Trump news: President calls coronavirus testing 'double-edged sword' as 17 states sue over student visa rule
White House defends relationship with Dr Fauci despite memo undermining his Covid-19 warnings
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has again lashed out on Twitter against his key media ally, Fox News, accusing the network of “working so hard against the people that got them there” and saying its contributors are “all over the place”.
A move by the White House to discredit the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, by labelling him too frequently “wrong” about the coronavirus pandemic has meanwhile been derided as “atrocious” by House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denounced the administration's push to reopen schools, saying that the states is "not going to use our children as guinea pigs" or as a "litmus test" for national reopenings as he accused the president of "gross negligence" for "denying" public health experts.
The president defended his "very good" relationship with the nation's leading infectious disease expert as he falsely claimed that the US has one of the lowest Covid-19 mortality rates and blamed the Obama administration for US testing shortfalls, claiming that his predecessor "stopped their testing" despite the pandemic beginning three years after he left office.
During a White House roundtable discussion with law enforcement and people reflecting on their "positive experience" with police, the president repeated that coronavirus testing is a "double-edged sword" – implying that the discovery and spread of the disease also negatively impacts him.
Political rival Joe Biden's campaign criticised the president's "refusal to listen to science" and public falling out with Dr Fauci.
"The president's disgusting attempt to pass the buck by blaming the top infectious disease expert in the country ... is yet another horrible and revealing failure of leadership as the tragic death toll continues to needlessly grow," a statement said.
His latest spats come as new cases of Covid-19 continue to surge in the Sun Belt states, with Florida reporting a record 15,299 cases on Sunday and the Texas city of Houston weighing a return to lockdown.
Meanwhile, 17 states and Washington DC have sued the administration over its plans to drop certain visas for students at universities moving to online classes despite the raging pandemic.
A lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security argues that the order "fails to consider the harm to international students and their families whose lives will be upended" and that it "will also cause irreparable harm to the public health and the economy" of each state.
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Trump confirms he ordered cyberattack on Russian trolls during midterm elections
Here's a rare acknowledgement from the president that a Kremlin disinformation campaign exists to target American elections, no small thing from a man who said that he saw no reason why Vladimir Putin would want to interfere at their notorious Helsinki summit of summer 2018.
Dozens of universities support challenge to Trump's order on foreign students
Some 60 US universities filed a brief on Sunday supporting a lawsuit by two others, seeking to block a Trump administration rule barring foreign students from remaining in the country if educational institutions don't hold in-person classes this fall.
The lawsuit was filed by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Wednesday in a federal court in Boston.
The so-called amicus brief - a supporting document submitted by interested parties - was filed by 59 American universities on Sunday, including seven other Ivy League schools.
The universities said they relied on federal guidance, which was to remain "in effect for the duration of the emergency," allowing international students to attend all-online courses during the pandemic, according to the amicus brief. "The emergency persists, yet the government's policy has suddenly and drastically changed, throwing amici's preparations into disarray and causing significant harm and turmoil," they added.
About 1.1m foreign students attended US higher education institutions in the 2018-19 school year, according to a report by the State Department and the Institute of International Education and they made up 5.5 per cent of the entire US higher education enrollment.
The Trump administration announcement blindsided academic institutions grappling with the challenges of safely resuming classes as the coronavirus pandemic continues unabated around the world and surges in the United States.
The US government has been trying to get schools and universities to reopen by autumn. Harvard has already announced it would hold all classes online that term.
Reuters
Trump scheme to expand empire in Scotland angers locals
Here's Jane Dalton with some rare British Trump news.
As Scotland on Sunday reports the president's plans to expand his Turnberry golf resort by building hundreds of private homes, retirement villas and shops, Scottish Green Party MSP Peter Harvie warns: "We should be very wary of allowing Scotland’s reputation to be further associated with this toxic brand."
Trump says 'police must take a stronger stand with the Radical Left politicians'
Following on from his game show hosts tweets, the president posted a fairly "meh" attack video accusing Joe Biden of being confused and having "no ratings" before issuing this extraordinary - and vague - assault on Democratic-run cities.
He followed that with a clip of Florida congressman Matt Gaetz talking to Jeanine Pirro on Fox about "cancel culture", when he should surely be more concerned with helping his constituents stay safe.
Trump drives golf cart with caddie hanging off the back
The president insisted his Sunday golf game was "VERY fast" on Twitter yesterday - his Secret Service bodyguard evidently found out the hard way he wasn't kidding.
Here's Justin Vallejo on some aburd scenes from the links in Virginia, worthy of Caddyshack.
'Trump’s Roger Stone stunt is all about the election - it helps him to play the victim'
For Indy Voices, Chris Stevenson has this on the president's latest scandal.
Trump renews attack on Fox
"They are working so hard against the people (viewers) that got them there," the president gripes, complaining his ally's guests are "all over the place".
He then goes back to aping Nixon.
New York records first day without coronavirus deaths since March
This really is a remarkable achievement. Hats off to the good folk of the Big Apple and state governor Andrew Cuomo for sticking to social distancing measures to flatten the curve, who have set a blueprint for other states to follow.
Gino Spocchia has this report.
Eric Swalwell says Trump’s cronyism ‘flooding the swamp’
The California congressman ran a short-lived Democratic presidential campaign last year without gaining much traction but has arguably made more headway trolling Trump on social media since.
Here he is bringing the fire on MSNBC.
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