Trump news: Trade war with China escalates as president banishes journalists from White House
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
The US and China remain locked in trade negotiations after Donald Trump increased tariffs on more than 6,000 Chinese consumer goods by 25 percent to $200bn (£154bn), prompting Beijing to threaten retaliation.
Mr Trump, Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and chief US trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer dined with vice-premier Liu He on Thursday night and will continue discussions on Friday in the hope of finding a last-minute resolution after the president accused the rival superpower of “breaking the deal” and insisted: “They’ll be paying”.
“Over the course of the past two days, the United States and China have held candid and constructive conversations on the status of the trade relationship between both countries,” Mr Trump tweeted Friday.
“The relationship between President Xi and myself remains a very strong one, and conversations into the future will continue,” he added. “In the meantime, the United States has imposed Tariffs on China, which may or may not be removed depending on what happens with respect to future negotiations!”
The White House has meanwhile carried out a “mass purge” of journalists by revoking press passes and nominated acting secretary of defence Patrick Shanahan to the post full-time.
Mueller investigation: The key figures
Show all 12Mr Shanahan has been leading the Pentagon as acting secretary since 1 January, a highly unusual arrangement for arguably the most sensitive Cabinet position. He took over after Jim Mattis resigned.
“Acting Secretary Shanahan has proven over the last several months that he is beyond qualified to lead the Department of Defense, and he will continue to do an excellent job,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
Moments later, Mr Shanahan spoke to reporters outside the Pentagon, saying he was very excited about the nomination and looking forward to a job he said requires him to “spin a lot of plates.”
“The biggest challenge is balancing it all. For me it’s about practicing selectful neglect, so that we can stay focused on the future,” he said, adding with a grin, “I called my mom. She was super happy.”
Indeed, in Mr Shanahan’s tenure at the department he’s had to deal with a wide array of international hotspots, ranging from missile launches by North Korea to the sudden shift of military ships and aircraft to the Middle East to deal with potential threats from Iran.
The announcement comes close on the heels of an investigation by the Defence Department’s inspector general over accusations that Mr Shanahan had shown favoritism toward Boeing during his time as deputy defense secretary, while disparaging Boeing competitors. The probe appeared to stall his nomination, but the IG wrapped up the investigation rapidly and cleared Mr Shanahan of any wrongdoing.
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
The former director of the FBI has said he believes Donald Trump would face charges for evidence laid out in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election – were he not the president of the United States.
James Comey pointed to the numerous examples of possible obstruction of justice on the part of the president outlined in the special counsel’s report, which described Russia’s “sweeping and systematic” interference in the election that sent Mr Trump to the White House.
“There are a whole lot of facts in Bob Mueller’s report that raise serious questions about whether there’s a chargeable case for obstruction and witness tampering against this president,” Mr Comey, who was fired by Mr Trump in 2017, said in a CNN town hall on Thursday night.
Story to come...
As Donald Trump attacks one of his 2020 Democratic challengers, Joe Biden, with a newly-and-even-more-awful nickname “SleepyCreepy Joe,” the chairwoman of the GOP is also hitting the former vice president on Twitter over statements he made surrounding China:
James Comey's comments arrive as more than 800 former federal prosecutors signed a public letter that said Mr Trump would face charges over obstruction of justice throughout Mr Mueller’s investigation were he not to have won the election.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have issued subpoenas for the unredacted Mueller report and its underlying evidence, meanwhile, as the president has attempted to invoke executive privilege after lawmakers moved to hold his attorney general in contempt of Congress for failing to supply the full report.
Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign is back to launching misleading and outright false advertisements on Facebook, according to these reports:
Rudy Giuliani has taken to Twitter to explain his reasoning for traveling to Ukraine to reportedly urge officials to launch an investigation into whether Democrats supposedly conspired to sway the 2016 election:
House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler has announced Robert Mueller will not be testifying before his committee next week, saying negotiations are continuing with the Special Counsel’s office and Justice Department.
If necessary, Mr Nadler said the committee is willing to issue a subpoena for Mr Mueller.
Donald Trump has tweeted a message of support to Republicans for rejecting the disaster relief bill that was just passed in the House of Representatives:
That's all for today's live coverage from Washington. Be sure to check back Monday as The Independent covers the latest developments on Capitol Hill in real-time.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies