Category Archives: Washington, DC

When Donald met Scott: a reporter’s view of Trump and his White House wonderland

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Australian PM Scott Morrison received a full-blown welcome from the US president. Katharine Murphy was on hand for an inside account

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Scott Morrison has made his first visit to the United States as prime minister. It was a trip that included a close encounter with the unpredictability of the Trump White House, a foreign policy pivot, and a backlash about a lack of climate policy action. Guardian Australia’s political editor, Katharine Murphy, travelled, with the prime minister. Here is what she witnessed:

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Scott Morrison to unveil $150m support for Trump’s mission to Mars

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PM says five-year commitment designed to make Australia ‘partner of choice’ to support expeditions to moon and Mars

Scott Morrison has used a visit to Nasa on Saturday local time to unveil a $150m investment in Australian businesses and new technology to support the American space agency launch expeditions to the moon and to Mars.

The Australian prime minister on his second day in the American capital visited Nasa, and also laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery. Morrison visited the graves of Australian military personnel and visit the tomb of The Unknown Soldier.

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Woman arrested for threatening to blow up Swedish embassy over A$AP Rocky case

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Rebecca Kanter is accused of abusing staff and damaging property at Washington DC embassy

A fan of the rapper A$AP Rocky has been arrested in Washington DC after allegedly threatening to “blow up” the Swedish embassy there. The rapper is currently jailed in Sweden, awaiting trial for an assault charge after footage emerged of him and his entourage allegedly punching and kicking a pair of men on a Stockholm street.

According to a written statement by a Secret Service officer, Rebecca Kanter is accused of screaming at embassy staff, accosting a group of students visiting the embassy and damaging property. She was arrested after refusing to leave the premises, and charged with wilfully injuring and damaging property of a foreign government, and refusing to depart a foreign embassy. The previous day she had allegedly thrown liquid from a Coca-Cola bottle at the embassy and shouted: “I’m going to blow this motherfucker up.” She wrote on social media that she had “defiled the House of Sweden … why aren’t I getting press for A$AP”. She has been released on bail.

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Inside Trump’s DC hotel, where allies and lobbyists flock to peddle their interests

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Fossil fuel interests, pro-gun groups, foreign delegations and all manner of allies visit the Trump International Hotel to cozy up to the administration, say watchdogs

On 25 July, the conservative Heartland Institute is slated to host a one-day meeting at the Trump International Hotel, just a few blocks from the White House. It will feature leading climate science deniers who will discuss issues like “the benefits of ending the Democrats’ war on fossil fuels”, according to the institute.

Last month, as Donald Trump was kicking off his 2020 campaign and boasting again of “draining the swamp” of Washington’s powerful lobbyists and elites, a couple of dozen oil and gas executives with the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance were checking into the president’s hotel before a day of schmoozing with Republican House leaders and cabinet officials.

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Divided America on display during Fourth of July events – video report

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The US president’s unique interpretation of the Declaration of Independence was on full display on Thursday, when he staged a militaristic jamboree at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to celebrate the Fourth of July. But it wasn't just the military tanks, jet flyovers or Donald Trump’s speech that marked this year’s holiday. Burning flags, blimps, toilet robots and Proud Boys all showed us just how divided America is 

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‘We will plant the American flag on Mars’: Trump delivers July 4th speech – video

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The president sailed close to one of his campaign lines when he claimed, “our nation is stronger than it ever was before”, but otherwise swerved past party politics . “For Americans, nothing is impossible,” he said, reciting a litany of American accomplishments over its history, including the moon landing 50 years ago, and promised “very soon, we will plant the American flag on Mars.”

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Donald Trump’s July 4th jamboree: symbolic, jingoistic and untraditional

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Some welcomed the rare plea for unity but others said the show of military might was the moment Trump went full Roman emperor

All men are created equal. But one is created more equal than others. And his name is Donald Trump.

The US president’s unique interpretation of the declaration of independence was on full display on Thursday when he staged a militaristic, jingoistic and untraditional jamboree at the Lincoln memorial in Washington to celebrate the Fourth of July.

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White House ‘struggles to draw crowds’ to Trump’s Fourth of July show

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Trump is set to mark Independence Day by delivering a speech about patriotism on the steps of the Lincoln memorial

White House aides have reportedly struggled to draw crowds to Donald Trump’s Fourth of July celebrations, with service chiefs for the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps set to skip the planned display of military might.

Despite facing accusations that he is politicizing an important holiday, emulating displays in authoritarian countries and wasting taxpayers’ money, Trump is set to mark Independence Day by delivering a speech about patriotism on the steps of the Lincoln memorial.

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Trump’s Independence Day parade in Washington DC – in pictures

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Donald Trump is overseeing Fourth of July celebrations with a speech about patriotism and a show of military might that critics say is politicising an important holiday and wasting taxpayers’ money. The president has dismissed concerns about the event, which will take place in front of the Lincoln Memorial and feature fireworks, a flyover by Air Force One and a display of tanks

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Now kids, help us to kill Bin Laden! The dark side of Washington’s spy museum

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The bugged shoes and poison brollies are fun and fascinating. But why are the sections about state-sponsored torture and assassination so uncritical?

Sitting in a glass case, standing out against a backdrop of deep red, there’s an ice axe that still bears a rust mark, the consequence of a bloody fingerprint left on it decades ago. One day in 1940, this axe was hidden inside Ramón Mercader’s suit jacket, suspended by a string, as he walked into the office of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary living in exile in Mexico, having been sentenced to death as an “enemy of the people” in his home country.

Mercader slipped behind Trotsky’s desk and brought the axe down with tremendous force, penetrating two-and-three-quarter inches into his skull. Trotsky died 26 hours later. Mercader served 20 years in prison then returned to a hero’s welcome in Moscow. On his deathbed in 1978, his last words were: “I hear it always. I hear the scream. I know he’s waiting for me on the other side.”

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Former Putin adviser had neck fracture at time of death in Washington hotel

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New report raises questions about Mikhail Lesin, whose death was ruled an accident but has been shrouded in suspicion

Newly released documents show that a former adviser to Vladimir Putin sustained a complete fracture of his neck “at or near the time of his death” in a Washington hotel room in 2015.

The documents from the city’s medical examiner were released to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed nearly two years ago.

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Paul Manafort given seven-year prison term and severe rebuke from judge

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Paul Manafort, the former Donald Trump campaign chairman, was told by a judge on Wednesday that he is a liar and fraud who will spend a total of seven and a half years in prison.

Related: Paul Manafort charged by New York prosecutors with 16 further crimes

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US college admissions scandal: how did the scheme work and who was charged?

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Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among 50 charged in scheme to get children into universities via bribery and cheating

There are 50 people charged in the case, including actors Felicity Huffman, known for her role on the TV show Desperate Housewives and the feature film Transamerica, and Lori Loughlin, a cast member on the TV series Full House. Defendants in the case include parents and college athletics coaches.

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Felicity Huffman among dozens charged over admissions fraud at top US schools

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Scheme helped wealthy Americans buy their children’s way into elite universities including Yale, Georgetown and Stanford

US federal prosecutors have charged the Hollywood actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, along with almost 50 other people, over a $25m scheme to help wealthy Americans buy their children’s way into elite universities including Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Southern California.

Huffman appeared in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, where a magistrate judge said she could be released on a $250,000 bond. The judge ordered the Desperate Housewives star to restrict her travel to the continental United States. Huffman’s husband, the actor William H Macy, attended his wife’s initial court appearance. He has not been charged and authorities have not said why.

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Pope defrocks ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick over abuse claims

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Ex-archbishop of Washington DC is most senior figure to be removed from priesthood in modern times

A former Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal has been dismissed from the priesthood after the Vatican found him guilty of sexually abusing minors in a sign of an increasingly hardline stance taken by the church.

Related: Vatican envoy faces inquiry into sexual assault claims

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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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Snowstorm takes out power in US mid-Atlantic after five deaths in midwest

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A winter storm that contributed to at least five deaths in the US midwest pummeled the mid-Atlantic region for a second day on Sunday, bringing with it an icy mix that knocked out power, cancelled flights and contributed to hundreds of car accidents.

Virginia state police said the driver of a military surplus vehicle was killed late on Saturday after he lost control on Interstate 81 due to slick road conditions.

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‘It’s ruining people’s lives’: federal workers count cost of shutdown

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Trump’s demand for taxpayer funding for a southern border wall has now led to the longest government closure in history

As the longest government shutdown in US historyenters a fourth week with no resolution in sight, Jared Hautamaki considers himself relatively fortunate. The Home Depot where he already worked several shifts a week agreed to employ him full-time while he and hundreds of thousands of federal employees are locked out of their day-jobs.

At $14 an hour, his retail paycheck will hardly match what he earns as an attorney adviser with the Environmental Protection Agency. But with four children under eight years old, Hautamaki says it’s a necessary accommodation.

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Five dead on midwest roads as huge snowstorm heads for Washington DC

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  • Parts of Missouri see more than a foot of snow
  • Capital and Maryland face heavy falls on Sunday

A massive winter snowstorm making its way across the midwest and into the US mid-Atlantic region dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of Missouri and contributed to at least five deaths, authorities said on Saturday.

The storm moved into Kansas and Nebraska from the Rockies on Friday, then east into Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, covering roads and making driving dangerous.

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Pelosi ready to lead the House again

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NOVEMBER 07: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi holds a news conference following the 2018 midterm elections at the Capitol Building on November 7, 2018 in Washington, DC. Republicans kept the Senate majority but lost control of the House to the Democrats.