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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom McCarthy (now) and Scott Bixby (earlier)

Hillary Clinton: US must be 'vigilant but not afraid' on terrorism – as it happened

hillary clinton
Hillary Clinton called Trump’s rhetoric following the terrorist incidents in New York and New Jersey ‘demagogic’. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

Summary

We’re going to wrap up our live blog politics coverage for the day. Thank you for reading and see you back here in the morning.

Adelson to channel millions to Trump

Billionaire casino mogul Donald Trump Sheldon Adelson has committed roughly $45 million to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and other Republican candidates, CNN reports.

Adelson’s gifts reportedly include $20m to the Senate leadership fund, a super Pac to elect Republican senators, and as much for the Congressional leadership fund. He was reportedly giving $5m to a political organization backing Trump.

Clinton and Trump meet Egyptian president

In advance of a meeting of the UN General Assembly, Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met, separately, with both Clinton and Trump at a Manhattan hotel. Clinton also met Monday evening with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Here is the Clinton camp’s description of her meeting with Sisi:

Secretary Clinton and President Sisi had a constructive discussion about bilateral ties and cooperation on a wide range of issues, including counterterrorism. They also discussed the importance of economic development and investment in Egypt. Secretary Clinton emphasized the importance of respect for rule of law and human rights to Egypt’s future progress. Secretary Clinton called for the release of U.S. citizen Aya Hijazi and raised concerns about prosecution of Egyptian human rights organizations and activists. Secretary Clinton discussed ways to deepen counterterrorism cooperation, particularly in the fight against ISIS. She and President Sisi exchanged views about the Middle East, and Secretary Clinton underscored the importance of the Egyptian cooperation with Israel on counterterrorism, and her commitment to defeating ISIS, to addressing foreign fighters, and to countering radicalization.

Here is Trump’s campaign’s description of his meeting with Sisi:

Donald J. Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in New York today during his visit to the UN General Assembly. Mr. Trump and President el-Sisi discussed the strategic bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Egypt focusing on political, military and economic cooperation between the two countries. The meeting also included Mr. Trump’s senior advisors, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (Ret.).


Mr. Trump thanked President el-Sisi and the Egyptian people for what they have done in defense of their country and for the betterment of the world over the last few years. He expressed great respect for Egypt’s history and the important leadership role it has played in the Middle East.
Mr. Trump expressed to President el-Sisi his strong support for Egypt’s war on terrorism, and how under a Trump Administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead.
Mr. Trump emphasized the strong partnership that the United States and Egypt have shared for so many years and how this relationship is vital to help promote peace and stability in the Middle East, broader region and the world. Mr. Trump also expressed his recognition of Egypt’s close relationship with Israel on countering terrorism.Mr. Trump highlighted how Egypt and the U.S. share a common enemy and the importance of working together in defeating radical Islamic terrorism, not only politically and militarily, but also addressing the ideology.
Mr. Trump emphasized to President el-Sisi his high regard for peace-loving Muslims and understands that every day there are people of goodwill that sacrifice their lives and fortunes to combat the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorism.
Mr. Trump said that if he were fortunate enough to win the election in November, he would invite President el-Sisi on an official visit to the United States and would be honored to visit Egypt and the Egyptian people who he has a great fondness for.

Pence sidesteps 'birther' question

Our campaign isn’t focused on the past, Pence says. Back when the candidate at the top of the ticket regularly espoused the race-poison “theory” that Barack Obama was born in Africa.

Update: Somebody wants to claim copyright on the brilliant Skittles thing. It’s former (one-term) Illinois Representative Joe Walsh who now talks conservatively on the radio:

Updated

Does this image say it all? This image is a bowl of Skittles. It’s tempting to get literal about this bowl of Skittles and point out that there have been zero lethal attacks in the USA by our 10,000+ Syrian refugees, so three out of what looks to be about 100 Skittles is a gross overstatement, just statistically speaking, of whatever threat we’re imagining here.

But why are we talking about Syrian refugees? Because of a man suspected of planting a bomb in Chelsea who came here in 1995 as a 7-year-old asylum-seeker with his family from Afghanistan?

We’ve spent too much breath on this bowl of Skittles. P.S. It’s dehumanizing and crass to compare people to Skittles.

Updated

Mother Jones interviews New Yorkers on the street near the Chelsea bombing, about whether they think Trump or Clinton has better ideas for combatting terrorism.

The folks are for Clinton: “I think he’s a nutjob”:

Residents and workers along 23rd Street near 7th Avenue were getting on with life Monday afternoon, as police oversaw a complicated crime scene nearby. Meanwhile, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump engaged in a war of words over terrorism, and over who would make Americans feel safer. “They are looking to make this into a war against Islam, rather than a war against jihadists, violent terrorists,” Clinton said about potential terrorists attacking America. “The kinds of rhetoric and language Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries.”

Pretty strong.

Updated

Trump could create new US recession with trade war – study

Trump Trade Plan Could Push U.S. into Recession, Study Says

Bob Davis writes in the Wall Street Journal that “imposing stiff tariffs on China and Mexico, as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has proposed, could push the U.S. into recession and cost 5 million U.S. jobs, according to a study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics”:

The Peterson Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank that favors free trade, ran three computer simulations of the economic impact of placing 45% tariffs on Chinese goods and 35% tariffs on Mexico’s. Under the most dire outcome, China and Mexico would retaliate with tariffs on U.S. goods and services, U.S. exports and imports would shrink, import prices would rise, stock prices would tumble and investment would plunge, resulting in recession within three years.

Well, at least a president Trump wouldn’t have the power, unilaterally, to totally remake US trade policy, right?

Wrong, writes Justin Wolfers in a Bloomberg piece headlined Why a President Donald Trump could start a trade war with surprising ease:

Americans often dismiss populist promises that emerge on the presidential campaign trail because they are unlikely to be passed by Congress. Should Donald Trump get elected, Congress most likely would moderate his proposals to cut taxes, increase spending and even to build a border wall.

But international trade policy is one area where a President Trump could unilaterally deliver on the changes that he has promised.

Updated

Here’s CBS News’ Sopan Deb with a transcript of Trump’s fantastical remarks about the Chelsea bombing suspect getting room service in the hospital – and suggesting that the whole rule of law thing is an outmoded hindrance to real justice, wink wink:

Updated

Obama praises 'outstanding police work'

Obama made his remarks about the apprehension of Chelsea bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami at a New York meeting with Iraq prime minister Haider al-Abadi.

(Trump has been talking a lot about the US withdrawal from Iraq. He does not mention the status of forces agreement signed by George W Bush or the prime minister who presided over it. Can Trump name the last prime minister of Iraq?)

Obama hailed the “extraordinary work and coordination that is taking place between the FBI and law enforcement,” according to a pool report.

Obama said he talked with injured officers and said they were in good spirits. Obama declined to speculate on what motivated the attacks.

Obama at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York.
Obama at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York.
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Update: Here are Obama’s further remarks, via the press pool. Obama describes a plan to “go right at the heart of the Isil operation in Mosul”:

Since I met with him [Abadi] a year ago, we have significant progress in rolling back ISIL ... Now, what we have been discussing and focusing on is to go right at the heart of the ISIL operation in Mosul.

This is going to be a challenging battle, Mosul is a large city. But because of the prepositioning of forces, because of the cooperation between the collation and the Iraqi security forces and because of the cooperation the courage of the Kurdish Peshmerga, we feel confident that we will be in a position to move forward fairly rapidly ... It will be a tough fight ... One of the things we discussed is the importance of not just driving ISIL out of Mosul but (...) that we are prepared to provide humanitarian assistance and that we can rebuild the city in a way that assures not only ISIL does not come back but that extremist ideology born out of desperation will not return.”

Updated

Obama praises the police work that went from an 8am be-on-the-lookout phone alert to a midday arrest. “Outstanding” police work, Obama says:

Interesting meeting here:

How can people trust Clinton more on terrorism than they do on immigration when they are, to hear Trump tell it, exactly the same problem?

Trump’s done. He used the appearance to blame terror attacks on “our extremely open immigration system.” The suspect in the NYC bombing at the weekend was a naturalized American citizen born in Afghanistan who arrived in the USA as a boy.

Updated

Trump lamented the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris earlier, in his list of terror attacks illustrating the insecurity of life these days.

Trump says the way to fix terrorism is to stop immigration. But that wasn’t always his solution. Directly after the attacks, Trump heralded the corrective power of market forces:

Trump is telling another fairy tale, in which Obama is nursing a wish that he never would have appointed Clinton secretary of state.

But he’ll never admit it, Trump says. The caveat here is very Trump:

I would never expect him to – although maybe if he gets a lot of money for a book – to admit he would not have picked her as secretary of state.

Updated

The commission on presidential debates has announced that Lester Holt, the moderator of the first debate, which will take place a week from today at Hofstra University, has “selected the topics for that debate.”

But they’re so broad as not to mean much:

America’s Direction

Achieving Prosperity

Securing America

The format calls for six 15-minute time segments:

Two 15-minute segments will focus on each of the topics listed above. All debates start at 9:00 p.m. ET and run for 90 minutes without commercial interruption.

Updated

Oh no. “Has anyone ever heard the Snake that I read once in a while?” It’s the poem Trump offers as an allegory of the dangers of immigration.

“This is called the Snake, and it has to do with people coming into our country.” We’ve pasted the lyrics here before. You can read them here.

Important:

Updated

Trump has called Obama the founder of Isis. He sticks with that theme here: “She is not the right person to solve a problem that largely her and Obama gave us. It disqualifies her from being a credible presidential candidate.”

Earlier he quoted Clinton as saying he was helping with terrorist recruitment. His response was basically, if she knows so much why does terrorism exist.

“Weakness invites aggression... and silence in the face of a brutal enemy. And they have become brutal because we’ve allowed them to become brutal.”

Trump says Clinton “lacks the moral clarity to serve as our president.”

“She very much caused the problem when you think about it. Her weakness, her ineffectiveness caused the problem.”

Trump: “Today we have caught this evil thug who planted the bombs. Thank you law enforcement. Thank you police.”

But the bad part. Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world... and he probably even will have room service, knowing the way our country is. On top of that, he will represented by an outstanding lawyer... and his punishment will not be what it once would have been.

Trump calls it “sad” and says we need “speedy but fair trails, and we must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people.”

If you choose Donald Trump, these problems are going to go away far far greater than anyone would think.

Trump complains that Clinton will not say “radical Islamic terror.” He says “Clinton talks tougher about my supporters than she does Islamic terror.”

He wants to know how many terrorist suspects Clinton would call “deplorable” or
“irredeemable.”

“Or are those words reserved for hard-working Americans that truly love our country?”

Trump: “Here in America we’ve seen one brutal attack after another.” He lists Ft Hood, Boston Marathon, Tennessee recruiting center, San Bernardino, Orlando.

“In Europe, we have seen the same carnage and bloodshed inflicted on our closest allies,” he says.

He continues to list attacks and body counts.

Trump: 'open immigration' to blame for terrorist attacks

Here comes Trump. He comes out and says the crowd is big and his poll numbers are great and he will win Florida.

He wants to begin by “thanking our incredible law enforcement officers who don’t get the credit they deserve.”

He says there have been Islamic terrorist attacks in Minnesota, New York and New Jersey – authorities found unexploded bombs in New Jersey – and they “were made possible because of our extremely open immigration system.”

Trump then tells a series of whoppers about Clinton’s plan to admit “620,000 refugees in her first term with no effective way to vet them or screen them.”

“You can’t have vetting if you don’t look at ideology, and Hillary Clinton refuses to consider an applicant’s worldview,” Trump says.

The vetting process for refugees to be resettled to the United States includes multiple interviews and background checks. The US has admitted about 10,000 Syrian refugees in the last year, out of millions.

Newt Gingrich has just finished addressing Donald Trump’s rally in Estero, southwestern Florida, and promised the crowd that Trump is on soon.

Meanwhile they are being treated to a power ballad guitar solo. Here’s a live video stream:

Updated

Statement from Donald Trump on terrorist incidents

In the past 48 hours, our law enforcement showed again that, without them, our country is neither safe nor secure. I am grateful for the quick action of law enforcement in capturing the terrorist responsible for Saturday’s bombings, and the off-duty police officer for stopping the terrorist in Minnesota. This weekend’s attacks, from Minnesota to Manhattan, are just the latest to be carried out on US soil under President Obama. These should be a wake-up call for every American.

Today, Hillary Clinton showed again that she will say anything - and blame anyone - to shift attention away from the weakness she showed as Secretary of State. The Obama-Clinton doctrine of not taking Isis seriously enough has emboldened terrorists all over the world. They are hoping and praying that Hillary Clinton becomes President so that they can continue their savagery and murder.

While our President has referred to them as the ‘J.V. Team’ and Hillary Clinton calls them our ‘determined enemies,’ I have been willing to call them exactly what they are: radical Islamist terrorists.

I will bring an end to these senseless acts of violence. They are wrong to say that we’re in a fight about ‘narratives.’ These terrorists pose an existential threat to our country, our values, and our way of life.

When I am President, terrorists like today’s suspect in the New York and New Jersey bombings, Ahmad Khan Rahami, and yesterday’s knife-wielding ISIS sympathizer in Minnesota, Dahir Adan, will be stopped. We will not look the other way. We will not allow political correctness and soft-on-terror, soft-on-crime policies to threaten our security and our lives.

Revelations that the Obama Administration wrongly granted citizenship to over 800 immigrants awaiting deportation from countries of concern to national security or high rates of immigration fraud puts this weekend’s attacks in a broader perspective. The safety and security of the homeland must be the overriding objective of our leaders when it comes to our immigration policy.

That’s why I’ve proposed extreme vetting for immigrants from troubled parts of the world where terrorists live and train, and oppose Hillary Clinton’s 550% increase in the number of refugees from the conflict in Syria. These are tough problems that require tough leadership. We need to get smart and get tough fast so that this weekend’s attacks do not become the new normal here as it has in Europe and other parts of the world.

Fox News Channel host and future press secretary Sean Hannity will host a town-hall meeting with Donald Trump in Ohio on Wednesday, according to Politico:

Bernie Sanders is feeling the... Hill.

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, after deleting a tweet that criticized President Barack Obama for inaction on terrorism, has released a statement retrenching the candidate’s stance that Obama is responsible for allowing terrorists to enter the country.

“Last weekend’s attacks, which are just the latest to be carried out on US soil on President Obama’s watch, should be a wakeup call for every American,” wrote communications advisor Jason Miller. “It is highly disturbing and entirely unacceptable that 858 immigrants from dangerous countries have slipped into our country and been granted full US citizenship because of the failed policies supported by President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Even worse, Clinton must explain her reckless support for a 550% increase in Syrian refugees and her push for an all-out open border policy, which will put even more Americans at risk. The threat from radical Islamic terrorism has only grown under Obama and Clinton, and ISIS has greatly expanded the number of countries where it is fully operational.”

“Our enemies neither fear nor respect Hillary Clinton, and as a nation, that is dangerous, and it is disgraceful. Mr. Trump will bring an end to these attacks, because unlike Obama and Clinton, he believes we’re in more than a fight about ‘narratives’ – these terrorists pose an existential threat to our country and our values and they must be destroyed before they can harm any more of our citizens.”

Flashback: From a 1999 Doonesbury strip about Donald Trump’s (at the time) faux-candidacy.

Doonesbury, 1999.
Doonesbury, 1999. Photograph: Garry Trudeau/Doonesbury

Updated

Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of “giving aid and comfort” to terrorist adversaries by seeking to exploit the manhunt gripping New York after a succession of weekend bombings.

As police captured an Afghan-born suspect they believe is linked to attacks in New York and New Jersey, the Democratic presidential nominee urged a targeted approach rather than Trump’s call for blanket immigration restrictions.

“We are going to have to go after the bad guys and we are going to get them, but we are not going to go after an entire religion and give Isis exactly what it is wanting,” Clinton told reporters at a press conference outside New York City.

“The kinds of rhetoric and language that Mr Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries,” she added.

She insisted that Trump had no plan, while she was the only candidate with experience of being “part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield”.

Clinton said she had long supported tougher vetting for people coming into the US, but the events in New York – which included a bomb injuring 29 people on Saturday night in Manhattan – could be seen as a boost to Trump’s agenda, which has included a ban on Muslims entering the US and surveillance of mosques.

Hillary Clinton only briefly addressed the subject of terrorism in her speech at Temple University in Philadelphia this afternoon, touching momentarily on the issue at an event targeting millennial voters. After informing the crowd that a suspect linked to the New York City bombing was allegedly in custody, Clinton emphasized the need to “remain vigilant.”

“This is a fast-moving situation and a sobering reminder that we need steady leadership,” Clinton said.

Donald Trump’s response, of course, has already been tweeted:

Updated

“This election in particular can be downright depressing,” Clinton said at Temple University. “Every election is important, from school board to state senate to president, but this time is different.”

“We have to stand up to this hate - we cannot let it go on!” Clinton says, after listing off Donald Trump’s history of housing discrimination, affinity for retweeting white supremacists and his advocacy for the birther movement, and is met with loud cheers. “And when we do that, we send a clear message: America is better than this. America is better than Donald Trump.”

“And just as importantly, we have a chance to make real progress in our country! I need you as partners, not just for winning this election, but in driving real change over the next four years.”

Speaking at Temple University in Philadelphia, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told a crowd of college students that although “the gap between the change we want and the progress that politics should deliver can look like a chasm,” she wants younger voters to take a closer look at her candidacy.

“You may still have some questions about me - I get that. And I want to do the best to answer those questions,” Clinton said. “I will never be the showman my opponent is - and you know what? That’s okay with me.”

“No one will work harder to make your life better. I will never stop, no matter how tough it gets.”

Hillary Clinton addresses millennial concerns at Temple University

Watch it live here:

Flashback: In December 2015, Donald Trump declared to South Carolina voters that New Jersey governor and future campaign surrogate Chris Christie “knew about it, totally knew about it” when it came to lane closures on the George Washington Bridge.

“The George Washington Bridge, he knew about it,” Trump said. “How do you have breakfast with people every day of your lives, they’re closing up the largest bridge in the world, the biggest in the United States, traffic flowing, during rush hour, people couldn’t get across for six, seven hours, ambulance, fire trucks. They’re with him all the time, the people who did it.”

“They never said, ‘hey boss, we’re closing up the George Washington Bridge today,’ no, they never said, they’re talking about the weather, right?” Trump continued. “Then, so he knew about it, he knew about it, totally knew about it.”

“I would say there’s less than one-percent chance” Christie didn’t know about the lane closure, Trump said, giving himself an out for when he would come very close to making Christie his running mate. “It could be. But I doubt it. He knew about it. They mention - they didn’t mention at one of their meetings. I think they had breakfast like every day or other day. They didn’t say, ‘Chris, tonight we’re closing up the George Washington Bridge because the mayor of a certain area is against you. Oh, okay.’ They didn’t mention? Nobody believes that.”

Updated

A sitting member of Congress has implied that a football player who does not rise for the national anthem to protest the treatment of African-Americans by police is sympathetic to alleged terrorists:

For those still curious whether the alt-right’s use of the Pepe the Frog meme means that a cartoon frog has become racist, here’s former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke:

Prosecutor: Chris Christie knew about George Washington Bridge closure in real time

New Jersey governor and current Donald Trump surrogate Chris Christie knew that staffers had helped orchestrate road closures at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 as it was happening, prosecutors declared today, and also knew that the lane closures were conducted as political punishment for a small-town mayor who did not endorse his reelection campaign.

According to the New York Times, prosecutors made the declaration during their opening arguments in the long-awaited trial of two former Christie officials who have been charged in connection with the lane closures at the world’s busiest bridge, which resulted in a five-day traffic snarl that led the town of Fort Lee, New Jersey, to declare a threat to public safety and forced emergency medical personnel to respond to medical emergencies on foot.

The defendants on trial are Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, Christie’s top appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge. Following a 16-month investigation, federal prosecutors have charged them with nine counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud and with violating the civil rights of the people trying to cross the bridge.

A third defendant, former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive David Wildstein, pleaded guilty and is assisting prosecutors. He will be sentenced later this year.

President Barack Obama urged Americans to remain vigilant and allow law enforcement to complete its investigations into terrorist incidents across the country this weekend, singling out the news media for not fomenting false leads regarding bombings in the Northeast or a stabbing at a shopping mall in Minnesota.

“At this point, we see no connection between that incident and what happened in New York and New Jersey,” Obama said. “I would ask that the press try to refrain getting out ahead of the investigation... it does not help if false reports or incomplete information is out there.”

Saying that Americans are “extremely fortunate and grateful” that no one was killed in any of the incidents, Obama commended “all of the outstanding police and first responders for their professionalism and their quick response.”

“The investigation is moving rapidly, and as is my practice, I’m going to leave it to the FBI… for more details,” Obama said, making no mention of reports that a suspect in the bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey had been apprehended after a shootout in New Jersey.

“It’s important to remember what terrorists and violent extremists are trying to do - they’re trying to hurt innocent people, but they’re also trying to inspire fear in all of us,” Obama said. “We all have a role to play as citizens in making sure that we don’t come to surrender to that fear.”

Donald Trump’s campaign has released a statement in response to what it called “CLINTON’S DISGUSTING ATTEMPT TO DISTRACT FROM ISIS FAILURES” (capitalization theirs).

“Hillary Clinton’s comments today accusing Mr. Trump of treason are not only beyond the pale, it’s also an attempt to distract from her horrible record on Isis,” wrote communications advisor Jason Miller, in apparent reference to Hillary Clinton’s mentioning of the fact that Trump’s remarks on terrorism and immigration have been used as a recruiting tool for Isis and sympathetic groups.

“If Clinton really wants to find the real cause of Isis, she needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror,” Miller continued. “The decision to remove all American troops from Iraq in 2011, which was vigorously supported by Clinton, created the vacuum that led to the founding of Isis. Nothing she says or does can ever un-ring that bell. The only thing we can expect from a Hillary Clinton presidency is more attacks on our homeland and more innocent Americans being hurt and killed.”

More than 50 government officials call on Trump to release business investment details

More than 50 former military officials, national security figures and government officials have published a letter calling on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to detail his overseas business investments ahead of the US presidential election, another consequence of the nominee’s tacit refusal to release any tax information relating to his vast and murky business empire.

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

“Trump still has not revealed to the American public his international business relationships, even as it becomes increasingly clear that his overseas ties could well constitute significant conflicts of interest when it comes to charting US foreign policy,” the letter reads. “This is unprecedented for a candidate for the nation’s highest office. As such, we are calling on Mr. Trump to disclose, in full, the nature of his business relationships overseas - to include specifically who his business partners are and what and where are his foreign investments. We also call on him to pledge that he will divest himself of his overseas business interests should he win the presidency.”

The letter was penned in response to a Newsweek investigation into Trump’s international business dealings, which put Trump in a position to personally and financially benefit from some of the positions his campaign has taken. For instance, his stance that South Korea should be able to develop a nuclear weapons program would benefit the Daewoo Group, with which the Trump Organization has longstanding ties.

The letter did not mince words in criticizing Trump’s alleged links to shady international organizations and persons: “Trump’s other business partners have included Kremlin-tied oligarchs and Russians with mafia links, an individual accused of money laundering for the Iranian military, a Turkish media tycoon accused of running a fuel-smuggling ring, Indian companies that may have violated India’s laws in their pursuit of business with Mr. Trump, and a South Korean company mired in scandal.”

“It’s not hard to see why these reported relationships would be problematic,” the letter’s authors state. “The issues are too important to leave them unanswered. It would be in Trump’s own interest to resolve these potential conflicts before the election.”

Speaking to reporters in her sixth press conference in three weeks, Hillary Clinton declared that “Americans will not cower” in the face of a spate of terrorist attacks across the country, urging Americans to “be vigilant, but not afraid.”

Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

“It is crucial that we continue to build up trust between law enforcement and Muslim-American communities,” Clinton said of her counter-terrorism policy, emphasizing that the fight on global terrorism is a global fight requiring the US “work closely with our allies and partners to keep us safe.”

“We have faced threats before - if you see something, or you hear something, report it immediately to local law-enforcement authorities,” Clinton said. “We choose resolve, not fear. We will not turn on each other or undermine our values.”

Clinton, asked by a reporter about whether the person of interest in the bombings in New York and New Jersey, an Afghan immigrant and American citizen, would lend credence to Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration to the United States, was dismissive.

“It is true that a suspect of interest has been identified,” Clinton said, “but let us remember, there are millions and millions of naturalized citizens in America from all over the world.”

“This is the kind of challenge that law enforcement can be and is prepared to address,” Clinton continued, telling reporters that while “I am absolutely in favor of and have long been an advocate for tough vetting, let’s not get diverted and distracted by the kind of campaign rhetoric we hear coming from the other side. This is a serious challenge, we are equipped to meet it… in concert with our values.”

Clinton also pointed to commentary from her opponent that has given “aide and comfort” to terrorists, citing CIA reports that Trump’s comments have been used to boost recruitment for terrorist organizations.

“Donald Trump’s comments have been used online for recruitment of terrorists,” Clinton said, citing the former head of the CIA. “The kinds of rhetoric and language that Mr. Trump has used is giving aide and comfort to our adversaries… I’m the only candidate in this race who’s been part of the hard decision to take terrorists out of the battlefield.”

Jill Stein: Hillary Clinton is more dangerous than Donald Trump

Green party presidential nominee and future presidential also-ran Jill Stein has declared that Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is more dangerous for the future of the country, on climate change and other issues, than Republican nominee Donald Trump - an interesting platform for a Green party candidate to take, to say the least.

“Donald Trump, I think, will have a lot of trouble moving things through Congress,” Stein told Politico in a wide-ranging interview for the podcast Off-Message. “Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, won’t. Hillary has the potential to do a whole lot more damage, get us into more wars, faster to pass her fracking disastrous climate program, much more easily than Donald Trump could do his.”

Over the course of the interview, Stein described the choice between Clinton and Trump as “death by gunshot or death by strangulation,” offered to run a (physical) race against Clinton, diagnosed Trump with a memory problem and lambasted Vermont senator Bernie Sanders for being on “the wrong team”:

Hours before she is due to hold an event at Temple University in Philadelphia to address the needs of millennial voters, Hillary Clinton has penned an op-ed for Mic, a millennial-oriented news and culture website*, on what millennials have taught her.

“Your generation is the most open, diverse and entrepreneurial generation in our country’s history,” Clinton wrote. “And if we work together to take on the barriers that are holding you back and unleash your full potential, that won’t just improve your lives - it’ll make our entire country stronger.”

Clinton lavishes the generation with praise on its adaption to terrible economic conditions, its advocacy for human rights and work on behalf of marginalized communities before outlining her plan to win the support of young voters: reducing college debt, raising the minimum wage, paid family leave and the judicious appointment of supreme court justices. (Do most of those sound like non-specific campaign pledges that most Democratic-leaning voters, millennials included, might like? Probably.)

*For which, full disclosure, I used to work.

Donald Trump on Manhattan bombing: 'I called it'

Donald Trump has a message for New Yorkers after a bomb injured 29 people in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on Saturday: Called it.

“I should be a newscaster because I called it before the news,” Trump said in a phone interview on Fox & Friends. “What I said was exactly correct and everybody says, ‘while he was right, he called it too soon.’ Okay. Give me a break.”

Trump was roundly criticized for declaring at a campaign rally that the explosion in Chelsea had been caused by a bomb, hours before police voiced any public conclusions. “Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows exactly what’s going on,” Trump said at the time.

Trump then called on racial profiling in combating terrorism, citing what he characterized as Israeli security procedures.

“Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are. They are afraid to do anything about it, because they don’t want to be accused of profiling, and they don’t want to be accused of all sorts of things,” Trump said. “You know, in Israel, they profile. They have done an unbelievable job, as good as you can do, but Israel has done an unbelievable job and they will profile. They profile.”

Candidates react to string of terrorist incidents

Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s campaign live blog.

Fifty days before the presidential election, and one week until the first presidential debate, both major campaigns are attempting to navigate a series of terrorist incidents across the United States this weekend, from a mass stabbing at a Minnesota mall being investigated as a “potential act of terrorism” to a string of bombings in the New York metro area that so far has culminated with the discovery of five pipe bombs near a New Jersey commuter train station.

The reactions of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to the rising fear of more attacks to come has highlighted the contrasts between the two candidates: Clinton, whose tenure as secretary of state, and as New York senator during 9/11, bolsters her credentials on national security, released a statement strongly condemning the “apparent terrorist attacks”, applauding first responders and linking to her comprehensive plan to fight domestic and international terrorism.

Trump, meanwhile, declared at a campaign rally that the explosion in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night had been caused by a bomb, hours before police voiced any public conclusions. “Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows exactly what’s going on,” Trump said at the time.

The Trump campaign has not said whether the Republican presidential nominee had received information privately from New York officials or was speculating without evidence.

Trump followed up his statements at the rally with a series of tweets:

Both campaigns have events throughout the day:

  • Donald Trump will hold a rally in Estero, Florida, at 3pm ET. Trump will be the first Republican presidential nominee to visit the area since George W Bush’s re-election campaign in 2004.
  • Trump’s running mate Mike Pence will be holding a town hall at the Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa, at 3pm CT (4pm ET) and will be holding a rally at Giese Manufacturing in Dubuque, Iowa, at 7pm CT (8pm ET).
  • Hillary Clinton will hold a rally to discuss the stakes of the election for millennials at Temple University in Philadelphia at 1pm ET, and will appear on The Tonight Show with host Jimmy Fallon on NBC tonight – maybe he’ll ruffle her hair too?
  • Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine will hold a rally with wife Anne Holton at Iowa State University in Ames to talk about how young people can get involved in this campaign. That rally begins at 12pm CT (1pm ET).

Updated

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