Trump news: President faces new sexual misconduct lawsuit and attacks Spike Lee as ‘racist’

Live updates from the kickoff to a consequential week for Donald Trump's White House

Oscar 2019: 'Make the moral choice between love versus hate', says Spike Lee

Donald Trump kicked off a consequential week of domestic and international developments on Monday by attacking a film director’s Oscars speech as “racist” and becoming the subject of another sexual assault lawsuit.

The president went after Spike Lee — who used his Oscar acceptance speech to urge mobilisation for the 2020 election — in a tweet, claiming the filmmaker did a “racist hit on your President.” Mr Trump then claimed that he had “done more for African Americans” than “almost” any other president.

Mr Lee did not directly name Trump. He spoke about black history and his family history, saying his grandmother’s mother was a slave, before stressing the presidential election next year.

“Let’s all be on the right side of history,” Mr Lee said on Sunday night’s awards show. “Make the moral choice between love versus hate.”

The controversial tweets arrived the same day Mr Trump faced a lawsuit alleging he abruptly grabbed a former campaign staffer’s hand and planted an unwanted kiss on her face during a Florida meeting with staff and volunteers.

Alva Johnson wrote in the federal lawsuit that Mr Trump made the nonconsensual advance in August 2016 in Tampa, Florida. She said he “grasped her hand and did not let go” and kissed her on the corner of her mouth as she turned slightly away.

“The forced and unwanted kiss was deeply offensive to Ms Johnson,” the lawsuit says, adding that she suffered “emotional distress, psychological trauma, humiliation, embarrassment, loss of dignity, invasion of privacy and other damages.”

The lawsuit, first reported by Washington Post, seeks unspecified money damages and an order preventing the president from “grabbing, kissing or otherwise assaulting or harassing women without prior express consent.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called Johnson’s allegations fabricated and said other people who were there say it did not take place. “This accusation is absurd on its face. This never happened and is directly contradicted by multiple highly credible eye witness accounts,” Sanders said.

The president departed on Air Force One by Monday afternoon for his upcoming second summit with North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un. Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence visited Colombia to discuss the Venezuela crisis with the president of Colombia and Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaido. Both Mr Trump and his vice president will be outside of the US this week — a rarity in American politics for national security reasons.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. See The Independent’s live coverage below.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

Key Points

• President attacks filmmaker for 'racist hit' in Oscars speech
• Trump jetting out for second North Korea summit in Vietnam
• Ex-campaign aide sues president over non-consensual kiss

[25 February 2019 19:30 · Chris Riotta]

This gesture Donald Trump made while discussing trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping certainly isn’t “news,” but it is hilarious:

[25 February 2019 19:50 · Chris Riotta]

Days after Vladimir Putin warned Russia would target the US with new hypersonic missiles if the Trump administration deployed nuclear weapons in Europe, Russian state television has listed potential targets in America.

The Sunday evening broadcast claimed the missiles could hit the Pentagon and the Camp David presidential retreat in “less than five minutes”.

The news report, belligerent even by Russian state TV standards, comes amid rising tensions between the two countries over Donald Trump’s plans to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

[25 February 2019 20:10 · Chris Riotta]

Adam Schiff, a top Democrat investigating Donald Trump and his administration, said in a Sunday interview there is “ample evidence of collusion of the campaign and it’s very much in the public record.” 

“Whether that will amount to a criminal conspiracy,” he added, “we’ll have to wait for Bob Mueller to tell us.”

[25 February 2019 20:30 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has teased that his negotiations on trade with China have entered the “advanced stages” in a tweet that fails to provide any details into what he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have planned to end a tit for tat exchange of tariffs against each other’s economies. 

“China Trade Deal (and more) in advanced stages,” he wrote on Monday. “Relationship between our two Countries is very strong. I have therefore agreed to delay U.S. tariff hikes. Let’s see what happens?”

[25 February 2019 20:45 · Chris Riotta]

Here’s Donald Trump waving goodbye as he boards Air Force One to head to Hanoi for his summit with North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un: 

[25 February 2019 21:00 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has tweeted the following message from Air Force One, saying he is “looking forward to a very productive Summit!”

[25 February 2019 21:15 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump has announced an American hostage held in Yemen for 18 months has been freed. 

Danny Burch, an oil worker held for over a year in Yemen, “has been recovered and reunited with his wide and children,” the president wrote on Monday. 

[25 February 2019 21:30 · Chris Riotta]

This concludes The Independent's coverage surrounding Donald Trump's kickoff to a consequential week of developments in Washington and abroad. Be sure to tune in tomorrow as we bring you the latest.