Trump 'asked Whitaker to put prosecutor of his choosing in charge of Cohen probe'

The White House has also launched a major campaign to end criminalisation of homosexuality

Former White House ethics chief, Richard Painter: Donald Trump is 'mentally unwell'

Donald Trump’s White House faced another day of turmoil as a new Congressional report alleged senior administration officials attempted to share information on nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia.

The House Oversight Committee announced a new investigation into the accusations, in which whistle blowers within the president’s administration described “abnormal acts” between the White House and the Middle Eastern kingdom.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump continued to lash out against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe after the official confirmed he launched a counterintelligence investigation into the president.

Mr McCabe was fired last year after the Justice Department’s inspector general concluded that he had misled officials about his role in a news media disclosure. He has denied the allegations, described his firing as politically motivated and, in a series of interviews this week, has said he plans to sue the Justice Department over it.

Mr McCabe also said in an interview with “60 Minutes” that the FBI had good reason to open a counterintelligence investigation into whether Mr Trump was in league with Russia, and therefore a possible national security threat, following the May 2017 firing of then-FBI Director James Comey.

The controversies continued erupting throughout the day when an explosive New York Times report alleged the president asked his then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to put a prosecutor of his choosing in charge of an investigation into his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Mr Trump’s turmoil arrived a day after protests erupted across the country on President’s Day in opposition to his national emergency declaration.

“Trump is the national emergency!” chanted a group of hundreds lined up Monday at the White House fence while Trump was out of town in Florida. Some held up large letters spelling out “stop power grab.” In downtown Fort Worth, Texas, a small group carried signs with messages including “no wall! #FakeTrumpEmergency.”

At least 16 states have sued the president over the declaration.

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Key Points

• Donald Trump signs major Space Force directive
• Report says he asked for a prosecutor of his choosing to lead probe into his former lawyer
• President's enemies suggest abuse of power grounds for impeachment

[19 February 2019 11:35 · Joe Sommerlad]

Six in 10 Americans disapprove of Donald Trump's decision to declare a national emergency, according to a new poll from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist.

Among Democrats, 94 percent disapprove of the president's actions, as do 63 percent of those backing independent candidates.

Eighty-five per cent of Republicans are in favour, however, an outcome revealing the country to be as polarised as ever.

"The president is striking out in the court of public opinion," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the survey. "He's maintaining his base and little else."

"This is not a break-his-base issue," Mr Miringoff said. "This is a reinforce-his-base issue, but this is not an expand-beyond-his-base issue."

[19 February 2019 11:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

Popular senator Bernie Sanders is the latest candidate to confirm he's entering the 2020 presidential race against Donald Trump after surprising the Democrats with a strong showing three years ago.

"We began the political revolution in the 2016 campaign and now it's time to move that revolution forward," he told Vermont Public Radio this morning.

[19 February 2019 12:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Pupils at the Fort Campbell Mahaffey Middle School in Kentucky won't be getting the new classrooms they were promised as the $62m (£48m) earmarked for the project is being redirected towards the president's border wall 1,000 miles away.

But dry your eyes kids - Republican senator Lindsey Graham says you'll be better off.

"I would say it's better for the middle school kids in Kentucky to have a secure border," Senator Graham told Face the Nation on CBS.

So that's all right then.

[19 February 2019 12:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

Here's more from Samuel Osborne on Nicolas Maduro's furious response to President Trump after his warning yesterday that "a new day is coming to Latin America".

[19 February 2019 12:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is defying Donald Trump on Nato this morning, leading a cross-party congressional delegation to a parliamentary assembly in Brussels to restate American commitment to the transatlantic defence treaty.

The president has long-argued Europe is too reliant on US support and does not pay its dues.

Here's Jon Stone in the Belgian capital.

[19 February 2019 12:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

The "failing" New York Times is putting the Trump administration to the sword in its opinion pages this morning:

Adam Jentleson of Democracy Forward goes after Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell as "the man who surrendered the Senate to Donald Trump", denouncing his "malign influence" and "self-interest", stating:

"His defining characteristic has always been his willingness to do anything and sacrifice any principle to amass power for himself. What separates him from the garden-variety politicians - what makes him a radical - are the lengths he is willing to go."

Ouch. Meanwhile, NYT columnist Paul Krugman tackles Mr Trump's "edifice complex, a desire to see his name on big projects", comparing his ambitions for the wall unfavourably to Abe Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower, builders of the transcontinental railroad, Panama canal and interstate highway system respectively.

[19 February 2019 13:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

The president is out of bed and tweeting lines from Fox again:

And making more wildly speculative claims:

[19 February 2019 13:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

"I don't think you can really prepare for a meeting with Donald Trump."

So says conservative Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, set to meet precisely that fate when he visits the White House this week.

Herr Kurz nevertheless says he is expecting the president to raise the issue of European countries taking back Isis fighters captured in Syria, as demanded over the weekend. The Austrian says he will be "very cautious" on the subject.

"For us, protecting the Austrian population of course takes priority."

[19 February 2019 13:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

As if the world weren't mad enough already, barber Le Tuan Duong of Hanoi, Vietnam, is offering free haircuts to anyone who wants to look like Donald Trump or Kim Jong-un ahead of their summit in the country next week, according to the AP's Mai Nguyen.

"I feel happy with this haircut because people will think I look like the leader of North Korea," said nine-year-old To Gia Huy after visiting the Tuan Dong Beauty Academy and opting for a Kim cut.

Le Phuc Hai, 66, went for the Trump at the salon and said afterwards: "I'm not afraid of this bright orange hair colour because after this promotional campaign, the hair salon owner said he would return my hair to normal. I like Donald Trump's haircut. It looks great and it fits my age."

[19 February 2019 14:02 · Lucy Anna Gray]

Donald Trump has tweeted a response to news that 16 US states are suing him over his national emergency decision.

The message was close followed by another...