Trump news – live: President 'not happy' over chief of staff's stunning Ukraine admission as next impeachment deadline arrives

Donald Trump is said to be “not happy” after his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, appeared to confirm the US had withheld military aid to Ukraine for political purposes, acknowledging the quid pro quo Democrats pursuing the president’s impeachment have sought to prove.

While Mr Trump was quick to hail the ceasefire his vice president Mike Pence agreed with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara over the Syria crisis, his DC rivals denounced the measure as a “sham” as the fighting continued between the Turkish military and the Syrian Democratic Forces.

At his latest rally in Dallas, Texas, the president compared the Turks and Kurds to brawling children (“Sometimes you have to let them fight”) and branded House speaker Nancy Pelosi “nuts” after their recent spat at the White House. He was, meanwhile, brutally ridiculed by his own former defence secretary Jim Mattis at a white tie dinner in New York.

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Key Points

• President angered by Mulvaney's quid pro quo admission
• Pelosi, Schumer hit out at 'sham ceasefire' as fighting continues in Syria
• AOC accuses him of using 'language of ethnic cleansing'
• Trump compares Turks and Kurds to brawling children at Dallas rally
• 'Mad Dog' Jim Mattis roasts Trump at white tie memorial foundation dinner

Show latest update

2019-10-18T16:50:20.000Z

The president has ended his media availability.

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:48

2019-10-18T16:48:07.000Z

Donald Trump said "over a thousand people" are expected to work at the new Louis Vutton factory that opened in Texas yesterday.

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:48

2019-10-18T16:44:50.000Z

"We have lost not a drop of blood since we started what I started," Donald Trump said about his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:44

2019-10-18T16:44:17.000Z

"They're back to the full pause," Donald Trump said after acknowledging the ceasefire temporarily failed earlier this morning. 

 

He also says "there are no shots being fired" and that the US has secured the oil in the region. 

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:44

2019-10-18T16:43:25.000Z

Donald Trump is now attacking Joe Biden and claiming he has "tremendous problems" with Ukraine. 

 

"This is a terrible witch hunt, this is so bad for our country," he said. 

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:43

2019-10-18T16:41:56.000Z

Donald Trump said the two female astronauts are "two great people" who are "very brave". 

 

He has now moved on to attacking the Democrats and "crooked" House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff. 

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:41

2019-10-18T16:40:27.000Z

Donald Trump said the "whole program was dead when I took office," though it is not clear if he was discussing NASA or what else. 

 

"We're creating a new force, and it's called the Space Force, so that'll be a new thing," he added. 

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:40

2019-10-18T16:39:26.000Z

Donald Trump is now discussing with officials NASA plans to land a woman and man on the moon by 2024.

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:39

2019-10-18T16:36:39.123Z

Donald Trump is speaking to the all-female space crew right now on a Facebook live stream (which you can watch here). He celebrated the women for being able to work at "a high altitude". He's also announced plans to go to Mars by launching from the moon.

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:36

2019-10-18T16:30:37.000Z

The president posted a series of tweets on Friday claiming “big progress being made” in Syria a day after Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Turkey to map out a 120-hour ceasefire in northeastern Syria. The vice president announced the ceasefire on Thursday afternoon after five hours of negotiations with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. 

Despite reports of shelling in Syria, Mr Trump said the Turkish president “very much wants the ceasefire, or pause, to work.” 

“Likewise, the Kurds want it, and the ultimate solution, to happen,” he added. “Too bad there wasn’t this thinking years ago.”

Story to come...

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:14

2019-10-18T16:15:37.000Z

Donald Trump has acknowledged a US-brokered ceasefire in northeastern Syria was at least temporarily disrupted by “minor sniper and mortar fire” after his decision to withdraw troops threw the region into violent instability. 

• Chris Riotta
• 18 October 2019 17:13

2019-10-18T16:00:00.000Z

Back to Schiff bashing.

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 16:54

2019-10-18T15:55:00.000Z

Trump is saying he has spoken to Erdogan and is seeking to downplay the resumption of hostilites in Syria that continued in spite of yesterday's ceasefire agreement.

 

"Big progress being made!!!!" he says, before tweeting the Turkish president himself with the words: "DEFEAT TERRORISM!"

 

If that's his concern, why remove US troops from the region and positively invite the resurgence of Isis?

 

Here's Bel Trew with the latest.

 

Fighting rages in northern Syria despite ceasefire as Turkey accused of ‘war crimes’

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 16:53

2019-10-18T15:45:00.000Z

Senate Democrats have questions about the White House's decision to stage the next G7 at the Doral.

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 16:31

2019-10-18T15:30:00.000Z

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff and Speaker Pelsoi on Mulvaney.

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 16:28

2019-10-18T15:15:00.000Z

Speaking on the Campaign HQ podcast with David Plouffe, Hillary Clinton has suggested Vladimir Putin has a kompromat on Trump and that the Russians are grooming Hawaii congresswoman and faltering 2020 contender Tulsi Gabbard to be their third-party candidate.

 

Clinton also accused 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein of being "a Russian asset" - the latter having been accused of being a puppet set up to split the Democratic vote by some jaded Hillary supporters.

 

“Yeah, she’s a Russian asset - I mean, totally," said Clinton. "They know they can’t win without a third-party candidate. So I don’t know who it’s going to be, but I will guarantee you they will have a vigorous third-party challenge in the key states that they most needed.”

 

She thinks Gabbard is their preferred alternative this time around.

 

The candidate alluded to the idea during Tuesday night's debate in Ohio, saying: “This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I’m an asset of Russia. Completely despicable.”

 

As for the kompromat, the ex-secretary of state and first lady said: 

 

I don’t know what Putin has on him, whether it’s both personal and financial. I assume it is.

 

Conservative mouth Ben Shapiro has meanwhile opined that now is the time for Hillary to make a dramatic entrance into the Democratic 2020 race.

 

It appears there is some roiling tension inside that Democratic field. People are not satisfied with the field they have," he said on his self-titled show.

"Honestly, if Hillary Clinton were to make her grand reentrance, now would be about the time she should do it. Because the fact is, a lot of people are dissatisfied with Biden. A lot of people are dissatisfied with Warren and Hillary is an enormous name."

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 16:08

2019-10-18T14:55:00.000Z

William H McRaven, a top US Navy admiral hailed as the architect of the Osama bin Laden raid has denounced Trump, writing in a scathing editorial on Friday that the president is seeking to “destroy” the country. 

 

Chris Riotta has more.

 

Top Navy Seal who oversaw Osama bin Laden raid: ‘Our Republic is under attack’ by Trump

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 15:49

2019-10-18T14:35:00.000Z

Yikes.

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 16:41

2019-10-18T14:20:00.000Z

Outgoing energy secretary Rick Perry has been speaking to Bill Hemmer on Fox and denied that Mulvaney's admission yesterday on Ukraine was the tit-for-tat it sounded like: “There was no quid pro quo in the sense of what those folks out there would like for it to be.”

Asked if any evidence of wrongdoing will be found - not if there was any in the first place to be found - Perry answered: "No." 

 

He confirmed that he instigated the smoking Zelensky call on 25 July but said his goal was solely to “get Ukraine back in the sphere of influence in the United States".

 

“They have to do some things. They have to show us they're going to respect the rule of law, you're going to be transparent, they're going to unbundle their midstream gas company. All of those things were part of him coming in. And I think that's completely and absolutely legitimate. That's what we're supposed to be doing,” Perry said.

“President Trump wasn’t going to send American money to a country that had a history of being corrupt,” he added.

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 15:16

2019-10-18T14:10:00.000Z

Some absolutely outrageous Syria spin from White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Fox and Friends this morning.

• Joe Sommerlad
• 18 October 2019 14:45

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