Trump news: Under-fire postmaster general says he has 'no intention' of returning mail sorting machines
Senate committee interrogates US Postal Service chief as GOP prepares for 2020 convention
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump said he would send law enforcement officers to polling locations for this November's presidential election in comments branded "an attack on America" by a former White House ethics chief.
“We're going to have sheriffs, and we're going to have law enforcement, and we're going to have hopefully US attorneys, and we're going to have everybody and attorney generals (sic),” Mr Trump told Fox News after host Sean Hannity asked if he would have "poll watchers".
Meanwhile, his Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said on Friday there was “no intention” to return mail sorting machines that were removed in recent weeks, after it was reported that at least 671 machines were removed in critical voting states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin and Georgia, among others.
The postmaster general said those machines were “not needed”, while adding that he supports vote-by-mail efforts amid the pandemic.
Mr DeJoy, who has overseen sweeping cuts at the agency following his appointment by the president in June, told a US Senate committee he would be voting by mail in fall elections and insisted that the "American people should feel comfortable that the Postal Service will deliver on this election" despite the president's constant threats to undermine the agency.
On Friday, the president and his family held a funeral service for his brother Robert Trump, who died on 16 August. He was 71. The president held a service in the East Room of the White House.
A group of anti-Trump Republicans have meanwhile seized on the arrest of former Trump campaign chief and senior White House adviser Steve Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty to fraud in an an alleged US-Mexico border wall crowdfunding scheme. He is the subject of an advert targeting Fox News views during next week's 2020 Republican National Convention.
GOP officials and the president are preparing for the event following Joe Biden's official nomination as the Democrats' nominee after his party's week-long convention, during which Democrats and several Republicans condemned the current administration and the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic and economic fallout.
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'Rich people' like Elon Musk like sending up rockets for "whatever reason", Trump says
Trump today said the US was happy to collect a little rent to renew Nasa and send US astronauts back up to space, which was a "field of weeds.
"We're now sending rockets up. And a lot of those rockets are paid by rich people. They like sending up rockets for whatever reason, they like it. I say go ahead you can use, pay us a little rent, and you can use our property," Trump said.
BREAKING: Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to fraud in first court appearance
Former Trump aide Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty to an alleged scheme to defraud a crowdfunding campaign that pledged to build a portion of the US-Mexico border wall.
Bond was set $5 million, with $1.75 million secured in cash and property.
Follow the story as it unfolds.
Trump says he tuned into DNC convention last night to watch Kamala Harris
"I watched Kamala last night and I said, I'll take Mike, I'll take Mike by a lot. He's been a great vice president actually," Trump said.
WATCH: Trump claims New Zealand have 'massive breakout' of coronavirus after cases increase by 5
BUILD THE WALL -- and by wall, Trump means himself. Trump is the wall now.
"Me, we, we're the wall between the American dream and total insanity and the destruction of the greatest country in the history of the world, we're all that stands, we're all that stands," Trump said. "And a typical Republican probably wouldn't get there but I think I'm, very Republican in many ways, but your typical Republican would not be able to win.
Trump wishes Biden well for his VP nomination acceptance speech tonight
"He's going to make a speech tonight, it's going to be very interesting to see how he does. And I hope he does well, I'll be honest I do, I hope he does well, I really hope he does well," Trump said.
"But I also want him to tell the truth, he's got to tell the truth about things and he's going to do a lot better if he does, but hopefully not well enough."
WATCH: 'Well I have no idea': Trump stumped when asked why so many of his aides linked to criminal acts
Meanwhile, in Kanye Westworld
The rapper submitted his petition on Thursday to appear on Tennessee's presidential ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.
In Montana, however, West fell short of the signatures needed to qualify.
Signatures have been submitted to Minnesota and he is also in the process of getting on the ballot Wyoming, while he has already secured a spot on the ballot in Colorado, Utah, Wisconsin, Ohio, Vermont and Arkansas, according to the Associated Press.
ICYMI: 'Karma is a b****': Roger Stone responds to Steve Bannon's arrest
Former political consultant for the Trump campaign, Roger Stone, replied "karma is a b****" when he was asked his reaction to Steve Bannon's arrest.
Stone, a veteran Republican operative who has a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his back, served as an adviser to Mr Trump during the 2016 campaign. He has been accused of collaborating with WikiLeaks to discredit Hillary Clinton in the build up to that election.
In November 2019, following Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's involvement in Russia hacking the 2016 election, Stone was indicted by federal prosecutors on seven counts, including witness tampering and lying to federal investigators.
He was found guilty and sentenced to 40 months in federal prison, but on 10 July 2020, Mr Trump commuted Stone's sentence after he publicly pleaded for him to do so.
Bannon, who previously served as the president's campaign chairman in 2016, was indicted on Thursday, alongside two others, for allegedly funnelling "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from the "We Build the Wall" online fundraising campaign to the founder of the organisation
Brian Kolfage, who was also indicted.
"We Build the Wall" started as a GoFundMe campaign in 2018, and was created to help raise money from public funding to go directly towards building the the US-Mexico border wall at a time when the president was struggling with Congress pushback.
James Crump reports.
Six convictions, one arrest, and one impeachment: Who's who in the web of White House criminality
Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon has been arrested, becoming the second leader from the president's 2016 election campaign to face criminal charges.
However, Mr Bannon is only one in a line of associates to the president to run afoul of the law since Mr Trump took office.
Following the controversy, Republican anti-trump Political Action Committee (PAC) The Lincoln Project released a scathing tweet pointing out just how many associates of Mr Trump have been convicted or arrested, many in connection with the Mueller investigation and election interference, which quickly went viral online.
But who are the men affiliated with the president? And what did they do to land themselves in dispute with the US justice system?
Louise Hall reports.
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