Trump-Mueller investigation: New Manafort hearing as President lashes out over chief of staff, border wall and Democrats
Potential successors to John Kelly rule themselves out of job as Russia probe moves closer to White House
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Your support makes all the difference.President Donald Trump is scrambling to find a new chief of staff after his first choice to replace John Kelly rejected the role at the last minute and several other potential successors signalled they did not want the job.
Leading contender Nick Ayers, said to have been in talks over taking the position for several months, ruled himself out of the running amid mounting chaos at the White House.
Mr Trump is reported to have been “super pissed” by the development, which leaves him racing to fill a job described as “one of the toughest in DC” at a time when Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is getting ever nearer to the Oval Office.
Five people linked to the president have pleaded guilty to federal charges as investigators probe whether Mr Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Kremlin in the 2016 election campaign.
Prosecutors in New York have also for the first time linked the president to a federal crime, accusing him of orchestrating hush-money payments by his long-time lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to a porn star and a former Playboy model.
Mr Cohen is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, and is likely to face years in prison after admitting campaign finance offences.
Senator Jeff Merkley posted a tweet condemning Donald Trump’s apparent actions and attacks against Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“The president is TERRIFIED of Mueller and will do everything in his power to stop this investigation,” the Democrat wrote Tuesday. “Nobody is above the law, Donald. Not even you.”
With controversial new developments potentially indicating Robert Mueller is nearing the end of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a group of 44 former bipartisan Senators penned an open letter to the US Senate on Monday night warning against authoritarianism under Donald Trump. More on that letter below:
Donald Trump is meeting with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the Oval Office as part of ongoing negotiations to keep the government funded ahead of a looming shutdown.
The president sparred with both Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer during a televised portion of the meeting, in which both Democrats lambasted Mr Trump for his demands to build a wall sprawling across the US-Mexico border.
The two also requested they continue the conversation “in private,” as the president continued fighting back against their refusals for a border wall.
Donald Trump said he would be “proud” to shut down the government over border wall funding during a meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, saying, “Yes if we don’t get what we want … I will shut down the government … I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.”
In a press conference shortly after, Ms Pelosi called the potential government closure a “Trump shutdown,” warning it’s a “luxury that the American people cannot afford.”
Here's footage from that fascinating meeting in the Oval Office between Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, two Democratic leaders who have sparred with the president over his demands to build a wall sprawling across the US-Mexico border:
The Oval Office meeting was a fascinating use of the president's time in front of media and the American press, as Donald Trump appeared to battle Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
Here's a clip from the scene in which Ms Pelosi tells Mr Trump, "I don't think we should have a debate in front of the press like this."
Following the bizarre televised meeting Donald Trump had with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer inside the Oval Office, the president appeared to signal his support for current White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, telling reporters, “We’ve got a wonderful chief of staff right now.”
“We are in no rush,” he added, saying that he will announce a decision in a week or two about Mr Kelly’s replacement.
Here's video from the moment in which Donald Trump tells Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer that he would be "proud" to shut down the government over his demands for border wall funding:
Donald Trump just tweeted an attack against James Comey after the former FBI director urged Americans to vote for a Democratic candidate vying against the president during the 2020 campaign.
“James Comey just totally exposed his partisan stance by urging his fellow Democrats to take back the White House in 2020,” he wrote. “In other words, he is and has been a Democrat. Comey had no right heading the FBI at any time, but especially after his mind exploded!
Controversy is still arising out of the Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, after the president acknowledged he would be “proud” to shut down the government due to a lack of bipartisan votes for his demands to build a sprawling US-Mexico border wall.
Ms Pelosi said in a press conference she “didn’t want to contradict the president when he was putting forth figures that had no reality to them, no basis in fact,” when asked why she had suggested the meeting no longer be televised to the public.
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