling well behind with 15.4%. Sanders, meanwhile, had so far earned the largest share of total votes cast.
Continue reading...The Democratic presidential candidate said he had had a good night in Iowa and was expecting good results from the caucus. Biden held his speech at a 'get out and vote' event, where he was suddenly heckled by at least one member of the audience who was escorted away as supporters shouted 'get out'
Continue reading...The Democratic candidates vying to challenge Donald Trump for the US presidency in November were left in limbo and forced to make their scheduled speeches to supporters without knowing the outcome. Despite the lack of results, all candidates sought to claim a form of victory
That’s it from me after a very anti-climatic night in Des Moines. The Democratic presidential candidates and the media circus accompanying them are leaving Iowa with no sense of who won the first voting state in the nominating contest.
Here’s where things stand:
One reporter described Iowa Democratic party chairman Troy Price’s voice on the press call as “deflated”, which is understandable considering the organization saw its worst nightmare unfold before its eyes tonight.
"Thank you and we will be in touch soon," Price said.
An understatement to say he sounded deflated. Since his election in 2017, it's been his sole mission to try to make a fairer, more transparent Iowa caucus that would also run seamlessly. Tonight was IDP's worst nightmare.
Vote-counting chaos in Iowa has been a PR disaster for Democrats
They couldn’t organise a caucus in a brewery. Or a church, or a library, or a school gymnasium. Democrats’ heroic charge to end Donald Trump in the final battle for decency and democracy has spiralled into vote-counting carnage and chaos.
Imagine if the shoe has been on the other foot. Imagine if Trump’s White House had spent four years preparing for an election only to mess it up. It would have been seen, quite rightly, as yet another example of his incompetence, ineptitude and inability to focus on detail or retain experienced staff.
Related: Iowa caucuses off to disastrous start as results delayed due to 'inconsistencies'
Continue reading...Monday’s voting revealed the Democrats apparently can’t count – not the most promising sign for the 2020 election
Iowa is like soccer. It is the most important of all the least important things in politics.
It may be the first state in the nation to vote in an election that will ultimately decide whether a sociopathic cretin keeps his finger on the nuclear button.
Continue reading...Hours after voting began there were no results as the state’s Democratic party said it was ‘simply a reporting issue’
The Democratic presidential primary contest got off to a disastrous start on Monday after results from the highly anticipated Iowa Democratic caucuses were dramatically delayed due to “inconsistencies” in the reporting of the data.
The state’s Democratic party said it was performing “quality control” on the numbers “out of an abundance of caution” following reports of problems with a phone app used to relay vote tallies.
Continue reading...The midwestern state is the first to vote in the presidential primary race. So what are caucuses, and how do they work? Here’s your guide to the night
The Iowa caucuses take place on Monday 3 February, kicking off the long process of nominating a Democratic presidential candidate who will eventually take on Donald Trump in November’s US election.
The primary race is made up of a series of contests called primaries and caucuses that take place in all 50 states plus Washington DC and outlying territories, by which the parties select their presidential nominee from the candidates who are running.
Continue reading...Polling shows no clear frontrunner in tight race as four Democratic candidates are knotted together at the top
After more than a year of ideological clashes and policy debates, voters in the midwestern state of Iowa are set to have their say on which Democratic presidential candidate they believe is best positioned to defeat Donald Trump in November’s election.
Related: 'Nerve-racking': Iowans under pressure on eve of crucial caucuses
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