President Trump's pitch to voters: Trust me, economy will soar in 2021
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has a new pitch to voters for this fall: Trust me.As the economy faces a once-in-a-century recession, with more than 38 million people out of work, President Donald Trump is increasingly talking up a future recovery that probably won't materialize until after the November election.
President Trump to attend Wednesday's NASA astronaut launch in Florida
STERLING, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to be on the Florida coast Wednesday to watch American astronauts blast into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center for the first time in more than a decade.It will be the first time since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 that U.S. astronauts will launch into space aboard an American rocket from American soil.Also new Wednesday: a private company — not NASA — is running the show.Elon Musk’s SpaceX is the conductor and NASA the customer as businesses begin chauffeuring astronauts to the International Space Station.The NASA/SpaceX Commercial Crew flight test launch will carry NASA’s newest test pilots, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.They're scheduled to blast off from launch pad 39A, the same one the Apollo astronauts used to get to the moon.The shift to private companies allows NASA to zero in on deep space travel.
CDC warns of COVID-19 spread in group gatherings after 2 people infect dozens at church
WASHINGTON -- On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted a graphic to Twitter that detailed how two symptomatic individuals who would later test positive for COVID-19 ended up infecting at least 35 at church events in Arkansas in March, with three of those individuals dying.
Poll: President Trump's approval rating remains steady during pandemic
WASHINGTON — As the coronavirus pandemic stretches on, Americans’ views of the federal and state government response to the crisis are starting to sour — yet President Donald Trump’s personal approval rating has remained steady.A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 41% of Americans approve of the president’s job performance, while 58% disapprove.
Large study casts more doubt on use of malaria drug for coronavirus
BOSTON -- Malaria drugs pushed by President Donald Trump as treatments for the coronavirus did not help and were tied to a greater risk of death and heart rhythm problems in a new study of nearly 100,000 patients around the world.Friday’s report in the journal Lancet is not a rigorous test of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, but it is by far the largest look at their use in real-world settings, spanning 671 hospitals on six continents.“Not only is there no benefit, but we saw a very consistent signal of harm,” said one study leader, Dr.
President Trump deems churches 'essential,' calls for them to reopen
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he has deemed churches and other houses of worship “essential" and called on governors across the country to allow them to reopen this weekend despite the threat of spreading the coronavirus.“Today I’m identifying houses of worship — churches, synagogues and mosques — as essential places that provide essential services," President Trump said during a hastily arranged press conference at the White House, where he didn't take questions.
FBI director orders internal review of Flynn investigation
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray has ordered an internal review into possible misconduct in the investigation of former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn, the bureau said Friday.The after-action review will examine whether any employees engaged in misconduct during the course of the investigation and evaluate whether any improvements in FBI policies and procedures need to be made.In announcing the review, the FBI, a frequent target of President Donald Trump’s wrath, is stepping into a case that has become a rallying cry for PresidentTrump supporters.
President Trump declares emergency for flooded Michigan communities
MIDLAND, Mich. — Many Central Michigan residents remained cut off from their homes Thursday even as floodwaters receded, with senior citizens among the scores of displaced people staying in shelters after flooding overwhelmed two dams, submerged homes and washed out roads.President Donald Trump, who was in Michigan to visit a Ford production plant, signed an emergency declaration authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.At Midland High School, 90% of people who slept in the school’s gym were senior citizens, said shelter coordinator Jerry Wasserman.
President Trump to order flags flown at half-staff for 3 days in memory of lives lost to COVID-19
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he will order the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff over the next three days as the death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 95,000.President Trump tweeted Thursday: “I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus.”He said the flags will continue to be flown at half-staff on Memorial Day in honor of those in the military who died serving their country.The move follows a request from Democratic leaders to do so to recognize a “sad day of reckoning when we reach 100,000 deaths.”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote to President Trump that an order to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff would “serve as a national expression of grief so needed by everyone in our country.”
US says it's pulling out of Open Skies surveillance treaty
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration notified international partners on Thursday that it is pulling out of a treaty that permits 30-plus nations to conduct unarmed, observation flights over each other’s territory — overflights set up decades ago to promote trust and avert conflict.The administration says it wants out of the Open Skies Treaty because Russia is violating the pact, and imagery collected during the flights can be obtained quickly at less cost from U.S. or commercial satellites.
AP source: Ex-President Trump lawyer Cohen to be released from prison
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen will be released from federal prison Thursday and is expected to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.Cohen has been serving a federal prison sentence at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress.He will be released on furlough with the expectation that he will transition to home confinement to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, the person said.
Largest yet: $1.3 billion contract for border wall awarded
PHOENIX — A North Dakota construction company favored by President Donald Trump has received the largest contract to date to build a section of President Trump’s signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.Republican U.S. Sen.
Supreme Court blocks House from Mueller grand jury material
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily prevented the House of Representatives from obtaining secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.The court's unsigned order keeps previously undisclosed details from the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election out of the hands of Democratic lawmakers at least until early summer.
President Trump threatens to hold up coronavirus funds for states easing voting in pandemic
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to hold up federal funds for two election battleground states that are trying to make it easier and safer to vote during the coronavirus pandemic.The president's tweets targeting Michigan and Nevada marked an escalation in his campaign against voting by mail, a practice that he has publicly worried will lead so many people to vote that Republicans will lose in November.
Pres. Trump tells governors feds 'will step in' if government disagrees with state reopening plans
WASHINGTON -- President Trump told governors on a conference call Monday that he "will step in" if the federal government disagrees with state reopening plans, as he largely expressed satisfaction with how the governors are moving to lift coronavirus restrictions in their individual states, according to a report.Trump, whose administration last month revealed guidelines for when states should begin lifting stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures meant to slow the spread of the virus, has vocally pushed for the rapid reopening of the economy.
US, China standoff ensnares WHO meeting on COVID-19 fight
GENEVA — Facing the most disruptive pandemic in generations, the technocratic halls of the World Health Organization are now the scene of pitched battles in an increasingly bitter proxy war between the China and the United States.At the U.N. health agency's annual assembly this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping joined by video conference to offer more money and support.
My 'decision to make:' President Trump defends criticized use of drug
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump emphatically defended himself Tuesday against criticism from medical experts and others that his announced use of a malaria drug against the coronavirus could spark wide misuse by Americans of the unproven treatment with potentially fatal side effects.President Trump's bland statement a day earlier that he was taking hydroxychloroquine caught many in his administration by surprise and set off an urgent effort by officials to justify his action.
Experts: President Trump's threats to WHO could undercut global health
LONDON — Health experts say U.S. President Donald Trump's increasing attacks on the World Health Organization for its handling of the coronavirus demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the U.N. agency's role and could ultimately serve to weaken global health.In a letter to the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump wrote that the WHO's “repeated missteps” in its response to the pandemic have proven “very costly for the world.”On Monday, President Trump threatened to permanently cut U.S. funding to the WHO unless the agency commits to “substantive improvements” in the next 30 days.“I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America’s interests,” he wrote.The U.S. is the WHO's biggest donor, providing about $450 million a year.Devi Sridhar, a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh, said the letter was likely written for Trump's political base and meant to deflect blame for the virus' devastating impact in the U.S., which has by far the most infections and virus deaths in the world.“China and the U.S. are fighting it out like divorced parents while (the) WHO is the child caught in the middle, trying not to pick sides,” she said.“President Trump doesn’t understand what the WHO can and cannot do," she said, explaining that it sets international standards and is driven by its member countries. “If he thinks they need more power, then member states should agree and delegate it more.”In Brussels, the European Union threw its weight behind the WHO, urging all countries to support it in the wake of Trump's continued attacks.“This is the time for solidarity," said European Commission spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson. "It is not the time for finger pointing or undermining multilateral cooperation.”Michael Head, a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton, said much of what Trump was demanding was beyond the WHO's intended scope.“The WHO have limited powers, in terms of what they can demand of countries where outbreaks are taking place,” Head said. “They provide expert guidance and not enforcement by law.”Head noted that there are clear gaps in governance elsewhere that have allowed COVID-19 to spread — notably in the U.S., which has seen 1.5 million infections and over 90,000 deaths linked to COVID-19.President Trump has repeatedly accused the WHO of being unduly influenced by China, and wrote that the agency has been “curiously insistent” on praising the country's “alleged transparency.”The WHO acknowledged receipt of President Trump's missive and said it was “considering the contents of the letter,” according to a statement.