Trump news - live: Backlash over president’s attack on congressman’s ‘rat-infested’ district, amid new bid for impeachment
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Donald Trump has been widely-criticised for a series of vicious tweets attacking Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings and the city of Baltimore.
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Mr Trump also lashed out again at Robert Mueller and Democrats calling for his impeachment, and announced that he is considering declaring the antifascist movement Antifa a terrorist organisation.
The outbursts followed Mr Trump’s threat to investigate former president Barack Obama and “subpoena all of his records”.
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In statements given in the Oval Office, the US president suggested the attention given to his ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice could apply to other presidents.
Mr Trump also hit out at French president Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of “foolishness” after Paris announced a tax aimed at US technology companies.
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Show all 30He also hinted that he would tax French wine in retaliation, adding that he preferred American wine despite being a know teetotaller.
Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court gave his administration the green light to spend $2.5bn from a military budget on building a border wall.
A trial court had previously said the money could not be switched from the Pentagon towards construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border. But on Friday the nation’s highest court permitted constriction to continue while litigation over the issue played out.
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Democrats have raised the spectre of Trump’s impeachment once again as they seek access to grand jury evidence from the Mueller investigation.
And for the first time, the Democratic-led US House judiciary committee explicitly referenced Congress’ impeachment powers as part of its request filed on Friday.
Jerry Nadler, the House judiciary committee chairman, told reporters that since justice department policy prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president, the House of Representatives was the only institution of government capable of holding Trump accountable for actions outlined in the Mueller report.
As calls for Trump’s impeachment grow, the US president is now openly threatening to investigate Barack Obama.
Trump is up and has accused Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings of being a “brutal bully” for criticising conditions at detention centres at the US border.
He also described Cummings' Baltimore district as “disgusting” and where “no human being would want to live".
The Maryland congressman has previously called Trump a racist after his attack on four congresswomen of colour and said his constituents till him they’re “scared of their leader”.
Trump also appears to be rattled by Democrats’ recent moves to unseal grand jury evidence related to the Mueller investigation, and has posted a video of Jerry Nadler accompanied by melancholy piano music.
Nadler, the House judiciary committee chairman, requested access to the evidence on behalf of the committee on Friday.
But Trump seems to be sticking to the line that the “witch hunt” against him is over, despite what some have viewed as damning testimony from Robert Mueller with the prospect of a long investigation ahead for some Democrats.
Commentators have linked Mr Trump’s earlier tweets attacking Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings to a segment on the Fox & Friends show this morning.
The US president is accused of directly copying his criticisms of Mr Cummings’ Baltimore district from the show, which the presenter describes as “the most dangerous in America”. In his tweets, Mr Trump branded the district as “disgusting” and where “no human being would want to live".
Some commentators see it as just the latest, disturbing example of the US president’s cosy relationship with the TV network. Mr Trump also frequently retweets Fox News clips.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump is celebrating after the US Supreme Court gave his administration the green light to spend $2.5bn in Pentagon funds on building a border wall.“Wow! Big VICTORY on the Wall,” Mr Trump tweeted last night. “The United States Supreme Court overturns lower court injunction, allows Southern Border Wall to proceed. Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!”
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There has been a lot of backlash in response to Donald Trump’s attack on Elijah Cummings accusing the Democratic congressman of being a “brutal bully” from a “rat-infested district”.
Some commentators have pointed out that nearly 36 per cent of Baltimore’s residents are college educated compared to the national average of 28 per cent, according to figures from the Baltimore Sun.
Mr Trump’s attacks appear to be directly copied from a segment on a Fox news programme and follow Mr Elijah’s criticisms of conditions at migrant detention centres at the US border.
Earlier this week Elijah Cummings, the House Oversight Committee chairman, was given the authority to subpoena White House officials including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
“The Committee has obtained direct evidence that multiple high-level White House officials have been violating the Presidential Records Act by using personal email accounts, text messaging services, and even encrypted applications for official business - and not preserving those records in compliance with federal law,” Mr Cummings said on 25 July.
Some political reporters, including Politco's Kyle Cheney, are linking the committee's decision with the president's attack on Mr Cummings.
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