Trump news - live: Kim Kardashian speaks at the White House, as president announces Sarah Sanders' departure
Follow the latest updates from Washington
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has once more stirred up calls for his impeachment after saying in an interview he would accept intelligence on a political opponent from a foreign power rather than inform the FBI.
“If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent’ – oh, I think I’d want to hear it”, the president said during an Oval Office interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
The remark immediately inspired Mr Trump’s 2020 Democratic challengers to unite in calls for his removal from the White House, with Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren all condemning his words and California senator Kamala Harris branding him a “national security threat”.
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Democratic 2020 contender Kamala Harris has been particularly strong on holding Trump to account in recent days.
Interviewed by Stephanie Ruhle on MSBNC last night, Harris described Trump's latest remark as "outrageous".
"He's the commander-in-chief and has a duty and a responsibility to the American people to be a defender, if not the greatest defender of our democracy, and to quite the contrary what we hear yet tonight is that he is yet again open to the idea of working with foreign governments to undermine the integrity of our election system.
"It's outrageous and it tells me the guy doesn't understand the job and can't do it very well".
As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee with regular exposure to sensitive reconnaissance, Harris said she was "concerned" about the consequences of the president's remark for next year's race, saying he was putting "self-interest" ahead of the interests of American democracy and "sending out a signal" in inviting foreign help to ensure victory over his future Democratic challenger.
Yesterday, she pledged to prosecute Trump if she became president during an appearance on an NPR podcast.
Trump is up early and tweeting good luck to Michael Flynn, his short-lived first national security adviser who resigned after just 24 days in February 2017 when information surfaced that he had misled the FBI and vice president Mike Pence about the nature and content of his communications with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak and his lobbying work for the Turkish government.
Flynn's new lawyer, Sidney Powell, is an eccentric known as a conservative political commentator, author of the book Licensed to Lie (2014) and as a regular critic of Robert Mueller.
Her website even sells "Creeps on a Mission" t-shirts attacking the former FBI special counsel, available for the vague price of $25-$35 and described as: "Soft, 100% ring-spun cotton t-shirt in light gray, made in the USA, with copyrighted artwork of Mueller, Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Weissmann, and Ohr behind the battered seal of the Department of Just-Us."
Powell has pushed a conspiracy theory that the FBI spied on the former general as part of a "set-up", a bold claim his previous attorneys Robert Kelner and Stephen Anthony did not dare to make.
She suggested in October that Flynn should withdraw his guilty plea but appears now to be advising that he maintain his current course, according to Politico.
Russia has responded to the to the US plan to deploy spy drones in Poland by expressing concern, the RIA news agency reports.
Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov says Washington's move indicates "aggressive intentions", a remark that serves as further evidence of deteriorating relations between the old Cold War foes.
Among the president's weirder recent tweets (and that's saying something) was this from late last night.
He was seemingly attempting to correct the spelling of CNN's Chris Cuomo in a tweet about his interview with comedian Bill Maher, in which the latter said the president might refuse to actually leave the White House if he were deselected in 2020.
That remark was leapt on by Fox pundit Geraldo Rivera, who came to the president's defence, bringing it to his attention.
It nevertheless made for a baffling exchange - and the idea that Trump might pick holes in other people's typos is beyond ridiculous.
Here's Tom Batchelor on Trump's latest Twitter huff, which political scientist Brian Klaas says "could amount to obstruction of justice" if the president's behaviour is read as an attempt to intervene in or otherwise influence Michael Flynn's trial.
In a hot new setback for the environment, the Trump administration is considering mining for uranium at the Grand Canyon - particularly bad news for the Havasupai Native American tribe, whose roots in northern Arizona stretch back some 800 years.
Clark Mindock has this.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments