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As it happenedended

Trump news: 'Shaken' president insults Pelosi at Syria meeting, as he repeats discredited conspiracy theories about Ukraine

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Chris Riotta
New York
,Joe Sommerlad,Lily Puckett
Wednesday 16 October 2019 16:42 EDT
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Trump impeachment: Nancy Pelosi decides not to call vote authorising probe

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Donald Trump has raged about the “totally illegal & absurd” impeachment inquiry on Twitter and justified his decision to pull US troops out of Syria, leaving America’s allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces under siege from Turkey, by telling reporters at the White House the Kurdish people are “no angels”.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeated on Tuesday that the House of Representatives would not cave in to Republican demands for a vote to approve the Democratic-led inquiry, which vice president Mike Pence and Mr Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani are now refusing to co-operate with, declaring: ”This is not a game for us. This is deadly serious. We’re on a path that is taking us, a path to the truth.”

As the president’s Democratic challengers for the presidency in 2020 squared off on the debate stage in Ohio, White House lawyers opened their own internal review of the handling of the president’s call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky of 25 July, examining the response of aides and raising concerns they are seeking out a potential scapegoat.

A bizarre letter sent from Mr Trump to the Turkish president was laced with an equal mix of weird threats and friendly language. The White House confirmed that the nearly unbelievable dispatch was real.

The president also apparently had a "meltdown" during a meeting about the Syrian crisis with Democratic leaders, during which he told Nancy Pelosi that he "hates ISIS more than you do."

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"I signed letters all the time to parents whose son was shot in different places in the Middle East, mostly. It's very heartbreaking to see," he says.

"It's through strength, not weakness," Mr Trump says, noting the political backlash he has received for pulling US troops from Syria.

Clark Mindock16 October 2019 18:24

"You have Syria, you have Turkey, they're going to argue it out maybe they're going to fight it out. But our men" won't die then.

Clark Mindock16 October 2019 18:24

"You have Syria, you have Turkey, they're going to argue it out maybe they're going to fight it out. But our men" won't die then.

Clark Mindock16 October 2019 18:24

Mr Trump says US tech are "great big" American companies, and says he is not happy about taxes on US tech companies in Europe.

"I am not happy about the fact that they are taxing our companies. I'm not a fan of those companies but if anybody is going to be taxing those companies it should be the U-S-A."

Clark Mindock16 October 2019 18:26

Donald Trump says he didn't give Turkey the "green light" to invade Syria. 

He said US troops "would have been in harm's way" if they remained in the region. "I never gave a green light, they've been wanting to do that for years," he said. 

Chris Riotta16 October 2019 18:31

"Lindsey Graham would stay in the Middle East for a thousand years," Donald Trump said, hitting out at one of his closest allies in Washington. 

"I think Lindsey should focus on judiciary," he adds, saying he should into "what happened with President Obama" and others.

Chris Riotta16 October 2019 18:32

Donald Trump stands by his claims that he pulled out 28 troops from the region, "nobody captured, nobody injured". He claims that the Kurds "probably" let go ISIS prisoners without evidence the American allied forces released detainees to increase political pressure against him.

Chris Riotta16 October 2019 18:36

"That's the way it is, whether it's good or bad," Donald Trump says about the situation in Turkey.

Chris Riotta16 October 2019 18:40

The president also claimed the PKK is "probably worse at terror" and "more of a terrorist threat in many ways" than ISIS:

Chris Riotta16 October 2019 18:44

The press conference has now concluded.

Chris Riotta16 October 2019 18:44

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