On his return from Camp David, President Donald Trump was asked by reporters if he had a response to former president Barack Obama's criticism of his response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Trump said he hadn't seen Mr Obama's comments, but called his predecessor "grossly incompetent".
Mr Obama warned the pandemic has shown that many high levels officials “aren't even pretending to be in charge” as the US nears 90,000 virus deaths.
Today in an interview with Fox News, the president doubled down on his accusations regarding the alleged "Obamagate" scandal, and talked about possible repercussions for Chinese companies in retaliation for Beijing's handling of the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. He also claimed in a tweet that the country is "doing REALLY well, medically".
Meanwhile, his son, Eric Trump, claimed that the Democrats were taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic response to handicap the Trump campaign and that it would "magically go away" after November's election.
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Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the Trump administration and the US response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Obama says many Trump officials ‘aren’t even pretending to be in charge’
Barack Obama has made a public attack on the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus crisis in an address to graduating college students.
The former president said the pandemic had highlighted a lack of leadership in the White House and accused officials of “not even pretending to be in charge”.
“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Mr Obama said.
“A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
Our reporter, Andy Gregory, has the full story below:
Barack Obama has made a public attack on the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus crisis in an address to graduating college students.
The former president said the pandemic had highlighted a lack of leadership in the White House and accused officials of “not even pretending to be in charge”.
“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Mr Obama said.
“A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
Our reporter, Andy Gregory, has the full story below:
Obama says many in Trump administration 'aren't even pretending to be in charge'
America’s 44th president appears to liken successor to a ‘little kid’Romney warns of ‘threat to democracy’ from Trump firings
Republican senator Mitt Romney has denounced Donald Trump’s firings of multiple inspector generals as a “threat to accountable democracy”.
“The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose,” Mr Romney wrote on Twitter.
“It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of power.”
His criticism came as Democrats launched an investigation on Saturday into the president’s dismissal of the State Department’s inspector general Steve Linick.
You can find more on that story below:
Uncertainty over whether Biden will serve second term raises stakes for VP pick
Former vice president Joe Biden has not even won the presidency yet, but he’s already talking about when he might leave office.
In an effort to ease concerns about his age, the 77-year-old presumptive Democratic nominee has said he would not seek re-election in 2024 if his mental or physical health declined.
Mr Biden has also referred to himself as a “transition candidate”, creating intense speculation about who his running mate will be and who could lead the party after he retires.
A vice presidential candidate like Elizabeth Warren could broaden Mr Biden’s appeal with progressives, but analysts have warned the 70-year-old senator would not represent the next generation of the party.
If Mr Biden wants to go for a younger candidate, he could choose senator Kamala Harris (55 years old) or senator Amy Klobuchar (59) from the 2020 Democratic primary race.
Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said the former VP's choice of running mate will have to fill twin roles - they will need to continue to move the country away from the Trump era "if something were to happen while he's still in office” or later “if Biden decides to retire and pass the baton.”
“I think the stakes are already really high, no matter how you look at it,” Mr Hinojosa said.
Bill Pullman hits back at Trump’s use of edited 'Independence Day' clip
Actor Bill Pullman has dismissed Mr Trump’s bizarre use of an edited clip from his 1996 film Independent Day on Twitter yesterday.
The president shared a video which showed his face superimposed on Mr Pullman’s character giving an impassioned speech as the US president.
Our culture reporter, Ellie Harrison, has the full story below:
Eric Trump says coronavirus will 'magically go away' after the election, suggesting disease is a Democrat ploy
In an appearance on Judge Jeanine Pirro's Fox News show on Saturday night, the president's son said that the Democrats were milking the coronavirus pandemic for everything they could to stop his father being reelected.
Arguing that this was part of a grand strategy that included stopping his father from holding rallies, he said that the coronavirus pandemic would magically disappear after the election, and everyone would then be in favour of reopening.
Trump to be interviewed on Fox News this morning
The president will be interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox News this morning at 10am East Coast time. We'll be following live.
Mr Trump is still at Camp David, but will depart for the White House at midday on Marine One.
No other events are scheduled.
Trump takes aim at China again
The president took another shot at China on Twitter on Sunday morning, complaining about the "tiny fraction" of funds they contribute to international organisations when compared to the US given the size of China's population.
He also vowed to bring back the economy that "Prior to the Plague floating in from China" had been "blowing everybody away".
An 'Obamagate' refresher ahead of today's Fox News interview
Ahead of this morning's interview with Maria Bartiromo, here's a quick breakdown of what Trump dubs 'Obamagate'.
What is 'Obamagate'? 3 things to know about Trump's latest fixation
The president's 'Obamagate' theory has been around for a while in Republican circles — just not under that nameTrump doubles down on Obamagate accusation
This morning's interview with Maria Bartiromo featured this exchange in which the president doubled down on the accusation that his predecessor was directly involved in what he alleges is "the greatest political scam in the history of our country”.
Trump: “It was impossible for it to happen without the man that sits right in that chair in the oval office. He knew everything.”
Bartiromo: “Do you believe President Obama directed the US intelligence agencies to spy on you?”
Trump: “Yes, he probably directed them, but if he didn’t direct them, he knew everything.”
Earlier, the president said: "This was all Obama. This was all Biden. The whole thing was corrupt. And we caught them."
Tougher rules for Chinese companies listed on US stock exchanges?
Speaking about China, the president also spoke about the possibility of ensuring stricter regulation of Chinese companies that list on US stock exchanges.
The move would be a punishment for the way Beijing failed to contain the coronavirus pandemic at its source.
At present, Chinese companies are not required to follow US accounting standards and practices, which has led to instances of fraud and caused investors to lose money.
Mr Trump says that the administration is looking closely at the idea, but it might not be so straightforward.
He said that Chinese companies could simply list in London or Hong Kong instead, but also noted those exchanges do not have the depth of liquidity that New York offers.
More than 150 Chinese companies are listed in the US with a pre-pandemic value of $1.2trn, according to figures from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Referring to the trade deal struck with China, the president said he would not renegotiate and that he was not happy about anything to do with the subject.
'I don't want to speak to him'
On his relationship with Chinese president Xi Jinping, Mr Trump said: "I have a very good relationship, but right now ... I don't want to speak to him."
Ouch.
'Doing REALLY well, medically'
It's unclear by which medical metric the country is "doing REALLY well".
Lift off for Space Force!
The US Space Force has launched a robotic space plane on a secret mission in Earth's orbit. The blast-off, on Sunday morning, came after a 24-hour delay caused by bad weather conditions.
The X-37B plane was launched on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Space Force officials said they were dedicating the launch to the nation's first responders and medical personnel fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump's Space Force launches robotic rocket plane on secret mission
Launch is dedicated to medical staff and first responders fighting the coronavirus pandemicTrump pays tribute to Phyllis George
The president took a moment this morning to pay tribute to Phyllis George, a television pioneer as the first woman sportscaster to present The NFL Today on CBS, and the First Lady of Kentucky as the wife of Governor John Brown.
Peter Navarro responds to Obama's criticism of the Trump administration response to the coronavirus
Speaking to George Stephanopoulos on today's edition of This Week on ABC, Trump adviser Peter Navarro defended the administration's response to the coronavirus.
Responding to the criticism levelled at Trump by former president Barack Obama, Mr Navarro said that he was glad Mr Obama has a new job as Joe Biden's press secretary, before referring to the previous administration as a “kumbaya of incompetence.”
Trump on Obama: 'He was an incompetent president - grossly incompetent'
Returning to the White House from his weekend in Camp David, President Trump was asked to respond to his predecessor's criticism of him in last night's commencement address.
After saying he had not seen Mr Obama's remarks, he said: “He was an incompetent president - grossly incompetent. That’s all I can say.”
Footage of the aforementioned comments
EDIT to quote: “He was an incompetent president. That's all I can say. Grossly incompetent.”
Navarro says Steve Linick was part of deep state
White House adviser Peter Navarro downplayed the firing of the State Department's inspector general in a TV appearance on Sunday, linking him to the “deep state” and saying that those who are not loyal to the administration must go.
Steve Linick became the fourth inspector general Donald Trump has fired in two months, following his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate in his impeachment trial.
“We've had tremendous problems with, some people call it the 'Deep State.' And I think that's apt. So I don't mourn the loss,” said Mr Navarro, director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, on ABC's This Week.
Trump adviser claims inspector general was fired for being part of 'deep state'
'We've had tremendous problems with, some people call it the 'Deep State' ... So I don't mourn the loss'Trump's health secretary says US has world's worst Covid-19 death toll because Americans are so unhealthy
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar blamed the large number of US coronavirus cases and deaths on the number of Americans with “greater risk profiles” during an interview on Sunday.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Mr Azar was asked why the US appeared to have a disproportionately high number of deaths compared to the rest of the world.
He said that the reason lay in Americans having more comorbidities which puts them at a higher risk of developing severe complications if they contract Covid-19.
