Trump news – live: President lashes out amid growing anger over racist use of 'infested', amid renewed push for impeachment and tax returns release

Twitter tirade comes after backlash over president’s attack on congressman’s ‘filthy’ district

'When he tweets about infestation, it's about black and brown people' CNN anchor gets upset over Trump's latest Tweets

Donald Trump has doubled down on his vicious tweets attacking black congressman Elijah Cummings by retweeting far-right commentator Katie Hopkins and calling Mr Cummings "racist".

The US president described Mr Cummings' Baltimore district as a “filthy” and “rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live”.

It comes after the US House judiciary committee asked a judge to force the release of grand jury evidence from the Mueller investigation, as four Washington members of Congress called for Mr Trump’s impeachment.

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The request, filed on Friday, explicitly referenced congress’ impeachment powers and is a major step forward in the Democrats' legal fight against Mr Trump.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is also reportedly on the verge of a move that could force Mr Trump to release his tax returns if he wants to appear on the state’s ballot in the 2020 elections.

Meanwhile, political commentators have noted that Mr Trump has used the word "infested" six times on his Twitter account - and each time it has been in reference to areas populated predominantly by people of colour.

His attacks directed at Mr Cummings also appeared to have been inspired by a Fox & Friends report that aired minutes before the president’s outburst, which criticised living conditions in the Democratic congressman's Baltimore district.

Nancy Pelosi led Democratic representatives in defending Mr Cummings, accusing the US president of “racist attacks”.

Key Points

• Trump retweets far-right commentator Katie Hopkins calling Baltimore a "s***hole"
• "Everything that Trump says is offensive", Mulvaney says
• Jerry Nadler says US president "richly deserves impeachment"
• Trump hits back at Nancy Pelosi for ‘playing the race card’ after condemning his attack on Elijah Cummings
• California governor on verge of move that could force Trump to release tax returns

[28 July 2019 18:43 · emma.snaith]

More reactions to Mr Trump’s attacks on Elijah Cummings today – this time from Wendell Pierce, one of the stars of The Wire.

The actor didn't hold back as he called the president an “idiot” and a “loser” before praising the spirit of Baltimore.

Mr Pierce played William "The Bunk" Moreland on the popular Baltimore crime drama.

[28 July 2019 19:06 · emma.snaith]

Finally, we have some news that’s not about the president’s tweets…

Axios’ Jonathan Swan is reporting that Mr Trump is expected to nominate representative John Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence

Mr Ratcliffe was one of the Republican congressmen who grilled Robert Mueller during the former special counsel's hearing on Wednesday.

The president retweeted a video of Mr Ratcliffe questioning Mr Mueller and was apparently “thrilled” by the Republican’s fiery performance, according to Axios.

Politico’s Natasha Bertrand has added that Devin Nunes was apparently offered the job but turned it down because he wants an intel job if Mr Trump wins re-election in 2020.

[28 July 2019 19:34 · emma.snaith]

Donald Trump has just shared a tweet by far-right commentator Katie Hopkins in which she described Baltimore as a “proper s***hole”.

Mr Trump was criticised earlier this month when he retweeted a video by Ms Hopkins supporting his racist attacks on four US congresswomen.

Meanwhile, an old tweet from the president has resurfaced in light of his comments about Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore district.

In April 2015, during the Baltimore riots, Mr Trump tweeted that then-president Barack Obama should “Go to Baltimore and bring both sides together.”

[28 July 2019 20:01 · emma.snaith]

In addition to retweeting Katie Hopkins, Mr Trump has shared another tweet attacking Mr Cummings and accusing Democrats of “playing the race card” by criticising him.

[28 July 2019 20:34 · emma.snaith]

It's not very clear why he's doing this but Donald Trump is now calling Elijah Cummings "racist"...

[28 July 2019 20:51 · emma.snaith]

Another congressman has announced his support for a formal impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.

Denny Heck, a Democratic representative for Washington, acknowledged that the Senate is “highly unlikely” to convict Mr Trump in an inquiry but said “nothing less than the rule of law is at stake” in this case.

You can read his full statement below:

102 members of Congress are currently calling for an impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump, according to CNN’s most recent count.

[28 July 2019 21:37 · emma.snaith]

Three more Washington Democratic members of Congress have joined Denny Heck in calling for an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump – bringing the total number of members calling for an inquiry to 105.

The latest additions to the list are Derek Kilmer, Kim Schrier and Suzan DelBene.

[28 July 2019 21:48 · emma.snaith]

That's it for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more of the fallout from Mr Trump's attacks on Elijah Cummings and calls for his impeachment.

But before we go, here's a quick reminder of some of the people Mr Trump has claimed are racist.

You can decide for yourself if he's got good judgement on the issue...