Trump news: Public impeachment hearings set to begin within weeks, as president travels to Mississippi for rally

The Washington Post has reported that Mr Trump has abandoned the idea of releasing proposals to combat gun violence, despite insisting he would introduce new polices in the wake of mass shootings in August.

The Post’s Josh Dawsey writes:

“Trump has been counselled by political advisers, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, that gun legislation could splinter his political coalition, which he needs to stick together for his re-election bid, particularly amid an impeachment battle.”

The president has quietly stopped talking about the issue and moved onto other problems for his administration, according to the report.

The Associated Press and NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research have a new poll out on American attitudes to impeachment.

According to the poll, 47 per cent of US adults support the impeachment inquiry, while just 38 per cent disapprove of it.

However, only a third of respondents said the inquiry should be a top priority for Congress.

Mr Trump is awake and on Twitter.

The president’s first move of the day is a quote tweet of Republican congressman Lee Zeldin’s supportive post from two weeks ago, which suggests Mr Trump has been searching through Twitter for some words of encouragement.

The Democratic Party is increasing pressure on its 2020 presidential candidates to commit to campaigning actively for the party’s nominee in next year’s election.

Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has asked all candidates to commit to pooling all Democratic resources to benefit the presidential nominee to avoid a repeat of the divided 2016 campaign for Hillary Clinton.

DNC officials have said Barack Obama has already talked with party leaders about campaigning on behalf of the nominee, whoever it is. 

Here’s some new economic data for October.

The Washington Post’s Heather Long has reported that the US economy added 128,000 jobs last month, beating expectations.

However, Ms Long notes that the solid job figures are countered by wage growth (which is up just 3 per cent in the past year).

Mr Trump is celebrating the new jobs data, albeit with a figure “adjusted for revisions and the General Motors strike”…

The president is claiming an adjusted figure of 303,000 jobs added – but it is not clear how he got that number (It does not appear to be in the official Bureau of Labour Statistics release).

The officially-released figure is 128,000 jobs.

Politico’s chief economic correspondent Ben White and Bloomberg Business’ Katia Dmitrieva are not convinced by Mr Trump’s figure at least.

Here are some more economics reporters who are unconvinced by the president’s analysis.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren has announced her plan for a Medicare for All system – one of the key policy issues for the 2020 Democratic primary.

Ms Warren's plan would cost the US government an extra $20.5 trillion over 10 years but she has promised it would not require “raising taxes one penny” on the middle class.

Instead, the senator has claimed it will save American households $11 trillion in current out-of-pocket spending.

Medicare for All has become a difficult topic for Ms Warren’s campaign, with critics challenging her for not outlining precisely how she will pay for the ambitious healthcare system.

NBC News’ Benjy Sarlin has some analysis on the plan, which he describes as a political “power move”.

The Post’s Heather Long has some information from the White House on how they came up with the 303,000 jobs figure.

It is not clear if those adjustments are realistic but at least we know the president hasn't just picked a random number.

Mr Trump has also tweeted about the new leader of Isis and claimed the US knows “exactly who he is.”

That last part might seem weirdly vague and unnecessary, as Isis formally announced their new leader’s name yesterday – his name is reportedly Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi.

However, Hashemi's name is not known to security forces and is thought to be a nom de guerre (an assumed name for combat), according to the BBC.