Trump news: House to vote on national emergency resolution as new attack launched on abortion access
How yet another shocking week in Washington came to an end
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Your support makes all the difference.House Democrats have filed their “resolution of disapproval” challenging Donald Trump‘s decision to call a national emergency in order to build a wall on the US southern border with Mexico.
While the president has claimed there is a "crisis" of illegal immigration in the United States, Democrats have questioned his motives — and noted that Mr Trump himself has suggested that he did not need to declare the emergency.
The president on Thursday touted the contributions of African Americans during an event to honour Black History Month.
Meanwhile Ahmed Ali Muthana, the father of Alabama Isis bride Hoda Muthana, announced he is suing the administration for its “unlawful attempt” to rescind her citizenship and block a return to the US. Lawyers have told The Independent that an executive effort to revoke citizenship amounts to the act of an "authoritarian".
In Syria, the US has rowed back on its decision for a full withdrawal of troops following the apparent defeat of the Islamist militants and will now leave around 200 soldiers behind to safeguard the region.
Mr Trump on Friday weighed in on several issues, including the charges brought against his friend and billionaire owner of the New England Patriots Robert Kraft over prostitution allegations.
He called those charges "shocking", but noted that Mr Kraft had denied the charges against him.
The president also suggested that he might extend a deadline for trade negotiations with China, saying that the negotiators have been having success.
Next week, Mr Trump is scheduled to travel to Vietnam for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, where he and his administration say that they hope he can build on the previous summit with Mr Kim last year in Singapore.
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We have been talking quite a bit about the Democratic field shaping up to take on Donald Trump in 2020, but not as much has been said about potential primary challenges for the president.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is among a small — admittedly, very small — contingent of Republicans who have been flirting with the possibility. And, in an interview with Politico published yesterday, Mr Hogan claimed that the Republican National Committee is taking extraordinary steps to shield Mr Trump from any danger of a primary challenge.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been involved in the Republican Party for most of my life. It’s unprecedented,” Mr Hogan said. “In my opinion, it’s not the way we should be going about our politics.”
The House resolution challenging Donald Trump's emergency declaration was filed by Texas Representative Joaquin Castro.
Here's a tweet from Mr Castro with the resolution:
The president is getting some flak after a US Coast Guard member was arrested with a long hit list of Democrats and journalists, writing that indicated he wanted to murder massive amounts of people, and several weapons.
Donald Trump has frequently labeled the press as the enemy of the people, but White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sought Friday morning to downplay that rhetoric. She claimed falsely that the president has only condemned violence against journalists and others.
That is far from the truth.
Have you heard about the White House's plan to review climate change as a national security threat?
Have you heard who is going to be contributing to that discussion?
Here's our story on the decision by the Trump administration to keep 200 soldiers in Syria, in spite of the president's promise to remove all US military from the country.
Several times this morning, Donald Trump went out of his way to attack probes into Russian meddling in the 2016 and whether his campaign (or he himself) colluded in the effort.
The special counsel investigation is said to be wrapping up, meaning that the only remaining investigations will lie in the US Congress.
Here's a tweet from Mr Trump agreeing with the classification of a main Democratic adversary of his in the House as a "conspiracy theorist".
Donald Trump's friend, and the owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft was charged earlier today in Florida with soliciting a prostitute.
The alleged solicitation was discovered during a sting in Jupiter, Florida, just miles from the president's Mar-a-Lago resort.
The American Civil Liberties Union has responded to the House resolution to terminate Donald Trump's emergency declaration.
Christopher Anders, deputy director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, issued the following statement:
“It’s not just the job of the courts to uphold the Constitution — it’s the job of every member of Congress who swore an oath to defend the Constitution. Now is the time to make that oath meaningful and for Congress to defend its constitutional role."
“President Trump’s phony national emergency declaration to secure funds for a border wall is a dangerous expansion of presidential power and an assault on Congress’ role as a co-equal branch of the government. While existing acts of Congress do not authorize Trump’s recent action, his effort to abuse those laws makes it critical for every member of the House and Senate to vote for Rep. Castro's resolution and swiftly end this constitutional crisis.”
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