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As it happenedended1564091824

Trump news: Secret impeachment plan revealed as rattled president posts 17 Fox News-related tweets in wake of Mueller hearings

Follow the latest updates from Washington, as it happened

Clark Mindock
New York
,Joe Sommerlad
Thursday 25 July 2019 19:44 BST
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Trump berates reporters for asking him about being indicted

Donald Trump, clearly rattled by Robert Mueller's testimony to Congress, has attempted to spin the outcome of the Democratic-led hearings with a slew tweets featuring Fox News personalities declaring the "witch hunt" against the president to be over in spite of what some have viewed as damning testimony and a long investigation ahead for House Democrats.

Mr Mueller appeared before two congressional committees on Wednesday to explain his 448-page report into Russian election hacking in 2016, and whether the president obstructed justice by attempting to interfere in his investigation by ordering Mr Mueller's firing and sending his allies to pressure witnesses to deliver positive

Sticking largely to the script, the FBI veteran described “sweeping and systematic” interference by Russia, repeated that his findings were not an exoneration of the president, confirmed that Mr Trump had asked senior aides like counsel Don McGahn to lie on his behalf and said the president could be charged with a crime once he leaves office. The occasion sparked immediate cries among Democrats for impeachment proceedings against the president, which House speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly called "premature".

Later on Thursday, Mr Trump held a manufacturing event in the White House, where he welcomed business owners and workers who had benefited from his so-called Pledge to America's Workers drive, which began one year ago.

Mr Trump then took his presidential voice to Twitter, where he called for the release of A$AP Rocky, who has been charged with assault in Sweden. The president had demanded his return to the United States earlier in the week after Kanye West called him, but the Swedish government declined.

"Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem!" the president tweeted.

Mr Trump also tweeted about an incident in New York City, where police officers were seen on camera being doused with water. He called the incident a "disgrace".

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Clark Mindock25 July 2019 20:15
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In 2020 news: candidate Tulsi Gabbard has sued Google for violating her First Amendment rights by blocking her campaign's advert account in the hours after the first Democratic Debate.

Ms Gabbard is a congresswoman from Hawaii, and has called for breaking up big tech companies. And, now, her campaign says that they were blocked from setting up adverts on the search engine in the hours after the debates, just as search for Ms Gabbard was spiking.

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 20:31
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Clark Mindock25 July 2019 20:45
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Where you living under a rock yesterday? Don't worry about that, we've got you covered:

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 21:00
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The event today in the State Dining Room at the White House is for the one-year celebration of the Pledge to America's Workers.

That pledge was an executive order that established a National Council for the American Worker, and is co-chaired by Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, Ivanka Trump, and the director of the domestic policy council, Joe Grogan.

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 21:03
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Trump is hearing at the moment from a student who benefited from the Pledge to America's Workers programme. 

She was able to get an apprenticeship with Lockheed Martin without a four year STEM degree.

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 21:03
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The president is now hearing from a woman identified as Audra. She says she works for a firm in the US that makes 100 per cent domestically manufactured circuit boards.

Audra says that the president's policies have allowed her company to better compete with markets in Asia, and grow the size of her company's internship classes.

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 21:05
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Jay Timmons, the president of the National Association of Manufacturers, is now speaking in praise of the president's manufacturing policies.

Mr Timmons has pledged that his organisation will commit resources to provide "training and upscaling opportunities" for 1.186 million manufacturing workers.

He says that is "just a start", and that he believes that is a "conservative number".

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 21:07
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Trump says "this is an incredible event to me", and said he is "proud of" a welder in the room who he knows.

He says the US has the "hottest economy in the world" and that the US is the "hottest place in the world".

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 21:10
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The event has now concluded.

Clark Mindock25 July 2019 21:15

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