Trump news: President attacks impeachment inquiry witnesses as ‘Never Trumpers’ in baseless smear and stalls new Ukraine transcript release
President attacks apparent enemies on the day before impeachment hearings are set to go public
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has attacked House impeachment inquiry witnesses as “Never Trumpers” without basis and delayed the release of a transcript of his first call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a gesture his supporters had hoped would prove the president’s intentions towards the country were entirely innocent.
Kiev was reportedly alarmed by the hold-up of $400m (£312m) in American military aid this summer and reached out to Washington for answers, according to the latest records of witness testimony released by the inquiry from senior officials Laura Cooper, Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson.
A federal judge has meanwhile ruled that the president cannot sue to stop his home state of New York from acquiring his tax returns while Mr Trump has unexpectedly come under fire from Fox host Andrew Napolitano, who took him to task for his “often tasteless banter” and disrespect for the US Constitution.
One man who also won’t be suing: Mick Mulvaney. The president’s acting chief of staff said Tuesday that he no longer plans to sue over the House impeachment proceedings and will instead follow Mr Trump’s directions and decline to cooperate.
In a court filing Tuesday, one day before the impeachment inquiry enters a critical phase of public hearings, Mr Mulvaney said he no longer planned to ask a judge for guidance on whether he must cooperate with the House.
He said he would rely on Mr Trump’s instructions “as supported by an opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel of the US Department of Justice, in not appearing for the relevant deposition.”
Mr Mulvaney had been subpoenaed to appear last week for a closed-door deposition before House impeachment investigators but did not show up.
House Democrats had seen him as a potentially important witness, in part because he has publicly confirmed the contours of a quid pro quo arrangement in which the Trump administration would release military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the country announcing an investigation into Democratic rival Joe Biden.
His name has also repeatedly surfaced in the testimony of other witnesses who have cooperated.
The Justice Department legal opinion that Mr Mulvaney references says close advisers to the president are immune from having to testify to Congress because “preparing for such examinations would force them to divert time and attention from their duties to the President at the whim of congressional committees.”
Additional reporting by the Associated Press. Please allow a moment for our live blog to load
Donald Trump is saying gains on Wall Street “should be attributed to us, and not someone else” from the day after his election, despite Barack Obama being president at the time.
Donald Trump described “horrible, incompetent, just terrible trade deals” that were enacted before he came into office, saying he is working to make them “great, not great again”, suggesting US trade deals were never made with US interests in mind.
Here are more excerpts from the president's speech via pool reports:
"I never believed for one moment that our magnificent nation was destined for a diminished future. I knew that our destiny was in our own hands – that we could choose to reject a future of American Decline, and to build a future of American dominance."
"Today, I am proud to stand before you as President to report that we have delivered on our promises – and exceeded our expectations. We have ended the war on American Workers, we have stopped the assault on American Industry, and we have launched an economic boom the likes of which we have never seen before."
Donald Trump is saying there will be “tremendous economic potential” if he is reelected in 2020, before claiming his GOP tax cut brought back millions of jobs and rescued working class Americans.
Donald Trump says he’s going to sign an executive order allowing states to purchase prescription drugs from other countries in order to lower the average price of such medicine in the US.
“I said buy ‘em from other countries and pass along the savings,” the president said.
Donald Trump says his administration is providing incentives for factories to return to the US, and those opportunities would not have happened “if you didn’t have a president like this”.
He also said it’s okay for dictators to come to the US for official White House visits.
A quick fact-check on the president's claims about "strong" men and women crying as he signed his order on US water:
Donald Trump is saying a trade deal with China "could happen soon" but "only if its fair" to the US.
He is claiming a $500 bn annual trade deficit with the country.
"They recently came out with a poll saying Barack Obama is more popular than I am in Germany," Donald Trump said. "I said, he should be ... when I'm more popular than Barack Obama, I'm not doing my job."
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