Trump 'seriously' considering ending birthright citizenship, as he doubles down on antisemitic comments and Denmark row
The president called himself "the chosen one" today
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump had a remarkable day of outbursts. Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, he doubled down on his antisemitic remarks to claim that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats are betraying Israel, during an impromptu press conference on the White House lawn in which he also claimed that the victims of mass shootings "love" him. He also referred to himself as "the chosen one," while talking about a trade deal.
The comments came after he lashed out on Twitter that morning against the “LameStream Media”, the Federal Reserve and its chairman Jerome Powell as fears the US is sliding into recession continue and his disapproval rating hits 54 per cent in a new CNN poll.
The president also tweeted lavish praise of himself from an evangelical Fox and Friends pundit insisting Israeli Jews “love him like he is the second coming of God”.
In news away from the president's Internet presence, his administration today moved forward with a new regulation that would allow the government to detain migrant families indefinitely. The rule is expected to be challenged immediately.
He also told reporters that he's "seriously considering" ending birthright citizenship.
Mr Trump has also raised eyebrows by backing out of a trip to Denmark, supposedly because they would not sell him Greenland. Mr Trump called the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, of that country "nasty" for outright rejecting the notion that the US could buy the country.
He also assured the National Rifle Association that universal background checks are off the table in gun control talks during a phone call with the NRA's president. Students from Parkland, meanwhile, have released a comprehensive plan for gun control in America.
Later, in Kentucky, the president joked that he should award himself the Medal of Honour, while continuing his consistent claims that America was weak before him in a speech honouring US veterans. He also referenced a Johnson & Johnson nasal spray that can prevent suicide. He told the veterans that he believes this new drug should be given to them for free.
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Trump talks about how much love people had for him when he visited the survivors of the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. He calls them "incredible people" and says "I love those people".
He says: "“I went to the hospitals. It was totally falsely reported. There were beautiful, beautiful, very sad, horrible moments but there were beautiful moments in the sense that these people their families and also the people whose families were so badly.
"You want to know the truth? They love their president and nobody wrote that ...They love, they totally love our country and they do love our president."
Trump was widely criticised at the time for appearing to make the visits about himself rather than striking the sombre tone usually expected from senior politicians in the wake of mass shootings. In particular, his decision to pose with the orphaned child of two victims while grinning and giving a thumbs-up received an angry response.
The president's media gaggle saw him return again and again to one of his favourite longstanding hobbies - attacking Obama.
As well as misrepresenting the 44th president's policy on migrant family separation, he criticised him for having cut payroll taxes to boost the economy. This week the Washington Post said Trump was discussing doing the same thing. The administration denied it before Trump himself acknowledged yesterday that it was true - before today playing it down.
And on foreign policy, Trump repeated his claim from yesterday that Russia had been excluded from the then-G8 club of rich countries because Vladimir Putin had "outsmarted" Obama. In fact Russia's exclusion, backed by several countries, came as a result of Putin's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Trump is keen for Russia to be readmitted, and has distinguished himself from previous US presidents by talking up the Russian leader at every opportunity, even publicly taking his side against US intelligence agencies.
During Mr Trump's comments on the White House lawn, he also suggested that his administration is still considering how to deny citizenship to babies born in the US if they are children of immigrants.
“We are looking at birthright citizenship very seriously," Mr Trump said. "It’s … it’s frankly ridiculous”.
What's it like being a parent of a transgender child in Trump's America? Casey Brown explains.
Donald Trump's needless row with Denmark, a founding member of NATO, is no laughing matter, says Jay Caruso. The president's infantile tantrum could have real consequences.
United States spending on NATO is very much on the president's mind. Having brought it up at his impromptu press conference he then tweeted this graph.
Trump has previously called the defence organisation "obsolete" and threatened to withdraw the US from it. He also hesitated to say he would respect Article 5, which states that members will consider an attack on one country to be an attack on all of them. Article 5 has only ever been invoked once, following the September 11 terror attacks on the United States in 2001.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments