As Donald Trump became the first US president <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-impeached-again-becomes-first-us-president-to-suffer-impeachment-twice-356536">to be impeached twice</a>, several celebrities took to social media to react on the news.&nbsp; 
Model-cookbook author Chrissy Teigen, who has always been vocal about her opinion about Trump, Teigen was one of the first few prominent celebrities to react on Trump's impeachment news.&nbsp; 
 
She told her followers, "I didn’t even know you could be impeached twice. I thought it was like dying."

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I didn’t even know you could be impeached twice. I thought it was like dying
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/1349471017144471552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Star Wars actor Mark Hamill tweeted a picture of Trump pulling a face and wrote,"When one impeachment won’t suffice, Damn his new crimes- impeach him twice! #DarnOldDonald"

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When one impeachment won't suffice, 
Damn his new crimes- impeach him twice!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DarnOldDonald?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DarnOldDonald</a> <a href="https://t.co/LVDfyAopai">pic.twitter.com/LVDfyAopai</a>
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) <a href="https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/1349474283139940357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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US House of Representatives has charged him of 'incitement of insurrection' over the Capitol Hill violence that erupted on January 6 after Trump's address to his supporters in Washington DC.10 Republican representatives broke the party line to support Trump impeachment.&nbsp; 
 
Cardi B, meanwhile, was called by many fans a ‘fortune teller’ for her prediction on Trump. The rapper shared a video of her laughing to herself.

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I been told yaaa <a href="https://t.co/FtZYlJKEbe">pic.twitter.com/FtZYlJKEbe</a>
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamcardib/status/1349481440522637314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Here's how other celebrities reacted.

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Trump has once again been impeached. Are we sick of winning yet?
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1349467453005262850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Congrats to Trump on finally getting more votes than a Clinton
— Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) <a href="https://twitter.com/FullFrontalSamB/status/1349475445197176832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Things are looking up...<a href="https://t.co/cWosgCUg1T">https://t.co/cWosgCUg1T</a>
— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlecBaldwin/status/1349479944963952644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

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Mood when the President is being impeached AGAIN: <a href="https://t.co/GMdylpbv7d">pic.twitter.com/GMdylpbv7d</a>
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) <a href="https://twitter.com/PadmaLakshmi/status/1349472681226366976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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IMPEACHED AGAIN!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) <a href="https://twitter.com/BetteMidler/status/1349475465375997960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The importance of 10 GOP House members voting to impeach is this: It shows that it’s not about politics, it’s about courage. The truth is there, for those with guts enough to say it and mean it. To the ten with those guts, your country salutes you.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1349477545914335234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Donald Trump will now face trial in the US Senate but the proceedings won’t start until at least an hour after Joe Biden is sworn in as the next President of US on January 20.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/along-with-trump-impeachment-biden-urges-us-senate-to-consider-other-urgent-business-356546">Along with Trump impeachment, Biden urges US Senate to consider 'other urgent business'</a>

As Donald Trump became the first US president to be impeached twice, several celebrities took to social media to react on the news. Model-cookbook author Chrissy Teigen, who has always been vocal about her opinion about Trump, Teigen was one of the first few prominent celebrities to react on Trump's impeachment news.

As Donald Trump became the first US president to be impeached twice, several celebrities took to social media to react on the news. Model-cookbook author Chrissy Teigen, who has always been vocal about her opinion about Trump, Teigen was one of the first few prominent celebrities to react on Trump's impeachment news. She told her followers, "I didn’t even know you could be impeached twice. I thought it was like dying." I didn’t even know you could be impeached twice. I thought it was like dying — chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) January 13, 2021 × Star Wars actor Mark Hamill tweeted a picture of Trump pulling a face and wrote,"When one impeachment won’t suffice, Damn his new crimes- impeach him twice! #DarnOldDonald" When one impeachment won't suffice, Damn his new crimes- impeach him twice!#DarnOldDonald pic.twitter.com/LVDfyAopai — Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 13, 2021 × US House of Representatives has charged him of 'incitement of insurrection' over the Capitol Hill violence that erupted on January 6 after Trump's address to his supporters in Washington DC.10 Republican representatives broke the party line to support Trump impeachment. Cardi B, meanwhile, was called by many fans a ‘fortune teller’ for her prediction on Trump. The rapper shared a video of her laughing to herself. I been told yaaa pic.twitter.com/FtZYlJKEbe — iamcardib (@iamcardib) January 13, 2021 × Here's how other celebrities reacted. Trump has once again been impeached. Are we sick of winning yet? — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 13, 2021 × Congrats to Trump on finally getting more votes than a Clinton — Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) January 13, 2021 × Things are looking up...https://t.co/cWosgCUg1T — AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) January 13, 2021 × Mood when the President is being impeached AGAIN: pic.twitter.com/GMdylpbv7d — Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) January 13, 2021 × IMPEACHED AGAIN! — bettemidler (@BetteMidler) January 13, 2021 × The importance of 10 GOP House members voting to impeach is this: It shows that it’s not about politics, it’s about courage. The truth is there, for those with guts enough to say it and mean it. To the ten with those guts, your country salutes you. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) January 13, 2021 × Donald Trump will now face trial in the US Senate but the proceedings won’t start until at least an hour after Joe Biden is sworn in as the next President of US on January 20. Also Read | Along with Trump impeachment, Biden urges US Senate to consider 'other urgent business'

'Thought it was like dying': Chrissy Teigen, Cardi B, Mark Hamill and others react to Donald Trump's impeachment news

US President-elect Joe Biden and his team will soon face a crucial test as they begin transitioning into power.

They will have to decide whether to share transcripts of presidential calls with foreign leaders to a broad, security clearance-holding audience, or maintain a lockdown on official transcripts of the calls and other highly sensitive information.

The said curbs were imposed by the Trump administration over concerns they might be leaked.

Notably no decisions have been made about how these sensitive material will be handled when the President-elect takes office on January 20.

Biden is set to begin receiving Presidential Daily Briefings on Monday, a courtesy that is traditionally given to the president-elect, which was delayed by nearly four weeks because of Trump's refusal to concede defeat.

The Biden team will be given access to a secret server containing sensitive information related to President Donald Trump's more controversial conversations with foreign leaders on a need-to-know basis.&nbsp;

On their part, the Trump administration is prepared to share any information that they deem to be relevant to their future decision-making process.

According to CNN, the disclosure last year of a complaint by an unidentified whistleblower revealed concerns among White House officials over alleged attempts by the administration to "lock down" access to internal information.

The information included the President's July 2019 discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- which triggered the hearings that led to Trump's impeachment by the House of Representatives.

US President-elect Joe Biden and his team will soon face a crucial test as they begin transitioning into power. They will have to decide whether to share transcripts of presidential calls with foreign leaders to a broad, security clearance-holding audience, or maintain a lockdown on official transcripts of the calls and other highly sensitive information.

US President-elect Joe Biden and his team will soon face a crucial test as they begin transitioning into power. They will have to decide whether to share transcripts of presidential calls with foreign leaders to a broad, security clearance-holding audience, or maintain a lockdown on official transcripts of the calls and other highly sensitive information. The said curbs were imposed by the Trump administration over concerns they might be leaked. Notably no decisions have been made about how these sensitive material will be handled when the President-elect takes office on January 20. Biden is set to begin receiving Presidential Daily Briefings on Monday, a courtesy that is traditionally given to the president-elect, which was delayed by nearly four weeks because of Trump's refusal to concede defeat. The Biden team will be given access to a secret server containing sensitive information related to President Donald Trump's more controversial conversations with foreign leaders on a need-to-know basis. On their part, the Trump administration is prepared to share any information that they deem to be relevant to their future decision-making process. According to CNN, the disclosure last year of a complaint by an unidentified whistleblower revealed concerns among White House officials over alleged attempts by the administration to "lock down" access to internal information. The information included the President's July 2019 discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- which triggered the hearings that led to Trump's impeachment by the House of Representatives.

Biden to face crucial test over access to sensitive information as he transitions into power

One of China’s top political scientists, Zheng Yongnian has said that China must drop its illusion that its relations with the United States will automatically improve under President-elect Joe Biden's administration. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/us-china-trade-war-in-10-dates-241155">In pictures: US-China trade war in 10 dates</a> 
 
Zheng, a Chinese government advisor has said that Beijing should be prepared for a tough stance from Washington.

He recently said that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact would make it “challenging” for the US to form a new united trade front against China.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-is-mulling-joining-trade-pact-dumped-by-trump-344669">Also read: China is mulling joining trade pact dumped by Trump</a>

"Chinese government should utilise every opportunity to mend ties with the US," said Yongnian.

Zheng is the Dean of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies, a Shenzhen-based think tank.

"The good old days are over... the Cold War hawks in the US have been in a highly mobilised state for several years, and they will not disappear overnight," Zheng said in an interview on the sidelines of the Understanding China Conference in Guangzhou recently.

Zheng, who attended a symposium hosted by President Xi Jinping in August to offer advice on China's long-term strategy, said there was now a bipartisan consensus in the US on containing China.

Zheng said President-elect Joe Biden might take advantage of the public resentment towards China after he entered the White House. "American society is torn apart. I don't think Biden can do anything about it," Zheng said.

"He is certainly a very weak President, if he can't sort out domestic issues, then he will do something on the diplomatic front, do something against China. If we say Trump is not interested in promoting democracy and freedom, Biden is. (President Donald) Trump is not interested in war... but a Democratic President could start wars."

The relationship between China and the United States has deteriorated under President Trump over a variety of reasons, including COVID-19 handling, trade and human rights.

Over 300 separate Bills targeting China have been drawn up by both Democrats and Republicans in the Congress, and the important ones addressing the catastrophes in Hong Kong and Xinjiang enjoyed full bipartisan support. The most potentially effective law, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which Trump only reluctantly signed, was co-sponsored by Republican Marco Rubio and Kamala Harris, the Democrats' Vice-President-elect.

Chinese foreign policy specialists have said they expect tensions between the US and China to continue under the Biden presidency.

At times during the election campaign, Biden took a tough line on China, calling Xi a "thug".

(With inputs from agencies)

One of China’s top political scientists, Zheng Yongnian has said that China must drop its illusion that its relations with the United States will automatically improve under President-elect Joe Biden's administration.

One of China’s top political scientists, Zheng Yongnian has said that China must drop its illusion that its relations with the United States will automatically improve under President-elect Joe Biden's administration. In pictures: US-China trade war in 10 dates Zheng, a Chinese government advisor has said that Beijing should be prepared for a tough stance from Washington. He recently said that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact would make it “challenging” for the US to form a new united trade front against China. Also read: China is mulling joining trade pact dumped by Trump "Chinese government should utilise every opportunity to mend ties with the US," said Yongnian. Zheng is the Dean of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies, a Shenzhen-based think tank. "The good old days are over... the Cold War hawks in the US have been in a highly mobilised state for several years, and they will not disappear overnight," Zheng said in an interview on the sidelines of the Understanding China Conference in Guangzhou recently. Zheng, who attended a symposium hosted by President Xi Jinping in August to offer advice on China's long-term strategy, said there was now a bipartisan consensus in the US on containing China. Zheng said President-elect Joe Biden might take advantage of the public resentment towards China after he entered the White House. "American society is torn apart. I don't think Biden can do anything about it," Zheng said. "He is certainly a very weak President, if he can't sort out domestic issues, then he will do something on the diplomatic front, do something against China. If we say Trump is not interested in promoting democracy and freedom, Biden is. (President Donald) Trump is not interested in war... but a Democratic President could start wars." The relationship between China and the United States has deteriorated under President Trump over a variety of reasons, including COVID-19 handling, trade and human rights. Over 300 separate Bills targeting China have been drawn up by both Democrats and Republicans in the Congress, and the important ones addressing the catastrophes in Hong Kong and Xinjiang enjoyed full bipartisan support. The most potentially effective law, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which Trump only reluctantly signed, was co-sponsored by Republican Marco Rubio and Kamala Harris, the Democrats' Vice-President-elect. Chinese foreign policy specialists have said they expect tensions between the US and China to continue under the Biden presidency. At times during the election campaign, Biden took a tough line on China, calling Xi a "thug". (With inputs from agencies)

Joe Biden is a very weak President, could start wars: China’s top political scientist

Highlighting the "strong bipartisan support" in the US "to strengthen its strategic partnership with India", India's foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday that India was looking to work with the new US Administration to "further strengthening and consolidating this multifaceted relationship for our mutual benefit and economic prosperity."

His comments come days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President-elect Joe Biden spoke with each other. The focus of their discussion was on Indo-Pacific, Covid pandemic, Climate Change among other things.

"As two mature, pluralistic and vibrant democracies with shared values, India and the US are natural partners of choice in forging a stable, peaceful and prosperous 21st century," Shringla pointed out,

"The India-US partnership is anchored in mutual trust and friendship, a shared commitment to democracy, converging strategic interests and the robust engagement of our citizens. I have personally witnessed the growing convergence in the strategic perspectives of India and the US over recent years," he said.

Foreign Secretary also spoke on commercial ties saying New Delhi believed that the US was a "natural partner for India" for its quest for building a resilient economy. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In October, 2+2 Dialogue took place between India and the US. Both sides have also been engaging in the Quad format and Malabar exercises. Foreign Ministers of the Quad countries (India, Australia, Japan and the US) had an in-person meeting in Tokyo earlier this year. New Delhi has also invited Australia for Malabar naval exercises that are underway now in the Indian Ocean.

Highlighting the "strong bipartisan support" in the US "to strengthen its strategic partnership with India", India's foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday that India was looking to work with the new US Administration to "further strengthening and consolidating this multifaceted relationship for our mutual benefit and economic prosperity.

Highlighting the "strong bipartisan support" in the US "to strengthen its strategic partnership with India", India's foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday that India was looking to work with the new US Administration to "further strengthening and consolidating this multifaceted relationship for our mutual benefit and economic prosperity." His comments come days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President-elect Joe Biden spoke with each other. The focus of their discussion was on Indo-Pacific, Covid pandemic, Climate Change among other things. "As two mature, pluralistic and vibrant democracies with shared values, India and the US are natural partners of choice in forging a stable, peaceful and prosperous 21st century," Shringla pointed out, "The India-US partnership is anchored in mutual trust and friendship, a shared commitment to democracy, converging strategic interests and the robust engagement of our citizens. I have personally witnessed the growing convergence in the strategic perspectives of India and the US over recent years," he said. Foreign Secretary also spoke on commercial ties saying New Delhi believed that the US was a "natural partner for India" for its quest for building a resilient economy. In October, 2+2 Dialogue took place between India and the US. Both sides have also been engaging in the Quad format and Malabar exercises. Foreign Ministers of the Quad countries (India, Australia, Japan and the US) had an in-person meeting in Tokyo earlier this year. New Delhi has also invited Australia for Malabar naval exercises that are underway now in the Indian Ocean.

Looking forward to work with new US administration: Foreign Secretary Shringla

It is being anticipated that US President Donald Trump would -- as soon as this week -- begin a further withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.&nbsp;US military commanders are expecting that a formal order will be soon given by him.

The Pentagon has issued a notice to commanders known as a "warning order" to begin planning to drawdown the number of troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 troops and 2,500 in Iraq by January 15, officials told CNN.&nbsp;

Currently there are approximately 4,500 US troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 troops in Iraq.

On October 7, Trump tweeted: "We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!"

Then-Secretary of Defence Mark Esper sent a classified memo earlier this month to the White House asserting that it was the unanimous recommendation of the chain of command that the US not draw down its troop presence in Afghanistan any further until conditions were met.

According to CNN, the memo is believed to have been one of the main reasons why Trump fired Esper last week.

The decision to pull additional troops out of Iraq comes as the Trump administration has moved to reduce the US military's footprint there in recent months.

The US commander in the Middle East announced a drawdown of troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 in September.

In March, US forces began pulling back from bases across Iraq, turning them over to Iraqi security partners. Pentagon had then mentioned long-planned consolidation as the reason.

The Trump administration has already substantially reduced US troops in Afghanistan by more than 50%, recently bringing the number of military personnel there down to about 4,500, the lowest levels since the earliest days of the post 9/11 campaign.

Trump fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper last week, replacing him with Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre.

In one of his first moves as acting Defence Secretary, Miller sent a seemingly contradictory message to the force on Friday, saying the US must continue its battle against al Qaeda and the terrorist forces behind 9/11 while also saying it was time to bring troops home.

It is being anticipated that US President Donald Trump would -- as soon as this week -- begin a further withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. US military commanders are expecting that a formal order will be soon given by him.

It is being anticipated that US President Donald Trump would -- as soon as this week -- begin a further withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. US military commanders are expecting that a formal order will be soon given by him. The Pentagon has issued a notice to commanders known as a "warning order" to begin planning to drawdown the number of troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 troops and 2,500 in Iraq by January 15, officials told CNN. Currently there are approximately 4,500 US troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 troops in Iraq. On October 7, Trump tweeted: "We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!" Then-Secretary of Defence Mark Esper sent a classified memo earlier this month to the White House asserting that it was the unanimous recommendation of the chain of command that the US not draw down its troop presence in Afghanistan any further until conditions were met. According to CNN, the memo is believed to have been one of the main reasons why Trump fired Esper last week. The decision to pull additional troops out of Iraq comes as the Trump administration has moved to reduce the US military's footprint there in recent months. The US commander in the Middle East announced a drawdown of troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 in September. In March, US forces began pulling back from bases across Iraq, turning them over to Iraqi security partners. Pentagon had then mentioned long-planned consolidation as the reason. The Trump administration has already substantially reduced US troops in Afghanistan by more than 50%, recently bringing the number of military personnel there down to about 4,500, the lowest levels since the earliest days of the post 9/11 campaign. Trump fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper last week, replacing him with Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre. In one of his first moves as acting Defence Secretary, Miller sent a seemingly contradictory message to the force on Friday, saying the US must continue its battle against al Qaeda and the terrorist forces behind 9/11 while also saying it was time to bring troops home.

Trump expected to order troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq

Senior US federal and state election officials said Thursday that there was "no evidence" that votes were lost or changed, or voting systems corrupted, in the presidential election. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-files-new-lawsuit-challenging-poll-results-georgia-announces-recount-342514">Also read | Donald Trump files new lawsuit challenging poll results, Georgia announces recount&nbsp;</a> 
 
The officials, responsible for election security across the country, rejected claims made by President Donald Trump and Republicans that fraud and lost ballots led to his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in last week's election.

"The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history," they said in a statement.

"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," they said.

"While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too."

The statement was issued by the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, a public-private umbrella group under the primary federal election security body, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

It was signed by the heads of the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State -- the officials who manage elections at the state level -- and by the chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission.

It came hours after Trump retweeted a baseless claim that an election equipment maker "deleted" 2.7 million votes for him nationwide and switched hundreds of thousand from him to Biden in Pennsylvania and other states.

It was the latest in a series of bogus assertions Trump and Republicans have put forth in order to reject Biden's victory.

The company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the Pennsylvania Department of States flatly denied Trump's claims.

The statement from the election security officials also came amid reports that Trump could fire the head of CISA, Chris Krebs, who has made a strong effort to stifle unsupported allegations of fraud that have surfaced while the votes have been counted around the country.

Despite that, rumours and conspiracy theories of a corrupted vote that allegedly "robbed" Trump have flooded the internet, and Republicans and the Trump campaign have filed multiple lawsuits around the country claiming irregularities.

So far none have been substantiated in court.

The statement said that election officials across the country are currently "reviewing and double-checking" their state and local results prior to certifying the numbers.

"When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary," the officials said.

Senior US federal and state election officials said Thursday that there was "no evidence" that votes were lost or changed, or voting systems corrupted, in the presidential election.

Senior US federal and state election officials said Thursday that there was "no evidence" that votes were lost or changed, or voting systems corrupted, in the presidential election. Also read | Donald Trump files new lawsuit challenging poll results, Georgia announces recount The officials, responsible for election security across the country, rejected claims made by President Donald Trump and Republicans that fraud and lost ballots led to his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in last week's election. "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history," they said in a statement. "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," they said. "While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too." The statement was issued by the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, a public-private umbrella group under the primary federal election security body, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It was signed by the heads of the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State -- the officials who manage elections at the state level -- and by the chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission. It came hours after Trump retweeted a baseless claim that an election equipment maker "deleted" 2.7 million votes for him nationwide and switched hundreds of thousand from him to Biden in Pennsylvania and other states. It was the latest in a series of bogus assertions Trump and Republicans have put forth in order to reject Biden's victory. The company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the Pennsylvania Department of States flatly denied Trump's claims. The statement from the election security officials also came amid reports that Trump could fire the head of CISA, Chris Krebs, who has made a strong effort to stifle unsupported allegations of fraud that have surfaced while the votes have been counted around the country. Despite that, rumours and conspiracy theories of a corrupted vote that allegedly "robbed" Trump have flooded the internet, and Republicans and the Trump campaign have filed multiple lawsuits around the country claiming irregularities. So far none have been substantiated in court. The statement said that election officials across the country are currently "reviewing and double-checking" their state and local results prior to certifying the numbers. "When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary," the officials said.

No evidence of lost, deleted or changed votes: US election officials 

Joe Biden won the US presidential election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump, who has refused to concede and is planning to contest the election results.

Where does that leave Biden and the rest of America? Will they wait for the courts to decide? Or start preparing for the transition? Biden will be using the next couple of months to build his inner circle, and to announce his core team. It seems Biden will be dealing with Donald Trump in courts, as the president is set on not letting Biden inherit the White House peacefully.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/siri-refers-to-kamala-harris-as-the-us-president-setting-off-a-new-conspiracy-theory-341997" hreflang="en">Siri refers to Kamala Harris as the US President, setting off a new conspiracy theory</a>

Report say that team Trump has refused to sign a letter, which would allow team Biden to formally begin work this week. When a new president is about to take office, the outgoing government must enable the transition.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-despite-trumps-threat-biden-plans-move-to-white-house-342017/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The US also has a law to ensure this, called the Pre-election Presidential Transition Act, which says Biden's transition team is entitled to use government office spaces and equipment, with access to government officials.

Biden’s camp is also entitled to money, as part of which the government must pay the expenses of the transition team. According to reports, more than four thousand positions have to be filled when a new president takes charge. And the transition team has to identify and vet all these candidates.

They also have to arrange for the occupancy of executive residences. Biden has already begun planning his transition. And he's looking at assembling one of the most diverse cabinets in history.

The first appointments will be of the White House staff. The cabinet appointments won't be made public until around thanksgiving, and Biden has even raised money for the team. In May, at least seven million dollars were raised for the transition. Reports say Biden is planning a slew of executive actions, including the immediate reversals of some of Trump's decisions. This could include cancelling America's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Last week, the secret service has stepped up the protection of both Biden and Harris.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/meet-the-biden-familys-major-the-first-rescue-dog-to-grace-the-white-house-341949" hreflang="en">Meet the Biden family's 'Major': The first rescue dog to grace the White House</a>

As president-elect, Biden will now receive several briefings. This includes the president's daily briefing, and background briefings on covert actions.

The American security establishment is now supposed to brief Biden and his team on global dynamics. President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will meet soon. Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden will receive a tour of the White House.

During the tour, they're also asked about the White House decor, and if would they like to change it. The Biden camp has also created a Twitter page to keep everyone informed about the transition.

There is also a website called “Build back better”. Here, Biden and Harris list the&nbsp;coronavirus, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change as their first four priorities. In fact, Biden wants to focus on the virus from day one, and a task force is being created, which will be led by an Indian American - Dr Vivek Murthy - the former US Surgeon General.

Joe Biden won the US presidential election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump, who has refused to concede and is planning to contest the election results. Where does that leave Biden and the rest of America?

Joe Biden won the US presidential election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump, who has refused to concede and is planning to contest the election results. Where does that leave Biden and the rest of America? Will they wait for the courts to decide? Or start preparing for the transition? Biden will be using the next couple of months to build his inner circle, and to announce his core team. It seems Biden will be dealing with Donald Trump in courts, as the president is set on not letting Biden inherit the White House peacefully. Also read: Siri refers to Kamala Harris as the US President, setting off a new conspiracy theory Report say that team Trump has refused to sign a letter, which would allow team Biden to formally begin work this week. When a new president is about to take office, the outgoing government must enable the transition. The US also has a law to ensure this, called the Pre-election Presidential Transition Act, which says Biden's transition team is entitled to use government office spaces and equipment, with access to government officials. Biden’s camp is also entitled to money, as part of which the government must pay the expenses of the transition team. According to reports, more than four thousand positions have to be filled when a new president takes charge. And the transition team has to identify and vet all these candidates. They also have to arrange for the occupancy of executive residences. Biden has already begun planning his transition. And he's looking at assembling one of the most diverse cabinets in history. The first appointments will be of the White House staff. The cabinet appointments won't be made public until around thanksgiving, and Biden has even raised money for the team. In May, at least seven million dollars were raised for the transition. Reports say Biden is planning a slew of executive actions, including the immediate reversals of some of Trump's decisions. This could include cancelling America's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Last week, the secret service has stepped up the protection of both Biden and Harris. Also read: Meet the Biden family's 'Major': The first rescue dog to grace the White House As president-elect, Biden will now receive several briefings. This includes the president's daily briefing, and background briefings on covert actions. The American security establishment is now supposed to brief Biden and his team on global dynamics. President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will meet soon. Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden will receive a tour of the White House. During the tour, they're also asked about the White House decor, and if would they like to change it. The Biden camp has also created a Twitter page to keep everyone informed about the transition. There is also a website called “Build back better”. Here, Biden and Harris list the coronavirus, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change as their first four priorities. In fact, Biden wants to focus on the virus from day one, and a task force is being created, which will be led by an Indian American - Dr Vivek Murthy - the former US Surgeon General.

US election 2020: Trump refuses to concede. Where does that leave Biden?

Poll workers in Derry, New Hampshire, learned the hard way earlier this year that hand sanitizer and paper ballots do not mix. So on Election Day, they carefully repositioned the gallon tubs of sanitizer from the entrance of their polling place to the exit, hoping to keep voters from gunking up their ballots.

But their effort could not stop the woman who brought her own bottle of hand sanitizer and applied a heavy lather as she voted, dampening the paper so much that the AccuVote ballot reader refused to accept it. When the soggy ballot was finally yanked out of the jammed contraption, there was no mistaking what had happened: Everyone could see the voter’s wet handprint on the paper.

“I don’t know what it is about hand sanitizer, maybe it’s the alcoholic content, but if you ever tried to pour hand sanitizer on nicer paper, it almost — I don’t want to say it disintegrates, but it makes it weaker,” said Tina Guilford, the top election official in Derry, who has come to learn how to process those accidentally sanitized ballots.

In a year when interference by foreign governments, armed protesters and voter suppression were considered the main threats at the polls, some Election Day holdups were the result of everyday municipal malfunctions.

Those setbacks highlight the decentralized nature of national elections, which rely on hundreds of thousands of everyday people to work the polls. And they bring attention to what some advocates have been urging for years: the need for better basic infrastructure in some voting locations, including new polling places to reduce crowding and improved systems to register online or vote by mail.

Lawrence Norden, the director of the election reform program at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, said election officials seemed better prepared this year, in part because of the microscope the coronavirus pandemic and fears of meddling placed over the 2020 election. Congress also sent $400 million to the states as part of the economic stimulus bill signed by President Donald Trump in March to help them make adjustments for safe elections, although some Democrats said at the time that more money was needed.

“There’s no question that our election infrastructure is chronically underfunded,” Norden said, although he noted that more money, private and public, had flowed to election planning in recent years.

In the 2018 midterm elections, voters cast ballots at about 230,871 polling places, where more than 637,000 poll workers — two-thirds of whom were older than 60 — signed them in, guided them to their ballots and counted their votes. That patchwork of election districts and poll workers makes mishaps impossible to avoid, experts said, but can also keep an incident at one polling place from affecting a broader region.

“The fact that we do fundamentally run elections by volunteer citizens in their local communities, that keeps a minor or even a major problem happening in one place from bringing down our democracy,” said Maggie Toulouse Oliver, the New Mexico secretary of state and president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

This week saw a variety of such small-scale interruptions. In Atlanta, the culprit was leaky plumbing. Inside the arena where the Atlanta Hawks play basketball — converted into a polling place — the early-morning discovery that a burst pipe was leaking water into a room with absentee ballots delayed the count by a couple of hours. An arena staff member quickly fixed the leak, and none of the ballots were damaged, officials said.

Several polling places in Louisiana were running on generators after lingering power failures caused by Hurricane Zeta, which led to a feud between local and state officials over who was responsible for sending the generators to election sites. Officials ultimately moved two polling locations to a nearby middle school, and there were no serious delays.

In Hidalgo County in South Texas, just across the border from Mexico, it was a technical glitch. New laptops that had been distributed to polling sites before Election Day to help accommodate the region’s record-breaking turnout did not work, causing delays of up to 90 minutes Tuesday morning.

“They were not allowing the software program to open up to check in voters,” Yvonne Ramon, the county elections administrator, said. “And because they were scattered throughout the county, my field service technicians took off to the nearest locations. We’re a large county, so going from location to location is not an easy thing.”

Ramon noted that hiccups with new technology were not unusual. But the county kept polling places open an additional hour Tuesday night to make up for the earlier delays, and everyone who had come out to cast a ballot was ultimately able to do so, she said.

In the battleground state of Wisconsin, the last few hundred votes went unreported for several hours because the Richland County clerk could not reach the clerk in the town of Willow, who had said she felt sick and then could not be reached, according to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Willow’s 274 votes were eventually reported. In Green Bay, the count of absentee votes was briefly delayed while an election official ran over to City Hall to get more ink for the vote-counting machines.

Poll workers face unexpected glitches every year, but warnings about distorted tallies or delayed counts made voters and observers more on edge than usual about any oddities. None of the complications this week led to serious problems, elections officials said. Some, like the hand sanitizer incident, were the result of an election severely altered by coronavirus precautions.

Until this year, “Hand sanitizer was never a thing at a polling place,” said Guilford, the official in Derry, where just over 18,000 people voted. The ballot that jammed the machine was ultimately hand counted, and the ballot reader was taken out of service, she said.

Hand sanitizer had tripped up other ballot machines in New Hampshire earlier this year, and on Tuesday in Iowa, requiring one of the machines to be fixed.

Daniel Healey, the town clerk in Derry, said election officials had done what they could to keep it from happening again, but that they could not stop everything.

“There was way less hand sanitizer this time,” he said, but some people brought their own. “There’s no way to stop it entirely.” 
&nbsp;

Poll workers in Derry, New Hampshire, learned the hard way earlier this year that hand sanitizer and paper ballots do not mix. So on Election Day, they carefully repositioned the gallon tubs of sanitizer from the entrance of their polling place to the exit, hoping to keep voters from gunking up their ballots.

Poll workers in Derry, New Hampshire, learned the hard way earlier this year that hand sanitizer and paper ballots do not mix. So on Election Day, they carefully repositioned the gallon tubs of sanitizer from the entrance of their polling place to the exit, hoping to keep voters from gunking up their ballots. But their effort could not stop the woman who brought her own bottle of hand sanitizer and applied a heavy lather as she voted, dampening the paper so much that the AccuVote ballot reader refused to accept it. When the soggy ballot was finally yanked out of the jammed contraption, there was no mistaking what had happened: Everyone could see the voter’s wet handprint on the paper. “I don’t know what it is about hand sanitizer, maybe it’s the alcoholic content, but if you ever tried to pour hand sanitizer on nicer paper, it almost — I don’t want to say it disintegrates, but it makes it weaker,” said Tina Guilford, the top election official in Derry, who has come to learn how to process those accidentally sanitized ballots. In a year when interference by foreign governments, armed protesters and voter suppression were considered the main threats at the polls, some Election Day holdups were the result of everyday municipal malfunctions. Those setbacks highlight the decentralized nature of national elections, which rely on hundreds of thousands of everyday people to work the polls. And they bring attention to what some advocates have been urging for years: the need for better basic infrastructure in some voting locations, including new polling places to reduce crowding and improved systems to register online or vote by mail. Lawrence Norden, the director of the election reform program at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, said election officials seemed better prepared this year, in part because of the microscope the coronavirus pandemic and fears of meddling placed over the 2020 election. Congress also sent $400 million to the states as part of the economic stimulus bill signed by President Donald Trump in March to help them make adjustments for safe elections, although some Democrats said at the time that more money was needed. “There’s no question that our election infrastructure is chronically underfunded,” Norden said, although he noted that more money, private and public, had flowed to election planning in recent years. In the 2018 midterm elections, voters cast ballots at about 230,871 polling places, where more than 637,000 poll workers — two-thirds of whom were older than 60 — signed them in, guided them to their ballots and counted their votes. That patchwork of election districts and poll workers makes mishaps impossible to avoid, experts said, but can also keep an incident at one polling place from affecting a broader region. “The fact that we do fundamentally run elections by volunteer citizens in their local communities, that keeps a minor or even a major problem happening in one place from bringing down our democracy,” said Maggie Toulouse Oliver, the New Mexico secretary of state and president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. This week saw a variety of such small-scale interruptions. In Atlanta, the culprit was leaky plumbing. Inside the arena where the Atlanta Hawks play basketball — converted into a polling place — the early-morning discovery that a burst pipe was leaking water into a room with absentee ballots delayed the count by a couple of hours. An arena staff member quickly fixed the leak, and none of the ballots were damaged, officials said. Several polling places in Louisiana were running on generators after lingering power failures caused by Hurricane Zeta, which led to a feud between local and state officials over who was responsible for sending the generators to election sites. Officials ultimately moved two polling locations to a nearby middle school, and there were no serious delays. In Hidalgo County in South Texas, just across the border from Mexico, it was a technical glitch. New laptops that had been distributed to polling sites before Election Day to help accommodate the region’s record-breaking turnout did not work, causing delays of up to 90 minutes Tuesday morning. “They were not allowing the software program to open up to check in voters,” Yvonne Ramon, the county elections administrator, said. “And because they were scattered throughout the county, my field service technicians took off to the nearest locations. We’re a large county, so going from location to location is not an easy thing.” Ramon noted that hiccups with new technology were not unusual. But the county kept polling places open an additional hour Tuesday night to make up for the earlier delays, and everyone who had come out to cast a ballot was ultimately able to do so, she said. In the battleground state of Wisconsin, the last few hundred votes went unreported for several hours because the Richland County clerk could not reach the clerk in the town of Willow, who had said she felt sick and then could not be reached, according to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Willow’s 274 votes were eventually reported. In Green Bay, the count of absentee votes was briefly delayed while an election official ran over to City Hall to get more ink for the vote-counting machines. Poll workers face unexpected glitches every year, but warnings about distorted tallies or delayed counts made voters and observers more on edge than usual about any oddities. None of the complications this week led to serious problems, elections officials said. Some, like the hand sanitizer incident, were the result of an election severely altered by coronavirus precautions. Until this year, “Hand sanitizer was never a thing at a polling place,” said Guilford, the official in Derry, where just over 18,000 people voted. The ballot that jammed the machine was ultimately hand counted, and the ballot reader was taken out of service, she said. Hand sanitizer had tripped up other ballot machines in New Hampshire earlier this year, and on Tuesday in Iowa, requiring one of the machines to be fixed. Daniel Healey, the town clerk in Derry, said election officials had done what they could to keep it from happening again, but that they could not stop everything. “There was way less hand sanitizer this time,” he said, but some people brought their own. “There’s no way to stop it entirely.”

The unforeseen threats to the 2020 election: Hand sanitizer and bad plumbing

Australia gambling portal Sportsbet has shelled out a mind-boggling $23 million after calling the US Elections 2020 in favour of Democrat Joe Biden even though President Donald Trump has called out three states for allegedly manipulating the vote.

The sports gambling website called the US Elections 2020 for Biden on Thursday (Wednesday in the USA) as they announced a major “early payout” for users who had put their money on Biden while hitting there was still plenty of cash to be made.

“The market is still open” tweeted Sportsbet for those who were looking to put their money on the US campaign. They further revealed that a whopping $23 million had already been paid out to individuals who had placed their wagers on the face-off.

Sportsbet further wrote that other “markets” are closed. The counting process continued to Thursday with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing the vote into disarray. Still, millions of mail-in ballots are remained to be counted.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/did-jofra-archer-predict-a-win-for-joe-biden-over-donald-trump-old-tweet-goes-viral-340515" hreflang="en">Did Jofra Archer predict a win for Joe Biden over Donald Trump? Old tweet goes viral</a>

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BIDEN EARLY PAYOUT: 
- $23 million paid out 
- The market is still open if you wish to bet on Biden or Trump to win the Presidential Election 
- All other markets now closed 
- Now get some sleep<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/USElection2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USElection2020</a>
— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsbetcomau/status/1324143663568412672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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President Trump seemed confident of winning the US Elections 2020 on Tuesday. However, ballot-counting has handed an advantage to Biden after victory calls in Arizona and Michigan.

The former vice-president has, so far, notched up 264 of the 270 electoral votes needed to become the next president of the US. Whereas Trump has just 214 votes of the votes he requires to remain in the White House.&nbsp;

Donald Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia after poll watchers observed anomalies in ballot counting. It has further demanded a recount in Wisconsin. Earlier, Trump had declared victory in Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina despite none of those states announcing a winner. 
&nbsp;

Australia gambling portal Sportsbet has shelled out a mind-boggling $23 million after calling the US Elections 2020 in favour of Democrat Joe Biden even though President Donald Trump has called out three states for allegedly manipulating the vote.

Australia gambling portal Sportsbet has shelled out a mind-boggling $23 million after calling the US Elections 2020 in favour of Democrat Joe Biden even though President Donald Trump has called out three states for allegedly manipulating the vote. The sports gambling website called the US Elections 2020 for Biden on Thursday (Wednesday in the USA) as they announced a major “early payout” for users who had put their money on Biden while hitting there was still plenty of cash to be made. “The market is still open” tweeted Sportsbet for those who were looking to put their money on the US campaign. They further revealed that a whopping $23 million had already been paid out to individuals who had placed their wagers on the face-off. Sportsbet further wrote that other “markets” are closed. The counting process continued to Thursday with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing the vote into disarray. Still, millions of mail-in ballots are remained to be counted. ALSO READ: Did Jofra Archer predict a win for Joe Biden over Donald Trump? Old tweet goes viral BIDEN EARLY PAYOUT: - $23 million paid out - The market is still open if you wish to bet on Biden or Trump to win the Presidential Election - All other markets now closed - Now get some sleep#USElection2020 — Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) November 5, 2020 × President Trump seemed confident of winning the US Elections 2020 on Tuesday. However, ballot-counting has handed an advantage to Biden after victory calls in Arizona and Michigan. The former vice-president has, so far, notched up 264 of the 270 electoral votes needed to become the next president of the US. Whereas Trump has just 214 votes of the votes he requires to remain in the White House. Donald Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia after poll watchers observed anomalies in ballot counting. It has further demanded a recount in Wisconsin. Earlier, Trump had declared victory in Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina despite none of those states announcing a winner.

Australian bookies shell out $23 million early on Joe Biden win over Donald Trump

US television news networks are preparing for an election night like no other, as a divided nation chooses the next president amid a global pandemic, with more voters casting their ballots early and by mail than ever before. 
 
In this year’s contest between Republican US President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, TV networks are facing heightened pressure to report election results accurately and without unwarranted speculation. 
 
Among the challenges facing the nation - and the networks - are a president stoking fears of ballot fraud, a deeply divided electorate and the specter of a prolonged vote count, which raises the potential for protests, violence and lawsuits.

This will be the first presidential election in which the major TV networks will get data from different providers, raising the potential for divergent perspectives on election night returns. 
 
Fox Corp’s Fox News and the Associated Press are no longer using traditional in-person exit polls, instead relying on online and telephone surveys that aim to reach early and Election Day voters. The news organizations will combine that survey data with real-time results tabulated by the AP to help make projections. 
 
The three broadcast news networks and AT&amp;T-owned CNN are part of the National Election Pool consortium, which will rely on the firm Edison Research for exit polls and results as they come in from each precinct. Reuters has a distribution deal with the NEP for 2020 election data. 
 
Networks will be showcasing their investments in more polling, deeper data analysis, and additional reporting on the mechanics of voting, voting integrity and misinformation. 
 
ViacomCBS Inc.-owned CBS News will broadcast its Election Night coverage from Times Square for the first time, with primetime coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST. The network will use four high-resolution LED video walls to display real-time data, maps, results and video feeds from around the country. 
 
CNN will begin its coverage at 4:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, with correspondent John King reporting live from the network’s “Magic Wall,” along with political director David Chalian, who will cover exit polls. 
 
Comcast Corp-owned NBC News` coverage will begin at 7:00 pm. EST, lasting until at least 4 am, and as long as the race continues. The network will rely on more than 100 NBC News journalists for its coverage. Its “Decision Desk” will make projections when there is 99.5 percent statistical confidence in the result. 
 
Walt Disney Co’s ABC News will begin its primetime coverage at 7 pm. EST, with anchor George Stephanopoulos leading coverage from New York. 
 
Fox News is airing an eight-hour-long live special “Fox News Democracy 2020: Election Coverage,” beginning at 6 pm EST; additional coverage will continue until 9 am.

US television news networks are preparing for an election night like no other, as a divided nation chooses the next president amid a global pandemic, with more voters casting their ballots early and by mail than ever before.

US television news networks are preparing for an election night like no other, as a divided nation chooses the next president amid a global pandemic, with more voters casting their ballots early and by mail than ever before. In this year’s contest between Republican US President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, TV networks are facing heightened pressure to report election results accurately and without unwarranted speculation. Among the challenges facing the nation - and the networks - are a president stoking fears of ballot fraud, a deeply divided electorate and the specter of a prolonged vote count, which raises the potential for protests, violence and lawsuits. This will be the first presidential election in which the major TV networks will get data from different providers, raising the potential for divergent perspectives on election night returns. Fox Corp’s Fox News and the Associated Press are no longer using traditional in-person exit polls, instead relying on online and telephone surveys that aim to reach early and Election Day voters. The news organizations will combine that survey data with real-time results tabulated by the AP to help make projections. The three broadcast news networks and AT&T-owned CNN are part of the National Election Pool consortium, which will rely on the firm Edison Research for exit polls and results as they come in from each precinct. Reuters has a distribution deal with the NEP for 2020 election data. Networks will be showcasing their investments in more polling, deeper data analysis, and additional reporting on the mechanics of voting, voting integrity and misinformation. ViacomCBS Inc.-owned CBS News will broadcast its Election Night coverage from Times Square for the first time, with primetime coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST. The network will use four high-resolution LED video walls to display real-time data, maps, results and video feeds from around the country. CNN will begin its coverage at 4:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, with correspondent John King reporting live from the network’s “Magic Wall,” along with political director David Chalian, who will cover exit polls. Comcast Corp-owned NBC News` coverage will begin at 7:00 pm. EST, lasting until at least 4 am, and as long as the race continues. The network will rely on more than 100 NBC News journalists for its coverage. Its “Decision Desk” will make projections when there is 99.5 percent statistical confidence in the result. Walt Disney Co’s ABC News will begin its primetime coverage at 7 pm. EST, with anchor George Stephanopoulos leading coverage from New York. Fox News is airing an eight-hour-long live special “Fox News Democracy 2020: Election Coverage,” beginning at 6 pm EST; additional coverage will continue until 9 am.

US TV networks prepare to deliver results of an unprecedented election

Grammy award winning musician John Legend isn't too happy with some of his colleagues from the music industry. 
 
Legend recently appeared at a rally for Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris in Philadelphia. The singer performed on stage with fellow artist Common, but before his performance, he addressed the audience about Lil Wayne and Ice Cube who have openly showed their support to US President Donald Trump. 
 
"Now, some people see the meanness, the bullying, the selfishness of Donald Trump, they mistake it for strength, a kind of twisted masculinity. Some see his greed and they mistake it for being good at business," said Legend. 
 
“Some of your former favorite rappers have been taken in by these lies. I think they’ve even founded a new supergroup, it’s called The Sunken Place," Legend said and added, "But Trump’s Platinum Plan for Black folks is nothing but fool’s gold. Because you can't bank on a word he says." 
 
Trump has proposed 'Platinum Plan' for the Black community which includes creation of 3 million jobs over the next four years, increasing access to capital by $500 billion and strengthening immigration policies to protect American jobs. 
 
Rapper Ice Cube, who till very recently was a critic of the Trump administration, has been roped in as one of the advisor for the plan. 
 
Last week, both Ice Cube and rapper Lil Wayne spoke in favour of Trump. Wayne tweeted that he had a 'great meeting' with Trump and even praised the 'Platinum Plan'. 
 
"Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership," Wayne said. "He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done."

Ice Cube, in an interview, stated that he was not taking sides and playing politics in his new role.

&nbsp;

Grammy award winning musician John Legend isn't too happy with some of his colleagues from the music industry. Legend recently appeared at a rally for Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen.

Grammy award winning musician John Legend isn't too happy with some of his colleagues from the music industry. Legend recently appeared at a rally for Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris in Philadelphia. The singer performed on stage with fellow artist Common, but before his performance, he addressed the audience about Lil Wayne and Ice Cube who have openly showed their support to US President Donald Trump. "Now, some people see the meanness, the bullying, the selfishness of Donald Trump, they mistake it for strength, a kind of twisted masculinity. Some see his greed and they mistake it for being good at business," said Legend. “Some of your former favorite rappers have been taken in by these lies. I think they’ve even founded a new supergroup, it’s called The Sunken Place," Legend said and added, "But Trump’s Platinum Plan for Black folks is nothing but fool’s gold. Because you can't bank on a word he says." Trump has proposed 'Platinum Plan' for the Black community which includes creation of 3 million jobs over the next four years, increasing access to capital by $500 billion and strengthening immigration policies to protect American jobs. Rapper Ice Cube, who till very recently was a critic of the Trump administration, has been roped in as one of the advisor for the plan. Last week, both Ice Cube and rapper Lil Wayne spoke in favour of Trump. Wayne tweeted that he had a 'great meeting' with Trump and even praised the 'Platinum Plan'. "Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership," Wayne said. "He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done." Ice Cube, in an interview, stated that he was not taking sides and playing politics in his new role.

John Legend slams Donald Trump supporters Ice Cube and Lil Wayne during a rally for Kamala Harris

Jennifer Lawrence created headlines last week when she revealed that she supported the Democrats despite hailing from a family of Republicans. On Tuesday, the actress took to Twitter to reveal that how she grew up in a Republican household and changed her political standing during Barack Obama's tenure as President of the United States.&nbsp; 
 
"I would like to clarify my voting record, which is the subject of many circulating headlines," she tweeted. "I grew up in a Republican family and voted for John McCain in 2008, but through Obama`s presidency, and growing up to realize I was voting against my own rights, I am proud to say I am a Democrat #Obama #HRC #BidenHarris," she added.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Obama?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Obama</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HRC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HRC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BidenHarris?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BidenHarris</a> <a href="https://t.co/UgAoPhgZJV">pic.twitter.com/UgAoPhgZJV</a>
— Jennifer Lawrence - Represent.Us (@JLawrence_RepUs) <a href="https://twitter.com/JLawrence_RepUs/status/1321141203228766208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
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For the upcoming US presidential election, Lawrence is casting her ballot for Democratic Party`s candidate Joe Biden.&nbsp;

During her chat on `Absolutely Not,` the Oscar-winning actor said that she understood "the fiscal benefits of the Republican policies," but found that "the social issues weren`t in line with" her own beliefs. 
 
Lawrence had also said that she found former President Barack Obama`s presidency to be tamer in comparison to Donald Trump led current administration. 
&nbsp;

Jennifer Lawrence created headlines last week when she revealed that she supported the Democrats despite hailing from a family of Republicans. On Tuesday, the actress took to Twitter to reveal that how she grew up in a Republican household and changed her political standing during Barack Obama's tenure as President of the United States.

Jennifer Lawrence created headlines last week when she revealed that she supported the Democrats despite hailing from a family of Republicans. On Tuesday, the actress took to Twitter to reveal that how she grew up in a Republican household and changed her political standing during Barack Obama's tenure as President of the United States. "I would like to clarify my voting record, which is the subject of many circulating headlines," she tweeted. "I grew up in a Republican family and voted for John McCain in 2008, but through Obama`s presidency, and growing up to realize I was voting against my own rights, I am proud to say I am a Democrat #Obama #HRC #BidenHarris," she added. #Obama #HRC #BidenHarris pic.twitter.com/UgAoPhgZJV — Jennifer Lawrence - Represent.Us (@JLawrence_RepUs) October 27, 2020 × For the upcoming US presidential election, Lawrence is casting her ballot for Democratic Party`s candidate Joe Biden. During her chat on `Absolutely Not,` the Oscar-winning actor said that she understood "the fiscal benefits of the Republican policies," but found that "the social issues weren`t in line with" her own beliefs. Lawrence had also said that she found former President Barack Obama`s presidency to be tamer in comparison to Donald Trump led current administration.

Jennifer Lawrence says she has been voting against her own rights as a Republican

With less than a week to go for the final showdown between President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden for the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/us-election">US election</a> 2020, the market of prediction is running wild.

The latest and perhaps the wildest prediction has been made by the Republican presidential candidate himself.

Trump has claimed that his party will retake control of the&nbsp;House&nbsp;of&nbsp;Representatives on November 3.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-surge-in-can-i-change-my-vote-donald-trump-says-trend-refers-to-him-338447">Voters' remorse? Surge in 'can I change my vote' as US election nears</a>

Speaking in reference to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,&nbsp;Trump told reporters at the White&nbsp;House, ''After the election, we'll get the best stimulus package you've ever seen, because I think we're going to take back the House because of her."

Trump had made a similar prediction last week as well saying, "I think we are going to win the House.&nbsp;"We'll see. But I think we are going to win the House."

However, if nonpartisan political handicappers are to be believed the prediction is likely to fail.

David Wasserman,&nbsp;the polling guru who forecasted Republican candidate Donald Trump's 2016 win, is betting on Democratic candidate Joe Biden this time.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-polling-guru-who-forecasted-donald-trumps-2016-win-reveals-this-years-winner-338228">US election 2020: Polling guru who forecasted Donald Trump's 2016 win, reveals this year's winner</a>

"Overall, we're revising our outlook in the House from a Democratic net gain of five to ten seats to a gain of between five and 15 seats," he said.

Nathaniel Rakich,&nbsp;an elections analyst at <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/our-forecast-thinks-democrats-will-keep-the-house-and-maybe-even-gain-seats/">FiveThirtyEight</a>, said&nbsp;"Democrats have between a 92 and 97 percent chance of keeping control of the House."

Biden leads Trump nationally by 10 percentage points, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. The national online survey, conducted October&nbsp;23 to 27, found that 52 per cent&nbsp;of likely voters said they were backing Biden, while 42&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;&nbsp;were voting for Trump.

With less than a week to go for the final showdown between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden for the US election 2020, the market of prediction is running wild.

With less than a week to go for the final showdown between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden for the US election 2020, the market of prediction is running wild. The latest and perhaps the wildest prediction has been made by the Republican presidential candidate himself. Trump has claimed that his party will retake control of the House of Representatives on November 3. Also read: Voters' remorse? Surge in 'can I change my vote' as US election nears Speaking in reference to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump told reporters at the White House, ''After the election, we'll get the best stimulus package you've ever seen, because I think we're going to take back the House because of her." Trump had made a similar prediction last week as well saying, "I think we are going to win the House. "We'll see. But I think we are going to win the House." However, if nonpartisan political handicappers are to be believed the prediction is likely to fail. David Wasserman, the polling guru who forecasted Republican candidate Donald Trump's 2016 win, is betting on Democratic candidate Joe Biden this time. Also read| US election 2020: Polling guru who forecasted Donald Trump's 2016 win, reveals this year's winner "Overall, we're revising our outlook in the House from a Democratic net gain of five to ten seats to a gain of between five and 15 seats," he said. Nathaniel Rakich, an elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight, said "Democrats have between a 92 and 97 percent chance of keeping control of the House." Biden leads Trump nationally by 10 percentage points, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. The national online survey, conducted October 23 to 27, found that 52 per cent of likely voters said they were backing Biden, while 42 per cent were voting for Trump.

US election 2020: President Donald Trump's wildest prediction till date

WE KNOW WHO HER ALLIES ARE, AND WE KNOW HOW TO READ WHAT SHE’S WRITTEN OR SIGNED.

We saw the future of the Supreme Court this week, and its name is Amy Coney Barrett. The court’s 4-4 deadlock Monday on whether Pennsylvania must count some late-arriving ballots said it all.

The four most conservative justices sided with the Republican Party, which has fought tooth and nail against permitting states to make accommodations to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Trump-induced collapse of the United States Postal Service by relaxing rules, including deadlines. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh voted to grant the party’s request for a stay of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision providing that ballots will be counted if postmarked by the night of Nov. 3 and received within the following three days.

Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Supreme Court’s three remaining liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, in voting to let the decision stand. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would undoubtedly have voted with them. With her or without her, the conservatives would still be one vote short of the five needed to grant a stay.

Can I be certain that soon-to-be Justice Barrett, President Trump’s choice to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat, would have been that fifth vote? Can I assume that she would really have been so bold, so unabashed about carrying the Republican Party’s water within days of her arrival following the strong-arm tactics the party used to secure her confirmation?

No, of course, I can’t. All I know for sure is who her friends are — and what she said and didn’t say during her two long days before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. I don’t know whether the four justices who voted to block the Pennsylvania court’s decision have ever met Judge Barrett. But they seem to consider her their ally-in-waiting.

I say that because when the Supreme Court denies a stay without opinion, as it did on Monday, there is no requirement or general practice for indicating the actual vote or the identities of the justices who voted one way or another. When a tie vote makes the court unable to decide a case it has actually heard on the merits, a more consequential step than the mere denial of a stay, the court says nothing more than “the judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court.” We are left to guess who was on which side.

Yet here, the four justices who voted unsuccessfully for a stay chose to reveal themselves by noting that they “would grant the application.” Why did they do that? It’s not too cynical to suppose that they wanted to make it clear to the base how much they needed Judge Barrett to join them, now, before other cases like this one inevitably come along. Do Supreme Court justices have a base? These do.

On the subject of abortion, we don’t need to read tea leaves. We just need to know how to read. And I don’t mean the statement Judge Barrett signed back in 2006 opposing “abortion on demand” and supporting the “right to life from fertilization to a natural death.” I mean an opinion she joined in 2018 calling for her court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, to reconsider as a full court an opinion by a smaller panel of the court that had invalidated an Indiana anti-abortion law.

Because the opinion was a dissent, one that she joined but didn’t write, and because the requested full-court rehearing never took place, the case, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky v. Commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health, has remained under the radar. It emerged only once during last week’s hearing, in a question by Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. Judge Barrett deflected the question with an answer that struck me as close to disingenuous, and the senator, either pressed for time or not fully understanding the exchange, let the matter drop.

For that reason, and because I see this procedurally obscure case as providing the clearest indication of how Judge Barrett will approach abortion cases, it’s worth unpacking in some detail.

In 2016, the Indiana legislature passed and Gov. Mike Pence signed an abortion law with two provisions. One required clinics to treat aborted fetuses as deceased persons, by cremation or burial. The other prohibited doctors from performing an abortion knowing that the woman’s decision was based on the sex or race of the fetus or because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome or “any other disability.” A federal district judge barred enforcement of both provisions, and a Seventh Circuit panel upheld that ruling in April 2018.

One of the three judges on the panel, Daniel Manion, dissented from the fetal-remains portion of the opinion. He then said he found it “regrettable” that Supreme Court precedent required him to concur with his colleagues that the other provision was unconstitutional, acknowledging that the Supreme Court has ruled that before fetal viability, a woman has an absolute right to an abortion.

He then proceeded to rail against the court’s abortion jurisprudence in a separate 20-page opinion that contained the blithe assertion that “children with Down syndrome bring joy to everyone around them” — an observation that had no bearing on the legal issue and that coming from a 78-year-old man might well appear cavalier to a young family struggling to grasp the uncertain future that such a diagnosis portends; most families faced with a Down syndrome diagnosis choose abortion.

“Indiana made a noble attempt to protect the most vulnerable members of an already vulnerable group,” Judge Manion wrote, adding, “The Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence proved an insurmountable obstacle.”

The state sought a rehearing before the full court on the fetal-remains provision. It did not ask the court to reconsider the validity of the provision prohibiting abortions sought for particular reasons. The court denied rehearing over the dissent of five judges in an opinion by Judge Frank Easterbrook. His opinion is a remarkable document. Even though the state had not put the prohibition portion of the statute at issue, Judge Easterbrook proceeded to address it at length, calling it “an anti-eugenics law.” Referring to the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Judge Easterbrook wrote:

Casey and other decisions hold that, until a fetus is viable, a woman is entitled to decide whether to bear a child. But there is a difference between ‘I don’t want a child’ and ‘I want a child, but only a male’ or ‘I want only children whose genes predict success in life.’ Using abortion to promote eugenic goals is morally and prudentially debatable on grounds different from those that underlay the statutes Casey considered. None of the court’s abortion decisions holds that states are powerless to prevent abortions designed to choose the sex, race, and other attributes of children.

He added, “We ought not to impute to the justices decisions they have not made about problems they have not faced.”

In other words, Judge Easterbrook, and the judges who joined him in dissent, would have, if they had the power, reinterpreted the Supreme Court’s precedents to uphold a statute that those precedents clearly prohibit. One of those judges was Judge Barrett.

Asked about the case by Senator Leahy, Judge Barrett said this, referring to “the eugenics portion of the bill”:

It is true the state of Indiana did not seek ‘en banc’ rehearing on that, but we had many other states enter the case urging us to take that claim up, and what Judge Easterbrook’s dissent did was explain why he thought it was an open question, but one that’s left to the Supreme Court, and we did not reach any conclusion with respect to it.

No, Judge Barrett. It’s not an “open question.” It’s a question with one answer and one answer only. For now.

(In May 2019, the Supreme Court, over Justice Ginsburg’s dissent, overturned the Seventh Circuit and upheld the fetal-remains portion of the statute. The court denied Indiana’s appeal on the prohibition portion, letting stand the panel’s decision on its unconstitutionality. A separate opinion by Justice Thomas mirrored, fervently and at length, Judge Easterbrook’s complaint.)

Judge Barrett had left the witness chair by Friday, the Judiciary Committee’s wrap-up day. But outside the hearing room, far from Washington, the lock-step march of the Trump administration’s anti-abortion judges continued. With two Trump judges in the 2-1 majority, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a Kentucky law that will have the effect of closing the two remaining abortion clinics in the state, a decision that the dissenting judge, Eric Clay, called “terribly and tragically wrong.”

The law requires abortion clinics, in order to maintain their license, to have a “transfer agreement” with a nearby Kentucky-licensed hospital to accept any patients needing care. This is a copycat law in imitation of the admitting-privileges requirement that the Supreme Court has invalidated in two successive decisions. Needless to say, the two Trump appointees in the majority, Judges Joan Larsen and Chad Readler, had to jump through many hoops to justify upholding this law.

But the richest part of their opinion was their assertion that the two clinics, neither of which has been able to reach a hospital agreement, hadn’t demonstrated with sufficient persuasiveness that they would actually have to close. That’s because the law offers the chance to apply for a 90-day waiver. To the clinics’ objection that they can’t remain in business if they can’t assure their staff of employment after 90 days, Judge Larsen had this to say in her majority opinion: “We must presume that the inspector general will consider waiver applications in good faith and will not act simply to make it more difficult for women to obtain an abortion.”

It was somehow fitting for this decision to appear on the day the Judiciary Committee finished its astonishingly rushed confirmation hearing for Judge Barrett. As I read the majority opinion, this thought occurred to me: Here, with Roe v. Wade still on the books, a state can force the closure of all abortion clinics within its borders. So at this rate, when the Supreme Court gets around sooner or later to overturning Roe, how will anyone be able to tell?

WE KNOW WHO HER ALLIES ARE, AND WE KNOW HOW TO READ WHAT SHE’S WRITTEN OR SIGNED. We saw the future of the Supreme Court this week, and its name is Amy Coney Barrett.

WE KNOW WHO HER ALLIES ARE, AND WE KNOW HOW TO READ WHAT SHE’S WRITTEN OR SIGNED. We saw the future of the Supreme Court this week, and its name is Amy Coney Barrett. The court’s 4-4 deadlock Monday on whether Pennsylvania must count some late-arriving ballots said it all. The four most conservative justices sided with the Republican Party, which has fought tooth and nail against permitting states to make accommodations to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Trump-induced collapse of the United States Postal Service by relaxing rules, including deadlines. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh voted to grant the party’s request for a stay of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision providing that ballots will be counted if postmarked by the night of Nov. 3 and received within the following three days. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Supreme Court’s three remaining liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, in voting to let the decision stand. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would undoubtedly have voted with them. With her or without her, the conservatives would still be one vote short of the five needed to grant a stay. Can I be certain that soon-to-be Justice Barrett, President Trump’s choice to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat, would have been that fifth vote? Can I assume that she would really have been so bold, so unabashed about carrying the Republican Party’s water within days of her arrival following the strong-arm tactics the party used to secure her confirmation? No, of course, I can’t. All I know for sure is who her friends are — and what she said and didn’t say during her two long days before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. I don’t know whether the four justices who voted to block the Pennsylvania court’s decision have ever met Judge Barrett. But they seem to consider her their ally-in-waiting. I say that because when the Supreme Court denies a stay without opinion, as it did on Monday, there is no requirement or general practice for indicating the actual vote or the identities of the justices who voted one way or another. When a tie vote makes the court unable to decide a case it has actually heard on the merits, a more consequential step than the mere denial of a stay, the court says nothing more than “the judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court.” We are left to guess who was on which side. Yet here, the four justices who voted unsuccessfully for a stay chose to reveal themselves by noting that they “would grant the application.” Why did they do that? It’s not too cynical to suppose that they wanted to make it clear to the base how much they needed Judge Barrett to join them, now, before other cases like this one inevitably come along. Do Supreme Court justices have a base? These do. On the subject of abortion, we don’t need to read tea leaves. We just need to know how to read. And I don’t mean the statement Judge Barrett signed back in 2006 opposing “abortion on demand” and supporting the “right to life from fertilization to a natural death.” I mean an opinion she joined in 2018 calling for her court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, to reconsider as a full court an opinion by a smaller panel of the court that had invalidated an Indiana anti-abortion law. Because the opinion was a dissent, one that she joined but didn’t write, and because the requested full-court rehearing never took place, the case, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky v. Commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health, has remained under the radar. It emerged only once during last week’s hearing, in a question by Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. Judge Barrett deflected the question with an answer that struck me as close to disingenuous, and the senator, either pressed for time or not fully understanding the exchange, let the matter drop. For that reason, and because I see this procedurally obscure case as providing the clearest indication of how Judge Barrett will approach abortion cases, it’s worth unpacking in some detail. In 2016, the Indiana legislature passed and Gov. Mike Pence signed an abortion law with two provisions. One required clinics to treat aborted fetuses as deceased persons, by cremation or burial. The other prohibited doctors from performing an abortion knowing that the woman’s decision was based on the sex or race of the fetus or because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome or “any other disability.” A federal district judge barred enforcement of both provisions, and a Seventh Circuit panel upheld that ruling in April 2018. One of the three judges on the panel, Daniel Manion, dissented from the fetal-remains portion of the opinion. He then said he found it “regrettable” that Supreme Court precedent required him to concur with his colleagues that the other provision was unconstitutional, acknowledging that the Supreme Court has ruled that before fetal viability, a woman has an absolute right to an abortion. He then proceeded to rail against the court’s abortion jurisprudence in a separate 20-page opinion that contained the blithe assertion that “children with Down syndrome bring joy to everyone around them” — an observation that had no bearing on the legal issue and that coming from a 78-year-old man might well appear cavalier to a young family struggling to grasp the uncertain future that such a diagnosis portends; most families faced with a Down syndrome diagnosis choose abortion. “Indiana made a noble attempt to protect the most vulnerable members of an already vulnerable group,” Judge Manion wrote, adding, “The Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence proved an insurmountable obstacle.” The state sought a rehearing before the full court on the fetal-remains provision. It did not ask the court to reconsider the validity of the provision prohibiting abortions sought for particular reasons. The court denied rehearing over the dissent of five judges in an opinion by Judge Frank Easterbrook. His opinion is a remarkable document. Even though the state had not put the prohibition portion of the statute at issue, Judge Easterbrook proceeded to address it at length, calling it “an anti-eugenics law.” Referring to the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Judge Easterbrook wrote: Casey and other decisions hold that, until a fetus is viable, a woman is entitled to decide whether to bear a child. But there is a difference between ‘I don’t want a child’ and ‘I want a child, but only a male’ or ‘I want only children whose genes predict success in life.’ Using abortion to promote eugenic goals is morally and prudentially debatable on grounds different from those that underlay the statutes Casey considered. None of the court’s abortion decisions holds that states are powerless to prevent abortions designed to choose the sex, race, and other attributes of children. He added, “We ought not to impute to the justices decisions they have not made about problems they have not faced.” In other words, Judge Easterbrook, and the judges who joined him in dissent, would have, if they had the power, reinterpreted the Supreme Court’s precedents to uphold a statute that those precedents clearly prohibit. One of those judges was Judge Barrett. Asked about the case by Senator Leahy, Judge Barrett said this, referring to “the eugenics portion of the bill”: It is true the state of Indiana did not seek ‘en banc’ rehearing on that, but we had many other states enter the case urging us to take that claim up, and what Judge Easterbrook’s dissent did was explain why he thought it was an open question, but one that’s left to the Supreme Court, and we did not reach any conclusion with respect to it. No, Judge Barrett. It’s not an “open question.” It’s a question with one answer and one answer only. For now. (In May 2019, the Supreme Court, over Justice Ginsburg’s dissent, overturned the Seventh Circuit and upheld the fetal-remains portion of the statute. The court denied Indiana’s appeal on the prohibition portion, letting stand the panel’s decision on its unconstitutionality. A separate opinion by Justice Thomas mirrored, fervently and at length, Judge Easterbrook’s complaint.) Judge Barrett had left the witness chair by Friday, the Judiciary Committee’s wrap-up day. But outside the hearing room, far from Washington, the lock-step march of the Trump administration’s anti-abortion judges continued. With two Trump judges in the 2-1 majority, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a Kentucky law that will have the effect of closing the two remaining abortion clinics in the state, a decision that the dissenting judge, Eric Clay, called “terribly and tragically wrong.” The law requires abortion clinics, in order to maintain their license, to have a “transfer agreement” with a nearby Kentucky-licensed hospital to accept any patients needing care. This is a copycat law in imitation of the admitting-privileges requirement that the Supreme Court has invalidated in two successive decisions. Needless to say, the two Trump appointees in the majority, Judges Joan Larsen and Chad Readler, had to jump through many hoops to justify upholding this law. But the richest part of their opinion was their assertion that the two clinics, neither of which has been able to reach a hospital agreement, hadn’t demonstrated with sufficient persuasiveness that they would actually have to close. That’s because the law offers the chance to apply for a 90-day waiver. To the clinics’ objection that they can’t remain in business if they can’t assure their staff of employment after 90 days, Judge Larsen had this to say in her majority opinion: “We must presume that the inspector general will consider waiver applications in good faith and will not act simply to make it more difficult for women to obtain an abortion.” It was somehow fitting for this decision to appear on the day the Judiciary Committee finished its astonishingly rushed confirmation hearing for Judge Barrett. As I read the majority opinion, this thought occurred to me: Here, with Roe v. Wade still on the books, a state can force the closure of all abortion clinics within its borders. So at this rate, when the Supreme Court gets around sooner or later to overturning Roe, how will anyone be able to tell?

What does Amy Coney Barrett mean for the Supreme Court?

For Halloween, popular sitcom 'The Simpsons' have taken a shot at US President Donald Trump and listed out 50 reasons on why Americans should not reelect him in the upcoming Presidential elections.

The episode has Homer Simpson heading to the ballot box to cast his vote in the election and he is faced with a list of 'scandals' suggesting why Trump doesn't deserve a second term in the White House.

The 50 reasons listed out include several of Trumps' controversial decisions and statement. 'Put children in cages', 'called Mexicans rapists', 'imitated disabled reporter', 'looks lousy in a tennis outfit', 'can’t get wife to hold hand,' - are some of the reasons that are listed out.

In a clip that has been obtained by Variety, Homes is ready to cast his vote on smaller races but calls the decision on the presidential race a 'stumper'

The clip then shows his daughter Lisa entering the polling booth and asking her dad, ''You're hesitating over President? By all that is decent, how can you forget everything that's happened the last four years?''

Homer, can recall only Faye Dunaway's infamous 2018 Oscar flub. 
'Not sure what you're talking about', admits Homer, before Trump's scandals and indiscretions roll on the screen.&nbsp; The list concludes with final point as, "We haven't even said the worst one."

'The Simpsons' are currently in their 32nd season and the show has been known to voice political opinions.

They were credited with 'predicting' Trump's presidency with an episode showing the business mogul coming down the elevator at Trump Tower to announce he is running.

Here are the 50 points that 'The Simpsons' listed out warning their viewers to not reelect Trump.

Made it okay to shoot hibernating bears

Put children in cages

Called Mexicans rapists

Imitated disabled reporter

Looks lousy in a tennis outfit

Can’t get wife to hold hand

Called third world countries ****holes

Called Tim Cook ‘Tim Apple’

Said Jewish people who vote Democrat are disloyal

Showed top secret documents at Mar-A-Lago restaurant

Called white supremacists ‘fine people’

Leaked classified information to Russian ambassador

Asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens

Called for China to investigate the Bidens

Walked into the dressing room at Miss Teen USA pageant

Pressed the Australian prime minister to help Barr investigate Mueller

Talked about grabbing *****

Lied about the size of his inauguration

Refused to release tax returns

Gutted the E.P.A.

Confiscated and destroyed interpreter’s notes after meeting with Putin

Tweeted classified photo of Iran missile site

Called Baltimore a ‘disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess’

Described Meryl Streep as ‘over-rated’

Leaked information to the press about the 2017 Manchester arena bombing

Did not attend any White House correspondents’ dinner

Said Megyn Kelly had ‘blood coming out of her whatever’

Called Carly Fiorina ‘horseface’

Ruined impeachment

Brought Ivanka to the G7 summit

Corrupted Congress

Appointed and didn’t fire Betsy DeVos

Put Jared in charge of Mideast

Served McDonald’s to Clemson football team

Destroyed democracy

Lost Hong Kong

Threatened Marie Yovanovitch

Pulled the US out of climate agreement

Allowed bounties on soldiers

Invaded Portland

Withdrew from WHO

Bragged about knowing the date

Commuted sentences

Said to swallow bleach

Person, woman, man, camera, TV

Destroyed post office

Paid $750 in taxes

Wants third term

Wanted to be on Mount Rushmore

And we haven’t even said the worst one

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

For Halloween, popular sitcom 'The Simpsons' have taken a shot at US President Donald Trump and listed out 50 reasons on why Americans should not reelect him in the upcoming Presidential elections.

For Halloween, popular sitcom 'The Simpsons' have taken a shot at US President Donald Trump and listed out 50 reasons on why Americans should not reelect him in the upcoming Presidential elections. The episode has Homer Simpson heading to the ballot box to cast his vote in the election and he is faced with a list of 'scandals' suggesting why Trump doesn't deserve a second term in the White House. The 50 reasons listed out include several of Trumps' controversial decisions and statement. 'Put children in cages', 'called Mexicans rapists', 'imitated disabled reporter', 'looks lousy in a tennis outfit', 'can’t get wife to hold hand,' - are some of the reasons that are listed out. In a clip that has been obtained by Variety, Homes is ready to cast his vote on smaller races but calls the decision on the presidential race a 'stumper' The clip then shows his daughter Lisa entering the polling booth and asking her dad, ''You're hesitating over President? By all that is decent, how can you forget everything that's happened the last four years?'' Homer, can recall only Faye Dunaway's infamous 2018 Oscar flub. 'Not sure what you're talking about', admits Homer, before Trump's scandals and indiscretions roll on the screen. The list concludes with final point as, "We haven't even said the worst one." 'The Simpsons' are currently in their 32nd season and the show has been known to voice political opinions. They were credited with 'predicting' Trump's presidency with an episode showing the business mogul coming down the elevator at Trump Tower to announce he is running. Here are the 50 points that 'The Simpsons' listed out warning their viewers to not reelect Trump. Made it okay to shoot hibernating bears Put children in cages Called Mexicans rapists Imitated disabled reporter Looks lousy in a tennis outfit Can’t get wife to hold hand Called third world countries ****holes Called Tim Cook ‘Tim Apple’ Said Jewish people who vote Democrat are disloyal Showed top secret documents at Mar-A-Lago restaurant Called white supremacists ‘fine people’ Leaked classified information to Russian ambassador Asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens Called for China to investigate the Bidens Walked into the dressing room at Miss Teen USA pageant Pressed the Australian prime minister to help Barr investigate Mueller Talked about grabbing ***** Lied about the size of his inauguration Refused to release tax returns Gutted the E.P.A. Confiscated and destroyed interpreter’s notes after meeting with Putin Tweeted classified photo of Iran missile site Called Baltimore a ‘disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess’ Described Meryl Streep as ‘over-rated’ Leaked information to the press about the 2017 Manchester arena bombing Did not attend any White House correspondents’ dinner Said Megyn Kelly had ‘blood coming out of her whatever’ Called Carly Fiorina ‘horseface’ Ruined impeachment Brought Ivanka to the G7 summit Corrupted Congress Appointed and didn’t fire Betsy DeVos Put Jared in charge of Mideast Served McDonald’s to Clemson football team Destroyed democracy Lost Hong Kong Threatened Marie Yovanovitch Pulled the US out of climate agreement Allowed bounties on soldiers Invaded Portland Withdrew from WHO Bragged about knowing the date Commuted sentences Said to swallow bleach Person, woman, man, camera, TV Destroyed post office Paid $750 in taxes Wants third term Wanted to be on Mount Rushmore And we haven’t even said the worst one

'The Simpsons' Halloween episode lists out 50 reasons of why one should not reelect Donald Trump

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Trump could temporarily hand over power to his vice president should he become incapacitated. Under Section 3 of the US Constitution's 25th Amendment, adopted in 1967 following the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963...<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-tests-positive-us-vice-president-mike-pence-tests-negative-for-coronavirus-332022">Read more</a>

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-daily-slams-trump-in-first-reaction-as-us-president-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-331974">Chinese daily slams Trump in first reaction as US president tests positive for coronavirus</a>

Trump has come under sharp criticism for his response to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States alone... <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-daily-slams-trump-in-first-reaction-as-us-president-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-331974">Read More</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-daily-slams-trump-in-first-reaction-as-us-president-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-331974"><img alt="China slams Trump" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9cc9c786-8ee3-4580-8c85-967c8421bd47" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/trump%20china.JPG" /></a> 
&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/armenia-says-ready-to-engage-with-mediators-for-nagorno-karabakh-ceasefire-331938">Armenia says ready to engage with mediators for Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire</a>

Armenia's foreign ministry on Friday said it "stands ready" to engage with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) "to re-establish a ceasefire regime" in Nagorno-Karabakh region...<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/armenia-says-ready-to-engage-with-mediators-for-nagorno-karabakh-ceasefire-331938">Read more</a>

&nbsp;

<img alt="Armenia-Azerbaijan clash" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8188daf1-ab89-4adb-8bba-288da965141c" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/armenia.JPG" />

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/islam-in-crisis-all-over-the-world-macron-unveils-anti-radicalism-plan-332010">'Islam in crisis all over the world': Macron unveils anti-radicalism plan</a>

Macron stressed the importance of education especially aimed at young people to instil secular values stating that the government would require private schools to teach children...<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/islam-in-crisis-all-over-the-world-macron-unveils-anti-radicalism-plan-332010">Read more</a>

<img alt="Emmanuel Macron" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="34db95ce-1112-4007-a073-92a808ea2dd8" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Macron.JPG" />

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/will-no-longer-remain-quiet-on-dual-accountability-standards-in-pakistan-nawaz-sharif-331919">Will no longer remain quiet on 'dual accountability standards' in Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif</a>

Sharif said that although Prime Minister Imran Khan is to blame for the country's current state, 'it is those who brought him into power who are truly responsible'..<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/will-no-longer-remain-quiet-on-dual-accountability-standards-in-pakistan-nawaz-sharif-331919">Read more</a>

<img alt="Nawaz Sharif" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="789e0576-b505-4b93-b544-39cf867744a7" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Nawaz%20Sharif_0.JPG" />

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pay-firefighting-bill-before-leaving-sri-lanka-tells-stricken-oil-tanker-331978">Pay firefighting bill before leaving, Sri Lanka tells stricken oil tanker</a>

The New Diamond, carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude, was en-route from Kuwait to India when an engine room explosion on September 3 killed a Filipino crewman and set off a massive fire. <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pay-firefighting-bill-before-leaving-sri-lanka-tells-stricken-oil-tanker-331978">Read more</a>

&nbsp;

<img alt="Sri Lanka fire" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bd58026e-6d46-4581-92a0-ef59a798cf6f" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Sri%20Lanka%20fire.JPG" />

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/anti-china-protests-erupt-in-mongolia-ahead-of-mike-pompeo-visit-331996">Anti-China protests erupt in Mongolia ahead of Mike Pompeo visit</a>

Decorated with amber and gold, the Amber Room was part of the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg, but was last seen in Koenigsberg, then a Baltic port city in Germany but now the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad... <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nazi-shipwreck-found-off-poland-may-solve-amber-room-treasure-mystery-331972">Read more</a>

<img alt="Nazi shipwreck" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="00afd627-5cb0-44af-b6d9-06f8c7817817" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Amber%20room.JPG" />

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mecca-to-reopen-for-limited-pilgrimages-after-seven-month-pause-for-coronavirus-331962">Mecca to reopen for limited pilgrimages after seven-month pause for coronavirus</a>

The umrah, the pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any time, usually attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe each year....<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mecca-to-reopen-for-limited-pilgrimages-after-seven-month-pause-for-coronavirus-331962">Read more</a>

<img alt="Mecca" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="44032db8-b522-4330-bb1a-be40e4fce276" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/mecca.JPG" />

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Trump tests positive: US Vice President Mike Pence tests negative for coronavirus Trump could temporarily hand over power to his vice president should he become incapacitated.

Trump tests positive: US Vice President Mike Pence tests negative for coronavirus Trump could temporarily hand over power to his vice president should he become incapacitated. Under Section 3 of the US Constitution's 25th Amendment, adopted in 1967 following the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963...Read more Chinese daily slams Trump in first reaction as US president tests positive for coronavirus Trump has come under sharp criticism for his response to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States alone... Read More Armenia says ready to engage with mediators for Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire Armenia's foreign ministry on Friday said it "stands ready" to engage with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) "to re-establish a ceasefire regime" in Nagorno-Karabakh region...Read more 'Islam in crisis all over the world': Macron unveils anti-radicalism plan Macron stressed the importance of education especially aimed at young people to instil secular values stating that the government would require private schools to teach children...Read more Will no longer remain quiet on 'dual accountability standards' in Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif Sharif said that although Prime Minister Imran Khan is to blame for the country's current state, 'it is those who brought him into power who are truly responsible'..Read more Pay firefighting bill before leaving, Sri Lanka tells stricken oil tanker The New Diamond, carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude, was en-route from Kuwait to India when an engine room explosion on September 3 killed a Filipino crewman and set off a massive fire. Read more Anti-China protests erupt in Mongolia ahead of Mike Pompeo visit Decorated with amber and gold, the Amber Room was part of the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg, but was last seen in Koenigsberg, then a Baltic port city in Germany but now the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad... Read more Mecca to reopen for limited pilgrimages after seven-month pause for coronavirus The umrah, the pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any time, usually attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe each year....Read more

Top 10 world news: Mike Pence tests negative for COVID-19, Macron says Islam in crisis, and more

US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump's </a>former campaign manager Brad Parscale was hospitalised after his wife claimed that he was threatening to self-harm, reports said.&nbsp;

Parscale, an outspoken individual, was replaced as manager in July when Trump's popularity for the upcoming election was declining rapidly.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-one-liners-rehearsed-performances-and-mammoth-audiences-expected-as-biden-trump-gear-up-for-debates-330793">US: One-liners, rehearsed performances and mammoth audiences expected as Biden, Trump gear up for debates</a>

The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police department confirmed that that the Parscale was detained after they got a report from his wife.

Cops were sent to a home "in reference to an armed male attempting suicide," DeAnna Greenlaw, Fort Lauderdale police officer told CNN on Sunday, as quoted by news agency AFP.

Greenlaw added that his wife said Parscale had access to "multiple firearms" inside the house and was threatening to self-harm.&nbsp;

The department said they "developed a rapport" and "safely negotiated" with him to leave the home.&nbsp;

He was temporarily detained under a law that allows taking such a measure for someone affected by mental illness.

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh blamed Democrats and RINOs (Republican In Name Only) for triggering him to do such an act.&nbsp;

"Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible," said Murtaugh to the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper.

"The disgusting, personal attacks from Democrats and disgruntled RINOs have gone too far, and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they've done to this man and his family.” 
&nbsp;

US President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Brad Parscale was hospitalised after his wife claimed that he was threatening to self-harm, reports said. Parscale, an outspoken individual, was replaced as manager in July when Trump's popularity for the upcoming election was declining rapidly.

US President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Brad Parscale was hospitalised after his wife claimed that he was threatening to self-harm, reports said. Parscale, an outspoken individual, was replaced as manager in July when Trump's popularity for the upcoming election was declining rapidly. Also read | US: One-liners, rehearsed performances and mammoth audiences expected as Biden, Trump gear up for debates The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police department confirmed that that the Parscale was detained after they got a report from his wife. Cops were sent to a home "in reference to an armed male attempting suicide," DeAnna Greenlaw, Fort Lauderdale police officer told CNN on Sunday, as quoted by news agency AFP. Greenlaw added that his wife said Parscale had access to "multiple firearms" inside the house and was threatening to self-harm. The department said they "developed a rapport" and "safely negotiated" with him to leave the home. He was temporarily detained under a law that allows taking such a measure for someone affected by mental illness. Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh blamed Democrats and RINOs (Republican In Name Only) for triggering him to do such an act. "Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible," said Murtaugh to the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper. "The disgusting, personal attacks from Democrats and disgruntled RINOs have gone too far, and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they've done to this man and his family.”

Donald Trump's former campaign manager hospitalised after threats to self-harm

From becoming a builder in his father’s shadow to becoming the President of the United States, Donald Trump has adopted the policy of 'survival of the fittest'.

Out of many other things that he boasts about, being a Republican is one of them. However, the man infamous for backtracking on his words has predictably not always been a Republican.&nbsp;

In 1987, he registered as a Republican in Manhattan, and was one of the most admired men in America, according to several polls. However, aiming to get more profits in his business, he changed his preference to Reforms Party in 1999 and then shifted to Democratic Party in 2001.

The change was the beginning of a childhood dream — a dream where he craved for power, but away from his family brand.

Trump did not grow up in a financially struggling home, but he always did have to struggle for his father’s approval. And many believe this hunger to get his father’s approval was what lead him to play a game of hide-and-seek with the media about running for the post of President — for which he often said, “I believe that if I did run for President, I'd win.”
<img alt="Donald Trump with his father Fred Trump" data-align="center" data-caption="&lt;em&gt;Donald Trump with his father Fred Trump&lt;/em&gt;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="64a5d356-de79-412b-9d50-90c2973704e9" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Donald%20Trump%20with%20his%20father%20Fred%20Trump_0.jpg" />
 
Nikki Haskell, a famous television personality who often interviewed Trump in his younger days, in a docu-series, said “Some kids want to be a fireman, some people want to be a doctor. Donald always wanted to be a President, but he waited for the right time.”

In 1999, he approached the exploratory committee to seek nomination for the 2000 elections, representing Reforms Party. However, he quickly dropped out of the race when several polls revealed his chances of winning were less than 10 per cent. The move to drop out was not surprising as Trump has been (in)famous for always winning. He had often been caught saying that he will contest the day knows he will win.

The itch to stay in the news was not gone, though. When his other antics were failing, a few years later, yet again, Trump teased the media with speculations about running for elections. Much to his dismay, the media did not pay much heed to his cry for attention, and many deduced it as a promotional stunt for his reality show The Apprentice.

Later, Trump appeared in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). When asked if he was there because he was running for President, he said, “I am here because I am Donald Trump.”

This was the first time he publically addressed the ongoing controversy related to Barack Obama’s birth certificate. He gave a ‘moving’ speech that not only attracted a lot of applause but also realistically introduced him to the political world.

However, Trump’s real push to stand against the Democratic Party came at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when then-President Barack Obama took a direct hit at Trump saying, “No one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald, and that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?”
<img alt="Barack Obama at C-SPAN" data-align="center" data-caption="&lt;em&gt;Barack Obama at C-SPAN&lt;/em&gt;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5b82bbd8-eb52-4005-b40d-ff93e74243a9" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Obama.jpg" />
He also took a dig at his reality show appearance, which was followed by a picture of White House’s cartoon. 
Obama went ahead to win the next elections, and immediately after Donald Trump decided to run for the next elections, and made it final by trade-marking the phrase “Make America Great Again”.

Pumping millions of dollars in his campaign, Trump gradually made Twitter as his focus group to read his audience and calculate not only chances of becoming a President, but also of which issue to raise in his election campaigns. Believe it or not, the idea of the infamous Mexican wall, too, was decided on the basis of likes and retweets.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Our border is being breached daily by criminals. We must build a wall &amp; deduct costs from Mexican foreign aid! <a href="http://t.co/jEgR6jSQ5J">http://t.co/jEgR6jSQ5J</a>
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/588716146792263682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his plans by holding a press conference at the Trump Towers and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States and we are going to make our country great again.”

Trump's Twitter presidency began in 2016 and has continued since. The world knew the power of his tweets when on December 06, 2016, Trump randomly tweeted about wanting to take away the contract from Boeing building a brand new 747 Air Force One

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" he tweeted.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/806134244384899072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

The day Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and took the office, the experts in Washington knew he would not be willing to give up this powerful position anytime soon. As expected, despite the outcries of impeachment and several lawsuits, Trump announced his plans to run for elections 2020 on February 18, 2017 — few days after he took the office.

As the pandemic hit the world in 2020, Trump continued campaigning ignoring all coronavirus-related precautions. It is a one-man show and with the first presidential debate scheduled on September 29, 2020 and the elections scheduled on November 03, the Trump-Pence campaign has pulled out all tricks to woo the voters. Trump, like he always says, is aiming to win, but sadly COVID-19 is not the enemy he is fighting. Will Trump take over the office for another term will soon be revealed — if Trump allows.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

From becoming a builder in his father’s shadow to becoming the President of the United States, Donald Trump has adopted the policy of 'survival of the fittest'. Out of many other things that he boasts about, being a Republican is one of them.

From becoming a builder in his father’s shadow to becoming the President of the United States, Donald Trump has adopted the policy of 'survival of the fittest'. Out of many other things that he boasts about, being a Republican is one of them. However, the man infamous for backtracking on his words has predictably not always been a Republican. In 1987, he registered as a Republican in Manhattan, and was one of the most admired men in America, according to several polls. However, aiming to get more profits in his business, he changed his preference to Reforms Party in 1999 and then shifted to Democratic Party in 2001. The change was the beginning of a childhood dream — a dream where he craved for power, but away from his family brand. Trump did not grow up in a financially struggling home, but he always did have to struggle for his father’s approval. And many believe this hunger to get his father’s approval was what lead him to play a game of hide-and-seek with the media about running for the post of President — for which he often said, “I believe that if I did run for President, I'd win.” Nikki Haskell, a famous television personality who often interviewed Trump in his younger days, in a docu-series, said “Some kids want to be a fireman, some people want to be a doctor. Donald always wanted to be a President, but he waited for the right time.” In 1999, he approached the exploratory committee to seek nomination for the 2000 elections, representing Reforms Party. However, he quickly dropped out of the race when several polls revealed his chances of winning were less than 10 per cent. The move to drop out was not surprising as Trump has been (in)famous for always winning. He had often been caught saying that he will contest the day knows he will win. The itch to stay in the news was not gone, though. When his other antics were failing, a few years later, yet again, Trump teased the media with speculations about running for elections. Much to his dismay, the media did not pay much heed to his cry for attention, and many deduced it as a promotional stunt for his reality show The Apprentice. Later, Trump appeared in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). When asked if he was there because he was running for President, he said, “I am here because I am Donald Trump.” This was the first time he publically addressed the ongoing controversy related to Barack Obama’s birth certificate. He gave a ‘moving’ speech that not only attracted a lot of applause but also realistically introduced him to the political world. However, Trump’s real push to stand against the Democratic Party came at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when then-President Barack Obama took a direct hit at Trump saying, “No one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald, and that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?” He also took a dig at his reality show appearance, which was followed by a picture of White House’s cartoon. Obama went ahead to win the next elections, and immediately after Donald Trump decided to run for the next elections, and made it final by trade-marking the phrase “Make America Great Again”. Pumping millions of dollars in his campaign, Trump gradually made Twitter as his focus group to read his audience and calculate not only chances of becoming a President, but also of which issue to raise in his election campaigns. Believe it or not, the idea of the infamous Mexican wall, too, was decided on the basis of likes and retweets. Our border is being breached daily by criminals. We must build a wall & deduct costs from Mexican foreign aid! http://t.co/jEgR6jSQ5J — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2015 × On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his plans by holding a press conference at the Trump Towers and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States and we are going to make our country great again.” Trump's Twitter presidency began in 2016 and has continued since. The world knew the power of his tweets when on December 06, 2016, Trump randomly tweeted about wanting to take away the contract from Boeing building a brand new 747 Air Force One "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" he tweeted. Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016 × The day Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and took the office, the experts in Washington knew he would not be willing to give up this powerful position anytime soon. As expected, despite the outcries of impeachment and several lawsuits, Trump announced his plans to run for elections 2020 on February 18, 2017 — few days after he took the office. As the pandemic hit the world in 2020, Trump continued campaigning ignoring all coronavirus-related precautions. It is a one-man show and with the first presidential debate scheduled on September 29, 2020 and the elections scheduled on November 03, the Trump-Pence campaign has pulled out all tricks to woo the voters. Trump, like he always says, is aiming to win, but sadly COVID-19 is not the enemy he is fighting. Will Trump take over the office for another term will soon be revealed — if Trump allows. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The Twitter President: Donald Trump and his political history

The&nbsp;US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> said during a campaign rally in North Carolina that he could qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he, in fact, was nominated this year, for brokering a termination of decades-long "mass killings" between Serbia and Kosovo.

"Next story I`m sure it`s a Nobel Prize for peace. We are stopping mass killings between Kosovo and Serbia. They have been killing each other for so many [years]. They are going to stop killing. I said `fellas, let`s get together.` You know, they`ve been doing it for hundreds of years frankly under different names," Trump said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-to-nominate-a-woman-to-replace-ginsburg-stating-he-likes-women-more-328748">Also read:&nbsp;Trump to nominate a woman to replace Ginsburg stating he likes 'women more'</a>

Trump was nominated for Nobel earlier this month by a Norwegian lawmaker for his efforts brokering a landmark peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. A similar agreement was signed shortly later between Israel and Bahrain under Washington`s mediation.

In mid-September, Trump hosted talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, but no particular breakthrough was achieved to resolve their strife.

Formerly a province of Serbia, Kosovo shook to an armed confrontation between Serbian security forces and the Albanian-led Kosovo Liberation Army, seeking the status of a constituent republic for Kosovo in what was then Yugoslavia. The conflict triggered unauthorized NATO airstrikes in the region from March 1999 to June 1999 on the grounds that the Yugoslav authorities were allegedly committing ethnic cleansing against Kosovar Albanians.

Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008 and has since been seeking to gain recognition. Serbia has not recognised Kosovo`s independence and launched a campaign to convince other countries to not recognise it either.&nbsp;

The US President Donald Trump said during a campaign rally in North Carolina that he could qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he, in fact, was nominated this year, for brokering a termination of decades-long "mass killings" between Serbia and Kosovo.

The US President Donald Trump said during a campaign rally in North Carolina that he could qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he, in fact, was nominated this year, for brokering a termination of decades-long "mass killings" between Serbia and Kosovo. "Next story I`m sure it`s a Nobel Prize for peace. We are stopping mass killings between Kosovo and Serbia. They have been killing each other for so many [years]. They are going to stop killing. I said `fellas, let`s get together.` You know, they`ve been doing it for hundreds of years frankly under different names," Trump said. Also read: Trump to nominate a woman to replace Ginsburg stating he likes 'women more' Trump was nominated for Nobel earlier this month by a Norwegian lawmaker for his efforts brokering a landmark peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. A similar agreement was signed shortly later between Israel and Bahrain under Washington`s mediation. In mid-September, Trump hosted talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, but no particular breakthrough was achieved to resolve their strife. Formerly a province of Serbia, Kosovo shook to an armed confrontation between Serbian security forces and the Albanian-led Kosovo Liberation Army, seeking the status of a constituent republic for Kosovo in what was then Yugoslavia. The conflict triggered unauthorized NATO airstrikes in the region from March 1999 to June 1999 on the grounds that the Yugoslav authorities were allegedly committing ethnic cleansing against Kosovar Albanians. Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008 and has since been seeking to gain recognition. Serbia has not recognised Kosovo`s independence and launched a campaign to convince other countries to not recognise it either.

Trump claims stopped ''mass killings'' between Serbia, Kosovo

The WikiLeaks founder&nbsp;Julian Assange's case took an interesting turn as his lawyer issued a witness statement accusing the US President&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;of bribing before the 2016&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">US elections</a>.

Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, has claimed to be present in the room when an ally of Trump&nbsp;offered to arrange for a pardon of Assange in return for information that would&nbsp;“benefit President Trump politically”.

She has alleged the then-Republican&nbsp;Representative Dana Rohrabacher of helping Trump in this arrangement. Robinson said the meeting took place at the&nbsp;Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2017, and Dana, along with an assistant, were present in the room during the conversation.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/most-infamous-and-shocking-presidential-pardons-in-the-history-of-us-312513">Have a look: Most infamous and shocking presidential pardons in the history of US</a>

Trump, in return, wanted information about&nbsp;the hacking of Democratic emails before the 2016 US presidential election.

“They stated that President Trump was aware of and had approved of them coming to meet with Mr Assange to discuss a proposal — and that they would have an audience with the President to discuss the matter on their return to Washington DC,” she said.

“The proposal put forward by Congressman Rohrabacher was that Mr. Assange identify the source for the 2016 election publications in return for some form of pardon, assurance or agreement, which would both benefit President Trump politically and prevent US&nbsp;indictment and extradition,” Robinson said.

The White House had earlier denied any reports of a possible pardon by claiming the reports to be&nbsp;“a complete fabrication and a total lie”.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wikileaks-acted-in-public-interest-pentagon-papers-leaker-tells-julian-assange-hearing-328036/amp">Also read:&nbsp;WikiLeaks acted in public interest, ‘pentagon papers’ leaker tells Julian Assange hearing&nbsp;</a>

Rohrabacher, meanwhile, denied Trump being a part of this arrangement and claimed to have acted out of own will in this matter.

The 49-year-old was charged with trying to hack government computers and violating an espionage law over the release of confidential cables by WikiLeaks in 2010-2011.

During the 2016 US&nbsp;presidential campaign, WikiLeaks published a series of Democratic National Committee emails damaging to candidate Hillary Clinton. U.S. investigators have concluded that the emails were hacked by Russia as part of an effort to influence the election.

The 2016 election leaks are not directly a part of the U.S. criminal case against Assange, which covers secret military and diplomatic documents published by WikiLeaks several years earlier.

(With inputs from agencies)

The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's case took an interesting turn as his lawyer issued a witness statement accusing the US President Donald Trump of bribing before the 2016 US elections.

The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's case took an interesting turn as his lawyer issued a witness statement accusing the US President Donald Trump of bribing before the 2016 US elections. Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, has claimed to be present in the room when an ally of Trump offered to arrange for a pardon of Assange in return for information that would “benefit President Trump politically”. She has alleged the then-Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher of helping Trump in this arrangement. Robinson said the meeting took place at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2017, and Dana, along with an assistant, were present in the room during the conversation. Have a look: Most infamous and shocking presidential pardons in the history of US Trump, in return, wanted information about the hacking of Democratic emails before the 2016 US presidential election. “They stated that President Trump was aware of and had approved of them coming to meet with Mr Assange to discuss a proposal — and that they would have an audience with the President to discuss the matter on their return to Washington DC,” she said. “The proposal put forward by Congressman Rohrabacher was that Mr. Assange identify the source for the 2016 election publications in return for some form of pardon, assurance or agreement, which would both benefit President Trump politically and prevent US indictment and extradition,” Robinson said. The White House had earlier denied any reports of a possible pardon by claiming the reports to be “a complete fabrication and a total lie”. Also read: WikiLeaks acted in public interest, ‘pentagon papers’ leaker tells Julian Assange hearing Rohrabacher, meanwhile, denied Trump being a part of this arrangement and claimed to have acted out of own will in this matter. The 49-year-old was charged with trying to hack government computers and violating an espionage law over the release of confidential cables by WikiLeaks in 2010-2011. During the 2016 US presidential campaign, WikiLeaks published a series of Democratic National Committee emails damaging to candidate Hillary Clinton. U.S. investigators have concluded that the emails were hacked by Russia as part of an effort to influence the election. The 2016 election leaks are not directly a part of the U.S. criminal case against Assange, which covers secret military and diplomatic documents published by WikiLeaks several years earlier. (With inputs from agencies)

Trump accused of offering pardon to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for information on US elections

US President Donald Trump had praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he called him his "friend" and opined that the Modi was "doing a very good job". Trump added that PM Modi was a "Great leader" and a "great person. The US President was speaking with media in Washington.

"Prime Minister Modi is a friend of mine and he is doing a very good job. It's nothing easy but he is doing a very good job. You have got a great leader and you have got a great person," said Donald Trump.

Trump reflected on his two-day visit to India in February and 'Howdy Modi' the event organised to receive Narendra Modi in Houston.

Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/we-would-love-to-get-involved-says-trump-on-india-china-standoff-at-lac-325315">We would love to get involved, says Trump on India-China standoff at LAC</a> 
 
"We had an incredible time and what we saw that the people are so incredible. It's an incredible place and country, and it's definitely big." said Trump.

"...I think Indian people would be voting for Trump," he added. He was quoted by ANI.

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Indian diaspora in the USA forms a considerable chunk of voters in many urban centres there. Statistics suggest that Indian-Americans are well-educated and financially well-off. There appears to be a contest between Democratic and Republican parties to win over these voters. Democratic party nominee Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris is an Indian American. 
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US President Donald Trump had praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he called him his "friend" and opined that the Modi was "doing a very good job". Trump added that PM Modi was a "Great leader" and a "great person.

US President Donald Trump had praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he called him his "friend" and opined that the Modi was "doing a very good job". Trump added that PM Modi was a "Great leader" and a "great person. The US President was speaking with media in Washington. "Prime Minister Modi is a friend of mine and he is doing a very good job. It's nothing easy but he is doing a very good job. You have got a great leader and you have got a great person," said Donald Trump. Trump reflected on his two-day visit to India in February and 'Howdy Modi' the event organised to receive Narendra Modi in Houston. Also Read: We would love to get involved, says Trump on India-China standoff at LAC "We had an incredible time and what we saw that the people are so incredible. It's an incredible place and country, and it's definitely big." said Trump. "...I think Indian people would be voting for Trump," he added. He was quoted by ANI. × Indian diaspora in the USA forms a considerable chunk of voters in many urban centres there. Statistics suggest that Indian-Americans are well-educated and financially well-off. There appears to be a contest between Democratic and Republican parties to win over these voters. Democratic party nominee Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris is an Indian American.

Modi is a friend of mine, doing very good job: Donald Trump

President Donald Trump on Saturday visited Louisiana and Texas, pummeled this week by Hurricane Laura though the storm did not inflict the catastrophic damage and death toll of Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago.

The massive storm hit Louisiana early on Thursday with 150 mile-per-hour&nbsp;winds, damaging buildings, knocking down trees and cutting power to more than 650,000 people in Louisiana and Texas.&nbsp;The category four&nbsp;hurricane killed at least 15 people, with some of those killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from the unsafe operation of generators.

Wearing a red "USA" cap, Trump landed in Lake Charles, a Louisiana city of 80,000 people that's home to petroleum refineries and chemical plants near the Gulf of Mexico.&nbsp;He toured a neighborhood with downed trees and damaged houses, as well as a warehouse.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/paralysed-us-police-shooting-victim-jacob-blake-released-from-handcuffs-in-hospital-bed-323808" hreflang="en">Paralysed US police shooting victim Jacob Blake released from handcuffs in hospital bed</a>

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has already distributed 2.6 million liters of water and 1.4 million meals, Trump said, as hundreds of thousands of storm victims are without electricity and running water.

"I haven't had one complaint," Trump said, congratulating federal and local officials at a news conference at a fire station.

"Louisiana has been through a lot with the Covid and with this, a couple other things. You've done a great job," he told the officials, who included the state's Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards.

It has been blamed for at least 14 deaths in Louisiana and Texas, with more than half of them due to improper use of portable generators, which produce toxic carbon monoxide gas.

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Trump later flew by helicopter to the nearby city of Orange, Texas, meeting with state officials to discuss their response to Laura.

At a briefing, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he believed the state got through Laura without spreading Covid-19.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/first-us-novel-coronavirus-reinfection-case-identified-in-study-323857" hreflang="en">First US novel coronavirus reinfection case identified in study</a>

"You are helping Texas to rebuild," Trump told the governor.&nbsp;

Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana in August 2005, caused the widespread failure of the levee system protecting low-lying New Orleans. The storm killed at least 1,800 people.

Kenosha shootings

White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump will travel next week to Kenosha on Tuesday&nbsp;to meet with law enforcement officials and view damage from unrest triggered by Blake's shooting last weekend.

After the announcement about 1,000 people joined a mile-long march in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday, chanting "Black Lives Matter" and "No Justice, No Peace".

"Probably so," Trump told reporters in Texas, when asked if he would visit the city where the officer shot Jacob Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down and remains in hospital. A 17-year-old is being held by authorities in Kenosha on suspicion of shooting three people who were protesting the shooting of Blake. Two of those people died.

President Donald Trump on Saturday visited Louisiana and Texas, pummeled this week by Hurricane Laura though the storm did not inflict the catastrophic damage and death toll of Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago.

President Donald Trump on Saturday visited Louisiana and Texas, pummeled this week by Hurricane Laura though the storm did not inflict the catastrophic damage and death toll of Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago. The massive storm hit Louisiana early on Thursday with 150 mile-per-hour winds, damaging buildings, knocking down trees and cutting power to more than 650,000 people in Louisiana and Texas. The category four hurricane killed at least 15 people, with some of those killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from the unsafe operation of generators. Wearing a red "USA" cap, Trump landed in Lake Charles, a Louisiana city of 80,000 people that's home to petroleum refineries and chemical plants near the Gulf of Mexico. He toured a neighborhood with downed trees and damaged houses, as well as a warehouse. Also read: Paralysed US police shooting victim Jacob Blake released from handcuffs in hospital bed The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has already distributed 2.6 million liters of water and 1.4 million meals, Trump said, as hundreds of thousands of storm victims are without electricity and running water. "I haven't had one complaint," Trump said, congratulating federal and local officials at a news conference at a fire station. "Louisiana has been through a lot with the Covid and with this, a couple other things. You've done a great job," he told the officials, who included the state's Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards. It has been blamed for at least 14 deaths in Louisiana and Texas, with more than half of them due to improper use of portable generators, which produce toxic carbon monoxide gas. Trump later flew by helicopter to the nearby city of Orange, Texas, meeting with state officials to discuss their response to Laura. At a briefing, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he believed the state got through Laura without spreading Covid-19. Also read: First US novel coronavirus reinfection case identified in study "You are helping Texas to rebuild," Trump told the governor. Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana in August 2005, caused the widespread failure of the levee system protecting low-lying New Orleans. The storm killed at least 1,800 people. Kenosha shootings White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump will travel next week to Kenosha on Tuesday to meet with law enforcement officials and view damage from unrest triggered by Blake's shooting last weekend. After the announcement about 1,000 people joined a mile-long march in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday, chanting "Black Lives Matter" and "No Justice, No Peace". "Probably so," Trump told reporters in Texas, when asked if he would visit the city where the officer shot Jacob Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down and remains in hospital. A 17-year-old is being held by authorities in Kenosha on suspicion of shooting three people who were protesting the shooting of Blake. Two of those people died.

Trump visits storm-damaged Louisiana, discusses Kenosha shootings

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a massive shift to mail-in voting in the November presidential election could cause so many problems officials might have to re-do the vote.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ball-is-now-in-russias-court-on-new-nuclear-arms-deal-united-states-321554">Also read | 'Ball is now in Russia's court' on new nuclear arms deal: United States</a> 
 
Trump has said repeatedly and without evidence that a shift to universal mail-in voting - something most states have not proposed doing - will lead to fraud in the November 3 election, when he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden who currently holds a substantial lead in public opinion polls. 
 
Trump does not have the authority to reschedule an election. A national election "re-do" has never occurred in the more than 200 years the U.S. has held elections, including during the Civil War, the Great Depression and two world wars. 
 
"It will end up being a rigged election or they will never come out with an outcome," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "They'll have to do it again, and nobody wants that." 
 
As much as half the ballots in the November election could be cast by mail due to America's coronavirus crisis, election experts say. That is up from about one in four ballots that were cast by mail in 2016. 
 
Trump himself votes by mail. 
 
As with other forms of voting, documented cases of mail-ballot fraud are extremely rare. But Trump on Tuesday repeated an allegation he has made in recent months that mail-in voting will lead to massive ballot fraud. 
 
US states run presidential elections and most only plan to mail absentee ballots for November's election to voters who request them. 
 
A handful of states regularly hold elections with what is known as universal mail-in voting, in which every voter receives a ballot by mail. A few other states, including California and Nevada, plan to mail ballots to all voters for the November election due to the health crisis. 
 
"Absentee is great but universal is going to be a disaster," Trump said. 
 
Trump late last month floated the idea of delaying the election, a notion that was immediately dismissed by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a massive shift to mail-in voting in the November presidential election could cause so many problems officials might have to re-do the vote.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a massive shift to mail-in voting in the November presidential election could cause so many problems officials might have to re-do the vote. Also read | 'Ball is now in Russia's court' on new nuclear arms deal: United States Trump has said repeatedly and without evidence that a shift to universal mail-in voting - something most states have not proposed doing - will lead to fraud in the November 3 election, when he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden who currently holds a substantial lead in public opinion polls. Trump does not have the authority to reschedule an election. A national election "re-do" has never occurred in the more than 200 years the U.S. has held elections, including during the Civil War, the Great Depression and two world wars. "It will end up being a rigged election or they will never come out with an outcome," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "They'll have to do it again, and nobody wants that." As much as half the ballots in the November election could be cast by mail due to America's coronavirus crisis, election experts say. That is up from about one in four ballots that were cast by mail in 2016. Trump himself votes by mail. As with other forms of voting, documented cases of mail-ballot fraud are extremely rare. But Trump on Tuesday repeated an allegation he has made in recent months that mail-in voting will lead to massive ballot fraud. US states run presidential elections and most only plan to mail absentee ballots for November's election to voters who request them. A handful of states regularly hold elections with what is known as universal mail-in voting, in which every voter receives a ballot by mail. A few other states, including California and Nevada, plan to mail ballots to all voters for the November election due to the health crisis. "Absentee is great but universal is going to be a disaster," Trump said. Trump late last month floated the idea of delaying the election, a notion that was immediately dismissed by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress.

Shift to mail-in voting could lead to re-do of November election: Donald Trump 

Tech giants such as Amazon Inc and Facebook Inc have taken a stand against ban on entry of foreign workers in the US, announced by Donald Trump.

The US President Donald Trump announced a Presidential proclamation announcing a temporary ban on the entry of certain foreign workers in the United States. Workers entering the country on H-1B visas and managers and specialised workers being transferred within a company on L visas — both visa types used by tech companies — will be the ones affected by it. Seasonal workers, who enter the country on H2B visas will also face the ban.

Trump defended his decision by saying that this will help preserve jobs for Americans after the economy has been badly hit by the pandemic.

However, this decision was not well received by tech-giants who feel this will restrict the functioning and growth of several Multi-National Companies (MNCs), based in the US.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-signs-executive-order-against-hiring-h1b-visa-holders-for-federal-contracts-318023">Also read:&nbsp;Trump signs executive order against hiring H1B visa holders for federal contracts</a>

Amazon Inc and Facebook Inc, on Monday,&nbsp;filed a legal brief backing a challenge against Trump on this issue. The lawsuit has been brought in California by few of the major US business associations.&nbsp;

In the brief, the companies argued that the visa restrictions will hurt American businesses, lead employers to hire workers outside the United States, and further damage the already struggling US economy.

The group of companies has alleged Trump of causing an irreparable damage to the US economy and workforce, on an assumption rather than facts.

“Global competitors in Canada, China, and India, among others, are pouncing at the opportunity to attract well-trained, innovative individuals,” the brief reads. “And American businesses are scrambling to adjust, hiring needed talent to work in locations outside our nation’s borders.”

Apple (AAPL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Netflix (NFLX.O) and Twitter (TWTR.N) were among 52 companies that signed the brief, which was filed in a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Manufacturers, which represents 14,000 member companies, as well as in a similar lawsuit brought in Washington, D.C.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Tech giants such as Amazon Inc and Facebook Inc have taken a stand against ban on entry of foreign workers in the US, announced by Donald Trump. The US President Donald Trump announced a Presidential proclamation announcing a temporary ban on the entry of certain foreign workers in the United States.

Tech giants such as Amazon Inc and Facebook Inc have taken a stand against ban on entry of foreign workers in the US, announced by Donald Trump. The US President Donald Trump announced a Presidential proclamation announcing a temporary ban on the entry of certain foreign workers in the United States. Workers entering the country on H-1B visas and managers and specialised workers being transferred within a company on L visas — both visa types used by tech companies — will be the ones affected by it. Seasonal workers, who enter the country on H2B visas will also face the ban. Trump defended his decision by saying that this will help preserve jobs for Americans after the economy has been badly hit by the pandemic. However, this decision was not well received by tech-giants who feel this will restrict the functioning and growth of several Multi-National Companies (MNCs), based in the US. Also read: Trump signs executive order against hiring H1B visa holders for federal contracts Amazon Inc and Facebook Inc, on Monday, filed a legal brief backing a challenge against Trump on this issue. The lawsuit has been brought in California by few of the major US business associations. In the brief, the companies argued that the visa restrictions will hurt American businesses, lead employers to hire workers outside the United States, and further damage the already struggling US economy. The group of companies has alleged Trump of causing an irreparable damage to the US economy and workforce, on an assumption rather than facts. “Global competitors in Canada, China, and India, among others, are pouncing at the opportunity to attract well-trained, innovative individuals,” the brief reads. “And American businesses are scrambling to adjust, hiring needed talent to work in locations outside our nation’s borders.” Apple (AAPL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Netflix (NFLX.O) and Twitter (TWTR.N) were among 52 companies that signed the brief, which was filed in a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Manufacturers, which represents 14,000 member companies, as well as in a similar lawsuit brought in Washington, D.C. (With inputs from Reuters)

Amazon, Facebook and 50 others file lawsuit against Trump's ban of H1B visa

On Sunday, the New York Times had published an article that last year&nbsp;a White House aide had reached out to the governor’s office with a question, according to a Republican official familiar with the conversation: What’s the process to add additional presidents to Mount Rushmore?

It referred to an incident from 2019. The White House had reached out to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem asking her about the possibility of adding presidents to Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore is one of America's national monuments. It is located in the black hills region of South Dakota and it features 60-foot carvings of four US president - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

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The structure was built between 1927 to 1947. It was a tribute to the founding fathers of America. A good 70 years later, a president who claims to be the best God's ever created as Trump had himself once said: "I am going to be the greatest president god ever created".

Trump wants his face to be on Mount Rushmore and he has not been shy of saying it aloud. In 2017, Trump spoke about it at an Ohio rally.&nbsp;

"I'd ask whether or not you think I will someday be on Mount Rushmore," he wondered. Next year, he reportedly told Noem that it is his dream to be on Mount Rushmore. On July 4 this year, Trump chose Mount Rushmore to deliver the independence day address as the South Dakota governor presented&nbsp;him with a replica of Mount Rushmore with Trump's face carved into it.

The pictures from July 4 do not leave much scope for imagination and now reports emerge that Noem may replace Mike Pence as Trump's running mate.

Imagine Trump saying this to Governor Noem: "Put me on Mount Rushmore, and ill put you in the White House", it won't be above Trump given his fine dealmaking skills.

However, what do the stakeholders have to say? Can they put Trump on Rushmore? No more, no more presidents, they say.

The national park says there is no secure space left. Moral of the story: Trump would have to leave his predecessors alone and dream no more of Mout Rushmore.

On Sunday, the New York Times had published an article that last year a White House aide had reached out to the governor’s office with a question, according to a Republican official familiar with the conversation: What’s the process to add additional presidents to Mount Rushmore?

On Sunday, the New York Times had published an article that last year a White House aide had reached out to the governor’s office with a question, according to a Republican official familiar with the conversation: What’s the process to add additional presidents to Mount Rushmore? It referred to an incident from 2019. The White House had reached out to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem asking her about the possibility of adding presidents to Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is one of America's national monuments. It is located in the black hills region of South Dakota and it features 60-foot carvings of four US president - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. The structure was built between 1927 to 1947. It was a tribute to the founding fathers of America. A good 70 years later, a president who claims to be the best God's ever created as Trump had himself once said: "I am going to be the greatest president god ever created". Trump wants his face to be on Mount Rushmore and he has not been shy of saying it aloud. In 2017, Trump spoke about it at an Ohio rally. "I'd ask whether or not you think I will someday be on Mount Rushmore," he wondered. Next year, he reportedly told Noem that it is his dream to be on Mount Rushmore. On July 4 this year, Trump chose Mount Rushmore to deliver the independence day address as the South Dakota governor presented him with a replica of Mount Rushmore with Trump's face carved into it. The pictures from July 4 do not leave much scope for imagination and now reports emerge that Noem may replace Mike Pence as Trump's running mate. Imagine Trump saying this to Governor Noem: "Put me on Mount Rushmore, and ill put you in the White House", it won't be above Trump given his fine dealmaking skills. However, what do the stakeholders have to say? Can they put Trump on Rushmore? No more, no more presidents, they say. The national park says there is no secure space left. Moral of the story: Trump would have to leave his predecessors alone and dream no more of Mout Rushmore.

US President Trump's Mount Rushmore dream

President Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at his coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx after she sounded a grim warning about the pandemic's new surge, calling her remarks "pathetic.

President Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at his coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx after she sounded a grim warning about the pandemic's new surge, calling her remarks "pathetic." Trump, angered by what he sees as overly pessimistic media coverage of his handling of the pandemic, said Birx had given into pressure to sound negative. "Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!" he tweeted. Also read: US coronavirus 'extraordinarily widespread', say White House experts On Sunday, Birx told CNN that the United States, which has already seen nearly 155,000 deaths from COVID-19, is entering "a new phase" of viral spread. "It is extraordinarily widespread," she said. "To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus." Trump said that Birx's warning was issued only after she was attacked by the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi and other Democrats have gone after Birx, a veteran public health expert, over what they say is her willingness to tailor her messages to win approval from Trump. Also read: Children should go back to school even if studies show they spread coronavirus: White House "I think the president is spreading disinformation about the virus and she is his appointee, so I don't have confidence there, no," Pelosi said on ABC television. On Sunday, the White House sprang to Birx's defense. "It is deeply irresponsible of Speaker Pelosi to repeatedly try to undermine & create public distrust in Dr Birx, the top public health professional on the coronavirus task force," Alyssa Farah, director of strategic communications, tweeted. "It's also just wrong. Period. Hard stop." Trump, however, changed tack with Monday's tweet. "So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!" The other main public face of the US medical response to the coronavirus, Doctor Anthony Fauci, has come in for frequent rough treatment at the hands of the White House and sometimes Trump himself. Fauci's typically hard-nosed assessments of the disease's progress regularly counter more rosy versions promoted by the president. Trump has called Fauci "alarmist," suggested he is misleading the public, and last week said it was unfair that the doctor's public approval ratings are so much higher than his own.

'Pathetic!': US President Trump lashes out at virus coordinator

President Donald Trump's Republican lawmaker, Louie Gohmert has tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. &nbsp;

Gohmert, who made a habit of walking around the Congress without a mask, was prepared to leave for his native Texas with Donald Trump.&nbsp;

House Democrats were angered by the news and urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi to order the wearing of masks on the chamber floor -- with the punishment of removal for anyone disobeying.

The 66-year-old lawmaker was asymptomatic and downplayed his diagnosis.

He has worn a mask in recent weeks and has said on Wednesday that moving it around on his face because it is uncomfortable "puts some germs in the mask" and maybe this caused his infection.

Gohmert was tested in the White House as he was to accompany Trump in a visit to Texas.&nbsp;

"So I'm asymptomatic, I don't have any of the symptoms that are listed as part of COVID-19, but apparently I have the Wuhan virus," Gohmert said in a video using a term that angers China.

According to Gohmert, he has worn the mask more in the last week or two than in all of the past four months (when the pandemic began). He added that he wore a mask during Tuesday's hearing with Barr also. However, he was seen without it a few times during the hearing and was seen walking and talking with Barr.

"Wear a damn mask," said Democratic representative Jennifer Wexton from Virginia.

"I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you're a Member of Congress who refuses to wear a mask on Capitol Hill, you're not only putting your colleagues at risk -- you're endangering the staff who works here, including many of my constituents," she said.

(Inputs from AFP)

President Donald Trump's Republican lawmaker, Louie Gohmert has tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. Gohmert, who made a habit of walking around the Congress without a mask, was prepared to leave for his native Texas with Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump's Republican lawmaker, Louie Gohmert has tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. Gohmert, who made a habit of walking around the Congress without a mask, was prepared to leave for his native Texas with Donald Trump. House Democrats were angered by the news and urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi to order the wearing of masks on the chamber floor -- with the punishment of removal for anyone disobeying. The 66-year-old lawmaker was asymptomatic and downplayed his diagnosis. He has worn a mask in recent weeks and has said on Wednesday that moving it around on his face because it is uncomfortable "puts some germs in the mask" and maybe this caused his infection. Gohmert was tested in the White House as he was to accompany Trump in a visit to Texas. "So I'm asymptomatic, I don't have any of the symptoms that are listed as part of COVID-19, but apparently I have the Wuhan virus," Gohmert said in a video using a term that angers China. According to Gohmert, he has worn the mask more in the last week or two than in all of the past four months (when the pandemic began). He added that he wore a mask during Tuesday's hearing with Barr also. However, he was seen without it a few times during the hearing and was seen walking and talking with Barr. "Wear a damn mask," said Democratic representative Jennifer Wexton from Virginia. "I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you're a Member of Congress who refuses to wear a mask on Capitol Hill, you're not only putting your colleagues at risk -- you're endangering the staff who works here, including many of my constituents," she said. (Inputs from AFP)

Lawmaker Louie Gohmert tests positive for COVID-19 ahead of his visit to Texas with Donald Trump

The US Space Force has unveiled its official motto and logo in an announcement during the military service on Wednesday.

The motto will be “semper supra,” the Latin for “always above”. Its official logo consists of a silver delta symbol with the Polaris star in the centre, spires at the top representing a rocket launch and bevelled elements on the edges to symbolize jointness with the other military branches.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond took to Twitter and said: "We are building a new Service to secure the space domain... the ultimate high ground. Our strategic imperative is to ensure that our space capabilities &amp; the advantages they provide the nation &amp; our Joint and Coalition partners are always there. #SemperSupra!"

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We are building a new Service to secure the space domain... the ultimate high ground. Our strategic imperative is to ensure that our space capabilities &amp; the advantages they provide the nation &amp; our Joint and Coalition partners are always there. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SemperSupra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SemperSupra</a>! <a href="https://t.co/5tIglNUAP1">https://t.co/5tIglNUAP1</a>
— Gen. Jay Raymond (@SpaceForceCSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceForceCSO/status/1286000248696037377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The announcement on Wednesday comes after President Donald Trump unveiled the official seal for the service and is also referred to as the logo.&nbsp;

The seal, which also centres on a delta symbol, became the talking point of the social media for resembling Star Trek’s Starfleet logo, though Space Force notes the US military has used the delta in emblems for space organizations since 1961.

US President also unveiled its official flag in May along with the seal in a ceremony held in the Oval Office.&nbsp;

The Space Force was officially created as the sixth branch of the military in December with Trump’s signing of the annual defence policy bill, and it has been building up since then.

Last week, Space Force announced the first 2,410 airmen who will transfer into the Space Force starting September 1.

The service has only 88 sworn-in official members and is aimed at protecting US assets in space, such as satellites, from threats from Russia and China.

The US Space Force has unveiled its official motto and logo in an announcement during the military service on Wednesday. The motto will be “semper supra,” the Latin for “always above”.

The US Space Force has unveiled its official motto and logo in an announcement during the military service on Wednesday. The motto will be “semper supra,” the Latin for “always above”. Its official logo consists of a silver delta symbol with the Polaris star in the centre, spires at the top representing a rocket launch and bevelled elements on the edges to symbolize jointness with the other military branches. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond took to Twitter and said: "We are building a new Service to secure the space domain... the ultimate high ground. Our strategic imperative is to ensure that our space capabilities & the advantages they provide the nation & our Joint and Coalition partners are always there. #SemperSupra!" We are building a new Service to secure the space domain... the ultimate high ground. Our strategic imperative is to ensure that our space capabilities & the advantages they provide the nation & our Joint and Coalition partners are always there. #SemperSupra! https://t.co/5tIglNUAP1 — Gen. Jay Raymond (@SpaceForceCSO) July 22, 2020 × The announcement on Wednesday comes after President Donald Trump unveiled the official seal for the service and is also referred to as the logo. The seal, which also centres on a delta symbol, became the talking point of the social media for resembling Star Trek’s Starfleet logo, though Space Force notes the US military has used the delta in emblems for space organizations since 1961. US President also unveiled its official flag in May along with the seal in a ceremony held in the Oval Office. The Space Force was officially created as the sixth branch of the military in December with Trump’s signing of the annual defence policy bill, and it has been building up since then. Last week, Space Force announced the first 2,410 airmen who will transfer into the Space Force starting September 1. The service has only 88 sworn-in official members and is aimed at protecting US assets in space, such as satellites, from threats from Russia and China.

'Semper Supra': US Space Force unveils new logo and motto

The United States has reported over 43,000 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, as per a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The Baltimore-based university's tracker showed 43,742 more cases as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Sunday), bringing the country's total number of cases since the pandemic began to 2,836,764.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/despite-surge-in-covid-19-cases-us-president-donald-trump-says-tremendous-victory-nearby-in-fight-against-pandemic-310766" hreflang="en">Despite surge in COVID-19 cases, US president Donald Trump says 'tremendous victory' nearby in fight against pandemic</a>

According to the university, the country also witnessed 252 deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 129,657.&nbsp;

The coronavirus figures showed a slight decline after three days of a record-breaking surge in the country including record 57,683 on Friday.&nbsp;

However, the reason for the decline in figures could be due to less reporting during the July fourth national holiday.&nbsp;

The United States remains the hardest-hit country in terms of the pandemic. US President Donald Trump claimed, "tremendous victory" was at hand against the pandemic on the Fourth of July national holiday, despite a surge in coronavirus cases across the United States.

“It’s going to happen and it’s going to happen big,” the president said in a message to the nation. “Our country will be greater than ever before.”

Trump claimed: “We were doing better than any country had done in history ... and then we got hit with this terrible plague from China and now we’re getting closer to fighting our way out of it.”

“Our country is coming back, our jobs numbers are spectacular, a lot of things are happening that people don’t quite see yet. We’re on our way to a tremendous victory. It’s going to happen and it’s going to happen big. Our country will be greater than ever before,” he added.

The United States has reported over 43,000 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, as per a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The Baltimore-based university's tracker showed 43,742 more cases as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Sunday), bringing the country's total number of cases since the pandemic began to 2,836,764.

The United States has reported over 43,000 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, as per a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The Baltimore-based university's tracker showed 43,742 more cases as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Sunday), bringing the country's total number of cases since the pandemic began to 2,836,764. Also read: Despite surge in COVID-19 cases, US president Donald Trump says 'tremendous victory' nearby in fight against pandemic According to the university, the country also witnessed 252 deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 129,657. The coronavirus figures showed a slight decline after three days of a record-breaking surge in the country including record 57,683 on Friday. However, the reason for the decline in figures could be due to less reporting during the July fourth national holiday. The United States remains the hardest-hit country in terms of the pandemic. US President Donald Trump claimed, "tremendous victory" was at hand against the pandemic on the Fourth of July national holiday, despite a surge in coronavirus cases across the United States. “It’s going to happen and it’s going to happen big,” the president said in a message to the nation. “Our country will be greater than ever before.” Trump claimed: “We were doing better than any country had done in history ... and then we got hit with this terrible plague from China and now we’re getting closer to fighting our way out of it.” “Our country is coming back, our jobs numbers are spectacular, a lot of things are happening that people don’t quite see yet. We’re on our way to a tremendous victory. It’s going to happen and it’s going to happen big. Our country will be greater than ever before,” he added.

Coronavirus: US reports over 43,000 cases, 252 deaths in last 24 hours

Former 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain has been hospitalised with coronavirus after attending US President Donald Trump's Tulsa rally without wearing a mask.

The 74-year-old was admiited at an Atlanta-area hospital after he tested postitive for COVID-19 and was hopitalised after he developed severe symptoms.

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We are sorry to announce that Herman Cain has tested positive for COVID-19, and is currently receiving treatment in an Atlanta-area hospital. 
 
Please keep him, and all who are battling this virus, in your prayers. 
 
Our full statement appears below. Updates to follow. <a href="https://t.co/lDRW7Rla4e">pic.twitter.com/lDRW7Rla4e</a>
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Dan Calabrese, who has been editor of HermanCain.com since 2012, said Thursday&nbsp;"We honestly have no idea where he contracted it. I realize people will speculate about the Tulsa rally, but Herman did a lot of traveling the past week, including to Arizona where cases are spiking. I don't think there's any way to trace this to the one specific contact that caused him to be infected. We'll never know."

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-campaign-says-supporters-should-attend-his-rally-at-their-own-risk-305266">Trump campaign says supporters should attend his rally at 'their own risk'</a>

While it is not sure as to how Herman Cain&nbsp;contracted the fatal virus, the development comes two weeks after former Pizza Godafther CEO had attended Trump's rally in Oklahoma and was photographed in close proximity with other bare-faced attendees.

The rally was criticised by top US health expert Anthony Fauci and ex-FDA chief Scott Gottileb for the risk it posed for another coronavirus outbreak.

Donald Trump supporters who attend the US President's&nbsp;election rally had to&nbsp;sign a waiver promising not to sue if they catch COVID-19 at the event, according to his campaign website.

Former 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain has been hospitalised with coronavirus after attending US President Donald Trump's Tulsa rally without wearing a mask.

Former 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain has been hospitalised with coronavirus after attending US President Donald Trump's Tulsa rally without wearing a mask. The 74-year-old was admiited at an Atlanta-area hospital after he tested postitive for COVID-19 and was hopitalised after he developed severe symptoms. We are sorry to announce that Herman Cain has tested positive for COVID-19, and is currently receiving treatment in an Atlanta-area hospital. Please keep him, and all who are battling this virus, in your prayers. Our full statement appears below. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/lDRW7Rla4e — Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 2, 2020 × Dan Calabrese, who has been editor of HermanCain.com since 2012, said Thursday "We honestly have no idea where he contracted it. I realize people will speculate about the Tulsa rally, but Herman did a lot of traveling the past week, including to Arizona where cases are spiking. I don't think there's any way to trace this to the one specific contact that caused him to be infected. We'll never know." Also read: Trump campaign says supporters should attend his rally at 'their own risk' While it is not sure as to how Herman Cain contracted the fatal virus, the development comes two weeks after former Pizza Godafther CEO had attended Trump's rally in Oklahoma and was photographed in close proximity with other bare-faced attendees. The rally was criticised by top US health expert Anthony Fauci and ex-FDA chief Scott Gottileb for the risk it posed for another coronavirus outbreak. Donald Trump supporters who attend the US President's election rally had to sign a waiver promising not to sue if they catch COVID-19 at the event, according to his campaign website.

Herman Cain, who attended Trump's Tulsa rally, hospitalised due to COVID-19

US President Donald Trump has directed his administration to reform the H-1B visa system and move in the direction of merit-based immigration, White House officials have said.

Moving to a merit-based immigration system, the White House said in a statement soon after Trump issued a proclamation to temporarily suspend H-1B and other work visas till the end of the year.&nbsp;

The Trump Administration will reform the immigration system to prioritise the highest-skilled workers and protect American jobs, it said.

Under these reforms, the H-1B programme will prioritise those workers who are offered the highest wage, ensuring that the highest-skilled applicants are admitted, the White House said.

The Trump Administration will also close loopholes that have allowed employers in the US to replace American workers with low-cost foreign labour, it said.

These reforms will help protect the wages of American workers and ensure that foreign labour entering our country is high skilled and does not undercut the United States labour market, the White House added.

The more permanent actions that he is directing us to take include reforming the H-1B system to move in the direction of a more merit-based system. You hear the president talk all the time about getting the best and the brightest, and you also hear him talking about protecting American jobs. So, these reforms will do both, a senior administration official told reporters during a conference call.

Under these reforms, the H-1B programme is going to prioritise those workers who are offered the highest wages as the best proxy for what they bring to the table to add to the American economy, the official said.

Noting that there is a cap on H-1B visas of 85,000 every year, the official said that last year, 2,25,000 applications were received for those visas.

Up until this year, those visas have been distributed through random lottery... The president has instructed us to get rid of the lottery and replace it with ranking the salaries -- so the top 85,000 salary offers among the 225,000 or so applicants will get visas, the official said.

This will drive both the wage-level and the skill-level of the H-1B applicants up. It will eliminate competition with Americans, it will reduce American competition in these industries at the entry-level, and will do more to get the best and the brightest, the official asserted.

According to the official, Trump has also instructed them to close the loopholes that have allowed employers to, essentially, domestically outsource their labour by replacing American workers with low-cost foreign labour.

The way this loophole worked was the analysis of whether an incoming immigrant worker would displace an American worker was done at the company hiring the immigrant,? the official said.

If the company hires a bunch of immigrants and then subcontracts them out to another company -- say, Disney or AT&amp;T, to just pick two historical examples -- then they end up displacing American workers at Disney and AT&amp;T, both of which infamously had their American citizen employees training their H-1B replacements as their last act, the official said.

The president has instructed us to end that practice and will do so by regulation as soon as we possibly can,? said the senior administration official.

Trump among other things has instructed to change the prevailing wage calculation and clean it up, with respect to H-1B wages.

It is an old, crazy system from the Clinton era, with four tiers, and the prevailing wage calculation is done in a variety of bases,? the official said.

The Department of Labor is going to fix all that, with the idea of setting the prevailing wage floor at the 50th percentile so these people will be in the upper end of earnings, so we're getting the best and the brightest, we're adding the most value to the economy, and we're maximizing the opportunity for Americans to get jobs,? the official said.

The Secretary of Labour is going to commence using his statutory authority to investigate abuses in the H1B states, the official said.

While this statutory authority has existed, I do not believe that any Secretary of Labor, prior to Secretary Scalia, has ever sought to use it. The President has directed him to do that. He's enthusiastic to commence that,? the official said.&nbsp;

US President Donald Trump has directed his administration to reform the H-1B visa system and move in the direction of merit-based immigration, White House officials have said.

US President Donald Trump has directed his administration to reform the H-1B visa system and move in the direction of merit-based immigration, White House officials have said. Moving to a merit-based immigration system, the White House said in a statement soon after Trump issued a proclamation to temporarily suspend H-1B and other work visas till the end of the year. The Trump Administration will reform the immigration system to prioritise the highest-skilled workers and protect American jobs, it said. Under these reforms, the H-1B programme will prioritise those workers who are offered the highest wage, ensuring that the highest-skilled applicants are admitted, the White House said. The Trump Administration will also close loopholes that have allowed employers in the US to replace American workers with low-cost foreign labour, it said. These reforms will help protect the wages of American workers and ensure that foreign labour entering our country is high skilled and does not undercut the United States labour market, the White House added. The more permanent actions that he is directing us to take include reforming the H-1B system to move in the direction of a more merit-based system. You hear the president talk all the time about getting the best and the brightest, and you also hear him talking about protecting American jobs. So, these reforms will do both, a senior administration official told reporters during a conference call. Under these reforms, the H-1B programme is going to prioritise those workers who are offered the highest wages as the best proxy for what they bring to the table to add to the American economy, the official said. Noting that there is a cap on H-1B visas of 85,000 every year, the official said that last year, 2,25,000 applications were received for those visas. Up until this year, those visas have been distributed through random lottery... The president has instructed us to get rid of the lottery and replace it with ranking the salaries -- so the top 85,000 salary offers among the 225,000 or so applicants will get visas, the official said. This will drive both the wage-level and the skill-level of the H-1B applicants up. It will eliminate competition with Americans, it will reduce American competition in these industries at the entry-level, and will do more to get the best and the brightest, the official asserted. According to the official, Trump has also instructed them to close the loopholes that have allowed employers to, essentially, domestically outsource their labour by replacing American workers with low-cost foreign labour. The way this loophole worked was the analysis of whether an incoming immigrant worker would displace an American worker was done at the company hiring the immigrant,? the official said. If the company hires a bunch of immigrants and then subcontracts them out to another company -- say, Disney or AT&T, to just pick two historical examples -- then they end up displacing American workers at Disney and AT&T, both of which infamously had their American citizen employees training their H-1B replacements as their last act, the official said. The president has instructed us to end that practice and will do so by regulation as soon as we possibly can,? said the senior administration official. Trump among other things has instructed to change the prevailing wage calculation and clean it up, with respect to H-1B wages. It is an old, crazy system from the Clinton era, with four tiers, and the prevailing wage calculation is done in a variety of bases,? the official said. The Department of Labor is going to fix all that, with the idea of setting the prevailing wage floor at the 50th percentile so these people will be in the upper end of earnings, so we're getting the best and the brightest, we're adding the most value to the economy, and we're maximizing the opportunity for Americans to get jobs,? the official said. The Secretary of Labour is going to commence using his statutory authority to investigate abuses in the H1B states, the official said. While this statutory authority has existed, I do not believe that any Secretary of Labor, prior to Secretary Scalia, has ever sought to use it. The President has directed him to do that. He's enthusiastic to commence that,? the official said.

Reform H-1B visa system; move towards merit-based immigration: Trump to officials

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