Trump news: President 'crying out' for impeachment as he insists he is 'stable genius' in White House rant

Democrats calling on leadership to launch measure in response to administration's obstruction of probes

Donald Trump lashes out at Nancy Pelosi over cover-up comments, claiming to be 'most transparent president in US history'

Pressure is intensifying on Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.

An increasing number of Democrats - and even a Republican congressman - are openly calling for the measure in response to the Mueller report's findings and the Trump administration's refusal to submit documents to congressional investigations.

Mr Trump on Wednesday sabotaged a planned White House meeting with Ms Pelosi on infrastructure, and said he would not work with Democrats until all probes into him were closed.

Meanwhile, the president announced a massive $16bn (£12.6bn) aid package for farmers on Thursday, amid an intensifying confrontation with China on trade. US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that the first of three payments is likely to be made in July or August and suggested that the US and China were unlikely to have settled their differences by then.

“The package we’re announcing today ensures that farmers do not bear the brunt of unfair retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners,” Mr Perdue said.

The latest bailout comes atop $11bn (£8.7bn) in aid Mr Trump provided farmers last year.

“We will ensure our farmers get the relief they need and very, very quickly,” Mr Trump said in an unwieldy press conference on Thursday in which he insisted is a "very stable genius."

Seeking to reduce America’s trade deficit with the rest of the world and with China in particular, the president has imposed import taxes on foreign steel, aluminium, solar panels and dishwashers and on thousands of Chinese products.

US trading partners have lashed back with retaliatory tariffs of their own, focusing on U.S. agricultural products in a direct shot at the American heartland, where support for Trump runs high.

Financial markets slumped Thursday on heightened tensions between the US and China. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 286 points, or 1 per cent, to 25,490. It had been down 448 points earlier in the day.

Additional reporting by AP. Check out live updates as the came in below.

Please allow the blog a moment to load.

Key Points

• Trump administration reverses plans to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill
• Bank CEO charged with giving loans to Manafort in hopes of receiving administration job
• Trump responds to claims he stormed out of meeting with Pelosi
• The details about Trump's potential pardons for US war criminals

[23 May 2019 13:27 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren and influential congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have teamed up to ask Trump's treasury secretary some awkward questions about his role in the closing of thousands of Sears department stores, and the subsequent job losses in the tens of thousands. 

[23 May 2019 13:29 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Democratic congressman Ted Lieu has sent a letter to attorney general Bill Barr asking to read the unredacted Mueller report in light of Donald Trump's claims he is the "most transparent president" in history.

[23 May 2019 13:34 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Donald Trump has now turned his fire on Rex Tillerson, who yesterday testified to congress the president was less prepared than his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for a 2017 meeting between the pair in Germany. The former secretary of state said it left US officials at a disadvantage. 

[23 May 2019 13:42 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Also notable about Mr Trump renewed attack on Rex Tillerson is that the president has claimed he only hires "the best people". Indeed, Mr Trump was full of praise for his former secretary of state until their relationship started to sour. 

Now he's simply "dumb as a rock". 

[23 May 2019 13:59 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

A story which was lost a bit over the weekend, ProPublica has accused the Trump White House of using taxpayer money to pay for alcohol drank by Trump staffers at Trump's private club, Mar-a-Lago. 

[23 May 2019 14:01 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

On Wednesday evening, the House Oversight Committee reached an agreement with Mr Trump's attorneys to seek an expedited appeal in a court case in which lawmakers are seeking the president's financial records from his accounting firm.

A US judge ruled on Monday that the Mazars accounting firm must turn over the documents to the House Oversight and Reform Committee, but the president had appealed the decision.

The panel said in a statement that under the schedule, written arguments could be submitted as early 12 June, with briefings completed by July. The court has yet to approve the accelerated schedule.

[23 May 2019 14:06 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Donald Trump Jr has falsely claimed in an interview with his father's favourite TV show, Fox & Friends, that Democrats want something "beyond" socialism. 

[23 May 2019 14:12 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

The Trump administration plans to use a loophole and rising tensions with Iran to sell bombs to Saudi Arabia, even though Congress blocked such sales for months over concerns about civilian deaths in the war in Yemen, senator Chris Murphy has said.

"I am hearing that Trump may use an obscure loophole in the Arms Control Act and notice a major new sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia (the ones they drop in Yemen) in a way that would prevent Congress from objecting. Could happen this week," Mr Murphy warned on Twitter.

Congressional aides said there are provisions of the Arms Control Act, which sets rules for international arms transactions, that would allow a president to approve a sale without congressional review in case of a national emergency.

In this case, they said Mr Trump would cite rising tensions with Iran as a reason to provide more military equipment to Saudi Arabia, which he sees as an important US partner in the region. Mr Trump has touted arms sales to the Saudis as a way to generate jobs.

Mr Trump previously declared an influx of immigrants a national emergency to bypass Congress and get $6bn to build his wall along the Mexican border. Both Democrats and his fellow Republicans voted to block the move, forcing Mr Trump to issue the first veto of his presidency.

It was not immediately clear what equipment would be sold to Saudi Arabia or when any sale might go ahead.

[23 May 2019 14:16 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Another Trump issue vexing Democrats is the president's reported plan to pardon former US service members who have been accused of war crimes. 

Pete Buttigieg, a rising Democratic presidential candidate, has just spoken out against the alleged plan.

Here's more detail about those possible pardons, and the outrage it is provoking.

[23 May 2019 14:35 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

A senior Democrat in the House has suggested increasing numbers of his colleagues expect Donald Trump to be impeached.

Many in the party have resisted calls for proceedings to be initiated, with many suggesting that doing so would aid the president's repeated and unsubstantiated claims that he is the victim of a "deep state" conspiracy.

But John Yarmuth, chairman of the House budget committee, said: “I think what we have … is we have a situation in which I think a growing majority of our caucus believes that impeachment is going to be inevitable.