US president Donald Trump travelled to Ohio on Thursday ostensibly to announce an executive order to ensure essential medicines are made in America, in what largely felt and sounded like a campaign event. As the president left DC, Ohio governor Mike DeWine tested positive for coronavirus and was therefore unable to meet Air Force One on the tarmac in Cleveland.
In a speech at the Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio, the president veered on and off script lauding his purported achievements in trade for the American worker and promising more, while waxing lyrical about lightbulbs and water pressure, and going after his political opponents.
Earlier in the day, Trump suggested that Americans would have a coronavirus vaccine in November, and possibly before the presidential election. Meanwhile, three US social media sites censured president Donald Trump's claims on Wednesday that children were "virtually immune" to Covid-19, with Facebook calling the president's post "harmful Covid misinformation".
The US State Department announced it has lifted its global 'do not travel' order, in place since March, but there are still only a very small number of countries that welcome Americans.
The day couldn't go by without Trump taking a few swipes at his election opponent Joe Biden, who the president said is against religion, against the Bible, against God and against guns. He also took aim at Biden for insulting the black community after the former vice president asked an African American journalist if he was a "junkie".
Meanwhile, New York district attorney Letitia James, who has launched an investigation into the Trump Organisation, announced a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association that seeks to disband the gun-rights group.
First time Facebook deletes president Trump post
On Wednesday night, Facebook took the unprecedented decision to delete a post by US president Donald Trump, saying the content violated the social media site's policies on spreading Covid-19 misinformation.
The post in question contained a link to a Fox News video in which Mr Trump said children are "virtually immune" to the virus - a contested claim that has not been proven to be true.
Facebook's change of tack on coronavirus misinformation - which saw the site opting to label rather than delete misleading statements - puts the site on par with Twitter, where president Trump's own posts have come under greater scrutiny - and sometimes censored.
Twitter temporarily blocked the Trump campaign from tweeting until a post with the same video was deleted, saying that post had violated Covid misinformation policies. The president's own tweet which shared the video, was meanwhile hidden.
Whilst several studies suggest that children could be less prone to contracting Covid-19, none have proven this to be true.
A Centres for Disease Control and Prevention study involving 2,500 children published in April found that about one in five infected children were hospitalised compared to one in three adults.
Alex Woodward reports:
Trump claims coronavirus 'going away'
Donald Trump still believes coronavirus will “go away”, according to comments he made at the White House on Wednesday.
That came as American cases surpassed 4.8 million with over 157,00 deaths attributed to the disease, as per John Hopkins University data.
"It'll go away, like things go away," he told reporters at his daily new briefing. “No question in my mind, sooner rather than later”.
Mr Trump has made numerous statements on coronavirus vanishing, after downplaying the pandemic's threat in January and February.
“It’s going to disappear,” said the president on 27 February. “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”
That, as you will know, has not been the case.
One American dying with Covid-19 every 80 seconds, says study
At least one person in the United States has died every 80 seconds on average over the last seven days, according to new research, as president Donald Trump said the nation’s soaring death toll “is what it is” in a recent interview.
The grim figures were first reported by NBC News on Wednesday, which noted its own tally revealed 7,486 people died in the last seven days due to Covid-19.
Chris Riotta has the latest:
Dr. Fauci says 'we may never eradicate coronavirus'
As Donald Trump claimed coronavirus was 'going away' on Wednesday, White House coronavirus task force member, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that the world might not ever eradicate the virus.
“I don't think we’re going to eradicate this from the planet because it's such a highly transmissible virus that that seems unlikely,” Dr. Fauci said in an interview with Reuters.
The diseases expert also said that Americans could eventually beat the virus with vaccinations and safety measures such as masks, hand washing and social distancing.
“But what I think we can do with the combination of a good vaccine and attention to public health measures -- by attention I don't mean shut down, I mean things that are just prudent -- then I think we can get behind this."
"We may need to go through a season of it and then by next season, if we have a vaccine, it won't be a pandemic, it won't be immobilising the world, it won't be destroying the economy," he added.
Michael Cohen offered consultant job
Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer has been offered political consultant work, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
Making the announcement on Cohen's behalf, attorney Danya Perry said he also planed on publishing a tell-all book on Mr Trump "as quickly as possible".
Cohen has been serving a three-year sentence since May 2019, after pleading guilty to campaign finance fraud, lying to Congress, and facilitating payments to silence porn actresses who claimed to have affairs with Mr Trump, who has denied the affairs.
Cohen, who is now serving his sentence in home confinement after a coronavirus outbreak in prisons, was returned to prison and later released, after prosecutors dropped their media objections last week.
A judge said the government returned him to prison in July in retaliation after Cohen said publicly that he planned to publish the book titled "Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump."
The Bureau of Prisons denied that Cohen was imprisoned for retaliatory reasons.
Associated Press
Trump campaign attacks Facebook 'bias'
The president's campaign team have called-out Facebook for deleting the president's post which claimed - without evidence - that children were "virtually immune" to Covid-19.
Campaign spokeswoman Courtney Parella accused Facebook and Twitter, who ordered Trump's campaign team to delete a similar post, of bias against the president.
“The President was stating a fact that children are less susceptible to the coronavirus,” Ms Parella said in a statement, per The Hill.
“Another day, another display of Silicon Valley’s flagrant bias against this President, where the rules are only enforced in one direction."
"Social media companies are not the arbiters of truth," added Ms Parella.
President wants debate with Biden sooner
The Trump campaign has called on the US presidential debate commission to bring-forward his first debate with Democrat Joe Biden.
In a letter from the president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to the commission, he argued that voting would be underway in more than a dozen states before the first scheduled debate on 29 September.
“For a nation already deprived of a traditional campaign schedule because of the Covid-19 global pandemic, it makes no sense to also deprive so many Americans of the opportunity to see and hear the two competing visions for our country’s future before millions of votes have been cast,” said Mr Giuliani, calling the current schedule “an outdated dinosaur and not reflective of voting realities in 2020.”
Several states have prepared for a demand for absentee ballots as voters seek to avoid coming into contact with the coronavirus at the ballot box, despite Mr Trump's attacks on the method.
Alex Woodward reports:
Biden campaign catches-up with Trump on fundraising
Donald Trump's reelection campaign took in $165 million (£125m) last month, as his Democratic rival Joe Biden appeared to be closing-in on the incumbent's competitive advantage.
The Democratic Party, according to reports, are now just $6 million (£4.5m) shy of the $300 million (£228m) that the president and the Republican National Committee have banked.
The money puts the two on a virtually even footing that will allow both to saturate the airwaves with advertising, fund get-out-the-vote efforts and mobilise supporters ahead of November— even if it has to be done virtually in many cases due to the coronavirus.
Mr Biden‘s campaign on Wednesday announced what it says was the largest ever ad buy by a presidential candidate.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
Trump doubles-down on Beirut 'attack' claims
Donald Trump appeared to double down on claims that an explosion in Beirut on Tuesday may have been a deliberate attack, despite Lebanon officials suggesting it was the result of a neglected store ammonium nitrate.
Following the blast, which has killed at least 135 people and destroyed large swathes of the city, Mr Trump told reporters at Wednesday's White House briefing that the “terrible attack” may have been caused by a bomb.
Mr Trump said US generals told him that the explosion could have been planned. “They seem to think it was an attack,” he said. “It was a bomb of some kind, yes,” Trump added.
Those comments left US defence chiefs scrambling to explain the president’s position on Tuesday, with defence secretary Mark Esper appearing to contradict his boss, saying that most believe the explosion “was an accident, as reported”.
"How can you say it was an accident?", Mr Trump told reporters when he was questioned again on Wednesday, saying "somebody left some terrible explosive-type devices - and things - around, perhaps".
Matt Mathers reports:
Prosecutors subpoena Deutsche Bank on Trump investigation
An investigation into president Trump's business practices could be more wide-ranging than previously known, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, as prosecutors in New York were said to have subpoenaed his longtime lender, Deutsche Bank, to provide evidence.
The prosecutors issued the subpoena last year, seeking financial records that the Republican president and his company had provided to the bank, the Times said, citing four unnamed people.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance declined to confirm or deny the report, whilst New York attorney general Letitia James announced overnight that she would make a major national announcement on Thursday, causing further speculation.
The Times said Deutsche Bank complied with the subpoena and provided prosecutors with "detailed records, including financial statements and other materials" that Mr Trump had provided to the bank as he sought loans.
Ms Vance, a Democrat, this week suggested a grand jury subpoena for Trump's tax returns was part of an investigation of "possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization," including alleged insurance and bank fraud, which he denies.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Trump praises Kanye West, denies helping campaign
Donald Trump was forced to deny any Republican party involvement in Kanye West’s presidential campaign, as the rapper attempts to get his name on ballots in several key states this November.
“I like him. He’s always been very nice to me,” Mr Trump said of Mr West, who visited him in the Oval Office in 2018 wearing the president’s signature red “Make America Great Again” hat.
“I like Kanye very much, but no, I have nothing to do with him getting on the ballot. We’ll have to see what happens. We’ll see if he gets on the ballot. But I’m not involved,” Mr Trump said.
According to multiple reports, Republican campaign veterans have been working to get Mr West’s name on the ballot in Colorado and Wisconsin in an apparent effort to siphon votes away from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Lane Ruhland, a lawyer and longtime GOP operative who has ties to Mr Trump, submitted Mr West’s election paperwork and petition signatures to have his name appear on the ballot in Wisconsin, Vice reported.
Griffin Connolly has the latest:
Republicans prepare to battle in Tennessee primary
A pro-Trump candidate will compete against another conservative rival in Tenseness's Senate primary election on Thursday, in what is expected to be a test for Mr Trump.
The winner will likely replace the retiring Republican Senator and former US secretary of education, Lamar Alexander, who is among a dwindling number of moderate Republicans in Congress.
Mr Trump has endorsed Bill Hagerty, who served as the president's ambassador to Japan between 2017 and 2019, before deciding to run for the seat in Tennessee.
Strong campaign fundraising and Mr Trump's endorsement led many in Tennessee to conclude that Mr Hagerty would easily win the Republican nomination.
But an orthopedic trauma surgeon, Dr. Manny Sethi, has proven to be a tough competitor and has gained some high-profile endorsements from conservative Republican Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.
The winner likely will face Democrat James Mackler, a lawyer and Army veteran who has an up-hill battle in Tennessee on 3 November, which voted overwhelmingly for Mr Trump in 2016.
Both Mr Hagerty and Dr. Sethi were criticised in recent days, following reports that both candidates attended a Republican dinner without wearing masks amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Gov. Kemp accused of 'taking swipe' at protesters with new police protections
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed into law a new measure providing additional legal protections to police officers, a step that critics say is flawed and out of step with nationwide efforts to make officers more accountable for their actions.
House Bill 838 creates a new crime called "bias-motivated intimidation", which applies to the death or serious bodily injury of a police officer, and law enforcement property damage worth more than than $500 (£379.6).
The measures, which were was passed alongside a new bill penalising hate crimes in Georgia, were condemned by activists as "a direct swipe at Georgians participating in the Black Lives Matter protests who were asserting their constitutional rights.”
Jeff Amy reports:
Will US threaten more Chinese apps?
Following TikTok's potential ban, the Trump administration has suggested that other “untrusted” Chinese apps could be removed from the iOS and Android app stores in the US.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had already targeted messaging platform WeChat for its perceived relationship to the Chinese government and gave details about what the White House is now calling the “Clean Network” program.
However, experts have said such a move may in fact be illegal.
Adam Smith reports:
Talks continue in Congress on Covid-19 package
Top congressional Democrats and White House officials will try again on Thursday to find a compromise on another coronavirus aid package, with negotiators imposing a Friday deadline on talks.
Reports suggested some agreement has been reached, but both sides remain trillions of dollars apart on major issues including the size of supplemental unemployment payments.
"We're trying to get a deal that's good for the American public and American workers," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters after nearly two hours of talks on Wednesday.
"Our objective is to try to reach an understanding of the major issues by Friday. If we can't reach an agreement on the major issues, it's going to be hard to complete a deal."
Congress passed more than $3 trillion (£2.8 trillion) in assistance earlier this year, but lawmakers missed a deadline last week to extend the $600 (£456) per week in enhanced unemployment payments that played a key role in propping up the economy.
Democratic leaders have pushed for a more comprehensive package of assistance for the unemployed, the poor, hospitals, schools and state and local governments.
Mr Mnuchin has warned that the Trump administration would not accept "anything close" to the new aid sought by Democrats, whilst some Senate Republicans have rejected their own party's proposals.
On Wednesday, president Trump vowed to use executive powers to enforce eviction bans and other forms of relief for unemployed Americans. if both sides do not reach an agreement.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Trump campaign says president 'stating facts' on Covid-19
Donald Trump was “stating a fact” when he said that children are less susceptible to Covid-19, a White House official has said after Facebook removed a post in which the president made false claims about the virus.
Those comments were labelled as "misinformation" by Twitter, YouTube and Facebook - who on Wednesday night deleted a post by president Trump for the first time.
Matt Mathers has the latest on the controversy:
Social media sites crackdown on Trump
The president's campaign team accused social media companies of "flagrant bias" overnight, following the targeting of his posts containing "harmful" comments on children being "virtually immune" to coronavirus.
Those claims, whilst contested, have not been proven.
Whilst tensions between Mr Trump and social media are nothing new, Facebook had been previously condemned for not enforcing its own guidelines on spreading so-called "misinformation".
Now, months after social media sites devised rules on what was acceptable to post around Covid-19, president Trump has seen his accounts censored.
Andrew Griffin reports:
President seeks sympathy
Conservative political commentator, Paul Sperry, has provided president Trump with some sympathy this morning, as social media sites targeted posts containing "Covid misinformation" that Facebook called "harmful".
Mr Trump shared Mr Sperry's tweet with his 84 million Twitter followers on Thursday morning, which comes after an interview with Axios was panned on Tuesday, and #TrumpIsALaughingStock trended on Wednesday.
As Mr Sperry says: "How has President Trump not gone completely off the rails & ballistic by now?"
US unemployment numbers
Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week, the US Labor Department said on Thursday.
It marks the 20th straight week that at least 1 million people have sought jobless aid, as companies cut employees amid the pandemic.
The latest figures come just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payments expired, with lawmakers stuck in talks over continuing them.
The new jobless claims were down by 249,000 from the previous week after rising for two straight weeks.
Associated Press
