Trump news: President says US forces killed terrorists behind Paris attacks, after launching latest insults at John McCain

Updates from Washington as they happened on Wednesday

Donald Trump escalates criticism of US war hero: 'I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be'

Donald Trump has resumed his attack on George Conway, the husband of White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway, after the latter questioned the president’s mental health.

In response, Mr Trump called the lawyer “a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!”

Mr Trump has also been accused of “punching at a person that can’t fight back because he’s dead” over his feud with recently deceased Vietnam War hero and Republican senator John McCain.

“I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be,” Mr Trump said yesterday during a press conference at the White House with Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, prompting the comment from CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on the disrespect being shown to a long-serving American public servant who passed away of brain cancer last August, aged 81.

The ongoing attacks on the late senator has led many to express support for the famed Arizonan, even as the president has continued to double down on his criticism of the war hero.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Trump took a trip to Lima, Ohio, where he visited a tank manufacturing plant and expressed admiration for the "patriotism" he said was on full display in the company.

Before boarding his plane to leave Washington, Mr Trump told reporters that he expects special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election to be released publicly.

Mr Mueller's report is expected any day now, with many reports indicating the investigation is winding down or already finished up.

The report would first be sent to the Justice Department, at which point Attorney General William Barr would determine what form of a report he would pass along to Congress for further review.

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Key Points

• Trump resumes attack on 'stone cold LOSER' husband of adviser Kellyanne Conway
• Criticised over repeated attacks on late senator and war hero John McCain
• Defends electoral college against Democratic calls for reform
• Due to visit Ohio days after attacking GM autoworkers' union

[20 March 2019 11:35 · Joe Sommerlad]

Following Meghan McCain's stout defence of her late father against Mr Trump's slings and arrows, another daughter of a leading light of the GOP has criticised the current administration.

Patti Davis, daughter of the 40th president Ronald Reagan, told Yahoo News's Through Her Eyes with Zainab Salbi her father would "be horrified" by the Trump presidency.

"I think he would be horrified. I think he would be heartbroken," she said. "Because he loved this country a lot and he believed in this country."

"If you stir up fear in people, you weaken them. If you divide people, you weaken them... Everything [Trump] says is divisive. Look at his rallies."

She also called on people to "speak up and stand up," warning that "we are going to lose this country" if they don't.

[20 March 2019 11:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

President Trump is visiting the bellwether Midwestern state of Ohio today, awkward in that it comes just days after he lambasted an autoworkers' union over the closure of a General Motors plant in Lordstown.

He is set to visit the Lima Army Tank Plant, which had been at risk for closure but is now benefiting from his administration's investments in defence spending, before holding a fundraiser for his re-election campaign in the town of Canton.

[20 March 2019 12:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

"Perhaps no state has better illustrated the re-aligning effects of Trump's candidacy and presidency than Ohio, where traditionally Democratic-leaning working-class voters have swung heavily toward the GOP, and moderate Republicans in populous suburban counties have shifted away from Trump," Zeke Miller of the AP says of the significance of Ohio.

This is why Donald Trump is making his 10th visit to the state since taking office.

"Nationally, Democrats have placed less of an emphasis on the traditional battleground state. Ohio was conspicuously absent from the list of key 2020 states - Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida - that are receiving a share of a $100 million [£75.6m] investment by the Democratic super PAC, Priorities USA. The state doesn't even make the PAC's 'phase two' roster, which includes Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and New Hampshire," Mr Miller adds.

[20 March 2019 12:03 · Joe Sommerlad]

President Trump is up and repeating his attacks on George Conway, having yesterday branded him "a total loser" after the lawyer had questioned his sanity on Twitter, tweeting definitions of narcissistic personality disorder from a psychology textbook.

This was went down yesterday:

Here's Tom Embury-Dennis to explain this latest excursion down the rabbit hole.

[20 March 2019 12:09 · Joe Sommerlad]

Here's George's response:

The "husband from hell" told The Washington Post yesterday his anti-Trump tweets stop him screaming at his wife, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.

"It's so maddening to watch," he told the newspaper. "The mendacity, the incompetence, it's just maddening to watch. The tweeting is just the way to get it out of the way, so I can get it off my chest and move on with my life that day. That's basically it. Frankly, it's so I don't end up screaming at her about it."

In among the mud-slinging, there's a serious allegation from Donald Trump here:

Meanwhile, here's a picture of their marriage from Jim Carrey, fast becoming the planet's foremost political cartoonist.

[20 March 2019 12:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

All this and we haven't even gotten around to Donald Trump Jr's thoughts on Brexit, as expressed in The Daily Telegraph.

"Mrs May ignored advice from my father, and ultimately, a process that should have taken only a few short months has become a years-long stalemate, leaving the British people in limbo," Don Jr says.

With the deadline fast approaching, it appears that democracy in the UK is all but dead.

"The battle for independence isn’t over; it has only just begun.

"The elites will not surrender their power lightly, and we shouldn’t expect them to. But we need to keep fighting to reclaim it for the people."

It hasn't gone down well in Westminster.

[20 March 2019 12:25 · Joe Sommerlad]

Here's Will Gore for Indy Voices on Don Jr and Brexit.

[20 March 2019 12:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

More from George Conway, who is angry indeed:

[20 March 2019 12:37 · Joe Sommerlad]

FAO Kellyanne Conway.

[20 March 2019 12:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

Famously understated conservative radio host Glenn Beck told Fox's Sean Hannity yesterday that a Donald Trump defeat in 2020 would mean “we are officially at the end of the country as we know it.”

Here's Clark Mindock.