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As it happenedended1568065505

Trump news: President says Bahamas full of 'bad gang members', as official threatens to fire NOAA employees over Hurricane Dorian claims

Follow the latest updates from Washington, as they happened

Clark Mindock
New York
,Joe Sommerlad
Monday 09 September 2019 18:26 BST
Comments
Mark Sanford explains why he is running against Donald Trump in the Republican primary

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Donald Trump is campaigning in North Carolina on Monday in support of Republican Mark Harris, who faces a strong challenge in a special election in a district that the president carried overwhelmingly in 2016.

During an impromptu press conference before boarding his plane to that state, Mr Trump shocked reports by telling them that he is hesitant to allow Bahamians to enter the US after Hurricane Dorian because the island is full of "bad gang members". Also during that press conference, the president repeatedly said that Barack Obama had given him a present by leaving judicial vacancies, and repeatedly insisted that pundits had misanalysed the 2018 election results — in which Republicans lost control of the House — because his party had retained control of the Senate in an election year that favoured the GOP.

Speaking of Hurricane Dorian, Mr Trump's use of a sharpie to modify a hurricane projection map has kept in the news, with reports indicating that employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been threatened by the Commerce Department if they contradicted the commander-in-chief when he claimed that the storm was set to smash into Alabama.

As Mr Trump returns to campaign mode once again, the president has also faced a burgeoning field of Republican challengers to him in 2020, prompting him to declare that he would not join a debate stage with any of them.

Mr Trump also engaged in a fight with Chrissy Teigen and her husband, John Legend, who called the president a "p**** a** b****".

And, Mr Trump has also been accused of treating foreign policy "like a gameshow", after talks with the Taliban broke down before they even started at Camp David.

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Trump is back on it, going after CNN ("bad for the USA") and MSNBC ("lost all credibility").

Who exactly are these world leaders that spend their every waking moment worrying about the state of the American media? He was hammering on about this after the recent G7 too.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2019 14:50
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He has also denied knowing anything about the US airmen staying at his resort in Scotland.

Although last week he denied drawing on that weather map with the smoking Sharpie in plain view so who knows?

Here's Chris Riotta's breaking story.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2019 14:55
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Here's another denial from the strong and stable genius.

Honestly, what next? "The crooked and corrupt LameStream Media keeps insisting I have a daughter called Tiffany, which is totally untrue and... oh..."

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2019 15:00
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Here's why Trump is so furious with CNN.

The network has reported the US secretly extricated a top spy from Russia shortly after Trump hosted the Russian foreign minister and ambassador to the US in the Oval Office and appeared to reveal highly classified intelligence.

The previously undisclosed operation to remove the highly-placed American spy happened in 2017 but has only now come to light, the broadcaster said, citing "multiple Trump administration officials".

White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham denied the claims, saying: "CNN's reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in danger."

Clark Mindock has more.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2019 15:15
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The majority of Americans live in fear a mass shooting will happen in their community and an even larger share of the country support stricter gun laws to prevent them from happening, a new poll has found. 

After a summer of deadly shootings nationwide, 56 per cent of Americans support banning the sale of assault weapons, compared to 41 per cent who oppose the move, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Monday. 

The vast majority of respondents said they support measures known as “red flag laws”, with 86 per cent saying they would approve of policies that allow police officers to remove weapons from individuals and homes when ordered by a judge.

Chris Riotta has the full story.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2019 15:30
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Today's "Flaming Dancer" gaffe has already inspired plenty of droll memes.

Here's Greg Evans with a round-up.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2019 15:45
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Why does this not sound entirely convincing?

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2019 16:00
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The acting chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating whether the agencies response to Donald Trump's claims about the path of Hurricane Dorian constituted a breach of policies or ethics.

Mr Trump claimed that the storm was going to slam into Alabama, even after official forecasts had shifted to indicate the storm would not impact that state. After making that claim, the president doubled down last week and even presented a map of the impact zone of Dorian, and an area outlined in sharpie to apparently show it in the path of the storm.

In an email obtained by numerous news agencies, Craig LcLean, the acting chief scientist, called the agency's response "political" and said that it is a "danger to public health and safety."

Clark Mindock9 September 2019 16:24
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Donald Trump is now honouring officers and civilians who responded to the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas.

He is doing so from the White House.

Clark Mindock9 September 2019 16:39
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Mr Trump's remarks honouring the officers and civilians is pretty standard for him, he's reading from a teleprompter, and being fairly respectful.

He's describing the series of events in the two cities, during their shootings that took place within 13 hours of one another.

Clark Mindock9 September 2019 16:40

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