Trump news: US nuclear arsenal now 'in tippy-top shape' says president when asked about responding to Iran: 'We should all pray we don't have to use them'
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Donald Trump has defended himself on Twitter as his administration faces an extraordinary showdown with Congress after acting national intelligence director Joseph Maguire withheld a whistleblower’s complaint understood to concern a private conversation between the president and a foreign leader, despite its being classified a matter of “urgent concern”.
He also told reporters that they should "look into Joe Biden" when asked about the whistleblower's complaint, in an angry press conference in the Oval Office, during which he called the whistleblower "bipartisan," though he said he did not know who the person was.
Later, The Wall Street Journal reported that the president asked Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukranian president, to investigate Joe Biden's son "about eight times" during one phone call in July.
The White House said the president will meet with Mr Zelensky next week.
The House Intelligence Committee has not ruled out going to court to force Mr Maguire’s hand, according to the panel’s chairman Adam Schiff, as The Washington Post and New York Times report at least part of the mystery complaint involves Ukraine.
The president’s former secretary of state Rex Tillerson has meanwhile told Harvard University that the administration “got played” by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he described as “a bit Machiavellian”.
The president did not mention Friday's wildly successful climate strike at all today.
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Speaking of Don Jr, the president's son has been accusing Instagram of trying to "shadow-ban" him by making it difficult to find his account when you search for it.
This is just the latest example of a broader Silicon Valley conspiracy to silence conservative voices, he alleges.
Which is odd because when we tested it his account came up straight away.
Here's Lowenna Waters for Indy100.
Democratic 2020 contender Beto O'Rourke has laid into Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer at a town hall event in Colorado, accusing him of doing "absolutlely nothing" to address gun violence.
“Ask Chuck Schumer what he’s been able to get done,” the Democratic presidential candidate told reporters in response to the party elder's recent dismissal of O’Rourke’s call for a mandatory buyback of assault weapons.
“We still don’t have background checks. Didn’t have them when he was in the majority, either. So the game that he’s played, the politics that he’s pursued have given us absolutely nothing and have produced a situation where we lose nearly 40,000 of our fellow Americans every year.”
According to New York paper The Times Union, Schumer had told reporters on a call: "I don't know of any other Democrat who agrees with Beto O'Rourke, but it's no excuse not to go forward."
O'Rourke's uncompromising comment led one cynical Arizona gun shop owner to offer a "Beto Special" on AR-15s earlier this week, swiftly selling out and prompting him to name the candidate "Employee of the Month".
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has just announced he is dropping out of the 2020 Democratic presidential race - giving him more time to sort out the Big Apple Subway.
Goddamn you MetroCard!
Here's Phil Thomas with more.
Sticking with the 2020 Democratic field, Pete Buttigieg has told Jake Tapper on CNN that rival Elizabeth Warren - famed for her policy plans - has been "extremely evasive" when it comes to healthcare.
Buttigieg has meanwhile hired Angela M Angel, a former state legislator in Maryland, to serve as his "black engagement director", tasked with helping boost the Indiana mayor's support among African-American voters.
"The only real struggle that's been so far which is what I'm working on and what we're changing is that a lot of black voters don't know Pete,” Angel said.
“So once we get them engaged and they begin to hear his story and begin to hear his plans for the country, we've always had great interactions with folks. So really that's what we're dealing with, getting him in the black community to get him well known and that's what we're doing."
This is pretty disgusting.
The Trump administration has threatened to disqualify a university-level Middle East studies programme from receiving federal funding as punishment for teaching the “positive aspects of Islam”.
The US Department of Education - headed up by Betsy DeVos - has ordered that the programme run by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University revise their course plans by 22 September or risk losing future funding.
The administration claims the course has “critical shortcomings and impermissible biases”, with “very little serious instruction” on national security and instead “considerable emphasis” on the “positive aspects of Islam”.
One man who might well agree with Beto O'Rourke's aforementioned assault rifles reclaim effort is Republican politician George Cretekos, mayor of Clearwater, Florida, who is urging his fellow city council members to a pass a resolution banning the lethal weapons in a state known to be in thrall to the National Rifle Association.
Pro-Trump social media personalites Diamond and Silk continue to squeeze every last nickel out of their shameless brand.
Trump has been on rare form in the last hour, mocking Bill de Blasio and "Little" Adam Schiff with dripping sarcasm.
Trump has been welcoming his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison to the White House this morning.
New Yorkers are already relishing the thought of tomorrow's headlines on De Blasio.
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