Trump news: President praises ‘great people’ shouting ‘white power’ as Pelosi brands his alleged inaction over Russia-Taliban reports ‘as bad as it gets’
Lindsey Graham joins president on golf course as officials take aim at reported Russian plot to kill US troops
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Donald Trump has praised “great people” in footage he shared of furious protesters clashing over his presidency outside a Florida retirement home, in which one apparent supporter repeatedly shouts “white power” from a golf buggy.
The only black Republican senator Tim Scott urged him to remove the “indefensible” footage, which he later did. The White House claimed he did not hear the racist chant.
A White House spokesperson claimed that the president "did not hear the one statement made on the video" and that "what he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters."
While the president was on the golf course for a second consecutive day, this time with Senator Lindsey Graham, the administration faced intense scrutiny over allegations that it was warned about Russian bounties placed on US troops in Afghanistan in an alleged secret deal between Russian intelligence services and Taliban militias. The White House was warned by intelligence officials as early as January about the threat, according to reports.
Joe Biden accused the president of betraying “the most sacred duty we bear as a nation” after reports suggested he had been briefed months ago yet did “worse than nothing” in response. Mr Trump denied having been briefed or "told about" the reports, crying “fake news”, while the Kremlin dismissed the allegations as “nonsense”.
The president's former national security adviser John Bolton said the allegations are among "the most serious matters that has arisen in the Trump administration" and was "puzzled" by the president's apparent inaction and denial, as he pivoted to attacks on his Democratic opponent.
"What would motivate the president to do that?" Mr Bolton told CNN. "Because it looks bad if Russians are paying to kill Americans and we're not doing anything about it. So what is the presidential reaction? It's to say 'it's not my responsibility, nobody told me about it.' And therefore to duck any complaints that he hasn't acted effectively."
While the president Covid-19 infections soared by more than 40,000 for the third consecutive day.
Vice president Mike Pence has been forced to call off upcoming campaign events in Florida and Arizona amid coronavirus spikes in the Republican-governed states, which have pushed to abandon lockdowns in order to restart the economy. But he appeared at a Texas megachurch on Sunday to announced that "each day we are one day closer to putting this pandemic in the past" despite climbing case rates.
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White House denies Trump briefed on alleged Russia plot to kill US troops in Afghanistan
The White House has denied reports that Donald Trump ignored a warning from US intelligence that the Russian military had offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops and other coalition forces, Oliver O'Connell reports.
The New York Times reported the claim on Friday, triggering a storm of accusations that the president had failed to protect US and allied troops, including those from Britain. Citing officials briefed on the matter, the newspaper said the US determined months ago that a Russian military intelligence unit linked to assassination attempts in Europe had offered rewards for successful attacks last year.
Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, were believed to have collected some bounty money, the newspaper said. The White House, the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence initially declined requests for comment on the report.
On Saturday afternoon, the White House denied Mr Trump had been briefed on the matter, but did not dispute that US troops were being targeted. “The United States receives thousands of intelligence reports a day and they are subject to strict scrutiny," Kayleigh McEnany, the press secretary, said in a statement.
"While the White House does not routinely comment on alleged intelligence or internal deliberations, the CIA director, national security advisor and the chief of staff can all confirm that neither the president nor the vice president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence. This does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter.”
Trump's alleged response to Russia-Taliban reports 'a betrayal of most sacred duty', Biden says
During a virtual town hall, presidential challenger Joe Biden said: "The truly shocking revelation that if the Times report is true, and I emphasise that again, is that President Trump, the commander-in-chief of American troops serving in a dangerous theater of war, has known about this for months, according to the Times, and done worse than nothing."
"Not only has he failed to sanction and impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin," the former vice president said.
Mr Biden called it a "betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation - to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harm's way".
Pence calls off next week's campaign events in virus-stricken Florida and Arizona
Vice president Mike Pence will still travel to those states, which have set records for new confirmed infections in recent days, the White House confirmed, saying he will meet with governors and their health teams.
Mr Pence said during a briefing by the White House's coronavirus task force on Friday that he would be visiting Florida, Texas and Arizona to receive a "ground report" on spiking cases of Covid-19 across the region. State health officials in Florida reported more than 9,500 new cases on Saturday - an increase of more than 600 on the previous day.
The three states' Republican governors have come under criticism for pushing for aggressive reopening after virus-related lockdowns as cases in the states rise.
Despite cancelling a "Faith in America" appearance in Arizona, Mr Pence is traveling to on Sunday to attend a "Celebrate Freedom Rally" at First Baptist Church Dallas before meeting with Texas governor Greg Abbott.
Trump's brother asks another NYC judge to prevent president's niece publishing tell-all book next month
In court papers, Robert Trump's lawyers argue that Mary Trump and others had signed a settlement agreement related to the will of Donald Trump's father in the late 1990s that included a confidentially clause explicitly saying they would not "publish any account concerning the litigation or their relationship" unless they all agreed.
Surrogates Court Judge Peter Kelly dismissed the argument of Robert Trump, the president's younger brother, on Thursday on the grounds his court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
Mr Trump's lawyers filed another injunction request on Friday in Supreme Court in Dutchess County, New York, arguing that the publication of the book is prohibited by the settlement agreement reached in 2001 and he never consented to it being published.
A description of the book on Amazon by Mary Trump, the daughter of the president's brother Fred Trump Jr, who died in 1981 - titled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man - says it describes "a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse".
"She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who currently occupies the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr and Donald," the online description says.
"President Trump and his siblings are seeking to suppress a book that will discuss matters of utmost public importance," said lawyer Theodore Boutrous Jr, a representative for Mary Trump.
"They are pursuing this unlawful prior restraint because they do not want the American people to know the truth. The courts will not tolerate this brazen and baseless effort to squelch speech in violation of the First Amendment."
AP
Trump could face legal challenge over use of Rolling Stones music
The Rolling Stones' legal team says it is working with the performing rights organisation BMI after Donald Trump's campaign played "You Can't Always Get What You Want" at last week's Tulsa rally - a song favoured by the president during the 2016 campaign despite the band's opposition to its use.
The band's representatives said that "further steps to exclude" the president from using Rolling Stones material were necessary after previous "cease and desist directives" were ignored.
The BMI has reportedly told the Trump campaign that it will take legal action if it continues to use Rolling Stones songs.
House passes bill paving way for Washington DC to become a state
The US House has approved a bill to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, saying Congress has both the moral obligation and constitutional authority to ensure that the city's 700,000 residents are allowed full voting rights, no longer subject to "taxation without representation".
It marks the first time a chamber of Congress has passed a DC statehood bill, which will now go to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it faces likely insurmountable opposition from GOP leaders.
Opponents, mostly Republicans, called the bill a power grab for the firmly Democratic city, and said the nation's founding fathers intended the capital to be separate from the other states.
The bill would create a new state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, in honour of the Virginia-born first president and the Maryland-born abolitionist and former slave, and would reduce the size of the federal district to a tourist-friendly area that includes the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court and federal monuments.
Footage appears to show Trump campaign volunteers removing social distancing stickers in Tulsa
Video published by The Washington Post appears to show Trump campaign volunteers systematically removing social distancing stickers on seats in the venue for last week's Tusla rally.
The paper reports that volunteers were ordered to remove thousands of labels reading “Do Not Sit Here, Please!”, ahead of the event which was widely condemned by public health officials. It followed a report in Billboard magazine, which suggested the Trump campaign had told BOK Venue managers that it wanted the safety stickers removed.
Despite the president's boasts that the event would be sold out, roughly a third of the venue remained empty on the night, according to reports.
Our music correspondent Roisin O'Connor has more on the Rolling Stones' threat to pursue legal action against the Trump campaign for continued use of their music.
Many in US 'went overboard' when coronavirus restrictions were eased
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr about the rising number of cases, US housing and urban development secretary Ben Carson said: "Now we're down to 650 deaths per day, even though the number of cases has increased.
"Now, it was expected that the number of cases would increase obviously when we started reopening things, but I think that a lot of people kind of went overboard and, you know, have not been socially distancing, haven't been wearing their mask and have been congregating closer together, particularly a lot of the young people.
"That's why you see the average age of those who have contracted the virus much lower now, but of course those individuals are much less susceptible to mortality as well."
Mr Carson said it is "disturbing" that people are not following the recommendations, adding: "I think you're probably going to see much greater emphasis on that."
Asked if he thinks Donald Trump has done a "great job" of handling the pandemic, he replied: "Well, there's always room for improvement and that's what we're always going to be looking at. You know, analysing the data, looking at best cases and adjusting accordingly."
Of whether he thinks Covid-19 marks a turning point in Mr Trump's fortunes, Mr Carson said: "I suspect that probably anybody who was president right now wouldn't be looking too great, quite frankly, because of circumstances that they can't necessarily control. But the election is quite a distance away, and if you've been following American politics you know things turn on a dime."
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