Nancy Pelosi has doubled down on her attacks against Donald Trump by saying that the president and his aides have "doggy doo" on their shoes when speaking to CNN.
After the House Speaker called Mr Trump "morbidly obese" over concerns that he is at risk of dangerous side effects for daily dosages of hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus infection, which is not proven, the president called her "sick" and claimed she has "mental problems".
After White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the president's use of the drug, he said he would finish his regimen in "one or two days".
Officials with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also have accused the president of "muzzling" science in favour of politics while handling his administration's response to the pandemic.
The latest battles follow the president's claim on Tuesday that the US taking the lead in global coronavirus infections — currently 1.56m and more than 92,250 deaths — is a "badge of honour" and claimed that it's "common sense" that the US is simply testing more people than others, though the nation is still far behind in per capita rates of tests.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation recorded its highest-ever one-day total of new infections — more than 106,000 — coming from four countries, though the organisation didn't name them.
The president also dangerously and falsely claimed that Michigan sending out absentee ballot applications was "done illegally" but wasn't able to answer why. (His own review committee investigating voter fraud has failed to find any.)
A federal judge has meanwhile allowed a lawsuit to press ahead that accuses the president and his family business of collaborating with a fraudulent marketing scheme “to enrich themselves by systematically defrauding economically marginalised people looking to invest in their educations, start their own small business and pursue the American dream”.
While the president and his allies continue to press "Obamagate" conspiracies and undermine the results of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, the US Supreme Court has agreed to temporarily block the full, unredacted Mueller report from release while William Barr's Justice Department appeals a court decision that allows it.
Meanwhile, a figure central to the report, the president's former personal attorney Michael Cohen, who is working on a "tell-all" book and whose attorney suggested more dirt on the president could be coming, could be released from prison as early as this week to finish his sentence at home.
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Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the US and the Donald Trump administration's response to it.
Trump says it's a 'badge of honour' for US to have most coronavirus cases
Donald Trump has made the extraordinary claim that it is a “badge of honour” for the US to lead the world in coronavirus infections - currently 1.56m and more than 92,250 deaths - as it simply means the country is doing more testing than others.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the president put the high figure down to the volume of Covid-19 tests being carried out on behalf of his administration.
“When we have a lot of cases, I don’t look at that as a bad thing - I look at that in a certain respect as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better... So I view it as a badge of honour, really,” he said, adding that this was “a great tribute to the testing and all of the work that a lot of professionals have done.”
The US has conducted 11.28m tests for the coronavirus, according to figures updated on Monday by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Its population is around 331m.
I wonder how many grieving families will agree with his contention…
Here’s Oliver O’Connell’s report.
Donald Trump has made the extraordinary claim that it is a “badge of honour” for the US to lead the world in coronavirus infections - currently 1.56m and more than 92,250 deaths - as it simply means the country is doing more testing than others.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the president put the high figure down to the volume of Covid-19 tests being carried out on behalf of his administration.
“When we have a lot of cases, I don’t look at that as a bad thing - I look at that in a certain respect as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better... So I view it as a badge of honour, really,” he said, adding that this was “a great tribute to the testing and all of the work that a lot of professionals have done.”
The US has conducted 11.28m tests for the coronavirus, according to figures updated on Monday by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Its population is around 331m.
I wonder how many grieving families will agree with his contention…
Here’s Oliver O’Connell’s report.
Trump Organisation faces lawsuit for exploiting 'poor and vulnerable'
A federal judge has meanwhile allowed a lawsuit to press ahead that accuses the president and his family business of collaborating with a fraudulent marketing scheme "to enrich themselves by systematically defrauding economically marginalised people”.
The suit, which was originally filed in October 2018 and brought by four anonymous plaintiffs, alleges that the president and three of his adult children used his former NBC reality TV show The Celebrity Apprentice and other promotional events as vehicles to boost ACN Opportunity, a telecommunications marketing company tied to a nonprofit using the Trump brand to appeal to teenagers.
The lawsuit accuses the Trumps of having profited from the poor and vulnerable, targeting people seeking "to enrich themselves by systematically defrauding economically marginalised people looking to invest in their educations, start their own small business and pursue the American dream."
The Trumps "deliberately misled" consumers about the likely success of their investments, the suit argues, and engaged in "a pattern of racketeering activity."
The Trumps "deliberately misled" consumers about the likely success of their investments, the suit argues, and engaged in "a pattern of racketeering activity."
"Weighing the two 'most critical' factors - likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm - against each other, any prejudice that Defendants and ACN may suffer from proceeding with the litigation during the pendency of the appeal does not outweigh the strong likelihood that Defendants and ACN will not succeed on appeal," US district court judge Lorna Schofield wrote in her opinion.
The four plaintiffs are understood to include a hospice caregiver, a grocery store delivery driver and a man who was once homeless and their case is being funded by the nonprofit Tesseract Research Center, which has ties to Democratic candidates, according to CNN.
Trump defends hydroxychloroquine after outcry and again feuds with female reporter
Back at the White House, the president was busy defending his use of hydroxychloroquine to ward off Covid-19 yesterday, saying he uses it as a "line of defence" because he interacts with many people each day.
"Look how many people are around this table," he said, illustrating his point for the assembled press pack. "It doesn't seem to have any effect on me."
Trump observed that both a valet and the vice president press secretary Katie Miller had both recently tested positive and yet he himself was still in good health, going on to suggest uncited studies in France and Italy had found the anti-malaria treatment to be effective against Covid-19.
When asked about studies that had found the opposite - and that it can even trigger fatal heart arrhythmia - the president sought to debunk the findings, in spite of their endorsement by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“That was a false study done. Where they gave it to very sick people. Extremely sick people. People that were ready to die. It was given by obviously not friends of the administration," he said.
"If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape," Trump continued, an apparent reference to a study of hundreds of patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in which more of those in a group who were administered hydroxychloroquine died than among those who weren't.
"They were very old. Almost dead," he said. "It was a Trump enemy statement."
Trump also again fell out with a female reporter during the media gathering, telling CBS journalist Paula Reid that she was “just a rude person” for daring to ask about his plans for kickstarting the economy.
Here’s John T Bennett’s report.
Back at the White House, the president was busy defending his use of hydroxychloroquine to ward off Covid-19 yesterday, saying he uses it as a "line of defence" because he interacts with many people each day.
"Look how many people are around this table," he said, illustrating his point for the assembled press pack. "It doesn't seem to have any effect on me."
Trump observed that both a valet and the vice president press secretary Katie Miller had both recently tested positive and yet he himself was still in good health, going on to suggest uncited studies in France and Italy had found the anti-malaria treatment to be effective against Covid-19.
When asked about studies that had found the opposite - and that it can even trigger fatal heart arrhythmia - the president sought to debunk the findings, in spite of their endorsement by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“That was a false study done. Where they gave it to very sick people. Extremely sick people. People that were ready to die. It was given by obviously not friends of the administration," he said.
"If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape," Trump continued, an apparent reference to a study of hundreds of patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in which more of those in a group who were administered hydroxychloroquine died than among those who weren't.
"They were very old. Almost dead," he said. "It was a Trump enemy statement."
Trump also again fell out with a female reporter during the media gathering, telling CBS journalist Paula Reid that she was “just a rude person” for daring to ask about his plans for kickstarting the economy.
Here’s John T Bennett’s report.
President hits back at Nancy Pelosi over 'morbidly obese' jibe
One of the first people to react to Trump’s revelation that he was taking the controversial drug contrary to the FDA advice was the House speaker, who shared her concerns about his during an interview with CNN host Anderson Cooper.
"He's our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists," Pelosi said. "Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group... morbidly obese, they say".
Trump could hardly be expected to let that one slide and commented yesterday: "I don't respond to her. I think she's a waste of time."
Unable to let the matter drop, he renewed his attack on her later on in his session with the press yesterday: "Pelosi is a sick woman. She's got a lot of problems, a lot of mental problems… We're dealing with people that have to get their act together for the good of the country."
The speaker later hitback with a lovely piece of sarcasm, commenting on MSNBC that she “didn’t know he was so sensitive”.
Here’s our report.
One of the first people to react to Trump’s revelation that he was taking the controversial drug contrary to the FDA advice was the House speaker, who shared her concerns about his during an interview with CNN host Anderson Cooper.
"He's our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists," Pelosi said. "Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group... morbidly obese, they say".
Trump could hardly be expected to let that one slide and commented yesterday: "I don't respond to her. I think she's a waste of time."
Unable to let the matter drop, he renewed his attack on her later on in his session with the press yesterday: "Pelosi is a sick woman. She's got a lot of problems, a lot of mental problems… We're dealing with people that have to get their act together for the good of the country."
The speaker later hitback with a lovely piece of sarcasm, commenting on MSNBC that she “didn’t know he was so sensitive”.
Here’s our report.
Trump mulls Brazil travel ban as pandemic spread worsens
The president also hinted yesterday he is considering barring entry to flights coming from Brazil due to the spread of Covid-19 in Latin America's hardest-hit country. It was the second time Trump has suggested he is considering such a measure.
"I don't want people coming in here and infecting our people. I don't want people over there sick either. We're helping Brazil with ventilators. We're sending them ventilators," he remarked.
Hours later Brazil reported more than a thousand deaths from the disease for the first time in a 24-hour period. The health ministry's announcement of 1,179 deaths on Tuesday boosted the nation's death toll to 17,971. Brazil has 271,628 confirmed cases, the third most in the world after Russia and the US.
Brazil's right-wing populist president Jair Bolsonaro, who like Trump has previously downplayed the disease and encouraged supporters to go back to work, has neither responded to Trump's remarks nor commented on the record daily figure.
Also on Tuesday, the US government announced it was offering Brazil $3m (£2.4m) to mitigate the impact of Covid-19. The Trump administration has already pledged $950,000 (£775,000) to Brazil in efforts against the pandemic. The resources will be used in 79 emergency centers for treating the coronavirus, laboratories and in the healthcare system of 13 border cities.
Here's Justin Vallejo on a further extension of inessential plane travel restrictions into the US and Canada.
Here's Justin Vallejo on a further extension of inessential plane travel restrictions into the US and Canada.
Trump announces executive order ‘suspending’ regulations impeding US economy
Eager to juice the sagging economy to boost his re-election bid, the president signed an executive order on Tuesday that he said is designed to help businesses recover from the Covid-19 outbreak.
Eager to juice the sagging economy to boost his re-election bid, the president signed an executive order on Tuesday that he said is designed to help businesses recover from the Covid-19 outbreak.
Trump told his Cabinet members during their White House meeting the order “gives you tremendous power to cut regulation”.
The order is about “instructing federal agencies to use any and all authority to waive, suspend and eliminate unnecessary regulations that impede economic recovery,” the president said before signing it with a large black felt pen.
“And we want to leave it that way,” he added.
“And we want to leave it that way,” he added.
Here's John T Bennett.
Trump administration 'indefinitely' extends border restrictions
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says a public health order that imposes strict regulation of the country's borders has been extended “indefinitely”.
The new order announced on Tuesday by acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf does not put a 30-day limit on the restrictions as before. It says instead that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will review the latest health data every 30 days to ensure the restrictions are still needed.
Homeland Security officials had signaled in recent days that the order should be extended but that the decision would be up to health authorities. It had been scheduled to expire today.
The order enables US Customs and Border Patrol to immediately expel anyone stopped trying to enter the country without authorisation, including people seeking asylum. DHS officials say the Covid-19 pandemic makes it too dangerous to hold people in their detention facilities.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says a public health order that imposes strict regulation of the country's borders has been extended “indefinitely”.
The new order announced on Tuesday by acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf does not put a 30-day limit on the restrictions as before. It says instead that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will review the latest health data every 30 days to ensure the restrictions are still needed.
Homeland Security officials had signaled in recent days that the order should be extended but that the decision would be up to health authorities. It had been scheduled to expire today.
The order enables US Customs and Border Patrol to immediately expel anyone stopped trying to enter the country without authorisation, including people seeking asylum. DHS officials say the Covid-19 pandemic makes it too dangerous to hold people in their detention facilities.
Immigrant advocates say it deprives people of the legal right to seek asylum under international law.
Alex Woodward has this report.
Trump privately opposed extending unemployment benefits for Covid-19, officials say
The president attended a weekly Republican lunch in Washington yesterday - social distancing be damned - where he regaled the 53 GOP senators there with tales of his poll numbers, dismissed Joe Biden and implored them to "be tough" against the Democrats this autumn.
He also reportedly used the gathering to express his opposition to extending a weekly $600 (£489) boost in unemployment insurance for laid-off workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The president attended a weekly Republican lunch in Washington yesterday - social distancing be damned - where he regaled the 53 GOP senators there with tales of his poll numbers, dismissed Joe Biden and implored them to "be tough" against the Democrats this autumn.
He also reportedly used the gathering to express his opposition to extending a weekly $600 (£489) boost in unemployment insurance for laid-off workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
‘You'll have nobody guarding your potatoes’: Trump embroiled in weird war of words with Virginia governor
The president also held a summit at the White House yesterday on “supporting our nation’s farmers, ranchers and food supply chain”.
In the course of it, he launched into a weird dig at Ralph Northam, the Democratic governor of Virginia, whom Trump said was “crazy” and wanted to end the Second Amendment, which would leave the state’s potato crop vulnerable if no longer under armed guard.
Governor Northam later accused the president of glugging from the wrong bottle.
From one kind of beef to another, here’s John T Bennett again on the president’s plan to terminate trade deals that involve importing cattle from overseas.
Trump campaign sends text to sell voters his colouring book as US coronavirus deaths pass 90,000
Well, where do you start with this one?
Not content with including noted CNN Trump critic Chris Cuomo on a "top supporters" mailout, Team Trump's tone deaf marketing team have done it again.
Here's Andrew Naughtie to have a go.
Well, where do you start with this one?
Not content with including noted CNN Trump critic Chris Cuomo on a "top supporters" mailout, Team Trump's tone deaf marketing team have done it again.
Here's Andrew Naughtie to have a go.
Is Donald J Trump actually 'morbidly obese'?
Louise Hall has the answer to this, a question prompted by Nancy Pelosi's mock-innocent remark regarding the president potentially endangering his own health by ignoring the official advice on hydroxychloroquine.
Given that Trump thinks it's fine to serve cheeseburgers to elite athletes, I don't fancy his chances here.
How a pair of Trump tweets created an 'Obamagate' domino effect in the Senate
Griffin Connolly has this on how Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham were prodded into bringing the GOP into line behind the president's favourite new conspiracy theory.
Griffin Connolly has this on how Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham were prodded into bringing the GOP into line behind the president's favourite new conspiracy theory.
Trump blames China for 'mass Worldwide killing!' and again pushes Joe Scarborough 'cold case' conspiracy theory
The president is out of bed and throwing open the curtains to greet the new day with a fresh round of billious tweets, attacking China for the coronavirus, defending Roger Stone and again pushing a favourite fabrication about the Morning Joe host.
He's also been accusing the states of Michigan and Nevada with election fraud and threatening to withhold funding unless he gets what he wants.
Now where have we heard that before...?
Chris Riotta has more on this.
The president is out of bed and throwing open the curtains to greet the new day with a fresh round of billious tweets, attacking China for the coronavirus, defending Roger Stone and again pushing a favourite fabrication about the Morning Joe host.
He's also been accusing the states of Michigan and Nevada with election fraud and threatening to withhold funding unless he gets what he wants.
Now where have we heard that before...?
Chris Riotta has more on this.
'Trump almost got away with firing the guy who was investigating Mike Pompeo - but now it's all falling apart'
For Indy Voices, Andrew Feinberg offers his take on the sacking of State Department inspector general Steve Linick, which threatens to snowball into a major scandal embroiling Trump's secretary of state, whom the ousted official appears to have been investigating.
Former aide claims he has been taking Trump's miracle elixir for 'more than a month'
Oh "Dr" Sebastian Gorka, don't ever change.
Here's Sanjana Varghese for Indy100 on the alt-right Fraiser Crane out-bragging even this president.
Oh "Dr" Sebastian Gorka, don't ever change.
Here's Sanjana Varghese for Indy100 on the alt-right Fraiser Crane out-bragging even this president.
Joe Biden on 'Obamagate': 'This is his pattern. Diversion, diversion, diversion, diversion'
Let’s check in with Diamond Joe.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been busy deflecting questions about Trump's allegations of improper behaviour during the Obama presidency and other conspiracy theories pushed by his top allies.
Speaking at a Yahoo! News virtual town hall yesterday (nominally on Covid-19 and food security), Biden said Trump is trying to distract voters from his inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 92,300 Americans.
Broadly dubbing his allegations "Obamagate", the president has pointed to the legal case of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, suggesting that the "unmasking" of Flynn's name as part of legal US surveillance of foreign targets was criminal and motivated by partisan politics.
There is no evidence of that and Trump's accusations misrepresent the facts of the case, to put it mildly, but that hasn’t stopped the president calling it the "biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA."
"This is his pattern. Diversion, diversion, diversion, diversion," Biden said on Tuesday. "The greatest crime? I mean, my Lord."
Trump's cries of scandal come as the president and many top Republicans have used increasingly harsh rhetoric against Biden- hoping to conjure doubt in voters' minds as the election season begins to heat up.
Today, a Senate committee led by Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson will vote on whether to issue a subpoena as part of an investigation into Biden's son Hunter and his work for a Ukrainian natural gas company that grew out of Trump's impeachment earlier this year.
Today, a Senate committee led by Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson will vote on whether to issue a subpoena as part of an investigation into Biden's son Hunter and his work for a Ukrainian natural gas company that grew out of Trump's impeachment earlier this year.
Over the weekend, Trump's sons spread baseless online conspiracy theories suggesting other criminal activity by Biden, including Don Jr labelling him a “paedophile” entirely without foundation.
Asked about that on Tuesday, Biden called online posts about the matter "sick".
"People know me. The good news is the bad news. They know me. They know my faults, they know my talents," he said.
Pointing to his decades in the Senate and eight years as vice president, he continued, "It's hard to lay on me some of the things that are just totally out of sync with anything in my whole life that anyone has ever said about me."
“I don't want to get down in the mud with these guys,” he added, pointedly.
Biden was also asked about Trump's firing of Steve Linick as the State Department's inspector general.
Some Republicans have defended the move, arguing that it was within the president's rights, but Biden and other Democrats say it is part of a larger White House effort to undermine government oversight.
Biden promised not to fire any inspector general should he be elected, saying those positions were "designed to make government honest".
And taking hydroxychloroquine?
“Totally irresponsible,” said the candidate, speaking for most of us.
Here's Chris Riotta with more.
Here's Chris Riotta with more.
Portraits of the Obamas will not be unveiled at the White House until Trump leaves office
Well, it would be a little odd for Trump to go ahead with having this picture hung in the middle of the current stink he's just whipped up, part of the ploy to discredit his predecessor just as he wades into the 2020 presidential race in support of his loyal old veep.
Greg Evans has more on this for Indy100.
Well, it would be a little odd for Trump to go ahead with having this picture hung in the middle of the current stink he's just whipped up, part of the ploy to discredit his predecessor just as he wades into the 2020 presidential race in support of his loyal old veep.
Greg Evans has more on this for Indy100.
Trump 'considering rescheduling G7'
The president says he is rethinking the next gathering of world leaders, which is currently due to take place in June having been reconfigured as a video conference because of the coronavirus.
This appears to suggest he does not consider the present arrangement satisfactory and would prefer an in-person event to serve as a showpiece gathering drawing a line under the outbreak (whether it has actually been successfully contained or not).
He's also been pledging support for Michigan - having earlier threatened to cut its funding - after the state was hit by flooding and congratulating his daugter Tiffany on graduating from Georgetown ("Just what I need is a lawyer in the family") - in amongst talking about transport infrastructure funding for Dallas and Tulsa!
The president says he is rethinking the next gathering of world leaders, which is currently due to take place in June having been reconfigured as a video conference because of the coronavirus.
This appears to suggest he does not consider the present arrangement satisfactory and would prefer an in-person event to serve as a showpiece gathering drawing a line under the outbreak (whether it has actually been successfully contained or not).
He's also been pledging support for Michigan - having earlier threatened to cut its funding - after the state was hit by flooding and congratulating his daugter Tiffany on graduating from Georgetown ("Just what I need is a lawyer in the family") - in amongst talking about transport infrastructure funding for Dallas and Tulsa!
Mike Pompeo says State Dept IG should have been fired 'some time ago' but won't say why
The secretary of state is currently giving a press conference and has this to say on Steve Linick: "I've seen the various stories that someone was walking my dog to sell arms to my dry cleaner. I mean, it's all just crazy."
He says he should have been gotten rid of a long time but declines to elaborate.
The secretary of state is currently giving a press conference and has this to say on Steve Linick: "I've seen the various stories that someone was walking my dog to sell arms to my dry cleaner. I mean, it's all just crazy."
He says he should have been gotten rid of a long time but declines to elaborate.
