Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Urbana, Illinois, U.S., September 7
Former President Barack Obama launched an opening campaign salvo against incumbent President Donald Trump Friday, saying Trump is "the symptom, not the cause" of divisions plaguing the U.S.
Obama told an audience of more than a thousand students at the University of Illinois his successor is "just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years."
"What’s gonna fix our democracy is you," he said.
Obama is seeking to rally support for Democrats as Americans prepare to head to the voting booth Nov. 6 in elections that will see one-third of Senate seats up for grabs, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives. Republicans currently control both chambers, but have a narrow hold on the Senate.
Trump, too, has been working to shore up support for his party as the polls approach, holding campaign-style rallies for Republicans running for office, regularly touting the U.S.'s surging economy.
But Obama pointed to his own role in bringing the U.S. out of one of the worst economic recessions it has experienced, saying "let's just remember when this recovery started."
The comments drew a rebuke from Trump who told his own rally in Fargo, North Dakota, "Obama was trying to take credit for this incredible thing that’s happening."
“I have to say this to President Obama: if the Dems got in with their agenda in November of almost 2 years ago, instead of having 4.2 up, i believe honestly we’d have 4.2 down," Trump said, referring to the U.S.'s economic growth.
Obama also took aim at the Republican Party directly saying "the politics of resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home" in the party.
"What happened to the Republican Party?" he asked rhetorically.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday a possible shutdown of the U.S. government over border wall funding "most likely" would not happen until after the November congressional elections.In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he had been persuaded that closing the government would hurt his fellow Republican candidates.Trump has repeatedly threatened to shut down the government when funding runs out on Sept. 30 if the U.S. Congress does not include enough money for a wall on the border with Mexico.He walked back that threat in the interview, which was conducted prior to a Montana rally and will be broadcast on Friday."Most likely I will not do that. But we are going to do it immediately after the election," Trump said."If it were up to me I would shut down the government over border security," he said. "But I don't want to do anything that is going to hurt us or potentially hurt us because I've got a feeling that Republicans are going to do really well in the midterms."Republican control of the House of Representatives and Senate is at stake in the Nov. 6 elections, which are seen as a referendum on Trump.He campaigned heavily on a promise to build a wall that would be paid for by Mexico, which it has refused to do. Trump has subsequently turned to Congress to seek $25 billion for the project, along with other immigration demands.Trump and U.S. lawmakers averted a government shutdown in March after passing a massive $1.3 trillion spending bill to fund the government through Sept. 30.Trump admin seeks to detain migrant children longer
Trump says government shutdown not likely before November election
The Donald Trump administration proposed a new rule Thursday seeking to allow immigrant children to be held indefinitely while their parents are subject to legal proceedings.The new rule by the Departments of Homeland Security Health and Human Services would lift court-imposed regulations on how long immigrant children can be kept in custody, enshrined in the Flores Agreement.The 1997 settlement restricted the amount of time a migrant child can be held in detention to 20 days.The new regulations are set to be published Friday in the Federal Register and would go into effect 60 days thereafter.Children had been released with their parents under prior practice, which U.S. President Donald Trump has pejoratively called "catch and release." His administration tried to circumvent the rule earlier this year by separating the parents from their children and placing them in the care of Health and Human Services."Today, legal loopholes significantly hinder the Department’s ability to appropriately detain and promptly remove family units that have no legal basis to remain in the country,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement.Health and Human Services Alex Azar separately said the new rule "would implement the Flores Settlement Agreement and our duties under the law to protect the safety and dignity of unaccompanied alien children in our custody." The administration's new proposal to hold children along with their parents in Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities for as long as it takes to settle their case is certain to spark a legal challenge from rights groups that could go all the way to the Supreme Court.A previous attempt by the Trump administration to undo the Flores Agreement's 20-day cap was met with legal defeat in early July.U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee said in her ruling that the administration's reasoning was "tortured" and a "cynical attempt" to shift immigration enforcement duties to the judiciary."Defendants seek to light a match to the Flores Agreement and ask this Court to upend the parties’ agreement by judicial fiat," Gee, who oversees the Flores Agreement's implementation, wrote in her decision.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has been at the forefront of many of the legal challenges to the administration's immigration policies, slammed the new rule."It is sickening to see the United States government looking for ways to jail more children for longer," said Omar Jadwat, the director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project."That’s the complete opposite of what we should be doing — and it’s yet another example of the Trump administration’s hostility toward immigrants resulting in a policy incompatible with the most basic human values," he added.Senior Trump official describes resistance inside administration: NY Times Op-EdWorries over Trump shoot to top of German fear rankingTrump denies claim he sought Assad's assassinationTrump rips Nike for Kaepernick ad campaign
Trump admin seeks to detain migrant children longer
Many senior officials in President Donald Trump's administration have been working from within to frustrate parts of his agenda to protect the country from his worst impulses, an anonymous Trump official wrote in the New York Times on Wednesday.In the column, the official described "early whispers" among members of Trump's Cabinet to take steps to remove him as president, but added they decided against it to avoid a constitutional crisis.The official wrote that the root of the problem was that Trump is amoral and not moored to any discernible principles that guide his decision-making."It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room," the author wrote.Pompeo says did not author New York Times 'resistance' columnAsked about the column during a White House event, Trump called it a "gutless editorial," bashed the New York Times as "failing," and ticked off economic achievements that he said were proof of his leadership.Staring into the cameras, he said: "Nobody is going to come close to beating me in 2020 because of what we've done."The Republican president later fired off a one-word message on Twitter: "TREASON?"In another tweet, he said: "If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!"Trump thanks N.Korea's Kim, says 'we will get it done together'Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a visit to India, said he was not the author of the memo."I come from a place where if you’re not in a position to execute the commander’s intent, you have a singular option, that is to leave," he told reporters at an impromptu briefing at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi."And this person instead, according to the New York Times, chose not only to stay but to undermine what President Trump and this administration are trying to do."The Times took what it called the rare step of publishing an opinion column by the official under an agreement to keep the author's name secret. It said the senior administration official's job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.The article further fueled accusations by critics that Trump was unstable and unfit for the presidency, and seemed likely to resurrect talk among some Democrats about potentially impeaching the president should they take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November elections.Worries over Trump shoot to top of German fear ranking25TH AMENDMENTThere was an immediate guessing game in Washington about who wrote the article and whether it came from someone within the White House or in another government agency.The opinion piece followed publication on Tuesday of the first excerpts from a book by famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward describing chaos in the White House.Woodward reported that Defense Secretary James Mattis rejected a recommendation from Trump for the U.S. military to kill Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to excerpts published by the Washington Post.Mattis dismissed the book as "a uniquely Washington brand of literature," and Trump has called it "total fiction."Trump denies claim he sought Assad's assassinationIn the Times piece, the official wrote: "Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the Cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president."But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over," the author added.Under the 25th Amendment, adopted in 1967, the vice president and a majority of either Cabinet officials or "such other body as Congress may by law provide" may declare in writing that the president "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."Trump rips Nike for Kaepernick ad campaignIt has never been used to strip a president from power and would be a complicated process."We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous," the writer said. "But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic."
Senior Trump official describes resistance inside administration: NY Times Op-Ed
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied claims in a forthcoming book that he sought the assassination of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and his top officials after a deadly chemical attack.During a brief photo opportunity with Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Trump said the proposal was "never even discussed" after details of Bob Woodward's "Fear: Trump in the White House" were published Tuesday by The Washington Post."That was never even contemplated, nor would it be contemplated and should not have been written about in the book. It's just more fiction," said Trump.Woodward, the longtime Post investigative journalist, reported that following an April 2017 chemical attack blamed on the Syrian regime, Trump called on Defense Secretary James Mattis to come up with plans to kill Assad and his top cadre."Let’s f***ing kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the f***ing lot of them,” Trump said, according to Woodward.New book alleges chaos in Trump White HouseAssad regime shells Syria's IdlibMattis told him he would quickly draw up the plans but then told a senior aide: "We’re not going to do any of that. We’re going to be much more measured."Mattis later issued a statement disputing the book as "a product of someone's rich imagination".Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Woodward's book, which is set to be released next week, suggesting in a series of tweets Wednesday that the U.S. should change its laws to make it easier to sue for libel."Isn’t it a shame that someone can write an article or book, totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or cost," he said. "Don’t know why Washington politicians don’t change libel laws?"Top US general warns against major assault on Syria's IdlibBut the book appears to be corroborated at least in part by an anonymous New York Times op-ed in which the author, who is described as a senior Trump administration official, acknowledges that he or she is part of a group "working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations".The author was referring to Trump."We believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic," the official wrote. "That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office."The Times kept the official's identity anonymous but said it knows who he or she is.The White House sharply criticized the Op-Ed, saying the author “has chosen to deceive, rather than support”.“He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people. This coward should do the right thing and resign,” spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.Amid a looming offensive on the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, Trump warned during his meeting with al-Sabah that the regime, Iran and Russia "will hopefully be very, very judicious and careful. Because the world is watching. That cannot be a slaughter"."If it's a slaughter, the world will get very, very angry and the United States will get very angry too," he said.
Trump denies claim he sought Assad's assassination
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed sports apparel giant Nike for its decision to include former National Football League (NFL) quarterback Colin Kaepernick in a recent ad campaign."Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts," Trump said on Twitter. "I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way?"Nike has been the focus of protests for some after it chose to include Kaepernick in its "Just Do It" campaign. Those who have taken issue with the decision posted videos on the Internet of them burning Nike shoes and other apparel. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has been at the center of player protests seeking to draw attention to injustices experienced by the black community in the U.S.Kaepernick has not played since the 2016 season when he began the protests, which typically include players taking a knee during the National Anthem.Nike's advertisement includes a black and white portrait of Kaepernick with a prominently displayed caption reading: "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything."Trump has been a vocal critic of the player protests, but offered a relatively nuanced take Tuesday telling the conservative Daily Caller news website that while he thinks "it’s a terrible message" for Nike to be including Kaepernick "it is what this country is all about.""You have certain freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn’t do, but I personally am on a different side of it," he said.Nike is the NFL's exclusive apparel provider through 2028, and after posting a modest loss Tuesday on Wall Street, the company is in positive territory on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Trump rips Nike for Kaepernick ad campaign