Trump news: President accuses Biden of using performance enhancing drugs for primary debates amid accusations administration siphoned money away from 9/11

Trump receives second Nobel Peace Prize nomination this week

Donald Trump just received his second nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize since Wednesday after the landmark peace deal was signed between Serbia and Kosovo.

Magnus Jacobsson, a member of Swedish Parliament, announced in a tweet on Friday the nomination of the Trump administration and both European nations.  

It comes two days after a member of the Norwegian Parliament nominated Mr Trump for the peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

In his letter to the Nobel Committee, Mr Jacobsson said: “Under slutet av 1990-talet drabbades Europa av ett blodigt krig dar de olika…”

Well we’ll let Mr Jacobsson explain that for himself.

BREAKING: US Navy cancels New York 9/11 flyover tribute amid public outrage

The US Navy has cancelled a planned flyover of New York City intended to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks amid widespread criticism.

Branded as “tone deaf”, “insensitive”, and “verging on completely tasteless” by incredulous social media users, the plan also drew the ire of elected officials.

Staten Island representative Max Rose tweeted: “Are you out of your mind? Cancel this immediately.”

The mayor’s office was reportedly unaware of the planned tribute.

A spokesperson said: “The mayor wasn’t aware of the flyover, and frankly, it’s inappropriate. He looks forward to thanking our heroes and honoring those we’ve lost at the ceremony this morning."

The flyover was announced on Twitter by the city’s emergency notification system late on Thursday.  

A US Navy F-18 Super Hornet jet was scheduled to fly south down the Hudson River towards the Verrazano Narrows Bridge at an altitude of 2,500ft at 3.30pm.

New York City residents were quick to respond calling the idea “insane and cruel” to those who still suffer post traumatic stress from the attacks.

Pentagon officials confirmed the flyover was cancelled.

Oliver O’Connell is following the story as it unfolds.

Biden was for Trump’s travel ban from China from the start, spokesperson says

Let’s dive into this.

The Biden campaign’s press secretary TJ Ducklo appeared on Fox News last night to say Joe Biden backed the president’s travel ban from China in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Well, let’s get a few things straight, the vice president was not against the travel ban, first of all,” Mr Ducklo said.

When host Bret Bair asked for clarification that Biden was for closing travel from China, Mr Ducklo responded: “Joe Biden has been clear, and I can send you the fact-checks, if they’re helpful, Bret, Joe Biden has been clear that he was not against that travel ban at the time.”

The Trump campaign has harped on about Biden’s response to Trump’s China travel ban, saying he called it hysterical xenophobia.

There is a war of semantics between the two campaigns on this.  

Biden didn’t directly call the travel ban itself xenophobic, but did call Trump’s response to the virus hysterical xenophobia. Given that Trump’s response included that travel ban, it’s unclear which part of Trump’s coronavirus response is xenophobic and which part Biden clearly supported at the time.

The kernel of this comes from 31 January when The White House issued a Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus. 

That same day, Biden was on campaign stop in Iowa, where he said this:  

“The American people need to have a president who they can trust what he says about it [coronavirus], that he’s going to act rationally about it. In moments like this, this is where credibility of a president is most needed as he explains what we should and should not do. This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia - hysterical xenophobia - and fearmongering to lead the way instead of science.”

The Trump War Room has, of course, preserved the clip of this:

The next day, on 1 February, Biden repeated the sentiment with the tweet: “We need to lead the way with science — not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering”.

On 12 March, Biden said after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic that “downplaying it, being overly dismissive or spreading misinformation is only going to hurt us and further advantage the spread of the disease”.

“But neither should we panic or fall back on xenophobia, labelling Covid-19 a foreign virus does not displace accountability for the misjudgment that have been taken thus far by the Trump administration,” he said.

None of these instances were directed clearly at the travel ban. However, on 18 March, Biden repeated his message in direct response to a Trump tweet explicitly about the travel ban. Which is, again, ambiguous.  

“Stop the xenophobic fear-mongering. Be honest. Take responsibility. Do your job."

So as a fact check on whether Biden called the China travel ban “xenophobic”, or if he did or did not support the China travel ban, this would be rated as either/or mostly true and/or mostly false.  

Which ever side of that fence a fact check falls would be a Jedi mind trick, both or neither could be true, from a certain point of view.

POLARIZED: Why this New Hampshire independent voter is supporting a third party candidate — again

Penguinpyro wouldn’t describe himself as an “avid” gamer. He says “obsessive” is a better description.

In this day and age where video gamers have built communities and developed major followings on live streaming platforms, Penguinpyro is the “streamer” persona for Adam W, an independent voter in New Hampshire who spoke to The Independent’s Chris Riotta about his top concerns and priorities ahead of the November election. 

Who are behind the hacking operations poking around the Trump campaign?

The Russian group, Strontium, and the Chinese group, Zirconium, are two of the foreign entities reportedly attacking the Trump campaign.

Who are they? Adam Smith sees how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Trump insists Americans of 'all faiths' came together after 9/11 despite his years of falsely suggesting he saw Muslims cheer

Speaking from the site where United Flight 93 was taken down by hijackers on 9/11, Donald Trump said “all faiths” came together following the terrorist attack despite suggesting as a candidate in 2015 that the “large Arab populations” of New Jersey celebrated as the World Trade Center towers fell.

"We promise you the unwavering love, support and devotion of all Americans," Mr Trump said during an annual ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. “In the days and weeks after 9/11, citizens of all faiths, backgrounds, colors and creeds came together, prayed together, mourned together, and rebuilt together. The song ‘God Bless America’ became a rallying cry for the nation.”

But Mr Trump said something different during a 2015 campaign rally before he became president.

“There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down,” he alleged. I know it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it, but there were people cheering as that building came down — as those buildings came down.”

“Now, I know they don’t like to talk about it, but it was well covered at the time,” he said. “There were people over in New Jersey that were watching it, a heavy Arab population, that were cheering as the buildings came down. Not good.”

The president’s Friday morning remarks matched the somber tone of the ceremony and day. But he has used the 9/11 attack and its anniversary for political gain in the past.

John T Bennett looks back.

Trump addresses ‘every 9/11 member’

As the US president praised the country’s armed forces and honoured 9/11 victims during a ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, he appeared to misspeak with naming “9/11 members”.

“To every 9/11 member, all across this nation, the first lady and I come to this holy ground deeply aware that we cannot fill the void in your hearts”, said Mr Trump.

Trump in Shanksville, praises veterans

Donald Trump on Friday praised US troops who have died in America’s post-9/11 conflicts just one week after being accused of calling them “suckers” and “losers” – allegations he has fiercely denied.

“We express our undying loyalty to the nearly 6 million young men and women who have enlisted in the United States Armed Forces since September 11th 2001,” he said in a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where that flight crashed.

John T Bennett has the latest, here:

Trump’s claims on manufacturing, fact-checked

Donald Trump made more false statements Thursday night as he tried to convince voters in Michigan to help give him a second term, claiming he has revived the car-manufacturing industry there even though it lost jobs under his watch – even before the coronavirus shutdown.

"We brought you a lot of car plants, we brought you a lot ... and we're going to bring you a lot more," the president told a rowdy crowd at an airport rally in Saginaw County, which he narrowly won four years ago and needs to hold in November's election.

He has made such a claim before. It was quickly shot down by independent fact-checking organisations.

John T Bennett has the analysis, here: 

Here’s president Donald Trump and first lady, Melania Trump, landing at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, ahead of a 9/11 memorial service.

The US president will lead a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial in in remembrance of the 40 passengers and crew who died when the plane crashed into a field after they struggled with hijackers on 9/11. 

Later in the day, Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, will visit the Shanksville site to pay their respects to the victims, as the two candidates avoid crossing paths. 

Flight 93, bound for San Francisco from Newark, New Jersey, never hit its intended target - the four hijackers were believed to be planning to crash it into either the US Capitol or the White House - after passengers stormed the cockpit and attempted to regain control of the aircraft.

The ceremonies marking the attacks are a regular stop for presidential candidates and officials, with Mr Trump having visited Shanksville for the 9/11 anniversary in 2018, and Mr Biden during his years as vice president under Barack Obama.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton both visited the Ground Zero memorial in New York, where Mr Biden took part in a service on Friday morning.

Additional reporting by Reuters