U.S. President Donald Trump
With just four days until millions of Americans head to polling stations across the U.S., President Donald Trump is on a mission.
Trump is set to continue a campaign blitz in battleground states pivotal to Republican success in the U.S. midterm elections that will see him embark on trips to Montana and Florida on Saturday and Georgia and Tennessee on Sunday.
The intense electoral push will be capped on the eve of the Nov. 6 polls when Trump will visit three states in one day – Ohio, Indiana and Missouri – in a sign of how important these races are for a president seeking to fulfill his legislative agenda with just two years left on his first, and possibly sole, term.
The president’s travel schedule is based on internal White House planning first made public by Bloomberg and is subject to change. But parts of the schedule that have already come to pass have squared with the president’s visits.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister on Wednesday headed to the U.S. for high level talks with officials, diplomatic sources said Friday.Sedat Onal continues meetings with the U.S. officials, particularly with the U.S. State Department, on the bilateral relations and regional issues, especially Syria, said the Turkish sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday discussed bilateral issues, including the latest developments in Syria -- including Manbij and Idlib -- in a phone call.Turkey's Erdoğan, Trump talk bilateral, regional issuesThe phone call came after Turkish and U.S. troops began their first round of joint patrols in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, as part of a deal to rid the area of the YPG/PKK terrorist group.The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize the region, which is in the northeast of northern Syria's Aleppo province. In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including those of women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.
Turkish deputy foreign minister in US for talks
Republicans currently hold a razor-thin one-seat majority in the Senate, and while their hold on the House of Representatives is far firmer, it is most threatened in that chamber. The party and the president can ill-afford to lose either part of the bicameral legislature.
Every House member’s seat will be up for grabs in this fall's elections, as will just over one-third of Senate seats.
Whether Trump will prove to be a boon or an albatross for the Republicans is unclear amid predictions of a possible blue wave, or massive legislative inroads for the Democratic Party.
Democrats are seeking to seize on discontent that has fomented among some segments of American society following Trump’s successful 2016 White House bid, particularly those who take issue with his personal life, controversial policies -- notably his hardline immigration crackdown and efforts to roll back the U.S.’s universal healthcare law -- and unorthodox approach to the American presidency.
Turkish National Defense Ministry on Friday shared a footage of the first round of the joint Turkey-US joint patrols in northern Syrian town of Manbij.The ministry on Thursday said in a statement that Turkish and U.S. armed forces continue their activities in Manbij within the framework of Manbij roadmap and security principles."Based on mutually conducted planning, coordination and joint training activities, combined joint patrols started today [Thursday] as of 3:53 p.m. [1353GMT]," it added.Video: First footage of joint Turkish, US patrols in Syria’s ManbijThe ministry also said combined joint patrols will continue "until the endstate agreed in Manbij roadmap is reached".The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize the region, which is in the northeast of northern Syria's Aleppo province.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including those of women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.Police nab 3 PKK terrorists plotting attacks in big cities across Turkey
Ankara shares footage on joint Turkey-US patrols in Manbij
With less than a week until Americans cast their ballots, the Pew Research Center found that wide segments of both Republican partisans – 73 percent – and their Democratic counterparts – 77 percent – say which party controls Congress is a factor in how they vote.
Each group of partisans expects their party to control the House of Representatives following the midterms, with 77 percent of Democrats saying they expect their party will control the chamber following the polls, compared to 82 percent of Republicans who expect the same.
Pew tracked what it said is the highest level of voter enthusiasm in the past two decades as over two-thirds – 67 percent – of Democrats say they are more enthusiastic than normal.
Fifty-nine percent of Republicans say the same.
The remains of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi should be located and returned to his family for burial as soon as possible, the U.S. said Thursday.State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters Washington will "hold accountable not only those who executed the murder, but also those who led, were involved and were connected to it."Khashoggi has been missing since Oct. 2 when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. After offer varying explanations for his disappearance, Saudi Arabia acknowledged he was killed in the diplomatic facility, but sought to shift the blame for his slaying on a "rogue operation."Riyadh has been mum on the location of Khashoggi's remains.World media criticize Saudi Arabia's lack of cooperationUK: Vigil held for Khashoggi outside Saudi embassyGates Foundation stops backing Saudi charity
US urges return of Khashoggi's remains to family
Trump continues to loom large for registered voters, with 60 percent of voters saying he will factor into how they cast their ballots. Well over a third of voters – 37 percent – say their vote will be against him, compared to just 23 percent who said it will be for him.
Republicans likely to remain in control of the Senate
In all, 35 seats are being contested in the Senate – 33 of which are being contested under normal Senate rules, in addition to two which are being contested because the incumbents, both Republicans, are retiring: Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee.
Normally, one-third, or about 33, seats are contested every two years.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans Thursday to change the country's immigration policy to limit asylum seekers.In a speech at the White House, Trump said he plans to get rid of the “catch and release” policy where immigrants who are caught crossing the border are released back into the U.S. community while they await their immigration hearings.While Trump claimed the policy was created by the Democrats, it was first enforced under the George W. Bush administration."We're not releasing anymore. We're going to catch, we're not going to release. They are going to stay with us until the deportation hearing," Trump said.Trump also claimed that only three percent of immigrants who enter the country attend their immigration hearings. But according to data from the Department of Justice, around 60-75 percent of them show up.He sharply criticized current asylum policies, saying many of them are fraudulent and processing cases takes too long."The biggest loophole drawing aliens to our borders is the use of fraudulent or meritless asylum claims to gain entry into our great country," Trump said.Trump’s remarks come ahead of midterm elections as a late effort to stoke fear over a "migrant caravan" attempting to enter the U.S. and in a bid to bolster support from Republican voters.They also follow his announcement Wednesday that he may send as many as 15,000 troops -- more than the number currently in Afghanistan -- to the country's southern border in a bid to stop or detain those in the caravan.The military will be putting up "massive cities of tents" to hold any immigrants entering the country illegally, according to the president.Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy noted that some of the troops being sent to the border will be armed. In response to a question, Trump said that any rocks thrown by asylum-seeking migrants at the U.S. military will be "considered a firearm".The announcement is the latest move to drastically change U.S. immigration policy after the president recently announced plans to end birthright citizenship with an executive order.Birthright citizenship has its foundation in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, ratified in 1868, and was meant to stymie efforts to deny citizenship to former slaves. Ending it would likely require a constitutional amendment, according to many legal scholars.Trump asks officials to draft possible trade deal with China
Trump announces plans to limit asylum seekers
Flake’s seat continues to be tightly contested in a race between Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally. Sinema holds a narrow 6-point lead in the contest.
The Republican seeking to succeed Corker, Marsha Blackburn, holds about the same margin over her Democratic challenger, Phil Bredesen.
Real Clear Politics, a polling aggregator website, counts six toss-up seats in the 100-member chamber with four of those seats held by Democrat incumbents.
Republicans have a lock on 46 seats that are either safely Republican or are not up for election compared to just 37 for Democrats. Meanwhile, seven seats are either likely to go Democrat or lean Democrat, compared to four for Republicans.
The Senate’s two Independents caucus with the Democrats, and both are expected to keep their seats.
Democrats face good odds in taking the House of Representatives
In the 435-member House, however, the likelihood that Republicans will maintain their hold is increasingly in doubt.
Either party will need to claim a 218-seat majority to control the chamber, a challenge that may prove insurmountable for Republicans.
The party currently holds a 43-seat advantage in the House but is facing serious challenges to 30 seats it currently controls. Only four such tight races are for seats held by Democratic incumbents.
In addition to those 34 races, Democrats appear likely to take four seats from Republicans with an additional 11 currently held by Republicans now leaning Democratic.
Should Democrats take either chamber, that would mark a major upset for the president, who is seeking to round out his four-year term with major legislative victories, particularly long-promised immigration initiatives such as his border wall with Mexico and a repeal of former President Barack Obama’s universal healthcare law.
Democrats have staunchly opposed his agenda, particularly his efforts to curtail immigration and fully repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Should Democrats take either, or possibly both chambers, Trump would be forced to come to terms with a legislature no longer in the hands of his political allies.
At least 65 Muslims running for office across nation
In addition to the federal legislature, Americans will be voting on dozens of state governors and troves of other local officials and referendums.
Across the nation, at least 65 Muslim-Americans are in the running for a variety of state, local and federal posts, according to Jetpac, a nonprofit working to increase Muslim-American civic engagement.
That is up from the nonprofit’s previous estimates of around 40 candidates as more individuals have been found in contests that are relatively lower on electoral ballots and garner less media attention.
In all, at least 128 Muslim-Americans ran for office in this election cycle, the highest number since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to Shaun King, Jetpac’s co-founder and executive director.