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Trump news: President demands personal apology after NYT publish 'antisemitic' cartoon as he attacks firefighters

Follow events from Washington - as they happened

Lily Puckett,Joe Sommerlad
Monday 29 April 2019 16:45 EDT
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Donald Trump could use executive privilege to stop former White House lawyer testifying to congress

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Donald Trump has passed the 10,000 falsehoods mark since taking office, according to fact-checkers, his flights of rhetoric at recent rally appearances seeing him hit an astonishing average of 23 untruths per day.

The president complained to Fox News on Sunday the US-Mexico border is now “like Disneyland” since his administration stopped separating migrant families, a remark that followed another wild address to supporters in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday night, where he derided sanctuary cities, spread an extraordinary lie about abortion and imitated the accent of King Salman of Saudi Arabia.

The White House is meanwhile continuing to push back against congressional investigations into Mr Trump, with counsel Kellyanne Conway warning he could use his executive privilege to avoid co-operating with subpoenas and attorney-general William Barr threatening to back out of appearances before the House and Senate judiciary committees.

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Trump has now gone after firefighters. 

This is likely a direct response to Joe Biden picking up an endorsement from the International Association of Fire Fighters this morning - the first major union endorsement of the 2020 race.

Lucy Anna Gray29 April 2019 16:34

The New York Times published an apology for an anti-semitic cartoon depicting the Israeli Prime Minister as a dog leading Trump. He's angry they didn't apologize to him as well, for both the cartoon, or their news in general.

Lucy Anna Gray29 April 2019 16:43

HHS Secretary Alex Azar praised the president for tweeting last week that people must "get their shots" in his first pro-vaccine statement since taking office. Trump had previously been vocal about the false link between vaccines and autism, tweeting at least 20 times in support of the debunked theory. Azar called the president's shift in thought "very strong leadership," telling reporters “there was debate about this issue but it’s been settled. The scientific community generated definitive information so we can reassure every parent there is no link.” This information was originally generated in 1998. Today, the U.S. reached a 25 year high of 704 reported cases of measles, which is preventable by vaccination.

Lucy Anna Gray29 April 2019 17:15

Here's some more information on Trump's earlier tweet about New York state's response to his tax law. According to data released by U.S. Census Bureau in December, New York lost 48,510 residents between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018, more than any other state in the same period. New York governor Andrew Cuomo has consistently put the blame for this decline on Trump's tax law.  

Lily Puckett29 April 2019 17:42

Bloomberg's Shannon Pettypiece summed up the president's day so far. 

Earlier, Trump tweeted that after William Barr's release of his redacted version of Robert Mueller's report 'the Dems are going around saying, “Bob who, sorry, don’t know the man.”' In fact, several Democrats have called for the president's impeachment in the wake of the report. 

Lily Puckett29 April 2019 18:00

The Associated Press reports that Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer will meet with Trump on Tuesday to discuss America's "massive" infrastructure needs. They're hoping for more federal funding. Ahead of the meeting, a coalition of liberal and moderate Democrats is rolling out a plan today that aims to make infrastructure more resilient to climate change, which is still being disputed by the Trump Administration. 

Lily Puckett29 April 2019 18:18

The Anti-Defamation League's annual report shows that 39 of the 50 extremist-related murders tallied by the group in 2018 were committed by white supremacists, up from 2017, when white supremacists were responsible for 18 of 34 of the same sort of crimes. The rise of white nationalist violence during Trump's first term is expected to become a hot button issue in the 2020 election cycle.

Lily Puckett29 April 2019 18:30

Newt Gingrich attempted to defend Trump's notorious Charlottesville "both sides" comments during an appearance on The View today, saying Trump “clearly” said he was opposed to white nationalist groups in his statement. 

“It’s not that clear,” co-hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin both replied. Watch the video below.

Lily Puckett29 April 2019 19:00

Donald Trump isn't the only one thinking about Joe Biden today. Politico spoke to several big names in the Democratic party who are undecided on their support for the former Vice President. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said 'Biden, by who he is and what he represents and what he has fought for his entire life, makes a very important contrast to Donald Trump. And what his entry in the race gives Democrats is a real choice between someone new and someone who has been in the trenches in this fight, including in the White House, for decades.'

Lily Puckett29 April 2019 19:15

Joe Biden responds to Trump's tweets from this morning.

The tweet comes just before the former Vice President's first official campaign rally is scheduled to begin in Pittsburgh. 

Lily Puckett29 April 2019 19:59

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