Melania Trump unveils the White House Christmas decorations
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Donald Trump began his week avidly tweeting along to Fox News before jetting out for a Nato summit in London, as the House impeachment report into his dealings with Ukraine are set to be unveiled to members of Congress in advance of the Judiciary Committee staging its first hearing of the inquiry on Wednesday.
The White House yesterday declined to be part of the midweek session, with lawyer Pat Cipollone branding the process a “baseless and highly partisan” attack on the president in a letter to Judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler.
Republicans continued to defend Mr Trump on the Sunday talk shows, with the ranking GOP representative on the committee Doug Collins calling on inquiry figurehead Adam Schiff to testify and accusing him of “hiding behind the report”.
As he departed the White House for London, Mr Trump called the trip “one of the most important journeys that we make as president” and said Democrats had long known about it.
His trip to the UK comes amid ongoing quarrels over defence spending by NATO allies and widespread anxiety over the president’s commitment to the alliance.
Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal
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The president said his trip would be focused on “fighting for the American people". But in the more than two months that the impeachment inquiry has been underway, he has constantly drifted back to what he frames as the Democrats’ unfair effort to overturn the results of his 2016 election.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday on the constitutional grounds for impeachment before Mr Trump wraps up at the NATO summit.
Mr Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Mr Cipollone and presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway all complained about the timing, with Mr Pompeo saying the hearings would “distract America's president from his important mission overseas.”
Mr Trump insists he’s solely focused on scoring domestic and foreign policy wins, including revamping NATO so that allies spend more on defense. But he’s often appeared consumed by the day-to-day battle against impeachment.
In recent days he’s repeatedly lashed out about the “impeachment hoax” and the “scam” inquiry, even delving into impeachment at a ceremony to celebrate NCAA athletes and at last week’s annual Turkey pardon.
White House aides say the summit offers Mr Trump an opportunity to counter the impeachment narrative in Washington and demonstrate to voters that he’s keeping a business-as-usual approach while Democrats concentrate on the probe.
Donald Trump uses pardoning of Thanksgiving turkey to make digs at impeachment hearings
But soon after Air Force One departed, Mr Trump took to Twitter to slam “Do Nothing Democrats” for scheduling the hearing during the NATO meeting as “Not nice!””
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Madrid for a UN conference on climate change, declined to comment about the impeachment inquiry, saying, “When we travel abroad, we don't talk about the president in a negative way. We save that for home.”
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our live blog to load
China announces first sanctions against US over support for Hong Kong protesters
Beijing has announced it will sanction US-based non-profits including the National Endowment for Democracy and Human Rights Watch in retaliation for the Trump administration passing legislation in support of Hong Kong's protesters.
President rants about impeachment 'hoax' hearing outside White House lawn before jetting to London
Trump has been outside the White House just now taking questions from reporters underneath a large umbrella.
He attacked the Democrats for scheduling the latest impeachment hearing while he is away at the Nato summit and reiterated his argument from Twitter that the Zelensky interview "should be case over".
According to the pool report, he says the Republicans have never been more united and that the Democrats "are being killed in their own districts" (politically, one hopes).
Climate change close to 'point of no return', warns UN secretary general
Trump may still believe global warming is a "hoax" and consider leaving the Paris accord a priority but Antonio Guterres of the UN has issued a stark warning on the future of the planet.
“The point of no return is no longer over the horizon. It is in sight and hurtling towards us,” he said at the rescheduled COP25 conference in Madrid, Spain.
America's co-operation and leadership will surely be essential to averting disaster.
Trump slams 'not nice' Democrats with farewell tweet
The president has sent his final tweet before jetting out for the UK, including footage of Air Force One taking off from a slippery runway and one last dig at the Democrats.
Democrats look to keep pressure on Trump as impeachment inquiry enters another new phase
For Indy Premium, Chris Stevenson has this handy explainer on what to expect next from House Democrats this week as the impeachment inquiry grinds into gear once again.
En route to London, Trump is still finding time to thank his Republican henchmen for their media appearances over the weekend coming to his defence on impeachment.
The president applauds GOP congressman Ben Cline and Andy Biggs as well as senator John Kennedy, who was on disgraceful form on Meet the Pressas addressed earlier.
Trump also takes relish in attacking host "Sleepy Eyes" Chuck Todd, who pressed him on caging migrant children in an extended White House interview earlier this year.
Donald Trump's re-election campaign is taking a swipe at newly-announced 2020 candidate Michael Bloomberg by announcing it will not immediately credential Bloomberg reporters - whose publication is owned by the billionaire - for campaign events:
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