Trump's week of chaos: Shutdowns, probes, legal woes — and it’s only Wednesday

Donald Trump has had quite the week — and it’s only Wednesday.

The president faces a slate of newly-reported investigations, into everything from his charity to his inaugural committee. The Republican party appears to be disavowing his circle of indicted former lawyers and White House appointees including ex-deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Cohen, and former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

With startling news arriving out of the White House, or courthouses, at such a rapid pace, it has become almost impossible for even the most veteran of Washington journalists to keep track of every new development.

What follows are five of the newest controversies facing Mr Trump.

Republicans appear to have narrowly avoided a government shutdown as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will take up a short-term measure Wednesday to fund the federal government until 8 February.

But controversy remains for Mr Trump, who secured the White House during the 2016 election in part due to his campaign promise of building a wall spanning the entirety of the US-Mexico border.

The president was forced to back away from his demands for $5bn for the wall in the upcoming funding bill due to a lack of support for the measure in Congress.

He now faces criticism from supporters having said last week he would be "proud to shut the government down over the wall. The new legislation will mot include the $5bn Mr Trump asked for.

He appeared to respond to criticism Wednesday that he was backing down, insisting on Twitter: “One way or the other, we will win on the Wall!”

A federal judge Tuesday abruptly postponed the sentencing of Mr Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn on Tuesday - declaring himself disgusted and disdainful of Flynn’s crime of lying to the FBI.

US District Judge Emmet Sullivan also raised the unexpected prospect of sending the retired Army lieutenant general to prison. Flynn has admitted lying to the FBI in 2017 as part of what has become Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with Trump campaign officials.

Lawyers for Flynn, who admitted lying about his Russian contacts, requested the delay during the stunning hearing in which Judge Sullivan told the former Trump aide in a blistering rebuke that “arguably you sold your country out.”

“I can’t make any guarantees, but I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offence,” the judge said.

The postponement gives Flynn a chance to continue cooperating with the government in hopes of staving off prison and proving his value as a witness, including in a foreign lobbying prosecution unsealed this week.

The possibility of prison had seemed remote for Flynn, who was smiling and upbeat as he entered the courtroom, since prosecutors had praised his extensive cooperation and did not recommend any time behind bars.

Federal prosecutors are reportedly investigating the finances of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee and whether foreigners contributed to its events using straw donors.

ProPublica and the New York public radio station WNYC also reported new details Friday on how Trump profited from the inauguration, with the committee paying for rooms and event space at his Washington DC Hotel.

The news organisations obtained emails showing that Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, was involved in negotiating the hotel’s prices.

The probe reportedly stemmed in part from materials the FBI seized earlier this year while probing the business dealings of Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer and personal attorney. Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison this week for tax evasion and campaign-finance violations.

Mr Trump and the White House has denied any wrongdoing, saying they were not involved with the inauguration committee's decisions.

Mr Trump’s charitable foundation reached a deal on Tuesday to go out of business, even as the president continues to fight allegations he misused its assets to resolve business disputes and boost his run for the White House.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s lawsuit alleging he and his family illegally operated the foundation as an extension of his businesses and his presidential campaign will continue.

The lawsuit, filed last spring, seeks $2.8m in restitution and a 10-year ban on Mr Trump and his three eldest children — Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka — from running any charities in New York.

In a statement Tuesday, Ms Underwood cited “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.”

The foundation operated as “little more than a check book to serve Mr Trump’s business and political interests,” she said.

“The Trump Foundation has done great work and given away lots of money, both mine and others, to great charities over the years – with me taking NO fees, rent, salaries etc,” Mr Trump wrote in a tweet on Wednesday. “Now, as usual, I am getting slammed by Cuomo and the Dems in a long running civil lawsuit started by sleazebag AG Eric Schneiderman, who has since resigned over horrific women abuse, when I wanted to close the Foundation so as not to be in conflict with politics. Shady Eric was head of New Yorkers for Clinton, and refused to even look at the corrupt Clinton Foundation.”

He added, “In any event, it goes on and on & the new AG, who is now being replaced by yet another AG (who openly campaigned on a GET TRUMP agenda), does little else but rant, rave & politic against me. Will never be treated fairly by these people – a total double standard of ‘justice.’”

Mr Trump has ordered a rapid withdrawal of US troops from Syria after the president announced ISIS was “defeated” in the region.

The news quickly faced backlash from key Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham, who said “An American withdrawal at this time would be a big win for ISIS, Iran, Bashar al Assad of Syria, and Russia.”

He added, “I fear it will lead to devastating consequences for our nation, the region and throughout the world,” describing the sudden withdrawal as an “Obama-like mistake.”

Just last week, officials said troops would remain in Syria for an unknown period to ensure terrorist groups were permanently eradicated from the region.

“I think it’s fair to say Americans will remain on the ground after the physical defeat of the caliphate, until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeat is enduring,“ Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, told USA Today.

Additional reporting by AP