Trump Administration
Barack Obama condemned President Donald Trump in a speech on Wednesday at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, urging Americans to vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden as "the next 13 days will matter for decades to come."
"Philadelphia, we got 13 days — 13 days until the most important election of our lifetimes. And you don't have to wait for Nov. 3 to cast your ballot," Obama said.
"Donald Trump isn't suddenly going to protect all of us. He can't even take the basic steps to protect himself," he added. "Here's the truth. I want to be honest here. This pandemic would have been challenging for any president. But this idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this up is just not true."
The editorial board of American newspaper USA Today has published its first presidential endorsement in its history, urging Americans to vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
"In 2016, we broke tradition in urging you not to vote for Trump. Now we're making our first presidential endorsement. We hope it's our last," so the Editorial Board. "We urged readers not to vote for Donald Trump, calling the Republican nominee unfit for office because he lacked the “temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents.” We stopped short, however, of an outright endorsement of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee. This year, the Editorial Board unanimously supports the election of Joe Biden, who offers a shaken nation a harbor of calm and competence."
On Friday, the United States have surpassed 8 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, and almost 220,000 people have died from the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. President Donald Trump has insisted that the virus would "peter out" and that the country was "rounding the turn."
White House aide Stephen Miller confirmed Tuesday that he has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been self-isolating for the past five days.
"Over the last 5 days I have been working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day through yesterday. Today, I tested positive for COVID-19 and am in quarantine," so Miller in a statement.
His wife Katie Miller, who is Vice President Pence's communications director, has tested negative on Tuesday morning. Mrs Miller had Covid-19 several months ago.
President Donald Trump has halted negotiations with Democratic lawmakers over a Covid-19 relief bill until after the election.
"I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump announced on Twitter. The US stocks fell by more than 2% after the announcement.
Shortly after, Trump tweeted he "was ready to sign right now" if "sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY."
President Donald Trump has left the Walter Reed Hospital after a three-day stay of receiving Covid-19 treatment. He arrived at the White House at 7 pm local time, removed his mask to pose for a photo op despite being close to staff members and then can be seen entering the White House without a mask.
"Don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. You're gonna beat it. We have the best medical equipment. We have the best medicines, all developed recently," the President said in a video. "Nobody that's a leader would not do what I did. And I know there’s a risk, there’s a danger, but that’s OK. And now I’m better and maybe I'm immune – I don't know! But don’t let it dominate your lives. Get out there. Be careful."
Chad Gilmartin and Karoline Leavitt, two deputies to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, have tested positive for Covid-19, according to two sources of CNN. Gilmartin tested positive in the past 24 hours, while Leavitt did so a few days ago.
Greg Laurie, a pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California who attended last week's White House Rose Garden Event for Amy Coney Barrett, has tested positive for Covid-19. Laurie told CNB News that he learned of his infection over the weekend and that he was doing well.
Last week, Laurie also attended large prayer rally events in Washington, D.C. with Franklin Graham and Vice President Mike Pence.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has tested positive for Covid-19. In her statement, McEnany said she tested positive on Monday and is not experiencing symptoms.
"After testing negative consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms. No reporters, producers or members of the press are listed as close contacts by the White House Medical Unit. Moreover, I definitively had no knowledge of Hope Hicks' diagnosis prior to holding a White House press briefing on Thursday," McEnany wrote in a statement published on Twitter.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised that Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett will receive a vote in the "weeks ahead, following the work of the Judiciary Committee."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham confirmed that hearings would start on October 12 with opening statements from Barrett herself and members of the Judiciary Committee, followed by questions from the committee and testimony from legal experts and Barrett's associates.
"I expect the nominee will be challenged and that's appropriate to challenge the nominee. If they treat Judge Barrett like they did Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh it's going to blow up in their face big time," so Graham on Fox News Saturday.
Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative federal appeals court judge, has been nominated as Supreme Court justice to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. President Donald Trump announced her nomination on Saturday, calling her a woman of "towering intellect" and "one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds" who would rule "based solely on the fair reading of the law."
"A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policy makers," Barrett then said. "If confirmed, I would not assume that role for the sake of those in my own circle, and certainly not for my own sake, I would assume this role to serve you."
US President Donald Trump has picked the conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy at the Supreme Court on Friday.
The United States Department of Justice has declared New York City, Portland and Seattle "anarchist jurisdictions" as all three cities "have permitted violence and destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities." This move comes after President Trump signed a memo that threatened to defund Democratic-led cities he deemed "lawless".
Designated cities face potential financial consequences and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's office is preparing to sue in case of funding cuts.
President Trump has claimed that a Covid-19 vaccine will be available to "every American by April" in a press conference on Friday.
"As soon as a vaccine is approved the administration will deliver it to the American people immediately. The distribution will begin with 24 hours after notice," so Trump, adding the U.S. will "have manufactured at least 100 million vaccine doses before the end of the year, and likely much more than that," and that with "millions of doses" available every month, he expects "to have enough vaccines for every American by April."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) pledged Friday to bring President Trump's Supreme Court nominee replacing the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to a Senate vote.
"President Trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate," so McConnell.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune is backing McConnell, saying: "I believe Americans sent a Republican president and a Republican Senate to Washington to ensure we have an impartial judiciary that upholds the Constitution and the rule of law. We will fulfil our obligation to them."
CNN reports that "GOP aides are skeptical that there is enough time to confirm a nominee before November 3" as the process usually takes around two to three months but "that process could be sped up if McConnell, who controls the majority of the chamber, has the votes to confirm a replacement."
Judge Stanley Bastian has temporarily blocked the US Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy from changing USPS policies or protocols before the November election. Recent changes have slowed mail nationwide, in what Judge Bastian called "a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service".
"Although not necessarily apparent on the surface, at the heart of DeJoy's and the Postal Service's actions is voter disenfranchisement. This is evident in President Trump's highly partisan words and tweets, the actual impact of the changes on primary elections that resulted in uncounted ballots, and recent attempts and lawsuits by the Republican National Committee and President Trump's campaign to stop the States' efforts to bypass the Postal Service by utilizing ballot drop boxes, as well as the timing of the changes," so the Judge in a statement. "It is easy to conclude that the recent Postal Services' changes is an intentional effort on the part of the current Administration to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy of upcoming local, state, and federal elections, especially given that 72% of the ... high speed mail sorting machines that were decommissioned were located in counties where Hillary Clinton received the most votes in 2016."
Chinese-owned mobile apps TikTok and WeChat will be banned from all U.S. app stores, so the Trump administration on Friday. The ban, which will take effect on Sunday, will affect over 100 million people in the U.S. who are using the apps. The executive order prohibits any distribution or maintenance of TikTok and WeChat.
Further it will be illegal to host or transfer internet traffic associated with WeChat on Sunday and with TikTok on November 12. This means that WeChat will be shut down in the U.S. as of midnight Monday while TikTok will still function but can't be updated.
"As to TikTok, the only real change as of Sunday night will be users won’t have access to improved updated apps, upgraded apps or maintenance," so Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. "Today's actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party."
TikTok has declined to comment, so the New York Times. Oracle hasn't responded yet.
President Donald Trump posted a tweet on Sunday, stating that he had signed an executive order to lower drug prices.
"Just signed a new Executive Order to LOWER DRUG PRICES! My Most Favored Nation order will ensure that our Country gets the same low price Big Pharma gives to other countries. The days of global freeriding at America’s expense are over...," Trump tweeted on Sunday. "...and prices are coming down FAST! Also just ended all rebates to middlemen, further reducing prices."
During an interview with CNN, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told Jake Tapper that President Donald Trump "seems to have no conception of what constitutes national security". This statement refers to Trump telling Bob Woodward about existence of a classified nuclear weapons system.
"You wonder why people in the intelligence community wondered from the very beginning whether you could share data with him, 'cause they don't trust him. They don't trust what he'll say or do," so Biden to Tapper. "He seems to have no conception of what constitutes national security, no conception of anything other than, what can he do to promote himself?"
Bob Woodward's new book, titled "Rage", is based on "17 on-the-record interviews" with President Donald Trump over seven months and will be released on September 15.
The book highlights how Trump minimized the risks of the Covid-19 pandemic to not "create a panic" and denigrated multiple U.S. military officials. Woodward also pointed out that Trump failed to express empathy towards Black people and that two of Trump's top officials thought the president was "dangerous".