List of All Articles with Tag 'pol'

Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected in 2024. NBC News contacted 44 of those who served in then-President Donald Trump’s cabinet between 2017 and 2021. While many declined to comment or didn’t answer, only four have publicly endorsed Mr Trump for the office he once held. Several of them have been trying to remain as neutral as possible as the Republican primary plays out. There are those who oppose Mr Trump’s return to the presidency. Former Attorney General Bill Barr told NBC, “I have made clear that I strongly oppose Trump for the nomination and will not endorse Trump”. Mr Barr was asked how he would cast his vote if the 2024 general election ended up being a rematch between Mr Trump and President Joe Biden. “I’ll jump off that bridge when I get to it,” he said. The Trump campaign told NBC to contact three ex-cabinet members, one who has endorsed him and two who didn’t commit to doing so at this time. Speaking about Mr Trump’s cabinet, the director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, Barbara Perry, told NBC, “They’re not friends – they’re not hanging on forever”. “They’re going to skip out, or he’s going to push them out in some instances,” she added. Those supporting Mr Trump’s return to the White House are former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, his last Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former budget chief Russell Vought, and former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. A spokesperson for Mr Meadows told NBC he “fully” supports Mr Trump. Mr Vought wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in May that Mr Trump “is the only person I trust to take a wrecking ball to the Deep State.” “I’ve seen his willingness up close and behind closed doors,” he added. “My friend and former boss is going to finish what he started.” One of Mr Trump’s chiefs of staff, Mick Mulvaney, told NBC that he is “working hard to make sure that someone else is the nominee”. “I think he’s the Republican who is most likely to lose in a general election, of all our leading candidates. If anyone can lose to Joe Biden, it would be him,” he added. Two former members of the Trump cabinet – ex-VP Mike Pence and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley – are running against Mr Trump in the Republican primary. Former Trump Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told NBC he supports Mr Pence. Mr Coats is a former GOP senator from Indiana, where Mr Pence served as a US representative and governor before becoming vice president. “I think he has all the qualities to be a great president,” Mr Coats said. “I know it’s a steep climb for him, but I think the steps he has taken now show the integrity of who he is and his qualifications.” Elaine Chao, Mr Trump’s Transportation Secretary, has criticised Mr Trump for his racially charged attacks against her. “When I was young, some people deliberately misspelled or mispronounced my name,” she has said. “Asian Americans have worked hard to change that experience for the next generation. He doesn’t seem to understand that, which says a whole lot more about him than it will ever say about Asian Americans.” Ms Chao is married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who didn’t respond when asked by NBC if she would support anyone in the presidential race. Mr Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, told NBC: “Donald Trump is my friend and would make a fantastic president, and if I have an announcement to make about 2024, I’ll look forward to doing so in an appropriate way.” Trump Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, now a Montana Representative in the US House, told NBC: “I think the president is on a glide slope right now, but he’s got some hurdles.” “From an individual who worked for him, I know he’s tough. They’re throwing everything at him, and he’s got some significant hurdles ahead. I take the indictment seriously, I think everyone should. So he’s got some tough hurdles before him, but I tell you what, there’s only one Donald J Trump,” he added. Read More Trump returns to first impeachment roots by saying Ukraine aid should be linked to Biden probes Trump indictment – live: Trump road tests election lies defence at rally, as his CNN ‘Hitler’ lawsuit fails Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter? Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against CNN over 'the Big Lie' dismissed in Florida Trump returns to impeachment by saying Ukraine aid should be linked to Biden probes Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter?

Donald Trump returned to the roots of his first impeachment when he suggested that aid to Ukraine should be conditioned on congressional investigations of President Joe Biden. The former president called for Republicans in Congress to hold back on more support for Ukraine until the White House cooperates with their probes into the business dealings of Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The Saturday night tirade at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania echoed the conduct that led to Mr Trump’s first of his two impeachments when he used military aid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into then-candidate Biden in 2019. “Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional shipment of our depleted weapons stockpiles … to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden Crime Family’s corrupt business dealings,” Mr Trump said on Saturday. He argued that all Republicans who don’t join the efforts should be challenged in their primaries – Mr Trump endorsed challengers in the 2022 midterms of the Republicans who voted for his impeachment after the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Republicans are probing Hunter Biden’s business interests in China and Ukraine during the Obama administration when Mr Biden served as vice president. Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. The White House has argued that the GOP hasn’t presented any proof of wrongdoing by the president. Republicans in Congress have shared their frustration regarding the administration’s response to their requests for records. The Oversight Committee has got hold of thousands of pages of financial documents and they’ve also looked at Treasury Department bank activity reports and an internal report by the FBI, according to The Washington Post. Far-right conservatives in the party have been putting pressure on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to turn the investigations into an impeachment inquiry. The speaker indicated last week that he was open to doing so. A spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Ammar Moussa, told The Post: “Just like when he was impeached, Trump is using aid to Ukraine to play politics, which only serves to benefit one person: Vladimir Putin. MAGA Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kevin McCarthy are echoing Trump’s baseless attacks, floating a political impeachment, and wasting taxpayer dollars instead of working with President Biden on actually delivering lower costs, more jobs, and safer communities for the American people.” Mr Trump spoke to Mr Zelensky in 2019 in what the ex-president has referred to as a “perfect” phone call. At the time, Mr Zelensky was requesting US missiles as his country was trying to resist what later became the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of last year. “I would like you to do us a favour though,” Mr Trump responded on the call, before going on to ask that Mr Zelensky help him find DNC emails that he suggested, without evidence, were located on a server in Ukraine. Mr Trump also asked that Mr Zelensky discuss investigating Hunter Biden with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The phone call prompted a complaint by a whistleblower which later led to the impeachment inquiry. He was impeached in the House for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He was acquitted in the Senate, where one Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted with the Democrats. Read More Trump indictment – live: Trump road tests election lies defence at rally, as his CNN ‘Hitler’ lawsuit fails Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter? Who's in, who's out: A look at which candidates have qualified for the 1st GOP presidential debate The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Former President Donald Trump's political action committee, Save America, has spent more than $40 million on legal fees since the start of this year, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

(In July 29 story, adds dropped paragraphs on detention of Nicolas Petro's ex-wife) BOGOTA (Reuters) -Nicolas Petro, son of Colombian

Donald Trump is facing two indictments, with the potential for more.And yet he is not only in a historically strong position for a nonincumbent to win the Republican nomination, but he is in a better position to win the general election than at any point during the 2020 cycle and almost at any point during the 2016 cycle.

France’s finance minister said talks with officials in China this weekend were positive and called for Chinese companies

Deadly heatwaves are baking the US. Scientists just reported that July will be the hottest month on record. And now, after years of skepticism and denial in the GOP ranks, a small number of Republicans are urging their party to get proactive on the climate crisis.

Gathered at the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory last weekend, a group of aides and advisers to Kamala Harris marveled at what they had just pulled off.

BANGUI Central African Republic is voting on a constitutional referendum on Sunday which, if it passes, could remove

All of the band's musicians were left partially or totally blinded by projectiles fired by police.

Former president Donald Trump floated his potential defence for the potential charges he faces for promoting lies about the election during a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. The already-twice-impeached-twice-indicted former president now faces potential a potential third indictment for spreading lies about the 2020 presidential election. But speaking to the crowd in Pennsylvania, a state where he lost 43 lawsuits as he tried to dispute the 2020 presidential election results, Mr Trump pushed back on the potential accusations. “Why didn’t the corrupt Marxist prosecutors bring these radical and unjustified charges against me two and a half years ago,” Mr Trump asked the crowd. “They had two and a half years. Two and a half years. Nobody even knew they were looking at it. I don’t think they were.” Mr Trump said with no evidence that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office waited as long as it did to indict him in the middle of his 2024 presidential campaign. “Because it’s election interference,” he said. “These are crooked people.” Mr Trump repeated his continued lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and questioned why the press did not call Pennsylvania for him in the 2016 or 2020 presidential election. “They just refused to call it because in my opinion, they were trying to cheat and they couldn't quite pull it off,” he told the crowd. So far, Mr Trump has been indicted by the district attorney for New York County’s office for charges related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and by Mr Smith’s office for his handling of documents related to national security. Mr Trump pled not guilty to all charges. Mr Trump also railed against Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, who is investigating Mr Trump’s attempts overturn the election results in the state. “So they have a DA there that doesn't do anything about crime,” he said. “All she does is focus on ‘let’s get Trump.’ We got to get him.” The former president said he was being treated unfairly and said that Democrats made far more inflammatory statements than he did in the past. Read More Trump’s election fraud claims were always bogus. Will his history of lies finally catch up to him? Trump indictment – live: Trump’s ‘Hitler’ lawsuit against CNN thrown out ahead of rally in Pennsylvania Trump’s $475m ‘Hitler’ defamation lawsuit against CNN thrown out by federal judge ‘Poetic’: Trump takes stage in Iowa to song about going to prison Ex-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon joins push for third-party presidential bid as Democrats try to stop it

How rule changes and financial independence is helping unmarried women to keep their babies.