Trump news - live: Backlash over president’s attack on congressman’s ‘rat-infested’ district, amid new bid for impeachment

Donald Trump's company has posted annual losses at his golf course in the Bronx for the first time since it opened four years ago.

Although the $122,127 (£98,000) loss is a relatively small one for the company it is another possible sign of trouble at its golf properties as the Trump brand faces a backlash from customers turned off by the president’s politics.

The company has also posted losses at its clubs in Scotland and Ireland and has struggled to grow at its biggest golf property, the Doral resort in the Miami area.

Donald Trump responded to growing calls for his impeachment in characteristic fashion at a press briefing on Friday.

“The Democrats are clowns,” he said. “They're being laughed at all over the world”

The US president added: “I watched Nancy Pelosi tried to get through that with the performance that Robert Mueller put on where I don't think he ever read the agreement or the document. And the document said no collusion.”

In the same interview in the Oval Office, Mr Trump boasted he could weaken the US dollar “in two seconds if he wanted to”.

It came days after he rejected a recommendation from senior adviser Peter Navarro that the country should take steps to weaken the US dollar to boost US exports, people briefed on the exchange said.

At the time, Mr Trump condemned the strategy as unwieldy and dangerous for the economy. 

But just three days later, the US president told reporters he had not ruled anything out. 

Read more here:

Here’s Patrick Cockburn from Indy Voices on how Donald Trump seeks to stand with Britain in an economic cold war to damage the EU following a no-deal Brexit:

Over 100 Democrats and one independent are now publicly calling for an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, according to the latest analysis by CNN.

To open a formal hearing, Democrats would require a simple majority of 218 vote. There are currently 235 Democrats in the House of Representatives.

Here’s Andrew Buncombe on how the Mueller testimony impacts the impeachment mathematics:

Elijah Cummings has responded to Mr Trump on Twitter after the US president branded him a “brutal bully” from a “rat-infested” district.

In light of the attacks, the Democratic congressman defended his record of working for his constituents in Baltimore.

“It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch,” Mr Cummings tweeted. “But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents."

Just last week, Mr Cummings, who is the the House Oversight Committee chairman, was given the authority to subpoena White House officials including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Some political commentators are linking the committee's decision with the president's attack on Mr Cummings. Others say that Mr Trump’s comments are characteristic of the US president, who has a history of describing black areas or African nations with words like “filthy”.

A number of prominent Democrats have come to the defence of Elijah Cummings, following Donald Trump’s vicious attacks on the Democratic congressman earlier today.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted that Mr Cummings is “a champion in the Congress and the country for civil rights and economic justice” and said Democrats would “reject racist attacks against him”.

Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, who were both recently attacked by Mr Trump on Twitter, also praised Mr Cummings – calling him “a legendary coach who brings the best out of everyone” and “an exemplary public servant”.

Political commentators are drawing attention to Mr Trump’s use of the word “infested” in his attack on Mr Cummings’ Baltimore district.

CNN’s Victor Blackwell has said that while the president often insults his political opponents, he invokes infestation when referring to people of colour on his Twitter account.

Mr Trump has used the word “infested” six times on his account – three times to attack black lawmakers (Mr Cummings and John Lewis), once against sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants, once to refer to parts of Africa affected by the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and once against Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley (in his “go back” tweets).

The district that Mr Cummings represents, Maryland’s 7th, is majority African-American.

Baltimore’s mayor, Bernard C "Jack" Young, has also responded to Mr Trump with a passionate rebuke to the president’s tweets earlier today.

Mr Young said it was “completely unacceptable for the political leader of our country to denigrate a vibrant American City like Baltimore”.

He went on to describe Mr Trump as “a disappointment to the people of Baltimore, our country, and to the world.”