Trump news: President plans to send more agents nationwide amid crackdown on protests while attacking Biden in Twitter rant
Justice Department to deploy federal officers to three more US cities as coronavirus death toll reaches 150,000
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The nation's death toll from coronavirus surpassed 150,000 on Wednesday, reaching the highest such figure globally, as Covid-19 infections continue to rise across the US.
Donald Trump meanwhile spent the day travelling to a fundraiser in Texas to support oil drilling efforts, raging against Democrats in a campaign-style speech before signing a series of pipeline permits.
The president claimed in a new interview that he “never discussed” reports of Russian bounties on the heads of US troops in Afghanistan with Vladimir Putin, as the US announced it will be withdrawing troops from Germany.
Mr Trump claimed the issue of Russian bounties never reached his desk in an interview with Axios, despite reports indicating he received the intelligence in a daily briefing back in February.
This comes as the administration moves forward with plans to pull forces out of Germany after Mr Trump alleged the country was "delinquent in their payments" to the NATO security alliance.
Asked whether he reads his briefings, Mr Trump responded: “I do. I read a lot. You know, I read a lot. They like to say I don’t read. I read a lot. I comprehend extraordinarily well. Probably better than anybody you’ve interviewed in a long time. I read a lot.”
Justice Department officials also announced that the administration will surge federal officers into three more American cities in electoral battleground states – Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee – as the president prioritises a "law and order" agenda in his 2020 campaign.
Oregon's governor also announced that federal agents in Portland will be withdrawn, per an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, though director Chad Wolf has said that their departure depends on whether the safety of federal properties can be assured amid Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
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Portland officials slam Trump’s ‘political theatre’ and demand ceasefire
Chris Riotta has the latest from the Oregon city still seeing clashes between police reform demonstrators and government forces after some 60 days as mayor Ted Wheeler denounces the ongoing “federal occupation”.
Trump says ‘CRAZY’ Democrats must be ‘voted out’ for daring to hold attorney general to account
Oh good. He’s up.
This is followed by the familiar uninteresting retweet dump of such right-wing luminaries as Laura Ingraham, Stuart Varney, Nikki Haley, Trish Regan, Sean Hannity and, your friend and mine, “Buck Sexton”.
Since he brings it up, here’s a reminder of Representative Jayapal’s barnstorming performance yesterday courtesy of Alex Woodward.
Trump calls Biden ‘a Trojan Horse for the Radical Left Agenda’
Doesn’t he sound scared to you?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says civil liberties are ‘on the brink’ as New York protester pulled into unmarked van
The Democratic congresswoman has added her influential voice to rising concerns about fascist police tactics being employed by American streets, after the following clip was shared on social media.
Matt Matthers has more on this.
Five states see record Covid deaths as Latinos hit hard in California
All this and we’ve barely talked about the crushing pandemic.
Five states in the south and west reported one-day records for coronavirus deaths on Tuesday and cases in Texas passed the 400,000 mark as California health officials said Latinos made up more than half its cases.
Arkansas, Florida, Montana and Oregon each reported record spikes in fatalities. In California deaths rose by 171, the state's largest increase of the pandemic.
The US confirmed that nationwide more than 1,200 lives were lost on Tuesday, the biggest one-day increase since May, according to a Reuters tally.
California health officials said Latinos, who make up just over a third of the most populous US state, account for 56 per cent of Covid-19 infections and 46 per cent of deaths. Cases are soaring in the Central Valley agricultural region, with its heavily Latino population, overwhelming hospitals.
Florida saw 191 coronavirus deaths in the prior 24 hours, its highest single-day rise yet, the state health department said.
Texas added more than 6,000 new cases on Monday, pushing its total to 401,477, according to a Reuters tally. Only three other states - California, Florida and New York - have more than 400,000 total cases. The four are the most populous US states.
California and Texas both reported decreases in overall hospitalisations as Dr Anthony Fauci saw signs the surge could be peaking in the south and west while other areas were on the cusp of new outbreaks.
Fauci said early indications showed the percentage of positive coronavirus tests rising in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.
The rise in US deaths and infections has dampened early hopes the country was past the worst of an economic crisis that has decimated businesses and put millions of Americans out of work.
The trend has fueled a bitter debate over the reopening of schools in the coming weeks. Trump and members of his administration have pushed for students to return to class, while some teachers and local officials have called for online learning.
"We will fight on all fronts for the safety of students and their educators," Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said during the union's virtual convention on Tuesday. "It's the 11th hour; we need the resources now."
In Texas, the Texas Education Agency, the state overseer of public education, said it would deny funding to schools that delay in-person classes because of orders by local health authorities related to the pandemic.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton issued guidance that health authorities cannot impose "blanket" school closures for coronavirus prevention. Any such decision is up to school officials, he said.
Local health leaders in the biggest metropolitan areas in Texas, including Houston and Dallas, have recently ordered the postponement of in-person classes.
Reuters
Joe Biden says Trump’s law and order stance about ‘trying to scare the devil out of the American people’
A fruitful line of attack from the Democratic presidential challenger yesterday:
The candidate did suffer a minor gaffe on Tuesday too, however, when he allowed his notes to be photographed by a press photographer, which revealed his thoughts on California senator Kamala Harris, hotly tipped to be in the frame as a potential running mate.
Andrew Naughtie is here to tell us what they say.
Trump can secure election victory with voters who won't admit they're backing him, says former adviser
A former campaign adviser to Trump has said that dire polling numbers predicting the president will lose to Joe Biden may be failing to take account of people who do not want to share their political views.
In a discussion on the BBC’s Newsnight, political strategist Barry Bennett said that the president’s standing in the polls should not depress his supporters or give Democrats too much hope, pointing out that Hillary Clinton was firmly ahead at a similar point in 2016 and that many Trump supporters might be hiding their preference.
Asked whether he was worried about the state of Trump’s polling, he sounded phlegmatic. “Four years ago, we had numbers that were even worse,” he said. “So nervous, no; anxious to get started, yes.”
Andrew Naughtie has more on this.
‘Trump insiders tell me they're worried about the election - polls say he could lose in a way he never expected’
For Indy Voices, Andrew Feinberg has the latest from DC, where he says pro-Trump Republicans are in denial about how much third parties swung the 2016 election for the president - a collective that this time look ready to back Biden.
‘The day Bill Barr made sure that history will judge him harshly’
Also for Voices, Ahmed Baba has a brutal take on Trump’s attorney general after yesterday's little showing.
Trump says he did not discuss Russian threat against US soldiers with Vladimir Putin as call was about 'other things'
The president has given an exclusive interview to Jonathan Swan of Axios in which he reveals he decided against raising the thorny question of Taliban bounties with Vlad.
A brilliant strategy sir.
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