Facebook has removed dozens of ads from Donald Trump's re-election campaign invoking Nazi imagery against political opponents while he has publicly sparred with the US Supreme Court and his ex-national security adviser John Bolton over allegations in a new book.
The social media platform said its decision to pull dozens of Trump campaign ads that invoked Nazi symbols to mark political opponents was based on the company's policy against "using a banned hate group's symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol."
Bolton say the “stunningly uninformed” president begged Chinese premier Xi Jinping for help with his re-election, said invading Venezuela would be “cool”, believed Finland was in Russia and did not realise the UK was a nuclear power.
Several newspapers published extracts from The Room Where it Happened, which hits shelves next week and paints a damning portrait of the Trump White House and a blustering president willing to do “personal favours for dictators he likes”, ignorant of foreign policy and motivated predominantly by “re-election calculations”.
Trump wasted no time in angrily hitting back at Bolton, disparaging him as “a washed up guy” on Fox News and taking to Twitter to label him: “A disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war.”
A senior State Department official meanwhile has resigned over the president's poor handling of racial tensions in the wake of the police killings of black Americans, as the president lashed out over the Supreme Court's ruling that halts the administration's bid to end DACA, an Obama-era programme that provided a legal path for migrants who entered the US without legal permission to stay in the country.
The president, who has two of his own appointees on the high court, threatened the possibility of more nominees, underscoring the future of SCOTUS as a larger campaign issue in November.
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Trump begged Xi for re-election help, John Bolton book alleges
A new book by Donald Trump’s ex-national security adviser John Bolton alleges the “stunningly uninformed” president begged Chinese premier Xi Jinping for help with his re-election, said invading Venezuela would be “cool”, believed Finland was in Russia and did not realise the UK was a nuclear power.
The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and New York Times today carry extracts from The Room Where it Happened, which hits shelves next week and paints a damning portrait of the Trump White House and a blustering president willing to do “personal favours for dictators he likes”, ignorant of foreign policy and motivated predominantly by “re-election calculations”.
Bolton describes his former employer as a man who “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government”.
“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn't driven by re-election calculations,” he adds, damningly.
Bolton says during his time at the White House, which stretched from April 2018 to September 2019, that the president only held two intelligence briefings a week “and in most of those, he spoke at greater length than the briefers, often on matters completely unrelated to the subjects at hand.”
He also describes tensions with Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly and, more surprisingly, with his current secretary of state Mike Pompeo (usually thought of as a staunch ally), who allegedly once passed a note in a meeting while the president was speaking, saying: “He’s so full of s***”.
It’s the foreign policy revelations that are the most astonishing, however, with his account of the president flattering Xi at last June’s G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in pursuit of re-election support especially shocking.
The aforementioned Pompeo is currently meeting with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Hawaii, incidentally, which promises to be a spectacularly awkward affair thanks to the grenade just dropped - belatedly - by Bolton.
Here’s Griffin Connolly’s report on the Xi anecdote.
President reportedly said invading Venezuela would be 'cool'
Before we even get to on to juicy anecdotes like Trump’s dismissal of all journalists as “scumbags" who deserve to be executed or his determination to taunt North Korean despot Kim Jong-un by sending him a CD of Elton John singing “Rocket Man” to mock his nuclear ambitions, let’s start with Caracas.
Bolton writes in The Room Where it Happened that invading Venezuela would be "cool" and that he argued the South American nation was "really part of the United States".
The author says it was none other than Russian president Vladimir Putin who put Trump up to this, using a May 2019 phone call to pull off a "brilliant display of Soviet-style propaganda" by likening Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to Trump’s 2016 Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton, which "largely persuaded Trump" against backing his claim to power, with Putin favouring corrupt incumbent Nicolas Maduro.
Trump had labelled Maduro a dictator and imposed sanctions a year earlier but he managed to cling on to power and the US never did intervene further.
Trump had labelled Maduro a dictator and imposed sanctions a year earlier but he managed to cling on to power and the US never did intervene further.
Bolton has, incidentally, granted an exclusive interview to ABC News - which will be aired in full on Sunday - in which he is seen commenting in an advanced clip: "I think Putin thinks he can play [Trump] like a fiddle."
Also according to Bolton's memoir, one US invasion Trump was less keen on was that of Afghanistan at the commencement of the War on Terror. "This was done by a stupid person named George Bush," Trump is alleged to have remarked.
Trump 'believed Finland part of Russia' and was not respected by Putin, says Bolton
The president’s ignorance of geopolitical matters is also exposed by Bolton in his revelation that Trump allegedly once asked whether Finland was part of Russia (this has not been the case since the October Revolution of 1917, although the Finns did fight a border dispute with the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939 to reassert their independence).
Vladimir Putin makes another appearance in Bolton’s account of his Helsinki summit with Trump in July 2018, at which the president told the man from the Kremlin he believed him - and not his own intelligence agencies - when he insisted his country had not interfered in the 2016 US presidential election.
Given that Trump came out on top in that contest against Clinton, he has had a vested interest in not looking too closely at how its outcome was achieved ever since.
"This was hardly the way to do relations with Russia, and Putin had to be laughing uproariously at what he had gotten away with in Helsinki," Bolton comments.
Here’s John T Bennet with more.
President 'expressed surprise to learn UK a nuclear power'
Trump's sketchiness and indifference was also exposed by his not knowing that Britain had nuclear weapons, apparently failing to mask his surprise when he was informed of the fact by a British official during a meeting with then-prime minister Theresa May in 2018.
The country began testing nukes at the outset of the Cold War in 1952.
The country began testing nukes at the outset of the Cold War in 1952.
Here’s Graig Graziosi with the full story.
Angry Trump hits back at Bolton as 'disgruntled boring fool'
Although there’s plenty more where that came, let’s give the president his right to reply.
Trump gave a soft soap phone interview to his friend Sean Hannity of Fox News last night in which he angrily hit back at Bolton, saying: “He broke the law. This is highly classified information and he did not have approval... He was a washed up guy. I gave him a chance’
He went further on Twitter labelling the veteran hawk a “Wacko” and “a disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war.”
Andrew Naughtie has more fire and fury.
Trump obsessed with sending CD of Elton John's 'Rocket Man' to Kim Jong-un, says Bolton
Back to it - and here's Justin Vallejo on one of the most extraordinary and petty tales Bolton has to tell on the president's determination to humiliate the Pyongyang dictator over his defiance of the international community by persisting with nuclear missile testing.
Back to it - and here's Justin Vallejo on one of the most extraordinary and petty tales Bolton has to tell on the president's determination to humiliate the Pyongyang dictator over his defiance of the international community by persisting with nuclear missile testing.
Trump cared little about North Korea's nuclear weapons and treated summit as publicity exercise, alleges ex-national security adviser
John T Bennett has more on the president's dismissive attitude towards the rogue nuclear state, which he saw more as a legacy issue for himself than a cause to be addressed in the best interests of humanitarianism.
John T Bennett has more on the president's dismissive attitude towards the rogue nuclear state, which he saw more as a legacy issue for himself than a cause to be addressed in the best interests of humanitarianism.
Allegation Trump endorsed mass detention of Chinese Uighurs emerges on same day he signs bill threatening sanctions over their repression
Back to China, where Bolton says Trump had no problem with Beijing's efforts to round up persecuted Uighur Muslim minority into concentration camps for "re-education", calling it "Exactly the right thing to do" during his Osaka meeting with Xi last summer.
Incredibly, Trump signed legislation YESTERDAY calling for sanctions against China over its repression and mass detention of the group.
Back to China, where Bolton says Trump had no problem with Beijing's efforts to round up persecuted Uighur Muslim minority into concentration camps for "re-education", calling it "Exactly the right thing to do" during his Osaka meeting with Xi last summer.
Incredibly, Trump signed legislation YESTERDAY calling for sanctions against China over its repression and mass detention of the group.
The bill, which Congress passed with only one "no" vote, was intended to send a strong message on human rights to the Xi administration.
The United Nations estimates that more than a million Muslims have been detained in camps in the Xinjiang region. The US State Department has accused Chinese officials of subjecting Muslims to torture, abuse "and trying to basically erase their culture and their religion", although China denies mistreatment and says the camps provide vocational training.
Here's Phil Thomas and Justin Vallejo with more.
Joe Biden condemns Trump over John Bolton allegations and coronavirus
"If these accounts are true, it's not only morally repugnant, it's a violation of Donald Trump's sacred duty to the American people," said the president's Democratic challenger yesterday, responding to the extracts published from The Room Where it Happened so far.
Biden has also been taking the sword to the self-styled "wartime president" over his Covid-19 denialism.
Oliver O'Connell has more from the candidate.
"If these accounts are true, it's not only morally repugnant, it's a violation of Donald Trump's sacred duty to the American people," said the president's Democratic challenger yesterday, responding to the extracts published from The Room Where it Happened so far.
Biden has also been taking the sword to the self-styled "wartime president" over his Covid-19 denialism.
Oliver O'Connell has more from the candidate.
Trump tells Hannity cops being ‘treated unfairly’ over Rayshard Brooks killing and says no second US lockdown despite rising coronavirus cases
On any other day, Trump’s interview with Sean Hannity on Fox would have been bigger news, especially his siding with Atlanta police over the killing of Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy’s car park last Friday, commenting that the incident is “a terrible thing… but you can’t resist a police officer” and suggesting the cops at the centre of the storm are being “treated unfairly”.
On officer Garrett Rolfe's lawyer claiming that his client heard a sound like a gunshot and saw a flash in front of him before he shot Brooks, Trump said: "I don't know that I would have necessarily believed that, but I will tell you, that's a very interesting thing and maybe that's so.
"They are going to have to find out. It's up to justice right now. It's going to be up to justice.
"I hope he gets a fair shake because police have not been treated fairly in our country. They have not been treated fairly," he added.
Trump also said there was no question the US would enter into a second lockdown despite rising coronavirus cases in states that reopened early like Texas, Florida and Arizona.
"We won't be closing the country again. We won't have to do that," Trump said, again insisting the disease would just “fade away” with no apology for the 119,000 dead and counting.
The president also found time to joke that the left-wing activists in Seattle occupying an autonomous zone are “obviously very good at real estate”, scaremonger about Black Lives Matter protesters and claim his under-construction border wall meant the coronavirus spread wasn’t as bad in California as it might have been (it’s still pretty bad there).
Here’s Gino Spocchia on his comments on Rayshard Brooks.
Bruce Springsteen to Trump: 'Put on a f***ing mask’
The Boss, leading by example with understandable exasperation, tells the president to follow his own administration's advice in no uncertain terms.
Louis Chilton has this report.
The Boss, leading by example with understandable exasperation, tells the president to follow his own administration's advice in no uncertain terms.
“With 100,000-plus Americans dying over the last few months and the empty, shamed response from our leaders, I’ve been simply p***ed off,” he said on his SiriusXM radio show. “Those lives deserve better than being simply inconvenient statistics for our president’s re-election efforts. It’s a national disgrace.”
Louis Chilton has this report.
Kellyanne Conway says indoor Tulsa rally is safe because outside George Floyd protests were as Covid concerns loom large
Team Trump is showing no signs of cancelling or delaying the president's planned Saturday return to the campaign rallies he so cherishes, even as Covid-19 cases climb in Tulsa, because outside protests show an indoor rally can be safe, according to Kellyanne Conway.
The president is slated to address supporters for the first time since March inside the Oklahoma city's BOK Center, a multipurpose arena that seats around 19,000 people. The president and his campaign team say they have received between 800,000 and 1m requests for tickets – even though the respiratory disease that has claimed at least 119,000 lives inside the United States is spreading in Tulsa County.
Conway, one of Trump’s most senior and durable aides, told reporters on Wednesday that if anyone with a ticket feels worried about getting sick at the event, they should stay home. But she also contended the Trump campaign, which is requiring rally-goers to sign waivers absolving it of liability for those that might get sick, has taken every precaution possible to keep people healthy.
More suprisingly, she equated attending the indoor rally to protesting the police killings of black people outside. "We also know that people don't want to be locked down forever. We see them peacefully protesting. We see folks doing many things," she said.
Her message of personal responsibility was echoed yesterday by White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who said attendees in Tulsa were doing so at their own “personal risk” and should not blame the president if they get ill.
Here’s John T Bennett with more.
Black community leaders fear violence at Tulsa rally
As we've heard, tens of thousands of Trump supporters are expected in the Oklahoma city on Saturday for the first of a series of rallies across the country to rev up his re-election campaign. The gathering at the OK Center and at a 40,000-capacity convention centre nearby, would overlap a two-day local celebration of Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the country.
As we've heard, tens of thousands of Trump supporters are expected in the Oklahoma city on Saturday for the first of a series of rallies across the country to rev up his re-election campaign. The gathering at the OK Center and at a 40,000-capacity convention centre nearby, would overlap a two-day local celebration of Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the country.
Both events are in the city's downtown area. The Reverend Al Sharpton is among the speakers at the Juneteenth observance in the Greenwood district, where several dozen blocks of black-owned businesses were burned in a notorious 1921 massacre. A separate anti-hate rally is set for Saturday night in a Tulsa park about a 30-minute walk away.
Community leaders and organisers say all the events should be peaceful, but worry about the potential for clash involving Trump supporters, participants in several anti-Trump protests planned downtown and those attending the Juneteenth programme. Tulsa experienced several days of large protests after the death of black Minneapolis resident George Floyd on 25 May but violence and damage were limited.
"We're all terribly concerned," said Reverend Ray Owens, pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Church, a historically black church on the city's north side. "I'm hearing rumors of people coming from both sides who may be inclined to incite some kind of physical conflict or war of words. That worries me."
On Wednesday, the QuikTrip convenience store chain announced the closing of its downtown area locations "out of possible safety concerns for our employees." Up to 250 Oklahoma Army National Guardsmen will be activated as a "force multiplier" for local, state and federal law enforcement providing security, said Tulsa police chief Wendell Franklin.
Tulsa's long history of racial tension was exacerbated in recent weeks by the arrest of two black teenagers for jaywalking. Another flashpoint was the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Terence Crutcher, by a Tulsa police officer in 2016.
"All of those things are the backdrop for Donald Trump's visit," said Marq Lewis, a black community organiser and founder of We The People Oklahoma. "His visit is definitely inflammatory."
Adding to the tension is fear about a recent spike in coronavirus cases in Tulsa and how it could be worsened by throngs of people cramming into downtown and indoor arenas.
Oklahoma's Republican governor Kevin Stitt had invited Trump and vice president Mike Pence to tour the city's Greenwood district during their visit, then backpedaled after being told it was a bad idea.
He said he doesn't know what Trump will do. "That is something that will ultimately be the President's decision," Stitt said.
Trump supporters started arriving from around the country as early as Monday, some camping outside the BOK Center in the 90-degree-plus heat. Several acknowledged concerns about violence between rally goers and protesters.
"That is in the back of everyone's mind down here," said 41-year-old Trump supporter Delmer Phillips. "We know that if protesters show up, it could get nasty. That's ultimately what I fear the most."
State senator Kevin Matthews, a Democrat whose district includes the Greenwood area, said Stitt didn't consult community members before extending the offer. An appearance in Greenwood by Trump would be "a slap in face," he said.
Meanwhile, Franklin said there will be a massive police presence downtown on Saturday. "The eyes of the world are on Tulsa, Oklahoma, during this event and we are ready for it," he said.
AP
'This White House is definitely more a part of Russia than Finland is'
Here's Greg Evans for Indy100 to round up the Twitter mockery of Trump over one of the (many) eye-catching revelations from John Bolton's bombshell book.
Here's Greg Evans for Indy100 to round up the Twitter mockery of Trump over one of the (many) eye-catching revelations from John Bolton's bombshell book.
No US-UK trade deal before November election, says Trump trade representative
Robert Lighthizer made this admission before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, saying that such an agreement is “almost impossible” until after this year's vote.
That means that Trump, the president who loudly championed Brexit and backed Britain forging new trade deals and going it alone, could be out of office before any agreement is ever up for signing.
Perfect.
Oliver O'Connell has more details.
Robert Lighthizer made this admission before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, saying that such an agreement is “almost impossible” until after this year's vote.
That means that Trump, the president who loudly championed Brexit and backed Britain forging new trade deals and going it alone, could be out of office before any agreement is ever up for signing.
Perfect.
Oliver O'Connell has more details.
Trump bashes Biden and Bolton
The president begins his day on Twitter lashing out at Joe Biden over his record on swine flu (which killed some 12,500 Americans, compared to more than 119,000 from Covid-19) in revenge for those "white flag" comments.
He's also out recommending an alternative book on politics to John Bolton's (a made-up-sounding tome called Blitz: How Trump Will Smash the Left and Win by David Horowitz) and retweeting a rabid attack on his erstwhile adviser.
The president begins his day on Twitter lashing out at Joe Biden over his record on swine flu (which killed some 12,500 Americans, compared to more than 119,000 from Covid-19) in revenge for those "white flag" comments.
He's also out recommending an alternative book on politics to John Bolton's (a made-up-sounding tome called Blitz: How Trump Will Smash the Left and Win by David Horowitz) and retweeting a rabid attack on his erstwhile adviser.
He's also been laying into NBC for criticising Google and quoting Fox condemnation of the Seattle protesters.
Trump labels tell-all memoir 'a compilation of lies and made up stories' and says Bolton 'just trying to get even'
Here we go.
Here we go.
He still doesn't seem to understand that you can't fire dogs and that, if Bolton really was so inept, it reflects equally badly on himself, Trump, for hiring the boob to be his national security adviser in the first place.
Joe Scarborough accuses Facebook of ‘promoting’ extremism
The MSNBC host - recently the target of a ludicrous and upsetting murder conspiracy theory by the president - has hit out at the social networking giant over its reluctance to take responsibility for political content posted by users, citing the emergence of the right-wing Boogaloo movement as the latest disturbing consequence of the company's negligence.
James Crump has this report.
The MSNBC host - recently the target of a ludicrous and upsetting murder conspiracy theory by the president - has hit out at the social networking giant over its reluctance to take responsibility for political content posted by users, citing the emergence of the right-wing Boogaloo movement as the latest disturbing consequence of the company's negligence.
James Crump has this report.
The horror, the horror
Trump supporters are already gathering in Tulsa and these maniacs have brought out the guitar to demand four more years of... what? Insults, mendacity and division? "Personal favours for dictators"? Cold war with China? Coronavirus?
Trump supporters are already gathering in Tulsa and these maniacs have brought out the guitar to demand four more years of... what? Insults, mendacity and division? "Personal favours for dictators"? Cold war with China? Coronavirus?
