Trump news: President speaks out about Jeffrey Epstein relationship, after lashing out at 'very stupid' UK ambassador

Follow the latest updates from Washington, as it happened

Donald Trump: 'The ambassador has not served the UK well, I can tell you that'

Donald Trump’s Russian-born business associate Felix Sater testified before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, as the president resumed his row with UK ambassador to the US Sir Kim Darroch, and lashed out at the “mess” Theresa May has made of Brexit.

In one of his latest angry Twitter diatribe, the president called Sir Kim “wacky”, “a very stupid guy” and “a pompous fool” before laying into Ms May for going “her own foolish way” and ignoring his advice on Britain’s departure from the EU. “A disaster!” he concluded.

A meeting between his Commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, and Liam Fox was later cancelled. It was not immediately clear why, but officials told The Independent that the Brexit-related deal was being rescheduled.

Mr Trump talked up his environmental credentials at the White House on Monday night, during which he was brutally fact-checked by Fox News (and others), before sitting down to dinner with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was caught up in a prostitution scandal earlier this year, just days after his former friend Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and accused of sex crimes involving underage girls.

The US president later said that he and Mr Epstein had a falling out roughly 15 years ago. Mr Epstein is known for having a close relationship with Bill Clinton as well, and managed to get a favourable plea deal on previous charges in Florida, when he was being accused by Alexander Acosta. Mr Acosta is now the secretary of Labour.

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Key Points

• Trump lambasts 'wacky' ambassador, hits out at May over Brexit 'disaster'
• Business associate Felix Sater to testify before Congress
• Trump dines with Robert Kraft days after Jeffrey Epstein arrest
• President brutally fact-checked by Fox after defending environmental credentials
• New York state could give Congress Trump's tax returns under new law

[9 July 2019 18:20 · Chris Riotta]

It looks like the right-wing MOAR rally in Washington won't be taking place this year due to insufficient funding -

[9 July 2019 18:49 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has retweeted the following message referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's upcoming public testimony on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as a "public spectacle" -

[9 July 2019 19:14 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has called himself an “extremely stable genius” over the years, pointing to his Ivy League education from Pennsylvania’s Wharton School for businesses as an example of the “super genius stuff” he claims to be capable of achieving. 

However, a new report featuring insight from the school’s former admissions officer who met Mr Trump during his application process has shed new light on just how easy it was for the president to get into the university in the 1960s.

James Nolan, the former admissions officer who reportedly was the only official from his department to meet with Mr Trump during the admissions process, said he was not significantly impressed by the future president when the pair met at the time.

Story to come...

[9 July 2019 19:35 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has awkwardly defended a past association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, saying he was a "fixture in Palm Beach".

A day after the 66-year-old financier was charged in a New York court with sex trafficking and accused of luring dozens of girls to his luxury homes and coerced them into performing sex acts, the president was asked about his relationship with him. 

Epstein had once been a regular at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, but the president claimed he long ago had a falling out with him.

[9 July 2019 20:08 · Chris Riotta]

Senator Susan Collins has released a new email urging Donald Turmp's Justice Department to defend the Affordable Care Act - even though her own vote in 2017 helped derail it into a series of legal challenges -

[9 July 2019 20:33 · Chris Riotta]

Here's my story on Donald Trump's controversial admissions experience at Wharton -

[9 July 2019 21:20 · Chris Riotta]

Jeremy Hunt has criticised Donald Trump for his attack on the UK ambassador Kim Darroch – and vowed to keep the top diplomat in post if he wins the race to No 10.

The foreign secretary broke ranks after No 10 – and Boris Johnson – refused to hit back at the US president directly, calling his comments “disrespectful and wrong”.

In a series of tweets directed at Mr Trump, Mr Hunt said: “Friends speak frankly so I will: these comments are disrespectful and wrong to our Prime Minister and my country.”

[9 July 2019 21:43 · Clark Mindock]

Last week, Border Patrol in Arizona responded to allegations that migrants are being forced to drink from toilets.

Here's a video:

[9 July 2019 22:45 · Clark Mindock]

Reuters reports that a judge has denied the Trump administration's request to swap outmost of the lawyers representing the government as it seeks legal approval to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

[9 July 2019 22:54 · Clark Mindock]

Another Reuters report: The Pentagon said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's celebration of U.S. Independence Day, which included bringing tanks and equipment to Washington, cost the military at least $1.2 million.