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 21:05 · Chris Riotta]

Democratic lawmakers are slamming Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns as Congress looks at multiple ways of obtaining the president’s financial records. 

Dan Kildee said on ABC that Mr Trump “has broken nearly 50 years of tradition by not being transparent with the American people."

[8 April 2019 21:25 · Chris Riotta]

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee — an ally of Donald Trump — has released a statement expressing concern about the “growing leadership void” at the Department of Homeland Security. 

[8 April 2019 21:45 · Chris Riotta]

New reports indicate Michael Cohen has provided lawmakers with a drive containing 14 million documents believed to possible implicate Donald Trump in alleged crimes. 

The president’s former fixer is providing the material as part of an effort to avoid jail time: 

[8 April 2019 22:05 · Chris Riotta]

Democrats are slamming Donald Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller amid reports the president is planning a large overhaul of his Department of Homeland Security in order to implement an even more hard-line stance against migration along the US-Mexico border.

Freshman newcomer Ilhan Omar called Mr Miller a “white nationalist” on Twitter, writing, “The fact that he still has influence on policy and political appointments is an outrage.”

[8 April 2019 22:25 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump told border agents not to let in migrants seeking asylum while visiting the US-Mexico border, according to an explosive report. 

When he was told by outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen that closing the border would result in the end of legal migration and that migrants would simply go from port to port, the president reportedly responded, “I don’t care.”

[8 April 2019 22:40 · Chris Riotta]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Donald Trump’s decision to declare IRGC a terrorist group, saying in a statement posted to Twitter, “Once again you are keeping the world safe from Iran aggression and terrorism.”

[8 April 2019 22:50 · Chris Riotta]

A federal judge has blocked an immigration policy by Donald Trump that would force some asylum seekers to await court hearings in Mexico. 

The California judge made the decision on Monday, a day after it was announced Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would be resigning from the administration. 

[8 April 2019 23:00 · Chris Riotta]

A government analyst told the Associated Press they has never seen the type of computer malware a Chinese woman was carrying when she was arrested at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. 

She reportedly lied to the Secret Service, and had more than $8,000 (£6,125) in cash at the hotel room she was staying at during the incident. It remains unclear whether she was attempting to spy for the Chinese government. 

[8 April 2019 23:10 · Chris Riotta]

A photo apparently showing the passport for Chinese national Yujing Zhang has been released after she was reported to have breached security at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort while holding scores of electronics as well as malware: