Donald Trump has left the White House for the final time of his presidency, ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration. Trump has reached the Joint Base Andrews through a helicopter, where he will board an Air Force aircraft after his farewell speech for Florida.

U.S: Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, will receive a 21-Gun salute

Donald Trump has left the White House for the final time of his presidency, ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration. Trump has taken a helicopter to nearby Andrews Base, where he will board an Air Force aircraft for Florida.

Trump to be the 4th U.S. President to skip successor's inauguration

U.S: Donald Trump leaves the White House, not to attend the Joe Biden's inauguration

President-elect Joe Biden to be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America. Kamala Harris to be the first female Vice President of the U.S.

Inauguration day in the United States of America, President-elect Joe Biden to be sworn-in

Twelve National Guard members have been removed from security-related duties ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden for expressing anti-government sentiments.

U.S: 12 guardsmen removed from security ahead of the Joe Biden's inauguration

Starting January 20, Joe Biden will take the oath as the US President - a transition India is eagerly waiting for.

New Delhi has a&nbsp;long wish-list for the Biden administration. India would like its trade benefits worth six billion dollars restored, and it also wants the Trump era curbs on visas to be lifted. New Delhi would like a strong stance against Pakistan-backed terror groups, and a deeper alliance to combat China.

India isn’t looking forward to a hasty American withdrawal from Afghanistan. New Delhi would also like to see some movement on two big ticket items - The reform of the United Nations Security Council and India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Where does Joe Biden stand on these issues?

When it became clear that Joe Biden will be America's next president, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him with a photograph which was clicked seven years ago - when Biden attended a lunch - hosted in honour of the Indian prime minister in Washington DC. On that day, Joe Biden had talked about the promise of a strong India-US relationship.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/breaking-tradition-trump-plans-self-farewell-before-bidens-inauguration-ceremony-357814" hreflang="en">Breaking tradition: Trump plans self-farewell before Biden's inauguration ceremony</a>

Now, as president of the US, he gets to accomplish his vision. When the two leaders meet again they'll have a lot to discuss. And New Delhi should feel confident about its future engagements with Washington.

As a candidate, Joe Biden made all the right noises, like on the issue of visas, and Biden has already promised to lift all trump era restrictions.

The biggest challenge is the backlog, with over eight lakh Indians waiting for a green card. And it is believed more than two lakh will die waiting for one. Biden plans to revamp the visa rules. He wants to expand the number of high skilled visas and eliminate country specific quotas.

Biden's campaign website also assured an instant green card to students to get their doctorate in America in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths.

What about trade?

India's relationship with America took a hit on the trade front when Trump decided to withdraw benefits worth six billion dollars under the generalized system of preferences. Both sides negotiated for a "mini trade deal" but they didn't sign an agreement.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/india-news/biden-harris-inauguration-special-prayers-sweet-distribution-planned-at-harris-ancestral-village-357770" hreflang="en">Biden-Harris inauguration: Special prayers, sweet distribution planned at Harris’ ancestral village</a>

Biden hasn't made his position clear on tariffs, and the incoming president faces his own share of economic challenges. The pandemic has left more than 25 million workers in America either unemployed, or, with lower salaries. Biden has promised to stand by American firms. Any trade negotiation with India will be a hard-nosed one.

Chinese aggression&nbsp;

India and the US have bigger concerns besides trade - Like the growing Chinese aggression. China will be the driving force behind this relationship, and Biden is expected to remain tough on Beijing.

He had refereed to the Chinese president as a thug while campaigning and promised to rope in allies to push back against China on its human rights record and authoritarianism.

Biden has also promised to remain tough on the issue of terrorism. He believes there can be no tolerance for terrorism in South Asia - cross border or otherwise. So far, team Biden has sent the right signals to India. Biden himself has called the India-US partnership a defining relationship for the 21st century.

Starting January 20, Joe Biden will take the oath as the US President - a transition India is eagerly waiting for. New Delhi has a long wish-list for the Biden administration.

Starting January 20, Joe Biden will take the oath as the US President - a transition India is eagerly waiting for. New Delhi has a long wish-list for the Biden administration. India would like its trade benefits worth six billion dollars restored, and it also wants the Trump era curbs on visas to be lifted. New Delhi would like a strong stance against Pakistan-backed terror groups, and a deeper alliance to combat China. India isn’t looking forward to a hasty American withdrawal from Afghanistan. New Delhi would also like to see some movement on two big ticket items - The reform of the United Nations Security Council and India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Where does Joe Biden stand on these issues? When it became clear that Joe Biden will be America's next president, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him with a photograph which was clicked seven years ago - when Biden attended a lunch - hosted in honour of the Indian prime minister in Washington DC. On that day, Joe Biden had talked about the promise of a strong India-US relationship. Also read: Breaking tradition: Trump plans self-farewell before Biden's inauguration ceremony Now, as president of the US, he gets to accomplish his vision. When the two leaders meet again they'll have a lot to discuss. And New Delhi should feel confident about its future engagements with Washington. As a candidate, Joe Biden made all the right noises, like on the issue of visas, and Biden has already promised to lift all trump era restrictions. The biggest challenge is the backlog, with over eight lakh Indians waiting for a green card. And it is believed more than two lakh will die waiting for one. Biden plans to revamp the visa rules. He wants to expand the number of high skilled visas and eliminate country specific quotas. Biden's campaign website also assured an instant green card to students to get their doctorate in America in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths. What about trade? India's relationship with America took a hit on the trade front when Trump decided to withdraw benefits worth six billion dollars under the generalized system of preferences. Both sides negotiated for a "mini trade deal" but they didn't sign an agreement. Also read: Biden-Harris inauguration: Special prayers, sweet distribution planned at Harris’ ancestral village Biden hasn't made his position clear on tariffs, and the incoming president faces his own share of economic challenges. The pandemic has left more than 25 million workers in America either unemployed, or, with lower salaries. Biden has promised to stand by American firms. Any trade negotiation with India will be a hard-nosed one. Chinese aggression India and the US have bigger concerns besides trade - Like the growing Chinese aggression. China will be the driving force behind this relationship, and Biden is expected to remain tough on Beijing. He had refereed to the Chinese president as a thug while campaigning and promised to rope in allies to push back against China on its human rights record and authoritarianism. Biden has also promised to remain tough on the issue of terrorism. He believes there can be no tolerance for terrorism in South Asia - cross border or otherwise. So far, team Biden has sent the right signals to India. Biden himself has called the India-US partnership a defining relationship for the 21st century.

What can India expect from Joe Biden as US President?

The January 20 inauguration, wherein Joe Biden would be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Apart from marking the transition of Presidential powers the swearing-in also signifies the beginning of a new era. Here some of the many first in the U.S. inaugural history.

A look at all the U.S. Presidents so far | Transition of Presidential powers

Major, a German Shepherd who will be the first rescue dog residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, was adopted by Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden

'It's time we put a pet back in the White House', says Joe Biden

Biden this week unveiled plans to seek $1.9 trillion to revive the economy through new stimulus payments and other aid.

What's on Biden's agenda for first 10 days? $1.9 trillion Stimulus package | Covid vaccines

Neera Tanden, who has been nominated as Director of Management and Budget, and Dr. Vivek Murthy, nominated as the U.S. Surgeon General.

Indian-Americans to walk the halls of power in U.S.

The incoming president of the United States, Joe Biden, will sign about a dozen executive orders on his first day in office, his top aide has said.

Incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain said in&nbsp;a memo to new White House senior staff that the executive orders would address the pandemic, the ailing US economy, climate change and racial injustice in America.

As he inherits the White House from Donald Trump, Biden's plate is overflowing with acute challenges.

The US is fast approaching 400,000 deaths from the Covid-19 crisis and logging well over a million new cases a week as the coronavirus spreads out of control.

The economy is ailing, with 10 million fewer jobs available compared to the start of the pandemic.

Biden this week unveiled plans to seek $1.9 trillion to revive the economy through new stimulus payments and other aid, and plans a blitz to accelerate America's stumbling Covid vaccine rollout effort.

Biden will also sign orders including ones for the US to rejoin the Paris climate accord and reverse Trump's ban on entry of people from certain Muslim majority countries, Klain said.

Meanwhile, Washington was under a state of high alert after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6. The assault left five people dead, including a police officer.

The inauguration of the 46th president of the nation is happening amid fears of violence from Trump supporters. To this end, security forces even staged a nationwide security operation ahead of the ceremony.

Authorities in Washington, where Wednesday's inauguration will take place, said they arrested a man with a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition at a security checkpoint, underscoring the tension in the US capital which is resembling a war zone.

However, the man's family told US media he was a security guard, rejecting the idea he was intent on causing harm.

The Virginia man at a security checkpoint tried to use an "unauthorised" credential to access the restricted area where Biden will be inaugurated.

As officers checked the credential against the authorised access list, one noticed decals on the back of Wesley Beeler's pick-up truck that said "Assault Life," with an image of a rifle, and another with the message: "If they come for your guns, give 'em your bullets first," according to a document filed in Washington, DC Superior Court.

Under questioning, Beeler told officers he had a Glock handgun in the vehicle. A search uncovered a loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, the court document said.

Beeler was arrested on charges including possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Security officials have warned that armed pro-Trump extremists, possibly carrying explosives, pose a threat to Washington as well as state capitals over the coming week.

Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington and streets have been blocked off downtown with concrete barriers.

In addition to the heavy security presence in Washington, law enforcement was out in force in state capitals around the country to ward off potential political violence.

Mass protests that had been planned for the weekend did not materialise on Saturday, with security far outnumbering Trump supporters at several fortified statehouses, US media reported.

BIDEN'S POA

As previously announced, Biden will ask the Department of Education to extend the existing pause on student loan payments and interest for millions of Americans with federal student loans, re-join the Paris Agreement, and reverse the Muslim Ban.

Biden will launch his "100 Day Masking Challenge" by issuing a mask mandate on federal property and inter-state travel --&nbsp;part of a critical effort to begin to bend the curve on COVID.&nbsp;

The next day, on January 21, Biden will sign a number of executive actions to move aggressively to change the course of the COVID-19 crisis and safely re-open schools and businesses, including by taking action to mitigate spread through expanding testing, protecting workers, and establishing clear public health standards.

On January 22, the president will direct his Cabinet agencies to take immediate action to deliver economic relief to working families bearing the brunt of this crisis.

Klein said that between January 25 and February 1, the president-elect will sign additional executive actions, memoranda and Cabinet directives. The president-elect will fulfil his promises to strengthen Buy American provisions so the future of America is made in America.

He will take significant early actions to advance equity and support communities of colour and other underserved communities. He will take action to begin fulfilling campaign promises related to reforming the criminal justice system.

Biden will sign additional executive actions to address the climate crisis with the urgency the science demands and ensure that science guides the administration's decision making.

He will take first steps to expand access to health care - including for low-income women and women of colour.

(with inputs from agencies)

The incoming president of the United States, Joe Biden, will sign about a dozen executive orders on his first day in office, his top aide has said. Incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain said in a memo to new White House senior staff that the executive orders would address the pandemic, the ailing US economy, climate change and racial injustice in America.

The incoming president of the United States, Joe Biden, will sign about a dozen executive orders on his first day in office, his top aide has said. Incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain said in a memo to new White House senior staff that the executive orders would address the pandemic, the ailing US economy, climate change and racial injustice in America. As he inherits the White House from Donald Trump, Biden's plate is overflowing with acute challenges. The US is fast approaching 400,000 deaths from the Covid-19 crisis and logging well over a million new cases a week as the coronavirus spreads out of control. The economy is ailing, with 10 million fewer jobs available compared to the start of the pandemic. Biden this week unveiled plans to seek $1.9 trillion to revive the economy through new stimulus payments and other aid, and plans a blitz to accelerate America's stumbling Covid vaccine rollout effort. Biden will also sign orders including ones for the US to rejoin the Paris climate accord and reverse Trump's ban on entry of people from certain Muslim majority countries, Klain said. Meanwhile, Washington was under a state of high alert after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6. The assault left five people dead, including a police officer. The inauguration of the 46th president of the nation is happening amid fears of violence from Trump supporters. To this end, security forces even staged a nationwide security operation ahead of the ceremony. Authorities in Washington, where Wednesday's inauguration will take place, said they arrested a man with a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition at a security checkpoint, underscoring the tension in the US capital which is resembling a war zone. However, the man's family told US media he was a security guard, rejecting the idea he was intent on causing harm. The Virginia man at a security checkpoint tried to use an "unauthorised" credential to access the restricted area where Biden will be inaugurated. As officers checked the credential against the authorised access list, one noticed decals on the back of Wesley Beeler's pick-up truck that said "Assault Life," with an image of a rifle, and another with the message: "If they come for your guns, give 'em your bullets first," according to a document filed in Washington, DC Superior Court. Under questioning, Beeler told officers he had a Glock handgun in the vehicle. A search uncovered a loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, the court document said. Beeler was arrested on charges including possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. Security officials have warned that armed pro-Trump extremists, possibly carrying explosives, pose a threat to Washington as well as state capitals over the coming week. Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington and streets have been blocked off downtown with concrete barriers. In addition to the heavy security presence in Washington, law enforcement was out in force in state capitals around the country to ward off potential political violence. Mass protests that had been planned for the weekend did not materialise on Saturday, with security far outnumbering Trump supporters at several fortified statehouses, US media reported. BIDEN'S POA As previously announced, Biden will ask the Department of Education to extend the existing pause on student loan payments and interest for millions of Americans with federal student loans, re-join the Paris Agreement, and reverse the Muslim Ban. Biden will launch his "100 Day Masking Challenge" by issuing a mask mandate on federal property and inter-state travel -- part of a critical effort to begin to bend the curve on COVID. The next day, on January 21, Biden will sign a number of executive actions to move aggressively to change the course of the COVID-19 crisis and safely re-open schools and businesses, including by taking action to mitigate spread through expanding testing, protecting workers, and establishing clear public health standards. On January 22, the president will direct his Cabinet agencies to take immediate action to deliver economic relief to working families bearing the brunt of this crisis. Klein said that between January 25 and February 1, the president-elect will sign additional executive actions, memoranda and Cabinet directives. The president-elect will fulfil his promises to strengthen Buy American provisions so the future of America is made in America. He will take significant early actions to advance equity and support communities of colour and other underserved communities. He will take action to begin fulfilling campaign promises related to reforming the criminal justice system. Biden will sign additional executive actions to address the climate crisis with the urgency the science demands and ensure that science guides the administration's decision making. He will take first steps to expand access to health care - including for low-income women and women of colour. (with inputs from agencies)

Biden to sign executive orders on Day 1, security beefed up across Washington

In an effort to wipe-out the Trump-era, US President-elect Joe Biden plans to sign dozens of Executive orders on his first day in the office which includes a stimulus plan and an expansive immigration bill.

Biden plans to roll-out dozens of Executive orders

When President Donald Trump faced (and overcame) the gravest crisis of his first campaign, he defended his boasts of sexual assault on the “Access Hollywood” tape as ultimately harmless gabbing.

“Locker room talk,” he said — nothing to dwell on.

When the president faced (and overcame) impeachment in 2019 after pressing the Ukrainian president to investigate President-elect Joe Biden, he insisted it was merely an innocuous case of two guys talking.

“A perfect call,” he said, not a high crime.

And when Trump leaves the White House no later than Wednesday — amid the impeachment sequel and uncommon comeuppance he has encountered since inciting a riotous mob in Washington on Jan. 6 — he will surrender a valued perk: an executive phone system, he once enthused, that made it feel as if his words would self-destruct before they became self-destructive.

“The world’s most secure system,” Trump marveled in a 2017 interview during his first week in office, observing that no one was listening in and recording. “The words just explode in the air.”

Poof. Gone. Just as he likes it.

For most of Trump’s 74 years, the relationship between his words and their consequences has been fairly straightforward: He says what he wants, and nothing particularly durable tends to happen to him.

But in the final frames of his presidency, Trump is confronting an unfamiliar fate. He is being held to account as never before for things he has said, finding his typical defenses — denial, obfuscation, powerful friends, claiming it was all a big joke — insufficient in explaining away a violent mob acting in his name.

(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)

Aides could not do it for him, anonymously offering more palatable accounts.

Allies could not argue that he had been misunderstood.

His own words were all anyone needed to hear on this one.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

In almost certainly the most expansive series of penalties he has incurred in his life, Trump’s Twitter account has been banned, his business brand badly dented, his presidency doomed to the historical infamy of a second impeachment. His largest lender, Deutsche Bank, is moving to create distance from him. His New Jersey golf club was stripped of a major tournament. Some once-reliable Republican congressional loyalists are revisiting their commitment, threatening his grip on the party, even as the president’s popularity with much of his support base remains undimmed.

Those who have known and watched Trump across the years cannot shake the irony of a president felled by the very formula that powered his rise: inflammatory speech and a self-regard that has congealed at times into functional self-delusion.

He has never considered words to be as significant as actions, or even in the same category of prospective offense. Words were whatever got him through the next interaction, people who worked with him say. Words were not deemed important enough to invite serious trouble.

So well-developed were Trump’s survival instincts, in theory, that he had all but perfected the art of semiplausible deniability — an upside of being on seemingly every side of every major political issue at various points in his adult life.

Hadn’t he said the right thing that one time? That was what he meant.

Hadn’t he winked at the crowd a bit? Everyone takes him too seriously.

Hadn’t he used the word “peacefully” one time in that address before the Capitol riot, tucked between the more dominant instructions to “fight” and “show strength” and “go by very different rules” as he whipped up anger against elected officials, including his own vice president, who were disinclined to subvert the will of the electorate?

“He has had a habit of saying outrageous things and then saying he was being sarcastic, he was kidding, that people shouldn’t take him literally — and in fact, if you do, what an idiot you are,” said Gwenda Blair, a biographer of the Trump family. “It’s both deniability for himself, but it’s also deniability for his followers. He gives &lt;em&gt;them&lt;/em&gt; something to hold onto so that they can then continue to believe in him.”

But Trump and much of the political class that was shocked and disoriented by his 2016 win have sometimes conflated his reputational resilience with a notion that nothing he says can hurt him, no matter how ostensibly damaging.

His term has been pocked with episodes — from his equivocation on white supremacy after the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, to his downplaying the unambiguous risks of COVID-19 — that made him an unpopular president whose contract was not renewed. Less assured is his capacity to recognize the link between his conduct and this outcome.

In fact, since entering politics, Trump has often delighted in cutting down opponents who sounded too practiced or restrained.

“Just words,” he said of Joe Biden as the Democrat accepted his party’s nomination last summer.

“It’s just words, folks,” Trump said of Hillary Clinton at an October 2016 debate days after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, at once deflecting any denunciation of his own remarks and calling Clinton’s empty. “It’s just words.”

As president, Trump benefited daily from an army of defenders in Congress and across the conservative media who dedicated themselves to interpreting his often-inexplicable words as charitably as possible.

And since his time as a private citizen, Trump has generally been insulated from the fallout from his words because associates have been left to navigate it instead.

“He said stupid things, and we did damage control, and that was it,” said Barbara Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization. “He never gave it a thought.”

Experts in the Trump canon have struggled to summon an analogy for his present conditions, when his words or deeds had caused things he cared about to be taken from him.

“Ivana during that first divorce kind of got back at him a bit,” Blair recalled of the amply chronicled dissolution of his first marriage, before reconsidering. “In fact, he loved that whole thing because it got him more ink.”

Tony Schwartz, who ghostwrote “Trump: The Art of the Deal” and has in recent years become a ferocious critic, said Trump’s relative evasion of consequences until now “has progressively increased his conviction that he can and should get away with anything he does.”

It is no surprise, then, that since last week, as in much of his White House tenure, Trump has proved himself capable of only temporary modulation, defaulting to defiance but snapping to attention when advisers impressed upon him that he could face legal exposure for his incitements.

In a video Wednesday, he condemned “violence and vandalism” and held up his “true” supporters as champions of law enforcement — a message aimed, perhaps, at unnerved Senate Republicans before his impeachment trial.

Yet for all the things Trump did not say — that he lost the election, that Biden would be inaugurated, that he assumed any responsibility for the state of affairs — and all the things he has said before, it was impossible to believe the president’s heart was in it, implausible to assume the words were meant to last, to hang rather than explode in the White House air.

“All of us can choose by our actions to rise above the rancor … ” he said dutifully this time.

“ … to overcome the passions of the moment … ”

“ … to move forward united … ”

Anyone listening knew that these were just words.

When President Donald Trump faced (and overcame) the gravest crisis of his first campaign, he defended his boasts of sexual assault on the “Access Hollywood” tape as ultimately harmless gabbing.

When President Donald Trump faced (and overcame) the gravest crisis of his first campaign, he defended his boasts of sexual assault on the “Access Hollywood” tape as ultimately harmless gabbing. “Locker room talk,” he said — nothing to dwell on. When the president faced (and overcame) impeachment in 2019 after pressing the Ukrainian president to investigate President-elect Joe Biden, he insisted it was merely an innocuous case of two guys talking. “A perfect call,” he said, not a high crime. And when Trump leaves the White House no later than Wednesday — amid the impeachment sequel and uncommon comeuppance he has encountered since inciting a riotous mob in Washington on Jan. 6 — he will surrender a valued perk: an executive phone system, he once enthused, that made it feel as if his words would self-destruct before they became self-destructive. “The world’s most secure system,” Trump marveled in a 2017 interview during his first week in office, observing that no one was listening in and recording. “The words just explode in the air.” Poof. Gone. Just as he likes it. For most of Trump’s 74 years, the relationship between his words and their consequences has been fairly straightforward: He says what he wants, and nothing particularly durable tends to happen to him. But in the final frames of his presidency, Trump is confronting an unfamiliar fate. He is being held to account as never before for things he has said, finding his typical defenses — denial, obfuscation, powerful friends, claiming it was all a big joke — insufficient in explaining away a violent mob acting in his name. (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.) Aides could not do it for him, anonymously offering more palatable accounts. Allies could not argue that he had been misunderstood. His own words were all anyone needed to hear on this one. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) In almost certainly the most expansive series of penalties he has incurred in his life, Trump’s Twitter account has been banned, his business brand badly dented, his presidency doomed to the historical infamy of a second impeachment. His largest lender, Deutsche Bank, is moving to create distance from him. His New Jersey golf club was stripped of a major tournament. Some once-reliable Republican congressional loyalists are revisiting their commitment, threatening his grip on the party, even as the president’s popularity with much of his support base remains undimmed. Those who have known and watched Trump across the years cannot shake the irony of a president felled by the very formula that powered his rise: inflammatory speech and a self-regard that has congealed at times into functional self-delusion. He has never considered words to be as significant as actions, or even in the same category of prospective offense. Words were whatever got him through the next interaction, people who worked with him say. Words were not deemed important enough to invite serious trouble. So well-developed were Trump’s survival instincts, in theory, that he had all but perfected the art of semiplausible deniability — an upside of being on seemingly every side of every major political issue at various points in his adult life. Hadn’t he said the right thing that one time? That was what he meant. Hadn’t he winked at the crowd a bit? Everyone takes him too seriously. Hadn’t he used the word “peacefully” one time in that address before the Capitol riot, tucked between the more dominant instructions to “fight” and “show strength” and “go by very different rules” as he whipped up anger against elected officials, including his own vice president, who were disinclined to subvert the will of the electorate? “He has had a habit of saying outrageous things and then saying he was being sarcastic, he was kidding, that people shouldn’t take him literally — and in fact, if you do, what an idiot you are,” said Gwenda Blair, a biographer of the Trump family. “It’s both deniability for himself, but it’s also deniability for his followers. He gives them something to hold onto so that they can then continue to believe in him.” But Trump and much of the political class that was shocked and disoriented by his 2016 win have sometimes conflated his reputational resilience with a notion that nothing he says can hurt him, no matter how ostensibly damaging. His term has been pocked with episodes — from his equivocation on white supremacy after the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, to his downplaying the unambiguous risks of COVID-19 — that made him an unpopular president whose contract was not renewed. Less assured is his capacity to recognize the link between his conduct and this outcome. In fact, since entering politics, Trump has often delighted in cutting down opponents who sounded too practiced or restrained. “Just words,” he said of Joe Biden as the Democrat accepted his party’s nomination last summer. “It’s just words, folks,” Trump said of Hillary Clinton at an October 2016 debate days after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, at once deflecting any denunciation of his own remarks and calling Clinton’s empty. “It’s just words.” As president, Trump benefited daily from an army of defenders in Congress and across the conservative media who dedicated themselves to interpreting his often-inexplicable words as charitably as possible. And since his time as a private citizen, Trump has generally been insulated from the fallout from his words because associates have been left to navigate it instead. “He said stupid things, and we did damage control, and that was it,” said Barbara Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization. “He never gave it a thought.” Experts in the Trump canon have struggled to summon an analogy for his present conditions, when his words or deeds had caused things he cared about to be taken from him. “Ivana during that first divorce kind of got back at him a bit,” Blair recalled of the amply chronicled dissolution of his first marriage, before reconsidering. “In fact, he loved that whole thing because it got him more ink.” Tony Schwartz, who ghostwrote “Trump: The Art of the Deal” and has in recent years become a ferocious critic, said Trump’s relative evasion of consequences until now “has progressively increased his conviction that he can and should get away with anything he does.” It is no surprise, then, that since last week, as in much of his White House tenure, Trump has proved himself capable of only temporary modulation, defaulting to defiance but snapping to attention when advisers impressed upon him that he could face legal exposure for his incitements. In a video Wednesday, he condemned “violence and vandalism” and held up his “true” supporters as champions of law enforcement — a message aimed, perhaps, at unnerved Senate Republicans before his impeachment trial. Yet for all the things Trump did not say — that he lost the election, that Biden would be inaugurated, that he assumed any responsibility for the state of affairs — and all the things he has said before, it was impossible to believe the president’s heart was in it, implausible to assume the words were meant to last, to hang rather than explode in the White House air. “All of us can choose by our actions to rise above the rancor … ” he said dutifully this time. “ … to overcome the passions of the moment … ” “ … to move forward united … ” Anyone listening knew that these were just words.

A first for an American president, and a first for Donald Trump

With just 5 days left for the Biden Inauguration, Washington D.C. has turned into a war zone. The ceremony will be a remote affair but there is no scaling back on entertainment. Several Hollywood stars are expected to perform.

Gravitas: 5 days to go for Joe Biden's inauguration

Outgoing President of the United States Donald Trump gets impeached again. 10 U.S. house republicans have declared to support the impeachment after a violent mob attack at the Capitol Hill last week.

U.S : Can Prez Donald Trump be disqualified if not convicted? 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Donald Trump became the first US president in history to be impeached twice when the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to charge him with inciting last week's mob attack on Congress.

The Senate will not hold a trial before January 20, when Democrat Joe Biden assumes the presidency, meaning the real estate tycoon will escape the risk of being forced to leave early. He will, however, depart in disgrace -- and likely due to face a Senate trial later.

The only question in the House had been how many Republicans would join the Democratic majority.

In the end, 10 Republicans broke ranks, including the party's number three in the House, Representative Liz Cheney.

Holed up in the White House, Trump had no immediate reaction but he earlier issued a brief statement insisting that he opposed violence among his supporters.

"In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be no violence, no lawbreaking and no vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for," he said.

"I call on all Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You."

Reflecting the fear of upheaval, armed National Guards deployed across the capital and central streets were blocked to traffic.

In the Capitol building itself, guards in full camouflage and carrying assault rifles assembled, some of them grabbing naps early Wednesday under the ornate statues and historical paintings.

Trump survived a first impeachment almost exactly a year ago when the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of abusing his office to try and get dirt on Biden's family before the election.

This time, his downfall was triggered by a speech he delivered to a crowd on the National Mall on January 6, telling them that Biden had stolen the presidential election and that they needed to march on Congress and show "strength."

Amped up on weeks of election conspiracy theories pushed by Trump, the mob then stormed into the Capitol, fatally wounded one police officer, wrecked furniture and forced terrified lawmakers to hide, interrupting a ceremony to put the legal stamp on Biden's victory.&nbsp;

One protester was shot dead, and three other people died of "medical emergencies," bringing the toll to five.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the chamber that Trump "must go."

"He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love," she said.

And Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar branded Trump a "tyrant," saying that "for us to able to survive as a functioning democracy there has to be accountability."

But Nancy Mace, a newly-elected Republican congresswoman said that while lawmakers "need to hold the president accountable," the speed of the impeachment "poses great questions about the constitutionality."

The top Republican in the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, said that while Trump deserves censure, hurriedly impeaching will "further divide this nation."

- McConnell open to impeachment - 
Trump, who has been stripped of his social media megaphones by Twitter and Facebook, and finds himself increasingly ostracized in the business world, is struggling to impose his message -- let alone any kind of resistance.

His refusal to accept any responsibility for the horrifying scenes on January 6 -- including his insistence Tuesday that his speech was "totally appropriate" -- has infuriated allies and opponents alike.

The main question now is to what extent former Republican allies in the Senate will turn on their party's figurehead. Last year, they acquitted Trump overwhelmingly after the House impeached him for abuse of office.

Powerful Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has made clear there is no time before Trump's January 20 exit to hold an impeachment trial, given that the Senate is in recess until January 19.

However, he said Wednesday that he was open to the possibility of voting to convict Trump in a trial, which could still be held after Biden takes over.

"I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate," McConnell said.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that McConnell is signalling privately that he believes Trump did commit impeachable offences.

This presents a potentially fatal shift in the ground under Trump's feet because it could lead other Republican senators to join in convicting Trump with the goal of turning the page in the turbulent relationship between the party and former reality TV host and real estate magnate.

Meanwhile, the increasingly toothless Trump's social media woes deepened late Tuesday when video-sharing giant YouTube said it was suspending his official account for at least a week, out of concern his videos could incite violence.

He is also being cut out by the business world, threatening his financial future once he leaves the White House.

The latest blow to the Trump empire was when the mayor of his native New York City, Bill de Blasio, announced Wednesday a termination of contracts to run a golf course, two ice-skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park.

"New York City doesn't do business with insurrectionists," de Blasio, a Democrat, tweeted.

Donald Trump became the first US president in history to be impeached twice when the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to charge him with inciting last week's mob attack on Congress.

Donald Trump became the first US president in history to be impeached twice when the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to charge him with inciting last week's mob attack on Congress. The Senate will not hold a trial before January 20, when Democrat Joe Biden assumes the presidency, meaning the real estate tycoon will escape the risk of being forced to leave early. He will, however, depart in disgrace -- and likely due to face a Senate trial later. The only question in the House had been how many Republicans would join the Democratic majority. In the end, 10 Republicans broke ranks, including the party's number three in the House, Representative Liz Cheney. Holed up in the White House, Trump had no immediate reaction but he earlier issued a brief statement insisting that he opposed violence among his supporters. "In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be no violence, no lawbreaking and no vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for," he said. "I call on all Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You." Reflecting the fear of upheaval, armed National Guards deployed across the capital and central streets were blocked to traffic. In the Capitol building itself, guards in full camouflage and carrying assault rifles assembled, some of them grabbing naps early Wednesday under the ornate statues and historical paintings. Trump survived a first impeachment almost exactly a year ago when the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of abusing his office to try and get dirt on Biden's family before the election. This time, his downfall was triggered by a speech he delivered to a crowd on the National Mall on January 6, telling them that Biden had stolen the presidential election and that they needed to march on Congress and show "strength." Amped up on weeks of election conspiracy theories pushed by Trump, the mob then stormed into the Capitol, fatally wounded one police officer, wrecked furniture and forced terrified lawmakers to hide, interrupting a ceremony to put the legal stamp on Biden's victory. One protester was shot dead, and three other people died of "medical emergencies," bringing the toll to five. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the chamber that Trump "must go." "He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love," she said. And Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar branded Trump a "tyrant," saying that "for us to able to survive as a functioning democracy there has to be accountability." But Nancy Mace, a newly-elected Republican congresswoman said that while lawmakers "need to hold the president accountable," the speed of the impeachment "poses great questions about the constitutionality." The top Republican in the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, said that while Trump deserves censure, hurriedly impeaching will "further divide this nation." - McConnell open to impeachment - Trump, who has been stripped of his social media megaphones by Twitter and Facebook, and finds himself increasingly ostracized in the business world, is struggling to impose his message -- let alone any kind of resistance. His refusal to accept any responsibility for the horrifying scenes on January 6 -- including his insistence Tuesday that his speech was "totally appropriate" -- has infuriated allies and opponents alike. The main question now is to what extent former Republican allies in the Senate will turn on their party's figurehead. Last year, they acquitted Trump overwhelmingly after the House impeached him for abuse of office. Powerful Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has made clear there is no time before Trump's January 20 exit to hold an impeachment trial, given that the Senate is in recess until January 19. However, he said Wednesday that he was open to the possibility of voting to convict Trump in a trial, which could still be held after Biden takes over. "I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate," McConnell said. The New York Times reported Tuesday that McConnell is signalling privately that he believes Trump did commit impeachable offences. This presents a potentially fatal shift in the ground under Trump's feet because it could lead other Republican senators to join in convicting Trump with the goal of turning the page in the turbulent relationship between the party and former reality TV host and real estate magnate. Meanwhile, the increasingly toothless Trump's social media woes deepened late Tuesday when video-sharing giant YouTube said it was suspending his official account for at least a week, out of concern his videos could incite violence. He is also being cut out by the business world, threatening his financial future once he leaves the White House. The latest blow to the Trump empire was when the mayor of his native New York City, Bill de Blasio, announced Wednesday a termination of contracts to run a golf course, two ice-skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park. "New York City doesn't do business with insurrectionists," de Blasio, a Democrat, tweeted.

Donald Trump becomes the first US president to be impeached for a second time

The House of Representatives is on track to impeach President Trump for the second time in 13 months — which would make him as the only president to receive the rebuke twice.

The Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives&nbsp;opened debate on&nbsp;second impeachment of President Donald Trump over his supporters' attack of the Capitol that left five dead. 
 
The impeachment resolution on the House floor includes one article, citing "incitement of insurrection," is being debated on the House floor.

Lawmakers in the lower chamber are expected to vote for impeachment around 3:00 pm marking the formal opening of proceedings against Trump.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mike-pence-rejects-invoking-25th-amendment-as-democrats-move-to-impeach-trump-356339">Also read | Mike Pence rejects invoking 25th Amendment as Democrats move to impeach Trump</a>

The extraordinary procedure against the US President came days after the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, an unprecedented attack on American democracy that stunned many world leaders and US allies. 
Trump still remains defiant, refusing to accept responsibility for his campaign to undermine Americans' belief in the election system and his final, fiery speech on the Mall.

But his once seemingly unbreakable grip on Republicans is eroding as leaders run out of patience -- and look to a post-Trump rebuilding of their party.

Vice President Mike Pence threw Trump a lifeline on Tuesday, saying he would not invoke the 25th Amendment that allows him and the Cabinet to strip a sitting president of his powers. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-is-a-criminal-and-political-pyromaniac-who-should-be-sent-to-criminal-court-luxembourgs-foreign-minister-356452">Also read | Trump is a 'criminal' and 'political pyromaniac who should be sent to criminal court': Luxembourg's Foreign Minister</a>

But impeachment on the single charge of "incitement of insurrection" is all but assured to pass. A vote has been scheduled for around 3:00 pm (2000 GMT).

Trump, who has been stripped of his social media megaphones by Twitter and Facebook, and finds himself increasingly ostracized in the business world, is struggling to impose his message -- let alone any kind of resistance.

On a quick trip to Texas on Tuesday he visited the US-Mexico border wall, which he regards as one of his biggest achievements. But the brief, low-energy speech he made there did nothing to recapture his rapidly sliding momentum.

His insistence that his infamous speech to the crowd had been "totally appropriate" and that he bore no blame infuriated allies and opponents alike. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

The House of Representatives is on track to impeach President Trump for the second time in 13 months — which would make him as the only president to receive the rebuke twice.

The House of Representatives is on track to impeach President Trump for the second time in 13 months — which would make him as the only president to receive the rebuke twice. The Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives opened debate on second impeachment of President Donald Trump over his supporters' attack of the Capitol that left five dead. The impeachment resolution on the House floor includes one article, citing "incitement of insurrection," is being debated on the House floor. Lawmakers in the lower chamber are expected to vote for impeachment around 3:00 pm marking the formal opening of proceedings against Trump. Also read | Mike Pence rejects invoking 25th Amendment as Democrats move to impeach Trump The extraordinary procedure against the US President came days after the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, an unprecedented attack on American democracy that stunned many world leaders and US allies. Trump still remains defiant, refusing to accept responsibility for his campaign to undermine Americans' belief in the election system and his final, fiery speech on the Mall. But his once seemingly unbreakable grip on Republicans is eroding as leaders run out of patience -- and look to a post-Trump rebuilding of their party. Vice President Mike Pence threw Trump a lifeline on Tuesday, saying he would not invoke the 25th Amendment that allows him and the Cabinet to strip a sitting president of his powers. Also read | Trump is a 'criminal' and 'political pyromaniac who should be sent to criminal court': Luxembourg's Foreign Minister But impeachment on the single charge of "incitement of insurrection" is all but assured to pass. A vote has been scheduled for around 3:00 pm (2000 GMT). Trump, who has been stripped of his social media megaphones by Twitter and Facebook, and finds himself increasingly ostracized in the business world, is struggling to impose his message -- let alone any kind of resistance. On a quick trip to Texas on Tuesday he visited the US-Mexico border wall, which he regards as one of his biggest achievements. But the brief, low-energy speech he made there did nothing to recapture his rapidly sliding momentum. His insistence that his infamous speech to the crowd had been "totally appropriate" and that he bore no blame infuriated allies and opponents alike. (With inputs from agencies)

House of Representatives poised to impeach Trump for ‘incitement of insurrection’

United States incumbent President Donald Trump, who is set to leave the office in over a week recently responded to new attempts at impeaching him.

The US president said that the attempt by Democrats to impeach him is causing "tremendous anger". Trump is visiting the US-Mexico border to take a look at the wall he had promised to build as part of his election campaigning against Hilary Clinton.&nbsp;

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"I think it's causing tremendous anger", he said.

Democrats are attempting to impeach Donald Trump in view of the violence which rocked US Capitol last week, leaving five people, including a police officer dead. "We want no violence", he said today.

Additionally referring to impeachment efforts, he called it a "witch hunt". "[Impeachment] is a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics", he said.

An impeachment article was introduced in US House on Monday, accusing Trump of "incitement of insurrection". On Wednesday last week, Trump held a rally near the White House while lawmakers got ready ti certify Joe Biden as the winner of the election.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/twitter-suspends-70000-qanon-related-accounts-trump-supporters-plan-flop-protest-356161" hreflang="en">Twitter suspends 70,000 QAnon-related accounts; Trump supporters plan 'flop' protest</a>

At the rally, Trump reiterated his baseless claims of a "stolen election", claiming that Biden had won by cheating his way through elections which took place in November.&nbsp;

He urged his supporters to march to the Capitol building, where the violence took place. In addition, he referred to the election results as an "egregious assault on our democracy".&nbsp;

"We're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and Congressmen and women", Trump had said to his followers, while urging them to "fight like".

Soon after the speech, rioters stormed the Capitol building. Due to this, the premises were evacuated, and rioters were seen posing inside House and Senate areas.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/an-urgent-reckoning-for-the-trump-brand-356250" hreflang="en">An urgent reckoning for the Trump brand</a>

Many Republicans have also broken away from Trump, and have openly claimed that his speech amounts to incitement, warranting the article of impeachment.

It is unclear whether Trump will be impeached or not. But one thing is clear - starting January 20, the US will have a new president - Joe Biden.

United States incumbent President Donald Trump, who is set to leave the office in over a week recently responded to new attempts at impeaching him. The US president said that the attempt by Democrats to impeach him is causing "tremendous anger".

United States incumbent President Donald Trump, who is set to leave the office in over a week recently responded to new attempts at impeaching him. The US president said that the attempt by Democrats to impeach him is causing "tremendous anger". Trump is visiting the US-Mexico border to take a look at the wall he had promised to build as part of his election campaigning against Hilary Clinton. "I think it's causing tremendous anger", he said. Democrats are attempting to impeach Donald Trump in view of the violence which rocked US Capitol last week, leaving five people, including a police officer dead. "We want no violence", he said today. Additionally referring to impeachment efforts, he called it a "witch hunt". "[Impeachment] is a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics", he said. An impeachment article was introduced in US House on Monday, accusing Trump of "incitement of insurrection". On Wednesday last week, Trump held a rally near the White House while lawmakers got ready ti certify Joe Biden as the winner of the election. Also read: Twitter suspends 70,000 QAnon-related accounts; Trump supporters plan 'flop' protest At the rally, Trump reiterated his baseless claims of a "stolen election", claiming that Biden had won by cheating his way through elections which took place in November. He urged his supporters to march to the Capitol building, where the violence took place. In addition, he referred to the election results as an "egregious assault on our democracy". "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and Congressmen and women", Trump had said to his followers, while urging them to "fight like". Soon after the speech, rioters stormed the Capitol building. Due to this, the premises were evacuated, and rioters were seen posing inside House and Senate areas. Also read: An urgent reckoning for the Trump brand Many Republicans have also broken away from Trump, and have openly claimed that his speech amounts to incitement, warranting the article of impeachment. It is unclear whether Trump will be impeached or not. But one thing is clear - starting January 20, the US will have a new president - Joe Biden.

Trump calls second impeachment attempt 'greatest witch-hunt in history'

Following the riots at US Capitol on Wednesday, many major social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook restricted US President Donald Trump's reach on their websites. Twitter went a step further on Friday by permanently suspending Trump's account.

Now, many companies are undertaking audits to ascertain the veracity of users on their portals. As part of this routine exercise, Twitter regularly suspends accounts that may be "bots", or automated accounts that push out regulated content, which in many cases are used to propagate fake news. 
 
Twitter's task of checking whether real people use unverified accounts on the portal has created a ruckus among the supporters of Donald Trump, and many of his government officials. A lot of US government officials have lost followers on the website, which they are now labelling an attack on the freedom of speech aimed at conservative voices, a claim which has been for long denied by both Twitter and Facebook.

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Trump's involvement in the riots wasn't direct, but he had urged his followers to march to the Capitol on the same day, which ended up in death and destruction at the US Capitol, marking the first instance of violence during the transition period in between presidencies.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/american-agencies-using-facial-recognition-tools-to-nab-us-capitol-rioters-356024" hreflang="en">American agencies using facial recognition tools to nab US Capitol rioters</a>

In response, Twitter released a statement claiming this exercise is undertaken regularly in a bid to "challenge accounts to confirm details like email and phone number. Until that info is confirmed, these accounts aren’t included in follower counts”.

Soon after the fluctuation in number, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted the following - “This is how you create an echo chamber”, attaching a picture proving he had lost 19,500 followers.

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This is how you create an echo chamber... <a href="https://t.co/aPDA37qKS0">pic.twitter.com/aPDA37qKS0</a>
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikepompeo/status/1347978415312433159?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Many Republican leaders and allies followed suit and made similar claims. Former Press Secretary to the Trump administration - Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed to have lost 50,000 followers. She further attacked "big tech" for "censoring" American voices.

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I’ve lost 50k+ followers this week. The radical left and their big tech allies cannot marginalize, censor, or silence the American people. This is not China, this is United States of America, and we are a free country. <a href="https://t.co/Xupd0N1hea">https://t.co/Xupd0N1hea</a>
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) <a href="https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1347990928984842245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Matt Gaetz of Florida made similar claims but topped it off with a light remark about losing weight.&nbsp;

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I wish I could lose weight as fast as I’m losing followers during this Twitter purge....
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&nbsp;

Following the riots at US Capitol on Wednesday, many major social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook restricted US President Donald Trump's reach on their websites.

Following the riots at US Capitol on Wednesday, many major social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook restricted US President Donald Trump's reach on their websites. Twitter went a step further on Friday by permanently suspending Trump's account. Now, many companies are undertaking audits to ascertain the veracity of users on their portals. As part of this routine exercise, Twitter regularly suspends accounts that may be "bots", or automated accounts that push out regulated content, which in many cases are used to propagate fake news. Twitter's task of checking whether real people use unverified accounts on the portal has created a ruckus among the supporters of Donald Trump, and many of his government officials. A lot of US government officials have lost followers on the website, which they are now labelling an attack on the freedom of speech aimed at conservative voices, a claim which has been for long denied by both Twitter and Facebook. × Trump's involvement in the riots wasn't direct, but he had urged his followers to march to the Capitol on the same day, which ended up in death and destruction at the US Capitol, marking the first instance of violence during the transition period in between presidencies. Also read: American agencies using facial recognition tools to nab US Capitol rioters In response, Twitter released a statement claiming this exercise is undertaken regularly in a bid to "challenge accounts to confirm details like email and phone number. Until that info is confirmed, these accounts aren’t included in follower counts”. Soon after the fluctuation in number, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted the following - “This is how you create an echo chamber”, attaching a picture proving he had lost 19,500 followers. This is how you create an echo chamber... pic.twitter.com/aPDA37qKS0 — Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) January 9, 2021 × Many Republican leaders and allies followed suit and made similar claims. Former Press Secretary to the Trump administration - Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed to have lost 50,000 followers. She further attacked "big tech" for "censoring" American voices. I’ve lost 50k+ followers this week. The radical left and their big tech allies cannot marginalize, censor, or silence the American people. This is not China, this is United States of America, and we are a free country. https://t.co/Xupd0N1hea — Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) January 9, 2021 × Matt Gaetz of Florida made similar claims but topped it off with a light remark about losing weight. I wish I could lose weight as fast as I’m losing followers during this Twitter purge.... — Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 9, 2021 ×

Twitter's regular audit labelled a 'purge' by Trump supporters after losing followers

United States President-elect Joe Biden plans to roll out an economic stimulus package worth trillions of dollars on Thursday that includes relief for unemployed Americans and rent forbearance for tenants.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans stimulus package worth trillions, pushes $2,000 cheques

The 1,400-square-foot house in Midland, Texas, where former President George W. Bush spent part of his childhood is under consideration to become part of the national park system, the National Park Service said.

The park service said it had started a “special resource study,” as directed by Congress in 2019, to examine the eligibility of the home on West Ohio Avenue “as a new unit of the national park system.”

The study will gather information about the house, and the findings will be reported to Congress, according to the park service.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-is-said-to-have-discussed-pardoning-himself-355373">&nbsp;Trump is said to have discussed pardoning himself</a>

The agency also said in an announcement last month that it would hold a virtual meeting for the public on Jan. 26 to learn more about Bush’s former home, which has already been turned into a museum.

The home’s precise designation in the park system was not immediately clear, and a park service press representative could not be reached on Saturday.

“Adding the George W. Bush childhood home is a must for the National Park Service,” said Douglas Brinkley, a professor at Rice University in Houston and an author and presidential historian who has written about the park service’s preservation of homes of notable Americans.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/rappers-lil-wayne-kodak-black-in-line-for-donald-trumps-pardons-for-these-crimes-355311" hreflang="en">Rappers Lil Wayne, Kodak Black in line for Trump's pardons for these crimes</a>

Designations of the homes are meant to preserve the sites permanently for the public and to honor the local history around them, he said.

The home was part of not only Bush’s formative years but also his father’s, former President George H.W. Bush.

The consideration to add the site to the park system comes as some of George W. Bush’s former political rivals and critics have looked back with nostalgia at the more considered and civil tone that governed his presidency. The reexamination has occurred amid the division and violence sown by the current Republican president, Donald Trump.

“There is no doubt that George W. Bush’s reputation and, to a lesser extent, his father’s, have been greatly enhanced by Donald Trump,” said Jeffrey A. Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/i-hurt-for-our-country-michelle-obama-reacts-after-capitol-riots-355301">'I hurt for our country': Michelle Obama, reacts after Capitol riots</a>&nbsp;

“Were it about his policies alone, history is going to put him on the lowest rungs,” Engel said of the younger Bush. “But people still really wish they had a president — and are looking forward to having a president — who isn’t a jerk.”

The elder Bush had moved to Midland at the start of the oil boom to make his fortune in the industry.

He bought a bright blue house on East Maple Street for $7,500, with a mortgage from the Federal Housing Administration, wrote Herbert S. Parmet in his book “The Life of a Lone Star Yankee” about the elder Bush.

“Their area became known as Easter Egg Row, because all the houses were painted with vivid colors,” he wrote.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/after-an-assault-on-all-democratic-institutions-donald-trump-attempts-coup-detat-355240" hreflang="en">After an assault on all democratic institutions, Trump attempts coup d'etat</a>

The family then moved to the house on West Ohio Avenue and lived there from November 1951 until November 1955, and later moved to Houston.

“Midland is really underappreciated as an influence on George W. Bush,” Engel said.

These were the years when the elder Bush was on the road, selling oil parts and leaving the children with their mother, Barbara. Her strong personality and famously sharp tongue would influence the swagger and blunt speech of the younger Bush.

“This is why he says he has his father’s eyes and his mother’s tongue,” Engel said.

After leaving the White House in 2009, Bush and the former first lady, Laura Bush, returned to Texas and in the years since have pushed for better treatment of wounded veterans and expanded school and community libraries, Brinkley said.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-capitol-siege-sends-shockwaves-across-the-world-heres-a-timeline-of-how-it-unfolded-355224" hreflang="en">As Capitol siege sends shockwaves across world, a timeline of how it unfolded</a>

Both have largely stayed out of politics, but Bush, who did not support Trump’s candidacy, has spoken out against the bigotry and white supremacy that have been parts of the current president’s tenure.

On Wednesday, Bush condemned the siege on Capitol Hill, which he said “was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes.”

Brinkley said of Bush: “He’s never going to be seen as a top-tier American president due to the failure of the Iraq War, the tanking of the economy under his watch, his inaction during Katrina. The list is long.”

But Bush’s consistent disavowal of Trump, he said, “puts him on the winning side of history.”

The 1,400-square-foot house in Midland, Texas, where former President George W. Bush spent part of his childhood is under consideration to become part of the national park system, the National Park Service said.

The 1,400-square-foot house in Midland, Texas, where former President George W. Bush spent part of his childhood is under consideration to become part of the national park system, the National Park Service said. The park service said it had started a “special resource study,” as directed by Congress in 2019, to examine the eligibility of the home on West Ohio Avenue “as a new unit of the national park system.” The study will gather information about the house, and the findings will be reported to Congress, according to the park service. Also read| Trump is said to have discussed pardoning himself The agency also said in an announcement last month that it would hold a virtual meeting for the public on Jan. 26 to learn more about Bush’s former home, which has already been turned into a museum. The home’s precise designation in the park system was not immediately clear, and a park service press representative could not be reached on Saturday. “Adding the George W. Bush childhood home is a must for the National Park Service,” said Douglas Brinkley, a professor at Rice University in Houston and an author and presidential historian who has written about the park service’s preservation of homes of notable Americans. Also read| Rappers Lil Wayne, Kodak Black in line for Trump's pardons for these crimes Designations of the homes are meant to preserve the sites permanently for the public and to honor the local history around them, he said. The home was part of not only Bush’s formative years but also his father’s, former President George H.W. Bush. The consideration to add the site to the park system comes as some of George W. Bush’s former political rivals and critics have looked back with nostalgia at the more considered and civil tone that governed his presidency. The reexamination has occurred amid the division and violence sown by the current Republican president, Donald Trump. “There is no doubt that George W. Bush’s reputation and, to a lesser extent, his father’s, have been greatly enhanced by Donald Trump,” said Jeffrey A. Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Also read| 'I hurt for our country': Michelle Obama, reacts after Capitol riots “Were it about his policies alone, history is going to put him on the lowest rungs,” Engel said of the younger Bush. “But people still really wish they had a president — and are looking forward to having a president — who isn’t a jerk.” The elder Bush had moved to Midland at the start of the oil boom to make his fortune in the industry. He bought a bright blue house on East Maple Street for $7,500, with a mortgage from the Federal Housing Administration, wrote Herbert S. Parmet in his book “The Life of a Lone Star Yankee” about the elder Bush. “Their area became known as Easter Egg Row, because all the houses were painted with vivid colors,” he wrote. Also read| After an assault on all democratic institutions, Trump attempts coup d'etat The family then moved to the house on West Ohio Avenue and lived there from November 1951 until November 1955, and later moved to Houston. “Midland is really underappreciated as an influence on George W. Bush,” Engel said. These were the years when the elder Bush was on the road, selling oil parts and leaving the children with their mother, Barbara. Her strong personality and famously sharp tongue would influence the swagger and blunt speech of the younger Bush. “This is why he says he has his father’s eyes and his mother’s tongue,” Engel said. After leaving the White House in 2009, Bush and the former first lady, Laura Bush, returned to Texas and in the years since have pushed for better treatment of wounded veterans and expanded school and community libraries, Brinkley said. Also read| As Capitol siege sends shockwaves across world, a timeline of how it unfolded Both have largely stayed out of politics, but Bush, who did not support Trump’s candidacy, has spoken out against the bigotry and white supremacy that have been parts of the current president’s tenure. On Wednesday, Bush condemned the siege on Capitol Hill, which he said “was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes.” Brinkley said of Bush: “He’s never going to be seen as a top-tier American president due to the failure of the Iraq War, the tanking of the economy under his watch, his inaction during Katrina. The list is long.” But Bush’s consistent disavowal of Trump, he said, “puts him on the winning side of history.”

George W. Bush’s childhood home eyed for national park service inclusion

He has also asked for legal opinions on whether he has the authority to issue a self-pardon and has been advised on the potential political fallout.

WION Fineprint: Donald Trump seeks advice on Self-pardon power

Hours after hundreds of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy, a shaken Congress on Thursday formally certified Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

'Go home', says President Donald Trump to protesters after Biden urges him to end unrest

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the ‘Legion of Merit’ by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday for his role in advancing the India-U.S. relationship

Indian PM Narendra Modi awarded ‘Legion of Merit’ by Donald Trump

President-elect Joe Biden’s team will consider several options to punish Russia for its suspected role in the unprecedented hacking of U.S. government agencies.

Joe Biden's options for Russian hacking punishment: sanctions, cyber retaliation

Joe Biden's march to the White House -- overshadowed by President Donald Trump's frantic attempts to overturn the US election -- is to be formalized Monday when the Electoral College meets to confirm the Democrat's win.

Electors in all 50 states were meeting to cast their votes in a tradition that has long been considered mostly a formality for confirming the will of the people expressed at the polls.

But this year the somewhat arcane procedure is at the center of an unprecedented -- and many warn dangerous -- challenge to the credibility of US democracy led by Trump.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-pence-among-top-us-officials-to-be-offered-covid-19-vaccine-on-priority-report-349600">&nbsp;Trump, Pence among top US officials to be offered COVID-19 vaccine on priority: Report</a>

Soundly beaten by Biden on November 3, Trump continues to claim, without evidence, that he was the real winner. Court after court has turned down his team's claims of election fraud around the country and last Friday the Supreme Court dealt a final legal blow when it threw out an appeal lodged by Trump allies from Texas and other Republican-led states.

Based on the already legally certified state-by-state vote tallies, the Electoral College representatives are expected to vote by 306 to 232 in favor of Biden over Trump -- a process expected to take much of Monday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/trump-vows-to-reject-defense-bill-passed-by-veto-proof-majority-349569" hreflang="en">Trump vows to reject defense bill passed by veto-proof majority</a>

This will draw a thick line under a contest that saw Biden make Trump a rare one-term president after campaigning on a message of vanquishing the Covid-19 pandemic, healing bitter political division and restoring traditional US diplomacy on the world stage.

Biden, who has largely avoided responding to Trump's conspiracy theories, announced he would deliver an address in the evening dedicated to "the strength and resilience" of US democracy.

Disinformation

Until now, a majority of Republicans in Congress have either backed Trump's claims or at least turned a blind eye, with many refusing to call Biden the president-elect.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/misogynistic-op-ed-urging-incoming-first-lady-jill-biden-to-drop-dr-stirs-a-furore-on-social-media-349673">&nbsp;'Misogynistic' op-ed urging incoming First Lady Jill Biden to drop 'Dr.' stirs a furore on social media</a>

Disinformation spearheaded by the president and spread by popular commentators on Fox News and new conspiracy theory-mongering outlets like Newsmax means that many Americans have all but given up faith in their own institutions.

Polls show that as few as one in four Republican voters accept the election results.

Thousands of Trump supporters, including members of far-right groups, protested in Washington at the weekend, fighting with counter-protesters. The threat of violence required that extraordinary security measures be established for the Electoral College meetings in several states, including Arizona and Michigan, The New York Times reported.

Also read|&nbsp;Trump rescinds plan for White House staff to be quickly vaccinated

Meanwhile, Stephen Miller, a senior Trump advisor, told Fox News on Monday that an "alternate slate of electors" had been created to send its own results to Congress.

"We have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election," Miller said, without explaining the idea of a shadow Electoral College.

Trump was also still at it on Monday, tweeting more accusations with no basis in reality.

"Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete &amp; correct without committing a severely punishable crime," he said.

The legal Electoral College vote, however, will leave the Trump train almost no place left to go.

Only one big formality remains before Biden's inauguration on January 20, when Congress, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, opens up and counts the electoral votes on January 6.

Despite rumblings that Trump allies may seek to turn this largely ceremonial event into another battlefront against the election results, it seems clear that support for continued theatrics is steadily ebbing.

In the latest sign of a shifting tide, the staunchly Trump-supporting editorial board of The Wall Street Journal told Trump on Monday that his time is up.

"President Trump's legal challenges have run their course, and he and the rest of the Republican Party can help the country and themselves by acknowledging the result and moving on," the editorial said.

No one expects Trump to refuse to leave the White House. However, there is no indication he will ever agree to concede, let alone bow to tradition by inviting Biden to the White House for a friendly chat.

Asked on Fox News this weekend whether he would even attend Biden's inauguration, Trump answered: "I don't want to talk about that."

Joe Biden's march to the White House -- overshadowed by President Donald Trump's frantic attempts to overturn the US election -- is to be formalized Monday when the Electoral College meets to confirm the Democrat's win.

Joe Biden's march to the White House -- overshadowed by President Donald Trump's frantic attempts to overturn the US election -- is to be formalized Monday when the Electoral College meets to confirm the Democrat's win. Electors in all 50 states were meeting to cast their votes in a tradition that has long been considered mostly a formality for confirming the will of the people expressed at the polls. But this year the somewhat arcane procedure is at the center of an unprecedented -- and many warn dangerous -- challenge to the credibility of US democracy led by Trump. Also read| Trump, Pence among top US officials to be offered COVID-19 vaccine on priority: Report Soundly beaten by Biden on November 3, Trump continues to claim, without evidence, that he was the real winner. Court after court has turned down his team's claims of election fraud around the country and last Friday the Supreme Court dealt a final legal blow when it threw out an appeal lodged by Trump allies from Texas and other Republican-led states. Based on the already legally certified state-by-state vote tallies, the Electoral College representatives are expected to vote by 306 to 232 in favor of Biden over Trump -- a process expected to take much of Monday. Also read: Trump vows to reject defense bill passed by veto-proof majority This will draw a thick line under a contest that saw Biden make Trump a rare one-term president after campaigning on a message of vanquishing the Covid-19 pandemic, healing bitter political division and restoring traditional US diplomacy on the world stage. Biden, who has largely avoided responding to Trump's conspiracy theories, announced he would deliver an address in the evening dedicated to "the strength and resilience" of US democracy. Disinformation Until now, a majority of Republicans in Congress have either backed Trump's claims or at least turned a blind eye, with many refusing to call Biden the president-elect. Also read| 'Misogynistic' op-ed urging incoming First Lady Jill Biden to drop 'Dr.' stirs a furore on social media Disinformation spearheaded by the president and spread by popular commentators on Fox News and new conspiracy theory-mongering outlets like Newsmax means that many Americans have all but given up faith in their own institutions. Polls show that as few as one in four Republican voters accept the election results. Thousands of Trump supporters, including members of far-right groups, protested in Washington at the weekend, fighting with counter-protesters. The threat of violence required that extraordinary security measures be established for the Electoral College meetings in several states, including Arizona and Michigan, The New York Times reported. Also read| Trump rescinds plan for White House staff to be quickly vaccinated Meanwhile, Stephen Miller, a senior Trump advisor, told Fox News on Monday that an "alternate slate of electors" had been created to send its own results to Congress. "We have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election," Miller said, without explaining the idea of a shadow Electoral College. Trump was also still at it on Monday, tweeting more accusations with no basis in reality. "Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime," he said. The legal Electoral College vote, however, will leave the Trump train almost no place left to go. Only one big formality remains before Biden's inauguration on January 20, when Congress, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, opens up and counts the electoral votes on January 6. Despite rumblings that Trump allies may seek to turn this largely ceremonial event into another battlefront against the election results, it seems clear that support for continued theatrics is steadily ebbing. In the latest sign of a shifting tide, the staunchly Trump-supporting editorial board of The Wall Street Journal told Trump on Monday that his time is up. "President Trump's legal challenges have run their course, and he and the rest of the Republican Party can help the country and themselves by acknowledging the result and moving on," the editorial said. No one expects Trump to refuse to leave the White House. However, there is no indication he will ever agree to concede, let alone bow to tradition by inviting Biden to the White House for a friendly chat. Asked on Fox News this weekend whether he would even attend Biden's inauguration, Trump answered: "I don't want to talk about that."

US Electoral College to formalize Joe Biden's win

Axios' report that US President-elect Joe Biden is considering Pete Buttigieg as his pick for Ambassador to China didn't take long to cross the Pacific.

Joe Biden considering China ambassadorship for former Mayor Buttigieg

It was a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, and one of his aides had a delicate question: Wasn’t there going to be a backlash when it became known that the inauguration had spent donors’ money at Trump’s hotel in Washington, even though other places would cost much less or even be free?

“These are events in P.E.’s honor at his hotel, and one of them is with and for family and close friends,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, then an event planner for Trump, wrote in an email to a colleague in December 2016, referring to Trump as the president-elect and saying she raised the issue to “express my concern.”

As Trump’s presidency comes to a close, expenditures like those are receiving renewed legal scrutiny in the form of a civil case being pursued by the attorney general for the District of Columbia.

At the heart of the case is a question — whether Trump and his family have profited from his public role, sometimes at the expense of taxpayers, competitors and donors — that has been a persistent theme of his tenure in the White House.

More than 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments patronized Trump’s properties during his presidency while reaping benefits from him and his administration. Sixty of them spent $12 million at his properties during the first two years he was in office.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/i-hope-republicans-vote-against-very-weak-ndaa-which-i-will-veto-trump-348395" hreflang="en">I hope Republicans vote against very weak NDAA which I will veto: Trump</a>

The Trump family business has received millions of dollars in payments by the Secret Service, the State Department and the U.S. military to Trump properties around the country and the world. The president has visited his properties on at least 417 days since taking office, at times with world leaders. And he and his affiliated political committees spent more than $6.5 million in campaign funds at his hotels and other businesses since 2017, including a $1 million final burst in the weeks before the election last month.

In the lawsuit moving forward, Attorney General Karl A. Racine of the District of Columbia is arguing that Trump’s inaugural committee illegally overpaid his family business by as much as $1.1 million for events held at the Trump International Hotel in the city in January 2017. Ivanka Trump was deposed in the case last week.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the inauguration to recover the $1 million paid to the Trump hotel and to redirect it to a “proper public purpose” such as “another nonprofit entity dedicated to promoting civic engagement of the citizens of the United States.”

Questions about spending, influence and lobbying around the 2017 inaugural have also drawn scrutiny from federal prosecutors from two different offices in New York, with charges filed against at least one donor.

But for all the attention focused on the issue, Trump is set to leave office without a clear resolution of what limits there should be on a president’s ability to profit from his public role.

Lawsuits brought by nonprofit groups and attorneys general in Washington and Maryland claiming that Trump had violated the so-called emoluments clause of the Constitution were never resolved during his term and now face potential dismissal once he is out of power.

“It is more than just frustrating,” said Laurence H. Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University, who has been involved in the emoluments litigation. “The most serious questions about the abuse of presidential power and the use of the presidency as a center of personal gain and profit remain unresolved. The wheels of justice clearly ground more slowly than some would have hoped.”

The issue played out especially visibly at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which opened in late October 2016, two weeks before Trump was elected.

The hotel became a focal point for lobbyists, White House aides, Republicans in Congress and hundreds of others who sought a way to impress Trump, even though tax records obtained by The New York Times show that the property continued to lose money through at least 2018.

The Trump family had tried to sell its lease at the hotel last year before reversing course when the coronavirus pandemic hit. With revenue sure to have declined this year, Trump will have to decide whether to put the property back up for sale after he leaves office, or perhaps hope its value will increase if he runs again.

“Fifty percent of the people still will not go into the hotel,” said William W. Moyer, a hotel broker, noting that many potential customers who were not supporters of Trump avoided the property. “And the other 50% wanted to go there. You are not going to turn on or off people’s loyalties like a light switch.”

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/trump-administration-announces-another-arms-sale-to-taiwan-china-threatens-countermeasures-348352" hreflang="en">Trump administration announces another arms sale to Taiwan; China threatens 'countermeasures'</a>

The case Racine is pursuing is moving ahead after he spent several years collecting evidence about the arrangements between the presidential inaugural committee and the hotel.

Trump’s inauguration was unlike any other in U.S. history: He raised more than $107 million, twice the previous record, as corporate donors poured tens of millions of dollars into the inaugural committee. Spending also took place at a record rate.

At the Trump hotel, the inaugural committee and guests attending the inauguration were already planning to fill most of the 263 rooms, which Racine argued meant that ballroom space would typically be offered for free or at least at a major discount.

But when the hotel initially asked the inaugural committee to pay $450,000 a day to rent the ballrooms and other common spaces, it provoked immediate questions from both Wolkoff, who has since broken with the Trump family, and Rick Gates, then the inaugural committee’s deputy chair, who would go on to plead guilty to charges stemming from the special counsel’s investigation.

“First, the cost itself seems quite high compared to other property buyouts for the week,” Gates wrote in an email to Ivanka Trump 38 days before the inauguration. “Second, I am a bit worried about the optics of PIC paying Trump Hotel a high rent fee and the media making a big story out of it,” he added, referring to the presidential inaugural committee.

Trump wrote to Mickael C. Damelincourt, the hotel’s general manager, and asked him to call Gates to negotiate a better deal for the inaugural committee. “It should be a fair market rate,” she said in a follow-up email, which soon led to a new offer of $175,000 per day.

Still, Wolkoff raised concerns.

“In my opinion, the max rental fee should be $85,000 per day,” she responded to Gates and Trump in an email where she also noted that other properties, such as Union Station, had offered their spaces for the inauguration at no charge.

This series of emails — filed in court documents as part of the lawsuit — is at the heart of the case that Racine, a Democrat, is pursuing.

The inaugural committee paid $220,000 for rooms at the hotel, including $75,259 to rent out the so-called Trump Townhouse, marketed as an ultraluxurious suite.

On two of the days that the inaugural committee paid the hotel $175,000 to rent the ballroom, it had no events that used it, the lawsuit said. And on a third day when it actually used the ballroom for a luncheon — again paying $175,000 — another nonprofit group had paid just $5,000 to rent the same presidential ballroom space for an inauguration-related event that morning.

The committee also paid the hotel for costs associated with a “friends and family” event for Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. that their father was not expected to attend. The inauguration staff was so uncomfortable sponsoring the gathering that they tried to cancel it, court documents showed. But Damelincourt objected.

“Rick … just heard that the Friday night reception had been canceled. Is it accurate?” Damelincourt wrote. “Tough on us if it is as it was a lot of revenue.” The event was then rescheduled and took place the night Donald Trump was sworn in.

Ivanka Trump was questioned for five hours last week about the matter, in one of a series of depositions that has also included Damelincourt and Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a major donor to Donald Trump who was the chair of the inaugural committee. Wolkoff will be questioned under oath this week and Gates this month.

Documents were also subpoenaed from Melania Trump, the first lady, but she has not been called to testify.

After her deposition, Ivanka Trump condemned the inquiry, as did her brother Eric Trump, who oversees operations at the hotel.

“This is a game stemming from a political vendetta,” Trump said in an interview, echoing his sister, who said on Twitter that the case was “another politically motivated demonstration of vindictiveness &amp;amp; waste of taxpayer dollars.”

So far, Judge José M. López at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia has sided with the attorney general, rejecting a motion by the Trump Organization and the inaugural committee to dismiss the case. López has authorized the parties to move ahead with depositions and other discovery until March to prepare for a possible trial.

The civil suit being pursued by Racine is distinct from two separate cases raising the constitutional issues about the intersection of Donald Trump’s public role and his businesses. The two cases focused on the Constitution's emoluments clause will be on shakier ground once he leaves office, lawyers involved in the cases said.

A U.S. District Court judge ruled in one of the emoluments suits in March 2018 that Maryland and the District of Columbia had the right to pursue their cases challenging whether Trump’s businesses could take payments from other governments. And for the first time, the court defined what an emolument is, accepting the broader definition advocated by Maryland and the district that it represented just about any payment from a foreign government to the president’s businesses instead of a payment made to the president explicitly in exchange for an official action he would then take, as he had argued.

But one of the remedies their lawsuit sought was an order that the president stop accepting these payments. Once he leaves office, that outcome will effectively have been achieved, perhaps undermining the case.

“We are having high-level discussions around the viability, survivability of the matter,” Racine said about the emoluments case.

Equally unresolved is the future of the Trump hotel in Washington.

The hotel bar is open again after closing in the spring when the virus first peaked. But traffic is slow, in part because the hotel is limiting entry to only those with reservations because of virus restrictions.

Zach Everson, who runs an online newsletter that tracks activities at the hotel, said its fate might be determined in part by how much of a power broker Trump remains.

“Any business that is sustained in some part by people wanting to get in his favor, once you take the official power he had to grant that favor, I am not sure how they can sustain it,” Everson said. “But with Donald Trump, he has been able to pull a rabbit out of the hat before.”

On Friday, White House-related business was still coming in.

Jason Miller, a Trump campaign aide, showed up at lunchtime without his name on the list. He told a security guard at the hotel entrance that he was there for a meeting with lawyers Eric Hershmann and Justin Clark, two other aides to Trump.

For a moment, Miller was prevented from entering.

“I work for the president,” he told the security guard, before finally being let in.

It was a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, and one of his aides had a delicate question: Wasn’t there going to be a backlash when it became known that the inauguration had spent donors’ money at Trump’s hotel in Washington, even though other places would cost much less or even be free?

It was a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, and one of his aides had a delicate question: Wasn’t there going to be a backlash when it became known that the inauguration had spent donors’ money at Trump’s hotel in Washington, even though other places would cost much less or even be free? “These are events in P.E.’s honor at his hotel, and one of them is with and for family and close friends,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, then an event planner for Trump, wrote in an email to a colleague in December 2016, referring to Trump as the president-elect and saying she raised the issue to “express my concern.” As Trump’s presidency comes to a close, expenditures like those are receiving renewed legal scrutiny in the form of a civil case being pursued by the attorney general for the District of Columbia. At the heart of the case is a question — whether Trump and his family have profited from his public role, sometimes at the expense of taxpayers, competitors and donors — that has been a persistent theme of his tenure in the White House. More than 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments patronized Trump’s properties during his presidency while reaping benefits from him and his administration. Sixty of them spent $12 million at his properties during the first two years he was in office. Also read: I hope Republicans vote against very weak NDAA which I will veto: Trump The Trump family business has received millions of dollars in payments by the Secret Service, the State Department and the U.S. military to Trump properties around the country and the world. The president has visited his properties on at least 417 days since taking office, at times with world leaders. And he and his affiliated political committees spent more than $6.5 million in campaign funds at his hotels and other businesses since 2017, including a $1 million final burst in the weeks before the election last month. In the lawsuit moving forward, Attorney General Karl A. Racine of the District of Columbia is arguing that Trump’s inaugural committee illegally overpaid his family business by as much as $1.1 million for events held at the Trump International Hotel in the city in January 2017. Ivanka Trump was deposed in the case last week. The lawsuit asks the court to order the inauguration to recover the $1 million paid to the Trump hotel and to redirect it to a “proper public purpose” such as “another nonprofit entity dedicated to promoting civic engagement of the citizens of the United States.” Questions about spending, influence and lobbying around the 2017 inaugural have also drawn scrutiny from federal prosecutors from two different offices in New York, with charges filed against at least one donor. But for all the attention focused on the issue, Trump is set to leave office without a clear resolution of what limits there should be on a president’s ability to profit from his public role. Lawsuits brought by nonprofit groups and attorneys general in Washington and Maryland claiming that Trump had violated the so-called emoluments clause of the Constitution were never resolved during his term and now face potential dismissal once he is out of power. “It is more than just frustrating,” said Laurence H. Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University, who has been involved in the emoluments litigation. “The most serious questions about the abuse of presidential power and the use of the presidency as a center of personal gain and profit remain unresolved. The wheels of justice clearly ground more slowly than some would have hoped.” The issue played out especially visibly at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which opened in late October 2016, two weeks before Trump was elected. The hotel became a focal point for lobbyists, White House aides, Republicans in Congress and hundreds of others who sought a way to impress Trump, even though tax records obtained by The New York Times show that the property continued to lose money through at least 2018. The Trump family had tried to sell its lease at the hotel last year before reversing course when the coronavirus pandemic hit. With revenue sure to have declined this year, Trump will have to decide whether to put the property back up for sale after he leaves office, or perhaps hope its value will increase if he runs again. “Fifty percent of the people still will not go into the hotel,” said William W. Moyer, a hotel broker, noting that many potential customers who were not supporters of Trump avoided the property. “And the other 50% wanted to go there. You are not going to turn on or off people’s loyalties like a light switch.” Also read: Trump administration announces another arms sale to Taiwan; China threatens 'countermeasures' The case Racine is pursuing is moving ahead after he spent several years collecting evidence about the arrangements between the presidential inaugural committee and the hotel. Trump’s inauguration was unlike any other in U.S. history: He raised more than $107 million, twice the previous record, as corporate donors poured tens of millions of dollars into the inaugural committee. Spending also took place at a record rate. At the Trump hotel, the inaugural committee and guests attending the inauguration were already planning to fill most of the 263 rooms, which Racine argued meant that ballroom space would typically be offered for free or at least at a major discount. But when the hotel initially asked the inaugural committee to pay $450,000 a day to rent the ballrooms and other common spaces, it provoked immediate questions from both Wolkoff, who has since broken with the Trump family, and Rick Gates, then the inaugural committee’s deputy chair, who would go on to plead guilty to charges stemming from the special counsel’s investigation. “First, the cost itself seems quite high compared to other property buyouts for the week,” Gates wrote in an email to Ivanka Trump 38 days before the inauguration. “Second, I am a bit worried about the optics of PIC paying Trump Hotel a high rent fee and the media making a big story out of it,” he added, referring to the presidential inaugural committee. Trump wrote to Mickael C. Damelincourt, the hotel’s general manager, and asked him to call Gates to negotiate a better deal for the inaugural committee. “It should be a fair market rate,” she said in a follow-up email, which soon led to a new offer of $175,000 per day. Still, Wolkoff raised concerns. “In my opinion, the max rental fee should be $85,000 per day,” she responded to Gates and Trump in an email where she also noted that other properties, such as Union Station, had offered their spaces for the inauguration at no charge. This series of emails — filed in court documents as part of the lawsuit — is at the heart of the case that Racine, a Democrat, is pursuing. The inaugural committee paid $220,000 for rooms at the hotel, including $75,259 to rent out the so-called Trump Townhouse, marketed as an ultraluxurious suite. On two of the days that the inaugural committee paid the hotel $175,000 to rent the ballroom, it had no events that used it, the lawsuit said. And on a third day when it actually used the ballroom for a luncheon — again paying $175,000 — another nonprofit group had paid just $5,000 to rent the same presidential ballroom space for an inauguration-related event that morning. The committee also paid the hotel for costs associated with a “friends and family” event for Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. that their father was not expected to attend. The inauguration staff was so uncomfortable sponsoring the gathering that they tried to cancel it, court documents showed. But Damelincourt objected. “Rick … just heard that the Friday night reception had been canceled. Is it accurate?” Damelincourt wrote. “Tough on us if it is as it was a lot of revenue.” The event was then rescheduled and took place the night Donald Trump was sworn in. Ivanka Trump was questioned for five hours last week about the matter, in one of a series of depositions that has also included Damelincourt and Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a major donor to Donald Trump who was the chair of the inaugural committee. Wolkoff will be questioned under oath this week and Gates this month. Documents were also subpoenaed from Melania Trump, the first lady, but she has not been called to testify. After her deposition, Ivanka Trump condemned the inquiry, as did her brother Eric Trump, who oversees operations at the hotel. “This is a game stemming from a political vendetta,” Trump said in an interview, echoing his sister, who said on Twitter that the case was “another politically motivated demonstration of vindictiveness &amp; waste of taxpayer dollars.” So far, Judge José M. López at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia has sided with the attorney general, rejecting a motion by the Trump Organization and the inaugural committee to dismiss the case. López has authorized the parties to move ahead with depositions and other discovery until March to prepare for a possible trial. The civil suit being pursued by Racine is distinct from two separate cases raising the constitutional issues about the intersection of Donald Trump’s public role and his businesses. The two cases focused on the Constitution's emoluments clause will be on shakier ground once he leaves office, lawyers involved in the cases said. A U.S. District Court judge ruled in one of the emoluments suits in March 2018 that Maryland and the District of Columbia had the right to pursue their cases challenging whether Trump’s businesses could take payments from other governments. And for the first time, the court defined what an emolument is, accepting the broader definition advocated by Maryland and the district that it represented just about any payment from a foreign government to the president’s businesses instead of a payment made to the president explicitly in exchange for an official action he would then take, as he had argued. But one of the remedies their lawsuit sought was an order that the president stop accepting these payments. Once he leaves office, that outcome will effectively have been achieved, perhaps undermining the case. “We are having high-level discussions around the viability, survivability of the matter,” Racine said about the emoluments case. Equally unresolved is the future of the Trump hotel in Washington. The hotel bar is open again after closing in the spring when the virus first peaked. But traffic is slow, in part because the hotel is limiting entry to only those with reservations because of virus restrictions. Zach Everson, who runs an online newsletter that tracks activities at the hotel, said its fate might be determined in part by how much of a power broker Trump remains. “Any business that is sustained in some part by people wanting to get in his favor, once you take the official power he had to grant that favor, I am not sure how they can sustain it,” Everson said. “But with Donald Trump, he has been able to pull a rabbit out of the hat before.” On Friday, White House-related business was still coming in. Jason Miller, a Trump campaign aide, showed up at lunchtime without his name on the list. He told a security guard at the hotel entrance that he was there for a meeting with lawyers Eric Hershmann and Justin Clark, two other aides to Trump. For a moment, Miller was prevented from entering. “I work for the president,” he told the security guard, before finally being let in.

As his term ends, Trump faces more questions on payments to his hotel

With most of the slow-to-report votes tallied, we finally have a clearer picture of last month’s presidential results. Despite the high polarization in the country that carried over to the reaction to the results — with 70% to 80% of Republicans still saying they disbelieve that Joe Biden won — in some respects the vote itself was less polarized than in 2016.

Compared with 2016, in 2020 there was less difference by race or ethnicity, and urban areas and suburban areas voted more alike. But the economic and education partisan divides widened. Biden gained in well-educated suburbs and exurbs, often in places that have tended to vote Republican in recent decades, like the Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix areas.

In addition to these broad patterns, some specific shifts reflected local political loyalties.

As of Sunday, reporting was complete enough to look closely at nearly all individual counties and metropolitan areas (which consist of one or more counties). Though some important patterns may show up only in more fine-grained precinct or individual survey data, counties make it easy to compare the entire country, over time, though many lenses.

These near-final county totals confirm a few patterns in the 2020 vote.

Stability

For all the ways that this election broke with precedent, the county-level vote pattern in 2020 was overwhelmingly similar to that in 2016. The correlation between counties’ vote margins for President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 was 0.99. (A correlation of 1 represents a perfect relationship, and 0 represents no relationship.)

Strikingly, the vote was slightly less polarized than in 2016, breaking a pattern of increasing geographic polarization in the 2000s. The standard deviation measures how much an individual county’s vote typically deviated from the national average; this measure was a bit lower in 2020 after rising steadily from 2000 to 2016.

Furthermore, this year the vote in many counties was a small shift toward the center. The bigger that Trump’s victory was in 2016 in a given county, the more ground Biden picked up in 2020 relative to Hillary Clinton in 2016. In counties that voted for Trump in 2016, the 2020 margin shifted 3.2 percentage points toward Biden, versus a 1.9-point shift toward Biden in counties that voted for Clinton in 2016.

Education

Among metropolitan areas with a population over 250,000, three Colorado metros — fast-growing Colorado Springs, Denver and Fort Collins — topped the list for swings against Trump in two-party vote share. Colorado has one of the nation’s highest rates of people with a four-year college degree, and this year it solidified its status as a blue state. Colorado’s shift against Trump was 8.6 points, second only to Vermont’s 9 points.

A part of conservative-leaning Kentucky posted one of the bigger anti-Trump shifts. The Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky, metropolitan area, which flipped from red to blue and is home to the University of Kentucky, has the highest percentage of college graduates in the region and is in the top fifth of metros for college attainment.

And what about the big swing in the Huntsville area in deep-red Alabama? Fast-growing places with brighter economic prospects — correlated with a higher number of people with college degrees and more jobs in professional, tech and creative fields — moved toward Biden. A highly educated workforce in Huntsville, first put to use in industries like aerospace, has become attractive to other businesses in recent years.

Suburban areas in Nebraska swung significantly toward Biden. Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes well-educated Omaha, contributed one electoral vote to Biden’s tally. It “swung against Trump more than any swing state,” according to Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report. The swing was 8.8 points, as the district flipped from red to blue.

The Hispanic Swing

Most metro areas swung Democratic, but the most extreme swings were toward Trump, and the biggest of those were in heavily Hispanic metros, like Miami and areas along the Texas border.

Initially it appeared that Trump’s strength in 2020 relative to 2016 in heavily Hispanic counties might have been specific to South Florida and Texas border areas, despite the very different national origins and identities in those two regions. But data from later-reporting counties points to a national trend.

The correlation between a county’s percent Hispanic population and its swing toward Trump was 0.41. Even excluding Miami-Dade County and all of Texas, the correlation is still 0.30. The Bronx, New York; Los Angeles; Osceola County near Orlando, Florida; and Hudson and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey are all at least 40% Hispanic and swung toward Trump by at least 5 percentage points.

Urban versus Suburban

Biden’s gains were largest in suburban areas, as was immediately apparent after the election. But because many urban counties have been among the slowest to report their votes, the picture in these counties has become clear only recently.

Trump did better in 2020 than 2016 not only in Miami-Dade, Los Angeles and the Bronx, but also in New York's Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the counties encompassing the cities of Chicago, Philadelphia, San Jose and San Francisco.

Though urban counties remain overwhelmingly Democratic, Trump’s margin improved by 1.1 percentage points in these counties — an even bigger pickup than Trump achieved in non-metropolitan counties, which are largely rural. Thus, the urban-suburban divide narrowed in 2020 — and the urban-rural divide did as well.

Regional Factors

Some regional and local patterns offer other possible explanations for 2020 swings.

— Home-state loyalties: Arkansas is one of only a half-dozen states that swung toward Trump. It’s possible that Clinton benefited in 2016 from some residual good feeling in the state based on her decadelong term as first lady of Arkansas — something that Biden couldn’t compensate for. (The Fort Smith, Arkansas, area was among the top 25 metro areas that swung toward Trump.)

On the other hand, Biden appeared to receive a home-state bonus in Delaware, which had the third-biggest swing against Trump of any state.

New Castle County, with Wilmington as its county seat, moved almost 8 points toward Biden. Why did the Salisbury, Maryland, metro area have such a big swing against Trump? One possible reason is that a little more than half of the population of the metro area is across the state border, in Sussex County in Delaware.

— Religion: Trump enjoyed big gains in the Utah metros of Provo-Orem and Ogden-Clearfield, but much of it can be explained by the drop in third-party voting. Evan McMullin won 21.5% of the vote in his home state in 2016, but he didn’t run this year. Utah, the home of a large Mormon population, had the largest decline in third-party vote share in the nation.

There were sizable swings toward Trump in areas with high percentages of Orthodox Jews, like Rockland County, New York, and parts of Brooklyn — perhaps because many Orthodox Jews were angered by coronavirus-related restrictions.

— Military presence: Overall, Biden performed well relative to Clinton’s 2016 showing in the Northeast, particularly in smaller metro areas, like in upstate New York and in places like Portland, Maine, and Norwich-New London in Connecticut. Connecticut and Maine each moved about 6 points toward the Democratic ticket.

But there’s another possible reason for the swing in Norwich-New London. New London County; the Bremerton, Washington, area; the Virginia Beach metro; and Colorado Springs (home of the Air Force Academy) have military bases and a fair share of military veterans. Counties classified as military posts by the American Communities Project swung by around 6 points against Trump, still voting for him in 2020 overall but by a smaller margin than in 2016.

Some of the correlations are hard to untangle. What we do know more clearly is that there has been about a 2.4-point swing nationwide toward Biden relative to Clinton’s 2016 showing and a similarly modest swing in many of the critical battleground states. But even modest shifts in a roughly evenly divided nation can be decisive.

With most of the slow-to-report votes tallied, we finally have a clearer picture of last month’s presidential results. Despite the high polarization in the country that carried over to the reaction to the results — with 70% to 80% of Republicans still saying they disbelieve that Joe Biden won — in some respects the vote itself was less polarized than in 2016.

With most of the slow-to-report votes tallied, we finally have a clearer picture of last month’s presidential results. Despite the high polarization in the country that carried over to the reaction to the results — with 70% to 80% of Republicans still saying they disbelieve that Joe Biden won — in some respects the vote itself was less polarized than in 2016. Compared with 2016, in 2020 there was less difference by race or ethnicity, and urban areas and suburban areas voted more alike. But the economic and education partisan divides widened. Biden gained in well-educated suburbs and exurbs, often in places that have tended to vote Republican in recent decades, like the Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix areas. In addition to these broad patterns, some specific shifts reflected local political loyalties. As of Sunday, reporting was complete enough to look closely at nearly all individual counties and metropolitan areas (which consist of one or more counties). Though some important patterns may show up only in more fine-grained precinct or individual survey data, counties make it easy to compare the entire country, over time, though many lenses. These near-final county totals confirm a few patterns in the 2020 vote. Stability For all the ways that this election broke with precedent, the county-level vote pattern in 2020 was overwhelmingly similar to that in 2016. The correlation between counties’ vote margins for President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 was 0.99. (A correlation of 1 represents a perfect relationship, and 0 represents no relationship.) Strikingly, the vote was slightly less polarized than in 2016, breaking a pattern of increasing geographic polarization in the 2000s. The standard deviation measures how much an individual county’s vote typically deviated from the national average; this measure was a bit lower in 2020 after rising steadily from 2000 to 2016. Furthermore, this year the vote in many counties was a small shift toward the center. The bigger that Trump’s victory was in 2016 in a given county, the more ground Biden picked up in 2020 relative to Hillary Clinton in 2016. In counties that voted for Trump in 2016, the 2020 margin shifted 3.2 percentage points toward Biden, versus a 1.9-point shift toward Biden in counties that voted for Clinton in 2016. Education Among metropolitan areas with a population over 250,000, three Colorado metros — fast-growing Colorado Springs, Denver and Fort Collins — topped the list for swings against Trump in two-party vote share. Colorado has one of the nation’s highest rates of people with a four-year college degree, and this year it solidified its status as a blue state. Colorado’s shift against Trump was 8.6 points, second only to Vermont’s 9 points. A part of conservative-leaning Kentucky posted one of the bigger anti-Trump shifts. The Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky, metropolitan area, which flipped from red to blue and is home to the University of Kentucky, has the highest percentage of college graduates in the region and is in the top fifth of metros for college attainment. And what about the big swing in the Huntsville area in deep-red Alabama? Fast-growing places with brighter economic prospects — correlated with a higher number of people with college degrees and more jobs in professional, tech and creative fields — moved toward Biden. A highly educated workforce in Huntsville, first put to use in industries like aerospace, has become attractive to other businesses in recent years. Suburban areas in Nebraska swung significantly toward Biden. Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes well-educated Omaha, contributed one electoral vote to Biden’s tally. It “swung against Trump more than any swing state,” according to Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report. The swing was 8.8 points, as the district flipped from red to blue. The Hispanic Swing Most metro areas swung Democratic, but the most extreme swings were toward Trump, and the biggest of those were in heavily Hispanic metros, like Miami and areas along the Texas border. Initially it appeared that Trump’s strength in 2020 relative to 2016 in heavily Hispanic counties might have been specific to South Florida and Texas border areas, despite the very different national origins and identities in those two regions. But data from later-reporting counties points to a national trend. The correlation between a county’s percent Hispanic population and its swing toward Trump was 0.41. Even excluding Miami-Dade County and all of Texas, the correlation is still 0.30. The Bronx, New York; Los Angeles; Osceola County near Orlando, Florida; and Hudson and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey are all at least 40% Hispanic and swung toward Trump by at least 5 percentage points. Urban versus Suburban Biden’s gains were largest in suburban areas, as was immediately apparent after the election. But because many urban counties have been among the slowest to report their votes, the picture in these counties has become clear only recently. Trump did better in 2020 than 2016 not only in Miami-Dade, Los Angeles and the Bronx, but also in New York's Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the counties encompassing the cities of Chicago, Philadelphia, San Jose and San Francisco. Though urban counties remain overwhelmingly Democratic, Trump’s margin improved by 1.1 percentage points in these counties — an even bigger pickup than Trump achieved in non-metropolitan counties, which are largely rural. Thus, the urban-suburban divide narrowed in 2020 — and the urban-rural divide did as well. Regional Factors Some regional and local patterns offer other possible explanations for 2020 swings. — Home-state loyalties: Arkansas is one of only a half-dozen states that swung toward Trump. It’s possible that Clinton benefited in 2016 from some residual good feeling in the state based on her decadelong term as first lady of Arkansas — something that Biden couldn’t compensate for. (The Fort Smith, Arkansas, area was among the top 25 metro areas that swung toward Trump.) On the other hand, Biden appeared to receive a home-state bonus in Delaware, which had the third-biggest swing against Trump of any state. New Castle County, with Wilmington as its county seat, moved almost 8 points toward Biden. Why did the Salisbury, Maryland, metro area have such a big swing against Trump? One possible reason is that a little more than half of the population of the metro area is across the state border, in Sussex County in Delaware. — Religion: Trump enjoyed big gains in the Utah metros of Provo-Orem and Ogden-Clearfield, but much of it can be explained by the drop in third-party voting. Evan McMullin won 21.5% of the vote in his home state in 2016, but he didn’t run this year. Utah, the home of a large Mormon population, had the largest decline in third-party vote share in the nation. There were sizable swings toward Trump in areas with high percentages of Orthodox Jews, like Rockland County, New York, and parts of Brooklyn — perhaps because many Orthodox Jews were angered by coronavirus-related restrictions. — Military presence: Overall, Biden performed well relative to Clinton’s 2016 showing in the Northeast, particularly in smaller metro areas, like in upstate New York and in places like Portland, Maine, and Norwich-New London in Connecticut. Connecticut and Maine each moved about 6 points toward the Democratic ticket. But there’s another possible reason for the swing in Norwich-New London. New London County; the Bremerton, Washington, area; the Virginia Beach metro; and Colorado Springs (home of the Air Force Academy) have military bases and a fair share of military veterans. Counties classified as military posts by the American Communities Project swung by around 6 points against Trump, still voting for him in 2020 overall but by a smaller margin than in 2016. Some of the correlations are hard to untangle. What we do know more clearly is that there has been about a 2.4-point swing nationwide toward Biden relative to Clinton’s 2016 showing and a similarly modest swing in many of the critical battleground states. But even modest shifts in a roughly evenly divided nation can be decisive.

The places that had the biggest swings toward and against Trump

President Joe Biden has said that he wants the United States to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal this only Iran resumes compliance. However, the experts say that returning to the nuclear deal won't be easy

U.S. President Joe Biden wants United States to return to the 2015 Iran Nuclear deal

US&nbsp;President-elect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe&nbsp;Biden</a>&nbsp;on Thursday said in an interview that his family’s dealings, including those of his son, Hunter will not conflict with his role as commander in chief, dismissing prior allegations of inappropriate business deals.

Biden, in an interview with CNN, said ''My son, my family, will not be involved in any business, any enterprise, that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, with the appropriate distance from, the presidency and government.''

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-senate-report-reveals-joe-biden-son-hunters-links-with-chinese-ukrainian-firms-329865">US Senate report reveals Joe Biden son Hunter's links with Chinese, Ukrainian firms</a>

According to a US Senate Committee report,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-elections-2020-trump-applauds-selfs-approach-towards-covid-calls-bidens-approach-anti-science-329852">Joe Biden's</a>&nbsp;son Hunter was paid $50,000 a month to serve as the board of Burisma which is a Ukrainian natural gas company with a corrupt owner while his father was the US vice president&nbsp;during the Obama administration.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-hunter-bidens-business-links-with-china-330056/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The report said the Treasury records accessed by Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson showed Hunter<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/us-election-2020-facebook-removes-fake-pages-created-in-china-targeting-trump-biden-329641">&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;</a>and his family including his associates were involved in "potential criminal activity relating to transactions with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals."

The Senate Committee report claimed that that Hunter Biden and his family were involved in a "vast financial network that connected them to foreign nationals and foreign governments across the globe", while adding that Hunter and Archer formed "significant and consistent financial relationships with the corrupt oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky during their time working for Burisma and their firms made millions of dollars from that association while Joe Biden was the vice president."&nbsp;

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had made accusations that&nbsp;Hunter Biden engaged in unethical practices in Ukraine. No evidence has been verified to support the allegations, and Joe Biden has called them false and discredited.

However,&nbsp;Russian President Vladimir Putin had rejected Trump's criticism of Hunter and said that although he did ''make very good money in Ukraine'' but Moscow is not aware of anything criminal about his&nbsp;past business.

US President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday said in an interview that his family’s dealings, including those of his son, Hunter will not conflict with his role as commander in chief, dismissing prior allegations of inappropriate business deals.

US President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday said in an interview that his family’s dealings, including those of his son, Hunter will not conflict with his role as commander in chief, dismissing prior allegations of inappropriate business deals. Biden, in an interview with CNN, said ''My son, my family, will not be involved in any business, any enterprise, that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, with the appropriate distance from, the presidency and government.'' Also read: US Senate report reveals Joe Biden son Hunter's links with Chinese, Ukrainian firms According to a US Senate Committee report, Joe Biden's son Hunter was paid $50,000 a month to serve as the board of Burisma which is a Ukrainian natural gas company with a corrupt owner while his father was the US vice president during the Obama administration. The report said the Treasury records accessed by Chairman Grassley and Chairman Johnson showed Hunter Biden and his family including his associates were involved in "potential criminal activity relating to transactions with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals." The Senate Committee report claimed that that Hunter Biden and his family were involved in a "vast financial network that connected them to foreign nationals and foreign governments across the globe", while adding that Hunter and Archer formed "significant and consistent financial relationships with the corrupt oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky during their time working for Burisma and their firms made millions of dollars from that association while Joe Biden was the vice president." Earlier, US President Donald Trump had made accusations that Hunter Biden engaged in unethical practices in Ukraine. No evidence has been verified to support the allegations, and Joe Biden has called them false and discredited. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin had rejected Trump's criticism of Hunter and said that although he did ''make very good money in Ukraine'' but Moscow is not aware of anything criminal about his past business.

Joe Biden says his son Hunter’s business dealings will be kept away from presidency

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