Trump-Mueller investigation: New Manafort hearing as President lashes out over chief of staff, border wall and Democrats

Potential successors to John Kelly rule themselves out of job as Russia probe moves closer to White House

Former FBI Director James Comey tells MSNBC Trump is not yet an unindicted co-conspirator to charges but 'is certainly close'

President Donald Trump is scrambling to find a new chief of staff after his first choice to replace John Kelly rejected the role at the last minute and several other potential successors signalled they did not want the job.

Leading contender Nick Ayers, said to have been in talks over taking the position for several months, ruled himself out of the running amid mounting chaos at the White House.

Mr Trump is reported to have been “super pissed” by the development, which leaves him racing to fill a job described as “one of the toughest in DC” at a time when Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is getting ever nearer to the Oval Office.

Five people linked to the president have pleaded guilty to federal charges as investigators probe whether Mr Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Kremlin in the 2016 election campaign.

Prosecutors in New York have also for the first time linked the president to a federal crime, accusing him of orchestrating hush-money payments by his long-time lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to a porn star and a former Playboy model.

Mr Cohen is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, and is likely to face years in prison after admitting campaign finance offences.

Key Points

• Judge requests more information from Robert Mueller and sets new hearing for Paul Manafort
• Bizarre Oval Office meeting turns into public sparring between president and Democratic leaders
• Trump's approval rating at this stage of presidency worst in 50 years, poll says
• President insists 'over ten' are vying for 'truly great' chief-of-staff job

[11 December 2018 08:47 · Chris Baynes]

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live updates of what is promising to be another dramatic week at the White House.

Donald Trump's search for a new chief of staff is back to square one after the surprise development that Nick Ayers, the president's preferred replacement for John Kelly, has taken himself out of the running for the job.

The president is now said to be mulling over a list of four alternatives, but several candidates have distanced themselves from a job widely thought to be one of the toughest in Washington.

Mr Trump will also have more than half an eye on tomorrow, when his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is to be sentenced for campaign finance offences - in which the president himself has been implicated.

[11 December 2018 08:49 · Chris Baynes]

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[11 December 2018 09:45 · Chris Baynes]

Perhaps inevitably, Nick Ayers's surprise rejection of the chief of staff role does not seem to have gone down well with Donald Trump.

One source told CNN the president was "super pissed" with the process, while another said he felt humiliated. 

Ayers, currently chief of staff to vice-president Mike Pence, had been seen as the natural successor to John Kelly, and Trump is not thought to have had a back-up candidate in mind.

[11 December 2018 10:24 · Chris Baynes]

The White House official has said Trump is considering four people for the chief of staff role, but declined to give names.

According to sources familiar with the search, however, they include Republican representative Mark Meadows, former campaign adviser David Bossie, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Another source said Trump was also looking at US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Other names that have come up for the job include Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, but is not thought to be keen on the role.

The new chief of staff will have to navigate a challenging political environment as Trump begins his third year in office and prepares for a 2020 re-election campaign.

Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in January, and US prosecutors are intensifying their probe into potential collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

[11 December 2018 10:35 · Chris Baynes]

[11 December 2018 11:19 · Chris Baynes]

While Trump's search for a new chief of staff may be his most pressing concern today, his links with a former employee are set to dominate the agenda tomorrow.

Michael Cohen, the president's former personal lawyer and fixer, almost certain to be jailed at a sentencing hearing in New York.

Cohen pleaded guilty eight charges in August, including campaign finance violations for "purpose of influencing the [presidential] election".

He told a judge he was working at "the direction of candidate" when he made hush-money payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who both claim to have had affairs with the president. 

Even worse for Trump, prosecutors have since implicated him in Cohen's crimes in court filings ahead of the lawyer's sentencing.

[11 December 2018 11:30 · Chris Baynes]

Donald Trump sees his own impeachment as "a real possibility", a source close to the president has told CNN.

The president is concerned Democrats could begin the process after taking control of the House of Representatives in January.

Sources close to the White House told the broadcaster aides believe "the only issue that may stick" in the impeachment process is campaign finance violations committed by his former lawyer Michael Cohen.

Talk of Trump's impeachment has grown since court filings implicated him in Cohen's crimes late last week.

[11 December 2018 11:36 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Donald Trump is meeting today with Democratic congressional leaders in the hope of avoiding a partial government shutdown. 

It comes amid a dispute over Mr Trump's border wall and a lengthy to-do list that includes a major farm bill and a formal rebuke of Saudi Arabia for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

Mr Trump is set to confer Tuesday at the White House with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer ahead of a 21 December deadline to shut down a range of government agencies. 

"Republicans still control the House, the Senate and the White House, and they have the power to keep government open," Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer said in a joint statement on Monday. 

"Our country cannot afford a Trump Shutdown," the Democrats said, adding that Mr Trump "knows full well that his wall proposal does not have the votes to pass the House and Senate and should not be an obstacle to a bipartisan agreement".

Republican congressional leaders have repeatedly said it's up to Mr Trump to cut a deal with Democrats, an acknowledgment of their own inability to produce spending bills with Republican votes alone. 

[11 December 2018 11:43 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

A new poll, commissioned by CNN, shows Donald Trump's approval rating over his handling of the Mueller investigation has dipped to 29 per cent, matching an all time low last hit in June. 

Half of respondents also believed the special counsel's investigation will implicate the president in wrongdoing. 

[11 December 2018 11:54 · Tom.Embury-Dennis]

Donald Trump has sent his first tweet of the morning, claiming without evidence that migrants are "heading back to their countries" after he sent the US military to the US-Mexico border last month.