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As it happenedended1561490293

Trump news: President threatens Iran with 'obliteration' as Melania announces new White House press secretary

Follow the latest updates from Washington

Lily Puckett
New York
,Joe Sommerlad,Chris Stevenson
Tuesday 25 June 2019 19:54 BST
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Trump sexual accuser E Jean Carroll is 'sick' of women not being listened to

Donald Trump has threatened Iran with “obliteration” if the country launches any attack on US forces.

“Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality”, Mr Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.

His comments came after Iranian president Hassan Rouhani hit out at the “hard-hitting” sanctions ​introduced by the Donald Trump administration on Monday against the country’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, calling the action “mentally retarded” in a live TV address.

Speaking at the White House later in the day, Donald Trump said: “We were going to end up in a war if it kept going in the way it was going ... The deal was no good” adding that the US is ready for “whatever” Iran wants to do.

Meanwhile, Melania Trump announced that the new White House press secretary will be her spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham

When questioned about the news in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: “Stephanie has been with me from the beginning ... I think she’s very talented a lot of people wanted the job ... I asked people who do you like and so many people said Stephanie.”

The president then said Stephanie Grisham accepted this morning and that the first lady “is very happy for her.”

In the latest US-Mexico border developments, the acting chief of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), John Sanders, is expected to resign from his post. The announcement comes amid public outcry over the squalid conditions migrant children face in Texas shelters.

Speaking about the resignation of John Sanders, Mr Trump said: “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to him ... I don’t know anything about him” before quickly adding “I hear he’s a very good man.”

In other White House news, the president has continued to deny the historic rape accusation made against him by New York writer E Jean Carroll, insisting he could not have done it because the alleged victim is “not my type”.

Catch up on events as they happened

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The president was then questioned about the news that the new White House press secretary will be Stephanie Grisham. His wife, Melania Trump, announced this news on Twitter earlier today.

Trump said: "Stephanie has been with me from the beginning ... I think she's very talented a lot of people wanted the job ... I asked people who do you like and so many people said Stephanie."

The president then said Stephanie Grisham accepted this morning and that the first lady "is very happy for her."

You can read our full story here: 

Lucy Anna Gray25 June 2019 19:53
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Questioning inevitably moved on to heightened tensions between Iran and the US. Echoing past comments he has made, Donald Trump said: "We were going to end up in a war if it kept going in the way it was going ... The deal was no good."

He then added that the US is ready for "whatever" Iran wants to do. 

Lucy Anna Gray25 June 2019 19:58
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That's all for our live coverage of Donald Trump and the White House today. Thanks for following along.

Lucy Anna Gray25 June 2019 20:06

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