Asked at a coronavirus briefing about mounting criticism over the federal government’s response to the pandemic and his plunging polls, Donald Trump noted that he created the Space Force, telling a reporter: “What we’ve done has never been done.”
A round of polls over the weekend show his Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead in three key battle ground states that the president won in 2016.
The president also refused to answer whether he addressed the Russian bounty scandal with Vladimir Putin during a short briefing in North Carolina on Monday before returning to the White House, which confirmed in a statement to The Independent that National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien has tested positive for coronavirus. The president claimed he had not recently met with the key official – whose office is positioned close to the Oval Office.
Herman Cain, a Trump ally and former presidential candidate, remains in a hospital three weeks after he tested positive on 29 June. He attended the president's Tulsa rally on 20 June and was hospitalised 11 days later. He is "being treated with oxygen for his lungs," according to a statement.
The president claimed on Monday that advancements towards a vaccine are "substantially ahead of schedule" as he urged states to reopen after a spike in new infections over the last month has thrust nationwide infections to more than 4 million.
"A lot of the governors should be opening up states that they're not opening, and we'll see what happens with them," he said.
More officers from a swath of federal agencies are expected to be deployed to Portland, Oregon amid a crackdown on protests in the city. The "surge" of federal agents across the US has been met with widespread blowback from city and state officials.
Portland protest groups including members from the Wall of Moms have sued the administration over allegations that federal agents tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed and injured peaceful demonstrators.
The body of civil rights giant and congressman John Lewis entered the US Capitol, where he will lie in state. The president told reporters he would not join other Washington officials to pay respects.
A group of senators on Monday also urged Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee chair Lindsey Graham to take up a vote on a measure that now bears Mr Lewis's name.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act seeks to restore key provisions in the landmark anti-discrimination law that were struck down by the US Supreme Court in 2013. Mr Lewis fought for full enfranchisement throughout his activism and career.
Senate Republicans meanwhile unveiled a $1 trillion coronavirus relief package as federal unemployment relief expires across the US for millions of out-of-work Americans. Democrats say the legislation does not go far enough, falling short of the threats to people facing evictions amid mass unemployment and rising infections. US Covid-19-related deaths are nearing 150,000.
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of US politics and the upcoming 2020 presidential election.
China forces closure of US consulate in Chengdu
A State Department statement has expressed disappointment about the closure of the consulate, saying the site "has stood at the centre of our relations with the people in Western China, including Tibet, for 35 years".
“We are disappointed by the Chinese Communist Party's decision and will strive to continue our outreach to the people in this important region through our other posts in China,” the statement said.
China's foreign ministry issued a brief notice saying “competent authorities” entered through the front entrance and took over the premises after U.S. diplomats closed it at 10am.
A day earlier, China's foreign ministry issued a statement of protest over what it called intrusions into the Houston consulate that violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the China-US Consular Convention.
“The Chinese side deplores and firmly opposes the US move of forcibly entering China's Consulate General in Houston and has lodged solemn representations. China will make legitimate and necessary reactions,” the statement said.
China maintains consulates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York in addition to its embassy in Washington.
The US has four other consulates in China and an embassy in Beijing, keeping the sides in parity in terms of diplomatic missions.
AP
A State Department statement has expressed disappointment about the closure of the consulate, saying the site "has stood at the centre of our relations with the people in Western China, including Tibet, for 35 years".
“We are disappointed by the Chinese Communist Party's decision and will strive to continue our outreach to the people in this important region through our other posts in China,” the statement said.
China's foreign ministry issued a brief notice saying “competent authorities” entered through the front entrance and took over the premises after U.S. diplomats closed it at 10am.
A day earlier, China's foreign ministry issued a statement of protest over what it called intrusions into the Houston consulate that violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the China-US Consular Convention.
“The Chinese side deplores and firmly opposes the US move of forcibly entering China's Consulate General in Houston and has lodged solemn representations. China will make legitimate and necessary reactions,” the statement said.
China maintains consulates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York in addition to its embassy in Washington.
The US has four other consulates in China and an embassy in Beijing, keeping the sides in parity in terms of diplomatic missions.
AP
We'll try and get through much of Donald Trump's bizarre Sunday tweeting over the next few hours, providing some context and correcting the false claims.
It began with a false claim The Washington Post newspaper, which the president considers as opponent, "is running" the Reagan Foundation.
The misleading statement comes amid reports by CNN that the foundation asked the Trump campaign to stop using Reagan's likeness in fundraising appeals.
It began with a false claim The Washington Post newspaper, which the president considers as opponent, "is running" the Reagan Foundation.
The misleading statement comes amid reports by CNN that the foundation asked the Trump campaign to stop using Reagan's likeness in fundraising appeals.
It is not clear if it is a lament or a denial, but Donald Trump has tweeted "there is NO WAY" Pennsylvania can vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
It comes after a Fox News poll showed Mr Biden with an enormous 11-point lead over Mr Trump in what is considered a battleground state.
It comes after a Fox News poll showed Mr Biden with an enormous 11-point lead over Mr Trump in what is considered a battleground state.
Donald Trump has recently been putting pressure on Fox News, which is generally supportive of the president, to show even more deference.
He continued his campaign on Sunday; including the Murdoch-owned channel as part of the "Lamestream Media" he claims is not accurately reflecting events in Portland, where unmarked federal agents have for days been violently taking on protesters.
The city has seen protests nightly since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis in May. Mr Trump says he sent federal agents to Portland to halt the unrest, but state and local officials say they are making the situation worse.
He continued his campaign on Sunday; including the Murdoch-owned channel as part of the "Lamestream Media" he claims is not accurately reflecting events in Portland, where unmarked federal agents have for days been violently taking on protesters.
The city has seen protests nightly since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis in May. Mr Trump says he sent federal agents to Portland to halt the unrest, but state and local officials say they are making the situation worse.
Seattle protesters condemn Trump’s dispatch of federal agents to city
Activists in Seattle have condemned Donald Trump’s decision to send federal agents to the city, after dozens of demonstrators were arrested while protesting the president’s actions, writes The Independent's chief US correspondent Andrew Buncombe.
On Saturday more than 40 people were detained and two dozen police officers reportedly injured, after law enforcement broke up a large and largely peaceful protest in the city’s Capitol Hill neighbourhood. There were a number of clashes. Earlier, some protesters broke through a fence where a child detention centre was being built and set fire to a cabin. Police said they were also investigating “possible explosive” damage to the walls of one of its buildings.
Though the arrests were made by Seattle Police Department (SDP), demonstrators were protesting the dispatch to cities including Chicago, Portland and Seattle, of federal law enforcement officers.
Read more:
Activists in Seattle have condemned Donald Trump’s decision to send federal agents to the city, after dozens of demonstrators were arrested while protesting the president’s actions, writes The Independent's chief US correspondent Andrew Buncombe.
On Saturday more than 40 people were detained and two dozen police officers reportedly injured, after law enforcement broke up a large and largely peaceful protest in the city’s Capitol Hill neighbourhood. There were a number of clashes. Earlier, some protesters broke through a fence where a child detention centre was being built and set fire to a cabin. Police said they were also investigating “possible explosive” damage to the walls of one of its buildings.
Though the arrests were made by Seattle Police Department (SDP), demonstrators were protesting the dispatch to cities including Chicago, Portland and Seattle, of federal law enforcement officers.
Read more:
Donald Trump late on Sunday afternoon broke the news he would no longer throw the opening pitch for the New York Yankees because of his "strong focus" on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The claimed reason for cancelling the event was met with scepticism by many as the tweet came amid yet another weekend at one of his golf clubs.
Another factor might be the fact that, since the restart of the season amid the coronavirus pandemic, teams have routinely been taking a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign for racial justice – something Mr Trump has spent years criticising.
Read more:
The claimed reason for cancelling the event was met with scepticism by many as the tweet came amid yet another weekend at one of his golf clubs.
Another factor might be the fact that, since the restart of the season amid the coronavirus pandemic, teams have routinely been taking a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign for racial justice – something Mr Trump has spent years criticising.
Following Donald Trump's disastrous interview with Chris Wallace a week ago, the Fox News host reveals the Biden campaign has declined the opportunity for its candidate to be interviewed.
Mr Trump, who is very keen on Mr Biden receiving a similar grilling, shared this tweet on Sunday.
Mr Trump, who is very keen on Mr Biden receiving a similar grilling, shared this tweet on Sunday.
Eight in 10 Americans think country is headed in wrong direction, a Trump era record
More Americans are pessimistic about the direction of their country than at any point during Donald Trump's presidency, as the nation continues to struggle with the coronavirus, protests against police brutality that have at times turned violent, and a venomous presidential election that has exposed deep political divides.
Roughly eight in 10 Americans say the country is going in the wrong direction, according to a new poll from the Associated Press and the NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research.
Just 38 per cent of those polled said the state of the national economy is good, down nearly half from 67 per cent in January, before Covid-19 was known to have reached US shores.
Read more:
More Americans are pessimistic about the direction of their country than at any point during Donald Trump's presidency, as the nation continues to struggle with the coronavirus, protests against police brutality that have at times turned violent, and a venomous presidential election that has exposed deep political divides.
Roughly eight in 10 Americans say the country is going in the wrong direction, according to a new poll from the Associated Press and the NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research.
Just 38 per cent of those polled said the state of the national economy is good, down nearly half from 67 per cent in January, before Covid-19 was known to have reached US shores.
Read more:
Donald Trump on Sunday also escalated his false claim the 2020 election will be "rigged" due to mail-in ballots. It comes just days after he refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election should he lose, and amid polling showing the US president trails Joe Biden in virtually every swing state.
Mr Trump cited a recent special election in Paterson, New Jersey, which did see some alleged fraud. But there is no evidence 20 per cent of the vote "was corrupted". Though 19 per cent of ballots, which were all mail-in, were rejected, it is not clear how many were related to fraud. Many ballots are rejected for other reasons.
Mr Trump cited a recent special election in Paterson, New Jersey, which did see some alleged fraud. But there is no evidence 20 per cent of the vote "was corrupted". Though 19 per cent of ballots, which were all mail-in, were rejected, it is not clear how many were related to fraud. Many ballots are rejected for other reasons.
Trump's 'culture war' is wildcard 100 days from election despite plummeting poll numbers
Donald Trump has divvied what chips he has left and placed them over just two squares on the roulette board, while Joe Biden casually nurses a drink nearby as his opponent falters with 100 days to go, writes The Independent's Washington bureau chief John T Bennett.
The casino metaphor, while cheeky, captures the current state of the 2020 US presidential election – its high stakes and all. But the president has a potential wildcard up his sleeve, and its suit is camouflage.
Poll after poll shows the incumbent struggling to tread water, with a double-digit deficit to make up nationally while losing key battleground states he won just four years ago. Women and senior voters, who joined his 2016 coalition, continue to flee in droves.
Read more:
Donald Trump has divvied what chips he has left and placed them over just two squares on the roulette board, while Joe Biden casually nurses a drink nearby as his opponent falters with 100 days to go, writes The Independent's Washington bureau chief John T Bennett.
The casino metaphor, while cheeky, captures the current state of the 2020 US presidential election – its high stakes and all. But the president has a potential wildcard up his sleeve, and its suit is camouflage.
Poll after poll shows the incumbent struggling to tread water, with a double-digit deficit to make up nationally while losing key battleground states he won just four years ago. Women and senior voters, who joined his 2016 coalition, continue to flee in droves.
Read more:
Continuing his long Twitter tirade on Sunday, Donald Trump moved onto Portland's "Wall of Moms" - a group of women who have joined the protests in Portland and how stand arm-in-arm between federal officers and younger demonstrators.
Without providing evidence, the US president baselessly claims the women are a "scam" that the media is ignoring.
For more on the "Wall of Moms", read our piece on them from late last week.
Without providing evidence, the US president baselessly claims the women are a "scam" that the media is ignoring.
For more on the "Wall of Moms", read our piece on them from late last week.
Donald Trump last night shared a video which falsely claimed CNN journalist Jake Tapper had misreported on the US government's coronavirus testing regime.
Mr Tapper accurately reported that scientists at Harvard recommending the US conduct 3-5 million tests per day, and that currently America is doing less than a million per day.
Mr Tapper accurately reported that scientists at Harvard recommending the US conduct 3-5 million tests per day, and that currently America is doing less than a million per day.
Jake Tapper has responded to Donald Trump's Twitter attack, is that such events have just become "noise".
"I didn’t even know it happened until 3 hours later," the CNN journalist said.
"I didn’t even know it happened until 3 hours later," the CNN journalist said.
Republican senator calls slavery ‘necessary evil upon which this union was built’
A Republican senator who said the United States was built on slavery has called the practice a “necessary evil”.
Arkansas senator Tom Cotton told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday that slavery "was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction".
Mr Cotton had on Thursday introduced the Saving American History Act to stop a New York Times education initiative on slavery from receiving federal funds.
Read more:
A Republican senator who said the United States was built on slavery has called the practice a “necessary evil”.
Arkansas senator Tom Cotton told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday that slavery "was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction".
Mr Cotton had on Thursday introduced the Saving American History Act to stop a New York Times education initiative on slavery from receiving federal funds.
Read more:
Former national security adviser Susan Rice, a candidate to be Joe Biden's vice-presidential nominee, has trolled Donald Trump over his decision to pull out of throwing the ceremonial pitch for the New York Yankees.
Mr Trump claimed the decision was because he was too focused on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact he spent another weekend at one of his golf courses. Suspicions remain it could in fact be over the prospect of players taking the knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
Mr Trump claimed the decision was because he was too focused on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact he spent another weekend at one of his golf courses. Suspicions remain it could in fact be over the prospect of players taking the knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
Mixed in with his conspiracy theories and multiple false claims last night, Donald Trump also found time to share some rather more wholesome content on Twitter.
Commenting "Nice!", the US president shared footage of Croatian tennis legend Goran Ivanisevic joking around with a ball girl during the final of the Queen's Club tournament in 1997.
Commenting "Nice!", the US president shared footage of Croatian tennis legend Goran Ivanisevic joking around with a ball girl during the final of the Queen's Club tournament in 1997.
‘What does Ghislaine Maxwell have on Trump,’ asks new attack ad by Lincoln Project
A prominent group of Republicans opposing Donald Trump have released a new advertisement attacking the US president for his support of Ghislaine Maxwell, after the alleged “madam” for paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was arrested earlier this month, writes Chris Riotta.
The Lincoln Project, which was founded by current and former high-profile conservatives such as George Conway, husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, posted the ad to Twitter on Friday with the caption: “What does Ghislaine Maxwell have on @realDonaldTrump?”
It shows Mr Trump berating a number of female journalists – with the ad saying at one point, “This is how Donald Trump speaks to accomplished women” – before flashing to a recent White House press briefing in which the president spoke about his relationship with Ms Maxwell over the years.
Read more:
A prominent group of Republicans opposing Donald Trump have released a new advertisement attacking the US president for his support of Ghislaine Maxwell, after the alleged “madam” for paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was arrested earlier this month, writes Chris Riotta.
The Lincoln Project, which was founded by current and former high-profile conservatives such as George Conway, husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, posted the ad to Twitter on Friday with the caption: “What does Ghislaine Maxwell have on @realDonaldTrump?”
It shows Mr Trump berating a number of female journalists – with the ad saying at one point, “This is how Donald Trump speaks to accomplished women” – before flashing to a recent White House press briefing in which the president spoke about his relationship with Ms Maxwell over the years.
Read more:
Donald Trump shared on Twitter Sunday night footage of a violent mass brawl at the Hard Rock Hotel in Miami.
It is unclear why the US president chose to do so.
“Multiple arrests were made and bans issued in connection with the fight. Behaviour like that will not be tolerated,” Gary Bitner, of the Seminole Tribe Police, has said of the incident.
It is unclear why the US president chose to do so.
“Multiple arrests were made and bans issued in connection with the fight. Behaviour like that will not be tolerated,” Gary Bitner, of the Seminole Tribe Police, has said of the incident.
Germany rejects Trump proposal to allow Russia back into G7
Germany has rejected a proposal by US president Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the G7, German foreign minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview published on Monday.
Mr Trump raised the prospect last month of expanding the G7 to again include Russia, which had been expelled in 2014 following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.
But Mr Maas told the Rheinische Post that he did not see any chance for allowing Russia back into the G7 as long as there was no meaningful progress in solving the conflict in Crimea as well as in eastern Ukraine.
Russia itself could make the biggest contribution to becoming part of the G7 format again by contributing to a peaceful solution in the Ukraine conflict, Mr Maas said.
Russia is still part of the G20, a broader grouping including other emerging-market economies.
“G7 and G20 are two sensibly coordinated formats. We don't need G11 or G12 anymore,” Mr Maas said in reference to Mr Trump's proposal to invite not only Russia, but other countries to G7 meetings.
Mr Maas described the relationship with Russia as “currently difficult” in many areas.
Reuters
Germany has rejected a proposal by US president Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the G7, German foreign minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview published on Monday.
Mr Trump raised the prospect last month of expanding the G7 to again include Russia, which had been expelled in 2014 following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.
But Mr Maas told the Rheinische Post that he did not see any chance for allowing Russia back into the G7 as long as there was no meaningful progress in solving the conflict in Crimea as well as in eastern Ukraine.
Russia itself could make the biggest contribution to becoming part of the G7 format again by contributing to a peaceful solution in the Ukraine conflict, Mr Maas said.
Russia is still part of the G20, a broader grouping including other emerging-market economies.
“G7 and G20 are two sensibly coordinated formats. We don't need G11 or G12 anymore,” Mr Maas said in reference to Mr Trump's proposal to invite not only Russia, but other countries to G7 meetings.
Mr Maas described the relationship with Russia as “currently difficult” in many areas.
Reuters
