Donald Trump's administration sued to block the release of John Bolton's upcoming White House memoir, saying it was "rife with classified information."
The White House defended Trump's executive orders on police reform as Democrats critised the measures as "weak" and "inadequate".
Mike Pence, meanwhile, defended the president's upcoming rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, insisting Trump has the right to gather supporters after falsely claiming the state successfully "flattened the curve."
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Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration and its response to the coronavirus pandemic and George Floyd protests.
Trump blames rising US coronavirus cases on testing
Donald Trump is blaming an uptick in US coronavirus cases and hospitalisations solely on an increase in testing, rather than his push for governors to reopen their states for the sake of the economy even as the deadly disease continues to spread.
“If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,” the president said at the White House on Monday.
Trump was elaborating on a tweet in which he had argued: “Without testing, or weak testing, we would be showing almost no cases. Testing is a double edged sword - Makes us look bad, but good to have!!!”
With 2.16m American cases of the infection and more than 118,000 deaths from Covid-19 (and counting), here’s John T Bennett with more on the president’s Wonderland logic.
Tulsa local newspaper tells president not to hold weekend rally
The president is still planning to press ahead with his election rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday despite complaining of being “Covid Shamed” on Monday as concerns continue to be raised about the spread of the contagion through the 19,000-seat venue when the crowds gather, with local newspaper Tulsa World the latest to condemn the event.
“This is the wrong time and Tulsa is the wrong place for a Trump rally,” an exasperated editorial in the paper declared. “We don’t know why he chose Tulsa, but we can’t see any way that his visit will be good for the city.”
There’s “no reason to think” the president's appearance “will have any effect on November’s election outcome” in either the city or the state but it could spark a further spread of the disease, the paper warned.
Tulsa is “still dealing with the challenges created by a pandemic. The city and state have authorised reopening - but that doesn’t make a mass indoor gathering of people pressed closely together and cheering a good idea,” Tulsa World continued. “There is no treatment for Covid-19 and no vaccine. It will be our healthcare system that will have to deal with whatever effects follow.”
Both Trump and his deputy Mike Pence yesterday attempted to downplay concerns, with the latter wrongly suggesting the region had “flattened the curve” when in fact cases are continuing to rise.
Another reason not to go ahead with the Tulsa jolly is that the city was the scene of a notorious racist massacre in 1921, making it an insensitive destination in the current climate of widespread anger against police brutality inflicted on black Americans following the killing of George Floyd (and Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor and countless others).
Tulsa was home to the prosperous black district of Greenville 99 years ago, nicknamed “Negro Wall Street”, until it was torn apart by white rioters over a misunderstanding between a black youth and a 17-year-old white female elevator operator, the violence resulting in as many as 300 African Americans being killed, an atrocity still rarely taught in US schools.
Oklahoma’s Republican governor Kevin Stitt has now invited Trump to tour the area in a spirit of national healing but Greenville’s Democratic representative Monroe Nichols is opposed to the idea, saying the divisive president’s visit would be like “pouring a little salt in old wounds”, according to The Huffington Post.
Another reason not to go ahead with the Tulsa jolly is that the city was the scene of a notorious racist massacre in 1921, making it an insensitive destination in the current climate of widespread anger against police brutality inflicted on black Americans following the killing of George Floyd (and Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor and countless others).
Tulsa was home to the prosperous black district of Greenville 99 years ago, nicknamed “Negro Wall Street”, until it was torn apart by white rioters over a misunderstanding between a black youth and a 17-year-old white female elevator operator, the violence resulting in as many as 300 African Americans being killed, an atrocity still rarely taught in US schools.
Oklahoma’s Republican governor Kevin Stitt has now invited Trump to tour the area in a spirit of national healing but Greenville’s Democratic representative Monroe Nichols is opposed to the idea, saying the divisive president’s visit would be like “pouring a little salt in old wounds”, according to The Huffington Post.
Larry Kudlow says nation will need to 'get used to' high Covid-19 cases and 'disinclined' to order second shutdown
As the administration continues to look the other way on the coronavirus and pretend it’s all yesterday’s news, Trump’s economic adviser - notorious for his questionable fiscal pronouncements - has created an uproar after suggesting on Fox News that the deadly respiratory disease is something people will just have to live with (assuming they survive it) as a fact of life.
President withdrawing US troops from 'delinquent' Germany over Nato spending row
Trump says the US will withdraw approximately 9,000 American troops from Germany, reducing its military presence in the country by roughly a third, after he accused Berlin of being “delinquent” in its Nato payments.
The president told reporters on Monday that the US is “protecting Germany and they’re delinquent, that doesn’t make sense”.
In 2014, Nato members supported spending two per cent of their respective gross national products on military by 2024. Germany said at the time it expected to reach that target by 2031 so actually has more than a decade to reach its goal.
Alex Woodward has this report.
Trump says the US will withdraw approximately 9,000 American troops from Germany, reducing its military presence in the country by roughly a third, after he accused Berlin of being “delinquent” in its Nato payments.
The president told reporters on Monday that the US is “protecting Germany and they’re delinquent, that doesn’t make sense”.
In 2014, Nato members supported spending two per cent of their respective gross national products on military by 2024. Germany said at the time it expected to reach that target by 2031 so actually has more than a decade to reach its goal.
Alex Woodward has this report.
Trump to sign executive order ushering in only moderate police reforms
The president is signing an order today that will seek to improve how police officers treat African Americans and others by improving credentialing, training and mental health resources, administration officials said.
The order comes after Trump has struck a Nixonian "law and order" tone in his response to protests around the country sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Trump has faced criticism from Democrats for his response and some allies are concerned that his handling of the protests and the coronavirus pandemic are hurting his and other Republican leaders' chances of re-election in November.
Senior administration officials said the order will aim to incentivise police departments to improve by tying federal approval of discretionary grants to good policing practices.
The order would encourage police departments to employ the latest standards for use of force, improve information sharing so that officers with shoddy records are not hired without their backgrounds being known and add social workers to law enforcement responses to non-violent cases involving drug addiction and homelessness, officials said.
"We're going to be talking about things that we've been watching and seeing for the last month and we're going to have some solutions," Trump told reporters on Monday.
Law enforcement officials and families of people who have been killed by police are expected to be part of the event where Trump will sign the order.
Lawmakers in Congress are also working on legislative responses to the calls for police reform.
Law enforcement officials and families of people who have been killed by police are expected to be part of the event where Trump will sign the order.
Lawmakers in Congress are also working on legislative responses to the calls for police reform.
"Certainly we can add on to what we do by the work that's being done in the House and in the Senate," Trump said.
Some activists have called for taking funding from police departments. Leading Democrats and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have not embraced those calls, but Republicans have sought to tie them to the proposals to provide a contrast to Trump's rhetoric.
"We're not looking to defund the police. We're looking to invest more and incentivise best practices," one administration official said on Tuesday.
Reuters
Reuters
Melania Trump wishes US Army a happy birthday but not her husband
The first lady remembered the troops's special day on Sunday but not Donald's, judging by Twitter, where she retweeted this but sent no public message to the old man as he turned 74.
No wonder he's started talking to himself online.
Here's Gino Spocchia on Melania.
The first lady remembered the troops's special day on Sunday but not Donald's, judging by Twitter, where she retweeted this but sent no public message to the old man as he turned 74.
No wonder he's started talking to himself online.
Here's Gino Spocchia on Melania.
Trump says ex-adviser John Bolton breaking the law by publishing memoir
Another of the president's little remarks on Monday found him arguing that his former national security adviser will have broken the law and face criminal liability if a book he has written about his time in the White House is published without official permission.
Trump told reporters that Bolton knows he has classified information in his book and that he had not completed a clearing process required for any book written by former government officials who had access to sensitive information.
"I will consider every conversation with me as president highly classified. So that would mean that if he wrote a book and if the book gets out, he's broken the law," Trump said. "That's called criminal liability. That's a big thing."
US attorney general William Barr, also speaking in the Cabinet Room, said the Justice Department was trying to get Bolton to complete the clearance process and "make the necessary deletions of classified information."
Trump fired Bolton in September after 519 days on the job amid simmering differences on a wide array of foreign policy issues.
Bolton's The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, is set to be published on 23 June.
The publisher, Simon and Schuster, said in a news release on Friday the book provides an insider account of Trump's "inconsistent, scattershot decision-making process."
The book details Trump's dealings with China, Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, Iran, Britain, France and Germany, the publisher said. "This is the book Donald Trump doesn't want you to read," Simon and Schuster said.
Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said the effort to block the book's publication was doomed to fail.
"As usual, the government's threats have nothing to do with safeguarding national security, and everything to do with avoiding scandal and embarrassment," Wizner said.
Trump said the problem of publishing classified information including conversations with the president "becomes even worse if he lies about the conversation, which I understand he might have in some cases." He said he had not read the book.
"So we'll see what happens. They're in court, or they'll soon be in court," Trump said.
Here's Andrew Naughtie's story.
Another of the president's little remarks on Monday found him arguing that his former national security adviser will have broken the law and face criminal liability if a book he has written about his time in the White House is published without official permission.
Trump told reporters that Bolton knows he has classified information in his book and that he had not completed a clearing process required for any book written by former government officials who had access to sensitive information.
"I will consider every conversation with me as president highly classified. So that would mean that if he wrote a book and if the book gets out, he's broken the law," Trump said. "That's called criminal liability. That's a big thing."
US attorney general William Barr, also speaking in the Cabinet Room, said the Justice Department was trying to get Bolton to complete the clearance process and "make the necessary deletions of classified information."
Trump fired Bolton in September after 519 days on the job amid simmering differences on a wide array of foreign policy issues.
Bolton's The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, is set to be published on 23 June.
The publisher, Simon and Schuster, said in a news release on Friday the book provides an insider account of Trump's "inconsistent, scattershot decision-making process."
The book details Trump's dealings with China, Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, Iran, Britain, France and Germany, the publisher said. "This is the book Donald Trump doesn't want you to read," Simon and Schuster said.
Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said the effort to block the book's publication was doomed to fail.
"As usual, the government's threats have nothing to do with safeguarding national security, and everything to do with avoiding scandal and embarrassment," Wizner said.
Trump said the problem of publishing classified information including conversations with the president "becomes even worse if he lies about the conversation, which I understand he might have in some cases." He said he had not read the book.
"So we'll see what happens. They're in court, or they'll soon be in court," Trump said.
Here's Andrew Naughtie's story.
New Republican Voters Against Trump ad sees Lindsey Graham’s past attack on president return to haunt him
“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”
Not my my words, Carol. The words of South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham!
It's often forgotten these days that the softly spoken southerner was once an arch-enemy of Trump when both men were fighting for the 2016 Republican nomination, with the latter even reading out Graham's mobile number to a crowd of voters as an obnoxious stunt, forcing him to have it changed.
Graham was also once a huge admirer of Joe Biden, as this new attack ad reminds us.
Chris Riotta has this one.
“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”
Not my my words, Carol. The words of South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham!
It's often forgotten these days that the softly spoken southerner was once an arch-enemy of Trump when both men were fighting for the 2016 Republican nomination, with the latter even reading out Graham's mobile number to a crowd of voters as an obnoxious stunt, forcing him to have it changed.
Graham was also once a huge admirer of Joe Biden, as this new attack ad reminds us.
Chris Riotta has this one.
Joe Biden enjoys record-breaking fundraising haul as polls show him beating Trump by double digits
The former vice president celebrated a record-breaking fundraising haul on Monday as the presumptive 2020 Democrat presidential nominee’s campaign announced it raised over $80m (£63m) last month after teaming up with the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
The former vice president’s campaign received an average online donation of $30 (£24), according to a financial disclosure candidates are required to release by 20 June. Trump’s re-election campaign has not yet released its figures along with those from Republican National Committee (RNC).
Biden’s stunning total is the largest haul of any Democratic candidate in the party’s once-historically crowded field. It’s a $20m (£15.8m) increase from the previous month, when the former vice president’s campaign and the DNC raised a reported $60.5m (£47.8m). rump’s campaign and the RNC raised $61.7m (£48.7m) in April.
“I’m in awe of this sum of money. Just a few months ago, people were ready to write this campaign off,” Biden said in a statement. “I understand what these dollars mean. When facing uncertainty and recession, you chose to back me. I will never forget that. And I promise that when I’m president, I won’t let you down.”
Here's Chris Riotta's report.
The former vice president celebrated a record-breaking fundraising haul on Monday as the presumptive 2020 Democrat presidential nominee’s campaign announced it raised over $80m (£63m) last month after teaming up with the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
The former vice president’s campaign received an average online donation of $30 (£24), according to a financial disclosure candidates are required to release by 20 June. Trump’s re-election campaign has not yet released its figures along with those from Republican National Committee (RNC).
Biden’s stunning total is the largest haul of any Democratic candidate in the party’s once-historically crowded field. It’s a $20m (£15.8m) increase from the previous month, when the former vice president’s campaign and the DNC raised a reported $60.5m (£47.8m). rump’s campaign and the RNC raised $61.7m (£48.7m) in April.
“I’m in awe of this sum of money. Just a few months ago, people were ready to write this campaign off,” Biden said in a statement. “I understand what these dollars mean. When facing uncertainty and recession, you chose to back me. I will never forget that. And I promise that when I’m president, I won’t let you down.”
Here's Chris Riotta's report.
Biden linking up with 'former boss' for virtual fundraiser
Barack Obama is joining Diamond Joe next Tuesday for a "virtual grassroots fundraiser," the first time the two have appeared together since Obama endorsed his former deputy in April.
Here's more from Andrew Naughtie on friends reunited.
Barack Obama is joining Diamond Joe next Tuesday for a "virtual grassroots fundraiser," the first time the two have appeared together since Obama endorsed his former deputy in April.
Here's more from Andrew Naughtie on friends reunited.
US FDA revokes emergency use of malaria drug Trump promoted as coronavirus cure
The likes of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have flown off the shelves in recent months after they were touted by the US president to treat and even prevent the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which triggered a global pandemic after an outbreak in Wuhan, China at the end of last year.
But now the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has backed away from its endorsement, having already warned against their "known risks", which can include nerve damage, heart rhythm problems and low blood pressure.
Trump previously revealed he was taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug that can be used to treat malaria and, in some cases, rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments, as part of an apparent effort to prevent himself from contracting the coronavirus.
Chris Riotta has more on this.
The likes of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have flown off the shelves in recent months after they were touted by the US president to treat and even prevent the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which triggered a global pandemic after an outbreak in Wuhan, China at the end of last year.
But now the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has backed away from its endorsement, having already warned against their "known risks", which can include nerve damage, heart rhythm problems and low blood pressure.
Trump previously revealed he was taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug that can be used to treat malaria and, in some cases, rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments, as part of an apparent effort to prevent himself from contracting the coronavirus.
Chris Riotta has more on this.
Sharpiegate: Investigation says weather agency violated scientific integrity policies during Trump's Hurricane Dorian map scandal
The head of the US agency that warns of dangerous weather violated its policy on scientific integrity with a statement last year backing a tweeted forecast by the president about the path of a hurricane, according to a report released on Monday.
Trump wrote on Twitter on 1 September that Alabama would be among US states that would "most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated" by Hurricane Dorian, then one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record.
Within minutes, the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Birmingham, Alabama, responded by saying that Alabama would not see any impacts from Dorian.
After days of controversy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), part of the Commerce Department headed by Wilbur Ross, released a statement on 6 September saying the Birmingham tweet was "inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time."
A report conducted on NOAA’s behalf by a panel set up by the non-partisan National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), found the NOAA's acting administrator, Neil Jacobs, and its former deputy chief of staff and communications director, Julie Kay Roberts, violated the agency’s scientific integrity policy with the statement.
In a memo posted along with the report on the NOAA's website, Stephen Volz, the NOAA official responsible for scientific integrity, said the NAPA panel found the pair did so "intentionally, knowingly, or in reckless disregard" of the code of conduct.
In his memo, Volz said Jacobs and Roberts did not believe it was a good idea to release a statement, but "felt significant external pressure to do so."
The controversy became known as "Sharpiegate," after Trump displayed a modified NOAA map to depict the storm threatening Alabama.
The New York Times reported last year that Ross threatened to fire top employees after the Birmingham office contradicted Trump and that then acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney had directed Ross to order the NOAA to disavow the NWS tweet.
Trump now undeniably a ‘fascist’ after George Floyd response, say longtime sceptics
The president having peaceful protesters tear-gassed for the sake of a photo opportunity is the last straw for outspoken critics like Robert Reich and Masha Gessen, who now believe they have no choice but to use the "F word" to describe the occupant of the Oval Office.
The president having peaceful protesters tear-gassed for the sake of a photo opportunity is the last straw for outspoken critics like Robert Reich and Masha Gessen, who now believe they have no choice but to use the "F word" to describe the occupant of the Oval Office.
Ilhan Omar’s father dies due to coronavirus complications
Andrew Naughtie has this on the tragic loss of the Minnesota Democratic congresswoman's father, who brought his family to the US as refugees from Somalia in 1995 and lived to see his daughter become one of the first Muslim women to enter the House of Representatives.
Andrew Naughtie has this on the tragic loss of the Minnesota Democratic congresswoman's father, who brought his family to the US as refugees from Somalia in 1995 and lived to see his daughter become one of the first Muslim women to enter the House of Representatives.
Demonstrator shot during protest over Spanish conquistador's statue in New Mexico
A man has been shot in Albuquerque as crowds attempted to dismantle a bronze statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate positioned outside the city museum.
Gino Spocchia has this report on the incident, with the man in hospital in a critical but stable condition, according to local authorities.
A man has been shot in Albuquerque as crowds attempted to dismantle a bronze statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate positioned outside the city museum.
Gino Spocchia has this report on the incident, with the man in hospital in a critical but stable condition, according to local authorities.
Trump hails retail boom after reopening
The president is out early championing some positive economic news as the states' hasty reopening from the pandemic yields the bounceback he badly needs to make the case for his re-election.
The president is out early championing some positive economic news as the states' hasty reopening from the pandemic yields the bounceback he badly needs to make the case for his re-election.
Here's some handy background on that data from CNN's flagship breakfast show:
Mike Pence says campaign has 'right' to hold Tulsa rally despite coronavirus fears
The vice president has been on Fox and Friends this morning, saying he is "very confident" Trump's arena rallies can resume safely despite the risk of spreading Covid-19 and citing the right to peaceably assemble for good measure.
He's also badly flubbed an elementary question on racial inequality and discrimination.
The vice president has been on Fox and Friends this morning, saying he is "very confident" Trump's arena rallies can resume safely despite the risk of spreading Covid-19 and citing the right to peaceably assemble for good measure.
He's also badly flubbed an elementary question on racial inequality and discrimination.
Don Jr forced to delete tweet attacking Democrats over NYPD 'bleach poisoning'
The president's eldest son never misses an opportunity to bash the Democrats - no matter how spurious the connection - and rarely scrutinises the facts before posting.
He's now been forced to delete a tweet tying them to the suspected "bleach poisoning" of three NYPD officers, who were taken ill after visiting Shake Shack, which has subsequently seen the chain been absolved of all guilt following a "thorough investigation" into the still-murky incident.
Here's Gino Spocchia with more.
The president's eldest son never misses an opportunity to bash the Democrats - no matter how spurious the connection - and rarely scrutinises the facts before posting.
He's now been forced to delete a tweet tying them to the suspected "bleach poisoning" of three NYPD officers, who were taken ill after visiting Shake Shack, which has subsequently seen the chain been absolved of all guilt following a "thorough investigation" into the still-murky incident.
Here's Gino Spocchia with more.
Tucker Carlson in vicious tirade against Black Lives Matter
The Fox News host - whom I saw described earlier as a "human boat shoe" - has been raging against the popularity of the racial equality and justice movement on his show, his ire piqued yesterday by the NYPD's decision to do away with its entire plainclothes division in a nod to reform.
Carlson attempted to smear the cause as a mob of angry looters and arsonists in one particularly deplorable segment, which was aimed squarely at inciting fear among Trump's conservative base, conveniently boosting the president's own "law and order" platform in the process.
The Fox News host - whom I saw described earlier as a "human boat shoe" - has been raging against the popularity of the racial equality and justice movement on his show, his ire piqued yesterday by the NYPD's decision to do away with its entire plainclothes division in a nod to reform.
Carlson attempted to smear the cause as a mob of angry looters and arsonists in one particularly deplorable segment, which was aimed squarely at inciting fear among Trump's conservative base, conveniently boosting the president's own "law and order" platform in the process.
