Trump news: President gives rambling speech at UN after Ukraine call memo released, as Senate receives whistleblower complaint
Document shows president asked Ukrainian leader to talk to Giuliani about investigation
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump’s tumultuous day began with the release of a memo describing a phone call which could end his presidency, and ended with a weary rambling speech characterised by boasts, false claims and self pity.
If the president thought releasing the partial transcript would silence his critics, as he seemed to hope, he could not have been more wrong.
While his supporters claimed the memo exonerated him, his opponents insisted that it was even more damning than they had feared.
The call showed him asking his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Joe Biden, who could face Mr Trump in next year’s presidential election, immediately after discussing the military aid Kiev needs to protect itself against a Russian-backed insurgency.
They also talked disparagingly about the former US ambassador to Ukraine who was recalled after apparently falling foul of the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Mr Trump apparently told the Ukrainian president: “Well, she’s going to go through some things.”
After appearing at an awkward media conference with the Ukrainian president himself on the edges of the UN general assembly, Mr Trump addressed the press himself.
In a low-energy performance, he insisted that the accusations against him were a Democrat “hoax” timed to embarrass him in front of the world’s leaders, boasted about his accomplishments, accused Mr Biden and his son of being corrupt and assured a Venezuelan journalist that he was watching developments in her country closely.
Updates below...
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The president sounded defiant about the possibility of impeachment yesterday but apparently he was not so bullish behind closed doors.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins said Mr Trump was reportedly taken aback by Ms Pelosi’s announcement last night.
And our reporter Chris Baynes has more details on the claims that Mr Trump called Ms Pelosi to ask if they could “work something out” yesterday:
Rudy Giuliani is one of the key men at the centre of the president’s latest scandal.
This report details his role in an alleged months-long campaign to exploit US-Ukraine relations for Mr Trump’s political gain.
BREAKING: Mr Trump is awake and lashing out at Democrats for announcing an impeachment inquiry into his presidency.
He has accused his political opponents of being “frozen with hatred and fear” and declared again that “no president in the history of our country” has been treated as badly as him.
That is presumably ignoring the four presidents who have been assassinated while in office.
In contrast to the YouGov poll earlier today, the Quinnipiac University national poll shows much less enthusiasm for impeachment.
Only 37 per cent of voters support Mr Trump being impeached and removed from office, while 57 per cent oppose it.
However, it is important to note that the Quinnipiac poll asked a general question - "Do you think that President Trump should be impeached and removed from office?"
The YouGov poll asked about a scenario in which it was proven that Mr Trump had suspended military aid to Ukraine to trigger an investigation into Joe Biden.
That suggests enthusiasm for impeachment would increase if more evidence comes forward to support the allegations against the president.
Also, Rudy Giuliani is about to go on Fox & Friends which could be interesting if he’s still as fired-up as he was last night.
2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker has just laid out the Democrats’ case for impeachment on Fox & Friends.
You can watch his argument below:
Mr Giuliani has claimed he has had the Ukraine “transcript” read to him.
If true, this raises the question of why was Mr Giuliani, who is not a government official, allowed to see the document before Congress?
Democrats will not be satisfied by the release of a transcript, according to a source for Axios’ Alexi McCammond, and want to see the full whistleblower’s complaint.
The source said:
“Democrats want the full complaint. Not some fake transcript.
“Trump tried to bribe a foreign government to create a fake scandal on his enemy. He will pay for that.”
The Trump campaign’s impeachment fundraising drive raised about $1m in one day after the announcement of a formal inquiry, according to Politico.
The “impeachment defence task force” is described by the campaign as a group “made up of only President Trump’s most LOYAL supporters, the ones committed to fighting for him, re-electing him, and taking back the House.”
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