WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he will hold a news conference on the coronavirus at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) on Wednesday, as infections surge globally and U.S. health officials urge Americans to prepare for it to spread in the United States.
(Reporting by Makini Brice and Susan Heavey; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) – Julian Assange tried to contact Hillary Clinton and the White House when he realized that unredacted U.S. diplomatic cables given to WikiLeaks were about to be dumped on the internet, his lawyer told his London extradition hearing on Tuesday.
Assange is being sought by the United States on 18 counts of hacking U.S. government computers and an espionage offense, having allegedly conspired with Chelsea Manning, then a U.S. soldier known as Bradley Manning, to leak hundreds of thousands of secret documents by WikiLeaks almost a decade ago.
On Monday, the lawyer representing the United States told the hearing that Assange, 48, was wanted for crimes that had endangered people in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan who had helped the West, some of whom later disappeared.
U.S. authorities say his actions in recklessly publishing unredacted classified diplomatic cables put informants, dissidents, journalists and human rights activists at risk of torture, abuse or death.
Outlining part of his defense, Assange’s lawyer Mark Summers said allegations that he had helped Manning to break a government password, had encouraged the theft of secret data and knowingly put lives in danger were “lies, lies and more lies”.
He told London’s Woolwich Crown Court that WikiLeaks had received documents from Manning in April 2010. He then made a deal with a number of newspapers, including the New York Times, Britain’s Guardian and Germany’s Der Spiegel, to begin releasing redacted parts of the 250,000 cables in November that year.
A witness from Der Spiegel said the U.S. State Department had been involved in suggesting redactions in conference calls, Summers said.
However, a password that allowed access to the full unredacted material was published in a book by a Guardian reporter about WikiLeaks in February 2011. In August, another German newspaper reported it had discovered the password and it had access to the archive.
PEOPLE’S LIVES “AT RISK”
Summers said Assange attempted to warn the U.S. government, calling the White House and attempting to speak to then- Secretary of State Clinton, saying “unless we do something, people’s lives are put at risk”.
Summers said the State Department had responded by suggesting that Assange call back “in a couple of hours”.
The United States asked Britain to extradite Assange last year after he was pulled from the Ecuador embassy in London, where he had spent seven years holed up avoiding extradition to Sweden over sex crime allegations which have since been dropped.
Assange has served a prison sentence in Britain for skipping bail and remains jailed pending the U.S. extradition request
Supporters hail Assange as an anti-establishment hero who revealed governments’ abuses of power, and argue the action against him is a dangerous infringement of journalists’ rights. Critics cast him as a dangerous enemy of the state who has undermined Western security.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Gareth Jones)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is eyeing a series of staff changes days after securing an acquittal in his impeachment trial, including ousting a national security official who testified against him and replacing his acting chief of staff, a source familiar with the situation and media reports said on Friday.
Trump emerged victorious this week with a near party-line vote in the Senate, controlled by his fellow Republicans who rejected abuse of power and obstruction of justice charges from the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
But the president, whose term has been clouded by a series of investigations – first into Russian interference in the 2016 election and then the impeachment inquiry over his handling of Ukraine – has said he is still bitter about the ordeal as he turns his attention to the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the White House National Security Council’s (NSC’s) top Ukraine expert who testified in lawmakers’ impeachment inquiry, will be reassigned to the Defense Department, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Bloomberg News first reported the planned White House removal of Vindman, citing two people familiar with the matter who said the move would be cast as part of a larger NSC downsizing. Three other people familiar with the matter, however, told Bloomberg some reassignments were because of perceived disloyalty.
The Washington Post, which also reported Vindman’s possible move, said Trump has also discussed removing other national security officials who cooperated with House Democrats’ investigations, though no final decisions have been made, citing unnamed people familiar with his comments.
Another senior white House aide who testified over impeachment, Jennifer Williams, left earlier this week for a post at the U.S. Central Command, according to Bloomberg News.
Trump has cast both Vindman and Williams as “Never Trumpers” who oppose him.
CNN reported Trump was weighing a permanent chief of staff to replace his acting aide Mick Mulvaney, who was a central figure in the impeachment inquiry over Trump’s efforts to pressure ally Ukraine to investigate Democrats and withhold military aid for Kiev.
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere, asked about the reports, confirmed his statement to CNN: “We have no personnel announcements at this time.”
In two speeches on Thursday, Trump took aim at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow House Democrats as well as Republican Senator Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee and the only Republican senator to back an impeachment charge.
“So many people have been hurt, and we can’t let that go on,” Trump told the typically bipartisan National Prayer Breakfast, attended by Pelosi. “When they impeach you for nothing, then you’re supposed to like them, it’s not easy, folks,” he said.
At a White House celebratory event with his legal team and congressional supporters, Trump on Thursday also called out former FBI Director James Comey, House Democrats’ lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff, and his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, though he stopped short of announcing any specific actions to be taken against anyone.
White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham had told Fox News that Trump was considering “just how horribly he was treated and that maybe people should pay for that.”
Separately, two Trump aides brought in to the White House to help with the impeachment proceedings, Tony Sayegh and Pam Bondi, were leaving following the Senate’s acquittal on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Heavey; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Howard Goller)
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With the impeachment drive against him ebbing, U.S. President Donald Trump will face his Democratic accusers on Tuesday night at a State of the Union speech where he is expected to push his case for another four years in office.
Trump, a Republican, may be tempted to lash out at the Democratic critics seated before him in the U.S. House of Representatives, seeing it as a chance for payback against those who sought to oust him through what he calls a “witch hunt.”
Some of his aides and allies, however, are pressing for him to avoid a confrontation.
The Republican-led Senate is almost certain to end the impeachment drive on Wednesday with a vote to acquit him. His speech, which starts at 9 p.m. ET (0200 GMT) on Tuesday, affords Trump the opportunity to advance his message for what is likely to be a hard-fought battle for re-election on Nov. 3.
Aides say there has been an internal debate inside the White House over whether he should even bring up impeachment in his speech.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose fellow Democrats charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of justice over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his Democratic opponents, told the New York Times they would treat him “as a guest … and we hope he will behave as a guest.”
But, she added: “I think the spotlight that is on him will be very hot for him to handle.”
A senior administration official said on Monday night that Trump was not expected to delve deeply into the issue, if at all, but acknowledged that this could always change.
Trump himself has said he plans an upbeat speech offering an optimistic vision at a time when Washington – and the rest of the country – is polarized over his leadership.
“We’re really looking to giving a very, very positive message,” Trump told reporters during a Super Bowl party at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican and strong Trump supporter, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday that Trump would help himself by taking the high road.
“I hope he will smother people with the milk of human kindness,” Roberts said.
Asked if Trump could turn impeachment to his advantage by being gracious about it going forward, Roberts said, “Could. Some of us have urged that.”
The theme of Trump’s speech is “The Great American Comeback.” He plans to highlight the strength of the U.S. economy and achievements to support it like a China trade deal and another trade pact with Mexico and Canada.
Trump is also expected to offer to work with his political opponents on issues like reducing healthcare costs and drug prices and rebuilding infrastructure, officials said.
But with the two parties immersed in election-year politicking, no major legislative action is expected this year.
Trump is expected to contrast his vision for healthcare with the plans advanced by his Democratic rivals, a reference to left-leaning proposals by two of the Democratic presidential candidates he frequently attacks, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
He is also expected to promote his efforts to limit migrants from crossing the southern U.S. border, and will bring two relatives of a man who was killed by an undocumented immigrant as guests to the speech, White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told Fox News in an interview on Tuesday morning.
Trump will also highlight national security moves such as his decision to kill Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani with a U.S. drone strike.
Still, the president held out little hope for bipartisan cooperation this year in the wake of the impeachment fight, saying he doubted Democrats would want to work with him.
“I’m not sure that they can do it, to be honest,” Trump told the Fox network in a Super Bowl Sunday interview.
Pelosi, who will be seated behind Trump when he addresses Congress, told the Times in her interview Monday that she had not spoken to Trump since October.
The State of the Union speech is attended by Democratic and Republican lawmakers from both the House and the Senate as well as such VIP guests as Cabinet secretaries and Supreme Court justices. The television audience for last year’s speech was estimated at 47 million people.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Jeff Mason; Editing by Howard Goller)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his election rival Benny Gantz to Washington next week to discuss the White House Middle East peace plan, Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday.
“President Trump asked me to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu to come to the White House next week to discuss regional issues as well as the prospect of peace here in the Holy Land,” Pence said after meeting Netanyahu at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
There was no mention of the Palestinians, and Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said: “We warn Israel and the U.S. administration not to cross any red lines.”
Netanyahu said he had accepted the U.S. invitation. His office said he would fly to the United States on Sunday.
The veteran right-wing Israeli leader faces political and legal troubles at home – he is heading for his third election in less than a year, and he was indicted on criminal charges in November. He denies any wrongdoing.
Israeli political analysts viewed Trump’s invitation as a boost to his right-wing ally.
Netanyahu’s principal domestic political rival Gantz, a centrist former general, this week lifted his objection to having the peace plan be published before Israel’s March election. He had previously objected to it as interference in the vote.
LONG-DELAYED PLAN
The launch of Trump’s plan to end the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been delayed numerous times since it was first mooted more than two years ago.
Prospects for a breakthrough appear dim and details of the plan have been kept under wraps. But a source familiar with the situation said U.S. officials would “most likely” share some details of the plan with Netanyahu and Gantz.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014 and Palestinians have called Trump’s proposal dead in the water, even before its publication, citing what they see as his pro-Israel policies.
The Trump administration has reversed decades of U.S. policy on the conflict, refraining from endorsing the “two-state solution” – the longtime international formula which envisages a Palestinian state co-existing with Israel.
It has also recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved its embassy there. More recently, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in November that the United States no longer viewed Israel’s settlements on West Bank land as “inconsistent with international law”.
Palestinians and most of the international community view the settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical, biblical and political ties to the land, as well as security needs.
Netanyahu announced during an election campaign last September that he intends to annex the Jordan Valley, a large swathe of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war and Palestinians, who signed interim peace deals with Israel in the 1990s, seek to make the area part of a future state.
Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, has publicly refused to engage politically with the Trump administration.
They fear the plan will dash their hopes for an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Trump, who will seek a second term in a Nov. 3 U.S. election, faces his own problems at home with Democrats seeking to oust the Republican president on impeachment charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Additional reporting by Dan Williams, Ali Sawafta in Bethlehem, and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Stephen Farrell and Howard Goller)
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate, rushing to meet a looming deadline, approved and sent to President Donald Trump a $1.4 trillion package of fiscal 2020 spending bills that would end prospects of government shutdowns at week’s end when temporary funding expires.
By strong bipartisan margins and with White House backing, the Senate passed the two gigantic funding bills for government programs through Sept. 30.
Trump is expected to sign both bills into law before a midnight Friday deadline.
Notably, the Pentagon would get $738 billion for military activities – $22 billion more than last year.
Investments in domestic programs range from child nutrition and college grants to research on gun violence for the first time in decades and money for affordable housing programs that Trump had opposed.
The legislation also contains a series of new initiatives, including funding for Trump’s military Space Force, raising the age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 from the current 18, and repealing some taxes that were intended to fund the Affordable Care Act health insurance, popularly known as Obamacare.
About a year ago, the U.S. government plunged into a record-long, 35-day partial shutdown after Congress refused to give Trump the money he wanted to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall – one that he previously had insisted Mexico would finance.
This time around, money for border security would stay level at $1.37 billion, far below what Trump had sought.
Earlier this year, angered by Congress’ refusal to give him the wall money, Trump declared an “emergency” and took funds from other accounts appropriated by Congress and used them to build part of the border wall that was a central promise of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Congressional and White House negotiators reached a deal on the spending bills to avert government shutdowns just days before Washington plunged into a different kind of political crisis: the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approving articles of impeachment against Trump, a Republican.
With Democrats and Republicans trying to demonstrate that they can get at least some legislative work done amid Trump’s impeachment, the administration and Democrats also worked out differences over a U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, making for a flurry of pre-Christmas break action in Washington.
The $1.4 trillion in spending for so-called “discretionary” programs, up from $1.36 trillion last year, is separate from “mandatory” programs like Social Security retirement benefits, which are automatically funded.
The higher spending, coupled with tax cuts enacted in 2017, are contributing to widening budget deficits. The government spent $984 billion more than it took in during the last fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects annual budget deficits averaging $1.2 trillion over the next decade.
A rapidly-rising U.S. national debt now stands at $23.1 trillion, a level that some experts fear could eventually hobble the economy.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Steve Orlofsky and Dan Grebler)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump supports massive U.S. government spending plans hammered out by Congress this week and plans to sign the $1.4 trillion budget bill into law, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Tuesday.
“He’s very happy with what he’s learned the final contents are expected to be in the spending bill, and he’s pleased to sign it,” Conway told reporters at the White House.
The Republican president’s signature would avert a partial shutdown of the federal government when funds run out on Saturday and avoid a messy, year-end budget battle with U.S. lawmakers that would interrupt government services.
But it would continue Washington’s cycle of last-minute massive omnibus spending bills that are only agreed upon when critical deadlines loom instead of appropriating funds ahead of time on a regular schedule.
Congress must still pass the legislation, which was put together during weeks of negotiations between leading lawmakers and the Trump administration and would fund government programs through Sept. 30, 2020.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Makini Brice; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by John Stonestreet and Jonathan Oatis)
By Ginger Gibson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump will address the two impeachment charges brought by Democrats on Tuesday during the U.S. Senate trial phase of the proceedings – continuing to opt not to argue the merits of the charges ahead of an expected vote in the U.S. House, the White House said.
“The President will address these false charges in the Senate and expects to be fully exonerated, because he did nothing wrong,” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. The statement did not make clear how he would address the charges.
The White House and Trump’s political apparatus – which include his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee – have opted to attack the impeachment process instead of engaging in a debate about the facts that Democrats have presented.
Calling the process partisan and lacking in fairness, Trump and his allies have sought to paint his Democratic accusers as trying to undo his 2016 election.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives announced formal charges against Trump on Tuesday, accusing him of abusing power by pressuring Ukraine to probe a political rival and obstructing Congress’ investigation into the scandal.
The House could vote as soon as next week. The charges conclude weeks of investigation and hearings, which Trump has derided as one-sided and failing to offer him a fair opportunity to present his side. The White House has refused repeated requests for senior officials to testify and for relevant documents.
The House is almost certain to approve impeachment along partisan lines. A trial would then likely be held in the Senate in January, where members of Trump’s party control the chamber. No Republican in the House or Senate has come out in favor of convicting Trump and thus removing him from office.
Trump and his allies have sought to depict the impeachment process as a net gain for the president – arguing that the Democratic-led effort has pushed his supporters to more staunchly back him. Republicans are also trying to leverage the process to attack House Democrats who represent districts the party may be able to pick up in the 2020 election.
“The announcement of two baseless articles of impeachment does not hurt the President, it hurts the American people, who expect their elected officials to work on their behalf to strengthen our Nation,” Grisham said in a statement.
(Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Lambert)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House and U.S. Capitol were temporarily locked down on Tuesday after an air space violation in the area.
Nearby roads were closed and no one was allowed into the compounds, which were reopened after a short period.
Military fighter jets responded to the incident but the aircraft was deemed not to be a threat. “Plane is not considered hostile at this time,” a Pentagon spokesman said.
Security lockdowns are not uncommon around the White House. The Secret Service had no immediate comment.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Phil Stewart, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he will soon release a plan to let Florida and other states import prescription medicines to combat high drug prices, and he blasted the Democrat-led House for not going far enough in a drug-pricing bill.
“We will soon be putting more options on the table,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets, adding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “and her Do Nothing Democrats drug pricing bill doesn’t do the trick.”
The tweets were similar to comments the president made on Nov. 15 at a White House event with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, among other officials. At that meeting, Trump said he would work with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on a plan to broaden rules on importing pharmaceuticals into this country.
Drug companies have staunchly opposed such a plan, which has been mulled for years but never implemented.
“House Republicans are showing real LEADERSHIP and prepared to enact bipartisan solutions for drug prices. Do Nothing Democrats are playing partisan politics with YOUR drug prices! We are READY to work together if they actually want to get something done!,” the president, who faces impeachment by the Democrat-led House of Representatives, said on Twitter.
U.S. prescription drug costs are the highest in the developed world because most other countries negotiate pricing directly with manufacturers, while drug companies are allowed to set their own prices in the United States.
Lowering healthcare costs for U.S. consumers is expected to be a major issue in the 2020 presidential campaign.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
