Trump news: President launches foul-mouthed rant about impeachment as he adds Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz to his legal team

Controversial legal team to mount defence of president as Senate trial begins

Lev Parnas likens Trump to 'cult leader'

As the Senate prepares to hold its third presidential impeachment trial in US history, the defence team for Donald Trump was revealed to include Ken Starr, Robert Ray, Alan Dershowitz and Pam Bondi.

Mr Starr led the investigation into Bill Clinton in the late 1990s while Dershowitz has defended such controversial public figures as OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.

During the Clinton impeachment, then-private citizen Trump called Mr Starr a "freak" and a "lunatic" in his pursuit of impeaching then-president Clinton, who Mr Trump supported at the time.

As the Senate swore in chief justice John Roberts on Thursday to preside over the trial, Mr Trump responded angrily from the Oval Office, declaring he had been impeached for “absolutely no reason”.

The president has also continued to deny knowing Lev Parnas, the business associate of his attorney Rudy Giuliani who is the latest to come forward with evidence against him, placing renewed pressure on the likes of Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and ex-Energy Secretary Rick Perry to reveal what they know about the Kiev plot.

But the president enjoyed a sympathetic Republican audience as he celebrated college football champions from LSU on Friday, when he joked about his impeachment while citing a strong economy and well-funded military before flying to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend.

He told the team: "They're trying t impeach the son of a b****. Can you believe that? We got the greatest economy we ever had ... We got the greatest military. We rebuilt it. We took out those terrorists like your football team would've taken out those terrorists, right?"

Follow live coverage as it happened:

Key Points

• Trump tells football team: 'They're trying to impeach the son of a b****'
• President's team announce impeachment defence lawyers
• Iran's supreme leader labels Trump a 'clown' at Friday prayers
• Trump rages against 'hoax' as Senate impeachment trial commences
• Parnas says Trump World 'like a cult' as pressure grows on Mike Pompeo
• Eleven US troops injured in Iran missile attack despite Pentagon denial

[17 January 2020 21:10 · Alex Woodward]

SCOTUS to hear Trump case to roll back health insurance rules for birth control 

The US Supreme Court will take up a challenge to the Trump administration's attempt to allow employers and universities to take away health insurance coverage of contraceptives on grounds of religious beliefs.

A mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services would expand the types of employers who can opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women by claiming religious objections, part of the Affordable Care Act rules that Republicans have been whittling away since its inception.

The court will likely heart arguments in the case in April.

[17 January 2020 22:27 · Alex Woodward]

USDA targets Obama-era school nutrition policy

The Trump administration is rolling back nutrition standards established by Michelle Obama's signature school health policy.

New USDA guideline's were announced on the former first lady's birthday.

The rule will give school districts more flexibility in the amount of fruit offered at breakfast and what kinds of vegetables can be offered in meals — opening the door for french fries and hamburgers to make a big comeback in school lunches after the Obama administration mandated that schools offer students daily servings of fruits and vegetables as well as whole grain foods and lower-fat milks.

[17 January 2020 22:33 · Alex Woodward]

We're wrapping up today's live coverage of the Trump administration.

Stay tuned with The Independent for more.