Trump news: President claims Adam Schiff is an 'informant' while slamming 'phony' Emoluments Clause in rambling Cabinet meeting
'I was willing to do this thing for free,' president claims after reversing decision to host G7 at his private resort
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has complained after pulling back his announcement that the next G7 summit of world leaders would be held at his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, raging that the media and his Democratic opposition concerned about conflict of interest failed to mention that “NO PROFITS would be taken”.
On the Sunday talk show circuit, the president’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney defended the president's original plan by arguing he is “in the hospitality business” while ex-Republican congressman Justin Amash accused him of treating US troops “as paid mercenaries” by relocating them to Iraq and Saudi Arabia rather than bringing them home from war-torn Syria.
The president lashed out Monday at critics who prompted him to move next year's Group of Seven summit from his private golf club in Florida, claiming he would have hosted it for free and now it will end up costing taxpayers "a fortune."
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Mr Trump said it would have been the greatest G-7 ever if held at his Doral resort outside Miami, but "Democrats went crazy" with criticisms that he would have violated the "phony" emoluments clause in the Constitution banning presidents from receiving gifts from foreign countries.
"I was willing to do this for free," Mr Trump said Monday, comparing it to his decision not to take his presidential salary. "It will cost a fortune for the country."
He brushed aside the criticism that hosting the summit would have been one big promotion for his brand.
Mr Trump said: "You don't think I get enough promotion? I get more promotion than any human being that's ever lived."
The president reversed course Saturday on hosting the G-7 at Doral after Republicans joined Democrats in raising alarm.
His acting chief of staff said that the president had realised that "it looks lousy" to steer business to his own property.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton has meanwhile posted a ruthless Cold War-era parody of his letter to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, in which Mr Trump had begged Mr Erdogan not to carpet bomb America’s Kurdish allies by imploring: “Don’t be a tough guy, don’t be a fool!”
Mr Mulvaney said last week that Doral was "far and away" the best venue because of its location near the Miami airport and separate buildings to host each country's delegation.
He listed more than a half dozen states visited in the screening process, including Tennessee, North Carolina, Hawaii and Utah. But convention, economic development and tourism officials in several of those states said they were unaware of any visits, and some didn't even know their state was in the running.
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A former US envoy who worked to defeat the Islamic State said the conflict in Syria is "going to get worse" following Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from the region:
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Democrats are beginning to call on acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to testify before House committees investigating Donald Trump for impeachment.
The calls arrived after Mr Mulvaney essentially admit to there being a "quid pro quo" in the president's call with Ukraine - before later walking his comments back.
With all of the recent departures and continued staff shakeups at the White House, it seems clear that Donald Trump's circle has grown smaller in size:
Furious residents of towns in northeast Syria pelted US forces with vegetables and accused them of “betrayal” on Monday, as soldiers withdrew from Kurdish-controlled areas amid a controversial Turkish incursion there.
The embarrassing scenes were caught on camera by locals in the border town of Qamishli who told The Independent dozens of armoured vehicles travelled through north Syria overnight and crossed the Iraqi border on Monday morning.
The local population has accused the US of abandoning Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces “to be slaughtered by Turkey alone” even though the SDF has lost some 10,000 fighters helping the US defeat Isis.
President Donald Trump, who wants to bring Americans home from “endless wars” in the Middle East, announced that US troops would pull back and not stop an imminent attack from Turkey two weeks ago. Days later Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel allies launched a cross-border incursion against the Kurds, aimed at building a 30km-buffer zone along the Turkish border in Syria.
Donald Trump’s multiple abuses of office are more serious than those even of Richard Nixon, and Democrats must trigger their effort to impeach him before the end of the year, a former top Republican administration lawyer has claimed.
Richard Painter, who served as an ethics lawyer to the administration of George W Bush but who quit the party after it moved sharply to the right, claims Mr Trump’s offences are unique even when considered against the many misdeeds of his predecessors.
“President Trump has violated the constitution in numerous ways, including taking profits and benefits from foreign governments. He’s obstructed justice, as outlined in the second part of Robert Mueller’s report,” Mr Painter told The Independent in an interview in Minneapolis, following the president’s recent rally in the city.
The Independent's Andrew Buncombe has more:
Here's video of Donald Trump defending his now-cancelled decision to host the next G7 summit at his private resort in Doral, Florida:
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