Donald Trump signed the first veto of his presidency after the Senate‘s decision to vote 59-41 in favour of a resolution expressing disapproval at his national emergency declaration over the illegal immigration “crisis” at the southern border.
In a major embarrassment for the president, 12 Republicans voted against his invocation of emergency powers to get his signature US-Mexico border wall built, bringing the resolution to his desk and forcing him to exercise his powers of office to block it. Mr Trump then claimed there was an “invasion” at the border and vetoed the resolution.
Despite the veto, the president’s emergency declaration still faces numerous legal challenges, with cases arguing it was unconstitutional.
American Civil Liberties Union, which filed one of the cases, said the veto was meaningless. “Congress has rejected the president’s declaration, and now the courts will be the ultimate arbiter of its legality,” said executive director Anthony Romero. “We look forward to seeing him in court and to the shellacking that he will receive at the hands of an independent judiciary.”
Meanwhile, top officials from Donald Trump’s administration failed to describe the terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, as acts of terror, including his vice president, White House press secretary, ambassador to New Zealand and more.
When asked during the Oval Office address whether he saw an increase in white nationalism, Mr Trump said: “I don’t really. I think it’s a small group of people.”
He also said he had not seen a manifesto in which the suspected gunman denounced immigrants and praised Mr Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose”.
At least 49 people were killed with dozens more seriously injured after shootings at two mosques in Christchurch. The suspected attacker, Brenton Tarrant, live-streamed the attack and outlined his anti-immigrant motives in a manifesto posted online.
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President Trump has tweeted a defiant "VETO!" in response to yesterday's Senate vote on his national emergency declaration.
The resolution, first tabled by House Democrats, expressed disapproval at the president's decision to invoke emergency powers in February over the illegal immigration "crisis" on the country's southern border with Mexico, enabling him to reallocate government funds towards the construction of his border wall without having to seek congressional approval.
The Senate vote passed 59-41, with 12 Republicans defying Mr Trump after he had implored the party to stand by him, a major embarrassment.
"Today's votes cap a week of something the American people haven't seen enough of in the last two years, both parties in the United States Congress standing up to Donald Trump," said Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer
The president had made no secret of his intention to veto the decision should it pass the second chamber, elaborating on Twitter:
Here's Andrew Buncombe with more.
Trump just suffered his second congressional rebuke in two days
12 Republicans voted against the presidentOn the horrific terror attack on a mosque in Christchurch in New Zealand, in which at least 49 people were killed and 20 seriously injured, the president tweeted a link directing his followers to coverage of the mass shooting from alt-right news site Breitbart, once run by his former chief strategist Steve Bannon.
It's very early in the morning in Washington, DC, at present but we can expect a more formal statement from the president shortly.
You can follow breaking developments on the atrocity below.
At least 49 dead in shooting at New Zealand mosques - live updates
Follow the latest updates hereWith exceptionally poor timing (even for him), Donald Trump Jr - the president's son - happened to post this image on Instagram yesterday with the caption, "Triggered".
That's a magazine clip for an automatic rifle, punning on his father's "MAGA" slogan, standing for "Make America Great Again".
While the image went up well before the news broke from Christchurch, the post would have been in staggeringly bad taste at the best of times.
Meanwhile, a New York City judge has reminded Donald Trump he is not above the law.
Justice Dianne Renwick came to the conclusion that any sitting president could still be tried at state level after Mr Trump attempted to delay a defamation trial arising from a lawsuit brought against him by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on his reality show The Apprentice.
Ms Zervos argues Mr Trump's repeated denials of the sexual misconduct allegations she has raised against him amount to factual falsehoods, impugn her character and has cost her business at a restaurant she owns in southern California.
The claimant came forward in October 2016, a month before Mr Trump was elected in response to the Access Hollywood tape, to allege he had kissed her against her will at a 2007 meeting in New York and later attempted to grope her at a hotel in Beverly Hills.
In a three-two decision, the Appellate Division in Manhattan said the US Constitution did not strip state courts of power to decide cases even if they involved sitting presidents.
"The president is still a person and he is not above the law," Justice Renwick wrote.
Popular Texas Democrat Beto O'Rourke finally announced his intention to run for the presidency in 2020 yesterday and Mr Trump was quick to deride the latest entrant to what is becoming a crowded field.
Calling him "crazy" and mocking his hand gestures when speaking is pretty mild by The Donald's standards and surely only a foretaste of things to come for Mr O'Rourke.
The new contender rose to national fame last autumn thanks to his outspoken but ultimately unsuccessful run against Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the November midterms, a fight that saw the president forced to swallow his pride and back his old adversary "Lyin' Ted".
Here's Chris Riotta.
Trump launches bizarre attack on 'crazy' Beto O'Rourke over his hand movements
“Is he crazy or is that just the way he acts?"Here's a little more on the Democrats' new icon and where he stands on the biggest issues confronting a divided nation.
Empty vessel or policy hound? Where Beto O'Rourke stands on the big issues
The Texas Democrat espouses liberal ideals — but maintains a particularly centrist voting recordThe president made his remarks about Beto O'Rourke during a press conference at the White House with Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
He also had this to say about Brexit and Theresa May.
“I’m surprised at how badly it’s all gone from the standpoint of the negotiation, but I gave the prime minister my ideas on how to negotiate it, and I think you would have been successful,” he told reporters.
“She didn’t listen to that and that’s fine. She’s gotta do what she’s gotta do but I think it could have been negotiated in a different manner, frankly. I hate to see everything being ripped apart right now."
Here's Tom Embury-Dennis.
Trump says second Brexit referendum is ‘unfair’ and lashes out at Theresa May in extraordinary attack
‘I think it could have been negotiated in a different manner,’ president says of UK’s negotiation strategyThis was an interesting meeting of minds at the White House yesterday.
Vice-president Mike Pence and his wife Karen - both devout Christians known for endorsing anti-LGBT+ standpoints - hosted openly gay Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner Matt Barrett for breakfast.
The couple were in the US capital ahead of St Patrick's Day on Sunday, with Mr Varadkar presenting Donald and Melania with the customary shamrock bowl to honour transatlantic ties.
“I lived in a country where if I’d tried to be myself at the time, it would have ended up breaking laws,” the Irish prime minister told The Washington Post.
“But today, that is all changed. I stand here, leader of my country, flawed and human, but judged by my political actions, and not by my sexual orientation, my skin tone, gender or religious beliefs.”
In case you missed it, the House of Representatives yesterday passed a resolution calling for FBI special counsel Robert Mueller's report into possible Russian election meddling to be made public.
It is due to drop on the desk of new attorney-general William Barr any day now.
US House passes resolution calling for Trump-Russia report to be made public
Vote seen as critical demand from Democrat-controlled House to review full reportFollowing yesterday's Senate vote, the president now has 10 days to veto the resolution.
On 26 March, the House Democrats can then stage a vote to override the veto. When it passes and reaches the Senate, it would then require a two-thirds majority to carry the day.
That would require further Republican resistance.
The 12 Republicans voting with Democrats yesterday were: Tennessee's Lamar Alexander, Utah's Mitt Romney, Ohio's Rob Portman, Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey, Kansas' Jerry Moran, Missouri's Roy Blunt, Maine's Susan Collins, Utah's Mike Lee, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, Florida's Marco Rubio, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Mississippi's Roger Wicker.
"This is constitutional question, it's a question about the balance of power that is core to our constitution," Mr Romney said. "This is not about the president. The president can certainly express his views as he has and individual senators can express theirs."
A direct challenge to the 1976 National Emergencies Act, this was also the second Republican rebuke of Mr Trump in a week. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a resolution requiring the president to withdraw US troops not fighting al-Qaeda from the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.
Here's the White House on New Zealand:
And here's President Trump, adopting the tone of a Hallmark greetings card:
Although the president has 10 days to veto the national emergency resolution, it looks like he might do so today.
This will be Donald Trump's first in office.
The all-time record for presidential vetoes, incidentally, is held by Franklin D Roosevelt, who vetoed no fewer than 635 bills.
President Trump is again watching Fox and Friends and again tweeting about Jexodus, a website founded by his ex-campaign aide Elizabeth Pipko to create the impression Jewish Democrats are leaving the party in droves in response to the antisemitism row sparked by congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
They aren't.
The Jexodus site describes itself as a group of "proud Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics. We reject the hypocrisy, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism of the rising far-left".
If you were in any doubt as to how close Ms Pipko is to President Trump, she not only worked on his 2016 election campaign but got married at Mar-a-Lago on Boxing Day.
The site was founded in 2019, seemingly solely to capitalise on/cynically exploit precisely this issue.
Another TV tweet:
The Christchurch shooter's manifesto appears to contain an endorsement for Donald Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose", according to AFP journalist Andrew Beatty.
Here's John Bolton on New Zealand:
During a meeting of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee yesterday, Trump treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin said he would comply with any request to hand over Donald Trump's personal and business tax returns and assured Congress the president had never asked him to intervene on the matter.
“The answer is, if I receive a request, which I presume from what I’ve read in the press I will receive, I will consult with the legal department within Treasury and I will follow the law,” he said.
“I’m not aware if there’s ever been a request for an elected official’s tax return, but we will follow the law and we would protect the president as we would protect any individual taxpayer under their rights,” he added, hinting that doing so could risk violating Mr Trump's privacy.
As a candidate, Donald Trump broke with custom in 2016 when he became the first presidential nominee in decades not to release his tax returns, arousing huge suspicion ever since.
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