Trump news: President's alleged business ties to IRGC stir controversy after he brands group a terrorist organisation
Read along for our coverage as the president cleaned house on Monday
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has labelled Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation in an unprecedented move that could have lasting consequences for the United States.
The president declared for the first time in history that another government entity was a terror group, potentially making it more difficult for American diplomats and other officials working in the region.
The move arrives a day after the president accepted of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, with whom he has repeatedly clashed over his administration’s more hardline immigration policies, as he seeks more drastic action to address the “crisis” at the US southern border.
Ms Nielsen's departure on Sunday was followed by the resignation of Randolph Alles, who was in charge of the Secret Service but had apparently fallen out of Mr Trump's good graces weeks ago.
Those two resignations were expected to be followed by more departures in the Department of Homeland Security in the days or weeks to come as a part of a phase that some in the media have begun to call a purge.
Also in the news was Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, who made eight criminal referrals to the attorney-general, William Barr, over the leaking of Mr Trump’s phone calls with ex-Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto and national security adviser Michael Flynn’s calls to a Russian ambassador.
Coming up this week, attorney general William Barr is slated to testify before both the House and the Senate on his department's budget for the coming year.
But, that testimony is likely to veer of track a bit as democrats grill him about the contents of the Mueller report, which he received last month.
Mr Barr as pledged to send the report to Congress in the coming weeks, but it remains to be seen just how much of the report might be redacted.
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As Trump continues to ponder candidates to be his new "immigration czar", the rise and rise of the deeply troubling Stephen Miller continues apace.
The administration is continuing to attack the Democrats over the House Ways and Means Committee's request for Trump's tax returns.
The president himself has been doing the same through his choice of retweets, going big on toadying Ohio congressman Jim Jordan.
Absolutely brutal and bang on.
Here's a reminder of Nielsen's recent appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee.
Kirstjen Nielsen's would-be successors are already lining up for job interviews on Fox.
The ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is asking his chairman, Jerry Nadler, to call Robert Mueller himself to testify.
The committee voted in favour of issuing a subpoena for the full, unredacted Mueller report last week.
“While [Barr] can testify surrounding his decision to provide the committee with principal conclusions, it is Special Counsel Mueller who is best-positioned to testify regarding the underlying facts and material in which you are so interested,” Collins says.
Democratic whip Dick Durbin is right here about the ousting of Nielsen.
Hillary Clinton is saying the same.
And, right on cue, here's how Nielsen's initial replacement, Kevin McAleenan, characterised the situation on the Mexico border a week before Christmas.
Nielsen might not be last out of the door at the Department of Homeland Security...
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