Trump news: President's alleged business ties to IRGC stir controversy after he brands group a terrorist organisation

Read along for our coverage as the president cleaned house on Monday

Donald Trump 'will never release tax returns' claims White House official Mick Mulvaney

Donald Trump has labelled Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation in an unprecedented move that could have lasting consequences for the United States.

The president declared for the first time in history that another government entity was a terror group, potentially making it more difficult for American diplomats and other officials working in the region.

The move arrives a day after the president accepted of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, with whom he has repeatedly clashed over his administration’s more hardline immigration policies, as he seeks more drastic action to address the “crisis” at the US southern border.

Ms Nielsen's departure on Sunday was followed by the resignation of Randolph Alles, who was in charge of the Secret Service but had apparently fallen out of Mr Trump's good graces weeks ago.

Those two resignations were expected to be followed by more departures in the Department of Homeland Security in the days or weeks to come as a part of a phase that some in the media have begun to call a purge.

Also in the news was Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, who made eight criminal referrals to the attorney-general, William Barr, over the leaking of Mr Trump’s phone calls with ex-Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto and national security adviser Michael Flynn’s calls to a Russian ambassador.

Coming up this week, attorney general William Barr is slated to testify before both the House and the Senate on his department's budget for the coming year.

But, that testimony is likely to veer of track a bit as democrats grill him about the contents of the Mueller report, which he received last month.

Mr Barr as pledged to send the report to Congress in the coming weeks, but it remains to be seen just how much of the report might be redacted.

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Key Points

• Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigns
• Trump 'urged reinstatement' of policy separating migrant families
• Administration designates Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organisation
• Top Republican calls for Robert Mueller testimony to House Judiciary Committee
• Republican congressman vows to root out White House leaker

[8 April 2019 18:00 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump’s business ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have stirred controversy following the president’s decision to label the group a terrorist organization. 

Mr Trump and his daughter worked with a “notoriously” unethical” Azerbaijani family to build an enormous hotel called Trump Tower Baku, which has since been allegedly become a corrupt operation run by “the Corleones of the Caspian,” which is linked to the IRGC. 

[8 April 2019 18:10 · Chris Riotta]

Here's more on Donald Trump's decision to label the IRGC a terrorist group:

[8 April 2019 18:20 · Chris Riotta]

Here's more behind-the-scenes information on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation: 

[8 April 2019 18:40 · Chris Riotta]

Leading officials at the Pentagon and CIA opposed Donald Trump’s decision to label the IRGC a terrorist group, according to the New York Times, believing the move “would allow hard-line Iranian officials to justify deadly operations against Americans overseas, especially Special Operations units and paramilitary units working under the CIA.”

[8 April 2019 19:00 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has lambasted the Democratic Party in a tweet. 

“The Democrats will never be satisfied, no matter what they get, how much they get, or how many pages they get,” he wrote on Monday. 

The president added, “It will never end, but that’s the way life goes!”

[8 April 2019 19:15 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has instructed his acting chief of staff to fire the head of the Secret Service, according to reports.

Multiple senior administration officials have told CNN and NBC News that the president had told Mick Mulvaney to fire Randolph Alles two weeks ago, marking the latest top official to be forced out of their position during the tumultuous administration.

[8 April 2019 19:33 · Chris Riotta]

A Washington lobbyist initially ensnared in the special counsel’s Russia investigation is asking a federal judge to spare him from prison time for unregistered lobbying and participating in a foreign donation scheme involving President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.

Attorneys for W. Samuel Patten, who faces up to five years in prison, said in court papers filed Monday that he should be credited for cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and receive probation.

The filing comes as Mueller has concluded his investigation but federal prosecutors press forward on other probes around the president including whether foreigners illegally contributed to the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

AP

[8 April 2019 19:50 · Chris Riotta]

Turns out the Chinese national carrying electronics while sneaking into Mar-a-Lago was carrying a lot more than the previously reported malware she had on her person when entering the president’s exclusive resort:

[8 April 2019 20:14 · Chris Riotta]

The dots are starting to connect in the story of a Chinese national carrying malware into Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort…

[8 April 2019 20:36 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump could be preparing for a massive overhaul at the Department of Homeland Security, with new reports detailing other potential positions the president could replace in the days ahead: