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As it happenedended

Trump news: President folds over citizenship census question after hosting right-wing extremists and conservative influencers

President backs off Census demands and hosts right-wing extremists at social media summit

Chris Riotta
New York
,Clark Mindock,Joe Sommerlad
Thursday 11 July 2019 17:52 EDT
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Donald Trump says 'the kidney has a very special place in the heart'

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Donald Trump hosted a White House Social Media Summit on Thursday, where the controversial guest list included alt-right meme creators and a QAnon conspiracy theorist but no representatives from either Facebook or Twitter , after lavishing praise on himself as “great looking and smart”.

In the run-up to the event, the president retweeted a post by far-right columnist Katie Hopkins in praise of “Right Minded” world leaders like probable future British PM Boris Johnson, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.

Mr Trump has meanwhile found himself the victim of online ridicule after saying that the kidney “has a very special place in the heart” after signing an executive order directing his administration to develop policies addressing kidney-related health issues among Americans.

The president capped his day off by backing down from his 2020 Census demands, instead pursuing other avenues for collecting citizenship information after the Supreme Court blocked his census efforts.

The American Community Survey, which polls 3.5 million US households every year, already includes questions about respondents’ citizenship, so it is unclear what Mr Trump has in mind.

But Mr Trump appeared to preview his remarks at a White House social media summit, where he complained about being told: ”‘Sir, you can’t ask that question ... because the courts said you can’t.’”

Describing the situation as “the craziest thing,” he went on to contend that surveyors can ask residents how many toilets they have and, “What’s their roof made of? The only thing we can’t ask is, ‘Are you a citizen of the United States?’”

“I think we have a solution that will be very good for a lot of people,” he added.

Mr Trump had said last week that he was “very seriously” considering an executive order to try to force the citizenship question’s inclusion, despite the fact that the government has already begun the lengthy and expensive process of printing the census questionnaire without it.

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Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

Here's the president rattling on about social media, a topic he will be discussing today at a forum just before 4pm Eastern.

Clark Mindock11 July 2019 17:30

Here are some details on the phone call between Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Trump, from deputy press secretary Judd Deere:

“Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The two leaders discussed cooperation between the United States and Israel in advancing shared national security interests, including efforts to prevent Iran’s malign actions in the region."

Clark Mindock11 July 2019 17:45
Clark Mindock11 July 2019 18:00

Some more (sort of palace) intrigue: Apparently Donald Trump Jr has purchased a $4.4m home in the Hamptons with his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The purchase was reported by Variety, which notes that the home is a 9,200-square-foot house on 3.9 acres of land in a gated community. There are seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a pool, a hot tub, and the whole thing is just minutes" from the beach.

Clark Mindock11 July 2019 18:15

Here's what Donald Trump Jr is thinking and tweeting about this morning, by the way:

Clark Mindock11 July 2019 18:30

Some movement on getting a permanent Secretary of Defense into place:

Clark Mindock11 July 2019 18:45
Clark Mindock11 July 2019 19:00
Clark Mindock11 July 2019 19:15
Clark Mindock11 July 2019 19:30

Donald Trump railed against “dishonesty, bias, discrimination and suppression” online as conservative activists and right-wing extremists flocked to the White House on Thursday for a so-called "social media summit." 

Lacking any evidence to support his claims, the president once again reignited accusations that leading social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook were actively suppressing conservative voices and publications from reaching large audiences. 

Such claims are clearly refuted by digital engagement figures which routinely show conservative outlets flourishing on sites like Facebook and other platforms. 

Chris Riotta11 July 2019 19:50

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