Trump news: Erdogan says Turkey will 'not forget president's disrespectful letter' as White House backtracks over Ukraine revelation
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is said to be “not happy” after his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, appeared to confirm the US had withheld military aid to Ukraine for political purposes, acknowledging the quid pro quo Democrats pursuing the president’s impeachment have sought to prove.
The close of the week brought a new round of fresh controversies enveloping Mr Trump’s White House, from his acting chief of staff’s comments during a press briefing on Thursday, to the violence in Syria after his decision to withdraw troops from the region.
Mr Trump was quick to hail the ceasefire his vice president Mike Pence agreed with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara over the Syria crisis. The president said on Twitter it was a “great day for civilisation” shortly after Turkey agreed to a 120-hour ceasefire that provided the country with many of its demands made prior to the deadly violence that shook northeastern Syria.
But his DC rivals denounced the measure as a “sham” as the fighting continued between the Turkish military and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The ceasefire did not hold for long as reports indicated shelling had taken place on Friday shortly after Mr Pence announced the agreement.
At his latest rally in Dallas, Texas, the president compared the Turks and Kurds to brawling children while saying, “Sometimes you have to let them fight”.
He also branded House speaker Nancy Pelosi “nuts” after their recent spat at the White House.
As he spoke in Texas, he was being brutally ridiculed by his own former defence secretary Jim Mattis at a white tie dinner in New York.
“I earned my spurs on the battlefield ... Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor,” Mr Mattis joked.
Mr Trump avoided military service during the draft in the Vietnam War when he was provided with a letter from a doctor claiming he had bone spurs. The president has never revealed in which leg he claimed to have suffered the bones, or whether they somehow went away.
Mr Mattis also harped on mocking comments the president made about him saying he was “not just an overrated general, I am the greatest, the world’s most overrated.”
“I’m honored to be considered that by Donald Trump, because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress,” he added. “So, I guess I’m the Meryl Streep of generals. Frankly that sounds pretty good to me.”
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Some new developments surrounding Joe Biden and Ukraine that will likely rile up Donald Trump and his base -
More breaking news is coming out about Rudy Giuliani's efforts to secure foreign dirt on 2020 hopeful Joe Biden as he was working for Donald Trump:
Donald Trump has announced Dan Brouillette as the replacement for former energy secretary Rick Perry. Mr Perry resigned yesterday after he became embroiled in the Ukraine scandal, but insists that is not why he left his position.
Mr Brouillette was previously the United States Deputy Secretary of Energy.
The former White House director to the Office of Government Ethics said "there is no level of corruption greater" than Donald Trump's decision to host the next G7 summit at his exclusive resort in Florida.
You can read his full comments here:
Looking to the Democratic party for a moment, the row between Hillary Clinton and 2020 hopeful Tulsi Gabbard is raging on.
Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that Russians are "grooming" a Democrat running in the presidential primary, implicitly aimed at Ms Gabbard. The Hawaiian congresswoman has taken to Twitter to hit back at the not-so-subtle attack, calling Ms Clinton a "warmonger".
That's all for our live coverage of the Donald Trump administration today. Thanks for following along.
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