Donald Trump has insisted that he is not taking talk ofimpeachmentseriously as he once again claimed he had done nothing wrong in a phone call with the president of Ukraine .
Arriving at the United Nations in New York for a session on religious freedom, Mr Trump said the row over his “perfect” phone call withVolodymyr Zelenskywas a “Democrat witch-hunt”, adding: “They failed with Russia, they failed with recession, they failed with everything, and now they’re bringing this up.” Meanwhile, his personal lawyer, the former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, told Fox Business he could not be “100 per cent sure ”the president didn’t threaten to cut off aid to Ukraine unless the former Soviet country agreed to investigate Joe Biden’s son.
Mr Trump is participating in a series of meetings today with fellow world leaders, including the South Korean president,Moon Jae-in, Egypt’sAbdel Fattah al-Sisi– whom he once reportedly referred to as “my favorite dictator”, and what is described as a “pull aside” with New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern. Meanwhile, the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee will hold a session entitled “Presidential corruption: emoluments and profiting off the presidency”.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
From 15 P € 0. 18 $ 0. 18 USD 0. 27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
The president renews his attack on his Democratic rival Joe Biden, saying “he was very dishonest, what he did”, once again accusing him of threatening to withhold aid from Ukraine unless a prosecutor supposedly investigating his son was fired. Mr Trump again accuses the media of suppressing the story, although it has been widely reported on and largely debunked. The president also once again denies claims that he himself threatened to withhold aid unless Ukraine started an investigation into Biden’s son.
He says he hopes that the press will be able to “see that call “, referring to the phone call to the Ukrainian president that left a US intelligence officer so alarmed that they made a formal complaint. Despite Mr Trump saying he hopes the call will be made public, it is believed that pressure from the White House is preventing it being passed on to Congress.
Donald Trumphas insisted he is not taking the threat ofimpeachment“at all seriously”, after effectively admitting he asked a foreign leader to investigate potential 2020 presidential election rivalJoe Biden.
Asked by a reporter how seriously he was taking the prospect, as he arrived at the United Nations in New York, the president said: “Not at all seriously. “
The claim comes as Democrats in Congress have once again called for impeachment proceedings against the president, and as the White House has pushed back on releasing whistle blower documents related to a call between Mr Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, in which the American leader reportedly pushed his Ukrainian counterpart to reopen an investigation into a gas tycoon with connections to Mr Biden’s son, Hunter.
Visa waivers for Poland are next on the agenda for the US president as he appears with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda.
Mr Trump says: “We’re also doing waivers, the visa waivers for Poland. And that’s in the works and we’re working on the structure right now. You can report back to the people of Poland people and the Polish people in the United States that President Trump got it done and nobody else could, for a long time, as you know. “
Police used a chainsaw to remove multiple climate activists from a sailboat demonstrators pushed into a Washington intersection just north of theWhite Houseas part of a citywide protest called Shut Down DC.
Seeking to pressure US politicians into fighting climate change, the activists blocked major traffic hubs across the nation’s capital on Monday as they sought to draw attention to aUnited Nations Climate Summitthat kicked off this week with leaders from about 60 Countries.
The demonstrators targeted four locations, including Farragut Square in downtown Washington, Columbus Circle, near the Union Station train terminal and Folger Park on Capitol Hill. The climate summit was meanwhile hosted at the UN headquarters in New York City.
Donald Trump, who left the UN’s climate summit after about ten minutes to lead a religious freedom conference, has rolled back Obama -era rules on emission cuts and wants to maximise US energy output.
Story to come …
Mr Trump has said he should receive a Nobel prize in recognition of his many accomplishments. After offering to arbitrate between Pakistan and India over the disputed Kashmir region, a reporter told him that he would deserve the peace prize if he managed to find a resolution.
The president, who has spoken before of his wish to receive the prestigious award, said: “I think I’m going to get a Nobel prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t. They gave one to Obama immediately upon his ascent to the presidency, and he had no idea why he got it. And you know what? That was the only thing I agreed with him on. “
Appearing with the Pakistani prime minister, Imran Khan, Mr Trump boasted about his skills as an arbitrator, saying he had been asked to arbitrate some “pretty big ones” by “friends”. He also said he had many Pakistani friends in New York, adding: “They’re smart.”
Correction: We said earlier that Mr Trump was meeting the Pakistan president, Arif Alvi, rather than the prime Minister, Imran Khan.******
Greta Thunberg was spotted giving Donald Trump some seriously deadly stares at the United Nations climate summit. Story to come, but for now, here’s a picture:
California Senator and 2020 hopeful Kamala Harris has called for impeachment proceedings to immediately begin against Donald Trump, putting it rather simply after the latest batch of White House controversies: “He’s gotta go . ”
Here’s my story on Democrats like Adam Schiff – who may be the deciding factor in whether the House begins impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump – seemingly moving closer to supporting the move after the president’s latest scandal –
The House Intelligence Committee chairman said Congress may need to move forward with the “extraordinary remedy” of impeachment againstDonald Trumpas Democrats on Capitol Hill faceincreased pressureto launch formal proceedings against the president.
Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, described new allegations against Mr Trump as potentially the “most profound violation of the presidential oath of office ”after it was reported last week the president repeatedly urged Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyin a phone call earlier this year to launch an investigation into the son of his potential 2020 opponent,Joe Biden.
“There is no privilege that covers corruption,” Mr Schiff said in an interview on Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper, while calling for the release of a whistle-blower complaint which reportedly focused on that phone call, as well as a transcript of the conversation between the two presidents.
Story to come …
Donald Trump shrugged off questions from reporters about the new efforts on Capitol Hill to possibly begin impeachment proceedings against him in the wake of his Ukrainian scandal –
The president has claimed protecting religious freedoms in one of his “highest priority and always has been” after skipping out on a major climate summit at the United Nations –
Earlier Mr Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox Business that he could not be “100 per cent sure “that the president did not threaten to cut off aid to Ukraine unless it promised to investigate the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
Mr Giuliani’s often confusing TV interviews in support of his boss have not always appeared to add a great deal of credibility to Mr Trump’s accusations. Some observers have wondered why, if the US government really did believe the Bidens were involved in overseas corruption, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer would be the best person to send to Ukraine to investigate.
President Trump has made an unscheduled appearance at the climate change summit at the United Nations. The White House had previously said he would be too busy leading a session on religious freedom, which is also happening this morning, to be able to attend. He has long denied the science behind climate change, once famously claiming that it was a Chinese hoax.
Asked how seriously he was taking the prospect of impeachment, he said: “Not at all seriously. We had a perfect phone call with the president of Ukraine. Everybody knows it, it’s just a Democrat witch-hunt, here we go again. They failed with Russia, they failed with recession, they failed with everything, and now they’re bringing this up. “
Politico has suggested otherwise, claiming that the White House and justice department have up to 30 lawyers trying to find ways to avoid impeachment before it begins in earnest.
Arriving at the United Nations just now President Trump once again insisted he had done nothing wrong and claimed he was not taking talk about impeachment seriously.
Earlier this month it was reported that a top CIA spy inside the Kremlin had had to be exfiltrated for his own safety. The official had apparently been instrumental in tying Vladimir Putin to efforts to Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election – but his handlers had feared he could be exposed and removed him.
Now Russia has for the first time officially acknowledged that they are looking for a “missing” official who they believe to have been a CIA informant. Oleg Smolenkov disappeared with his family while on holiday in Montenegro and is believed to now be living in the United States. Adam Forresthas the full story:
The Indian prime minister’s apparent endorsement of President Trump’s 2020 re-election bid has not gone down well in his home country.
Narendra Modi appeared with Mr Trump at a rally in Houston, Texas, yesterday which attracted tens of thousands of Indian-Americans. At the “Howdy Modi” event, he said: “In the words of candidate Trump:Abki baar Trump sarkar(This time, [a] Trump government). ”Back in India, he has faced a storm of criticism for getting involved in US politics.Adam Withnallin Delhi has the full story:
There has also been a robbery atTrump Towerin New York.
Police are looking into the theft of $ 353, 000 (£ 283, 600) worth of jewelery from two apartments.
Here’s our full story:
What have the Ukrainians been saying about the scandal?
Well, leaderVolodymyr Zelenskyhas defended his country relationship with the US and said he is “Sure we will have a meeting in the White House” soon.
He is also particularly pleased with the millions of dollars the US is giving in them in military aid packages.
Our Defense and Diplomatic Editor Kim Sengupta has the story from Kiev.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings