Trump news - live: White House insists Supreme Court did not rule against president in tax case as Michael Cohen is sent back to prison
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The US Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump must hand over his final records to a New York prosecutor investigating him, a judgement effectively establishing that a sitting president is not above the law, while also deciding that he does not have to extend the same courtesy to the House of Representatives in response to a congressional subpoena.
When responding to the ruling later on Thursday, though, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted the high court did not rule against Mr Trump in the judgement because the case is being thrown back to lower courts.
This comes as Mr Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has been ordered back to prison after he broke his house arrest by visiting a New York City restaurant this week. Mr Cohen was released to his home to serve the remainder of his sentence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Scathing new Lincoln project ad gives list of senators who 'chose Trump' over America
A new attack ad released by a Republican campaign group formed to get president Donald Trump out of office, has taken aim at some of his allies in the Senate.
The Lincoln Project, a Republican political action committee that is aiming to prevent the reelection of Mr Trump, accused several senators of "cowardice" and "betrayal" in a new ad released on Wednesday.
James Crump with the full story:
Arizona leads nation on highest new coronavirus cases per capita
Arizona has become the new coronavirus hotspot in the United States, as it continues to break records for new cases reported in a single day.
The state first took over the top spot on 7 June with a per capita rate of 13.84 per 100,000 people. Now, more than one month later, Arizona has nearly tripled that number by averaging 48.10 per 100,000 people.
Florida currently stands at the number two spot in new coronavirus cases per capital. It has a rate of 43.08 per 100,000 people. Now 48 hospitals in the state have reached capacity in their ICUs.
Dr Fauci says states should pause reopening, not shut down again
Multiple states across the United States have seen a surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, causing officials to wonder if it would be worth shutting down again to prevent more infections.
But Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infections disease doctor, told The Hill he thought it would be "an extreme" for states to shut down again, something he hoped wouldn't have to happen.
"I would hope we don't have to resort to shut down. I think that would be something that is obviously an extreme. I think it would not be viewed very, very favorably, even by the states and the cities involved. So rather than think in terms of reverting back down to a complete shutdown, I would think we need to get the states pausing in their opening process. Looking at what did not work well and try to mitigate that," Dr Fauci told publication.
He added states like California, Arizona, Florida, and Texas, which all account for about 50 per cent of new coronavirus cases, needed to implement measures that would keep people socially distanced from each other to prevent more infections.
"If we can do that consistently, I will tell you, almost certainly, you're going to see a down curve of those infections," he said, adding, "We went from shutting down to opening up in a way that essentially skipped over all the guideposts. That's not the way to go. We've got to rethink that and do it differently."
More than 1.3m Americans file for unemployment as coronavirus cases surge
More than 1.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, as several states begin reversing plans to reopen their economies and resume statewide shutdowns after surging coronavirus case numbers across the US.
Initial unemployment claims fell by 99,000, marking a gradual decline since jobless claims were at their peak in mid-March.
Though last week's jobless claims marked a four-month low amid the pandemic, nearly 33 million people continued to receive unemployment benefits
Alex Woodward reports:
White House says Supreme Court justices did not rule against Trump on tax documents
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany responded to the Supreme Court ruling earlier on Thursday that said Donald Trump must turnover his tax documents to the Manhattan District Attorney.
"The justices did not rule against him," Ms McEnany said.
She was later asked why the president wouldn't want to disclose the documents to the public like all other presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, has previously done. Ms McEnany blamed current "audits".
"His taxes are under audit. When they are no longer under audit, he will release them," she said.
Press secretary says schools in coronavirus hotspots should reopen
Debate launched this week about which schools should reopen in the fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, specifically because multiple states are reporting a surge of cases.
White House Press Secretary reiterated during her Thursday press briefing that the Trump administration thought all schools should reopen, including those in hotspots.
This comes as issues between the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Trump administration arose about recommendations for schools on reopening. Donald Trump slammed the agency's recommendations earlier this week for being "very tough" and "expensive".
CDC Directer Dr Robert Redfield said on Thursday the agency would not be altering the recommendations but instead adding to them.
Eastern half of Oklahoma is Native American tribal land, Supreme Court rules
The US Supreme Court has ruled that a major portion of the state of Oklahoma must be considered Native American tribal territory.
The 5-4 decision found that the previously designated "Indian Country" was never diminished or disestablished as a reservation by Congress, meaning criminal cases in the area must be prosecuted by federal authorities under the Major Crimes Act.
The ruling in the case of McGirt vs Oklahoma overturns a 1997 conviction in the rape of an underage girl as the location should have been outside the jurisdiction of state criminal law.
Justin Vallejo reports:
Breaking News: Michael Cohen ordered back to prison after breaking house arrest
Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen has been returned to federal custody after he allegedly violated the terms of his coronavirus-related release to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.
Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and campaign finance violations by facilitating hush money payments to women who alleged affairs with the president, which Mr Trump has denied.
He began a three-year sentence late last year but was among nonviolent offenders who were released from prison amid Covid-19 pandemic fears in US detention centres.
Alex Woodward reports:
I've documented Trump every day of his presidency -- and now he's in free-fall John T Bennett with his analysis:
Anti-mask Republican wields chainsaw and blowtorch while comparing safety mandates to Nazi Germany
A state representative in Louisianna has protested against mask safety orders while wielding a chainsaw and comparing the measures to Nazi Germany in a video posted on social media.
In the advert, Louisiana Rep Danny McCormick tries to destroy masks with a blowtorch and a chainsaw and tramples a piece of paper with a stick.
Throughout the video, Rep McCormick speaks about his grievances of "mask mandates" stating that "masks aren't bad, mandates are".
Louise Hall reports:
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