Trump news – President calls Obama ‘grossly incompetent’ as advisers defend administration’s coronavirus response
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Your support makes all the difference.On his return from Camp David, President Donald Trump was asked by reporters if he had a response to former president Barack Obama's criticism of his response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Trump said he hadn't seen Mr Obama's comments, but called his predecessor "grossly incompetent".
Mr Obama warned the pandemic has shown that many high levels officials “aren't even pretending to be in charge” as the US nears 90,000 virus deaths.
Today in an interview with Fox News, the president doubled down on his accusations regarding the alleged "Obamagate" scandal, and talked about possible repercussions for Chinese companies in retaliation for Beijing's handling of the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. He also claimed in a tweet that the country is "doing REALLY well, medically".
Meanwhile, his son, Eric Trump, claimed that the Democrats were taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic response to handicap the Trump campaign and that it would "magically go away" after November's election.
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Tougher rules for Chinese companies listed on US stock exchanges?
Speaking about China, the president also spoke about the possibility of ensuring stricter regulation of Chinese companies that list on US stock exchanges.
The move would be a punishment for the way Beijing failed to contain the coronavirus pandemic at its source.
At present, Chinese companies are not required to follow US accounting standards and practices, which has led to instances of fraud and caused investors to lose money.
Mr Trump says that the administration is looking closely at the idea, but it might not be so straightforward.
He said that Chinese companies could simply list in London or Hong Kong instead, but also noted those exchanges do not have the depth of liquidity that New York offers.
More than 150 Chinese companies are listed in the US with a pre-pandemic value of $1.2trn, according to figures from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Referring to the trade deal struck with China, the president said he would not renegotiate and that he was not happy about anything to do with the subject.
'I don't want to speak to him'
On his relationship with Chinese president Xi Jinping, Mr Trump said: "I have a very good relationship, but right now ... I don't want to speak to him."
Ouch.
China's President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump apparently won't be speaking anytime soon
'Doing REALLY well, medically'
It's unclear by which medical metric the country is "doing REALLY well".
Lift off for Space Force!
The US Space Force has launched a robotic space plane on a secret mission in Earth's orbit. The blast-off, on Sunday morning, came after a 24-hour delay caused by bad weather conditions.
The X-37B plane was launched on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Space Force officials said they were dedicating the launch to the nation's first responders and medical personnel fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump pays tribute to Phyllis George
The president took a moment this morning to pay tribute to Phyllis George, a television pioneer as the first woman sportscaster to present The NFL Today on CBS, and the First Lady of Kentucky as the wife of Governor John Brown.
Peter Navarro responds to Obama's criticism of the Trump administration response to the coronavirus
Speaking to George Stephanopoulos on today's edition of This Week on ABC, Trump adviser Peter Navarro defended the administration's response to the coronavirus.
Responding to the criticism levelled at Trump by former president Barack Obama, Mr Navarro said that he was glad Mr Obama has a new job as Joe Biden's press secretary, before referring to the previous administration as a “kumbaya of incompetence.”
Trump on Obama: 'He was an incompetent president - grossly incompetent'
Returning to the White House from his weekend in Camp David, President Trump was asked to respond to his predecessor's criticism of him in last night's commencement address.
After saying he had not seen Mr Obama's remarks, he said: “He was an incompetent president - grossly incompetent. That’s all I can say.”
Footage of the aforementioned comments
EDIT to quote: “He was an incompetent president. That's all I can say. Grossly incompetent.”
Navarro says Steve Linick was part of deep state
White House adviser Peter Navarro downplayed the firing of the State Department's inspector general in a TV appearance on Sunday, linking him to the “deep state” and saying that those who are not loyal to the administration must go.
Steve Linick became the fourth inspector general Donald Trump has fired in two months, following his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate in his impeachment trial.
“We've had tremendous problems with, some people call it the 'Deep State.' And I think that's apt. So I don't mourn the loss,” said Mr Navarro, director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, on ABC's This Week.
Trump's health secretary says US has world's worst Covid-19 death toll because Americans are so unhealthy
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar blamed the large number of US coronavirus cases and deaths on the number of Americans with “greater risk profiles” during an interview on Sunday.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Mr Azar was asked why the US appeared to have a disproportionately high number of deaths compared to the rest of the world.
He said that the reason lay in Americans having more comorbidities which puts them at a higher risk of developing severe complications if they contract Covid-19.
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