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Everything President Trump has tweeted (and what it was about)

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His tweets have the power to shape international relations, send stock prices up — or down — and galvanize the American public.

We watched how Donald Trump used this platform of unfettered communication during his first year as commander in chief. Here is everything he tweeted. In many cases, we looked at what he was reacting to and whether what he said was accurate. And, as much as possible, we related what else was going on at the time.

See anything we missed? Drop us a line

Trump promotes son’s ‘Justice with Judge Jeanine’ interview

President Trump promoted via Twitter an interview with his son Eric Trump just before it aired Saturday night on Fox News’ “Justice with Judge Jeanine.”

Eric Trump called into the show to defend his father from criticism prompted by the first government shutdown in more than four years, as well as a series of Women’s March events that saw protesters in dozens of cities take to the streets to oppose the president’s policies.

Speaking to host Jeannine Piro — who is reportedly an old friend of the president’s — Eric Trump offered effusive praise for his father, ticking off glowing statistics to illustrate the strength of the U.S. economy and gains against Islamic State fighters overseas.

“My father’s working like no one’s ever worked before to bring back this country and to fulfill his promise to make America great again,” said the executive vice president of the Trump Organization.

He also repeated a sentiment recently expressed on Twitter by his father: That Democratic lawmakers forced a government shutdown on the anniversary of the president’s inauguration in a bid to distract from his achievements.

“You look at this whole government shutdown, and the only reason they want to shut down government is to distract and to stop his momentum,” Eric Trump said. “I mean, my father has had incredible momentum. He’s gotten more done in one year than arguably any president in history.”

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Trump tweets: ‘a perfect day for all Women to March’

President Trump hailed the nationwide Women’s March gatherings Saturday.

On Twitter, the president called it “a perfect day for all Women to March,” seeming to imply that those taking part were celebrating his administration’s accomplishments:

Participants in the marches across the United States were actually seeking to deliver a powerful rebuke to Trump’s policies and mount a crucial mobilization for this year’s midterm elections.

But Trump continued to tout his administration’s “unprecedented success” in tweets sent later in the day:

In addition to the roll call of major American cities where women’s marches took place — including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta — protesters also raised their voices in suburbs and small towns, reflecting the aim of coalescing a broad-based movement on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration to oppose the president’s stance on immigration, healthcare, racial divides and an array of other issues.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King.

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Trump calls shutdown a ‘present’ from Democrats

President Trump is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown — tweeting that they wanted to give him “a nice present” to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration:

That comes after Senate Democrats late Friday killed a GOP-written House-passed measure that would have kept agencies functioning for four weeks. Democrats were seeking a stopgap bill of just a few days in hopes that would build pressure on Republicans, and they were opposing a three-week alternative offered by GOP leaders.

Democrats have insisted they would back legislation reopening the government once there’s a bipartisan agreement to preserve protections against deporting about 700,000 immigrants — known as “Dreamers” — who arrived in the United States illegally as children.

Trump on Saturday accused Democrats of “holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration”:

Democrats are laying fault for the shutdown on Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus.

In a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president tried to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans to Congress in November “in order to power through this mess”:

He noted that there are 51 Republicans in the 100-member Senate, and it often takes 60 votes to advance legislation:

The stopgap spending measure won 50 votes in the Senate, including five from Democrats.

Although the House and Senate were in session Saturday, it was unclear whether lawmakers would take any votes of consequence.

Trump had been set to leave Friday afternoon for a fundraiser at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where he intended to mark the inauguration anniversary. But he remained in Washington and ended up scrapping his plans to attend the Saturday fundraiser.

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Trump tweet casts doubt on likelihood of averting shutdown

President Trump appeared to cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching a deal to avert a government shutdown Friday night in a tweet.

Trump also sought to blame Democrats for what would be the first shutdown since 2013.

His message came just hours before the midnight deadline by which lawmakers must pass a measure to fund government agencies, or some operations will cease.

Despite last-minute negotiations Friday between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Congress remained deadlocked over a spending bill and the federal government was headed toward a shutdown at midnight.

Senate Democrats — joined by some GOP deficit hawks and immigration allies — were set to filibuster a stopgap funding bill approved by the House on Thursday. A Senate vote was planned for 10 p.m. Eastern, and even White House officials predicted it would fail.

Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump signs surveillance law after confusing tweets

President Trump on Friday signed a bill into law to renew a foreign intelligence surveillance program, announcing his action in the latest in a series of confusing tweets about the spy program:

Trump’s tweet on Jan. 11 created chaos in the House just before it voted to reauthorize what is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He linked the intelligence program to a dossier that alleges his presidential campaign had ties to Russia.

That caused people to wonder if he didn’t support the program that allows U.S. spy agencies to collect intelligence on foreign targets abroad.

Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Obama administration officials improperly shared the identities of Trump presidential transition team members mentioned in intelligence reports. Democrats say there is no evidence that happened.

Shortly before the House vote, and after conferring with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Trump did an apparent about-face.

“This vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land,” he tweeted. “We need it! Get smart!”

In his tweet announcing that he had just signed the bill, Trump wrote: “This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!”

There are no obvious links between the dossier Trump spoke of, which includes salacious but unsubstantiated allegations against him, and the reauthorization of the spying program, or between the program and Trump’s oft-repeated claims that the Obama administration conducted surveillance on Trump Tower during the presidential campaign.

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Trump, Schumer proclaim ‘progress’ after talk to avoid shutdown

After a surprise meeting with President Trump as a government shutdown loomed, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday that “progress” had been made and negotiations would continue.

Schumer dashed to the White House earlier in the day at the invitation of Trump. Schumer cut a previous budget deal with Trump last fall over the strong objections of GOP leaders.

“We discussed all of the major outstanding issues,” Schumer told reporters. “We made some progress. But we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue.”

With less than seven hours before the shutdown deadline, Trump tweeted that he’d had an “excellent preliminary meeting” with Schumer and was “making progress.”

But the president said he still preferred a four-week stopgap bill that was passed Thursday by the House but was expected to be blocked Friday in the Senate.

The meeting came as Congress pushed the federal government to the brink of a shutdown. Senate Democrats — joined by some GOP deficit hawks and immigration allies — were set to filibuster the stopgap funding bill ahead of a midnight deadline in Washington.

Lawmakers scrambled to assign blame for what would be the first federal shutdown since 2013, when Republicans led the unpopular 16-day closure in their failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

Republicans assailed Democratic senators for holding the funding “hostage” as Democrats demanded deportation protections for “Dreamers,” the young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. Their protected status could expire soon as Trump ends the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Trump tweeted Friday morning:

The Trump administration is scrambling to soften the blow of a possible shutdown with plans to keep as much of the government open as possible. Their blueprints, though, could quickly unravel.

“We are going to manage this shutdown differently,” said Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, who accused the previous administration of using the 2013 budget stalemate to score political points, making the repercussions more painful for Americans than necessary.

“We are not going to weaponize it. We are not going to try to hurt people,” he told reporters at the White House.

Trump shared via Twitter a link to the briefing:

Whatever the White House’s intentions, however, some hurt from a shutdown is unavoidable. The law places the federal government under extremely restrictive constraints.

“Shutting down the government is a very serious thing,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told CNN on Thursday night. “People die, accidents happen. You don’t know. Necessary functions can cease. … There is no specific list you can look at and make a judgment: ‘Well, everything is going to be just fine.’ You can’t make that judgment.”

Trump quoted Feinstein in a tweet:

A spokesman for Feinstein on Friday said that the senator “was trying to get at the uncertainty that a government shutdown could create,” but that she “remains committed” to voting against the funding bill because it doesn’t include protections for Dreamers.

While Democrats led the opposition, a few Republican senators also said they would reject the measure.

A mix of immigration advocates, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and deficit hawks such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have announced their opposition. Other Republicans may join them. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who has worked with Graham and Democrats for years on immigration issues, said he was “not inclined” to support the monthlong spending bill and wanted a short extension for a few days to keep government running while immigration talks continued.

Trump’s vulgar comments during an Oval Office meeting last week — he said he didn’t want immigrants coming to the U.S. from “shithole” countries — left a bipartisan working group skeptical the GOP would act in time to protect Dreamers.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro, Evan Halper and Sarah D. Wire.

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Trump tells March for Life: ‘We are with you all the way’

President Trump on Friday delivered new support to the anti-abortion movement he once opposed, telling thousands of activists demonstrating in the annual March for Life, “We are with you all the way.”

In an address broadcast from the White House Rose Garden, Trump said he’s committed to building “a society where life is celebrated, protected and cherished.”

The moment marked the president personally stepping to the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States as the anniversary of his inauguration approaches. Last year, Vice President Mike Pence addressed the crowd in Trump’s absence. In the year since, Trump has delivered on rules and policies he had promised in an effort to help curb abortion rights legalized 45 years ago. Chief among them is the confirmation of conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Trump’s administration on Friday also announced more actions in line with long-standing demands from social and religious conservatives.

The Department of Health and Human Services spelled out plans to protect medical providers who refuse to perform procedures such as abortions because of moral or religious scruples. HHS also pulled back an Obama-era policy that posed a legal roadblock to conservative states trying to cut Medicaid funds for Planned Parenthood.

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In tweet, Trump suggests that Pennsylvania trip is a political one

The White House press office was once again forced to walk back a tweet from President Trump on Thursday morning after he described a trip to Pennsylvania later in the day as a political one — a statement that would force the Republican Party, not taxpayers, to pay for the journey.

The White House had said Trump was going to an industrial equipment company outside of Pittsburgh to highlight the good economy and new tax cuts, making it an official, policy-oriented event.

It was widely assumed that the trip had a political cast — the area is holding a special election to fill a congressional seat vacated by a Republican who resigned. Trump, by his tweet, seemed to confirm that politics was the whole purpose:

Trump later shared via Twitter a pair of video clips of his speech at H&K Equipment, in which he touted the tax cuts he signed into law just before Christmas and tried to turn the conversation back to his accomplishments after weeks dominated by distractions, including questions about his mental health and comments about immigration that some considered racist:

The Republican National Committee, rather than the White House, is supposed to pay for political travel so that taxpayers are not financing party activities; for trips that combine policy and politics, parties have split the cost under past presidents. Neither the RNC nor the White House responded to emails sent Thursday asking who would pay.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement later Thursday suggesting that taxpayers would foot the bill. She insisted that Trump would be conducting government business while in Pennsylvania.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Noah Bierman.

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Trump undermines House GOP leaders, his chief of staff and his press secretary in morning tweets

In a series of tweets Thursday morning, President Trump undercut a deal by Republican lawmakers to keep the government open past Friday and contradicted his chief of staff’s comments that Trump had “evolved” on his promised border wall.

By slamming the proposed government-funding plan, Trump also undermined White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who told reporters Wednesday that the president supported the Republicans’ strategy.

Their bill would provide short-term funding for government operations and a six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which Republican leaders had attached to help attract support, particularly from Democrats who pushed for the program.

But Trump wrote on Twitter that funding for the program should be part of “a long term solution,” not the stopgap measure:

Some speculated that perhaps the president was not aware that the CHIP funding would be extended for six years, rather than the four weeks of the spending bill.

Republican leaders in Congress already were scrambling to gather votes for their plan to fund the government for another month until a longer-term deal can be made on federal spending and immigration. Trump’s comments threw voting into jeopardy, raising the odds of a shutdown.

Trump also pushed back against his own chief of staff, John F. Kelly, who told lawmakers Wednesday that Trump’s border wall promise was “uninformed” and Mexico was unlikely to pay for a wall. Kelly repeated his comments during a Fox News interview Wednesday night, saying Trump had “evolved” and changed his views on “a number of things” since entering the White House.

But Trump, in a note of discord with his top-ranking aide, denied he’s “evolved” on building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border.

And he falsely claimed that Mexico is “now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world”:

A few hours later, the Mexican government fought back to challenge Trump.

The country released a statement — emailed to journalists, not posted on social media — that corrected Trump’s error and took the United States to task for its role in Mexico’s violence.

“Although Mexico has a significant problem of violence, it is openly false that Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world,” said the statement, released by Mexico’s Foreign Ministry.

The statement noted that although bloodshed is on the rise in Mexico — the country recorded more homicides in 2017 than in any year on record — other nations, including Venezuela and El Salvador, have much higher homicide rates.

The statement also pointed out what the Mexican government believes are major drivers of its violence: U.S. guns and U.S. demand for drugs.

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Trump announces winners of ‘Fake News Awards’

President Trump announced the recipients of his “Fake News Awards” Wednesday night.

Trump tweeted a link to the winners list, which was hosted on GOP.com. The web page promptly went offline.

The “award” recipients included a mix of reporters for the New York Times, ABC News and the Washington Post, as well as reports published by CNN, Time, Newsweek and the New York Times. The winners list also included one topic: “Russia Collusion,” which the list called “perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people.”

Here’s what the page looked like before it went offline:

Under the winners was a list of 10 of Trump’s accomplishments, among them the passage of the GOP tax cuts and the appointment of Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Trump listed the highlights in subsequent tweets:

Earlier Wednesday, the president also shared some examples of what he considers “good news,” tweeting links to reports on companies that have announced plans to increase U.S. investment as a result of the tax cuts, as well as one on a jump in holiday retail sales:

Trump has battled the news media since taking office. He often accuses outlets of circulating “fake news” following the publication of stories that are critical of or unflattering to his administration.

The president first announced plans for his self-proclaimed “most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year” via Twitter on Jan. 2.

He originally pledged to name the winners that Monday, but later delayed the reveal to Jan. 17, tweeting: “The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!”

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Trump tweets praise of Bob Dole after awarding him Congressional Gold Medal

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole knew the art of the deal before President Trump published the 1987 book of the same name.

The two shared a stage under the Capitol dome Wednesday as Dole, 94, accepted Congress’ highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, for his World War II service and decades of work in the House and Senate.

Trump later praised Dole in a tweet, attaching to his message a video composed of clips from the ceremony:

At the ceremony, the president saluted Dole as “a patriot” and gave tribute to Dole’s struggle as a veteran who worked his way back from a grievous shoulder wound he suffered in Italy.

“He knows about grit,” said Trump.

But it was Dole’s penchant for working across the aisle that earned him his latest award, according to the legislation.

“Bob Dole was known for his ability to work across the aisle and embrace practical bipartisanship,” reads the legislation Trump signed in September. Some of the award’s 300 recipients include George Washington and Mother Teresa, according to the Congressional Research Service.

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Trump promotes son’s ‘Fox & Friends’ spot

President Trump promoted an appearance by his son, Eric Trump, on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

Eric Trump appeared on the morning talk show to defend his father against accusations that he is racist.

He also denounced the news media, echoing past comments by his father.

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Trump touts report that seeks to link terrorism cases with immigration

The Trump administration on Tuesday released a report attempting to link terrorism with migration, arguing that it was evidence of the need to dramatically reshape the nation’s immigration system.

The report, ordered by President Trump in an executive order last year, said that 75% of the 549 people convicted of terrorism charges since 9/11 were born outside the U.S. Administration officials called that a sign that the U.S. needs to scrap its policy of family preferences for visas, which they call “chain migration,” and a diversity visa lottery program.

But the report did not specify how many — if any — of the convicted terrorists entered the country through those means. It also did not detail how many of the convictions were related to attacks or plans in the U.S. versus overseas and how many involved people who went to fight overseas for the Islamic State or another terrorist group. Those details were not available, officials said.

The report, due last year, is being released in a highly charged moment in the immigration debate, as Trump and some Republicans in Congress seek tough new border and immigration measures in return for a deal protecting the 690,000 people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Trump also fired off a pair of tweets on the topic earlier Tuesday:

“The focus of our immigration system should be assimilation,” a senior administration official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition that his name not be used. He said the nation should give priority to potential immigrants who speak English, who have an education and those who are “committed to supporting our values — not family members of people already here.”

The official said the timing of the report was coincidental.

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Trump tweets welcome to president of Kazakhstan

President Trump said Tuesday that he and the president of Kazakhstan are united in a shared determination to prevent North Korea from “threatening the world with nuclear devastation.”

Trump and President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed North Korea along with other issues during meetings at the White House.

Trump said Kazakhstan, once part of the Soviet Union, is a “valued partner in our efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons.”

“Together we are determined to prevent the North Korean regime from threatening the world with nuclear devastation,” he said, as both presidents addressed journalists between meetings.

Nazarbayev noted that his country once had one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals but voluntarily gave it up after the Soviet Union collapsed. He said his country is in talks with Iran, which was the focus of a global deal that lifted some economic sanctions in exchange for Iran’s curbing its nuclear program.

Trump has sharply criticized the Iran nuclear deal and threatened last week to pull out soon unless other countries fix what he says are “terrible flaws.”

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Trump proclaims ‘religious freedom day’

President Trump proclaimed Tuesday “religious freedom day.”

The date was chosen because it was the 232nd anniversary of the adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, according to the text of the proclamation.

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Trump falsely claims his approval rating among black Americans has doubled

President Trump lashed out at the news media Tuesday morning in a tweet denouncing the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion among members of his campaign team.

It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what prompted the president’s tweet, but it appeared as though he was watching “Fox & Friends.”

A short time later, Trump tweeted a headline from a report that aired during that morning’s episode:

The segment focused on the latest survey results from conservative watchdog Media Research Center, which purportedly analyzed the evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 and found that 90% of the statements made about Trump were negative.

“But believe it or not, through all this negative coverage, they did a survey of 600,000 people about how black America views this president,” co-host Brian Kilmeade said. “His numbers have actually doubled in approval.”

Trump highlighted the statement in another tweet:

But it’s not true.

The claim appears to have originated from a misreading of data from the online polling firm SurveyMonkey, according to factcheck.org.

The firm polled 600,000 Americans in 2017 and found that Trump’s approval rating among blacks actually dropped from 23% early in his presidency to about 17%, as of the week ending Jan. 3.

Some conservative outlets, including Breitbart, produced an average from those and other SurveyMonkey figures and compared them to the scores Trump received from black voters in the 2016 exit polls.

That methodology is not sound. And since the statistics measure different things, the comparison is misleading.

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Trump goes after senator who surfaced his immigration remark

President Trump turned his Twitter torment Monday on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Richard J. Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal.

“Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting,” Trump tweeted, using a nickname to needle the Illinois senator. “Deals can’t get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military.”

Trump was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young people who came to the United States illegally as children. Members of Congress from both parties are trying to strike a deal that Trump would support to extend that protection.

Trump also cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching an agreement in tweets sent earlier Monday:

On a day of remembrance for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump spent time at his golf course with no public events, bypassing the acts of service that his predecessors staged in honor of the civil rights leader. Instead, Trump dedicated his weekly address to King’s memory, saying King’s dream and America’s are the same: “A world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from.”

That message was a distinct counterpoint to words attributed to Trump by Durbin and others at a meeting last week, when the question of where immigrants come from seemed at the forefront of Trump’s concerns. Some participants and others familiar with the conversation said Trump challenged immigration from “shithole” countries of Africa and disparaged Haiti as well.

Without explicitly denying using that word, Trump lashed out at the Democratic senator, who said Trump uttered it on several occasions.

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Trump thanks pundit for laudatory ‘Fox & Friends’ spot

President Trump thanked Fox News personality Stuart Varney after Varney praised Trump during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

In a pair of tweets early Sunday, Trump quoted from Varney’s commentary, in which he argued that Trump deserves more credit for the booming economy.

The pundit, who also hosts a show on Fox Business Network, cited moves by some corporations to raise workers’ minimum wage or pay out one-time bonuses in response to the GOP tax cuts.

Varney was reacting to a quote from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who on Thursday called the bonuses handed down to workers “pathetic” in comparison to the gains corporations are expected to see from the tax cuts.

“In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving to workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic,” Pelosi told reporters. “It’s pathetic.”

Varney shot back Sunday that the bonuses, along with “explosive” stock market growth, are “enriching all Americans.”

“This is a huge shot in the arm, it’s the result of this tax cut deal and I think President Trump should get the credit for it,” he said.

The sweeping tax plan passed last month lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and cuts personal income taxes.

Analysts say the benefits will largely flow to corporations and the wealthy, as they’re more likely to be in positions to share in corporate profits.

For instance, Wells Fargo & Co., which responded to news of the tax overhaul by announcing it will raise workers’ pay to at least $15 an hour, also reported that it expects to pay an effective tax rate of 19% this year, down from about 31% in previous years. That should amount to tax savings of more than $3 billion annually.

On average, middle-class Americans are expected to see a very small tax cut in the near term and a tax increase after 2025, when all of the tax cuts for individuals expire. The tax cuts for corporations, however, are permanent.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer James Rufus Koren.

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Trump tweets that DACA ‘is probably dead’

President Trump tweeted Sunday that a program that protects immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children is “probably dead,” casting a cloud over already tenuous negotiations just days before a deadline on a government funding deal that Democrats have tied to immigration.

At issue is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created by President Obama to shield hundreds of thousands of these individuals, known as “Dreamers,” from deportation.

Trump, who has taken a hard stance against illegal immigration, announced last year that he will end the program unless Congress comes up with a solution by March.

Republicans and Democrats were already at odds over funding the government, and the negotiations became more complicated after Democrats — whose votes are needed to pass a government funding bill — insisted immigration be included. Government funding expires at midnight Friday without a deal in place, and some government functions will begin to go dark.

Further roiling the talks are comments by Trump during an Oval Office meeting in which he questioned the need to admit more Haitians to the U.S., along with Africans from “shithole” countries, according to people briefed on the conversation but not authorized to describe it publicly. He also said in the Thursday meeting that he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway instead. The White House has not denied that Trump said the word “shithole,” though Trump did push back on some depictions of the meeting.

The president also rejected as insufficient an immigration deal drafted by the bipartisan group of lawmakers who attended that meeting. The deal had included a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers that would take up to 12 years, as well as $1.6 billion for border security, including Trump’s promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump’s staunchest supporters consider any route to citizenship for the Dreamers amnesty for lawbreakers.

Trump has said any deal must include funding for the wall as well as changes to make the immigration system a more merit-based structure.

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Trump disputes Wall Street Journal quote attributed to him on North Korea

President Trump is disputing a quote attributed to him during a newspaper interview about relations with North Korea’s leader.

The Wall Street Journal on Thursday quoted Trump as saying: “I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un.”

Trump tweeted Sunday:

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the newspaper have released separate audio clips.

The Wall Street Journal says it stands by its reporting.

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Trump lashes out at tell-all author in tweet

President Trump is continuing to denounce an unflattering new book on his presidency, as well as media outlets that have reported on its contents.

Michael Wolff’s “Fire and the Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” portrays the 45th president as surrounded by aides who believe he’s unfit for the office he holds. The White House has called it “complete fantasy.”

In a tweet Saturday afternoon, Trump called Wolff “a mentally deranged author, who knowingly writes false information.”

The book has prompted questions about Trump’s own mental fitness.

Trump has pushed back, tweeting that he’s “a very stable genius.”

And earlier in the week, he said he’s going to be taking “a strong look at our country’s libel laws,” blasting the current standards as “a sham and a disgrace.”

On Friday, Trump received his first medical checkup at Walter Reed military hospital, and a White House physician declared him in “excellent health.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump revisits ‘America First’ campaign slogan in morning tweets

President Trump on Saturday sought to blame “all talk and no action” Democrats for the lack of an immigration deal.

“I don’t believe the Democrats really want to see a deal on DACA. They are all talk and no action,” Trump tweeted from Florida as he arrived at his private golf club in West Palm Beach.

Trump last year ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provided young immigrants with protection from deportation along with the ability to work legally in the United States. He gave Congress until March to come up with a legislative fix.

On Thursday, he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal drafted by six senators.

During a closed-door meeting to discuss the proposal, Trump reportedly questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and “shithole countries” in Africa.

The comments revived charges that Trump is racist and roiled the already tenuous immigration talks.

The senators had been working for months on how to balance protections for young immigrants with Trump’s demands for border security, an end to a visa lottery aimed at increasing immigrant diversity, and limits to immigrants’ ability to sponsor family members to join them in America.

The president has previously described the U.S. immigration system as a threat to national security. He’s also faulted immigrants for taking Americans’ jobs and driving down wages.

Early Saturday, he tweeted:

The slogan, which Trump started using in the later months of his presidential campaign, despite requests from the Anti-Defamation League that he drop it, has an anti-Semitic and isolationist history going back to the years before the U.S. entry into World War II.

Trump also sought Saturday to draw attention to the U.S. economy, highlighting an announcement by Fiat Chrysler that it will move production of heavy-duty trucks from Mexico to Michigan in response to the passage of the GOP tax cuts.

Trump predicted that other companies will follow suit, tweeting: “American business is hot again!”

One of the six senators who crafted the bipartisan immigration deal, Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado, said Saturday that the proposal “has everything the president asked for on the border.” He said if Trump can’t support it, “it’s difficult to see how we could get him to agree to anything that could pass in Congress.”

It was unclear now how a deal might emerge, though both sides insist the clock is ticking. Failure could affect government operations.

Lawmakers have until Friday to approve a short-term government spending bill, and Republicans will need Democratic votes to push the measure through. Some Democrats have threatened to withhold support unless an immigration pact is forged.

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Trump touts MLK proclamation in tweet, but ceremony is overshadowed by reports of racist remarks

President Trump signed a proclamation Friday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, noting the contributions of a “great American hero.”

Overshadowing the event was mounting backlash from Trump’s comments during a private meeting with lawmakers the day before.

A short time after the meeting, which was called to discuss a possible immigration deal, reports emerged that Trump had asked participants why the United States should accept immigrants from “shithole countries” in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, appeared to confirm those reports on Friday.

Trump did not respond Friday to several questions about the incident, including whether he actually used vulgar language to describe African nations, or if he is racist.

The president said at the White House that “love was central” to the slain civil rights leader. Trump said the nation celebrates King for “standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear, that no matter what the color of our skin or place of our birth, we are all created equal by God.”

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman.

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In morning tweets, Trump concedes using ‘tough’ language but implies he didn’t say ‘shithole countries’

President Trump conceded early Friday that he used “tough” language during a closed-door immigration meeting the day before, but implied that reports he complained about the United States accepting migrants from “shithole countries” were wrong.

Trump tweeted:

In other tweets posted Friday morning, Trump complained about a bipartisan immigration deal that senators outlined to him at the White House meeting.

He said it would force the U.S. “to take large numbers of people from high crime … countries which are doing badly.”

The tweets backed up the notion that Trump views immigration policy in terms of favorable and unfavorable countries, not on the individual merit of would-be immigrants, as he says.

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Trump tweets that he’s canceled London trip — and blames Obama

President Trump confirmed via Twitter late Thursday that he will no longer attend the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in London.

Trump wrote that he decided to cancel his trip because he believes the Obama administration made a “bad deal” in choosing to sell the old embassy and build a new one:

With a budget of about $1 billion for the entire project, the new U.S. Embassy in London is one of the most expensive ever built.

That’s in part because Congress ruled in 2011 that all U.S. embassies must sit behind a 100-foot “seclusion zone” in order to protect staff and visitors.

The State Department said it proved simply too expensive to renovate the old embassy to the standards required and the new location was chosen because it was a blank canvas.

Other U.S. government properties in London, including the old embassy site, were sold so that the project could be financed without taxpayer money.

Trump’s tweet followed reports in British media that he had canceled his visit to London, expected to take place next month, amid fears of mass protests.

Trump drew widespread condemnation from British lawmakers and members of the public in November, when he retweeted a trio of inflammatory videos posted by a leader of anti-Muslim hate group Britain First.

This post contains reporting from Times special correspondent Christina Boyle and staff writer Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump criticizes Democrats in tweet calling for stricter immigration rules

President Trump hit out at Democrats on Thursday night in a tweet calling for stricter immigration rules.

Trump wrote that members of the party “seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country” from the border with Mexico:

It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what prompted the tweet.

Earlier Thursday, Trump rejected a bipartisan compromise to resolve the standoff over so-called Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children but have temporary permits to work, attend school or serve in the military.

The president drew widespread condemnation after reports emerged that he had asked participants in an Oval Office meeting about the proposal why the United States should accept immigrants from “shithole countries” in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean.

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Trump rattles national security community with tweets inspired by ‘Fox & Friends’

President Trump publicly contradicted a major policy position of his administration Thursday — the second time he did so in a week in which the White House has sought to beat back questions about his stability and grasp of policy details.

The incident provided a new and striking example of the contradiction between Trump’s dueling identities as an individual often guided by impulses, grievances and what he sees on television and Trump the president, responsible for taking a broader view of government and security issues.

The events began Thursday morning when Trump sent a tweet that rattled the national security community and Republican lawmakers, nearly derailing a vote in the House on one of the administration’s top national security priorities — renewing the National Security Agency’s broad authority to conduct surveillance of foreigners, without warrants, including those communicating with U.S. citizens:

The bill eventually passed the House, 256-164, but only after Speaker Paul D. Ryan and others intervened with Trump, prompting him to send a second tweet that partly walked back his earlier criticism of the surveillance law:

The extension of surveillance authority still faces uncertainty in the Senate, where Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican, has threatened a filibuster.

Trump’s initial tweet insisted, angrily and contrary to all known evidence, that the NSA’s surveillance program might have been used to spy on his campaign during the 2016 election.

The tweet came shortly after “Fox & Friends,” Trump’s favorite program and a frequent inspiration for his Twitter account, aired a segment in which Andrew Napolitano, a commentator, offered scathing criticism of the surveillance program.

“Mr. President, this is not the way to go,” he said, looking at the camera:

White House officials would not say whether Napolitano’s comment prompted Trump’s tweet.

Trump also tweeted about several other topics covered during Thursday morning’s episode of “Fox & Friends.”

He waded back into the controversy surrounding a dossier of salacious allegations about his ties to Russia, tweeting a series of questions about the document’s provenance:

That followed a “Fox & Friends” segment speculating about whether the FBI used information in the dossier as a pretext to spy on Trump’s presidential campaign.

It featured an appearance from Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway:

Trump also touted a new Quinnipiac poll that shows 66% of voters feel the economy is excellent or good:

That too was discussed during Conway’s interview:

Trump also tweeted what appeared to be a direct quote from “Fox & Friends” reporting a 45-year low in illegal immigration. He appended the show’s Twitter handle to his message:

The statistic was cited by the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, who appeared on “Fox & Friends” to discuss a series of federal immigration actions staged Wednesday at 7-Eleven locations across the nation:

“Under this president, we had a 45-year low in illegal immigration on the border this year,” Homan said. “That is not a coincidence. He is successful, he has allowed us to do our job.”

Trump appeared to be watching “Fox & Friends” again later Thursday.

In a tweet sent more than 12 hours after he wrapped up his early-morning volley of messages, Trump quoted from a segment featuring Adam Levine, a contributor to blog the Federalist:

Levine appeared on the show to discuss an op-ed he penned for the Federalist on how it was more difficult for him to come out as a Trump supporter than it was to tell his family and friends that he is gay.

Trump also renewed his attack against Sen. Dianne Feinstein after Fox News reported that the San Francisco Democrat had “seemed to blame a ‘bad cold’” for her decision to release testimony from the co-founder of Fusion GPS, the research firm behind the notorious dossier.

In a tweet, Trump wrote that Feinstein’s move was “very disrespectful” to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee “and possibly illegal:”

Feinstein has said that she didn’t do anything illegal: She had the ability to release the transcripts as the top Democrat on the committee, and her staff helped conduct the interview.

Republicans have argued that the tangled history of Fusion GPS’s research — it was first backed by anti-Trump Republicans and then by Democrats during the 2016 race — raised doubts about the credibility of investigations into whether any of Trump’s aides assisted Russia’s efforts to meddle in the election.

Feinstein said in a statement Tuesday that she released the testimony to counteract “innuendo and misinformation” about the co-founder’s testimony.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Noah Bierman, Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian, David S. Cloud, Joseph Tanfani and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump praises companies’ plans to pass along some expected gains from tax cuts

President Trump praised a plan by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to lift its minimum wage to $11 an hour for its U.S. workers and provide them with a one-time cash bonus of up to $1,000 due to expected gains from the new tax law.

Trump shared via Twitter a video clip of a Fox Business Network report on the announcement:

The nation’s largest retailer, with about 1.5 million U.S. employees and nearly $500 billion in global revenue, also said it would expand its workers’ maternity and parental leave benefits.

“We are building on investments we’ve been making in associates, in their wages and skills development,” Wal-Mart Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a statement.

The new tax law lowers the U.S. corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%, among other things, and McMillon said Wal-Mart was “in the early stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders.”

Later, Trump also thanked Fiat Chrysler after the company announced it is moving production of heavy-duty trucks from Mexico to Michigan and paying bonuses to U.S. workers in response to the passage of the tax cuts:

The automaker will invest $1 billion in its Warren Truck Assembly Plant to make the Ram Heavy Duty Truck starting in 2020. That truck is currently made in Saltillo, Mexico, where workers will continue to make commercial vehicles.

FCA says the Warren plant will add 2,500 new jobs.

The company also plans to pay $2,000 bonuses this spring to about 60,000 hourly and salaried U.S. employees.

In his tweets, Trump suggested that other corporations will follow suit:

“All business is just at the beginning of something really special!” he pledged:

This post contains reporting from Los Angeles Times staff writer James F. Peltz and the Associated Press.

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Trump touts bill aimed at improving border screening for fentanyl

President Trump signed legislation Wednesday aimed at giving Customs and Border Protection agents additional screening devices and other tools to stop the flow of illicit drugs.

Speaking at a surprise bill-signing ceremony while flanked by members of Congress from both parties in the Oval Office, Trump described the bill as a “significant step forward” in the fight against powerful opioids such as fentanyl, which he called “our new big scourge.”

He echoed that language Thursday in a tweet:

The legislation will pay for new portable and fixed chemical screening devices to detect and intercept fentanyl at ports of entry and in the mail, along with other laboratory equipment and personnel, including scientists.

Trump has made fighting the opioid epidemic a centerpiece of his administration, though critics say he hasn’t dedicated nearly enough money or resources to make a difference.

Trump suggested during his remarks on Wednesday that he’d like to take a more aggressive approach to the drug crisis — but the country’s not ready for what he has in mind.

“So we’re going to sign this. And it’s a step. And it feels like a very giant step, but unfortunately, it’s not going to be a giant step, because no matter what you do, this is something that keeps pouring in,” he said.

“And we’re going to find the answer. There is an answer. I think I actually know the answer, but I’m not sure the country’s ready for it yet,” he added. “Does anybody know what I mean? I think so.”

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Trump applauds news that Toyota-Mazda plant is slated for Alabama

Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda on Wednesday announced plans to build a mammoth, $1.6-billion joint-venture plant in Alabama that will eventually employ about 4,000 people.

President Trump lauded the news in a tweet:

Several states had competed for the project, which will be able to turn out 300,000 vehicles per year and produce the Toyota Corolla compact car for North America and a new small SUV from Mazda. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and company executives held a news conference to announce that the facility is coming to the Huntsville area not far from the Tennessee line.

Production is expected to begin by 2021.

The decision to pick Alabama is another example of foreign-based automakers building U.S. factories in the South. To entice manufacturers, Southern states have used a combination of lucrative incentive packages, low-cost labor and a pro-business labor environment, because the United Auto Workers union is stronger in Northern states.

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Trump highlights call for border wall in tweets on visit with Norway’s prime minister

President Trump praised Norway’s prime minister in a tweet on Wednesday after Erna Solberg became the first foreign leader to visit with the president in 2018.

Trump also shared via Twitter a video clip of a joint news conference he held with Solberg on Wednesday afternoon.

In the clip, Trump responds to a question from a reporter by saying there can be no bipartisan immigration deal absent funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been seeking a solution for hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers, young people who were brought to the United States as children and are living here illegally.

“We need the wall for security, we need the wall for safety, we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in,” Trump said Wednesday. “… Any solution has to include the wall because without the wall, it all doesn’t work.”

On Tuesday, Trump drew widespread attention when he said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers that he would be “agreeable” to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill.

That contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers’ fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trump’s promised border wall and other immigration reforms.

Trump backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill in subsequent tweets and public comments.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Los Angeles Times staff writer Noah Bierman.

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Trump praises Cabinet in tweet touting meeting

President Trump promoted a meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday, sharing via Twitter a link to a video of the session posted on the White House YouTube account.

In his tweet, Trump thanked his Cabinet “for working tirelessly on behalf of our country” and wrote that the last year has been one “of monumental achievement.”

The former reality television star continued to dispense accolades at the meeting Wednesday, greeting reporters in the Cabinet Room by saying: “Welcome back to the studio.”

Then he proceeded to relive a Cabinet Room session from the prior day, when he had allowed reporters and TV cameras to stick around for much of his meeting with a bipartisan group of legislators on the thorny issue of immigration.

“It was a tremendous meeting. Actually, it was reported as incredibly good. And my performance — you know, some of them called it a performance — I consider it work,” Trump said.

Trump went on to say he had received letters from news anchors calling it “one of the greatest meetings they’ve ever witnessed.” He added that “the media will ultimately support Trump in the end, because they’re going to say, if Trump doesn’t win in three years, they’re all out of business.”

Asked for examples of letters received from news anchors, the White House said it had received “private communications.” It also offered a series of positive on-air comments and tweets from journalists about the unusual access to the meeting.

During his remarks, Trump swung from praising his own meeting coverage to telling journalists that they were dependent on his presidency for ratings to threatening a “strong look” at libel laws.

Still, Trump thanked the journalists in front of him, joking: “You’ve gotten very familiar with this room. I appreciate your nice comments yesterday.”

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Trump lashes out at Russia investigations and ‘Sneaky Dianne Feinstein’

President Trump lashed out at investigations by the Justice Department and Congress into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

In a tweet Wednesday morning, Trump urged Republicans to take control of the inquiries and repeated his contention that they are a “witch hunt.”

In a separate tweet, Trump accused Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) of being “underhanded and a disgrace” for disclosing details of a dossier of allegations about his ties to Russia during the presidential campaign.

A day earlier, Feinstein, who faces a primary challenge in her reelection this year, released the transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s closed-door August interview with an official from the political opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which commissioned the dossier. She released the transcript of Glenn Simpson’s interview over the objections of the committee’s Republican chairman, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

The material wasn’t classified, and Feinstein said Wednesday that she didn’t do anything illegal. And as the top Democrat on the committee, she didn’t need authorization from Grassley to release it. Her staff helped conduct the interview with Simpson, who had also asked for the interview to be released.

Still, the release was a blow to the two lawmakers’ earlier attempts at bipartisanship on the committee’s Russia investigation. Feinstein told reporters that she didn’t tell Grassley beforehand, and “I owe him an apology and I will give him an apology as soon as I see him.”

Trump has derided the dossier as a politically motivated hit job. Following his lead, several GOP-led committees are now investigating whether the dossier formed the basis for the FBI’s initial investigations. That has angered Democrats, who say those charges are distractions from the Russia investigations.

In a statement accompanying the release of the transcript, Feinstein said that she was trying to set the record straight after speculation about the interview.

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Trump blasts DACA ruling in tweet calling courts ‘broken and unfair’

President Trump denounced the federal courts Wednesday as “broken and unfair” after a district judge in San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction keeping protections in place for so-called Dreamers.

Trump tweeted:

On Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, which has protected from deportation some 700,000 people who came to the country illegally as children.

Alsup granted a request by the state of California, the University of California and other plaintiffs to stop Trump from ending DACA on March 5.

The administration’s decision to end DACA, which was announced in September, was based on a “flawed” legal analysis, Alsup wrote in his decision. Dreamers would be irreparably harmed if their DACA protections, which allow them to live and work legally in the U.S., were stripped away before the courts had a chance to fully consider their claims, he ruled.

The action is the mirror image of a ruling in 2015 by a federal judge in Texas who ruled in favor of that state when it sought to block President Obama from expanding DACA to include the parents of Dreamers. Trump administration officials praised that judicial ruling. By contrast, they sharply criticized Alsup’s decision.

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Trump thanks lawmakers for ‘productive’ immigration meeting, says deal must include border wall

President Trump thanked a bipartisan group of lawmakers for participating in a meeting on immigration legislation on Tuesday.

Much of the discussion involved so-called Dreamers, an estimated 700,000 young people who were brought to the country illegally as children and are now facing deportation.

In a tweet, Trump wrote that “there was strong agreement to negotiate” a bill to protect Dreamers, as well as put into place some of the reforms favored by Republicans.

The most notable exchange of the meeting came when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the San Francisco Democrat, asked Trump whether he would be “agreeable” to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill.

“Yeah, I would like to do it,” Trump responded.

The statement drew widespread attention because it contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers’ fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trump’s promised border wall and other immigration reforms.

Trump later backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill, tweeting that a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico must be part of any deal:

Pressure has been mounting for Congress to broker an immigration deal by Jan. 19 as part of a must-pass budget package to fund the government.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman.

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Trump thanks officers and veterans in tweets

President Trump doled out a slew of accolades Tuesday via Twitter.

He thanked the nation’s law enforcement officers, including in his message a hashtag denoting a day of appreciation organized by a national support group for law enforcement families.

Trump later expressed gratitude for federal immigration agents, in particular:

The president thanked veterans as he cited his administration’s efforts to curb the number of veteran suicides by improving mental health treatment for the high-risk group:

Trump’s tweet included photos of the president signing an executive order Tuesday directing the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to provide “seamless” access to mental health and suicide prevention resources for 12 months for members leaving the armed forces.

Also on Tuesday, Trump touted a law he signed the day before designating the birthplace of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a national historic park:

And he thanked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) for sharing a video compilation comprised of clips of politicians and commentators praising the GOP’s tax cut bill:

This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump hails tax bill in tweets recapping speech to farmers

Connecting with rural Americans, President Trump on Monday hailed his tax overhaul as a victory for family farmers.

“Farm country is God’s country,” Trump told the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Trump became the first president in a quarter-century to address the federation’s convention. His Southern swing also included a stop in Atlanta for the national college football championship game.

Joined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and a group of Tennessee lawmakers, Trump said most of the benefits of the tax legislation are “going to working families, small businesses, and who — the family farmer.”

The package Trump signed into law last month provides generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families.

The president vastly inflated the value of the package in his speech, citing “a total of $5.5 trillion in tax cuts, with most of those benefits going to working families, small businesses and who? The family farmer.”

The estimated value of the tax cuts is actually $1.5 trillion for families and businesses because of cuts in deductions and the use of other steps to generate offsetting tax revenue.

From Nashville, Trump traveled to Atlanta to watch Alabama’s Crimson Tide and Georgia’s Bulldogs face off Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Before departing for the game, Trump referenced his ongoing defense of the American flag and the national anthem, saying there was enough space for people to express their views. “We love our flag and we love our anthem, and we want to keep it that way,” he said.

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Trump tweet hails drop in unemployment rate for African Americans

President Trump touted a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans on Monday in a tweet.

The rate fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972.

The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from.

Trump also hailed the development via Twitter on Saturday.

His latest tweet on the topic came about an hour after it was discussed during an episode of “Fox & Friends,” according to Mediaite.

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Trump talks up the economy and dresses down the media in Sunday tweets

With President Trump cheering from the sidelines, the White House on Sunday pressed its defense of the president’s fitness to govern, as fired former aide Stephen K. Bannon reversed course and apologized for his role in a new book’s explosive portrait of Trump.

The president’s critics, meanwhile, said Trump’s stream of taunts and insults in response to the book — “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” released last week — served only to underscore the author’s unsettling portrayal of Trump’s year-old presidency, depicting a leader whose own aides consider him childish, ignorant and dangerously erratic.

Trump provided more ammunition Sunday morning, as he continued to attack the book via Twitter while preparing to depart Camp David for the White House:

The most vehement defense of Trump on Sunday came from senior advisor Stephen Miller, a onetime Bannon acolyte who distanced himself from his former mentor. In a combative appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Miller called the book “grotesque” and writer Michael Wolff “the garbage author of a garbage book.”

Trump is known to closely monitor aides’ televised performances in putting forth his case, and he gleefully weighed in within moments of Miller’s televised clash with host Jake Tapper. CNN has long been a particular target of Trump’s ire.

Trump’s reaction, however, seemed to bolster Tapper’s on-air depiction of Miller as using his appearance on the show to play to the president rather than addressing questions put to him. “I get it — there’s one viewer that you care about,” the host said exasperatedly after Miller turned the discussion repeatedly to negative news coverage of the president while deflecting specific queries.

Later on Twitter, Trump took up two themes that have been prevalent on his social media feeds recently.

The president again went after the news media, tweeting that the recipients of his self-proclaimed “most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year,” which he promised earlier in the week to announce on Monday, would actually be revealed the following Wednesday:

Trump later lauded a New York Post opinion piece that compared him favorably with his predecessor, President Obama, as well as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In quoting the op-ed, Trump initally misspelled “consequential” as “consensual,” but he deleted those tweets and re-sent the messages.

Trump also continued talking up the economy, which has been enjoying a period of strong gains.

In addition to Miller, other senior administration officials made the rounds of Sunday news talk shows to decry the claims made in Wolff’s book. CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Wolff’s characterization of Trump as averse to digesting classified briefing material was “ludicrous,” and the ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, insisted that that those around Trump “love their country and respect their president.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King.

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Responding to book that mocks his intelligence, Trump tweets he’s ‘like, really smart’

President Trump declared himself a “very stable genius” on Twitter on Saturday and later in a televised news conference called the author of a book that questioned his mental fitness a “fraud.”

His comments came on a bone-cold day at Camp David during a weekend retreat with top administration officials and Republican congressional leaders strategizing on the year’s legislative agenda, including matters such as infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and national security.

Still, Trump’s explosive rebuttal to author Michael Wolff’s claims not only opened the day, but it also ensured the president’s capability to fill the highest office in the land was a topic that would not go away.

In his early-morning tweets, Trump said two of his greatest assets “have been mental stability, and being, like, really smart.”

He noted that his former Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, “played these cards [about competence] very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try).”

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In morning tweets, Trump touts job numbers and takes digs at news media

President Trump used Twitter on Saturday morning to tout a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans.

He also used the tweets as an opportunity to take digs at media outlets whose past coverage he has found to be critical.

The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from.

Still, the rate for black workers remains well above those for whites and some other groups, something experts attribute in large part to decades of discrimination and disadvantages.

Robust job creation has lowered unemployment for all Americans. U.S. employers added nearly 2.1 million jobs in 2017 — the seventh straight year that hiring has topped 2 million.

In his tweet, Trump praised a report that noted the numbers, touting the fact that it appeared “in the Washington Post (of all places)”.

Minutes later, Trump renewed his attack on an ABC News reporter who was suspended last month after filing an erroneous report on Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor.

The reporter, Brian Ross, was reportedly reassigned within ABC News upon returning from his unpaid suspension. But on Saturday, Trump wrote that he should have been fired.

Trump’s tweets came hours before he was set to host congressional Republicans and administration officials at Camp David.

The meeting scheduled to begin at midmorning Saturday was expected to touch on the budget, infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and the shape of the midterm election this fall.

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Trump commends Sen. Rand Paul after he proposes eliminating all U.S. aid to Pakistan

President Trump commended Sen. Rand Paul after the Kentucky Republican announced plans to introduce legislation that would eliminate all U.S. aid to Pakistan.

Trump tweeted Friday night:

On Thursday, the Trump administration announced it was suspending security assistance to Islamabad until the country moves aggressively against local militants who have attacked U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration at the apparent inability of Pakistani authorities to rein in militants who cross out of the country’s rugged tribal areas to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson.

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Trump continues to lash out at ‘Sloppy Steve Bannon’ in tweets on tell-all book

President Trump is praising a major Republican donor family for distancing themselves from his former advisor Steve Bannon.

Trump tweeted Friday:

Trump has continued to lash out at Bannon over an explosive new book that quoted his former aide as questioning Trump’s competence and describing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower among Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”

On Thursday, billionaire GOP donor Rebekah Mercer issued a statement distancing her family from Bannon. Mercer is a co-owner of Breitbart, the populist website Bannon helps run.

“I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected,” Mercer said. “My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements.”

The book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” quickly shot atop Amazon’s best-seller list, and the publisher moved up its release date by four days, to Friday.

Trump took up the topic again on Twitter on Friday night, denouncing both Bannon and the book’s author, Michael Wolff, in starkly personal terms:

Trump’s message linked to a meme depicting a parody book cover titled, “Liar and Phony,” that featured a photo of Wolff and disparaging quotes about the author.

In a tweet sent earlier Friday morning, Trump suggested the book was intended to serve as a distraction from the FBI’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which Trump wrote “is proving to be a total hoax.”

That came amid reports that Trump directed his White House counsel to tell Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Department’s Russia investigation.

Trump’s effort to keep Sessions, a vocal and loyal supporter of his election bid, in charge of an investigation into his campaign offers special counsel Robert Mueller yet another avenue to explore as his prosecutors work to untangle potential evidence of obstruction.

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Trump praises the economy ahead of meetings at Camp David

President Trump is praising the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of meetings at Camp David with congressional Republicans.

Trump tweeted early Friday:

The president also told reporters on the South Lawn that the “tax cuts are really kicking in” after Congress passed a package of tax cuts at the end of 2017.

And the president praised the December jobs report, which found U.S. employers added 148,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%, the lowest level since 2000.

The modest but steady pace of hiring is a reassuring sign for investors who have been buoyed by the just-passed Republican tax plan and have been sending stock market indexes roaring to uncharted heights.

The president is meeting with Republican congressional leaders and members of his Cabinet on Friday and Saturday to discuss the 2018 agenda.

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Trump tweets as Dow ‘crashes through 25,000’

President Trump dispatched a congratulatory tweet as the Dow Jones industrial average rose above the 25,000-point mark Thursday, just five weeks after its first close above 24,000.

After the Dow closed above 25,000, Trump shared a graphic depicting the stock index’s record-setting rise.

Later in the day, the president was back on Twitter, complaining that news outlets had “barely” covered the stock market milestone.

He suggested that the strength of the economy would be the “biggest story on earth,” had it unfolded during the presidency of his predecessor.

The Dow broke past 1,000-point barriers in 2017 on its way to a 25% gain for the year, as an eight-year rally since the Great Recession continued to confound skeptics.

Strong global economic growth and good prospects for higher company earnings have analysts predicting more gains, although the market may not stay as calm as it has been recently.

The Dow has made a rapid trip since it reached 24,000 points Nov. 30, partly on enthusiasm over passage of the Republican-backed tax package, which could boost company profits this year with across-the-board cuts to corporate taxes.

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Trump reacts to ‘Fire and Fury’ book in tweet lashing out at author and ‘Sloppy Steve’

President Trump lashed out at the author of a soon-to-be-released book about the chaotic first year of his presidency Thursday night.

In a tweet, Trump called “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” a “phony book” and claimed that he’d never spoken to its author, Michael Wolff.

“Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!” Trump wrote. He appeared to be referring to former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, whose stunning criticisms of Trump and his circle figure prominently in the title.

Trump’s tweet came hours after he had his lawyer demand that Henry Holt & Co. and Wolff stop publication the book.

Instead, the publisher expedited the book’s release to Friday, four days before it was slated to hit bookstore shelves, in response to “unprecedented demand.” Published excerpts on Wednesday and Thursday whetted that appetite and roiled Washington.

Bannon’s comments, including that it was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort to have met in 2016 with Russians said to have “dirt” on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, prompted Trump on Wednesday to rebuke his former advisor, saying Bannon had “lost his mind.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump thanks senators who attended meeting on immigration

President Trump tweeted thanks to Republican senators who attended a meeting about possible immigration legislation on Thursday.

In his message, Trump also listed his top priorities when it comes to any type of overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.

Trump’s tweet echoed his remarks at the beginning of Thursday’s meeting, when he insisted again that constructing a border wall and overhauling two legal immigration programs must be part of any deal with Democrats to protect the so-called Dreamers from deportation.

Two-year deportation protections and work permits given under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begin to expire March 6 under an executive order. Trump announced in September that he was ending the Obama-era program, but told Congress to draft a law to continue protections for people brought to the country illegally as children — a group that has widespread public support.

Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett.

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Trump resumes Twitter war against kneeling NFL players

President Trump has resumed his Twitter war against NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustice and racial inequality.

In a tweet early Thursday, Trump replied to a supporter who shared a meme that appears to depict family members lying on the grave of a fallen soldier with the caption: “This is why we stand.”

“Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel!” Trump wrote.

The president has denounced players who kneel during the anthem in previous tweets. He’s also called for the firing of players who do so.

His latest message came amid news that the NFL finished the regular season with TV ratings that fell nearly 10% below the previous season.

Analysts attribute the drop to controversies facing the league, as well as changing viewing habits and a possible saturation point in the number of games available.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump credits himself with facilitating talks between North and South Korea

President Trump says his tough stance on nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula is helping push North Korea and South Korea to talk.

Trump tweeted early Thursday:

That assertion is in conflict with some of the president’s own statements. Last year, he ridiculed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talking about negotiations with the North.

This week, Trump seemed open to the possibility of an inter-Korean dialogue after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare overture toward South Korea in a New Year’s Day address. But Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations insisted that talks won’t be meaningful unless the North is getting rid of its nuclear weapons.

The overture about talks came after Trump and Kim traded more bellicose claims about their nuclear weapons.

In his New Year’s Day address, Kim repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Kim said he has a “nuclear button” on his office desk and warned that “the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike.”

Trump mocked that assertion Tuesday evening in a tweet.

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After disbanding his vote fraud panel, Trump still says voting system is ‘rigged’

One day after disbanding his troubled voter fraud commission without any findings of fraud, President Trump continued to call the U.S. voting system “rigged” and said states should require that Americans have voter-identification cards.

In two tweets on Thursday morning, Trump blamed the commission’s failure on the lack of cooperation from “mostly Democrat States” that refused to hand over voter rolls “because they know that many people are voting illegally.” However, voting supervisors in Republican-led states refused as well, objecting on privacy and other grounds.

Despite Trump’s assertions, analysts have not found evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May after alleging, without proof, that millions of illegal votes were cast for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump was elected after winning a majority in the electoral college, but the nationwide count showed Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes.

The commission sought personal data on voters across the country and faced mounting lawsuits in recent months over privacy concerns.

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Trump touts ‘another good day for stocks,’ credits tax cut

President Trump touted “another good day” for the stock market Wednesday in a tweet.

Big gains for technology and healthcare stocks helped U.S. indexes set records again Wednesday. Some analysts attributed the surge to investor enthusiasm for Trump’s $1.5-trillion tax cut.

All told, Wall Street analysts estimate the tax package should boost earnings for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index by roughly 8% this year. That’s much more generous than the average tax cut of 1.6% that middle-class families will receive, according to the Tax Policy Center.

The public has been less enthusiastic about the tax law. A Monmouth University poll last month found that nearly half of Americans disapproved of it, with only 26% in support.

Still, as Trump also noted on Twitter, some workers have seen a benefit: So far, dozens of companies have announced bonuses and higher minimum wages as a result of the tax cut. AT&T, Comcast, Bank of America, and American Airlines have all pledged to pay $1,000 bonuses to their employees.

Investors also appear less concerned than many politicians about how the additional profits will be used. The Trump administration says it expects companies will plow much of the extra profit back into their businesses, purchasing more software, machinery, and other equipment. Those investments will make workers more productive and provide a key boost to the economy’s long-run growth. They should also boost wages and salaries for employees.

Opponents of the tax law respond that companies are more likely to pass the windfall on to shareholders in the form of higher dividend payments and share buybacks, which raise the price of those shares still in investors’ hands. Previous cuts in corporate tax rates, in the United States and overseas, haven’t always led to higher wages.

For Wall Street, it’s all good, at least in the short run. Most analysts take the view that either way, companies and the economy will benefit.

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Trump reacts to death of Mormon Church president

President Trump mourned the death of Mormon Church leader Thomas S. Monson on Wednesday evening.

Trump tweeted a link to a statement in which he said that Monson “demonstrated wisdom, inspired leadership, and great compassion” and delivered a message of “optimism, forgiveness, and faith.”

A church bishop at the age of 22, Monson became the youngest church apostle ever in 1963 at the age of 36. He served as a counselor for three church presidents before assuming the role of the top leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 2008.

After a life of church service, Monson died Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City, according to church spokesman Eric Hawkins. He was 90.

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Trump tweets that Iranian protesters will see ‘great’ U.S. support ‘at the appropriate time’

President Trump continued to express support for Iran’s anti-government protesters on Wednesday.

In a tweet, Trump commended the protesters and pledged that the United States will support them “at the appropriate time.”

Trump’s tweet Wednesday morning came as Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo sent a letter to United Nations officials complaining that Washington was intervening “in a grotesque way in Iran’s internal affairs.”

“The President and Vice-President of the United States, in their numerous absurd tweets, incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts,” the ambassador wrote to the U.N. Security Council president and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The U.S. didn’t immediately respond to the letter, which maintains that Washington “has crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilized conduct of international relations.”

At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds arrested in Iran during a week of anti-government protests and unrest over economic woes and official corruption. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took part in counter-demonstrations Wednesday backing the clerically overseen government, which has said “enemies of Iran” are fomenting the protests.

Trump has unleashed a series of tweets in recent days backing the protesters, saying Iran is “failing at every level” and declaring that it is “time for change” in the Islamic Republic.

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Trump congratulates Sen. Orrin Hatch upon news of his retirement

President Trump congratulated Sen. Orrin Hatch for “an absolutely incredible career” upon news of Hatch’s impending retirement.

In a tweet Tuesday afternoon, Trump called Hatch “a tremendous supporter” and wrote that “he will be greatly missed” in the Senate.

Hatch’s decision to retire from the Senate after four decades lets the Utah Republican walk away at the height of his power after helping to push through an overhaul of the tax code and persuading Trump to downsize two national monuments.

Retirement also preserves the 83-year-old’s legacy by allowing him to avoid a bruising reelection battle that would have broken his promise not to seek an eighth term.

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Trump tweet exaggerates progress in improving veterans’ care

President Trump played up “tremendous progress” in improving care for veterans in his first year on Tuesday in a tweet.

His message linked to an Instagram video describing eight accomplishments that show Trump is “fighting for our veterans.” But it overstates the impact of these steps.

Of the eight achievements cited, two are ceremonial proclamations recognizing National Veterans and Military Families Month and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Two are pieces of legislation that extended the troubled Veterans Choice program on a temporary basis. This became necessary because the Trump administration repeatedly miscalculated the amount of taxpayer dollars available to pay for care from private doctors outside the Veterans Affairs system when veterans had to endure long waits for treatment at VA medical centers. The department’s poor budget planning caught lawmakers off guard.

A fifth claim involves “telehealth,” a step letting doctors practice medicine across state lines using digital technology. Announced in August, it has yet to take full effect because a proposed VA regulation hasn’t been completed. The VA wants authority to practice across state lines to come from legislation, not a regulation. On Wednesday, the Senate approved a telehealth measure that now goes to the House.

A sixth claim refers to legislation that streamlines the appeals process for disability compensation claims within the VA. This step has had limited effect so far because it applies to new disability claims, not the 470,000 pending claims.

The last two initiatives make it easier for the VA to discipline employees. The department has pointed to more than 1,300 employees who have been fired under Trump’s watch. Because their infractions are not detailed in public documents, the effect on veterans’ care is not fully known.

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Trump unleashes his first tweetstorm of 2018

President Trump clearly didn’t resolve to change his Twitter habits this year.

With nine disparate tweets over three hours on Tuesday morning, the first working day of 2018, Trump continued to exploit social media to be the most aggressive commentator in chief in American history. For any other president, his posts would have made for a monumental day of (mis-)statements. Yet for Trump, the series — attacks on political foes and media, provocations of foreign leaders and self-praise for events he had nothing to do with — was all but unremarkable.

His Twitter barrage — sent between 7:09 a.m. and 10:16 a.m. — reflected a familiar gamut after nearly a year in office:

Attacks on political foes: Nearly 14 months after his election, Trump called for the jailing of Huma Abedin, “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid” (his misspelling, another occasional feature of Trump tweets).

In the same tweet, he disparaged the “Deep State Justice Dept,” headed of course by his appointees, calling on it to “act” against James B. Comey, the FBI director he fired for investigating “the Russia thing.”

Diplomatic provocations: Trump again called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Rocket man,” ridiculed the volatile nuclear-armed foe for recent military defections and openly speculated about potential talks between North and South Korea.

“Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not — we will see!” Trump wrote.

Later Tuesday, Trump tweeted:

Also later Tuesday, Trump tweeted an attack on Pakistan, his second in as many days, and added a new one against Palestinians:

Undermining media: Trump offered “Congratulations!” to A.G. Sulzberger, who took over as publisher of the New York Times this week.

But the two-part post was really yet another slam against a perceived media foe: Trump said the paper had a “last chance” to fulfill its journalistic mission, and accused it of relying on phony sources and substandard reporters — just days after he granted another exclusive interview to the paper. As a bonus, the tweet contained a recycled falsehood, that the paper apologized after the election for reporting on him unfairly. It didn’t.

Trump later said on Twitter that he would soon announce the “most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year…. Stay tuned!”

The president also tweeted a quote from Fox Business Network’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” which aired a segment praising Trump’s first-year accomplishments.

Dobbs reportedly joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday for a gala to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Taking credit: Trump congratulated himself for policing the border with Mexico, an area where his policies and anti-immigration rhetoric are believed to have had some effect on reducing illegal crossings.

He took credit for employee bonuses by companies after he signed Republican tax cuts into law last month.

But the jaw-dropper was Trump congratulating himself for planes not crashing.

It was the safest year on record worldwide, but the American streak without commercial jet passenger deaths goes back to 2009. Trump, who has promoted deregulation as one of his top accomplishments, has not signed off on any new airline safety regulations. The White House pointed to new security screening of passengers, to electronic devices to prevent terrorist attacks and to Trump’s support for privatizing air traffic control — a proposal that has gotten nowhere in Congress.

Falsehoods: Trump said President Obama, in brokering the 2015 nuclear arms limitation deal with Iran, “foolishly” gave money to the “brutal and corrupt Iranian regime.” He didn’t.

The nuclear deal, which included major U.S. allies as signators, released Iran’s own funds that had long been frozen.

Trump’s art of the deal: When Trump sees a big deal looming, he often blasts the other side — to gain leverage, as he’s written. This week he resumes a showdown with Democratic lawmakers over funding the government and immigration protections for so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the country illegally as children.

Trump, who in September ordered a gradual end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, sought to shift blame for the resulting controversy, saying “Democrats are doing nothing for DACA” and are “just interested in politics.”

Trump has insisted that any help for Dreamers be paired with funding for a border wall and a crackdown on legal immigration. Democrats, and some Republicans, are opposed.

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Trump tweets that Iran ‘is failing at every level’

President Trump says Iran is “failing at every level,” and he is voicing his support for the protesters there, saying it is “TIME FOR CHANGE.”

Trump tweeted Monday:

The protests began Thursday in Mashhad over economic issues and have since expanded to several cities. Hundreds of people have been arrested.

While some have shared Trump’s tweets, many in Iran distrust him, as he’s refused to re-certify the nuclear deal and because his travel bans have blocked Iranians from getting U.S. visas.

Trump sent the tweet about Iran — and a second taking aim at Pakistan — from Palm Beach, Fla., where he is spending the holidays.

The president is kicking off the new year at one of his golf clubs, where he is hosting two professional golfers: Fred Funk and his son Taylor Funk.

Trump plans to return to Washington later Monday.

The president faces a hefty legislative to-do list upon his return, with the new year, plus critical midterm elections and perilous threats abroad.

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In tweet, Trump suggests U.S. will withdraw financial assistance to Pakistan

Pakistan lashed out Monday after President Trump accused its leaders of “lies & deceit” and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism.

It was the president’s latest broadside against Pakistan after a speech in August in which he demanded its leaders crack down on the safe havens enjoyed by Taliban militants fighting U.S.-backed forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

U.S. Ambassador David Hale was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the president’s statement, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said. Pakistan lodged a strongly worded protest and asked for clarification about Trump’s comments, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss Trump’s New Year’s Day tweet.

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Trump tweets New Year’s Eve message to ‘supporters, enemies, haters’ and even the ‘Fake News Media’

President Trump capped 2017 on Sunday with a New Year’s Eve message addressed to his “friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media.”

In a tweet, Trump extended wishes for a happy and healthy holiday, writing: “2018 will be a great year for America!”

Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted a video self-tribute touching on what he sees as the high points of his achievements and rhetoric from his first year in office. He gave a plug to American exceptionalism, too.

In the video running 3½ minutes, scenes of Trump with military personnel, Border Patrol agents and other world leaders are set to a stirring soundtrack as he declares of his country: “We gave birth to the modern world, and we will shape tomorrow’s world with the strength and skill of American hands.”

Trump cited his success in placing a new justice on the Supreme Court, his efforts to cut regulations and his big win on overhauling taxes, which he falsely described as the “largest tax cut in the history of our country.”

The president sounded a similar note earlier in the morning on Twitter. He suggested that he deserves credit for the stock market’s record-setting run, writing that had Democrat Hillary Clinton been elected president, “stocks would be down 50%”:

Trump also appeared preoccupied by next year’s midterm elections. Some analysts are predicting that his widespread unpopularity will drive big Democratic gains, threatening the Republican majority in Congress.

Trump warned voters against choosing Democrats to fill congressional seats, tweeting that “their policies will totally kill the great wealth created” since he’s taken office.

The president is spending the holidays in Palm Beach, Fla., where his Mar-a-Lago club hosts an annual New Year’s Eve bash. At the event last year, hundreds of guests gathered in the club’s grand ballroom, including action star Sylvester Stallone and romance novel model Fabio.

Tickets for this year’s event cost $600 for club members and $750 for guests, according to Politico, up from last year’s prices of $525 and $575, respectively.

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Trump continues to tweet in support of Iranian protesters

President Trump expressed renewed support Sunday for protesters in Iran, declaring that “people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism.”

In a tweet from his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, the president said the nationwide economic protests that began on Thursday — and have taken on wider political overtones as they have grown in size — were a signal that Iranians “will not take it any longer.”

Trump has tweeted about the protests for three days straight as Iranians took to the streets despite a heavy police presence, tear gas and scores of arrests. The defiance gained urgency after two people were reported shot to death in the city of Dorud, about 200 miles southwest of Tehran.

As the conflict escalated, Iranian authorities on Sunday slapped a temporary ban on Instagram and the messaging app Telegram, which were widely used to fan protest fervor.

Iran’s leaders already are casting Trump’s increasingly effusive expressions of support for the demonstrators as opportunistic meddling and are painting the demonstrators as foreign pawns, adopting a strategy that some analysts say could jeopardize the legitimacy of the nascent antigovernment protests.

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Trump tweets condolences after Colorado deputies are shot in ambush, one fatally

A man fired more than 100 rounds at sheriff’s deputies in Colorado early Sunday, killing one and injuring four others, before being fatally shot himself in what authorities called an ambush. Two civilians were also injured.

President Trump expressed sorrow, writing on Twitter:

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said deputies came under fire almost immediately after entering a suburban Denver apartment and trying to talk with the suspect, who was holed up inside a bedroom.

“I do know that all of them were shot very, very quickly. They all went down almost within seconds of each other, so it was more of an ambush-type of attack on our officers,” Spurlock said. “He knew we were coming and we obviously let him know that we were there.”

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Trump defends social media use in tweet

President Trump defended his use of Twitter on Saturday in a tweet.

Trump tweeted that he uses social media “because it is the only way to fight a VERY dishonest and unfair ‘press.’ ”

“Many stories & reports a pure fiction!” he wrote.

Trump often refers to news coverage that is critical, or with which he disagrees, as “fake news.”

His latest tweet on the topic came a little more than an hour after he quoted from a Wall Street Journal report to make his case for the GOP tax overhaul:

Trump continued to boast about the economy later in the afternoon and evening:

The president has sought to turn attention toward his achievements as 2017 comes to a close.

Near the top of the list is the stock market, which just finished its strongest year since 2013. Some analysts have credited Trump’s economic policies, including deregulation and the promise of corporate tax cuts, with stoking investor optimism.

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Trump ups show of support for protesters in Iran

President Trump again offered support Saturday for anti-government protesters in Iran, where a third day of demonstrations, the largest in years, spilled across the country amid fears of a crackdown.

“Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump took a break from playing golf near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to tweet clips from his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September when he called for Iranian democratic reforms.

Iranian authorities warned of potential violence as the street demonstrations, which began over economic conditions, swelled into frustrations with the theocratic rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump has maintained a hawkish stance toward Iran, sharply criticizing the landmark nuclear disarmament accord that Tehran reached with then-President Obama and five other nations in 2015.

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Trump tweets support for Iran protests

Iranians protesting the country’s strained economy gathered in Tehran and another major city Friday for the second day of spontaneous, unsanctioned demonstrations placing pressure on President Hassan Rouhani’s government.

President Trump expressed support for the protesters Friday night in a tweet calling on the Iranian government to “respect their people’s rights”:

The semi-official Fars news agency reported that officials said around 300 protesters gathered Friday in the western city of Kermanshah, the scene of a devastating earthquake in November that killed more than 600 residents. In Tehran, fewer than 50 people protested at a public square.

Such mass protests without police permission are unusual in Iran, and those taking part face arrest.

Fars reported that protesters in Kermanshah chanted anti-government slogans such as “never mind Palestine, think about us,” “death or freedom” and “political prisoners should be freed.” They damaged some public property before police dispersed them.

Police also arrested a small number of demonstrators in Tehran protesting price hikes and the president’s economic policy.

The U.S. State Department condemned the arrests earlier Friday.

“Iran’s leaders have turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. “As President Trump has said, the longest-suffering victims of Iran’s leaders are Iran’s own people.”

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Trump tweets that his approval rating is the same as Obama’s. It’s not

President Trump claimed in a tweet Friday morning that he is “approximately” as popular as his predecessor. Most polls indicate that is not accurate.

Citing a “Fox & Friends” report, Trump boasted that his job approval rating on Dec. 28 was about the same as that enjoyed by former President Obama on Dec. 28, 2009.

Trump was referring to the Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll, which on Thursday put his approval rating at 46%. The poll had shown Obama’s approval rating to be 47% on the same date in 2009.

But Rasmussen surveys tend to show more favorable results for conservative candidates. The tracking poll has consistently shown Trump’s approval rating to be higher than most other polls, and during Obama’s presidency, it consistently showed his approval rating to be lower.

According to data from all the major national polls aggregated by Real Clear Politics, Trump’s approval rating averaged 39.3%, as of Thursday. Obama’s approval average was 49.9% on the same date in 2009.

Trump fired off a nearly identical tweet in mid-June, when Rasmussen Reports put his approval rating at 50%. At that time, his approval average, per Real Clear Politics, was a full 10 points lower.

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Trump: No protection for ‘Dreamers’ without wall

President Trump says there won’t be protection for young immigrants brought into the country illegally unless he gets funding for a border wall and other items.

Trump tweeted Friday:

The battle over immigration has been delayed until next year. Democrats want protections for the young immigrants, who are referred to as “Dreamers.” But GOP demands for Trump’s border wall and for an increase in immigration agents have proved difficult to resolve.

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Trump tweets call for postage rate increase as Amazon gets ‘richer’

President Trump took aim at the United States Postal Service on Friday, admonishing the agency for its financial losses and for failing to charge more.

“Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!” the president wrote on Twitter:

Amazon stock fell 6.1% in the hours following the tweet. A representative of the postal service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is unclear why the president chose Friday to lash out at the postal service. The agency, which is completely self-funded through the sale of postal products and services, last reported its earnings on Nov. 17. During its 2017 fiscal year, spanning Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, the USPS recorded $69.6 billion in revenue, a decrease of $1.8 billion from the previous year. The postal service reported a net loss of $2.7 billion, a decrease in net loss of $2.8 billion compared with 2016.

In 2017, mail volumes also declined by approximately 5 billion pieces, or 3.6%, while package volumes grew by 589 million pieces, or 11.4%. This increase could be attributed to Amazon orders — the e-commerce giant announced this week that holiday shoppers broke spending records on its platform.

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Trump mocks ‘Global Warming’ in tweet responding to East Coast cold snap

President Trump says the East Coast “could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming” as bitter cold temperatures are expected to freeze large swaths of the country this holiday weekend.

In a Thursday-evening tweet, Trump wrote:

The president has repeatedly expressed skepticism about climate change science, calling global warming a “hoax” created by the Chinese to damage American industry.

He announced this year his intention to pull out of the landmark Paris climate agreement aimed at curbing greenhouse gas production.

Meanwhile, the United Nations’ climate and weather agency says 2017 is on track to be the hottest year on record, aside from those affected by the El Nino phenomenon.

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Trump tweets 46% approval rating

President Trump promoted via Twitter a poll that put his job approval rating at 46% on Thursday:

The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll, which has been consistently more favorable to the president than most other major surveys, also shows that 53% of likely U.S. voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance.

Even that is somewhat of an outlier, with several other recent polls showing the proportion of Americans who disapprove of Trump’s performance to be pushing 60%.

Real Clear Politics’ average of national polls put Trump’s job approval rating at 39.3%, as of Thursday, and his disapproval rating at 56.2%.

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In tweet, Trump accuses China of allowing oil to reach North Korea

President Trump isn’t taking a holiday vacation from Twitter. In one of three tweets early Thursday from his West Palm Beach golf club, he charged that China was “caught RED HANDED” allowing oil shipments to reach North Korean ports.

Pronouncing himself “very disappointed,” Trump in effect was acknowledging the failure of his months-long effort to convince China to clamp down further on energy shipments going to the isolated country, which relies heavily on Beijing, as a way to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Also Thursday, Trump sought to remind the world that he’s long warned about the dangers posed by North Korea’s nukes by tweeting a compilation video that included edited footage of an interview he did with NBC’s “Meet the Press” nearly two decades ago.

In the interview, Trump said he’d be willing to launch a preemptive strike against North Korea if negotiating “like crazy” didn’t work. And he described the country as “sort of wacko.”

The compilation video juxtaposed Trump’s interview with a 1994 clip of then-President Clinton announcing a deal to stop North Korea’s nuclear program.

Trump’s tweets came after a South Korean newspaper published what it said were U.S. spy satellite images of Chinese ships selling oil to North Korean ships.

The United Nations Security Council, which includes China, has voted repeatedly to restrict fuel shipments to North Korea. Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in November to cut off North Korea’s oil supply entirely, the American ambassador to the U.N., Nikki R. Haley, said at the time.

It is unclear if Trump’s admonishment of China was based on news reports or classified information he received from U.S. intelligence officials. There was no daily intelligence briefing on Trump’s public schedule Thursday.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett and the Associated Press.

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Trump boasts about economy in tweet touting retail sales figures

President Trump touted a report that says shoppers set a new record for holiday spending this year.

In a tweet Thursday morning, Trump boasted that the economy is “going better than anyone ever dreamt” and told supporters: “you haven’t seen anything yet!”

Retail sales were up 4.9% this holiday season, the largest year-over-year gain since 2011, according to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse Report, which tracked sales activity across all payment types from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24.

The report said the increase represents a “new record for dollars spent” but did not give a dollar amount. Another research firm, Customer Growth Partners, said that from the start of the holiday season to Christmas Eve, shoppers spent $598 billion, up from $565 billion for the same period last year.

Trump’s tweet in the final days of 2017 comes as the major stock indexes are closing in on double-digit gains for the year, led by Apple, Facebook and other technology stocks.

Several factors have kept the market on an upward grind. The global economy rebounded, while the U.S. economy and job market continued to strengthen, which helped drive strong corporate earnings growth.

Investors also drew encouragement from the Trump administration’s and Republican-led Congress’ push to slash corporate taxes, roll back regulations and enact other pro-business policies. Congress passed the $1.5-trillion tax overhaul bill, which reduces the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, last week.

With the tax cuts, U.S. economic growth may get an extra short-term boost. But analysts warn that extra fiscal stimulus, coming at a time when the economy already is perking, could quickly lead to overheating.

Read More This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writers Tracey Lien, David Pierson and Don Lee.

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Trump lashes out at Vanity Fair over Clinton video

President Trump is lashing out at Vanity Fair after the magazine said an online video mocking Hillary Clinton “missed the mark.”

Trump tweeted Thursday that the magazine was “bending over backwards in apologizing for the minor hit.”

The video posted over the weekend shows editors of Vanity Fair’s Hive website offering toasts and New Year’s resolutions for Clinton, including that she vow to take up knitting, volunteer work or any hobby that would keep her from running again for president.

The backlash was swift. Among those to respond was actress Patricia Arquette, who tweeted her own proposal:

In a statement Wednesday, the magazine said the video was an attempt at humor that regrettably “missed the mark.”

Trump added that Anna Wintour “is beside herself in grief & begging for forgiveness!”

Wintour is the editor in chief of Vogue, not Vanity Fair. She is also the artistic director of parent company Conde Nast, which publishes both titles.

As Trump mentioned in his tweet, Wintour was a staunch supporter of Clinton’s failed presidential bid last year. She also raised tens of thousands of dollars for the 2012 reelection campaign of former President Obama, who was at one point rumored to be considering Wintour for the post of U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom — correctly known as ambassador to the Court of St. James’s.

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Trump touts reports on gains against Islamic State and MS-13

President Trump touted a pair of reports on gains made by his administration against Islamic State and Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.

Trump quoted from a Washington Examiner report on the amount of territory lost by Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria since he took office, which the conservative outlet compared favorably with the amount of territory lost under President Obama:

Trump also shared via Twitter a Daily Signal report on his Dec. 15 remarks at the FBI Academy graduation ceremony, where he said that there has been an 83% increase in arrests of MS-13 members during his presidency:

As 2017 winds down, Trump has increasingly sought to highlight his accomplishments during his first year in office.

Those include a series of victories in the U.S. military campaign against Islamic State, as well as a crackdown on illegal immigration, which Trump has blamed for fostering the growth of MS-13. The president has repeatedly cited the primarily Salvadoran gang, which started in Los Angeles in the 1980s, as an example of the dangers of lax immigration enforcement.

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Trump praises rescue workers after visit to West Palm Beach firehouse

After another morning at his Florida golf club, President Trump visited firefighters and paramedics at a West Palm Beach firehouse on Wednesday. He later praised the rescue workers in a tweet:

During the visit, Trump also praised his own performance as president, including with a false boast.

Trump touted his administration’s work to roll back government regulations and cut taxes and claimed credit for the stock market hitting record highs. He also said he’s signed more bills into law than any other president, which isn’t true.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett.

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Trump predicts ‘great year’ for business in tweets

President Trump says tax cuts he signed into law last week will make 2018 a “great year” for companies and jobs.

In a tweet on Tuesday, he predicted that the stock market would have another successful year, too:

Trump notched a major legislative achievement last Friday when he signed a bill enacting big tax cuts for corporations and wealthy Americans and more modest reductions for other families.

The stock market also has soared since Trump took office.

When it comes to the policy missteps of Trump’s first year, the failure of the GOP push to repeal and replace the 2010 healthcare law commonly known as Obamacare is near the top of the list.

But in a tweet sent earlier Tuesday, Trump predicted that Democrats and Republicans would “eventually come together” on a new healthcare plan:

Trump based his assessment on a provision in the tax bill to end the penalty on Americans who don’t get health insurance, which the president has sought to market as a repeal of Obamacare.

Still, much of the healthcare law remains intact, and the sign-up period for the various options was carried out as normal this year.

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Trump lashes out at FBI in tweet inspired by ‘Fox & Friends’

President Trump used the airing of a “Fox & Friends” report on a dossier of salacious allegations about his ties to Russia as an opportunity to attack the credibility of the FBI.

Trump tweeted Tuesday:

The 35-page dossier compiled by a former British spy was funded first by anti-Trump Republicans and subsequently by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Trump’s allies and attorneys have repeatedly floated the suggestion that the FBI used its contents as a basis to obtain highly classified foreign intelligence surveillance warrants that may have intercepted communications involving some of Trump’s campaign aides. They’ve sought to link the dossier to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign team amid an intensifying push to discredit the probe.

The “Fox & Friends” co-hosts did not independently verify the rumor that the FBI based its investigation on the dossier, nor did they cite a source for the claim. But they did discuss it Tuesday morning during a segment rehashing a Washington Times report that the FBI has been unable to verify the dossier’s core claims.

“If in fact this unverified dossier — this opposition research piece, honestly — if this was used to obtain a FISA warrant, what does that mean for the credibility of this investigation?” co-host Lisa Boothe asked guest Rep. Ron DeSantis.

“Well, I think it would undermine the legitimacy of the genesis of the investigation and all the way to the present,” DeSantis said. “The Russia collusion was always more of a narrative than anything based on any type of factual basis.”

The Florida Republican, who sits on one of the congressional panels that is also looking into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia, pledged to keep “digging for the answers” on the nature of the FBI’s possible use of the dossier.

DeSantis has been an outspoken critic of Mueller’s investigation. In August, he proposed a time limit on funding for the probe.

Trump endorsed DeSantis for Florida governor last week, though the 39-year-old congressman has yet to officially enter the race.

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Trump tweets Christmas greetings from Mar-a-lago

President Trump will celebrate Christmas the way millions of Americans do: surrounded by family, the White House said.

But unlike most Americans, he released a brief video in which his wife, Melania, joined him to “wish America and the entire world a very Merry Christmas.”

The first lady said that at this time of year “we see the best of America and the soul of the American people” in children packing boxes to help brighten Christmas for service members and communities coming together to help one another.

“In this season of joy, we spend time with our families, we renew our bonds of love and goodwill between our citizens and, most importantly, we celebrate the miracle of Christmas,” the president said, noting the story of Jesus’ birth.

“This good news is the greatest Christmas gift of all, the reason for our joy and the true source of our hope,” he said.

Trump planned to spend his first Christmas as president at his estate and private club in Palm Beach, Fla. The White House did not say which family members would be with him at Mar-a-Lago, but the first lady and their son, Barron, arrived days before the president joined them last Friday.

In a tweet sent later on Christmas, Trump assured the public he’d be back to work on Wednesday:

Trump is expected to remain at his Palm Beach estate through the new year.

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Trump tweets that people are ‘saying Merry Christmas again,’ credits himself

President Trump says he’s pleased that people are “saying Merry Christmas again.”

“I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase,” Trump wrote in a Christmas Eve tweet:

Trump had promised that this year would be different after what he saw as a trend toward giving the Christian celebration short shrift in favor of a more generic and inclusive “happy holidays” message.

“Well, guess what? We’re saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again,” he announced in October at a Values Voter Summit of conservatives.

The president made a similar statement last month during a ceremony to light the national Christmas tree. On Sunday, he shared a video clip of his remarks:

Conservative angst over a perceived shift away from “Merry Christmas” has long percolated. Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly talked about the “war on Christmas” on his show for years, highlighting businesses that opted to say “happy holidays.”

Trump’s emphasis on the phrase has been welcomed by evangelical Christians, who see it as evidence of his commitment to religious liberty.

His efforts also became a punch line on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” recently, as Alec Baldwin portrayed a festive Trump wishing people a “Merry Christmas.”

He added: “You can finally say that again, because the war on Christmas is over. It will soon be replaced by the war on North Korea.”

The president tweeted Sunday night after wrapping up Christmas Eve dinner with his family at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he is spending the holidays.

Earlier in the day, he played golf, sent Christmas greetings to U.S. troops stationed overseas and chatted by phone with children about Santa visiting their homes. He also launched fresh Twitter attacks on the FBI’s deputy director and the news media.

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Trump launches new attacks on FBI official and ‘Fake News’ in Christmas Eve tweets

President Trump launched a Christmas Eve attack on FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whom he accuses of favoritism toward his former opponent, Hillary Clinton, and also returned to a longtime favored theme, excoriating the news media for failing to sufficiently extol his accomplishments.

Trump, spending the holidays at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, also sent Christmas greetings to deployed military personnel, praising them for success in the fight against terrorism.

The early-morning swipe at McCabe followed a flurry of tweets attacking the deputy FBI chief on Saturday. McCabe, who has been a lightning rod for Republican attacks on the FBI, is expected to retire early in the new year.

Critics say the president and his allies are in the midst of a systematic campaign to denigrate the FBI and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is looking into potential collusion by the Trump campaign in Russia’s attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election.

In a pair of statements on Twitter, Trump again expressed scorn regarding news coverage of his administration.

For months, the president has been particularly critical of reports regarding the Russia investigation and more recently has repeatedly complained he does not receive enough credit for a booming stock market.

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In tweets, Trump praises his accomplishments and predicts that ‘good’ GOP candidates ‘will win BIG’ in 2018

President Trump complained anew Saturday that he’s not given credit by the news media for his accomplishments.

Trump tweeted that in his first year he’s achieved “perhaps more than any other president” in the same timeframe, citing as examples a surging stock market and low unemployment rate:

After a year of legislative fits and starts, the Trump administration and Republican-led Congress can claim victory on an agenda of tax cuts, judicial confirmations and a substantial regulatory rollback.

The successes, however, have come at a steep political price. Polls show voters unenthusiastic about the tax overhaul — the GOP’s signature accomplishment — and preferring Democrats over Republicans in Congress by historically wide margins. Republican strategists concede that their majority in the House — and perhaps in the Senate, as well — is at serious risk in next year’s midterm election.

Trump tweeted a message of reassurance Saturday afternoon, suggesting that GOP candidates will fare well — provided they’re supportive of the president and his agenda.

“Good Republican candidates will win BIG!” he wrote.

Trump sought to downplay recent Republican losses in the Virginia gubernatorial and Alabama Senate races.

He wrote that Republican Ed Gillespie lost in Virginia because “he was not a ‘Trumper.’ ” In Alabama, Trump pointed out, he initially backed Roy Moore’s opponent, Luther Strange, before Strange lost the Republican primary to Moore.

Though the president suggested he’d foreseen Moore’s subsequent general-election loss to Democrat Doug Jones, publicly Trump had predicted a Republican win in Alabama.

Also in his tweet, Trump urged supporters to remember that “the Republicans are 5-0 in Congressional races this year.”

That is incorrect. In this year’s House elections, the score is 5-1 for Republicans. Democrats held a California seat.

Add the Alabama Senate election, and the scorecard is 5-2.

Trump had boasted before the Senate race about a 5-0 scorecard this year. He chanted “Five and 0” at an Iowa rally in June — but the real tally then was 4-1.

This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump goes after FBI officials on Twitter

President Trump is reacting to reports about the retirement of Andrew McCabe as the FBI’s deputy director by tweeting falsehoods about McCabe’s wife.

Trump tweeted Saturday:

McCabe’s wife, Jill, did not get $700,000 in donations from Hillary Clinton for a Virginia state Senate race in 2015.

The donations came from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s political action committee and the Virginia Democratic Party before McCabe was promoted to deputy director and a supervisory role in the Clinton email investigation.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that McCabe, who became acting FBI director after Trump fired James Comey, plans to retire when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits in early March.

Also on Saturday, Trump commented on reports that top FBI lawyer James Baker is being reassigned by new Director Christopher A. Wray:

Trump cited as his source Fox News, but the only two FoxNews.com reports that refer prominently to Baker’s reassignment attribute the information to the Washington Post.

According to the Post, Baker is being reassigned as part of Wray’s effort to assemble his own leadership team within the bureau. The Post report states that “such a move is a normal part of a new director taking charge at the bureau — not a reflection of the political controversies buffeting the FBI.”

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In tweets, Trump lauds tax bill, lashes out at media and sends mixed messages on bipartisanship

President Trump on Friday morning signed a sweeping tax-cut measure — his first major legislative achievement — before heading off for a Christmas vacation at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla.

The president also privately signed a short-term spending bill to fund government operations through Jan. 19. Congress approved it Thursday, after Republican leaders were unable to bridge differences in their own party as well as with Democrats to get agreement on funding for the full fiscal year. The stopgap bill punts fights on immigration and other issues to January.

The tax bill, approved earlier this week in Congress in largely party-line votes, slashes corporate tax rates from 35% to 21% and also includes a host of other provisions for individuals, all intended to boost the economy.

It also ends fines for people who don’t carry health insurance, though that doesn’t take effect until the start of 2019, and other marquee components of President Obama’s healthcare law remain.

The tax bill’s passage marked a significant victory for a president hungry for one after chaos and legislative failures during his first year in office — including an effort to repeal the healthcare law — despite Republican control of Congress.

Trump also ended the year with his sights still trained on the way the media portray him, tweeting that the “mainstream” media “NEVER talk about our accomplishments in their end of year reviews.”

He singled out for praise conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, whose founder praised Trump during an appearance on Fox News.

Trump’s laudatory tweet comes just days after his son, Donald Trump Jr., spoke at a Turning Point-sponsored summit in West Palm Beach, Fla. It also follows the publication of a New Yorker expose alleging racial bias within the nonprofit and possible violations of campaign finance law.

Earlier, the president touted a Fox News appearance by his daughter Ivanka, who pitched the tax bill to the co-hosts of morning talk show “Fox & Friends”:

The president said Friday that he originally planned to sign the bill early next year, but moved it up on the spur of the moment after watching morning media coverage of the legislation.

The first major overhaul of the nation’s tax laws since 1986 could add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Republican leaders have said they’re willing to take that step in pursuit of a boost to the economy. But some in the GOP worry their party could face a political backlash without an aggressive public relations tour.

Trump, meanwhile, continued to send mixed messages about his desire to work across the aisle. In a tweet, he contended anew that Democrats “only want to raise your taxes.”

But that came just hours after he tweeted a pitch for bipartisanship:

Some White House aides and Republican leaders are looking warily ahead at the midterm election year, when typically a president’s party loses seats in Congress. That’s all the more true for presidents whose approval ratings dip below 50%, and Trump’s have never been that high.

Additionally, the new tax law that they see as the GOP’s top talking point is unpopular. Only about 1 in 3 voters have supported the legislation in recent days, according to several polls. About half of Americans believe the plan will hurt their personal finances. And 2 in 3 voters say the wealthy will get the most benefits, according to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released last week.

But in yet another early morning tweet, Trump called the bill “very popular” and referred to the move by some large corporations to publicly announce pay raises or new investments after the legislation received congressional approval.

Democrats countered with a list of 32 corporations — among them Home Depot, Pfizer, T-Mobile and Mastercard — that have announced billions in stock buybacks, which, along with higher dividends and executive bonuses, are more common responses than wage increases from companies with new cash.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times staff writers Noah Bierman, Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump tweets praise of U.N. vote on North Korea sanctions

The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea on Friday in response to the latest launch of a ballistic missile that Pyongyang says is capable of reaching anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

President Trump tweeted about the 15-0 vote, adding: “The World wants Peace, not Death!”

The resolution adopted by the council includes sharply lower limits on North Korea’s refined oil imports, the return home of all North Koreans working overseas within 24 months, and a crackdown on ships smuggling banned items including coal and oil to and from the country.

But the resolution doesn’t include even harsher measures sought by the Trump administration that would ban all oil imports and freeze international assets of the government and its leader, Kim Jong Un.

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Trump tweets endorsement of GOP Rep. DeSantis for Florida governor

President Trump jolted Florida’s still-evolving governor’s race by throwing his support Friday to Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis.

Trump tweeted:

The president made the endorsement even though DeSantis has not officially jumped into the race to replace Gov. Rick Scott. Scott leaves office in early 2019 due to term limits.

DeSantis, a U.S. Navy veteran and graduate of both Yale and Harvard, has represented a northeast Florida congressional district since 2013. He planned to run for U.S. Senate last year but dropped out of the race after Marco Rubio decided to seek reelection following his unsuccessful presidential bid.

In August, the 39-year-old congressman proposed a time limit on funding for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential collusion between Russia and Trump or his associates. DeSantis’ House website has a link to a column he wrote for FoxNews.com.

DeSantis also joined Trump during a campaign-style event that the president held in Pensacola, Fla., just before the recent Senate election in Alabama. At that rally, Trump urged voters in the neighboring state to vote for Roy Moore, who had been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct.

In a statement, DeSantis said he was “grateful to have the president’s support” and that he appreciated Trump’s push for tax cuts and for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and other efforts to “get our country back on track.”

Brad Herold, an advisor to DeSantis, said in an email that the congressman will make a final decision on whether to enter the governor’s race sometime next year.

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In tweet, Trump suggests that only Democrats oppose tax bill. That’s not true

President Trump defended the GOP tax plan, which received final approval from Congress on Wednesday and now awaits Trump’s signature to become law.

In a tweet Thursday morning, Trump cast opposition to the legislation as coming from Democrats and media outlets controlled by Democrats.

He contended that the tax cuts contained in the package “will soon be kicking in and will speak for themselves.”

“Companies are already making big payments to workers,” he wrote.

Trump later shared via Twitter a video clip of his triumphant White House gathering with Republican lawmakers to celebrate the tax bill’s passage Wednesday:

Despite the president’s suggestion that opposition to the plan has come primarily from Democrats, an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll conducted this week found that 41% of Americans believe the tax plan is a bad idea, while 24% say it is good. Of those polled, just 53% of Republicans said they approve of the plan.

A Quinnipiac University poll this month showed that registered voters, convinced that the benefits will flow mainly to corporations and the wealthy, oppose the plan 55% to 26%. In that poll, 67% of Republicans said they approve of the plan.

A survey this month by CBS News found that 53% of Americans say they pay about the right amount in taxes, while 40% say they pay more than their fair share. That same survey found 52% said corporations pay less than their fair share. The plan will cut the corporate tax rate to from 35% to 21%.

Several large corporations publicly announced pay raises or new investments immediately after the final House vote in an apparent public relations offensive to boost the popularity of the tax bill.

They included AT&T Inc., Boeing Co., Comcast Corp., Fifth Third Bank and Wells Fargo & Co.

In the case of Wells Fargo, about 36,000 employees are expected to get a pay raise as a result of the company’s response to the corporate tax cut, which, according to one estimate, will boost earnings for the average U.S. bank by 18%.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Jim Puzzanghera, James Rufus Koren and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump accuses Democrats of seeking shutdown in tweet

President Trump tweeted Thursday that “House Democrats want a SHUTDOWN for the holidays in order to distract from the very popular, just passed, Tax Cuts.”

That came as House Republicans early Thursday unveiled a new, stripped-down spending bill to prevent a government shutdown this weekend and allow quarreling lawmakers to punt most of their unfinished business into the new year.

GOP leaders are scrambling to rally some frustrated Republicans behind the measure, particularly defense hawks who had hoped to enact record budget increases for the Pentagon this year.

In his tweet, Trump referred to the GOP tax bill, which received final congressional approval on Wednesday, as “very popular.” He also suggested in an earlier tweet that only Democrats oppose the measure. That contradicts a number of recent polls that have showed a majority of registered voters opposing the bill, including a sizable portion of Republicans.

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Trump applauds strong home sales in tweet

President Trump applauded the release of data showing that Americans purchased homes at the fastest pace in nearly 11 years, as sales climbed 5.6% in November.

Trump tweeted Thursday morning:

The National Assn. of Realtors said Wednesday that sales of existing homes rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.81 million units. Home sales were last this strong in December 2006, when properties sold at annual pace of 6.42 million.

The strong demand for buying homes is a sign of an increasingly vibrant economy after a steady, eight-year expansion. The unemployment rate has fallen to a 17-year low, while more people in the millennial generation appear to be forming their own households and looking for places to buy. Yet the demand has done little to resolve an increasing vulnerability of the U.S. real estate market as the number of listings has been declining on a yearly basis for two and a half years.

The shortage is a concern, but not necessarily enough to derail the sales momentum.

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Trump praises ‘Fox & Friends’ for topping ‘most influential’ list

President Trump praised the co-hosts of morning talk show “Fox & Friends” for topping an online list of 2017’s most influential figures in media.

“You deserve it — three great people!” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

The list, compiled by Mediaite, specifically recognized “Fox & Friends” co-hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade as “three of the most influential media people not just in the United States, but in the entire world.”

They won the distinction solely because of Trump’s devoted viewership, with Mediaite noting that the president “regularly starts his day watching ‘Fox & Friends’ and then tweets about whatever they cover, and however, they cover it.”

Everything President Trump has tweeted about Fox News>>

“Since they have captured the president’s attention – which often then gets tweeted and covered by the media – the topics they cover essentially set the national agenda for the rest of the day,” Mediaite said in its ranking.

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Trump celebrates win on tax bill in series of tweets

After 11 months in office, President Trump on Wednesday got to celebrate one of the things he’s coveted most — a major legislative achievement — and on his party’s signature issue, tax cuts.

For a president who loves to tally wins and loathes losses, Congress’ final approval of the tax bill hours earlier was an essential capstone to a year in which Trump rolled back scores of regulations, sharply limited a refugee program, seated a conservative Supreme Court justice and opened vast new areas for oil exploration.

Despite a Congress controlled by Republicans, however, Trump had signed none of his major legislative promises into law this year and suffered one spectacular failure, on repealing President Obama’s health insurance law. Now he ends the year on a high note, though one that comes with a big caveat.

“We’re bringing the entrepreneur back into this country,” Trump declared at a triumphant White House gathering with Republican lawmakers, several of whom praised him effusively. “Ultimately what does it mean? It means jobs — jobs, jobs, jobs.”

The tax bill, which Trump will sign in coming days, comes with potential political costs. The legislation overwhelmingly benefits corporations and wealthy Americans like himself, undermining his promises to govern as a populist, and all but rules out his pledge to wipe out the national debt, adding at least $1 trillion in debt in its first 10 years.

A separate provision repeals a core part of Obamacare, eliminating the requirement that individuals buy insurance or pay a tax penalty, but the bill offers no plan to fulfill Trump’s promise to see that all Americans have health coverage. Instead, nonpartisan analyses say millions will lose or give up insurance as a consequence of ending the individual mandate.

Trump ceded drafting of many of the details to congressional Republicans, and the result was a plan that largely hews to GOP tax-cutting orthodoxy: It mostly benefits corporations and high-income individuals, on the bet that economic growth will mean more jobs and higher wages for lower-income Americans.

When Trump did weigh in, it was often with advice on the kind of branding for which he’s well known. He told staff and GOP lawmakers to use phrases like “tax cuts for Christmas,” “middle-class miracle,” and “rocket fuel for economy.”

Trump is banking on his salesmanship to overcome the bill’s dismal poll numbers. In an NBC-Wall Street Journal survey, 63% of respondents said they believed the plan was designed primarily to help corporations and the wealthy. Just 7% agreed it was intended “mostly to help middle-class Americans” — as Trump and congressional Republicans contend.

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Trump congratulates legislators for voting to pass tax bill

The House and Senate passed the sweeping GOP tax plan on near-party-line votes as congressional Republicans moved to give President Trump his most significant legislative victory of the year — one that has come at a steep political cost.

Senate approval shortly after midnight Wednesday fell along party lines, 51 to 48, with only Republicans voting yes. Republican Sen. John McCain, who returned home to Arizona as he fights brain cancer, did not vote.

Trump tweeted about the development minutes later:

Starting in 2019, the legislation will in effect repeal the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that all Americans carry health insurance, by doing away with a tax on those who fail to have coverage. Other provisions of the healthcare law will remain in place.

Republicans have been rushing the tax bill to passage — Trump also tweeted congratulations after the House vote for what he has called a Christmas gift for Americans — but it ran into a last-minute problem in the Senate.

Some small provisions, including one pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would have expanded college savings plans to allow use for home-schooling, were ruled to violate the chamber’s procedures and some of the language had to be stripped from the bill.

Fixing that glitch will require an unusual additional vote in the House, which was quickly scheduled for Wednesday, before the bill can be sent to Trump for his signature.

Republican leaders say the overhaul, which is centered on a huge cut in corporate taxes, will spur economic growth and become more popular once it takes effect, a point also made by Trump in a pair of early-morning tweets:

The arguments sounded much like those made by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who insisted in 2010 that the Affordable Care Act, passed with only Democratic votes, would become more popular once Americans experienced it. It didn’t — at least not right away — and instead contributed heavily to the Democrats losing their House majority that year.

Polling indicates the $1.5-trillion tax package remains broadly unpopular, contributing to a political environment in which surveys, including some by Republican groups, show the party in serious danger of losing control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump disputes Washington Post report that he considered rescinding Gorsuch’s nomination

President Trump disputed a Washington Post report that he had discussed rescinding the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch earlier in the year.

Trump branded the article “FAKE NEWS” on Tuesday morning in a tweet:

According to the Post report, Trump became enraged in February, when Gorsuch reportedly told Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) during a private meeting that he was “disheartened” by disparaging statements Trump had made about judges.

Upon learning of the criticism, Trump vented to aides, telling them that he was tempted to pull Gorsuch’s nomination, according to the report. The article states that the account of the president’s “explosion” is based on interviews with 11 people “familiar with the episode,” some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.

One of the Post reporters who authored the article later defended the team’s work during an appearance on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”

“We stand by our reporting 100%,” said Josh Dawsey, a White House reporter for the Post. “The president obviously has a right to his opinion, and we have a right to publish what our facts lead us to believe.”

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Trump tweets clips of speech laying out national security strategy

President Trump, a commander in chief who occasionally directs foreign policy from his Twitter account, on Monday sought to define his overarching plan for keeping the country secure, releasing a lengthy national security strategy paper in advance of a speech distilling its “America first” theme.

Trump described his approach to national security as one that “puts America first” and relies on a “clear-eyed” assessment of U.S. interests, reflecting that he sees the United States locked in a global competition in which America’s economic prosperity and national security are closely linked.

Trump later shared via Twitter video clips of his speech at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, where he laid out the strategy.

The strategy, which White House officials have spent months drafting and Trump wanted to roll out personally, is based on four pillars: Protecting the homeland by restricting immigration, pressuring trading partners, building up the military and otherwise increasing U.S. influence globally.

It describes the major threats facing the U.S. as the nuclear weapons programs in North Korea and Iran, the proliferation of radical Islamist terror groups, “porous borders and unenforced immigration laws” and unfair trade practices that Trump says have weakened the economy and sent American jobs overseas.

In his remarks Monday, Trump also took time to praise the Republican tax bill, which GOP leaders are rushing to pass this week.

Trump’s national security strategy overview reflects a break from the approach of both his Democratic and Republican predecessors.

In contrast to President Obama, who emphasized global cooperation and alliances, Trump sees the U.S. protecting its own sovereignty and facing off with “revisionist” world powers such as China and Russia. Those countries are seen as being antagonistic, trying to tip the global status quo in their favor by expanding their spheres of influence beyond those set after the end of the Cold War.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett.

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Trump rejoices on Twitter after Dow notches new record

President Trump celebrated another record day for the U.S. stock market Monday afternoon via Twitter.

The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 140.46 points, or 0.6%, to 24,792.20, as investors felt more sure that Republicans will pass their tax plan this week. It was the stock index’s 70th record-high close of 2017.

“We have NEVER had 70 Dow Records in a one year period,” Trump tweeted. “Wow!”

The previous record for the number of all-time-high closes in a single calendar year was set in 1995, when the Dow notched 69.

Trump also thanked Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo for a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which she praised the economy’s performance under Trump and called for the passage of tax reform to keep the “Trump boom” going.

Stocks have made hefty gains as the GOP appeared to shore up enough support to pass the tax bill; congressional Republicans are scheduled to start voting on the legislation Tuesday. The biggest gains have gone to companies that pay relatively higher tax rates, including banks, retailers and smaller, U.S.-focused firms.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump tweets that he knew Republicans Moore and Gillespie would lose

President Trump says he knew that Republicans Roy Moore and Ed Gillespie would lose their elections, but that he still believes the GOP will “do well in 2018,” when the control of Congress is at stake.

In an early-morning tweet, Trump wrote:

Trump initially had endorsed Luther Strange for Alabama’s Senate seat. But after Strange lost the GOP primary to Moore, Trump swung behind Moore. On election day, Trump wrongly predicted that voters would reject Moore’s Democratic rival, tweeting: “The people of Alabama will do the right thing.”

Democrat Ralph Northam defeated Gillespie in the Virginia gubernatorial race this fall.

Trump included in his tweet the Twitter handle for Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” It wasn’t immediately clear whether his message was prompted by a segment on the morning talk show, which has provided inspiration for past tweets from Trump.

Minutes later, the president promoted an upcoming “Fox & Friends” appearance by his daughter, Ivanka, who was slated to discuss the Republican tax bill:

Later, after Ivanka tweeted that “small businesses and working families will thrive like never before” under the bill, Trump replied:

The exchange came as fresh questions about the tax bill raised by Sen. Bob Corker threw Tuesday’s voting in doubt after critics said he and other lawmakers — and Trump — would personally benefit from a provision giving breaks for real estate holdings.

The Tennessee Republican had endorsed the bill last week in a crucial turnaround that provided momentum as GOP leaders try to ensure passage with their slim 52-48 majority. Their numbers narrowed as Sen. John McCain returned home to Arizona over the weekend as he battles brain cancer.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump pivots from politics to prayers in tweets on Washington train derailment

The first Amtrak train to carry passengers on a new rail route in Washington state derailed off a bridge and onto Interstate 5 on Monday morning, killing multiple people, according to officials and local media reports.

In his initial response to the crash, President Trump pushed for Congress to support his legislative agenda.

Trump tweeted:

A short time later, the president added:

Later Monday, during a speech laying out his national security strategy, Trump offered his “deepest sympathies” to the derailment victims but referred again to the crash as evidence of a need for transportation investment.

“It is all the more reason why we must start immediately fixing the infrastructure of the United States,” he said.

The Amtrak Cascades Train 501 was on its inaugural journey from Seattle to Portland, Ore., with almost 80 passengers and five crew members on board when it derailed on a newly opened set of tracks about 40 miles south of Seattle before 8 a.m. PST.

“Today is the first day these tracks were used,” Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ed Troyer said during a televised news conference. “This would have been first trip, first train, first day.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Matt Pearce, Laura J. Nelson and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump proclaims Wright Brothers Day

President Trump shared via Twitter a proclamation declaring Wright Brothers Day.

Orville and Wilbur Wright are credited with starting the aviation industry on Dec. 17, 1903, when they launched the first manned, powered flight.

In a statement linked to his tweet, Trump called the achievement “one of the most remarkable triumphs of the 20th century.”

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Trump plugs tax bill in tweets from Camp David

Poised to bask in the triumph of his first major legislative victory, President Trump sought Sunday to drum up excitement for the Republican tax plan, which is set to be voted on this week.

The measure would give the largest breaks to the richest Americans but Trump has attempted to sell the bill as a “Christmas present” for middle-class Americans in part because it would trigger job growth.

In a tweet from Camp David, where he is spending the weekend, Trump wrote:

A White House spokeswoman said that Trump would meet with Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the Maryland retreat.

Trump also planned to meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, Housing and Urban Development head Ben Carson, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin before returning to the White House.

As he prepared to leave Camp David on Sunday afternoon, Trump tweeted that “a lot of very important work” had been done:

The White House and Republicans on the Hill are eager to claim a victory at the end of what has been a disappointing legislative year for the party that controls the White House and both houses of Congress. At the same time, the GOP is reckoning with a brewing intraparty war that helped cost it a Senate seat in Alabama.

Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, lost a special election on Tuesday, handing Democrats their first Senate seat in Alabama in a generation and cutting Republican control of the Senate to just two, 51-49.

Moore was aggressively backed by ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who has vowed to challenge establishment Republicans.

The tax plan has also been overshadowed by speculation about the next steps from Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing whether the president’s campaign coordinated with Russian officials during last year’s election.

Mueller has gained access to thousands of emails sent and received by Trump officials before the start of his administration, yielding attacks from transition lawyers and renewing chatter that Trump may act to end the investigation.

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Trump promotes book written by former campaign officials

President Trump promoted a book written by two of his former campaign officials that purports to offer a behind-the-scenes account of his election.

In a tweet Saturday morning, Trump congratulated his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, for releasing the title.

“Finally people with real knowledge are writing about our wonderful and exciting campaign!” he wrote.

Lewandowski and Bossie have remained staunch Trump supporters since departing from his campaign. Both men often defend the president during their frequent appearances on Fox News. And Trump appears to be a loyal viewer, as he’s commented on segments featuring his former employees in past tweets.

Most recently, on Wednesday, Lewandowski and Bossie appeared on “Fox & Friends” to promote their book and offer commentary on a range of topics, including a survey of evening broadcast news coverage that concluded more than 90% of the statements made about the Trump administration were negative.

A short time after the segment aired, Trump tweeted: “Wow, more than 90% of Fake News Media coverage of me is negative, with numerous forced retractions of untrue stories.”

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Trump tweets video of his weekly address

President Trump shared a video of his weekly address Saturday via Twitter.

In his remarks, Trump called on Congress to pass a “clean funding bill” to keep the government running, rather than tying a year-end budget deal to partisan proposals. Some Democratic lawmakers have indicated they won’t vote for such legislation absent a deal to help young immigrant “Dreamers” avoid the risk of deportation, but the White House has balked at linking the immigration issue to the appropriations bill.

Trump also repeated his call to overhaul U.S. immigration law following Monday’s blast in a New York subway passageway. It was the second incident in New York that authorities have described as terrorism since late October, when a man drove a truck down a busy riverfront bike path, killing eight people.

The president noted that the suspect in October’s deadly incident came to the United States through the visa lottery program, and that the suspect in this week’s attack arrived based on a family connection to an American citizen. He called on Congress to end both immigration programs.

A full transcript of the president’s speech is here.

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Trump defends tax plan, proclaims economy is set ‘to rock’

Closing in on the first major legislative achievement of his term, President Trump on Saturday defended the Republican tax cut as a good deal for the middle class while boldly suggesting it could lead to explosive economic growth.

The legislation, which the GOP aims to muscle through Congress next week, would lower taxes on the richest Americans. Benefits, if any, for most other taxpayers would be smaller, but Trump attempted to sell the bill as a “Christmas present” for middle-class Americans in part because he says it would trigger job growth.

“It’ll be fantastic for the middle-income people and for jobs, most of all,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn before traveling to Camp David, Md., for the weekend. “And I will say that because of what we’ve done with regulation and other things our economy is doing fantastically well, but it has another big step to go, and it can’t take that step unless we do the tax bill.”

The president later summarized his remarks in a tweet:

No stranger to hyperbole, Trump also predicted the legislation would cause the economy to soar beyond its current 3% rate of growth.

“I think we could go to 4, 5 or even 6%, ultimately,” the president said. “We are back. We are really going to start to rock.”

Many economists believe that attaining consistent 4% or 5% annual growth would be challenging. The nation last topped 5% growth in 1984.

The Republican plan is the widest-ranging reshaping of the tax code in three decades and is expected to add to the nation’s $20-trillion debt. The tax cuts are projected to add $1.46 trillion over a decade.

The bill would also repeal an important part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act — the requirement that all Americans have health insurance or face a penalty — as the GOP looks to unravel a law it failed to repeal and replace this summer.

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Trump celebrates record day on Wall Street in tweet

President Trump celebrated the major stock indexes hitting a new set of milestones Friday by tweeting a video clip of a Fox Business report on the record close.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 23.80 points, or 0.9%, to 2,675.81. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 143.08 points, or 0.6%, to 24,651.74. The Nasdaq advanced 80.06 points, or 1.2%, to 6,936.58. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks jumped 23.47 points, or 1.6%, to 1,530.42.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs.

The indexes headed higher early Friday as investors watched developments in Washington with the Republican-led tax overhaul bill. GOP leaders moved to placate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who had said Thursday that he would vote against the bill unless the child tax credit was beefed up.

By Friday afternoon, congressional Republicans had finalized the bill, expanding the child tax credit and winning Rubio’s support.

Trump praised Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, after Brady tweeted about the development.

The new support makes passage of President Trump’s top year-end priority, which was in jeopardy amid prolonged GOP infighting, more likely. Voting could begin on Tuesday.

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Despite criticism of FBI, Trump signals support for law enforcement in tweets

President Trump gave a distinctly mixed message to the FBI on Friday, saying “people are very, very angry” about what they see as a political bias in the bureau but vowing unqualified support for law enforcement.

“Well, it’s a shame what’s happened with the FBI,” Trump told reporters at the White House before he flew to Quantico, Va., to address graduates at the FBI Academy. “But we’re going to rebuild the FBI. It will be bigger and better than ever.”

Trump later tweeted a video clip of his remarks at the ceremony and extended his congratulations to graduates:

The speech marked an opportunity for Trump to reaffirm public faith in the federal justice system as the White House faces a special counsel investigation into possible cooperation between his campaign and a covert Russian effort to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Trump instead used the address to mock reporters in the room as “fake news,” slam the visa lottery system, and praise himself as “a true friend and loyal champion in the White House — more loyal than anyone else can be.”

Asserting that assaults on police are on the rise, he said, “every drop of blood spilled from our men and women in blue is a wound inflicted on our nation.”

“They have been subject to malicious attacks on their character and integrity,” he said, “This anti-police sentiment is wrong and it’s dangerous, and we will not stand for it.”

In a second tweet linking to a video clip of his remarks, Trump thanked “our law enforcement families” and included the hashtag #LESM, an acronym for “law enforcement social media.”

Trump signaled his support for law enforcement in other tweets Friday.

In reply to a message from the official account of the Secret Service thanking Trump for hosting former leaders of the Presidential Protective Division at the White House, Trump wrote: “It was my honor.”

The president also tweeted thanks to members of the military, attaching to his message a video clip of his visit after the FBI ceremony to a Marine Corps base in Quantico.

Earlier, Trump had been scathing when asked about the release by the Justice Department this week of about 375 private text messages between Peter Strzok, a senior FBI counterintelligence agent, and Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer, from a 15-month period in 2015 and 2016. Some of the texts were harshly critical of Trump and other candidates.

Trump called the texts “really, really disgraceful.”

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is leading the Russia investigation, removed Strzok from the probe after an inspector general’s inquiry revealed the text message in July. Page had assisted the investigation in its early stages but already had left.

A White House spokesman reinforced criticism of the FBI earlier Friday, telling Fox News that the texts are signs that the FBI has an “extreme bias” against Trump.

Read MoreTimes staff writer Joseph Tanfani contributed to this report.

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Trump sounds optimistic note in tweets on tax plan

President Trump appeared optimistic Thursday morning following Republican leaders’ agreement Wednesday on a revised plan to cut taxes.

The tentative accord, which reportedly would lower the corporate rate from 35% to 21% and drop the top individual rate for the richest Americans to 37%, marked a significant step in the Republican push to have a tax bill on Trump’s desk by Christmas.

Trump tweeted that the plan was “looking very good” and touted another stock market record set Wednesday, when the Dow Jones industrial average eked out its third record-high close in as many days.

Trump also shared via Twitter a video of his remarks on the tax deal, which he cast as the fulfillment of a crucial campaign promise.

“Now we’re just days away — I hope, I hope — you know what that means, right — from keeping that promise and delivering a truly amazing victory for American families,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.

Later Thursday, Trump tweeted a link to a report from the National Assn. of Manufacturers that found that more than 94% of manufacturers reported feeling optimistic about their companies’ economic outlook, the highest percentage in the survey’s 20-year history.

Trump also tweeted about the survey results in March, when 93% of manufacturers reported having a positive outlook, and in July, when the share was 91.4%.

Trump’s tweet Thursday afternoon came a short time after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) voiced his opposition to the GOP tax plan over its failure to include his proposed enhancements to the child tax credit, leaving leaders without crucial support ahead of next week’s expected vote.

Republicans can only lose two GOP senators from their slim 52-48 majority as they push the plan forward under special budget rules to prevent a Democratic filibuster.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times staff writers Noah Bierman and Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump touts progress on rolling back federal rules

President Trump is relishing the rolling back of federal rules in his administration’s first year, even as critics say he has tried to dismantle important protections for the environment, consumers and others.

“By ending excessive regulation, we are defending democracy and draining the swamp,” Trump said Thursday, flanked by administration officials at a White House event. The effort is driven by Trump’s contention that there are too many rules and that’s stifling economic growth — a claim critics say is overstated.

Trump signed an executive order days after taking office in January that directed agencies to identify two regulations to cut for every new one they intended to issue. Agencies also had to offset any new regulatory costs with cuts by eliminating existing rules.

Trump said Thursday that government agencies have achieved a 22-to-1 ratio of regulatory cuts to new rules.

“Let’s cut the red tape, let’s set free our dreams,” Trump said as he symbolically cut a ribbon on stacks of paper representing the size of the regulatory code.

Deregulation has been a priority during a year in which Trump’s legislative agenda has faced headwinds. Trump’s former strategist, Steve Bannon, has described the goal as “the deconstruction of the administrative state.”

In another milestone for the deregulation push, federal regulators voted on Thursday to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules for internet traffic.

The 3-2 party-line vote by the Federal Communications Commission tears down the controversial utility-like oversight of internet service providers that was put in place by Democrats in 2015 to try to ensure the uninhibited flow of data online.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Los Angeles Times staff writer Jim Puzzanghera.

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Trump thanks Omarosa for service amid news of her departure

She is among President Trump’s most high-profile black supporters, a reality television star turned government official.

Now, Omarosa Manigault Newman is set to leave her role as director of communications in the White House Office of Public Liaison, a position in which she was tasked with working on outreach to various constituency groups.

Trump late Wednesday thanked Manigault Newman for her service.

Earlier Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Manigault Newman was resigning to pursue other opportunities effective Jan. 20, one year to the date after Trump’s inauguration.

Throughout last year’s campaign, Manigault Newman, who had been a contestant on Trump’s reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” often appeared at rallies alongside the candidate. She held meet-and-greets between Trump and African American clergy and helped arrange visits during his run for the presidency in predominantly black inner-city neighborhoods.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Kurtis Lee.

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Trump, after endorsing two losers in Alabama: ‘I was right’

President Trump, who stuck with Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore despite warnings from fellow Republicans that Moore was sullying their party, defended his decision after Democrat Doug Jones’ historic win on Tuesday.

“I was right!” Trump tweeted early Wednesday, alluding to his earlier endorsement of Luther Strange, the incumbent Republican senator whom Moore upset in a party primary. Moore, who faced allegations that he preyed on young girls decades ago, had “the deck stacked against him!” Trump wrote.

Trump said he nonetheless worked hard for the candidate, but that Moore’s loss justified his own initial endorsement of Strange.

Trump struck a conciliatory tone toward congressional Republicans in a tweet sent later Wednesday morning, writing that if Moore’s loss “proved anything, it proved that we need to put up GREAT Republican candidates to increase the razor thin margins in both the House and Senate.”

The president’s postelection assessment seemed to be an implicit rebuke of his former strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.

Bannon was one of Moore’s staunchest backers, and he has pledged to run populist challengers against traditional GOP candidates in the primaries.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has said the party needs “to nominate people who can actually win, because winners make policy and losers go home.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Noah Bierman.

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Trump jabs at news media in tweet summarizing ‘Fox & Friends’ report

President Trump responded to a “Fox & Friends” segment on news coverage of his administration, which the morning talk show called “hostile.”

The segment focused on the results of a survey conducted by conservative watchdog Media Research Center, which purportedly analyzed the evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30 and found that 91% of the statements made about Trump were negative.

“Hence my use of Social Media, the only way to get the truth out,” Trump shot back early Wednesday in a tweet.

The president appeared to paraphrase commentary from his former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, who appeared on “Fox & Friends” along with Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, to discuss the survey results.

“That’s why this president has to fight back,” Bossie said. “That’s why he uses his Twitter so effectively, and that’s why he speaks past the media directly to the American people.”

Bossie listed as examples of media bias recent reporting missteps by ABC News and CNN. He also included the Washington Post, which has issued no high-profile corrections related to its coverage of Trump but drew criticism from the president last week after a reporter tweeted a photo that appeared to show sparse attendance at a rally where Trump was speaking.

“They’ve lied to the American people, set up a narrative that is false about this president, and then they have to retract,” Bossie said.

He and Lewandowski have made a number of recent television appearances to promote a book they wrote together that’s billed as a behind-the-scenes account of Trump’s ascension to the presidency.

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Trump bemoans write-ins as he congratulates Doug Jones on win in Alabama

President Trump congratulated Democrat Doug Jones, who started the Alabama race for U.S. Senate as a massive underdog but swept to victory Tuesday night in a repudiation of scandal-stained Roy Moore.

“The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win,” Trump tweeted a short time after the result was announced.

That contrasted with a tweet from Trump earlier Tuesday, soon after polls in Alabama opened, in which he implored voters there to “do the right thing” and choose Moore.

Jones’ win over Moore in one of the nation’s reddest states demonstrated both the limits of Trump’s power to help the Republican Party in key congressional races and the potential for Democrats to rally voters against one of the least popular presidents in modern history.

It will also mean Republicans have one vote fewer to spare in the Senate, where a 51-49 majority will make passing major legislation even more difficult than it has been in Trump’s rocky first year, absent compromises with emboldened Democrats.

Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Noah Bierman and Mark Z. Barabak.

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Trump tweets that tax bill’s prospects are ‘looking good’

President Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that things were “looking good” for the GOP tax bill.

That came as House and Senate negotiators swapped new offers on the bill as they hurried to resolve differences and regain momentum for passage of Trump’s top priority.

The focal point of the $1.5-trillion tax plan — the steep reduction in corporate rates from 35% to 20% — is expected to be relaxed slightly in the final deal, perhaps to 21%, as negotiators scramble to generate revenue that can be used to offset tax breaks elsewhere.

Trump indicated he would be open to higher corporate rates than Republicans first agreed to under a GOP framework, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said Tuesday that lawmakers also were willing to shift. But others said the reported 21% corporate rate was not yet set.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump tweets Hanukkah statement

President Trump wished the public a happy Hanukkah on Tuesday in a tweet.

Trump’s message linked to a statement in which he briefly outlined the origin story and meaning of Hanukkah.

“On this holiday, we are proud to stand with the Jewish people who shine as a light to all nations,” Trump said in the statement.

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Trump slams Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a critic, with sexually suggestive tweet

Half a dozen Democratic senators have called on President Trump to resign over sexual misconduct allegations. On Tuesday morning he singled out one of them for attack — New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand — and with a sexually suggestive tweet that immediately provoked new criticism.

Trump wrote that “Lightweight” Gillibrand “would come to my office ‘begging’ for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them).”

Though provocative tweets are commonplace for Trump, this one hit a political nerve given national attention to the topic of sexual harassment of women and renewed scrutiny of the allegations against him by more than a dozen women. Social media and cable television talk shows quickly ignited with bipartisan outrage.

Hours later, Trump’s top spokeswoman denied that he implied anything sexual. “Only if your mind is in the gutter would you have read it that way,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

Sanders said Trump was merely talking about how Gillibrand is beholden to those who donate to her election campaigns, calling her a “wholly owned subsidiary” of her donors.

“There’s no way that this is sexist at all,” Sanders said.

Gillibrand, who is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for 2020, hit back at Trump:

At least 16 women came forward before his election to describe Trump forceably kissing or touching them, or purposely walking in on them in dressing rooms, among other allegations. Three of the women called on Monday for a congressional investigation into their claims, in a bid to take advantage of the current climate against sexual misconduct.

Trump described the accounts as “false accusations and fabricated stories” in another tweet on Tuesday, saying they came from “women who I don’t know and/or have never met” — a contention some of the women dispute.

Of six Democrats who have said Trump should quit, two are women. Trump’s jabs solely at Gillibrand, which came after she tweeted Monday night that he should resign, fit into the president’s longtime pattern of lashing out and belittling his critics.

Katie Packer Beeson, a veteran Republican strategist and Trump opponent, said Trump’s tweet was indicative of how he “views women and the way he bullies and demeans those who he views as a threat.”

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Trump disputes report that he watches up to 8 hours of TV a day

President Trump complained via Twitter on Monday that a New York Times report exaggerated the amount of time he watches television each day.

The president also wrote that he seldom watches CNN or MSNBC, and that he once called CNN anchor Don Lemon “the dumbest man on television.”

The New York Times Times said its story, which describes the president’s daily routine in detail, was based on interviews with 60 people, “including many who interact with President Trump every day.”

CNN’s communications staff responded to Trump’s dig at Lemon in a statement: “In a world where bullies torment kids on social media to devastating effect on a regular basis with insults and name calling, it is sad to see our president engaging in the very same behavior himself. Leaders should lead by example.”

Trump also tweeted six attacks on what he calls “fake news” over the weekend, writing that the “out of control” media purposely put out false and defamatory stories.

Everything President Trump has tweeted about the media>>

That led to a contentious exchange at Monday’s White House news briefing between Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and CNN’s Jim Acosta.

“Journalists make honest mistakes,” Acosta said. “That doesn’t make them fake news.”

When Sanders responded that reporters should own up to their mistakes, one said, “we do.”

“Sometimes, but a lot of times you don’t,” Sanders said. “There’s a very big difference between honest mistakes and purposely misleading the American people.”

Trump has his own issues: the Washington Post’s fact-checking blog counted 1,628 false or misleading claims made by the president in his first 298 days in office.

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Trump rails against news media in tweets: ‘A stain on America!’

President Trump is again railing against the news media, calling them a “stain on America.”

In a tweet Sunday, Trump blasted the lack of attention over what he described as “false and defamatory stories” written by the “Fake News Media.”

Over the past two weeks, ABC News and CNN have issued corrections and clarifications on two stories that initially had been unflattering to the president but didn’t live up to scrutiny.

And on Saturday, Trump demanded and received an apology from a Washington Post reporter who tweeted a photo of Trump’s Florida rally on Friday that made it look sparsely attended.

Trump tweeted about each misstep soon after it took place, and multiple media outlets, including presidential favorite Fox News, also reported on the errors. But Trump complained Sunday that the erroneous reports had drawn “very little discussion.”

Earlier in the day, before playing golf at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate, the president also accused the news media of downplaying the strength of the economy.

“Things are going really well for our economy, a subject the Fake News spends as little time as possible discussing!” he wrote.

Trump has maintained a battle with the media and often deems stories that he doesn’t like to be fake news.

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Trump tweets about tax bill before golfing with Sen. Lindsey Graham

President Trump on Sunday sought to gloss over the difficult work ahead for lawmakers laboring to finalize tax cut legislation he can sign by his self-imposed Christmas deadline.

Trump tweeted about the pending bill before he went to his golf club in West Palm Beach for a round with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Trump and Graham, who has become a regular golf partner for Trump, discussed the tax bill and upcoming budget talks after they teed off, said White House spokesman Raj Shah.

Trump has set a Christmas deadline for signing the bill into law, giving lawmakers named to a special conference committee two weeks to iron out major differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation. The conference committee has scheduled its first formal meeting for Wednesday.

Both measures would cut taxes by about $1.5 trillion over the next decade while adding billions to the $20-trillion deficit, combining steep tax cuts for corporations with more modest reductions for most individuals. Together, the changes would amount to the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax system in 30 years, touching every corner of society.

Significant differences between the bills must be worked out before Trump can fulfill a campaign promise and score his first major legislative achievement. Republican lawmakers, including Graham, have said publicly that failure on taxes — after the embarrassing collapse of several attempts to repeal President Obama’s healthcare law — would be politically devastating with control of the House and Senate at stake in midterm elections next year.

Trump spent the weekend at his Palm Beach estate, arriving from Pensacola, where he held a campaign rally Friday night. Trump flew to Jackson, Miss., on Saturday to speak at the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and planned to return to the White House on Sunday night.

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Trump criticizes ‘sanctuary’ cities in weekly address

President Trump shared via Twitter a video of his weekly address, in which he condemned so-called sanctuary cities that don’t cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing immigration rules.

“Our cities should be sanctuaries for Americans, not for criminal aliens,” Trump said.

Trump cited the 2015 shooting death of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco. Steinle was shot by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an immigrant in the country illegally and a drug offender, whom the city of San Francisco had declined to turn over to federal officials to be deported.

Jurors voted last week to acquit Garcia Zarate of murder and involuntary manslaughter, a decision Trump called “disgraceful.”

“Yet one more reason why Americans are so upset by sanctuary cities and open border politicians who shield criminal aliens from federal law enforcement,” Trump said in the remarks he shared Saturday.

The president also lashed out at Democratic lawmakers, some of whom have said they will block government funding bills unless a deal is reached to help young immigrant “Dreamers” avoid the risk of deportation.

“Every senator and congressman will have to make a choice,” Trump said. “Do they want to protect American citizens or do they want to protect criminal aliens?”

Congress approved legislation Thursday to keep the government running, but the stopgap spending measure only extends operations through Dec. 22.

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Trump bashes CNN and Washington Post

You can always count on President Trump to bash the media, whether the reporting is accurate. But on the occasions when the media makes a mistake, he’s quick to pile it on.

The source of his anger on Saturday morning was an error made by CNN on Friday, when the network wrongly reported that the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. may have been notified about hacked emails obtained by WikiLeaks before they were publicly released. The notification didn’t come until after they were made public, and CNN corrected its story.

That didn’t satisfy Trump, and he drew a comparison to a recent inaccurate report from ABC, which led that network to suspend one of its star investigative reporters, Brian Ross.

CNN has said the reporters won’t be disciplined because they didn’t break any newsroom guidelines but received inaccurate information from sources.

Trump continued to criticize the network Saturday morning, saying it may be committing “a fraud on the American Public” by calling itself “the most trusted name in news.”

On Saturday afternoon, Trump also went after a Washington Post reporter for tweeting a photograph of a half-empty arena in Pensacola, Fla., and suggesting that it was taken while the president spoke at a rally there Friday night.

Trump, who had earlier boasted about the size and enthusiasm of the crowd, contended that the photo was taken hours before he arrived. He demanded an “apology & retraction” from the Washington Post.

In a pair of tweets, the reporter apologized, acknowledged his mistake and pointed out that he had shared the photo via his personal Twitter account:

Trump responded with a call for the reporter to be fired:

The president’s tweets seeking to undermine the media have been a mainstay of his first year in office.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Chris Megerian and Alex Wigglesworth.

3:40 p.m.: This post was updated with additional tweets from Trump.

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Trump tweets that he plans to watch Army-Navy game

President Trump tweeted Saturday that he plans to watch the annual Army-Navy football game.

Trump also thanked service members in his tweet.

Last year, then-President-elect Trump attended the 117th game between the military academies at West Point and Annapolis, which was held in Baltimore.

This year, the game is taking place in Philadelphia, and Trump presumably planned to watch it on television.

He later congratulated the Army for winning its first Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy since 1996.

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Trump appears at new civil rights museum despite protests

Residents greeted the arrival of President Trump in the Mississippi capital Saturday with protests as he came to speak at the opening of a major civil rights museum.

The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and a companion state history museum will open their doors in the afternoon after a celebration that attracted more than a thousand people from around the country, including civil rights veterans as well as Gov. Phil Bryant.

But after the White House announced this week that Trump would visit the museum and give an address at its dedication, a growing number of attendees and residents said they would boycott the event.

Trump attended the event at the invitation of Bryant, who oversees the Mississippi Department of Archives that runs the museum. The president landed in Jackson with U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Charles Evers, the brother of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, greeted Trump on the tarmac.

“These buildings embody the hope that has lived in the hearts of every American for generations. The hope for a future that is more just and is more free,” said Trump as he spoke to a mostly white, invitation-only crowd inside the museum.

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Trump wishes Pensacola ‘Merry Christmas’ in tweets after rally

President Trump thanked supporters who turned out to a campaign-style rally in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday.

After the event, Trump bid Pensacola a “Merry Christmas” in a tweet:

The Christmas-themed rally featured a stage adorned with red poinsettias, along with red and green signs printed with the words “Merry Christmas” and images of trees.

During his campaign, Trump had promised that, when he was elected, people would be saying “Merry Christmas again,” a reference to what he characterized as the country’s obsession with political correctness. In Trump’s view, the move toward the use of the more inclusive “Happy Holidays” phrase minimized the Christian celebration.

A year ago, then-President-elect Trump held a post-election rally in Mobile, Ala., in front of a giant tree cut down by the mayor’s office and brought to the football stadium as a backdrop. The chief of staff to Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson ended up losing his job.

During his speech Friday night, Trump also urged voters to choose embattled Republican candidate Roy Moore in next week’s Alabama Senate race despite sexual misconduct allegations.

While Trump did not travel to Alabama to campaign for Moore ahead of Tuesday’s election, Pensacola is near the Alabama border and feeds television markets in the state.

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Trump reiterates support for Roy Moore ahead of Florida rally

President Trump on Friday reiterated his support for embattled Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, telling voters four days before they go to the polls that the “LAST thing” Trump needs in the closely divided GOP-controlled Senate is a “Liberal Democrat” who opposes his agenda.

Trump was referring to Moore’s opponent, Doug Jones, whom he called “bad” on a number of issues.

Trump tweeted the message hours before he was to hold a rally Friday night in Pensacola, Fla., which he also promoted via Twitter:

The White House has said that the Pensacola rally is a campaign event for Trump. But the location, near the Alabama border and feeding television markets in the state, has stoked speculation that the rally is a backdoor way for the president to give Moore’s campaign a boost without actually setting foot in the state. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had said there was no room on Trump’s schedule for him to visit Alabama before Tuesday’s election.

Moore, 70, has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls when he was in his 30s. He responded via Twitter that he agrees with Trump:

Trump, who faced allegations of sexual misconduct before winning last year’s presidential election, looked past the charges against Moore and endorsed the former Alabama judge this week. Top Republicans, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, had called on Moore to step aside after the allegations were made public.

Friday’s campaign rally will be Trump’s first since September, when he went to Alabama to campaign for Sen. Luther Strange.

Strange lost the GOP runoff election to Moore.

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Trump celebrates 45% approval rating in tweet

President Trump touted a poll that put his approval rating at 45%.

The poll, conducted last week by Morning Consult for Politico, also shows just 41% of voters saying that things in the country are going in the right direction. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said that things have “pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track.”

Trump applauded the results Friday morning, tweeting, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Many other recent polls have found the president’s job approval rating to be lower.

RealClearPolitics’ average of Trump’s approval numbers is 38.4%. That’s down slightly from a week ago, when the average was 39.9%.

Trump also celebrated the strength of the economy with a tweet listing employment figures released by the Labor Department on Friday.

He attached to his message a video clip of a campaign speech he delivered last spring at the NRA’s annual convention, where he pledged to “bring jobs back” to the country.

The president has been uncharacteristically restrained in his social media messages this week, with tweets commending veterans of the Pearl Harbor attack, complimenting the White House’s Hanukkah celebration and promoting a campaign-style rally in Florida set for Friday night.

That comes after a tweet last weekend about Trump’s rationale for firing his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, raised controversy and largely overshadowed Senate Republicans’ vote to approve a tax bill, a key GOP accomplishment.

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Trump denies that Wells Fargo may avoid federal penalties for alleged mortgage lending abuses

President Trump on Friday denied a report that the federal consumer financial watchdog might drop sanctions against Wells Fargo & Co. for alleged mortgage lending abuses, and said the bank could face even tougher penalties.

Trump’s comments on Twitter appeared to be in response to a Reuters report that Mick Mulvaney — whom Trump installed last month as acting director of the independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — was reviewing whether Wells Fargo should pay tens of millions of dollars in penalties for charging fees to certain homebuyers to secure low mortgage rates.

Trump tweeted that “fines and penalties against Wells Fargo Bank for their bad acts against their customers and others will not be dropped,” and declared the Reuters report incorrect. If anything, he said, fines and penalties will be “substantially increased.”

He renewed his promise to cut regulations, which he and congressional Republicans have been doing in recent months, but said he would “make penalties severe” when companies are “caught cheating.”

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Trump celebrates Hanukkah, defends decision on Jerusalem

President Trump on Thursday celebrated an “especially special” Hanukkah at the White House, a day after declaring Jerusalem Israel’s capital and setting off criticism and clashes.

“Right now I’m thinking about what’s going on and the love that’s all over Israel and all about Jerusalem,” Trump said in the East Room of the White House.

The president was flanked by his daughter Ivanka — who converted to Judaism when she married her husband, Jared Kushner — and their three children.

Trump broke with decades of U.S. policy with the Jerusalem announcement, putting the United States at odds with most other countries. The European Union, Germany, Britain, France, Pope Francis and key Arab allies have denounced the move.

Presidential candidates in both parties have vowed to move the embassy since at least the 1990s, never feeling obliged to follow through.

Trump has contrasted their promises with his action. On Thursday night, he tweeted a video montage of Presidents Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Obama each pledging to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, followed by a clip of Trump’s Wednesday speech in which he announced he would do so.

“I fulfilled my campaign promise,” Trump wrote. “Others didn’t!”

Inside the White House on Thursday, Trump got only applause, cheers and thanks from the crowd, which included Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, Holocaust survivor Louise Lawrence-Israels and Orthodox Rabbi Meir Soloveichik.

Lawrence-Israels spoke of standing up to hate. And Soloveichik recited a traditional prayer that he said has additional meaning this year.

“For the first time since the founding of the state of Israel, an American president has courageously declared what we have always proclaimed, which is that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” Soloveichik said.

Trump struggled with the pronunciation of Soloveichik’s name. “He’s so happy with yesterday, that he doesn’t care if I get it exact,” the president said.

He also remarked of the holiday, “I think this one will go down as especially special.”

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Trump signs proclamation for Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

President Trump appeared with World War II veterans at the White House on Thursday as he signed a proclamation declaring it national Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

(Trump actually slightly mangled that quote from President Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt referred to “a date which will live in infamy.”)

A half-dozen veterans of the attack, wearing medals and military hats, attended the ceremony and bantered with the president as he commemorated their service.

“All American hearts are filled with gratitude for their service, their sacrifice and their presence here today,” Trump said.

Among those attending was Mickey Ganitch, 98. Ganitch was on the battleship Pennsylvania’s football team and getting ready for a championship game against the crew of the Arizona when Japan attacked.

“You never got that game, huh?” asked the president.

“We had a war to fight,” Ganitch responded before kneeling to mimic his best football move — and repeating the move at Trump’s request.

Ganitch later broke out into song, delivering a rendition of “Remember Pearl Harbor.”

“You really made this very exciting,” Trump remarked, thanking him for the “free entertainment.”

Trump said he hoped the vets would join him every year to mark the occasion for the next — presuming he runs and wins reelection — seven years.

“Today our entire nation pauses to remember Pearl Harbor and the brave warriors who on that day stood tall and fought for America,” he said.

The president invited the men to see the Oval Office after the signing, promising them pens and autographs.

Trump last month paid a visit to Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor and its memorial to the Arizona before he departed for his first trip to Asia. The surprise attack by Japan killed more than 2,400 Americans and plunged the United States into World War II.

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Trump urges followers to buy ‘Fox & Friends’ co-host’s book

President Trump promoted via Twitter a book written by a co-host of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” of which Trump is a fan.

Trump’s tweet Thursday morning came a short time after the co-host, Brian Kilmeade, appeared as a guest on “Fox & Friends” to promote his book about Andrew Jackson.

Kilmeade drew parallels between Jackson and Trump, who has cited the populist president as a role model:

Kilmeade will also discuss the book during a special set to air Sunday night on Fox News.

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Trump says U.S. recognizes Jerusalem as capital of Israel

Saying that “old challenges demand new approaches,” President Trump announced Wednesday that the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will begin a process to transfer the U.S. Embassy to the ancient city, reversing decades of American policy and defying widespread international criticism.

“Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital,” Trump declared in a speech at the White House. “This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do.”

Trump acknowledged that his announcement, which he followed with a signed proclamation, would generate “disagreement and dissent.” It sparked protests in Palestinian territories and a fresh round of denunciations in foreign capitals worried about a new outbreak of violence in the volatile region.

But Trump said his administration would not follow the “failed policies of the past.” And he took a swipe at previous presidents who failed to officially recognize Jerusalem or move the embassy.

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Trump tweets ‘thoughts and prayers’ to Californians affected by wildfires

President Trump offered his “thoughts and prayers” to Californians who are experiencing another storm of wildfires this week and encouraged residents to heed the advice of local officials.

Southern California is currently under assault from a series of wind-driven wildfires that have destroyed more than a hundred homes in Ventura County and threatened thousands more in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

The president was criticized in October for taking more than a week to tweet about a series of deadly fires that swept through Northern California’s wine country, despite making public statements about the disaster early on.

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Trump promotes Pensacola rally in tweet

President Trump promoted via Twitter a campaign-style rally he’s slated to hold in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday.

The event will be held less than 20 miles from the Alabama border, just four days before voters there head to the polls to choose a new senator.

Trump gave embattled GOP candidate Roy Moore a vigorous formal endorsement Monday, looking past allegations of sexual misconduct with Alabama teenagers, as Republican leaders in Washington, once appalled by Moore’s candidacy, began to come to grips with the ever-clearer possibility of his victory.

Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney. Polls suggest the race will be close.

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Trump touts move to dramatically shrink two national monuments in Utah

President Trump formally reconfigured two big national monuments in southern Utah on Monday, shrinking them by more than 2 million acres and establishing five smaller units within them — a public lands declaration unlike any ever made by a U.S. chief executive.

“You know how best to take care of your land,” the president said to a large audience at the Utah state Capitol. “You know best how to conserve this land for generations.”

Calling the designation of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments an abuse of federal authority and the work of “distant bureaucrats,” the president added: “I’ve come to Utah to reverse federal overreach and restore the rights to this land to your citizens.”

The proclamations Trump signed reduce the 1.9 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante monument to 1,006,341 acres, while Bears Ears, which was 1.35 million acres, will shrink to 228,784 acres.

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Trump touts ‘Fox & Friends’ segment in which legal expert says president can’t be charged with obstruction of justice

President Trump urged his supporters to watch a “Fox & Friends” segment in which legal expert Alan Dershowitz opined that the president cannot be charged with obstruction of justice.

That comes as Trump faces new questions about whether he improperly tried to shield his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, from an FBI investigation and then fired FBI Director James B. Comey to block the inquiry. Interfering with the case could be construed as obstructing justice, a potential federal crime.

“There’s never been a case in history where a president has been charged with obstruction of justice for merely exercising his constitutional authority,” Dershowitz said during his Monday morning appearance on the Fox News talk show. “That would cause a constitutional crisis in the United States.”

Dershowitz was responding to comments from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that she sees “a case of obstruction of justice” in Trump’s decision to fire Comey.

“It is my belief that that is directly because [Comey] did not agree to ‘lift the cloud’ of the Russia investigation,” she said. “That’s obstruction of justice.”

But Dershowitz told Fox News on Monday that Feinstein “simply doesn’t know what she’s talking about” because Trump was within his rights to fire Comey.

“You cannot charge a president with obstruction of justice for exercising his constitutional power to fire Comey and his constitutional authority to tell the Justice Department who to investigate and who not to investigate,” Dershowitz said.

That mirrored an argument also offered by one of Trump’s lawyers on Monday.

Trump “cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [Article II of the Constitution] and has every right to express his view of any case,” John Dowd, a lawyer for the president, told Axios, a news website. Article II details the president’s authority over the executive branch, which includes the Justice Department.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Chris Megerian and Joseph Tanfani.

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Trump goes all in for Roy Moore on Twitter

President Trump on Monday fully endorsed Roy Moore, acting to back the Alabama Senate candidate after conversations with his former strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who has advocated Moore’s candidacy.

Trump’s early-morning tweets were his first all-out endorsement of Moore, who has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances on teenage girls. They came after Republican leaders began to back away in recent days from previous threats to expel Moore if he were to win the Dec. 12 election.

Trump called Moore on Monday morning.

“Go get ‘em, Roy!” Trump told Moore, according to a description of the phone call that Moore posted on Twitter:

Trump’s strong support came after a couple of polls showed Moore starting to reestablish a lead over Democrat Doug Jones, providing an argument to Moore’s backers that Trump’s support could make the difference in the race.

A Washington Post poll released Saturday, however, showed the race near a dead heat.

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Trump’s morning tweetstorm appears to have been inspired by ‘Fox & Friends’

President Trump unleashed a tweetstorm Sunday morning, saying that the FBI’s reputation was “in tatters” following the tenure of former Director James B. Comey, who was fired seven months ago.

The president also suggested bias against him in the investigation being conducted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, after news accounts said an agent was removed from Mueller’s team following an internal investigation of text messages interpreted as critical of Trump.

The agent, Peter Strzok, reportedly helped lead the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of State.

Trump’s comments closely echoed language used during Sunday morning’s episode of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” which aired a report on Strzok under the banner, “Agent’s role in Clinton probe under review.”

At another point during “Fox & Friends,” the banner read, “Report: Anti-Trump FBI agent led Clinton email probe.”

“Now it all starts to make sense!” Trump responded.

The “Fox & Friends” hosts repeatedly referenced Comey in their discussion of Strzok, with co-host Ed Henry describing Strzok as “very close to” the former FBI director.

The morning show team also suggested that Strozk’s alleged bias was evidence that he and Comey had colluded to improperly clear Clinton of criminal charges in the email probe while somehow implicating the president’s associates in wrongdoing related to the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

Co-host Pete Hegseth summarized his concerns, saying: “Comey’s being briefed on Hillary Clinton’s email investigation by a guy who’s in the tank for Hillary Clinton, which is the greatest fear that we all have: that the deep state has infiltrated the so-called Justice Department or the FBI.”

The president appeared to echo that criticism in his tweets.

Trump also leveled a fresh attack against ABC News reporter Brian Ross, who was suspended for four weeks without pay for an erroneous report on Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor. Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

Ross had initially reported Friday that Trump, as a candidate, had directed Flynn to make contact with Russians. ABC later clarified the report to say that Trump, as president-elect, had asked Flynn to contact Russia.

On Sunday, “Fox & Friends” emphasized the markets’ reaction to the ABC report with a graphic illustrating how the Dow Jones industrial average had dropped 350 points within a half-hour of the report’s release.

Trump responded with a tweet in which he also cited the 350-point drop and suggested that investors who had lost money should sue ABC.

At some points, it was unclear whether “Fox & Friends” was feeding the president’s tweets or vice versa.

Shortly before 4:30 a.m. Pacific time, the president replied to a message from conservative political commentator Dan Bongino decrying the verdict in the Kathryn Steinle murder trial.

The suspect, a Mexican immigrant in the country illegally who had been deported five times before Steinle’s fatal shooting in San Francisco, was found not guilty on all counts except felony possession of a weapon.

“Such a total miscarriage of Justice in San Francisco!” Trump wrote.

Less than half an hour later, “Fox & Friends” aired a segment rounding up reactions to the verdict, which the hosts slammed as “a political message.”

“There was a miscarriage of justice here,” Henry said while looking directly into the camera.

“It’s kind of been a theme of the program today: the potential politicization of our criminal justice system, or of the Justice Department,” said Hegseth, using air quotes when he said the word “justice.”

“It just feels like right now, in the deep state or in circuit courts, it’s more about politics than it is about the Constitution,” he concluded.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King.

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Trump tweets: ‘I never asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn’

At a crucial juncture in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s wide-ranging Russia investigation, President Trump embarked on a risky gambit on Sunday, going on record to directly dispute his former FBI chief’s sworn contention that the president had sought to derail an investigation into fired national security advisor Michael Flynn.

The imbroglio — set off, not surprisingly, by a presidential tweet — comes on the heels of Flynn’s guilty plea to charges of having lied to the FBI in connection with conversations with Russia’s then-ambassador to Washington during the presidential transition.

Friday’s dramatic development was met with initial silence from Trump, then with a deluge of weekend tweets in which he muddied the waters over his reasons for firing Flynn, excoriated the Justice Department and the FBI, renewed his attacks on rival Hillary Clinton and seemingly questioned the impartiality of Mueller’s probe. He also explicitly contested statements by Comey, who was fired seven months ago, regarding events prior to his dismissal.

Shortly after 6 a.m. EST on Sunday, the president tweeted:

Sunday’s statement by Trump on Twitter was largely in line with his previous disparagement of Comey, whose truthfulness and even mental stability the president has questioned in the past.

Last month, the president told reporters traveling with him in Asia that Comey was a “liar” and a “leaker.” In May, the day after firing the FBI director — an action that set in motion Mueller’s appointment as special counsel — the president told senior Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting that Comey was a “crazy … a real nut job,” according to news reports based on transcripts of the encounter.

But the specificity and timing of the president’s public denial of Comey’s contention that Trump asked him to back off on investigating Flynn took on added significance with news that the former national security advisor is now cooperating with Mueller’s investigation.

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In tweets responding to Flynn plea, Trump questions why Hillary Clinton hasn’t been prosecuted

After a morning tweet in which President Trump appeared to change his story on why he fired Michael Flynn as his national security advisor, Trump turned to Twitter again Saturday night.

In a series of tweets, the president railed about why Flynn was prosecuted but his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, was not.

Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about his conversations last December with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

The FBI investigated Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of State but concluded last year that nothing was found that would cause the bureau to recommend charges against her.

Still, Trump drew parallels between the former officials’ situations, writing, “Rigged system, or just a double standard?” He also lashed out at what he referred to as the “‘Justice’ Department.”

Clinton turned thousands of emails over to the government, but deleted thousands of others that she said were personal or unrelated to her work as the nation’s top diplomat.

She was voluntarily interviewed for more than three hours at FBI headquarters in July 2016. She was not in custody during her interview and so, in accordance with standard FBI and Justice Department protocol, her interview would not have been recorded. A Justice Department policy on recorded interrogations applies to individuals who have been arrested and are in custody.

It is nonetheless a crime to lie to the FBI about any material fact in an investigation. Former FBI Director James B. Comey has said that Clinton did not lie to the FBI during her interview.

In a separate tweet sent Saturday night, Trump praised ABC News for its decision to suspend investigative reporter Brian Ross for four weeks without pay for an erroneous report on Flynn, which the network called a “serious error.”

Ross, citing an unnamed confidant of Flynn, had reported Friday that during the presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump had directed Flynn to make contact with the Russians.

Hours later, Ross clarified the report on the evening news, saying his source had actually said that Trump asked Flynn to contact the Russians as president-elect — not before the election — about issues including working together to fight Islamic State.

The network was widely criticized for not immediately correcting the report. It issued a correction later in the evening and announced Ross’ suspension on Saturday.

“More Networks and ‘papers’ should do the same with their Fake News!” Trump tweeted.

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Trump compliments first lady on White House Christmas decor

President Trump praised his wife, Melania, for coordinating the White House Christmas decorations.

The first lady’s theme is “Time-Honored Traditions,” a nod to 200 years of holiday celebrations at the executive mansion.

After she shared via Twitter two photos of the decorations’ unveiling earlier in the week, the president replied:

More than 150 volunteers from 29 states spent 1,600 hours over the holiday weekend decking the White House halls.

The White House said that the first lady chose every detail of the decor and did a final check late Sunday after returning from the family’s Thanksgiving at their estate in Palm Beach, Fla.

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Trump visits Rosa Parks’ legacy in his weekly address

President Trump visited the legacy of civil rights icon Rosa Parks in his weekly address, which he shared Saturday via Twitter:

The president’s remarks Friday came on the anniversary of Parks’ arrest in 1955 for her refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus.

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Trump appears to revise explanation for Flynn’s firing in tweet

Dogged by signs that prosecutors are zeroing in on his inner circle, President Trump insisted Saturday he wasn’t worried about what his former national security advisor, Michael T. Flynn, may tell investigators after agreeing to a plea deal Friday.

“What has been shown is no collusion, no collusion,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a series of fundraising events in New York City.

In a tweet, Trump said he “had to fire” Flynn because the retired Army lieutenant general lied to Vice President Mike Pence and the FBI about contacts with Russia’s then-ambassador in Washington, Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about his conversations in December with Kislyak.

Trump wrote it’s a “shame” Flynn lied because “his actions during the transition were lawful,” adding: “There was nothing to hide!”

It was the first time Trump has said publicly that Flynn’s firing was related to his lying to the FBI. White House officials had previously said Flynn was fired because he misrepresented his conversations with Kisylak to Pence.

Trump’s tweet may indicate that he knew Flynn was in legal jeopardy for lying to the FBI when, the day after firing Flynn, Trump reportedly asked then-FBI Director James B. Comey if he could see his way “to letting Flynn go.” Comey wrote down Trump’s comments in notes he made after the Feb. 14 meeting.

Trump’s admission may bolster a case that Trump was obstructing justice by asking Comey to intervene in Flynn’s case. Trump fired Comey in May.

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Trump thanks ‘great Republicans’ after Senate passes tax bill

Senate Republicans, after a flurry of last-minute deals, salvaged their tax plan early Saturday and put Congress on track to deliver President Trump’s most significant first-year accomplishment.

Trump thanked legislators early Saturday in tweets.

“Look forward to signing a final bill before Christmas!” he wrote.

The ambitious package, opposed by Democrats as a giveaway to the wealthy that will pile on the national debt, challenges GOP orthodoxy against deficit spending. Even after accounting for future economic growth, the plan is estimated to add $1 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, despite Republican promises that the tax cuts will pay for themselves.

Still, all but one Republican voted to approve the bill. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, one of the GOP’s few remaining deficit hawks, joined all Democrats in opposing the plan in a 51-49 vote. The bill must now be reconciled with a House-passed version, a process that leaders hope to complete as early as next week.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera.

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Trump presses Senate to pass tax bill in tweets

President Trump touted an open letter that says that the Republican tax plan will accelerate economic growth.

The letter, first posted Wednesday on CNBC’s website, is signed by 137 economists but lists as its author the RATE Coalition, a political advocacy nonprofit representing a group of large U.S. corporations. The group describes its mission as reforming the tax code “by reducing the corporate income tax rate to make it more competitive with our nation’s major trading partners.”

Trump quoted from the letter Thursday afternoon in a tweet that also linked to a video highlighting relevant portions.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the RATE Coalition letter referred to the version of the tax bill passed by the House, or the legislation being debated in the Senate at the time of Trump’s tweet.

But a congressional analysis of the Senate tax bill released Thursday found that the legislation would increase the federal budget deficit by $1 trillion over the next decade even when taking into account increased economic growth.

Trump’s tweet Friday afternoon came as Senate Republicans scrambled to pass their bill after some setbacks, with a vote expected later in the evening.

The vote had initially been planned for Thursday, but the plan encountered new challenges after some dramatic, last-minute negotiations to win over GOP holdouts concerned about the congressional analysis’ projection that the bill would increase the federal deficit.

Earlier Friday, Trump tweeted that Senate Republicans “are working hard” to win passage and blamed Democrats for the holdup in voting on the legislation, writing, “They think it is too good and will not be given the credit!”

The tax bill had run into unexpected opposition Thursday night when Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee raised concerns about the staggering cost of the package and other provisions.

All three are Republicans, though only Corker remained a holdout, as of Friday evening.

No Democrats are expected to vote for the tax bill.

But since Republicans hold a 52-seat Senate majority, they can still pass the legislation, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a tie, provided they lose no more than two votes.

Read More – This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump tweets that reports of Tillerson’s impending ouster are ‘FAKE NEWS’

President Trump tweeted Friday afternoon that he is keeping embattled Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, though he would not say how long.

The tweet linked to an Instagram post with a picture of Tillerson being sworn in during a ceremony in the Oval Office.

Trump met for lunch Friday with Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis. Earlier in the day, Tillerson called reports of his potential departure “laughable.”

Trump’s tweet came on a day when most attention is focused on the guilty plea by Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor. Trump may be trying to show stability in his administration and undermine the credibility of the news media as it trains its attention on the Russia investigation.

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Trump tweets that Democrats ‘will pay a big price’ after acquittal in Steinle case

President Trump lashed out in multiple tweets against the acquittal of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate on murder and manslaughter charges, brushing aside the pleas of Kathryn Steinle’s family, who have asked to end the public battle over their daughter’s death.

Trump had tweeted at least three times on the verdict by Friday morning, including one in which he blamed the “weakly protected Obama border” for the “travesty of justice” and demanded “BUILD THE WALL!”

“The Schumer/Pelosi Democrats are so weak on Crime that they will pay a big price in the 2018 and 2020 Elections,” Trump wrote in another tweet.

Family members of Steinle had previously expressed frustration that the case had been wrapped up in politics and told the San Francisco Chronicle as they awaited the verdict that they hoped the moment would mark an end to their family’s role in public life.

“We’re just shocked — saddened and shocked ... that’s about it,” her father, Jim Steinle, told the paper.

Trump, who spoke about the case often during the campaign, lamented that the jury was not told of Garcia Zarate’s prior felony record. The Mexican national with multiple convictions had been deported five times; he was free at the time of the shooting after local prosecutors decided not to press charges against him in a marijuana possession case and did not turn him over to immigration officials.

Keeping mum about prior convictions is standard in criminal trials because such information is considered prejudicial, potentially undermining the constitutional right to a fair trial. Judges do, however, consider criminal records during sentencing. Garcia Zarate was convicted on one charge: possession of a firearm by a felon.

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Trump slams ‘disgraceful verdict’ in Steinle case

A man accused of fatally shooting Kathryn Steinle in a case that President Trump frequently cited in the national debate over illegal immigration was found not guilty on all counts except felony possession of a weapon.

Trump responded Thursday night with a tweet calling the verdict “disgraceful.”

“No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration,” he wrote.

Jurors deliberated for several days before returning the surprise verdict involving Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a Mexican immigrant in the the country illegally who had been deported five times before the fatal shooting.

Prosecutors had given the jury the option to convict Garcia Zarate of first- or second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter.

His defense argued that the weapon — stolen a few days earlier from a federal ranger’s nearby parked car — went off in the defendant’s hands.

Steinle was shot in the back in July 2015 as she walked with her father on San Francisco’s Pier 14, near Embarcadero and Mission streets. Less than an hour later, Garcia Zarate, a seven-time felon, was arrested about a mile away from the shooting scene.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brittny Mejia.

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Trump lights National Christmas Tree

Ringing in the holidays for the first time from Washington, President Trump lighted the national Christmas tree on Thursday evening, wishing the country “a merry Christmas” — as he vowed to do during his campaign.

Taking part in the annual ritual, Trump counted down from 10 before his wife, Melania, pushed a button to set the tree aglow.

“Today’s a day that I’ve been looking very much forward to all year long,” said Trump. “And now, as the president of the United States, it’s my tremendous honor to finally wish America and the world a very merry Christmas.”

During his campaign, Trump had promised that, when he was elected, people would be saying “merry Christmas again,” a reference to what he characterized as the country’s obsession with political correctness. In Trump’s view, the move toward the use of the more inclusive “happy holidays” phrase minimized the Christian celebration.

Speaking from behind a bulletproof glass enclosure, Trump also bragged about the mild weather, which hovered in the mid-50s, and compared himself to President Ulysses S. Grant, who signed legislation making Christmas a federal holiday.

“I sort of feel we’re doing that again,” Trump said to an audience that included many of his family members.

The program, which will air Monday on the Hallmark Channel, was hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and actor Dean Cain and featured performances by the Beach Boys, Jack Wagner, Wynonna Judd, Craig Campbell and others. It was a less high-profile lineup than last year, when the performers included Kelly Clarkson, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Marc Anthony, Yolanda Adams, the Lumineers, James Taylor and Chance the Rapper.

This year marks the 95th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting. The tradition began in 1923 with President Calvin Coolidge and takes place in President’s Park, just south of the White House.

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As Dow hits new high, Trump celebrates in tweets

Wall Street finished November with a broad rally that gave the Dow Jones industrial average its biggest gain since March and pushed it past the 24,000 mark for the first time.

President Trump celebrated the milestone Thursday with a series of tweets.

Stocks are being driven higher by a healthy economic backdrop and by the prospect that policy changes will fatten corporate profits.

The global economy is gathering momentum and a falling dollar has made American-made products cheaper overseas, benefiting U.S. corporations. And recent economic data have given investors more reason to feel bullish.

The Commerce Department reported this week that the U.S. economy grew at a 3.3% annual pace from July through September, the fastest in three years. Consumer spending and incomes posted healthy gains in October, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

American consumers, whose spending accounts for 70% of U.S. economic output, are in the sunniest mood since 2000, their disposition brightened by a healthy job market. The unemployment rate is at a 17-year low of 4.1 %.

Trump credited his winning the presidency with achieving the positive statistics in a tweet, though he incorrectly wrote that consumer confidence is “at an all-time high.”

But, he tweeted, had Democrats been victorious in 2016, “the Market would be down 50% from these levels and Consumer Confidence ... would be ‘low and glum!’ ”

The run-up in the market really kicked in Thursday after developments in Washington gave traders fresh optimism that the Republican-led effort to forge a sweeping tax cut bill will succeed.

The legislation would slash the tax on corporate earnings to 20% from 35%, reduce the likely taxes on foreign earnings and temporarily let companies immediately deduct the cost of investments from their taxes.

Traders have also welcomed the Trump administration’s bid to reduce regulations, especially on financial firms, potentially boosting profits.

The president’s pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mick Mulvaney, is expected to go easier on banks than his predecessor, Richard Cordray. Likewise, incoming Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell has said he believes regulators can roll back some of the tougher bank rules imposed after the financial crisis.

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Trump tweets that Bahrain and U.S. ‘are important partners’ after meeting with crown prince

President Trump met Thursday at the White House with the crown prince of Bahrain.

Trump told reporters at the meeting that Bahrain and the United States have had a “long relationship and a great relationship” that will only get better. He said Bahrain is “doing a lot of business” with the U.S. and “buying a lot of things.”

In a later tweet, Trump cited $9 billion worth of “commercial deals,” including the purchase of F-16 aircraft, that he said Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa would be “advancing” during his visit.

The crown prince said Thursday that his trip is very important to the kingdom and builds on 100 years of relations between the U.S. and Bahrain.

He said that the people of both countries have benefited and will continue to benefit from the relationship.

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Trump thanks Sen. Orrin Hatch for defending him after anti-Muslim retweets

President Trump thanked Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) for speaking out on his behalf after he raised a transatlantic outcry by retweeting anti-Muslim videos the day before.

On Thursday, Trump shared via Twitter an MSNBC video clip in which Hatch claimed that he wasn’t aware of the furor, as he doesn’t “pay much attention” to Trump’s tweets.

“I’ll say this for you,” Hatch continued. “He’s been one of the best presidents I’ve served under and the reason is, is he’s not afraid to make decisions. He’s not afraid to take on the big mouths around here.”

Trump sparked outrage Wednesday when he retweeted three videos from the account of a leader of a far-right British fringe group known for conducting “Christian patrols” in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods and arrested recently for inciting hatred and violence.

The videos, which purport to show Muslims engaged in acts of violence and anti-Christian incitement, came from the Twitter account of Jayda Fransen, a deputy leader of the group Britain First who was convicted last year of religiously aggravated harassment against a Muslim woman wearing a head scarf.

Trump’s move immediately drew condemnation from British Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as members of Parliament and the senior cleric of the Church of England.

In London, the furor grew sharper and louder Thursday — and moved to the floor of the venerable House of Commons, where one British lawmaker after another denounced the U.S. leader’s action and demanded the rescinding of an invitation for him to pay a state visit to the United Kingdom.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett, Laura King and Alex Wigglesworth and special correspondent Christina Boyle.

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Trump calls Kim Jong Un ‘Little Rocket Man’ on Twitter

President Trump lashed out again at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after the country’s latest ballistic missile test.

Trump tweeted Thursday:

North Korea launched its most powerful missile yet this week.

Trump has vowed to prevent North Korea from having the capability to strike the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-tipped missile, using military force if necessary.

He has made pressuring China a centerpiece of his strategy, and some observers suggested that China’s decision this month to send a special envoy to North Korea was prompted by Trump’s tour of Asia.

But, Trump tweeted Thursday, the envoy “seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man.” That’s the president’s nickname for Kim.

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Trump echoes ‘Fox & Friends’ in tweets denouncing New York Times editorial

President Trump cited “Fox & Friends” in a pair of tweets lashing out at the New York Times for promoting an editorial opposing the Republican tax bill.

Trump tweeted early Thursday that the Times “has become a virtual lobbyist” for the Democratic Party. He accused the paper of violating its own social media guidelines, which, Trump wrote, “they installed to preserve some credibility after many of their biased reporters went Rogue!”

The president included in one of his messages the Twitter handle for Fox News’ morning talk show.

The New York Times published the editorial, “Senate Considers Making a Terrible Tax Bill Even Worse,” on Tuesday.

In promoting the piece via the NYT Opinion Twitter account, the editorial board urged opponents of the tax bill to contact senators believed to be key players in its passage. Several tweets listed lawmakers’ office phone numbers and were tagged #thetaxbillhurts.

“Fox & Friends” took aim at the campaign during Thursday morning’s episode, with co-host Steve Doocy reading aloud from the Times’ social media policy to argue that the editorial board appeared to have violated the portion precluding journalists from expressing partisan opinions or promoting political views.

“It goes on to say, ‘These guidelines apply to every department in the newsroom,’” Doocy said of the policy. “I would imagine the opinion page is part of the newsroom.”

But according to to Clifford Levy, deputy managing editor of the New York Times, that is not the case.

Lee replied to Trump’s tweet with a link to the social media rules in question.

“I was a co-author of the expanded social media guidelines,” he wrote. “They apply to the NYT newsroom, not to NYT Opinion.”

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Trump goes after Democrats for opposing tax bill

President Trump talked up the GOP tax overhaul plan Wednesday after Senate Republicans pushed their version of the bill past another key hurdle.

A procedural vote, which passed 52 to 48, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed, marked an important milestone as the GOP-led Congress scrambled to deliver a significant accomplishment by the end of Trump’s first year in office.

In a tweet Wednesday evening, Trump lashed out at Democrats for opposing the legislation.

Outside of Democrats, he wrote, “the only people who don’t like” the bill “are the people who don’t understand it.”

That is not true. Polls show most Americans view the tax bill as benefiting the wealthy and corporations, skeptical it will do much for middle-class taxpayers. Outside analyses of the $1.5-trillion package echo those assessments despite revisions.

Republicans are nevertheless rushing ahead on a plan that may please wealthy donors, but it is opposed by most major categories of voters, including independents, women, minorities and young people, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month. Even among Republicans, support is hardly overwhelming, with 60% approving of the plan, 15% disapproving and 26% unsure.

Still, Trump highlighted Democrats’ role in opposing the measure and accused his predeccessor of doubling the national debt.

Trump, as a candidate, made a similar claim at a rally in Virginia Beach last September.

PolitiFact rated that claim “half true,” noting that the debt, by all measures, rose sharply during Obama’s presidency. But the fact-checking website also pointed out that the added debt wasn’t the sole responsibility of Obama, as other factors, including the actions of Congress and the economic recession that began in 2009, were at play.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump urges ‘deep state authorities’ to investigate Hillary Clinton in tweets

President Trump continues to call for renewed scrutiny of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of State, which the Justice Department formally closed more than a year ago.

In a tweet Wednesday night, Trump quoted from a Fox News report touting a “new Clinton email bombshell” from former Inspector General Charles McCullough III.

Trump’s message linked to a video clip of the segment, which aired Monday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

In the interview, McCullough told Fox News’ Catherine Herridge that some of the emails found on Clinton’s server had contained information that was more sensitive than the public was led to believe.

“Had the information been released, there would have been harm to national security,” he said.

The president tweeted again about the segment on Tuesday, writing, “Why aren’t our deep State authorities looking at this?”

The term “deep state” refers to the idea of a secretive, coordinated network inside the government dedicated to undermining the administration.

Former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon has alleged that a deep state exists in America, and the term is often used on air by Fox News personalities, including Sean Hannity and the “Fox & Friends” co-hosts.

Though Trump has alluded in the past to his belief in the idea, Tuesday’s tweet was the first time he appeared to explicitly endorse it.

The president again used the term Wednesday in a tweet about a different Fox News report, on House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes threatening to pursue charges of contempt of Congress against Justice Department and FBI officials for allegedly withholding from the committee information about a dossier of allegations about Trump’s connections to Russia.

Nunes stepped aside months ago from leading the panel’s Russia investigation amid a House Ethics Committee inquiry into whether he improperly disclosed classified information, and amid Democratic concerns that he was too close to Trump.

But according to the Fox News report, he has sought to obtain unspecified documents, as well as testimony from an FBI witness, that “could shed light on whether U.S. officials under then-President Barack Obama relied on the infamous anti-Trump ‘dossier’ to justify surveillance against associates of then-candidate Donald Trump.”

“Big stuff. Deep State,” Trump tweeted Wednesday night. “Give this information NOW!”

Trump’s apparent preoccupation with the “deep state” comes as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian election interference appears to be ramping up.

After a meeting between Mueller’s prosecutors and former national security advisor Michael Flynn reported to have taken place Monday, speculation has mounted that Flynn is discussing a possible plea deal in connection with the probe.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writers David S. Cloud and Kurtis Lee.

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Trump hits back at British prime minister in spat over anti-Muslim videos

President Trump extended his flirtation with racist extremists internationally on Wednesday — and drew a rare rebuke from two European allies — by retweeting three anti-Muslim videos from a far-right fringe group in Britain.

“It is wrong for the president to have done this,” said James Slack, spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May. He described the group, Britain First, as one that “seeks to divide communities by their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tension.”

Compounding the sudden diplomatic muddle with the United States’ closest ally, Trump hit back at the prime minister Wednesday night, again on Twitter:

May wasn’t alone in her irritation with Trump. Members of Parliament and the senior cleric of the Church of England also condemned the American president. Officials of the Netherlands weighed in as well, implicitly criticizing Trump in a statement that disputed one of the videos and noted, “Facts do matter.”

The ultranationalist Britain First — a name with echoes of Trump’s “America First” slogan — is known there for conducting “Christian patrols” in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods. Its deputy leader, whose Twitter posts Trump retweeted, was arrested last week on suspicion of inciting hatred and violence, and was convicted last year of harassing a Muslim.

Trump’s posts were just his latest to cause trouble diplomatically since he took office. This week, Libya’s state-controlled media seized on recent Trump tweets lambasting cable network CNN as “fake news,” to label as lies CNN International’s report of a Libyan auction in which African migrants were sold into slavery.

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Trump travels to Missouri to build support for GOP tax plan

President Trump traveled Wednesday to Missouri in an attempt to push the GOP tax overhaul plan over the finish line.

It was Trump’s second visit to the state to build support for the plan. In his speech at a local convention center, Trump made a populist appeal for the Republican tax package, saying it would “bring Main Street rolling back.”

“Our focus is on helping the folks who work in the mailrooms and the machine shops of America, the plumbers, the carpenters, the cops, the teachers, the truck drivers, the pipe fitters — the people that like me best,” Trump said in a meandering speech in St. Charles.

“It is not enough for the middle class to keep getting by. We want them to start getting way ahead,” he said.

But while the White House says the plan will be a boon to middle-income families by helping small-business owners and workers, sparking economic growth and simplifying the tax code, critics say both the House and Senate versions will disproportionately help the wealthy and corporations.

Trump used the speech to tout his own accomplishments in office — declaring “there has never been a 10-month president who has accomplished” as much — as well as boost Missouri Atty. Gen. Josh Hawley, who is running for the seat currently held by Democrat Claire McCaskill. Trump said in August that if McCaskill didn’t support his plan, voters should push her out of office.

“I said, ‘Josh when you’re ready, you have my word, I’m going to come here and campaign with you,’” Trump said on Wednesday. “We gotta get you in.”

The president’s visit came a day after the Senate Finance Committee advanced a sweeping tax package to the full Senate, handing Republican leaders a victory as they try to pass the nation’s first tax overhaul in 31 years.

But the bill still faces hurdles in the Senate, where Republicans have just two votes to spare in their 52-48 edge over Democrats. A separate version of the plan has already passed in the House.

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Trump threatens to ramp up sanctions against North Korea in tweet

President Trump is threatening to ramp up sanctions against North Korea, a strategy that so far has proved ineffective against its nuclear development, in retaliation for the country’s latest ballistic missile test.

Trump tweeted Wednesday that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the test, after speaking late Tuesday with South Korea’s president. The test came days after Trump’s return from Asia, where the subject of North Korea was a primary focus of talks with both leaders as well as Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Trump already had stepped up sanctions and last week put North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The “major sanctions” that Trump said would be imposed are a reminder of how limited American options are in facing off with a nuclear foe that now claims, with the new test, to have the capacity to reach Washington, D.C.

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After Matt Lauer’s firing, Trump attacks the press in tweets

President Trump turned the firing of NBC’s Matt Lauer into a fresh opportunity to attack the press Wednesday, unleashing a series of cryptic and personal tweets aimed at prominent media figures.

As many Americans were eating breakfast, the president swiftly responded to the abrupt dismissal of the longtime “Today” show host by condemning NBC News and its Philadelphia-based parent company, Comcast Corp.

Trump said on Twitter:

Trump referenced the NBC News chairman, adding: “Check out Andy Lack’s past!” It was not immediately clear what that comment referred to.

NBC declined to comment on Trump’s tweets. It announced Wednesday that it had terminated Lauer after receiving a “detailed complaint” from a colleague about sexual misconduct.

In another tweet, the president used Lauer’s firing to lash out at “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough and MSNBC President Phil Griffin.

Wednesday’s tweets carried a sharply personal tone against a network that made Trump one of its biggest stars on “The Apprentice.”

Speaking of Griffin, Trump tweeted that in light of Lauer’s departure, “when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin?”

Turning to Scarborough, Trump wrote: “And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the “unsolved mystery” that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!”

The president may have been referring to the 2001 death of an employee for Scarborough when he was serving as a Republican congressman from Florida. The 28-year-old woman was found dead in the congressman’s district office. A doctor who performed her autopsy said she suffered an abnormal heart rhythm, and police said at the time there were no signs of foul play.

Scarborough responded with his own tweet:

Trump has had a running feud with Scarborough and his “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski. After the two questioned Trump’s mental stability on their show, Trump last summer issued a crude tweet questioning Brzezinski’s intelligence, looks and temperament.

The president’s tweets seeking to undermine the media have been a mainstay of Trump’s first year in office. The latest examples come amid tension over an upcoming White House holiday party.

CNN, which is among Trump’s favorite targets, announced Tuesday that the network’s reporters would not be attending Friday’s White House Christmas party, an annual tradition in which reporters and administration officials interact in a more relaxed setting.

“In light of the president’s continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN, we do not feel it is appropriate to celebrate with him as his invited guests,” the network said in a statement, adding that it intended to send “a White House reporting team to the event” to cover any news.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to the CNN announcement with a celebratory tweet:

Trump piled on, tweeting:

Trump’s comment on “Fake News” was a reiteration of his long-standing complaints about mainstream news outlets that he contends have covered his presidency unfairly and inaccurately. Trump, who often deems stories that he doesn’t like to be fake news, has maintained an ongoing battle with the media.

His latest tweets follow a spate of posts in recent days denigrating the press, including one in which he suggested a contest to determine “the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted” news organization.

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Trump touts rise in consumer confidence index, despite some signs of trouble

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index hit 129.5 this month, up from 126.2 in October and the highest since November 2000.

The business research group’s index measures consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their outlook for the next six months. Both improved this month.

President Trump celebrated the development Tuesday and Wednesday in a series of tweets.

Economists closely monitor the report because consumer spending accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic output.

The overall index hit bottom at 25.3 in February 2009 at the depths of the Great Recession before rebounding as the U.S. economy recovered.

While consumer confidence is at a 17-year high, unemployment is at a 17-year low. The economy appears to be humming, with growth of 3% at last measure.

And initial numbers show millions more Americans shopped over the long holiday weekend than last year. The average spending per person was about $335 on gifts and other items, according to National Retail Federation.

Consumer borrowing is up, and Americans seem to be tapping into their savings for this increase in spending too, as the savings rate has fallen since the middle of 2016, said Lara Rhame, senior economist at FS Investments.

But other indicators suggest there may be less merry times ahead.

Unemployment is so low in part because many people stopped looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed. Income, the biggest indicator of a consumer’s ability to shop, is a muddy area too. Pay gains are sluggish as companies struggle to increase prices and wages in a low-inflation and weak-productivity environment.

“If you look at where the upward momentum comes from, it’s hard to see consumers accelerating from here,” Rhame said. “Without wage growth, I don’t find them able to accelerate.”

Rhame also pointed out in her research that while consumer confidence has been soaring, that hasn’t translated into actual spending at retailers.

The two typically move in lockstep, but retail sales growth has been decelerating for years. Since 2014, year-over-year sales growth has averaged about 3.4% — much lower than the 5.3% seen from 2010 to 2013. That has her concerned because a slowdown in consumer spending could pull U.S. growth lower.

“Cash dollars going in the register is what really matters in the end,” she said.

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Trump tweets: ‘Great day for Tax Cuts and the Republican Party’

After a flurry of last-minute concessions by President Trump to win over reluctant Republicans, the GOP tax plan cleared a key committee vote Tuesday and appeared better positioned for passage when the full Senate votes, probably later this week.

Trump praised the vote Tuesday night in a tweet, writing, “the biggest winner will be our great Country!”

Even so, with Republicans’ slim 52-seat majority in the Senate, it would take only three of the remaining half a dozen or so GOP holdouts to block the bill, which Republicans hope will be their signature legislative achievement of Trump’s first year in office. The bill, which still needs to be reconciled with a House version, remains a work in progress.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump celebrates victory in legal battle over temporary leadership of CFPB

The first round in the legal battle over interim leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau went to President Trump on Tuesday when a federal judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order to keep his choice for the job, Mick Mulvaney, from serving as acting director.

Trump celebrated the victory with a tweet:

Still, the attorney for the agency’s deputy director, Leandra English, who is supported by consumer advocates, maintained she is the lawful acting director, indicating the fight was not over in a case that raises constitutional questions and may be headed to the Supreme Court.

“I think everyone understands this court is not the final stop, this judge does not have the final word on what happens in this controversy,” said her attorney, Deepak Gupta.

The denial of the restraining order cannot be appealed, but Gupta said that he was considering other legal options, including seeking a preliminary injunction that could be appealed if not granted.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Jim Puzzanghera.

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‘I don’t see a deal!’ Trump changes tone on working with ‘Chuck and Nancy’ on immigration, taxes

President Trump, the self-professed deal-maker, once again has dealt a setback to a bipartisan legislative deal — this time with potentially significant consequences: the threat of a government shutdown.

Hours before a scheduled Oval Office meeting with congressional leaders to discuss a packed year-end agenda of must-pass measures, Trump on Twitter excoriated Democrats “Chuck and Nancy” — Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and falsely claimed that their demands include higher taxes and “unchecked” immigration. “I don’t see a deal!” he added.

Schumer, of New York, and Pelosi, from San Francisco, quickly responded by pulling out of the meeting. In a joint statement, they said, “We don’t have any time to waste” on an apparently pointless “show meeting” with Trump and would continue to negotiate with Republican leaders instead.

Schumer later said he would return to the table with Trump only if the president stopped being a “destructive force.”

Trump then tried to capitalize on the Democrats’ snub, bringing reporters into a White House meeting room to photograph him sitting between two empty chairs with Schumer’s and Pelosi’s names on place cards. The Republican leaders who typically sit in those prime seats — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin — sat on the far ends of the table.

“So they decided not to show up,” Trump said of the Democrats. “They’ve been all talk and they’ve been no action,” he said, “and now it’s even worse. Now, it’s not even talk.”

Trump’s theatrical broadside seemed to channel his own advice from his 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal,” in which Trump, then a New York real estate investor, wrote: “The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead.”

But in Washington, where lawmakers have honed ways to use negotiating leverage over decades of legislative battles, Trump runs the risk of alienating partners he needs to move his agenda forward. And he needs Democrats in coming weeks as much as at any time in his presidency.

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Trump shares statement on Giving Tuesday

President Trump shared via Twitter a statement calling for Americans to participate in Giving Tuesday.

The daylong national event is designed to help charities raise money online.

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Trump tweets defense of Melania after critical magazine article

President Trump pushed back Tuesday after Vanity Fair magazine, citing an anonymous source, reported that Melania Trump didn’t want to become first lady “come hell or high water” and that she didn’t think it would happen.

Trump also took offense at the magazine’s assertion that he also never thought he’d be elected.

He tweeted:

It wasn’t the first time Trump felt compelled to stand up for his former fashion model spouse.

He complained in an October television interview about the “tremendous abuse” she endured for leaving the White House in her signature stilettos as she joined him on a recent trip to survey hurricane damage in Texas. Sharp critiques about her footwear lit up social media as soon as departure photos of the Trumps were posted. The first lady changed into sneakers during the flight.

“She wants to look, out of respect for the White House, wants to look good leaving the front entrance to the White House,” Trump said in the interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Trinity Broadcasting Network. “So she dresses up and she puts on formal shoes, high heels, and she leaves the White House going to Texas.”

Trump said his wife is a private person and “she doesn’t need this,” meaning the criticism. “But she does like to help people. She sees how important it is.”

Trump directed a kind tweet at his daughter, Ivanka.

Trump replied to a tweet from the State Department that linked to a video clip of Ivanka’s remarks on women entrepreneurship at a conference in India.

“Great work Ivanka!” Trump wrote.

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Trump renews complaints about kneeling NFL players

President Trump is renewing his complaints about NFL players who kneel during the national anthem.

Trump tweeted Tuesday that players knelt at stadiums that he says are having a hard time filling up with fans.

Players have been kneeling to protest racism as well as police brutality, particularly toward people of color. Trump says the act is disrespectful and is hurting the game.

He has branded the league as “weak” for not requiring players to stand during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

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Trump tweet suggests that tax bill is undergoing revisions

President Trump will welcome key Republicans to the White House on Monday to push a tax reform plan that has become complicated by a year-end legislative sprint in Congress.

Several Republican senators are expressing reservations about the tax overhaul, a $1.5-trillion package that could become the most significant achievement of Trump’s first year in office, but has low public support among voters.

Trump said that revisions are being made in an appeal to reluctant Republicans as he invited several Senate Finance Committee members for lunch. The president will also meet with all Republican senators Tuesday at the Capitol.

Trump tweeted Monday morning:

The president continued to prod senators later Monday:

Pushing ahead on tax reform has become tangled by other looming agenda items. Congress must reach a budget accord soon or risk a government shutdown next week, but the tax bill’s $1.5-trillion price tag has raised concerns among the Senate’s few remaining deficit hawks.

Lawmakers are also mulling an Obamacare fix to stave off rising premiums that some senators want completed before they agree to the tax bill, which includes a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that Americans carry insurance.

Other senators want a year-end immigration deal for young immigrants known as “Dreamers,” who face deportation early next year when Trump plans to end a program that allows them to stay in the country temporarily with work permits.

The tax package, though, remains the GOP’s top priority as Republicans prepare to close out the year with few other legislative accomplishments.

It got a boost Monday when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced he would be backing the package.

“This bill is not perfect,” Paul wrote in an op-ed on FoxNews.com. “The next few weeks in Washington will be important. Will we keep our word and cut taxes?”

Trump thanked the senator in a tweet:

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Trump continues to attack news media in tweets

President Trump continued to criticize the news media in tweets on Monday.

In his first social media message of the morning, Trump sarcastically suggested a contest to determine which television news network, “plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me).”

“Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!” he wrote.

The president also replied to a tweet from White House social media director Dan Scavino, who had shared a Breitbart report on a purported controversy involving MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” talk show.

During the episode that aired the day after Thanksgiving, banter from hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski gave viewers the impression that the broadcast was live. The program was actually taped that Wednesday.

“The good news is that their ratings are terrible, nobody cares!” Trump responded.

Trump has lashed out at the news media in tweets many times since taking office. That’s included both singling out certain outlets, particularly when he finds coverage of his administration to be unflattering, and launching volleys at the industry in general. He usually excludes Fox News from his criticism, while CNN and the “Morning Joe” hosts are perennial targets.

The intensity and timing of Trump’s most recent tweets targeting CNN, in particular, have raised eyebrows. The Department of Justice last week sued to block AT&T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of CNN’s parent company, Time Warner Inc., sparking questions about whether the president’s animosity toward the network had played a role.

Trump also mentioned CNN on Twitter on Saturday, when he called the network’s international arm “a major source of (Fake) news” and wrote that “they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly.”

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Trump teases ‘big week’ for tax bill in tweet

President Trump talked up the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code on Sunday, tweeting that the legislation “is getting better and better.”

Trump’s tweet came within hours of his return to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Senate Republicans will hopefully come through for all of us,” he wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is set to fast-track the tax bill through the chamber this week.

But polls show most Americans view the bill as benefiting the wealthy and corporations, skeptical it will do much for middle-class taxpayers. Outside analyses of the $1.5-trillion package echo those assessments despite revisions.

Republicans are nevertheless rushing ahead on a plan that may please wealthy donors, but it is opposed by most major categories of voters, including independents, women, minorities and young people, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. Even among Republicans, support is hardly overwhelming, with 60% approving of the plan, 15% disapproving and 26% unsure.

Part of the problem has been the unusual speed by which Republicans are muscling through the House and Senate tax bills, which permanently slash corporate rates to their lowest level in decades, 20%, but make only temporary cuts to individual taxes while doing away with popular write-offs and deductions.

Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump denounces allegations of Russian election meddling as ‘phony Democrat excuse for losing’

President Trump again hit out at allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election as a “phony Democrat excuse for losing.”

In a tweet sent Sunday afternoon, Trump also claimed that he has “possibly done more than any 10 month President” despite his political rivals’ focus on Russia’s role in the election.

Trump’s suggestion that allegations of Russian meddling are merely a distraction is contrary to the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies, which have concluded that Russia sought to influence the election to help Trump win.

The issue is the subject of an investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is also looking into whether members of Trump’s campaign team cooperated with Russian officials.

Trump frequently labels the investigation a “witch hunt” and a “hoax” in tweets. He has continued to do so even after Mueller’s announcement of the first criminal charges stemming from the inquiry.

Indictments were filed late last month against two of Trump’s former top campaign aides, and court documents disclosed that a third former aide had pleaded guilty to making false statements and had agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s prosecutors.

Trump’s latest tweet came amid mounting speculation that his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, is also cooperating with the special counsel investigation.

That was sparked by the revelation, first reported by the New York Times on Wednesday, that lawyers for Flynn have told lawyers for Trump that they are no longer communicating with them about Mueller’s investigation.

The decision could be a sign that Flynn is moving to cooperate or negotiate a deal for himself.

Flynn was forced to resign from the national security post in February after White House officials concluded that he had misled them about the nature of his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump reiterates support for Alabama’s Roy Moore in tweets

President Trump on Sunday reiterated support for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, despite numerous allegations against him of sexual misconduct and harassment.

“We can’t let Schumer-Pelosi win this race,” Trump tweeted Sunday morning from his Mar-a-Lago golf resort, where he has been spending the Thanksgiving holiday. He was referencing Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who head the Democratic contingents in their respective chambers of Congress.

Numerous women have come forward to accuse Moore, an ultra-conservative Republican, of various degrees of sexual harassment, including assault, when he was in his 30s more than 30 years ago. One of the accusers was 14 years old at the time.

Trump backed Moore’s opponent, Luther Strange, in the Republican primary, but Strange lost to Moore.

Now, says Trump, the party cannot afford to allow Democratic candidate Doug Jones to win. A Jones victory could threaten upcoming Senate votes, Trump’s aides have argued, even though whoever wins in the Dec. 12 special election would likely not be seated in time for the crucial tax reform bill.

Trump’s insistence on supporting Moore puts him at odds with many in his party, who believe his candidacy has become untenable.

Even Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, harshly condemned Moore’s alleged behavior.

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Trump slams CNN in tweet days after Justice Dept. sues to block merger

President Trump lamented CNN’s international viewership Saturday and suggested that Fox News more accurately covers U.S. current events.

Trump tweeted that CNN “represent[s] our Nation to the WORLD very poorly.”

“The outside world does not see the truth from them!” he wrote.

CNN swiftly responded via Twitter:

The president also thanked the administrators of a pro-Trump Twitter account and website that lists what they see as the president’s accomplishments. As of Saturday evening, the site was unavailable due to technical difficulties.

Trump frequently refers to CNN as “fake news” on Twitter.

His latest tweet comes about a week after the Department of Justice sued to block AT&T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc., which owns CNN.

The lawsuit, filed Monday evening in U.S. District Court in Washington, sets the stage for a high-stakes showdown and immediately fueled questions about whether Trump was using the nation’s top law enforcement agency to settle scores with perceived rivals.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Meg James and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump lashes out at departing consumer bureau chief in tweets

President Trump lashed out Saturday on Twitter at the departing leader of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose resignation has resulted in dueling claims to the bureau’s temporary leadership.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has been a total disaster as run by the previous Administrations pick,” Trump tweeted from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., where he is spending a long Thanksgiving weekend.

“Financial Institutions have been devastated and unable to properly serve the public. We will bring it back to life!”

Richard Cordray, a President Obama appointee long praised by consumer advocates and criticized by congressional Republicans, announced this week that Friday would be his last day as director of the bureau.

In tendering his resignation Friday, Cordray elevated Leandra English, who was the agency’s chief of staff, into the deputy director position. Citing the Dodd-Frank Act that created the bureau, he said English, an ally of his, would become acting director upon his departure.

His move was widely seen an attempt to stop Trump from shaping the agency in the months ahead.

But a few hours after Cordray submitted his resignation, Trump named his own pick for interim leader of the bureau.

The president’s choice for temporary appointee, Mick Mulvaney, had been widely anticipated. Mulvaney, currently director of the Office of Management and Budget, has been an outspoken critic of the agency and would be expected to reverse many of Cordray’s actions in the six years since he was appointed.

The clashing appointments raise the question: What happens when the two new heads show up and try to sit at the same desk and give orders?

Who prevails in the legal wrangling is seen as important even though this involves just a temporary posting. Getting a permanent replacement approved by the Senate could take months.

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Trump tweets support for Small Business Saturday

President Trump signaled his support for Small Business Saturday in a tweet sent Saturday morning.

Small Business Saturday was invented by American Express in 2010 to help local businesses cash in on the holiday shopping surge.

The effort is now co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which is lead by former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon.

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Trump tweets he turned down Time’s ‘Person of the Year,’ but magazine says otherwise

Time magazine is disputing President Trump’s account of how he rejected the magazine’s request for an interview and photo sessions ahead of its “Person of the Year” issue.

In a Friday evening tweet, Trump said the magazine informed him he was “probably” going to be granted the title for the second year in a row.

Later that evening, Time tweeted that Trump “is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year.” The magazine said it doesn’t comment on its choice until publication.

Last year, Trump was named Time’s “Person of the Year.” He frequently brags about his cover appearances in the iconic magazine. He has falsely claimed to hold the record of cover appearances.

The magazine will unveil its Person of the Year on Dec. 6.

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Trump renews call for travel ban in tweets responding to Egypt attack

President Trump denounced the deadly mosque attack in Egypt and reached out to its president, asserting the world must crush terrorists by military means — and insisting the United States needs a southern border wall and the travel ban tied up in courts.

“Need the WALL, need the BAN!” Trump tweeted Friday before calling Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi. “God bless the people of Egypt.”

Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before his attention turned to the attack in Egypt, where at least 235 people were killed when Islamic militants attacked a crowded mosque during prayers in the Sinai Peninsula, setting off explosives and spraying worshippers with gunfire.

Ahead of the phone call, Trump tweeted that he would speak with Erdogan “about bringing peace to the mess that I inherited in the Middle East.”

It’s unclear exactly which countries Trump was referring to, but he has cited $6 trillion in the past to assess U.S. spending on conflicts in the Middle East.

Fact checkers have found that number to be only partially accurate since it falls on the high end of analysts’ estimates and includes future medical care, disability benefits and nation-building costs.

The aftermath of Friday’s mosque attack played out as Trump mixed work and play in sunny Florida, golfing — quickly, he claimed — with pros Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson, speaking with foreign leaders and tweeting briskly.

“The world cannot tolerate terrorism,” Trump tweeted in response to the attack. He added, “We must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!”

In his call with Sisi, the White House said Trump condemned the attack and “reiterated that the United States will continue to stand with Egypt in the face of terrorism.”

“The international community cannot tolerate barbaric terrorist groups and must strengthen its efforts to defeat terrorism and extremism in all its forms,” the White House said.

Trump also used the attack to renew his call for a wall along the southern border with Mexico and his efforts to bar people from certain Muslim-majority countries from coming to the U.S.

Trump’s original travel ban sought to temporarily suspend the U.S. refugee program and block the entry of nationals from seven majority-Muslim counties into the U.S. The order sparked chaos at airports and a flurry of lawsuits, which led to the order’s suspension. The administration has since made several attempts to revise the order to try to better hold up to legal scrutiny.

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Trump rails against NFL for failing to quash national anthem protests

He’s not letting it go.

President Trump continued to rail against football players who kneel during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality.

In a Black Friday tweet, he also accused NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell of having “lost control” of what Trump called a “hemorrhaging league” where “Players are the boss!”

Trump’s tweet was in response to one from his social media chief, Dan Scavino.

Scavino had shared a Breitbart News story about New York Giants player Olivier Vernon taking the knee during the anthem on Thanksgiving ahead of a game against the Redskins.

The website is run by Trump’s former chief strategist.

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Trump talks up his achievements in Thanksgiving messages

President Trump on Thursday used a gratitude message to American troops overseas to take credit for a “win” in Afghanistan and to “give thanks to God” for freedom.

The unusual Thanksgiving message was delivered by Trump from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida over an internet connection to military men and women stationed near Kabul.

“I have to say just directly to the folks in Afghanistan: Everybody’s talking about the progress you’ve made in the last few months since I opened it up,” Trump said, according to pool reports.

“We opened it up. We said, ‘Go ahead; we’re going to fight to win.’ We’re not fighting anymore to just walk around. We’re fighting to win, and you people are really, you’ve turned it around over the last three to four months like nobody’s seen. And they are talking about it. So thank you very much.

“Brave, incredible fighters.”

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump also made a trip to a nearby Coast Guard station in Riviera Beach, Fla., where they delivered lunch to men and women on duty for the holidays.

During his remarks there, Trump singled out the service for its hurricane relief efforts during Harvey and the other storms that battered the country this year.

“There’s no brand that went up more than the Coast Guard,” Trump told them. “What a job you’ve done.”

Trump praised the superiority of U.S. military equipment, too, yet said he tries to make sure that equipment the United States sells abroad — even to allies — is not quite as good as that kept at home.

“I always say, make ours a little bit better,” Trump said. “Keep about 10% in the bag.” He added: “You never know about an ally. An ally can turn.”

Earlier via Twitter, Trump spoke of what he sees as his accomplishments in office: “Jobs coming back, highest Stock Market EVER, Military getting really strong, we will build the WALL”

The last was a reference to a barrier Trump wants to build along the U.S. southern border with Mexico.

Trump also listed some of those agenda items during a pre-recorded Thanksgiving message addressed to members of the American public, which he shared Thursday via Twitter.

Later in the evening, Trump tweeted praise for reported confidant and Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Trump also applauded YouTube personalities Diamond and Silk, who often defend the president in social media postings.

The president did depart from his gracious tone at one point on Thursday, when he called the nation’s healthcare law “a disaster” and blamed Democrats for holding up the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

Trump pledged that the GOP will again try to roll back the healthcare law after attempting to pass tax reform legislation, which he hopes to have done by Christmas.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson and the Associated Press.

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Trump tweets that U.S. is helping search for missing Argentine submarine

Ships and planes hunting for a missing Argentine submarine with 44 crew members will return to a previously search area after officials said Wednesday that a noise made a week ago in the South Atlantic could provide a clue to the vessel’s location.

The Argentine navy spokesman, Capt. Enrique Balbi, said the “hydro-acoustic anomaly” was determined by the United States and specialist agencies to have been produced Nov. 15, just hours after the final contact with the submarine San Juan and could have come from the sub.

President Trump went on Twitter to offer his good wishes to Argentina, though he inflated the number of missing sailors by one.

Hopes were lifted after brief satellite calls were received and when sounds were detected deep in the South Atlantic. But experts later determined that neither was from the sub. A U.S. Navy aircraft later spotted flares and a life raft was found in the search area, but authorities said neither came from the submarine.

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From Mar-a-Lago, Trump tweets about NFL protests, traffic and tax cuts

President Trump spoke out Wednesday against the idea of keeping NFL players in the locker room during the playing of the national anthem as a response to some players refusing to stand to protest racial inequality and police brutality.

“That’s almost as bad as kneeling! When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart?” Trump wrote in an early-morning tweet. “This issue is killing your league!”

Trump was spending the Thanksgiving holiday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he stressed he’ll be “having meetings and working the phones” and not just vacationing.

Later in the afternoon, the president touted a Fox News report on holiday travel.

He also replied to a tweet from his daughter, Ivanka, in which she highlighted a drop in the number of applications for unemployment benefits.

The president responded that the job market “will get even better with Tax Cuts!”

Republicans contend that their tax plan will spur economic growth and job creation through business tax cuts.

But two new analyses released Tuesday raised fresh concerns ahead of next week’s expected Senate vote.

Almost 1 in 10 taxpayers would initially see a tax hike under the revised Senate tax plan, and the proposal would add as much as $2.4 trillion in long-term debt, according to the reports from the Tax Policy Center and Penn Wharton.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump offers prayers after Navy aircraft crash

The White House says President Trump has been briefed on the Navy aircraft mishap in the Pacific Ocean.

Trump tweeted:

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters provided no additional details or comment on the incident.

The U.S. Navy said that eight of the 11 people who were on the plane that crashed while on the way to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier have been rescued and are in good condition.

The search continues for three missing personnel.

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Trump calls LaVar Ball ‘ungrateful fool’ on Twitter

Early Wednesday morning, President Trump called LaVar Ball an “ungrateful fool” on Twitter, continuing the pair’s public spat after Ball’s son LiAngelo was detained in China along with two other UCLA players on suspicion of shoplifting.

Ball has refused to give Trump credit for helping secure the players’ return to the U.S., even suggesting that Ball himself helped secure his son’s release — which apparently infuriated the president.

Trump had previously vented his frustration with Ball on Sunday, tweeting of the UCLA players, “I should have left them in jail!”

UCLA players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill had traveled with their team for an exhibition game in China when they were placed under house arrest at their hotel in Hangzhou, China, on Nov. 6 in connection with a shoplifting report at a luxury store near their hotel.

The players were released Nov. 14, and Trump credited the intervention of Chinese President Xi Jinping. But in recent interviews, Ball has expressed skepticism about Trump’s role.

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Trump tweets that presidential turkey pardon is ‘a wonderful American Tradition’

President Trump wielded his pardon power Tuesday to spare a pair of turkeys from the Thanksgiving roaster.

In a brief and humorous White House ceremony, Trump extended the annual presidential tradition of pardoning turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving, an act of leniency that prolongs the lives of Minnesota-bred gobblers Wishbone and Drumstick, with the latter receiving the formal reprieve.

Trump said that he and the first lady have welcomed many special visitors to the White House, including world leaders, Congress members “and, along the way, a few very strange birds. But we have yet to receive any visitors quite like our magnificent guest of honor today, Drumstick.”

The president was headed later Tuesday to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where he was spending the holiday with family.

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Trump cites ‘Fox & Friends’ in tweet touting strong economy

President Trump quoted Fox News’ morning talk show in a tweet touting the strength of the economy early Monday.

“Analysts predict economic boom for 2018!” Trump wrote. That was also the text that flashed onscreen during a Monday morning “Fox & Friends” segment featuring pundit Stuart Varney.

Trump included the Twitter handles of Varney and “Fox & Friends” in his message.

The president has been known to watch “Fox & Friends,” which airs daily from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern time, and to provide real-time commentary via Twitter.

Monday appears to have been no different. Another early-morning tweet, in which Trump criticized Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch for remaining seated during the national anthem, was sent about 15 minutes after the conclusion of a “Fox & Friends” segment on the topic, according to liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America.

During his “Fox & Friends” appearance Monday morning, Varney said that Trump “has succeeded on the economy,” citing an unemployment rate of 4.1% and economic growth averaging a 3% annual rate.

Trump has increasingly touted low unemployment, record high stock market values and healthy economic growth rates in speeches and his ubiquitous tweets.

But Democratic officials say there’s little evidence to back Trump’s claim that his election has worked a turnaround in the U.S. economy.

The unemployment rate, for example, has dropped steadily for more than eight years. It was at 5% or below throughout 2016 — at a time when Trump sometimes said official unemployment statistics were fake — and the downward trend continued this year. Unemployment now sits at just over 4%.

Similarly, the stock market was on the rise for almost all of President Obama’s eight years in office and has continued to tick upward since Trump’s election.

Moreover, few of Trump’s economic policies have actually been adopted.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers David Lauter and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump criticizes Marshawn Lynch for sitting during U.S. anthem and standing for Mexico’s

Marshawn Lynch stood during the national anthem on Sunday for the first time all year. Only it wasn’t the U.S. national anthem.

The Oakland Raiders running back has taken a seat for “The Star-Spangled Banner” ever since coming out of retirement this season and has not given a reason why. He continued the practice this week before the Raiders’ game against the New England Patriots in Mexico City.

Then the Mexican national anthem played — and Lynch rose to his feet.

As ESPN pointed out, Lynch did stand for the first few bars of the U.S. anthem and wasn’t completely at attention during the Mexican anthem.

Nonetheless, his actions caught the attention of President Trump, who lashed out at Lynch in a Monday morning tweet.

For much of the season, Trump has been critical of players who protest by not standing for the anthem. During a speech at a rally in September, he called on NFL owners to fire players who behave in such a manner.

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Trump prods Senate GOP to pass tax bill

President Trump pressed Republican senators to pass a tax bill in a tweet sent Sunday night.

“Hopefully it will not be long and they do not want to disappoint the American public!” he wrote.

Trump’s tweet came three days after the Senate tax bill was approved by the Finance Committee and sent to the full Senate on a party-line 14-12 vote.

But Senate GOP leaders are facing mounting dissent and criticism that their plan favors corporations and the wealthy. An analysis by Congress’ bipartisan tax experts on Thursday concluded the Senate plan would raise taxes for some of the poorest Americans by 2021.

At least six Republican senators have yet to declare support for the legislation, leaving the bill’s fate far from certain in a chamber the GOP controls by just 52-48. Republicans cannot afford to lose more than two senators on the final vote, which would allow Vice President Mike Pence to cast a tie-breaking vote in his capacity as president of the Senate.

House Republicans approved their own sweeping tax-cut package Thursday, but the Senate plan has key differences and is facing greater hurdles for passage. The White House has so far expressed no preference for either the House or the Senate version.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera and the Associated Press.

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Trump weighs in on border agent’s death: ‘Build the Wall!’

President Trump responded Sunday to the death of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent by renewing his call for a wall along the United States’ border with Mexico.

In an evening tweet, Trump also pledged to “bring justice to those responsible” for the death of the agent, who was fatally injured responding to activity in Texas’ Big Bend area on Sunday.

Border Patrol spokesmen said they could not provide any details Sunday on what caused the agent’s injuries or what led to them. Spokesman Carlos Diaz said that the FBI has taken over the investigation.

Another spokesman, Douglas Mosier, said that 36-year-old agent Rogelio Martinez and his partner were taken to a hospital, where Martinez died. Martinez’s partner is in serious condition. His name wasn’t released. Martinez had been a border agent since August 2013 and was from El Paso.

Trump made building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border a central promise of his presidential campaign. After he was elected, he appeared to significantly scale back the pledge amid questions over who would pay for its construction.

Most recently, the wall has reemerged as a stumbling point in bipartisan negotiations over protecting so-called Dreamers from deportation. Talks stalled following the White House’s release last month of a 17-page list of principles for any deal that included building the border wall.

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Trump tweets that he’ll ‘be very hard pressed’ to change his mind on elephant trophy import ban

President Trump has expressed more doubts about a new policy allowing trophies of African elephants shot for sport to be imported.

In a tweet Sunday night, Trump appeared to question whether “this horror show” actually aids in the conservation of any animal.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has argued that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs. It announced Thursday that it would allow such importation, drawing criticism from animal rights advocates and environmental groups.

Trump decided Friday to delay the policy. In his Sunday tweet, he wrote that he will announce a decision soon “but will be very hard pressed to change my mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of Elephants or any other animal.”

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Trump on UCLA players: ‘I should have left them in jail!’

President Trump complained Sunday that the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players who were arrested in China for shoplifting had played down his role in winning their release, and that he therefore should not have interceded with China’s president.

“I should have left them in jail!” the president tweeted.

Trump’s tweet drew a quick backlash on social media. Many expressed incredulity that a sitting U.S. president would publicly regret having come to the aid of American citizens being held by an authoritarian government.

Among Trump’s sharper critics was Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), who tweeted back, “How can someone in such a big office be so small?

The popular sports website Deadspin headlined its account of the presidential tweet: “Donald Trump Wishes He’d Left UCLA Teens in Chinese Prison Because His Feelings Are Hurt.”

But the president followed up nearly six hours later with another tweet in which he appeared to double down on his comments.

The release of the three players by Chinese authorities represented one of the few tangible achievements from Trump’s 12-day visit to five countries in Asia this month.

But the quick resolution of what could have been a drawn-out diplomatic incident swiftly took on sour overtones as the president prodded the three UCLA athletes, who returned to Los Angeles last week, to publicly thank him.

After they publicly expressed thanks, Trump appeared to consider the matter closed, tweeting that he hoped they would have a “great life” and be careful of their actions in the future.

But on Sunday, Trump appeared irate that the father of one of the players, LiAngelo Ball, had played down his involvement in an interview with ESPN.

“Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out,” LaVar Ball told the sports channel on Friday when asked about Trump claiming credit for raising the arrests with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met last week in Beijing.

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Trump renews Twitter feud with Sen. Jeff Flake

President Trump fired back at Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who was recorded on an open microphone saying the GOP is “toast” if it follows Trump and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that the Arizona senator “is unelectable.”

“He’ll be a NO on tax cuts because his political career anyway is ‘toast,’” Trump wrote.

Flake was talking to the mayor of the Phoenix suburb of Mesa offstage Friday after speaking at a town hall session for aerospace company workers. He apparently didn’t know the microphone attached to his lapel was still on when he said, “(If we) become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast.”

Television stations at the event picked up his comment. Flake made a surprised expression when someone pointed out the microphone afterward.

He later tweeted a link to a story about the remark and wrote: “No news here. I’ve been saying this to anyone who will listen.”

Flake has been an outspoken critic of Trump and announced in a forceful speech on the Senate floor last month that he would not seek reelection next year. He acknowledged that he could not win a GOP primary in the current political climate.

Flake also has criticized Moore, who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct against teenage girls decades ago and calls to drop his bid for the U.S. Senate. Flake said he would “vote for the Democrat” if he were in Alabama and had to choose between Moore and Democratic challenger Doug Jones.

Trump has hit out at Flake in tweets over the past few months. The president’s message Sunday afternoon came hours after he also ignited a social media feud with the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players who were arrested in China for shoplifting.

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Trump tweets on Clinton: ‘Hillary, get on with your life’

President Trump renewed his attack on Hillary Clinton on Saturday with a tweet slamming his former campaign rival as “the worst (and biggest) loser of all time.”

More than a year after Clinton’s loss to Trump in the presidential election, he wrote, “She just can’t stop,” before advising her to “get on with your life and give it another try in three years!”

Trump’s tweet came the day after Mother Jones published an interview with Clinton in which she said that “there are lots of questions” about the legitimacy of last year’s election. She cited both Russian interference and voter suppression as “major contributors” to the outcome and called for an independent commission “to get to the bottom of what happened.”

“I think as we learn more about it, we know that the web of connections between people on Trump’s team and Russian representatives just gets more and more dense,” Clinton said.

“Certainly the Trump administration has no interest in finding out the truth. They’re allergic to the truth in a lot of settings, so they’re certainly going to be doing everything they can to prevent it from coming out here.”

Clinton won the popular vote last year by at least 2.8 million, but Trump won the electoral college and thus the White House.

Despite his victory, he has lashed out at Clinton in tweets many times since taking office.

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Trump announces freeze on elephant trophy imports in tweet

In a surprise move, the Trump administration will suspend its recent decision to allow hunters to bring elephant trophies back to the United States from parts of southern Africa, President Trump tweeted Friday night.

The move comes as celebrities, politicians and even some Trump supporters had intensely criticized the administration’s decision earlier this week to re-allow the importation of elephant parts back into the U.S. from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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Trump welcomes college sports champions to White House

The White House was overrun with school spirit Friday as President Trump welcomed college sports champions and declared them “great athletes.” Too many of them to fit in one room, the teams took up positions across the mansion for separate photo ops with the president.

In all, 18 NCAA teams attended the event at the White House; South Carolina’s women’s basketball team declined the invitation.

The Texas A&M women’s equestrian team, Pennsylvania State University’s women’s rugby team, the University of Washington’s women’s rowing team and others gathered around the White House grounds to be recognized for their championships.

Trump posed for photos with the players throughout the Rose Garden, South Lawn and inside the White House and then sent them off to the Oval Office for a quick tour. At one point, the president playfully got into a wrestling pose with members of the Penn State men’s team. Chatting with the Ohio State men’s volleyball team, he popped a colorful volleyball into the air.

In the Red Room of the White House, the National Rifle Assn.-backed Trump greeted the West Virginia’s co-ed rifle team by saying, “We saved the 2nd Amendment!” Then he asked, “So who is the best shot?” At another point, joined by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Trump bowed his head in prayer along with members of the Oklahoma softball team.

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Trump hails gang sweep aimed at MS-13 members

The Trump administration announced a major gang sweep Thursday, with the arrests of more than 200 members of the violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.

President Trump on Friday tweeted a link to an article about the action. His message contained a video of a news conference announcing the arrests, interspersed with clips of a speech he gave in July in Brentwood, N.Y., in which he called for police and immigration officials to be “rough” with suspected gang members in order to rid the country of “animals” he said are terrorizing communities.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department said “Operation Raging Bull” was conducted across the United States from Oct. 8 to Nov. 11, and concluded with the arrest of 214 members of MS-13.

The operation was the second phase of a federal effort to target MS-13. The first phase involved 53 arrests in El Salvador in September after an 18-month investigation.

In a statement, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions said more than 1,200 gang members had been convicted so far this year, and about 4,000 had been arrested and charged. He said the arrests would help make the country safer “by taking MS-13 off our streets for good.”

Of the most recent round-up, officials said, criminal charges included murder, aggravated robbery, racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearms offenses and assault. About 60 of the arrests involved people illegally crossing the border as unaccompanied children, officials said.

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Trump pushes GOP tax plan in tweets

President Trump suggested Friday that Democrats could exert greater sway over the shape of tax overhaul legislation if they weren’t focused wholly on defeating it.

In a pre-dawn tweet, Trump wrote:

In another post to his Twitter account, the president lauded “Great numbers on Stocks and the Economy.”

Trump has been exultant in the wake of House passage Thursday of a massive tax cut bill that ranks as his and the Republican Party’s top legislative priority.

But in the Senate, a similar measure received a politically awkward verdict from nonpartisan congressional analysts showing it would eventually produce higher taxes for low- and middle-income earners but deliver deep reductions for those better off.

Despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, the Republicans are still smarting from this summer’s crash of their effort to dismantle President Obama’s healthcare law. They see a successful tax effort as the best way to avert major losses in next year’s congressional elections.

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Trump mocks Sen. Al Franken in tweets on groping accusation

President Trump on Thursday criticized Sen. Al Franken after a Los Angeles radio show anchor said that the Minnesota Democrat had forcibly kissed her and later groped her on a 2006 USO tour.

“The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words,” Trump wrote Thursday night in one of two tweets on the topic. He misspelled “Frankenstein.”

Leeann Tweeden, a news anchor on KABC’s “McIntyre in the Morning,” said in a post on the station’s website Thursday and in interviews throughout the day that Franken had written a skit for the USO tour in which they kissed, and that he aggressively kissed her after demanding that they rehearse the scene.

Tweeden said she found out later, from a CD of photographs taken of the tour, that Franken had groped her while she was sleeping on the plane ride from the Mideast to the United States. It is not clear from the photo whether Franken touched her, but Tweeden said he had.

Franken apologized Thursday, and amid a blizzard of criticism said that he would “gladly cooperate” with a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into his actions.

The allegations brought increased scrutiny on some of the former comedian’s past comments, including a 1995 New York magazine article that describes Franken pitching a joke about the rape of TV journalist Lesley Stahl while brainstorming a sketch for “Saturday Night Live.” The joke was also raised as an issue during Franken’s first Senate campaign in 2008.

In a CNBC interview this past September, Franken suggested that the comment would have caused less controversy in the current political climate, particularly given the emergence during last year’s presidential campaign of the “Access Hollywood” tape that captured then-candidate Trump bragging about groping women in 2005.

Trump appeared to refer to that comparison in one of his tweets, writing, “Lesley Stahl tape?”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Cathleen Decker and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump presses for U.N. vote on chemical weapons in Syria

President Trump is pressing for the United Nations Security Council to extend the mandate of experts trying to determine who was responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.

The measure could face a veto from Russia, which is pushing a rival resolution opposed by the United States and other Security Council members.

If neither resolution is adopted, the Joint Investigative Mechanism would cease operations when its current mandate expires at midnight Thursday.

Trump tweeted Thursday morning that he needs “all” on the council to renew the so-called JIM “to ensure that Assad Regime does not commit mass murder with chemical weapons ever again.”

Russia, Syria’s most important ally, has been seeking changes in the way the JIM operates. Syria accepted a Russian proposal in 2013 to relinquish its chemical weapons stockpile.

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Trump congratulates House GOP for passing tax plan

President Trump on Thursday congratulated House Republicans for approving their sweeping tax-cut package.

In a tweet, Trump called the vote “a big step toward fulfilling our promise to deliver historic TAX CUTS for the American people by the end of the year!”

The House approval of the tax plan set up a showdown with the Senate, where Republicans are struggling to win support for their own significantly different approach.

Senate GOP leaders, after making some revisions this week, are facing mounting dissent and criticism that their tax plan favors corporations and the wealthy. An analysis by Congress’ bipartisan tax experts on Thursday concluded the Senate plan would raise taxes for some of the poorest Americans by 2021.

House Republicans had an easier time, passing their measure by a vote of 227 to 205, though 13 Republicans voted no.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera.

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Trump calls Chinese envoy to North Korea ‘a big move’

President Trump is calling China’s plans to send an envoy to North Korea a “big move.”

Trump weighed in on Twitter on Thursday:

The president did not elaborate.

Following Trump’s visit to Beijing, China said Wednesday that it would send a high-level special envoy to North Korea amid an extended chill in relations between the neighbors.

The state-run New China News Agency said the director of the ruling Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, Song Tao, would travel to Pyongyang on Friday to report on the party’s national congress held last month. Song would be the first ministerial-level Chinese official to visit North Korea since October 2015.

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Trump urges 3 UCLA players to thank China’s president for release

President Trump urged three suspended UCLA basketball players on Thursday to thank China’s president for their freedom after they shoplifted in China.

Trump’s suggestion came a day after he tweeted: “Do you think the three UCLA basketball players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!”

The trio – freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley – apologized that day and publicly thanked Trump, who was in Asia last week, for his help.

Later Thursday, as he rallied House Republicans before a crucial vote on a tax overhaul, Trump talked about his efforts to release the players.

Rep. Steve Womack (R–Ark.) said Trump “personally engaged the Chinese president and it turned out the way it did,” with the players released. He said China is known for being “extremely punitive” with criminal suspects, adding: “This could have been a disaster for those families.”

Ball, Hill and Riley were detained in Hangzhou for questioning last week before the Bruins beat Georgia Tech in their season-opening game in Shanghai. The rest of the team returned home Saturday.

Athletic director Dan Guerrero said the shoplifting occurred when the team had 90 minutes of free time on Nov. 6 in Hangzhou. He said the three took items from three stores.

The players are suspended indefinitely, and coach Steve Alford has said they will have to earn their way back onto the team.

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Trump talks up House vote on tax bill

President Trump was set to meet Thursday with House Republicans as they prepared to vote on their tax bill.

In a pair of tweets Wednesday evening, Trump teased the vote and lashed out at Democrats, who were unified against the legislation.

Trump has sought to bolster Republicans worried that if they didn’t pass tax reform, they would risk voter revolt in next year’s midterm election for failing to keep a major campaign promise, particularly after their failed Obamacare repeal.

GOP senators have been working on their own tax plan and are facing mounting dissent and criticism that it favors corporations and the wealthy.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera.

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Trump suggests UCLA basketball players released from China owe him thanks

President Trump suggested Wednesday that three UCLA players accused of shoplifting in China owed him public thanks after their release from confinement and return home.

Hours after he returned from a 12-day Asia trip, Trump tweeted:

Trump said Tuesday that he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the three athletes, who were taken into custody while in Hangzhou for a game against Georgia Tech.

Their teammates left China after the game, but freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were held until Tuesday, when they boarded a plane in Shanghai. When they arrived in Los Angeles, the three ignored reporters’ questions. They planned to speak at a news conference Wednesday.

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Trump resumes early-morning tweeting routine upon return from Asia

President Trump resumed his morning tweeting routine upon his return from Asia early Wednesday, citing what he called a “successful” trip and slamming a regular media target.

The president arrived back at the White House on Tuesday evening after a 12-day tour of Asia, and the tweeting picked up hours later.

He wrote that the United States is “respected again” in the Asia-Pacific region and asserted that people “will see the fruits of our long but successful trip for many years to come!”

He plugged “Fox & Friends,” the morning talk show of which he’s known to be a fan.

Trump also was back sparring at CNN, one of his favorite media targets.

The president thanked two supporters for their tweets.

Later in the morning, Trump lashed out at the New York Times, writing that the paper is “weak and ineffective” on foreign policy matters.

He said the paper “hates” that he has good relationships with world leaders and “they should realize that these relationships are a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Speaking later Wednesday at the White House, Trump cast his Asian sojourn as a “tremendous success,” saying the United States was feted by foreign leaders and asserted its strength in the world.

“America’s renewed confidence and standing in the world has never been stronger than it is right now,” Trump said, detailing his stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Trump said he had three goals on the trip: to unite the world against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, to strengthen alliances in the region and to insist on “fair and reciprocal trade.”

He said it was “unacceptable” that the U.S. trade deficit with other nations stands at about $800 billion a year and promised to “start whittling that down as fast as possible.” He did not say how he planned to achieve that goal.

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Trump returns from Asia trip

President Trump returned to Washington late Tuesday following a 12-day tour of Asia, which he declared “very successful.”

Each country — China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines — gave Trump the red-carpet treatment, and for the proud president, that alone seemed proof of his diplomatic success.

“It was a red carpet like I think probably nobody has ever received. That really is a sense of respect, perhaps for me a little bit, but really for our country, and I’m very proud of that,” Trump said on Monday in the Philippines, his last stop.

Trump and top advisors say that before long the shows of respect will translate into action on trade and North Korea. “The fruits of our labor are going to be incredible,” Trump said.

They aren’t evident yet. China remains resistant to cracking down on North Korea economically, despite Trump’s entreaties. As for trade, the president announced no firm deals or actual progress toward bilateral agreements to reduce U.S. trade deficits with the Asian nations, aside from claims of up to $300 billion in business deals that American and foreign companies promised. Flying home Tuesday, Trump suggested the figure could reach $1 trillion, but observers suggested even the $300-billion sum is inflated.

The president’s challenge is that he is asking the nations to do more on North Korea even as he is demanding they get less on trade.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Noah Bierman.

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Trump praises poll that puts his approval rating at 46%

President Trump touted a poll that put his approval rating at 46%.

In a tweet sent early Tuesday, Trump called the Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll “one of the most accurate” and wrote that other surveys that found his approval rating to be lower “are wrong.”

“Some people think numbers could be in the 50’s,” Trump tweeted.

The Rasmussen Reports poll surveys 500 likely U.S. voters each night and reports a three-day rolling average of their responses.

The percentage who approve of Trump’s job performance, as estimated by the polling outfit, has ranged from a high of 59% in late January to a low of 38% in early August. It hasn’t hit 50% since mid-June.

As Trump acknowledged in his tweet, many other polls have found his job approval rating to be lower.

On Monday, the same day that Rasmussen Reports put the rating at 46%, Gallup’s daily tracking poll estimated it to be 37%. Per Real Clear Politics’ approval average, which aggregates data from the major national polls, Trump’s approval rating stood at 38%.

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Trump welcomes Sen. Rand Paul’s return to Washington

President Trump welcomed the return of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to the Senate on Monday following an attack in the senator’s yard that left him with six broken ribs.

Trump tweeted from the Philippines:

Paul cast votes on Monday and was greeted by Senate colleagues. He declined to answer reporters’ questions about the assault.

The senator was attacked Nov. 3 while mowing the lawn at his home in Bowling Green. Police have charged Paul’s neighbor with misdemeanor assault in the incident.

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Trump reinserts himself into tax debate with tweet

President Trump reinserted himself into the tax debate Monday with requests for additional legislative changes that congressional Republican leaders already have rejected because of their cost or a lack of party support.

That comes as the House pushes toward a vote on its bill this week. The Senate Finance Committee began considering its own legislation on Monday.

In a tweet, Trump suggested that the top individual tax rate be reduced to 35% from the 39.6% level in the House bill and 38.5% in the Senate bill. And Trump wants the legislation to repeal the mandate in the Affordable Care Act that all Americans have health insurance.

The bills are centered on a big reduction in the corporate tax rate and a change in individual tax brackets as well as the scrapping or scaling back of some popular deductions for individuals. There are key differences between the House and Senate bills that would have to be resolved.

Trump will travel to Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with House Republicans ahead of the vote. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said he was confident GOP leaders had the votes for passage.

“I’m looking forward to bringing this bill to the House floor and getting it out of this chamber this week,” Brady said.

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Trump announces pick for new Health and Human Services secretary on Twitter

In a tweet from Manila, President Trump on Monday announced that he will nominate Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical executive and healthcare official during the George W. Bush administration, to be his new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

If confirmed by the Senate, Azar would replace Tom Price, who resigned as secretary under pressure on Sept. 29 after a series of stories in Politico documented his repeated use of private jets and government aircraft instead of commercial planes, at a cost of more than $400,000. Investigations into Price’s actions are ongoing.

Price, a Republican who represented a Georgia district in Congress before he was named to the Cabinet, also presided over the failure of the president’s effort to make good on a campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The nomination of Azar represents a shift for Trump, who in his Cabinet picks to date often has not selected candidates with experience in the department they would oversee.

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Trump touts his accomplishments as he winds down Asia trip in Manila

After 11 days of honor guards, dancing children, palace banquets, deference from Asian leaders and an audience with an emperor, President Trump on Monday seemed determined not to spoil the pomp and ceremony with a sticky dispute over human rights.

So as he met in Manila with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, a leader accused of overseeing a broad crackdown on suspected drug dealers that has left thousands of people dead without charges or trials, Trump ignored reporters’ questions about human rights and instead focused on the hospitality.

“We’ve had a great relationship,” Trump said as he and Duterte, host of this year’s summit of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations, briefly met with reporters.

Trump tweeted a photo of himself standing alongside Duterte and other world leaders who attended the summit.

The president is wrapping up the last leg of his five-country tour of Asia, which included stops in China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.

At the start of a joint meeting Monday with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump raved about his accomplishments during his trip, including on trade and North Korea. He said he would wait until his return to Washington on Wednesday to elaborate with a “major statement.”

“We’ve made some very big steps with regard to trade — far bigger than anything you know,” Trump told reporters in Manila, touting business deals forged between U.S. and foreign companies.

He followed up with a tweet pledging that items on his agenda “are rapidly being fulfilled.”

On Tuesday, Trump was to attend a second conference, the annual East Asia Summit, before returning to Washington late that night.

A packed agenda awaits. In addition to Trump’s promised statement on trade – the White House has suggested the president may designate North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism – Republicans are racing to enact a tax overhaul before the end of the year. The House is pushing toward a vote on its bill this week, and a Senate committee began considering its own version of the legislation on Monday.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman and the Associated Press.

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Trump arrives in the Philippines

President Trump arrived in the Philippines ahead of another controversial moment in his five-nation Asia tour — a scheduled meeting with Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president, who has a history of human rights abuses.

Trump had an initial encounter with Duterte in Manila on Sunday, exchanging handshakes and toasts with him at a gala dinner opening an international conference.

The two leaders will hold talks at the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations summit on Monday, marking the last leg of Trump’s tour, which has also included stops in Japan, South Korea, China and Vietnam.

Trump and Duterte will discuss “trade and investment, innovation, addressing cybercrime, countering radicalization, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, protection and promotion of rights for migrant workers,” Robespierre Bolivar, spokesman for the Philippine foreign ministry, said on Friday.

Philippine police, at Duterte’s direction, have killed thousands of people accused of drug crimes without trials, incurring condemnations from human rights groups, the United Nations, the U.S. Congress and the European Union.

There are no signs that Trump will press Duterte on the killings — the White House, in advance of the trip, said Trump enjoys a “warm rapport” with the Philippine leader.

Duterte was in Vietnam on Friday along with Trump and other regional leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where Duterte made news after saying he killed someone when he was as young as 16. He had previously bragged about killing suspected criminals in Davao, where he had served as mayor.

Trump’s time in Vietnam was largely overshadowed by his comments defending Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the summit, from charges that the Russian government meddled in last year’s U.S. elections.

Trump’s reluctance to publicly accept intelligence assessments that Russia sought to sway the 2016 vote in his favor drew strong condemnation from lawmakers and national security officials back in the United States.

Also while in Vietnam, Trump taunted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a tweet mocking his physical appearance.

Trump was apparently insulted that the Kim regime had called him “an old lunatic” in a statement responding to Trump’s condemnation of the North during a speech he delivered in South Korea on Tuesday.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Noah Bierman, Jonathan Kaiman and Laura King.

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Trump taunts Kim Jong Un on Twitter: ‘I would NEVER call him “short and fat”’

President Trump is exchanging schoolyard taunts with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Trump tweeted from Vietnam:

Trump has been working to rally global pressure against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program during a five-nation trip to Asia. That included a stern speech delivered in South Korea during which Trump called Kim a “tyrant,” and contrasted North Korea with what he called an economic “miracle” in South Korea.

Kim’s government responded to that speech by calling Trump an “old lunatic.”

On Saturday, a spokesman for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry published a lengthy and incendiary commentary, condemning Trump for a “warmonger’s visit” with the goal of ending the nation’s effort to create a “self-defensive” nuclear weapons program.

“Reckless remarks by an old lunatic like Trump will never scare us or stop our advance,” the statement said.

When asked at a news conference later Sunday if he could become friends with the North Korean leader, Trump replied that it “might be a strange thing to happen but it’s certainly a possibility.”

Trump said he doesn’t know if that friendship will develop, but added it would be “very, very nice if it did.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times special correspondent Matt Stiles.

9:27 p.m.: This post was updated with Trump’s comments on a possible friendship with Kim Jong Un.

This post was originally published at 4:55 p.m.

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Trump salutes veterans of Vietnam War

President Trump has signed a proclamation saluting the veterans of the Vietnam War.

From Da Nang, Vietnam, the site of an American air base that was used during the Vietnam War, Trump tweeted:

The president on Friday stood with seven veterans and praised their service. Some of the veterans spoke and praised Trump’s support of the military. One began to cry as he talked about fallen veterans and Trump hugged him.

Trump also thanked war veterans during his weekly address. He shared a video of his remarks on Twitter:

Trump is in the midst of a lengthy Asia trip and was in Da Nang to attend an international summit.

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Trump tweets that ‘progress is being made’ on North Korea

President Trump tweeted Saturday that “progress is being made” when it comes to the denuclearization of North Korea.

Trump also wrote that Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to toughen sanctions against Pyongyang, though no official announcement had yet been made in that regard.

Trump spent two nights in Beijing this week on the third leg of a five-country Asia tour. While there, he pressed Xi to do more to squeeze the North Korean economy and cut off exports into North Korea, the vast majority of which come from China.

In a joint statement to the media, the two leaders said they agreed to cooperate on North Korea, among other issues, but did not provide specifics. They didn’t take questions from reporters, breaking with a precedent from the Obama administration in which the United States insisted on allowing questions.

Trump tweeted from Hanoi, Vietnam, where he planned to conduct a brief state visit before holding a joint news conference with President Tran Dai Quang.

Trump was to depart for the Philippines later Sunday for a pair of summits that will close out his trip to Asia.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett, Noah Bierman and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump lashes out at ‘haters and fools’ over criticism of his meeting with Putin

President Trump lashed out at critics of his meeting Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Trump again declined to press concerns about Russian interference in the election last year.

In a pair of tweets sent Saturday evening, Trump wrote that Russia “can greatly help” U.S. efforts to deal with a number of diplomatic crises, including North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

He also took aim at “the haters and fools out there” who have questioned his efforts to maintain “a good relationship with Russia.”

“[They are] always playing politics - bad for our country,” he wrote.

In a third tweet, Trump brought last year’s campaign rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, into the discussion. He appeared to refer to a 2009 meeting in Geneva between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Clinton, who was then secretary of State.

According to a Times report published that March, Clinton gave Lavrov an oversized red button labeled “reset” in Russian as a means of illustrating the United States’ interest in ending the Bush administration’s acrimonious relations with Moscow. But Lavrov needled Clinton by pointing out that because of a translation error by the American staff, the button was labeled not “reset” but “overcharge.”

Referencing the “misspelled reset button,” Trump suggested that his relationship with Russia merely illustrates how he has succeeded where previous administrations have failed.

After meeting with Putin at a summit in Vietnam on Saturday, Trump defended the former KGB agent against charges that the Russian government meddled in last year’s U.S. elections.

“Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ ” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, while traveling between Da Nang and Hanoi during his Asian trip. “And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that. He means it.”

Trump instead lashed out at former U.S. national security officials who sounded the alarm about Russian interference, including former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired earlier this year.

“They’re political hacks,” the president said. “Comey is proven now to be a liar, and he’s proven to be a leaker. So you look at that. And you have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he had nothing to do with that.”

Trump’s comments came after days of equivocation from the White House over whether Trump would meet with Putin. Both men were in Da Nang to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Trump said he had “two or three very short conversations” with Putin over the last two days to discuss Syria. They issued a joint statement Saturday promising further cooperation in seeking a political solution to the country’s civil war.

U.S. intelligence agencies already have concluded that Russia engaged in a campaign to influence the election, hacking into Democratic emails that later were leaked and using a variety of online tools to spread fake news and other propaganda.

Read More5:22 p.m.: This post was updated with a third tweet from Trump.

This post was originally published at 4:29 p.m.

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Trump bids happy birthday to the Marines

President Trump wished a happy birthday to the U.S. Marine Corps on Friday in a tweet.

The Marine Corps was established by the Second Continental Congress on Nov. 10, 1775, according to the Marine Corps website.

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Trump pushes ‘America first’ trade message at APEC summit in Vietnam

President Trump on Friday delivered a stern message to a group of Pacific Rim nations eager for signs of the United States’ continued engagement and economic leadership in the region: America first.

“We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore,” Trump told an audience of business leaders assembled in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which annually gathers leaders from across the region and around the world to discuss trade and development.

“I am always going to put America first the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first.”

Though the president began with fulsome praise, citing individual countries by name for their economic and social progress, he soon segued to the kind of speech he often delivers to rowdy American arenas full of supporters — railing against unfair trade practices, closed factories and Chinese economic aggression.

Unlike at those rallies, at this seaside conference where business and government leaders are trying to salvage a Pacific nations trade deal that Trump derailed, the American president received scattered applause, even as many in the crowd stood to snap pictures at the start of the half-hour speech.

At a couple of points, Trump paused to express his disappointment at the restrained reactions. “Not too many people here are from Thailand,” he said when his warm words about the country were met with silence.

After he complained that “while we lowered market barriers, other countries didn’t open their markets to us” — something the now-scuttled Trans-Pacific Partnership would have done much to change for the U.S. — the president responded to an apparent heckler in the crowd.

“Funny. They must have been one of the beneficiaries,” he said, gazing into the audience. “What country do you come from, sir?”

After days of conciliatory talk during his visit to Beijing, Trump offered harsher criticism of China, mostly not by name, than he had publicly in that country. He spoke against countries that use “government-run industrial planning and state-owned enterprises” and engage in “product dumping, subsidized goods, currency manipulation and predatory industrial policies,” echoing critiques from his campaign speeches.

“They ignored the rules to gain advantage over those who followed the rules, causing enormous distortions in commerce and threatening the foundations of international trade itself,” he added.

The tough critique contrasted with Trump’s rhetoric in China leading up to Friday’s speech, when he muted his criticism of the country as he sought to build a warmer personal bond with President Xi Jinping.

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Trump heads to Vietnam

President Trump has departed China and is headed to Vietnam.

Trump tweeted that First Lady Melania Trump would remain in China to do some sightseeing before visiting Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, then returning to Washington.

Trump was to continue his five-nation Asia tour with his stop in Vietnam, where he was slated to attend the annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group.

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Trump hails U.S.-China relations in tweets

After days of basking in the flattery of other world leaders, President Trump dished out some of his own Thursday, bestowing kind words and gestures on an unlikely counterpart, China’s Xi Jinping, a communist leader who just tightened his grip on power in a country Trump accused during the campaign of “raping” U.S. workers.

Trump called Xi “a very special man” with whom he has “great chemistry.” He congratulated Xi on the recent Communist Party Congress, which gave new authority to the Chinese leader. And although he challenged Xi on the economy and the “menace” of North Korea, he cast more blame on his American predecessors than on Xi for the trade imbalance.

“I don’t blame China,” Trump said at a ceremony involving U.S. and Chinese business leaders. “Who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.”

Xi was more detached in his comments than Trump, who spoke in personal terms about what he called a terrific initial meeting Wednesday night and a dinner that went longer than expected because the men were having such a great time.

Later, Trump blamed prior U.S. administrations for creating a trade imbalance, saying, “It’s too bad that past administrations allowed it to get so far out of kilter.”

Trump’s language, putting the United States and China on near-equal footing, could play to Xi’s favor. The Chinese president is eager to assert China as a dominant world power rivaling America.

Xi spoke in far different terms, celebrating a Chinese economy that is entering a new phase, from “high-speed growth” to “high-quality growth.”

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Trump celebrates election anniversary on Twitter

President Trump marked the one-year anniversary of his 2016 election victory with a tweet.

On Thursday from Beijing, Trump wrote:

Trump attached to his tweet a photo of himself with a collection of former campaign aides turned White House staffers.

Ten months into his presidency, Trump is still focused — some say fixated — on the election that catapulted him to power. Egged on by longtime friends and cable news, he repeatedly attacks his vanquished opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. In his tweet, Trump referred to Clinton’s campaign comment that half of Trump’s supporters belonged in “a basket of deplorables.”

Friends and advisors say Trump’s preoccupation is part ego and part defense mechanism. Despite occupying the most powerful position in the world, Trump has told confidants he still doesn’t get the credit he deserves for defeating Clinton. And friends say he’s well aware of the fact that numerous members of his own Republican Party expected him to lose and cringe at seeing him in the White House.

Trump won the Electoral College vote by a comfortable margin but lost the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes to Clinton.

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Trump thanks Xi for warm welcome in China

President Trump began his first full day in China on Thursday with an elaborate welcome ceremony ahead of a series of talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Trump began his day at the Great Hall of the People, an imposing government building that sits by Tiananmen Square. Normally brisk Beijing traffic was halted as the American president’s motorcade made its way from the St. Regis Hotel for the short journey. The tourists that normally pack the square were also missing.

When Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived, they were greeted by Xi, his wife, Peng Liyuan, an honor guard and a Chinese military band that played the U.S. and Chinese national anthems. Cannons fired 21 shots from Tiananmen Square.

Schoolchildren waved flags of both countries as the leaders chatted.

The Trumps then joined Xi and his wife for tea, a tour of the ancient Forbidden City, an opera performance and dinner.

The Chinese, much like the Japanese and South Koreans on the first two stops of Trump’s five-nation Asia tour, believe the gilded treatment is the best way to play to Trump’s ego and disarm him, and thereby blunt his demands that China open up its economy and take a harder tack against North Korea, according to experts and former government officials.

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Trump distances himself from Ed Gillespie after loss in Virginia governor’s race

President Trump distanced himself from defeated Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie in a tweet sent Tuesday night.

Addressing the disappointing result in a race seen as an early referendum on his political clout, Trump wrote:

Actually, Gillespie, a mainstream Republican who lost the Virginia governor’s race to Democrat Ed Northam, had taken up Trump-like positions on such issues as Confederate monuments, NFL players’ national anthem demonstrations and the dangers of Latino gangs. Trump endorsed him but was not invited to campaign in the state in recent weeks.

Trump instead touted GOP victories earlier in the year, in special elections for congressional seats in Georgia, South Carolina, Montana and Kansas. Though he tweeted that Republicans “won 4 out of 4 House seats,” a fifth victory -- in California’s 34th Congressional District -- went to Democrat Jimmy Gomez.

Trump took a different tack toward Gillespie earlier in the day. In a series of tweets sent minutes before polls opened across Virginia, he praised Gillespie and said that Northam is “weak on crime” and against the 2nd Amendment.

Trump had also recorded robocalls to help boost Gillespie’s candidacy on election day. In one call, Trump said that Gillespie shared his views on immigration and crime and would help “Make America great again.”

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Trump delivers muted warning to North Korea

President Trump didn’t threaten to unleash “fire and fury” or to “totally destroy” North Korea. He didn’t needle North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by calling him “Little Rocket Man.”

Instead, during a two-day visit to South Korea’s capital, within range of North Korean artillery, Trump spoke in unusually measured tones for him, and offered North Korea’s ruler “a path to a much better future” if he would give up his nuclear weapons entirely.

In a sober speech to the South Korean National Assembly on Tuesday, Trump described a vivid contrast between what he called “the miracle” of prosperous and free South Korea and “the prison state of North Korea,” with its poverty, forced labor, torture and oppression — “a hell that no person deserves.”

As condemnatory as Trump was toward the North, his message was mostly a diplomatic appeal of the sort he only recently told his secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was a waste of time. At one point Trump spoke as if directly to North Korea’s Kim, saying, “The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in great danger.

“We are ready to offer a path to a much better future,” he said.

The president delivered threats as well. “Do not underestimate us. Do not try us,” he said, adding, “The world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens with nuclear devastation.”

Trump noted the firepower the U.S. currently has on the Korean peninsula, including three carrier strike groups “loaded to the maximum” with F-35 and F-18 fighter jets and a nearby nuclear submarine. “We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction,” he said.

Trump also demanded that every nation “sever all ties” with North Korea. For any country that “enables” Pyongyang, he said, “the weight of this crisis is on your conscience” — a comment that seemed directed at China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner and the next stop on Trump’s Asia tour.

Before his address, in what was intended as a defiant gesture toward Kim, Trump tried to make a dramatic surprise visit to the highly fortified border between North and South Korea on Tuesday. His helicopter had to turn back because of severe fog just miles from the demilitarized zone.

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Trump thanks Americans for participating in prescription drug disposal events

President Trump thanked Americans for participating in a series of prescription drug “take-back” and disposal events last Saturday.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration partnered with local police departments to hold drop-off events where people could dispose of unused, expired or unwanted prescription drugs. Trump tweeted that “a record amount” of medications were collected.

Trump has made sweeping promises to mobilize the federal government against the deadly opioid epidemic, but he’s so far stopped well short of a major new commitment of resources for a crisis that last year killed more than 64,000 Americans.

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Trump tweets birthday wish to Billy Graham

President Trump wished a happy birthday to Christian evangelist Billy Graham in a tweet sent Tuesday morning.

Trump named in his message Billy’s oldest son, preacher Franklin Graham, a staunch supporter who has appeared at rallies in support of the president.

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Trump thanks South Korea’s president for ‘beautiful’ welcome

President Trump arrived in South Korea, the second stop on a five-nation Asia tour, after a visit to Japan in which he called on Tokyo to buy U.S. antimissile batteries both to counter the growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea and to create more jobs for Americans.

Trump landed in South Korea, on North Korea’s doorstep, at midday Tuesday. He immediately went to Camp Humphreys, an expansive U.S. military base built with South Korean help that houses more than 10,000 American soldiers about 40 miles south of Seoul, the capital. There he joined American and Korean soldiers for lunch.

Also there was South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who greeted Trump with an elaborate welcome ceremony featuring a banquet with K-pop performances.

Moon and Trump are to discuss trade and ways to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program — the same topics that topped his agenda in Japan, and will do so at his third stop, China, later this week.

Read MoreTimes staff writer Brian Bennett contributed to this report.

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Trump credits ‘great confidence’ in his administration with driving stocks higher

After U.S. stocks made modest gains and set more records Monday, President Trump credited “great confidence” in his administration’s policies.

In a pair of tweets early Tuesday, Trump specifically touted Republicans’ promised overhaul of the nation’s tax code.

Trump’s tweets came as members of the House Ways and Means Committee began several days of debating the tax bill and considering amendments. The bill centers on a large cut to the corporate tax rate and a simplification of the individual tax code that reduces rates but also scraps or scales back some popular deductions, such as those for mortgage interest and state and local income taxes.

The promise of corporate tax cuts has helped the stock market, but many of the gains rest on the foundations of an economic recovery in which corporate profits climbed.

Looming ahead for the tax legislation is an even tougher battle in the Senate, where Republicans have a razor-thin majority and several GOP senators have raised objections to adding $1.5 trillion to the deficit.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Jim Puzzanghera and Lisa Mascaro and the Associated Press

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Trump weighs in on Saudi purge in tweets

President Trump weighed in Monday on the reported arrests of dozens of Saudi princes, current and former government officials and business leaders.

In a pair of tweets, Trump appeared to side with King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is reportedly overseeing the newly formed anti-corruption committee that ordered the dramatic purge.

It is unclear whether the arrests in Saudi Arabia were part of an anti-corruption investigation or a move by King Salman to consolidate power around his own family, or both. Among the princes and current and former ministers arrested was Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the Middle East’s richest people, with large investments in numerous U.S. and global companies.

Trump repeatedly has expressed his admiration for the powerful Saudi monarch and promised to support Saudi Arabia’s moves against Iran in the region.

His tweets Monday afternoon were his first comments on the reported arrests, which were announced late Saturday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency and the Saudi-owned news network Al Arabiya.

Trump spoke to the king Saturday from Air Force One while en route to Asia for a five-nation tour, but the White House’s statement on the call said nothing about the intrigue in Riyadh. Later, when Trump spoke briefly to reporters on the plane, he said only that he’d urged the king to list the Saudi national oil company, Aramco, on an American stock exchange.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump heads to South Korea: ‘We will figure it all out!’

Wrapping up a visit here before flying to South Korea, President Trump called for Japan to buy U.S. anti-missile batteries to counter the growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea, saying buying more U.S. military equipment would create more jobs for Americans and increase security for the Japanese.

“He will shoot them out of the sky when he completes the purchase of a lot of military equipment from the United States,” Trump said Monday during a news conference with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Trump pointedly teased Abe over the trade deficit between the two countries, and seemed to advocate a military buildup as a way to close the gap.

“It’s a lot of jobs for us, and a lot of safety for Japan, and other countries that are likewise purchasing military equipment from us,” Trump said. At another point, he complimented the Japanese economy, but said: “I don’t know if it’s as good as ours. I think not. OK? We’re going to try to keep it that way. And you’ll be second.”

The Japanese government already buys a lot of U.S. military hardware, Abe said, but he agreed that the country should “enhance our defense capability.”

Trump is scheduled to land on North Korea’s doorstep Tuesday morning, when he leaves Japan for South Korea to visit troops at Camp Humphreys, an expansive U.S. military base that houses more than 10,000 American soldiers about 40 miles south of Seoul.

He’s slated to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in for talks on trade and finding ways to pressure Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, who was elected on promises to reach out to North Korea, but who has taken a harder line in recent months, is scheduled to hold a joint news conference with Trump on Tuesday afternoon and host the American president for a state dinner at the Blue House, the presidential mansion in Seoul.

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Trump tweets support for Ed Gillespie ahead of Virginia governor’s race

With one day to go before election day in Virginia’s high-stakes, closely watched race for governor, President Trump plugged his preferred candidate, Republican Ed Gillespie, via Twitter.

Trump tweeted Monday:

Gillespie, a White House advisor to President George W. Bush and former lobbyist, faces Democrat Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist and the state’s lieutenant governor.

Virginia is one of only two states electing a new governor this year, and the contest is viewed by many as an early referendum on Trump’s political popularity.

Democrats are eager to prove they can harness anti-Trump energy into success at the polls, while Republicans are looking to show they have a winning blueprint in a blue-leaning state. Most public polls have shown a close race to succeed Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who is term limited.

Trump has also endorsed Gillespie in previous tweets.

Despite the president’s support, Gillespie has kept Trump at a distance and has not campaigned with him. But in a bid to rally Trump supporters, Gillespie has run hard-edge attacks ads against Northam focused on immigrants in the country illegally and preserving Confederate statues.

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Trump says he’s monitoring Texas church shooting from Japan

President Trump tweeted from Japan that he was “monitoring the situation” in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where multiple people were killed Sunday when a gunman opened fire at a small-town church.

Law enforcement officials were still processing the scene of the shooting Sunday afternoon, but reports indicated that more than 20 people were killed at the First Baptist Church, about 35 miles southeast of San Antonio.

Sheriff Joe Tackitt reported that the shooter had been “taken down,” local media outlets said.

Trump dined and golfed Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, the first overseas stop on the president’s 12-day, five-nation tour of Asia.

On Monday, Trump met with Japanese business leaders to talk trade. He addressed the shooting in Texas in his remarks.

In a time of crisis, Trump said, “Americans will do what we do best: We pull together and join hands and lock arms, and through the tears and sadness we stand strong.”

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Trump and Abe exchange compliments on Twitter after golf outing

Shinzo had a something special for Donald.

When President Trump arrived Sunday at the Kasumigaseki Country Club outside Tokyo to play golf with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Japanese leader surprised Trump with the sort of trucker hats Trump favors, embroidered in his preferred color — gold — and borrowing from Trump’s signature slogan: “Donald & Shinzo, Make Alliance Even Greater.”

The hats symbolized how foreign leaders have quickly learned to play to Trump’s pride, and the Donald-Shinzo love-fest didn’t end there.

After nine holes of golf, joined by the fourth-ranked golfer in the world, Hideki Matsuyama, the leaders complimented each other on Twitter. Trump called Abe and Matsuyama “wonderful people.”

Abe said Trump is a “marvelous friend” and the round was “full of spirited conversation.”

Later, as the two leaders and their wives walked into an expensive teppanyaki grill for dinner in downtown Tokyo, Abe was silent but Trump told reporters, “Our relationship is really extraordinary.” He added a typical hyperbolic flourish: “I don’t think we’ve ever been closer to Japan than we are right now.”

Trump said he and Abe were having “very major discussions on many subjects” including North Korea and trade. “I think we’ll insult everybody by continuing to talk about trade,” he added.

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Trump addresses troops at U.S. air base outside Tokyo

President Trump began an important five-nation Asia tour in Japan early Sunday, speaking to troops upon landing at a U.S. air base outside Tokyo that would be a critical supply hub for any conflict in a region roiled by tension over nuclear-armed North Korea.

Donning a leather bomber jacket, and flanked by fighter jets inside a cavernous hangar, Trump described the troops as the “last bulwarks” against threats from “tyrants and dictators who prey on the innocent.”

No dictator should underestimate “our resolve,” Trump said without naming North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. He affirmed his administration’s commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific region” — a term defining an expansive sphere of influence that includes India and the Indian Ocean as a counter to a rising China.

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Trump prepares to land in Japan

President Trump appears to be looking forward to his arrival in Japan.

Trump tweeted Saturday:

Trump was flying from Hawaii to Japan to begin his 12-day, five-country Asia trip. He was set to kick off with an event at Yokota Air Base.

In Japan, Trump is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and attend state events before traveling to South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

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Trump stops in Hawaii ahead of Asia trip

President Trump on Friday kicked off a nearly two-week Asia trip with a stop in Hawaii, visiting military and historic sites amid protests and growing concern over security threats in the state and U.S. Pacific territories.

The president, who was visiting Hawaii for the first time since his inauguration, appeared at times humbled and excited as he stopped for a briefing at Pacific Command, the U.S. military’s headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region, and later toured the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

The visit to a site honoring those killed in an attack that led the U.S. into a war in which it would drop nuclear bombs on Japan had new symbolism, due to the growing nuclear standoff with North Korea.

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Trump urges Saudi Arabia to list state oil company on New York Stock Exchange

President Trump issued a plea Saturday for Saudi Arabia to list its massive state-run oil company, Saudi Aramco, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Trump tweeted Saturday morning:

Saudi Arabia is expected to take a small portion of Saudi Aramco, which controls some of the world’s largest oil reserves, public sometime in 2018.

While it is expected to list its shares on Saudi Arabia’s own stock market, known as Tadawul, it’s also expected to do what’s known as a dual listing with another stock exchange internationally. When Saudi Aramco goes public, it is expected to be one of the world’s most valuable companies.

London and other major cities with exchanges have also been vying for the international listing. However the state-owned oil giant’s finances have long been opaque and there’s reportedly concern that a public listing in New York or London, for example, could bring unwanted scrutiny and demands for transparency by shareholders.

While previous presidents have championed the New York Stock Exchange’s role in international finance — Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush visited the floor of the NYSE during their presidencies — typically a president would not weigh into where a company would decide where to list its shares, since that’s a private company decision.

In a tweet earlier Saturday, Trump touted the Labor Department’s release of data showing that the country’s jobless rate fell a notch last month to a 17-year low of 4.1%.

Despite the decline in the unemployment rate, there is little indication that workers are broadly benefiting with higher pay.

Friday’s Labor Department report said that average hourly earnings for all private-sector workers dropped a penny last month, to $26.53, after jumping 12 cents in September. Over the past 12 months, average pay for workers has risen just 2.4%, about the same middling pace as over the last three years.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Don Lee

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Trump reverts to campaign-trail name-calling in Twitter rant calling for probe of DNC

President Trump issued a flurry of tweets over a five-hour span Friday urging the Justice Department to investigate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee over a joint fundraising agreement they signed in August 2015.

Trump’s accusations follow publication by Politico of an excerpt from former acting DNC Chair Donna Brazile’s upcoming book. Brazile alleges she found “proof” that the 2016 Democratic primary was rigged in Clinton’s favor.

Previous presidents have avoided even seeming to direct the Justice Department on whom to investigate — but not Trump.

Trump reverted to his campaign-trail name-calling of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), again referring to her as “Pocahontas.”

He also in one post called Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) “Crazy Bernie.” Trump has described this kind of rhetoric as “modern day presidential.”

Trump’s epic Twitter rant took place in the hours and minutes before he was set to depart the South Lawn via Marine One for his Air Force One flight to Hawaii to kick off his 12-day swing through Asia.

Implicit in the messages was more criticism of Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, though Trump did not mention the nation’s top prosecutor by name.

Asked later Friday if he would fire the attorney general if he doesn’t investigate Trump’s Democratic political rivals, the president said, “I don’t know.”

Two White House officials quickly cautioned against reading too much into Trump’s comments, reiterating that he has no plans to fire Sessions. And although the White House maintains that Trump’s tweets are “official record,” it says Trump has not ordered Sessions or the FBI to do anything related to Democrats.

The aides said the tweets were a media savvy way to deflect attention from the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

This week, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates, who also had a role in the campaign, were indicted on 12 counts, and former Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying about his dealings with Russians who were offering “dirt” on Clinton.

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Trump touts October jobs report

President Trump tweeted an image of a Fox Business graphic illustrating the Labor Department’s October employment report.

The government’s latest snapshot of national employment, released Friday, showed that the labor market remains remarkably resilient. Employment snapped back last month with a net addition of a hefty 261,000 jobs, after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma depressed payrolls in September. Workers at restaurants and bars returned to their jobs, and hiring in manufacturing picked up, even as it languished at retailers.

The country’s jobless rate fell a notch to a 17-year low of 4.1%.

And yet, there is little indication that workers are broadly benefiting with higher pay.

Read MoreTimes staff writer Don Lee contributed to this post.

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Trump: U.S. is hitting Islamic State ‘much harder’ after New York attack

President Trump said Friday that the U.S. military is attacking the Islamic State group “10 times harder” in response to Tuesday’s truck attack in New York.

Officials later said the United States had conducted two airstrikes against Islamic State-affiliated fighters in Somalia.

It was not immediately clear whether the Somalia strikes were carried out as presidentially-directed retaliation for the truck attack that killed eight people.

The alleged New York attacker, Sayfullo Saipov, told FBI interrogators that he was inspired by Islamic State, and Trump wrote in a tweet that the group claimed Saipov as “their soldier.”

Trump tweeted:

Asked about the tweets later, Trump told reporters before he departed on his Asia trip: “What we’re doing is every time we’re attacked from this point forward – and it took place yesterday – we are hitting them 10 times harder. So when we have an animal do an attack like he did the other day on the West Side of Manhattan, we are hitting them 10 times harder.”

The Somalia attack involved two airstrikes overnight, according to a statement from the U.S. Africa Command. It was the first time the U.S. military has carried out airstrikes against Islamic State-affiliated fighters in Somalia, where the group is a growing presence.

Asked about Trump’s assertion that the military is striking Islamic State “10 times harder,” the Pentagon issued a brief statement saying the U.S. continues to strike Islamic State, along with Al Qaeda and other extremist groups, “wherever they are globally and at a time of our choosing.”

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Trump heads to Hawaii for visit ahead of Asia tour

President Trump tweeted Friday that he was headed to Hawaii, where he was scheduled to make a one-day stop ahead of a five-country tour of Asia.

Trump’s visit to Hawaii was scheduled to last less than 24 hours. He was to arrive at Joint Base Pearl Harbor/Hickam on Friday afternoon before meeting with military officials at Pacific Command, touring Pearl Harbor and laying a wreath at the Arizona memorial.

Trump planned to spend the night before taking off for Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, where he was set to attend meetings with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group leaders and the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Jaweed Kaleem

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Trump slams Bowe Bergdahl ruling as ‘a complete and total disgrace’

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who abandoned his combat outpost in Afghanistan eight years ago and was swiftly captured by the Taliban, was punished Friday with a demotion and a dishonorable discharge. He received no prison time.

Less than an hour and a half after the sentencing, President Trump offered his thoughts on the outcome on Twitter:

Outside the courthouse, Bergdahl’s lead attorney, Eugene R. Fidell of Yale Law School, said Bergdahl was “still absorbing” the ruling, yet it was a “tremendous relief” to get no prison time.

Still, Fidell vowed he would appeal the ruling and continue to attempt to get the case dismissed on the basis of Trump’s inflammatory comments about Bergdahl.

Last year, on the campaign trail, Trump called Bergdahl a “dirty rotten traitor” who deserved to be executed by firing squad or ejected from a plane without a parachute. A few weeks ago, Trump said he could not comment on the case, but then added: “I think people have heard my comments in the past.”

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Trump weighs in on 11-minute shutdown of his Twitter account

President Trump commented Friday morning on the closure of his Twitter account for 11 minutes the day before.

“I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact,” Trump tweeted, though it was unclear what “the word” was.

Trump’s account was deactivated just before 4 p.m. Pacific time Friday.

Twitter’s first explanation was that someone accidentally deleted the account — someone who was not Trump. A few hours later, the company announced that a customer service employee was the culprit.

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Trump criticizes FBI after Fox News segment: ‘Comey’s leadership was a disaster!’

After Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized the FBI during the episode of his show that aired Thursday night, President Trump tweeted that the segment “was so sad to watch.”

Trump also hit out at James B. Comey in the tweet, though Carlson did not mention the former FBI director by name.

Carlson instead focused the bulk of his criticism on the bureau’s handling of the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas, which took place months after Trump fired Comey.

Carlson opened Thursday night’s episode by ticking off a list of questions about the Las Vegas massacre that remain unanswered. He suggested that was due to “incompetence” on the part of the agencies investigating the case.

“This is not the only federal investigation that has shaken public confidence recently,” Carlson said.

He cited as other examples the FBI’s handling of the 2009 Ft. Hood shooting, the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, the mass shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub in June 2016, the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and the deadly truck attack in New York earlier this week.

Of those, just two – the Clinton investigation and the Pulse nightclub shooting – took place while Comey was head of the FBI.

Trump still pointed to the segment as evidence that Comey’s leadership of the agency “was a disaster!”

The president followed up the tweet about Comey minutes later with a message promoting an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.

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Trump calls for criminal probe after Donna Brazile claims Clinton campaign took ‘control’ of DNC

Former interim Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile claims in her new book that, before she took over the DNC in the summer of 2016, leaders within the party showed considerable favoritism toward Hillary Clinton during the primary election.

President Trump responded Thursday evening with a pair of tweets in which he accused the DNC of rigging the process “to illegally steal the Primary from Bernie Sanders,” Clinton’s challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Without offering evidence, Trump alleged that Clinton and the DNC had violating campaign finance and money laundering laws. He suggested that a criminal investigation should be opened into the matter, writing, “where is our Justice Department?”

From the start, Brazile writes, the scale was tipped in favor of former Secretary of State Clinton — and against Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.). It centers on a fundraising agreement that Clinton’s campaign signed with the DNC that essentially kept the committee afloat and allowed her aides to control the party.

“The funding arrangement with HFA [Hillary for America presidential campaign committee] and the victory fund agreement was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical,” Brazile writes in an excerpt of the book published by Politico. “If the fight had been fair, one campaign would not have control of the party before the voters had decided which one they wanted to lead.”

Brazile writes that shortly after becoming chair, she called Sanders to explain how Clinton had exerted a “control of the party long before she became its nominee.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Kurtis Lee and Alex Wigglesworth.

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Trump applauds rollout of GOP tax overhaul plan

President Trump praised the rollout of the GOP’s tax overhaul plan Thursday evening in a tweet.

Republican lawmakers introduced the more than 400-page bill Thursday. The proposal would lower the corporate tax rate and simplify the personal code.

Special interest groups in Washington are gearing up to influence the final legislation, which the White House hopes to have passed by the end of the year.

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Trump praises his pick to lead Federal Reserve in tweet

President Trump tweeted Thursday that it was a “great honor” to announce Jerome H. Powell as his choice for the next Federal Reserve chief.

Trump has said he wants interest rates to stay low, and that presumably was an important consideration in the president’s decision, announced Thursday, to replace Janet L. Yellen with Powell, a Fed governor since 2012 who has closely aligned himself with the cautious policy moves and positions forged by Yellen.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Don Lee

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Trump congratulates Astros on World Series win

President Trump tweeted congratulations to the Houston Astros on Thursday after the team won the World Series.

The Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium to win the first World Series title in franchise history.

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Trump backs down from call to send New York terrorism suspect to Guantanamo in morning tweets

President Trump backed down from his threat to send New York terrorism suspect Sayfullo Saipov to the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an enemy combatant and instead called for a quick death sentence.

In a tweet early Thursday, Trump said that he “would love to send the NYC terrorist to Guantanamo but statistically the process takes much longer than going through the Federal system.”

Trump also called for the “DEATH PENALTY!,” using all capital letters and an exclamation point as a signal that he was not softening his position. He was repeating the call he’d made hours earlier on Twitter, just before midnight Wednesday and also in capital letters -- a presidential intervention against the defendant that could complicate prosecutors’ efforts, by allowing his defense team to argue he cannot receive a fair trial.

“There is also something appropriate about keeping him in the home of the horrible crime he committed,” Trump continued on Thursday.

With that, he somewhat echoed arguments of President Obama and others for using the American justice system, and thereby underscoring its principles and avoiding constitutional questions. And he contradicted much-criticized comments he’d made Wednesday describing the U.S. judicial system as “a joke” and “a laughingstock” to justify his support for using Guantanamo.

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Trump touts Broadcom’s planned return to U.S.

Broadcom Ltd., a $100-billion semiconductor company legally based in Singapore, will relocate its home address to the United States, President Trump announced Thursday.

The company, which manufactures communications chips around the world, said it would relocate its legal address to Delaware once shareholders approve the move, bringing $20 billion in annual revenue back to the U.S. Its corporate headquarters will remain in San Jose.

The move would enable Broadcom to avoid a federal review process.

The Oval Office announcement was tied to the release of congressional Republicans’ tax proposal, which would drastically reduce corporate rates and make it easier for companies to deduct foreign taxes. The company credits the GOP plan with making it easier to do business in the U.S. — but said it will move to the U.S. regardless of whether the plan passes.

A year ago, Broadcom entered into a $5.5-billion agreement to merge with San Jose network provider Brocade Communications Systems Inc., but that has been delayed while the deal is scrutinized by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The high-level government committee, known as CFIUS, investigates proposed acquisitions of U.S. companies by foreign buyers on national security and intellectual property grounds.

By becoming a U.S.-based company, Broadcom would avoid the CFIUS process.

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Trump presses Congress to end diversity visa lottery: ‘We need to make AMERICA SAFE!’

President Trump pushed again Thursday for canceling the green card lottery program under which the suspected New York City attacker entered the country in 2010, as well as for changing immigration rules that give priority to family members of those living in the United States.

Speaking in the White House after a meeting with Republican senators, Trump called the diversity visa lottery “a disaster for our country.”

“The people put in that lottery are not that country’s finest,” he said, adding that the program created “significant vulnerabilities” for national security.

Sayfullo Saipov gained entrance to the United States via the lottery, arriving in 2010 from his native Uzbekistan. He has been charged with driving a rented truck down a bicycle path in Manhattan on Tuesday, killing eight people in an attack reportedly inspired by Islamic State.

The lottery program, created during the George H.W. Bush administration, was meant to allow individuals to enter the United States from countries that had low levels of immigration. It had particular support from Irish American and Italian American groups.

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Trump calls for death penalty for New York terrorism suspect

President Trump quickly seized on Tuesday’s deadly attack in New York to promote immigration restrictions and to criticize his chief Democratic rival, New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer.

Trump first demanded the cancellation of the green card lottery program that allowed suspected attacker Sayfullo Saipov to enter the country.

The lottery program, created during the George H.W. Bush administration, was meant to allow individuals to enter the United States from countries that had low levels of immigration at that time. It had particular support from Irish American and Italian American groups, which have long had large immigrant populations in New York, and was backed by Schumer, then a member of the House, as well as Republicans from the New York area.

Trump cited “Fox and Friends” as his source for some of his information, but the Department of Homeland Security later confirmed that Saipov had benefited from the lottery.

While Schumer was a sponsor of the lottery plan a generation ago, more recently, in the Senate, he sought to cancel it as part of the comprehensive immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013 but was killed by opposition from conservative Republicans in the House. Trump opposed that plan.

Trump continued to tweet about the attack through Wednesday afternoon and evening. In some of the messages, he offered condolences to the victims, praised law enforcement’s response and pledged his support to elected officials.

In other tweets, Trump hit out at immigration rules and called for restrictions to be tightened.

His proposals on the immigration front were twofold: to cancel the visa lottery program and to end “chain migration” by which relatives of those in the country have priority when seeking permission to enter legally.

Trump also made another pitch for what he termed “our already Extreme Vetting Program.” He said he was tightening the vetting program but did not say how.

Later Wednesday, after federal prosecutors brought terrorism charges against Saipov, Trump tweeted that the 29-year-old suspect should get the death penalty.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Saipov asked to display the Islamic State’s flag in his hospital room and said “he felt good about what he had done.”

Trump referenced that in his comments on Twitter.

Typically, presidents, who have authority over the Department of Justice, stay silent on even the most egregious cases rather than offer statements that could complicate prosecutions or give ammunition to defense attorneys. Trump has not followed suit.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writers Cathleen Decker and Noah Bierman.

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In tweets, Trump suggests inserting Obamacare repeal into tax bill

As House Republicans struggle to produce their ambitious tax overhaul, President Trump weighed in Wednesday with an off-topic suggestion: How about repealing part of Obamacare and use the money saved on healthcare for tax cuts?

The idea is not original. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Okla.), who often has the president’s ear, floated as much during a tweet storm over the weekend.

Cotton, joined by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, argue that repealing the mandate that all Americans carry health insurance would save $300 billion over the decade.

Not only would Republicans be able to find more revenue needed to pay for tax cuts without having to eliminate popular deductions, but they would also score a political win after their failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, supporters reason.

But the idea creates headaches for GOP tax bill writers who are already struggling to rally lawmakers around a stand-alone tax bill. Adding Obamacare repeal to the mix would force them to wade through an additional political and procedural morass.

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Trump thanks GOP-led Senate for confirming his judicial nominees

President Trump thanked the GOP-led Senate for pushing through his judicial nominees.

In a tweet Wednesday afternoon, Trump credited the Senate with helping his administration appoint judges “at a record clip!”

Trump specifically named in his tweet Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who recently set the stage for votes on four of the president’s appellate court nominees and one district court nominee. In doing so, he declared that Democrats would be unsuccessful in stopping their confirmation.

“We’ll confirm all of them this week, no matter how long that takes,” McConnell said Monday.

McConnell’s frustration stems from Democratic insistence on using all the time Senate rules allow for moving to an up-or-down vote on the nominee. It also ignores the many ways Republicans blocked President Obama’s choices, most notably the Democratic president’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Republicans refused to even hold a hearing on Garland, insisting in February 2016 that the president chosen months later in November should fill the court vacancy.

Trump has had nine federal judges confirmed so far, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and four circuit court judges. In comparison, Obama had five judges confirmed at this stage of his presidency, including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and one appellate court judge.

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Trump pledges to reveal his pick to lead Federal Reserve

President Trump pledged to announce Thursday the “new head” of the Federal Reserve.

Trump said before a Cabinet meeting Wednesday: “I think you will be extremely impressed by this person.”

He repeated the statement later Wednesday in a tweet:

About an hour earlier, Trump commented on a day-old tweet from his account that linked to a Fox News report on a rise in U.S. coal production.

Trump also wished a happy birthday to golfer Gary Player.

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Trump applauds capture of Benghazi attack suspect

U.S. special operations forces captured a militant in Libya accused of playing an instrumental role in the Benghazi attacks, officials say, in a high-stakes operation designed to bring the perpetrators to justice five years after the deadly violence.

President Trump identified the militant as Mustafa al-Imam and said his capture signified that the four Americans who died “will never be forgotten.”

Justice Department officials were escorting al-Imam by military plane to the United States, where he’s expected to be tried in federal court.

“Our memory is deep and our reach is long, and we will not rest in our efforts to find and bring the perpetrators of the heinous attacks in Benghazi to justice,” Trump said in a statement, which he also shared on Twitter.

The Navy SEAL-led raid marked the first publicly known operation since Trump took office to target those accused of involvement in Benghazi, which mushroomed into a multiyear political fracas centered on Republican allegations of a bungled Obama administration response. Those critiques shadowed Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of State at the time of the attacks, through her presidential campaign.

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Trump shares news reports on home prices and coal production

In between tweets lashing out at Democrats and decrying the “sick and deranged person” suspected of carrying out a terrorist attack in New York, President Trump doled out a slew of accolades Tuesday via Twitter.

Trump thanked Puerto Rico’s lieutenant governor for writing an op-ed defending the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria.

He wished the public a happy Halloween, attaching to his tweet a video of holiday festivities held at the White House:

Trump tweeted links to two CNBC segments. The first reported a rise in consumer confidence:

The second found that August home prices had hit an all-time high, per a key real estate index:

Trump also shared a Fox News segment on a rise in U.S. coal production:

The Trump administration is in the process of dismantling the Clean Power Plan, one of the world’s most aggressive programs to confront climate change, and has strained to show the repeal of the Obama-era rules will boost the economy.

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Trump tries to turn spotlight on Democrats in tweets

President Trump continued broadcasting his frustration with Monday’s announcement of two indictments and one guilty plea of top figures in his campaign, sending a second series of tweets Tuesday morning intended to deflect attention to Democrats.

The presidential tweets, amid one of the most challenging weeks of his presidency, mark yet another precedent broken by Trump. Many legal analysts have advised him against making impromptu public statements on social media during the investigation.

It is unclear what he meant when he said that the Podesta brothers could “drain the swamp.” John Podesta served as Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman. His brother Tony, who is also close to the Clintons, resigned from his Democratic lobbying firm amid the furor of the Russia probe on Monday.

Podesta’s firm is referenced, though not by name, in the indictment against Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager who was charged Monday. The firm worked on a contract with Manafort for a Ukrainian government political party.

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Trump seeks to distance campaign from aide who pleaded guilty

President Trump broke a nearly daylong Twitter silence Tuesday to characterize a former campaign aide who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as a “young low-level volunteer” whom “few knew.”

That might come as a surprise to candidate Donald Trump, who in a March 2016 meeting with the editorial board of the Washington Post highlighted George Papadopoulos’ role in his campaign.

Asked about a pending announcement of his foreign policy team, Trump listed Papadopoulos as one of five advisors.

“He’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy,” Trump said.

The advisor also was present at a meeting of Trump’s foreign policy team; a picture shows him four seats from Trump.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty early this month to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russia during the campaign. The plea was made public Monday.

Trump’s tweets also erred in their characterization of the timing of events listed in the indictment of his former campaign manager Paul Manafort and Manafort’s chief aide, Richard Gates. While the 12-count indictment on money laundering, conspiracy and other charges involved events before the campaign, prosecutors specified that the acts continued until 2017.

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In tweets on New York attack, Trump swiftly pivots from prayers to politics

President Trump took to Twitter to address the first terror strike inside the United States during his presidency:

A man described by authorities as a terrorist drove a rented pickup truck down a crowded bicycle path in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, killing at least eight people.

Authorities identified the suspect as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, a native of Uzbekistan who moved to the U.S. in 2010. Saipov shouted “Allahu akbar,” which is Arabic for “God is great,” before being arrested, police said.

In a subsequent tweet, Trump ascribed the attack to Islamic State.

That came before authorities publicly identified the militant group as the suspected motivator.

The president quickly offered condolences to the eight victims and their families:

Hours later, Trump turned toward politics, using the aftermath of the attack to make a pitch for what he termed “our already Extreme Vetting Program.” He said he was tightening the vetting program but did not say how.

It was unclear whether more restrictive vetting would have kept out Saipov: Uzbekistan has not been among the countries covered by Trump’s multiple travel bans.

The president’s quick demand for more restrictive immigration policies follows a pattern of swift comments from him after attacks involving Muslims.

He has been far more reticent — or declined to respond at all — following other tragedies. He delayed for two days criticizing white nationalists for their violent protest in Charlottesville, Va., this summer. At the time, he defended his reluctance by saying he needed to gather facts before speaking.

After the New York attack, by contrast, Trump moved within hours from expressing support and condolences for the city to shifting criticism onto others.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Cathleen Decker, Kurtis Lee, Richard Winton and Matt Hansen

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Trump offers encouragement to House GOP after delay of tax bill rollout

Republicans delayed the long-awaited introduction of their tax-cut bill Tuesday as members continued to argue over key elements, including how quickly to cut corporate rates, which state tax deductions to eliminate and whether to impose new caps on popular 401(k) retirement accounts, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

After promising that the bill would be released Wednesday, the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), announced late in the day that the unveiling would have to wait another day.

President Trump offered words of encouragement Tuesday night in a tweet:

Republicans have been working behind closed doors for weeks with the administration as they assemble legislation in a strictly partisan exercise without Democrat input, relying on special rules to allow for passage in the Senate with 50 votes, avoiding the possibility of a filibuster.

A key trouble spot has been figuring out how to pay for the tax cuts, which outside analysts estimate will cost more than $2.4 trillion in lost revenue over the decade.

Pressure runs high for Republicans to deliver on campaign promises now that they control the House, Senate and the White House, which is why some lobbyists and others say they have maintained such a closely held process.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera

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Trump live-tweets ‘Fox & Friends’ just before news of Manafort indictment breaks

President Trump is known to be a fan of Fox News morning show “Fox & Friends.”

He appeared to be watching early Monday, amid mounting reports that a grand jury had approved an indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in last year’s election.

Less than an hour before news broke that former Trump campaign manager Robert Manafort Jr. and his top deputy Richard W. Gates III were the targets of the indictment, Trump tweeted about a segment that had just aired on the show.

The report sought to link former President Obama with a controversial dossier that alleged a compromised relationship between Trump and Russia.

Obama’s re-election campaign committee, the segment noted, made payments last year to law firm Perkins Coie.

That’s the same law firm that reportedly brokered funding on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee for some of the research that resulted in the dossier’s compilation.

Perkins Coie has represented many political clients, including the nonprofit advocacy group that grew out of Obama’s campaign committee after his reelection.

“Fox & Friends” offered no evidence to suggest that any payments from the Obama campaign to the law firm were tied to the compilation of the dossier.

Still, Tom Fitton, president of conservative group Judicial Watch, appeared on the episode as a commentator and suggested that Obama had in some way “used” the dossier to “spy on” Trump’s presidential campaign.

Fitton also implicated Mueller in what he described as a “deep state” conspiracy against Trump.

“Are we in the midst of a major criminal investigation against the president of the United States as a result of this dodgy dossier, which was a political hit job?” Fitton mused.

“Fox & Friends” resumed coverage of the topic several minutes later in a segment featuring former Trump campaign advisor Michael Caputo.

Caputo also suggested that the dossier was connected to the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russia, which ultimately resulted in Mueller’s probe. He admitted he had no evidence to support the claim.

The president complimented Caputo in a tweet sent shortly after the segment aired:

News of the indictments broke minutes later.

While many cable news shows devoted the remainder of their morning episodes to covering the development, “Fox & Friends” spent less than 20 minutes on the topic, according to an analysis by liberal watchdog Media Matters for America.

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Trump tweets that crimes alleged in Manafort indictment took place before he joined the campaign. That’s not true

President Trump moved quickly Monday to distance himself and the White House from the indictment of his former campaign chairman and a top deputy on charges of conspiracy and money laundering.

Paul Manafort and Richard W. Gates III were charged by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating interactions between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia.

In a tweet a short time after the news became public, the president tried to shift the focus elsewhere, asking why Hillary Clinton and the Democrats aren’t the focus of the probe.

Trump claimed that the indictment against Manafort deals with activities “years ago,” before Trump was running for president. Actually, some of the criminal behavior alleged in the charges is as recent as the early days of his presidency.

Manafort and Gates are charged with criminal activities that go back to 2006 but extend to February of this year. The charges do not refer to Manafort’s activities with the campaign but rather accuse him of laundering money and conspiratorial acts before, during and after he had that job.

The indictment is the first to emerge from the broad investigation by Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. It does not go to the heart of that matter.

But separately, it was revealed Monday that an advisor to Trump’s campaign pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian professor who has close ties to the Russian government.

George Papadopoulos had told the FBI that his interactions with the professor, who promised “dirt” on Trump’s presidential rival, Clinton, took place before he joined the campaign. In fact, Papadopoulos was already a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign when he met the professor in mid-March 2016 and interacted with him after that, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

That was the first criminal count that cites interactions between someone in the Trump campaign and Russian intermediaries.

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Trump tweets fresh attacks on Democrats and Hillary Clinton amid reports of looming charges in Russia probe

President Trump expressed renewed frustration Sunday over the investigations into alleged ties between his campaign associates and Russian government officials, saying on Twitter that the “facts are pouring out” about links to Russia by his former presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.

“DO SOMETHING!” Trump urged in one of six morning tweets.

Despite investigations that found no wrongdoing, Trump has repeatedly pointed to the Obama administration’s approval of the 2010 sale of U.S. uranium mines to a company backed by the Russian government as an example of Clinton helping the Russians.

Trump and his allies have also sought to highlight the revelation, first reported Tuesday by the Washington Post, that research that led to the compilation of a controversial dossier alleging a compromised relationship between Trump and the Kremlin was funded in part by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

But the investigation into Trump’s past that ultimately produced the dossier was actually triggered by a conservative website with strong ties to the Republican establishment, leaders of the website said Friday.

The Washington Free Beacon, which is funded largely by Republican billionaire Paul Singer, confirmed it originally retained the political research firm Fusion GPS during the 2016 election cycle to scour then-candidate Trump’s background for negative information, a common political practice known as “opposition research.”

The Clinton campaign and the DNC reportedly continued funding Fusion’s work after the Free Beacon lost interest.

Trump’s tweets Sunday morning followed a CNN report that a federal grand jury in Washington has approved the first charges in the criminal investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. The report was subsequently confirmed by the Wall Street Journal, Reuters and NBC News.

Trump appeared to suggest that political rivals had seized upon the reports in a bid to divert attention from the GOP effort to push through tax reform.

The president also promised to make another try at overhauling the nation’s healthcare law.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered with the election to benefit Trump, a finding that Trump has not fully accepted. Mueller is investigating, as are multiple congressional committees.

Ty Cobb, a member of Trump’s legal team, sought Sunday to distance the president’s tweets from Mueller’s investigation.

“Contrary to what many have suggested, the president’s comments today are unrelated to the activities of the special counsel, with whom he continues to cooperate,” Cobb said in a statement.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett.

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Trump takes ‘not at all presidential’ swipe at Michael Moore

After a string of tame tweets sent earlier in the afternoon, President Trump appeared unable to resist taking a dig at filmmaker and liberal activist Michael Moore on Saturday.

In a tweet, Trump denounced Moore’s Broadway show as “a TOTAL BOMB” and noted it “was forced to close. Sad!”

Trump prefaced the sentiment with an admission that it was “not at all presidential.”

Moore’s one-man show, “The Terms of My Surrender,” was billed as an examination of the political and cultural dynamics that resulted in Trump’s election.

In August, Moore concluded a showing by leading the audience to Trump Tower to protest the president’s comments in the aftermath of deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

“The Terms of My Surrender” concluded its limited run at the Belasco Theatre on Oct. 22, which was set as the closing date when the show was first announced. It did not close prematurely, as Trump suggested in his tweet.

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Trump laments ‘very little reporting’ on economic growth

President Trump complained Saturday that there has been “very little reporting about the GREAT GDP numbers” showing that the economy grew at an annual rate of 3% in the third quarter.

“Best consecutive [quarters] in years!” Trump tweeted.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that the July-September advance in the gross domestic product — the country’s total output of goods and services — followed a 3.1% rise in the second quarter. It marked the first time in three years that growth has hit at least 3% for two consecutive quarters.

In a tweet sent minutes later, Trump thanked President Carter for suggesting during an interview that the news media have been overly critical of Trump.

“I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I’ve known about,” Carter said during the interview with the New York Times published last Saturday. “I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.”

Carter also expressed a desire to work with the Trump administration on diplomatic solutions with North Korea.

Later Saturday morning, Trump tweeted a video clip of remarks on the opioid epidemic earlier he delivered Thursday.

In his accompanying message, Trump encouraged Americans to participate in a drug takeback day, during which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration partners with local police departments to hold drop-off events where people can dispose of unused, expired or unwanted prescription drugs.

Trump followed up Saturday afternoon with tweets repeating a statement he issued Friday on the release of government files related to the assassination of President Kennedy:

Trump also thanked law enforcement and rescue personnel in a Saturday afternoon tweet:

Trump’s tweets on Saturday were a departure from his headline-generating social media messages earlier in the week, in which he denounced the NFL for not forcing players to stand during the national anthem, attacked a pair of Republican senators who criticized him and a Democratic megadonor who called for his impeachment, and revisited campaign-related allegations against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

Trump did not address reports – first by CNN, followed by the Wall Street Journal, Reuters and NBC News – that a federal grand jury in Washington has approved charges against at least one person in connection with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible coordination with members of Trump’s campaign team.

The reports, which cited anonymous sources, did not identify the person or people charged. Nor did they specify the nature of the charges, which were reportedly filed Friday and placed under seal.

In addition to the question of Russian election meddling and possible collusion, Mueller also is believed to be investigating whether Trump obstructed an FBI investigation into the matter by firing former FBI Director James B. Comey.

Trump appeared to hit out at Mueller’s investigation on Friday, tweeting, “It is now commonly agreed, after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump.” The president went on to accuse Hillary Clinton of colluding with Russia instead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Trump shares remarks on opioid crisis

President Trump shared a video clip of remarks on the opioid crisis he delivered Thursday, when he made sweeping new promises to mobilize the federal government against the deadly epidemic but stopped short of a major new commitment of resources to fight it.

Trump directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to declare a limited 90-day public health emergency, but he declined to declare a broader national emergency or ask Congress to fund any expansion in treatment or insurance coverage for Americans struggling with addiction.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noam N. Levey

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Trump tweets that it’s ‘commonly agreed’ he didn’t collude with Russia and accuses Hillary Clinton of collusion instead

President Trump sought Friday to downplay ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion among members of his campaign team.

Trump tweeted: “It is now commonly agreed, after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump.”

Trump instead accused Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, to whom he referred by her initials, “HC,” of colluding with Russia.

Despite investigations that found no wrongdoing, Trump has repeatedly pointed to the Obama administration’s approval of the 2010 sale of U.S. uranium mines to a company backed by the Russian government as an example of Clinton helping the Russians.

The sale of the Canada-based Uranium One to Russian energy company Rosatom was approved while Clinton led the State Department. Some investors in Uranium One, which owns uranium mines in the United States, had donated to her husband’s global philanthropic foundation.

So far, there is no publicly available evidence that Clinton was aware of Russian efforts or that the FBI investigation uncovered any wrongdoing related to the deal. The State Department was one of nine U.S. departments or agencies that approved the sale, a permitting process required by law for sales with possible national security implications.

Trump and his allies in Congress, along with his confidant Sean Hannity of Fox News, have renewed attacks on the 7-year-old uranium deal to blunt attention to investigations by four congressional committees and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian election interference.

On Friday, Trump also shared a link to a report aggregating comments from Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who said that, when it comes to last year’s election, “there’s more evidence, at this point, of Democratic collusion with the Russians than there is of Republican collusion with the Russians.”

Wallace referred to the revelation, as reported Tuesday by the Washington Post, that research that led to the compilation of a dossier detailing allegations about Trump’s ties to Russia was funded in part by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Trump allies have also seized on that development in an attempt to deflect attention from the Russia investigations and bolster the suggestion that such investigations are part of a conspiracy by political rivals to delegitimize Trump’s presidency.

Still, Fox News’ Wallace, who has been more critical of the Trump administration than many of his colleagues, also noted Friday that more information needs to become public before a judgment can be reached.

“This is far more evidence than we’ve ever seen involving President Trump and his campaign that the Democrats were directly involved in trying to get information from the Russians to affect the 2016 campaign,” Wallace said of the report linking the DNC with the dossier research.

“Now, having said that, we still don’t know about Robert Mueller, the investigation,” Wallace continued. “Both things could be true, that both sides were trying to get aid from the Russians, and it certainly seems true that the Russians were playing both sides to disrupt the election. So we still have to wait and see.”

Trump continued to tweet about the topic Friday night, sharing a link to a New York Post opinion piece accusing Clinton’s campaign of orchestrating a “Kremlin-aided smear job” against Trump.

The president attached to his tweet a video featuring a quote from the op-ed, followed by an image of Clinton’s recently published campaign postmortem, “What Happened.”

“NOW WE KNOW!” Trump tweeted.

Trump’s tweet Friday night coincided with the publication of a CNN report that a federal grand jury has approved the first charges stemming from Mueller’s investigation.

This post contains reporting from staff writers Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth

7:35 p.m.: This post was updated with a third tweet from Trump.

This post was originally published at 3:45 p.m.

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Trump praises politicians and performers in tweets

In between slamming Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer as “wacky & totally unhinged” and accusing presidential nominee Hillary Clinton of colluding with Russia, President Trump doled out a slew of wide-ranging accolades via Twitter on Friday.

Trump first congratulated the GOP for House Republicans’ passage of a budget, a necessary step for a tax overhaul. He specifically named House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).

In a separate tweet, Trump singled out for praise Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), who chairs the House Budget Committee.

Trump has made a rewrite of the nation’s tax code his top legislative priority, and the tax bill is the top item on the GOP agenda. It would be Trump’s first major win in Congress — and, Republicans hope, a much-needed boost for the party’s political fortunes in next year’s midterm election.

Also on Friday, Trump responded with gratitude to a tweet from Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott had thanked Trump for pledging to speed up repairs to an aging dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee.

The president also bid good luck to Joy Villa, a singer who appeared Friday morning on “Fox & Friends” and announced that she is considering running for Congress as a Republican.

Villa attended the Grammy Awards in February wearing a red, white and blue bedazzled “Make America Great Again” dress with Trump’s name emblazoned on the back.

The president later turned his attention to a different musical performer, tweeting birthday wishes to “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood.

Trump initially tagged the wrong Twitter account, directing his message to a Lee Greenwood who describes himself as a New York lawyer with Washington, D.C. roots.

Trump later sent a corrected tweet, as well as a second message containing a video of Greenwood performing “God Bless the USA” during Trump’s inauguration festivities in January.

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Trump pledges to release all JFK assassination files ‘other than the names and addresses’ of living people

President Trump appeared to indicate Friday that the government will release more documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Trump tweeted an image in which he wrote that he plans to release “ALL JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living.”

Trump did not provide a timetable for the files’ release. He wrote that he arrived at the decision after consulting with intelligence officials and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly.

Earlier Friday, Trump tweeted that the Kennedy documents “are being carefully released.”

“In the end there will be great transparency,” Trump wrote. “It is my hope to get just about everything to public!”

Trump’s tweets came the day after the federal government released nearly 3,000 secret documents about Kennedy’s assassination.

Under pressure from officials at the FBI, the CIA and other agencies, Trump agreed to temporarily withhold some documents that contain sensitive national security and law enforcement information.

JFK files detail CIA plans to kill Castro using the mob, poisoned swimsuits, exploding seashells>>

Some of the documents were created as recently as the 1990s and include information related to confidential informants and help from certain foreign governments, White House officials said Thursday.

Trump issued a memo instructing officials to review the withheld documents and try to release as many as possible by April 26, 2018, said the officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Matt Pearce.

5:35 p.m.: This post was updated with a second tweet from Trump.

This post was originally published at 3:15 p.m.

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Trump releases video teasing his Fed chair pick

President Trump on Friday released via Instagram a promotional video teasing his plan to announce a new chair of the Federal Reserve next week.

Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen’s term ends in February.

Trump this week said his choice was down to “two and maybe three people,” who are thought to be Yellen, Fed governor Jerome Powell and John Taylor, a Stanford University economist.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldn’t discuss reports that Trump is leaning toward Powell. Asked Friday about reports that Yellen won’t likely be offered a second term, Sanders said, “I can confirm that the president plans to make an announcement on that next week, but beyond that I don’t have any other details to add.”

In the video, Trump described his pick only as “a person who will hopefully do a fantastic job.”

“I have somebody very specific in mind, and I think everybody will be very impressed,” Trump said.

The president concluded the video by expressing economic optimism. “We’ve got a lot of jobs coming into our country. Go out and get a good one,” he said. “Wages are going up. The economy is strong. Have fun. God bless America.”

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Trump bashes Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer in tweet: ‘Never wins elections!’

President Trump called Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer “wacky” and “unhinged” Friday after apparently seeing an ad that features the San Francisco billionaire calling for Trump to be impeached.

The 60-second television ad has been running for nearly a week and has been spotted during World Series broadcasts, but it was its appearance during “Fox and Friends” on Friday morning that might have caught Trump’s attention.

Trump tweeted shortly after the ad ran that Steyer “has been fighting me and my Make America Great Again agenda from the beginning,” adding the billionaire environmentalist “never wins elections!”

The $10-million advertising campaign directs people to a website with a petition calling on Trump to be impeached.

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Trump promotes Sean Hannity film in tweet

President Trump promoted a Christian-centric film produced by Fox News host and reported Trump confidant Sean Hannity.

Trump tweeted Thursday that the film would “be another Sean success!”

The president is known to be an avid consumer of Fox News. Of a total of 26 television interviews he’s granted since his inauguration, 18 of them have gone to the network or an affiliate, according to figures provided to Politico by Mark Knoller, CBS News White House correspondent.

Trump often promotes Fox News in tweets urging viewers to tune in for his appearances (and those of his family members), offering praise for or commentary on various segments and touting side projects undertaken by hosts and contributors.

The tweet was the fifth time this month that Trump has mentioned Hannity on Twitter. Last week, Trump praised “big ratings getter” Hannity in a tweet applauding a charity show for victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Trump also mentioned Hannity twice on Oct. 11 and again on Oct. 12 in tweets advertising his interview on Hannity’s nightly show.

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Trump tweets strongest endorsement yet of Ed Gillespie for Virginia governor

President Trump on Thursday gave his strongest endorsement yet of the Trump-shy Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia.

In a pair of tweets, Trump said that Ed Gillespie would improve Virginia’s economy, be “strong on crime” and “might even save our great statues/heritage.”

Trump also attacked Gillespie’s Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, as being “VERY weak” on crime and someone who “doesn’t even show up to work.”

They were Trump’s most expansive comments about this year’s only competitive governor’s race, a contest that could serve as an early referendum on the president’s political popularity.

Gillespie is a former White House advisor to President George W. Bush and a lobbyist who has largely kept mum on the president so far, fearful of alienating Virginia’s moderate voters. When Trump endorsed Gillespie’s campaign on Twitter earlier this month, Gillespie downplayed it as a nonevent and has declined to say whether he plans to invite the president to campaign with him.

Democrats have made the president a key talking point in the Virginia campaign, hopeful that anti-Trump sentiment will help Northam in the only Southern state Trump lost last year.

While keeping Trump at a distance, Gillespie has tried to excite Trump’s supporters with hard-edged attack ads that Trump mirrored in his tweets.

Gillespie has accused Northam of being “weak” on gang crime by immigrants living in the country illegally. He also highlighted Northam’s support for removing Virginia’s numerous Confederate monuments, an issue that gained prominence this summer following a deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville over the proposed removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Trump’s tweets also hit on a central dispute between the campaigns over the state of Virginia’s economy. Gillespie points to stagnant wage growth as proof of a bleak economic picture, arguing that tax cuts and fewer regulations are urgently needed. Northam touts progress made under Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, including a low unemployment rate, while promising increased investments in education and struggling rural areas.

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Trump boasts of GOP unity as House Republicans approve budget

House Republicans on Thursday gave final approval to a 2018 GOP budget resolution, allowing for a $1.5-trillion deficit increase that sets the stage for President Trump’s tax cuts.

Trump called the passage “big news” Thursday morning in a tweet.

The largely party-line vote was 216-212, with 20 Republicans joining all Democrats to oppose.

Passage allows Congress to use special budget rules to approve the tax package on a simple majority vote, preventing Democratic opponents from blocking it with a filibuster in the Senate.

Many Republicans in the House, though, were upset that they were being asked to accept the Senate’s version of the budget, with the additional $1.5-trillion deficit, rather than their own resolution.

About half an hour before the vote, Trump had boasted in a tweet of “the UNITY within the Republican Party!”

That came two days after Trump endured one of the most searing rebukes of a chief executive by members of his own party in modern history, with Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee accusing Trump of “debasing” the nation, and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake declaring he would rather retire than be “complicit” in the “compromise of our moral authority.”

Though other colleagues have shared some of Flake’s and Corker’s views about Trump, none said so publicly after their remarks. Other GOP members of Congress still appear more focused on the promise of a president in the White House who can sign Republican bills into law.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro

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Trump makes sweeping promises in fight against opioid epidemic, but offers few new resources

President Trump made sweeping new promises Thursday to mobilize the federal government against the deadly opioid epidemic, but his language contrasted sharply with an order that stopped well short of a major new commitment of resources for a crisis that last year killed more than 64,000 Americans.

Trump directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to declare a limited 90-day public health emergency, but he declined to declare a broader national emergency or ask Congress to fund any expansion in treatment or insurance coverage for Americans struggling with addiction.

Senior administration officials say they hope Congress will provide more money in a spending bill later this year, but officials would not say how much the White House will seek.

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Trump calls himself ‘victim’ of dossier after report on Clinton campaign link

Research that led to the compilation of a dossier detailing allegations about President Trump’s ties to Russia and possible coordination with the Kremlin were funded in part by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

President Trump tweeted Wednesday about the revelation, appearing to cite a Fox News report that referred to Trump as “the victim” of the dossier.

A Clinton campaign lawyer and the DNC retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, in April 2016 to conduct the research. The firm hired Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity.

Before the agreement, research by Fusion GPS was funded by an unknown Republican client during the GOP primary. The Clinton campaign and the DNC, through the law firm, continued to fund the research through the end of October 2016, days before election day.

The revelation is likely to fuel complaints by Trump that the dossier, which the president has derided as “phony stuff,” is a politically motivated collection of salacious claims. Yet the FBI has worked to corroborate the document, and in a sign of its ongoing relevance to investigators, special counsel Robert Mueller’s team — which is probing potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign — weeks ago questioned the former British spy, Christopher Steele, who helped compile the claims in the dossier, the Associated Press reported.

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In tweets, Trump hits out at Republican senators who criticized him

Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, invoking the 1950s demagoguery of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, said Wednesday “you can’t continue to just remain silent” about President Trump’s politics and behavior.

“There is a tipping point. ... I hope we’re reaching that tipping point,” Flake told NBC’s “Today.”

The Arizona senator made the rounds of morning television news shows to talk about his decision not to run for reelection in 2018 and his impassioned speech on the Senate floor Tuesday.

Trump fired back on Twitter, saying that Flake and another retiring Senate Republican, Bob Corker of Tennessee — who had criticized Trump on Tuesday as “untruthful” — aren’t running for reelection because “they had zero chance of being elected.”

He also contended that Flake and Corker stand alone, boasting in several tweets that he had gotten standing ovations at a Senate Republicans’ luncheon Tuesday at the Capitol.

Trump’s comments followed a day in which Flake declared he would not be “complicit” with Trump and announced his surprise retirement, while Corker said the president “debases our nation” with constant untruths and name-calling.

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Trump congratulates ex-chief of staff on his new job

Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is rejoining his former law firm.

President Trump congratulated Priebus on Wednesday in a tweet.

The Milwaukee-based Michael Best & Friedrich said Priebus would be president and chief strategist at the firm’s office in Washington.

Priebus worked for the law firm for about 13 years before becoming chairman of the Republican National Committee and eventually Trump’s chief of staff. He was replaced by retired Gen. John F. Kelly in July.

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Trump tweets that he’s spoken with China’s Xi and looks forward to ‘historic trip’

President Trump says he spoke Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, congratulating him on beginning a second five-year term as leader.

China’s ruling Communist Party this week formally lifted Xi’s status to the nation’s most powerful ruler in decades by writing his name and dogma into the party’s constitution alongside the party founders.

In a tweet, Trump said he congratulated Xi on his “extraordinary elevation” and that the two discussed trade and North Korea.

In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs that taped shortly after the phone call, Trump described Xi’s elevation as something that had “really virtually never happened in China.”

“He’s a powerful man. I happen to think he’s a very good person,” said Trump, describing their relationship as notably strong.

“People say we have the best relationship of any president-president, because he’s called president also,” he went on to say. “Now some people might call him the king of China. But he’s called president.”

Trump and Xi will meet in China next month during Trump’s first presidential visit to Asia. Trump said he’d be “going to Beijing and other places, wherever he’d like to take me” and said he hopes the trip will be “historic and positive” with serious progress on North Korea.

Trump will also stop in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines during the Nov. 3-14 trip.

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Trump teases ‘long anticipated release’ of JFK assassination files

President Trump continued to tease the federal government’s plan to release secret files linked to the assassination of President Kennedy.

Trump tweeted Wednesday that the release would take place on Thursday.

That’s the deadline by which Trump must block the files’ release; otherwise, they are scheduled to be made public by the National Archives.

Trump first announced last week via Twitter that he planned to allow the release of the files.

That came after several media outlets reported that White House officials expected the president to block the release, as security agencies voiced concerns that sensitive documents could be included.

Update: Thousands of JFK assassination documents are released, though Trump orders some to be kept secret for now>>

In an effort to stamp down conspiracy theories, Congress passed the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act in 1992 to hold the files from public release for 25 years.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire

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Trump thanks Texas governor after stopping at hurricane briefing

President Trump visited Dallas on Wednesday for a Republican fundraiser and political reception, and added a brief meeting about hurricane recovery efforts continuing on the Gulf Coast about 250 miles away.

The briefing at Dallas Love Field Airport, where several state and federal officials reviewed the effort since Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston region in August, lasted just 10 to 15 minutes, according to reporters with the president. Afterward, Trump attended a private roundtable event and reception with Republican National Committee supporters and donors.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott attended the hurricane relief meeting and the reception.

Scheduling an official event like the hurricane briefing on top of the fundraising events allows the White House to split the cost of Trump’s trip between taxpayers and the Republican Party, a practice that past presidents adopted as well.

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Trump touts Fox Business Network interview in tweets

President Trump promoted his interview with Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs in tweets sent Wednesday.

The president tweeted video clips of the interview, in which he touted the GOP’s tax plan and credited optimism toward the proposal, as well as moves to cut federal regulations, with driving gains in the U.S. stock market.

Trump also touched on his Wednesday afternoon phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his search for a Federal Reserve chair.

He closed the interview by criticizing the news media and contending that coverage of his administration is “unfair,” though he singled out Fox News as the exception.

Trump’s criticism echoed the tone of a “Fox & Friends” segment that the president also shared via Twitter earlier Wednesday.

The segment features commentary from Fox Business host Stuart Varney, who argued that the “mainstream” media has failed to cover the growth in the economy that’s taken place under Trump.

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Trump proclaims United Nations Day

President Trump used a proclamation on United Nations Day to urge all nations to work together as the world organization’s founders intended “and confront those who threaten chaos, turmoil and terror.”

Stressing the importance of multilateralism, Trump reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the U.N.’s goals and said its purpose “remains as essential today as ever before” — to have diverse nations cooperate “to preserve sovereignty, enhance security, build prosperity, and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.” He never mentioned “America First.”

Trump’s tweet and proclamation, marking Tuesday’s 72nd anniversary of the day the U.N. Charter took effect, came four days after the president met with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the White House for their first extended conversation, which included discussions of North Korea, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq, terrorism and U.N. reform.

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Feud between Trump and Sen. Bob Corker explodes

Senate Republicans had hoped a Tuesday lunch with President Trump would showcase GOP unity as they push for tax cuts. But the meeting was largely lost amid Trump’s remarkable war of words with Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

After Corker downplayed Trump’s visit as a “photo op” in an interview on “Today,” Trump responded on Twitter:

Trump repeated a claim, disputed by Corker, that the senator begged for his endorsement before Corker announced he would not seek reelection. Corker says that, in fact, the opposite is true and that Trump promised his support in multiple conversations.

The two went back and forth on Twitter, with Corker using a hashtag citing previous comments he made about the White House becoming an “adult day-care center.”

Trump pivoted 15 minutes later to a tweet celebrating the Dow Jones industrial average hitting a record high.

But Corker’s attention appeared less readily diverted. In a hallway interview back in the Senate, he unleashed some of his darkest concerns about Trump’s presidency.

Corker said he has tried to work with Trump, in private talks and counsel, but could go no further. “I think that he’s proven himself unable to rise to the occasion,” Corker told CNN. He said that “world leaders are very aware that much of what he says is untrue.”

The Corker-Trump exchange did not continue at the lunch, senators said, calling the gathering a notably upbeat and policy-oriented discussion, without any of the fireworks of past meetings.

By Tuesday evening, Trump toned down — for now — his rhetoric:

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro

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Trump marks anniversary of 1983 Beirut bombing with tweet

Vice President Mike Pence on Monday honored the memory of 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, calling the 3-decade-old attack the “opening salvo” in the war against terrorism.

Pence and White House national security advisor H.R. McMaster paid tribute to the service members during a Washington ceremony to mark the anniversary of the deadly truck bombing.

President Trump retweeted a message from Pence about the anniversary and wrote that the country “will never forget the 241 American service members” who died.

The Beirut bombing was the deadliest attack against U.S. Marines since the battle over Iwo Jima in February 1945. The ceremony and parade at the Marine Barracks in Washington were attended by retired Lt. Col. Larry Gerlach, the commander of the battalion landing team who survived the bombing, and families of service members who were killed.

Trump did not attend the event, but the vice president pointed to Trump’s recent decision to decertify the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which was tied to the bombing.

“The Beirut barracks bombing was the opening salvo in a war that we have waged ever since — the global war on terror,” Pence said.

He said that, under Trump’s leadership, “we will drive the cancer of terrorism from the face of the earth.”

Trump’s tweet about the anniversary came as he continued to feud with the family of a slain soldier about a condolence call Trump placed to the soldier’s widow.

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Trump tweets new attack on NFL as players continue to protest during anthem

Days after the NFL declined to change its rule on the national anthem, about two dozen players protested around the league Sunday.

President Trump denounced the league Monday morning, tweeting that the players had showed “total disrespect to our Flag & Country.”

“No leadership in NFL!” he wrote.

Associated Press journalists counted 22 players protesting during the anthems in some way before day games. Some took a knee, others sat on the bench, stayed in the tunnel or raised a fist.

Just one player appeared to protest visibly during the early games Sunday, with Rams linebacker Robert Quinn raising his fist during the national anthem, then bringing it down before “God Save the Queen” before playing Arizona in London.

On Sept. 25, days after Trump said players should be fired for protesting during the anthem, more than 200 players protested.

The Seahawks and 49ers had the most protesters on Sunday.

Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett and seven Seahawks teammates did not stand during the anthem before their game with the New York Giants.

In San Francisco, about a half-dozen 49ers knelt. They were led by Eric Reid, Marquise Goodwin, rookie linebacker Reuben Foster, Eli Harold, Adrian Colbert and K’waun Williams. All the Dallas Cowboys stood, but defensive tackle David Irving raised his fist after the anthem ended.

A group of 11 owners and more than a dozen players met for more than two hours Tuesday at the league’s headquarters. Among the topics discussed was enhancing the players’ platforms for speaking out on social issues. The NFL’s policy on the national anthem was not changed.

Commissioner Roger Goodell and several owners said Wednesday that changing the language from “should stand” to “must stand” was not discussed at the league’s fall meetings.

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Trump tweets that he spoke slain soldier’s name ‘without hesitation,’ contradicting widow

In a phone call with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, President Trump stumbled to remember her husband’s name, according to Myeshia Johnson, who spoke to ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday.

“It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it,” Johnson said.

Rather than leave the matter alone, Trump responded to the interview on Twitter, saying he had a “very respectful” conversation with Johnson. Contradicting her, he added, “and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!”

La David Johnson was killed earlier this month along with three other soldiers during an ambush on a special forces patrol in Niger, an attack apparently carried out by militants affiliated with Islamic State.

Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat and family friend who was listening in on the call, has been fighting with Trump over what was said and whether it was insensitive. Johnson’s account backs that of Wilson, whom Trump accused of fabricating the story.

The controversy threatens to overshadow an afternoon White House ceremony in which Trump will award the Medal of Honor to retired Army Capt. Gary Michael “Mike” Rose, a Vietnam War medic.

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Trump promises ‘no change to your 401(k)’ under tax plan

President Trump on Monday vowed there would be “no change” to rules for 401(k) plans, seeking to douse speculation that the Republican tax overhaul bill being drafted by Congress would include new limits on retirement savings.

“This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!” Trump said on Twitter.

The outlines of the tax overhaul released by the White House and Republican leaders last month said that “[t]ax reform will aim to maintain or raise retirement plan participation of workers and the resources available for retirement.”

Lawmakers are drafting legislation based on the framework, which is centered around a large cut to the corporate tax rate, other breaks that would benefit the wealthy and mostly unspecified promises of helping reduce taxes for the middle class.

But there have been reports that Republicans in Congress are weighing new limits on the upfront tax break for 401(k) savings as a way of generating additional federal revenue to offset money lost by the rate cuts and other proposed changes.

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Trump prolongs condolence call flap with another tweet slamming ‘wacky’ congresswoman

President Trump continued to hit out at Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), stretching into a fifth day the dispute over Trump’s condolence call to the widow of a slain soldier.

In a tweet sent early Sunday, Trump again criticized Wilson as “wacky” and called her “the gift that keeps on giving for the Republican Party.”

Wilson is a friend of and mentor to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, who was killed in Niger earlier this month.

Wilson was present when Trump called Myeshia Johnson to offer his condolences on Tuesday. The congresswoman later described Trump’s comments as “insensitive,” and she and Trump have publicly argued about the call’s content and tone.

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, whose son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, gave an emotional defense of the call Thursday in the White House briefing room.

Trump’s response to the controversy consisted largely of tweeting attacks on the congresswoman. He accused Wilson of listening to the call secretly and denounced her account of the conversation as “totally fabricated” and “a total lie,” despite corroboration from other family members who were present.

Trump also addressed the topic in an interview that aired on Fox News on Sunday.

“He was so offended, because he was in the room when I made the call and so were other people,” Trump said of Kelly’s reaction Thursday. “And the call was a very nice call. He was so offended that a woman would be — that somebody would be listening to that call. He actually couldn’t believe it. Actually, he said to me ‘Sir, this is not acceptable. This is really not.’”

Trump shot back at the family’s criticism that the president didn’t seem to know Johnson’s name when he called.

“By the way, I spoke of the name of the young man and it was a really — it’s a very tough call. Those are the toughest calls,” he said.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Sarah D. Wire and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump comments on poll that found 46% of voters believe news outlets make up stories about him

President Trump commented on a poll showing that 46% of registered voters believe that major news organizations fabricate stories about Trump and his administration.

“It is finally sinking through,” Trump tweeted Sunday morning.

The poll was conducted by Morning Consult for Politico this month.

Of the 1,991 voters surveyed, 916 — or 46% — said they believe that the nation’s major news organizations fabricate stories about Trump and his administration, and 731 — 37% — said they that believe that news organizations do not. An additional 344 — 17% — of respondents said they don’t know or have no opinion.

The responses were largely split along party lines. Of the Republican voters who responded, 76% said they believe that news outlets make up stories about Trump. Among independent voters, that share fell to 44%, and only 20% of Democrat respondents said they believe that news organizations invent stories about Trump.

Responses to the question also appeared to correlate with voters’ level of support for the president. Among the voters polled who also responded that they strongly approve of Trump’s job performance, 85% said they believe that news organizations fabricate stories about Trump. Among those who said they strongly disapprove of his performance, just 13% said they hold that belief.

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Trump promotes his appearance on Fox News show

President Trump promoted his appearance on an episode of Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” in a tweet sent early Sunday.

During the interview that aired Sunday, Trump raised expectations about Republicans’ timetable for completing tax reform, indicating he expects the as-of-yet unwritten overhaul of the tax code on his desk by Thanksgiving.

The president confirmed that Republicans are considering adding a tax bracket for the rich to their plan, saying it would provide a bigger benefit for the middle class.

Trump also touched on criticism of a condolence call he made to Myeshia Johnson, widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, who was killed in Niger this month.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire

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Trump praises his accomplishments in tweetstorm

President Trump is trying to balance growing concerns about the legal troubles facing his administration with claims that he is one of the most productive presidents in U.S. history.

His critics argue that Trump has accomplished little on the legislative front, but the president argued otherwise in a series of tweets sent Saturday night.

Earlier Saturday, Trump celebrated the latest stock market milestones, with both the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average closing Friday at all-time highs, the fifth straight record close for each.

Trump also touted the Labor Department’s release Thursday of statistics showing that claims for jobless aid dropped by 22,000 last week to 222,000, the fewest since March 1973.

The president spent the week feuding over a condolence call with the family of a soldier killed in Niger.

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Trump continues to revisit campaign allegations in tweets

President Trump has sought recently to draw attention to his administration’s strides forward, touting a strong economy, gains in the U.S. fight against terrorism and the Senate passage of a budget blueprint that paves the way for his proposed tax plan.

But for much of Saturday afternoon, Trump appeared preoccupied with the past.

Trump revisited several issues related to the 2016 presidential campaign in a series of tweets sent a short time after he returned to the White House from his Virginia golf club.

The president first weighed in on a dossier of allegations about his connections to Russia that became public a short time before his inauguration. The political research firm that compiled the dossier balked this week at subpoenas from the House Intelligence Committee.

After suggesting earlier in the week that the dossier had been paid for by Russia, the FBI, the Democrats or some combination, Trump tweeted Saturday a demand that federal officials “immediately release” the identity of exactly who had done so.

The dossier contends the Russian government amassed compromising information about Trump and was engaged in an effort to support and assist him in the election. Trump has denied that.

Trump next appeared to downplay news that emerged last month that Facebook had sold about $100,000 in ads to a Russian troll farm during the campaign. The social media giant has agreed to share more than 3,000 of those ads with congressional panels investigating foreign meddling in the 2016 election.

The shadowy group, known as the Internet Research Agency, placed ads believed to have been seen on at least 10 million Facebook users’ news feeds. The ads were aimed at inflaming divisive social issues such as race, gun control and gay rights to potentially tip the scales in Trump’s favor.

Trump on Saturday compared the pro-Kremlin firm’s purchase of the propaganda ads to “the billions of dollars of Fake News on CNN, ABC, NBC & CBS.” He also contended that Facebook had actually sided during the election with his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly denied that he colluded with Russia to win the election and has voiced skepticism about the conclusion by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had a clear preference for Trump in the 2016 campaign.

The continuing investigations and attention to the issue have infuriated the president, who sees the efforts as an attempt to delegitimize his presidency.

This post contains reporting from Times staff writer David Pierson

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Trump shares report on Islamic State defeat in Raqqah

President Trump is portraying the Islamic State group’s ouster from its Syrian stronghold as a milestone in the U.S. fight against terrorism and a step toward a political transition and lasting peace in Syria.

That came after Kurdish-led forces on Friday declared victory in Raqqah, the extremists’ self-declared capital, where they had terrorized the population for four years.

Trump on Saturday tweeted a link to a report from the Hill in which the president hailed the development as a “critical breakthrough” in the United States’ campaign to defeat Islamic State.

That assessment, which Trump also included in a statement released Saturday, runs counter to warnings in recent days from his national security aides that the militants remain fully capable of striking American interests. And there are no signs of an impending political transition, with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government newly strengthened.

In his statement, Trump cited his efforts to empower U.S. military forces on the ground, and repeated his claim that more had been done to defeat the group in recent months “than in the past several years.”

The U.S. “will soon transition into a new phase” in Syria, Trump said, and offer support to local security forces. He said the U.S. will back diplomatic negotiations to end the violence, allow refugees to return safely home, and “yield a political transition that honors the will of the Syrian people.”

There is no indication, however, that a political transition will come anytime soon.

United Nations-led talks have shown no serious signs of picking up steam. The ouster of Islamic State forces from Raqqah and other parts of Syria has overlapped with the increased influence of Iran and Russia in the country and a stronger hand for Assad, dimming prospects even further for the type of political solution the U.S. has long wanted to see.

And national security officials, including CIA Director Mike Pompeo, have warned that just because Islamic State has been evicted from Raqqah, that doesn’t mean the group won’t be able to carry out attacks against the U.S.

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Trump keeps condolence call fight alive with another tweet aimed at Rep. Frederica Wilson

Unwilling to put the tussling behind him, President Trump on Saturday jabbed back at the Democratic lawmaker who has slammed him for his words of condolence to a military widow, calling Rep. Frederica Wilson “wacky” and contending she is “killing” her party.

Trump’s broadside came a day after the White House defended Chief of Staff John F. Kelly after he mischaracterized Wilson’s remarks at a 2015 FBI building dedication and called her an “empty barrel” making noise. A Trump spokeswoman said it was “inappropriate” to question Kelly in light of his stature as a retired four-star general.

The fight between Trump and the Miami-area Democrat began Tuesday, when Wilson said Trump told the pregnant widow of a service member killed in Niger that her 25-year-old husband “knew what he signed up for.” Wilson was riding with the family of family of Sgt. La David Johnson to meet the body and heard the call on speakerphone.

Wilson later told reporters that Johnson’s family had taken Trump’s comments as an insult. Trump shot back that Wilson had “totally fabricated” the account, but the soldier’s widow and aunt confirmed it as true.

In the days that followed, both Trump and Kelly publicly attacked the congresswoman, with Trump tweeting that Wilson’s recounting of the call was “a total lie” and Kelly incorrectly accusing Wilson of bragging about her role in securing funding for the FBI office that was dedicated in 2015. In return, Wilson told the New York Times that the White House “is full of white supremacists.”

The administration has attempted to insist that it’s long past time to end the political squabbling over Trump’s compassion for America’s war dead, but Trump added to the volley of insults with his tweet Saturday morning.

The president also appeared to validate a supporter’s suggestion Saturday that the news media is engaged in a conspiracy to place undue focus on the spat with Wilson as a means of diverting attention from other issues.

After the supporter tweeted that the media has covered the dustup to provide “a distraction” from Trump’s achievements “and the massive Russian uranium bribery scandal facing team Obama and Hillary Clinton,” Trump replied:

It was the second time this week that the president, in tweets and public statements, has sought to link his former Democratic presidential rival to the 2010 purchase of American uranium mines by a Russian-backed company.

The Senate Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into the handling of a criminal probe linked to the deal after the Hill reported the FBI had evidence that Russian nuclear officials were involved in fraudulent dealings in 2009, before the uranium deal was approved.

The deal took place while Clinton was secretary of State, but her campaign and former State Department officials have said she was not involved in the approval process.

Trump’s tweets assailing the motives of the congresswoman and members of the media came hours before mourners were to attend a funeral for Johnson, the soldier whose combat death initially sparked the political fight.

Read MoreTimes staff writer Alex Wigglesworth contributed to this report

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Trump tweets that he’ll allow release of JFK assassination files

President Trump tweeted Saturday morning that, pending more information, he plans to allow the release of classified files related to the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Several media outlets had reported in recent days that White House officials expected the president to block the release of thousands of classified files as security agencies voiced concerns that sensitive documents could be included if the full trove of more than 3,000 files is released.

The tweet didn’t specify whether the president intends to allow all, or just some, of the information to become public, and he stipulates that the decision is “subject to the receipt of further information.”

The White House clarified later in the day with an unattributed statement that “the President believes that these documents should be made available in the interests of full transparency unless agencies provide a compelling and clear national security or law enforcement justification otherwise.”

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Trump tweets that Senate budget approval ‘is a really big deal’

President Trump lamented what he characterized as inadequate media coverage of Senate Republicans’ approval late Thursday of a 2018 budget, which would increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years to allow for Trump’s proposed tax cuts.

Passage of the GOP’s budget blueprint is a largely symbolic exercise, but it sets the stage for smoother passage of Trump’s upcoming tax cuts. It will include special instructions that allow for passage of a tax plan by a simple majority, without threat of a Senate filibuster to block it.

In a tweet early Saturday, Trump assured the public that the budget “is a really big deal, especially in terms of what will be the biggest tax cut in U.S. history.”

Trump’s claim relating to the size of his proposed tax cut is not accurate. His tax plan is, at most, fifth-largest in its estimated cost, says Marc Goldwein of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It could end up being even lower on the ladder historically.

The estimated cost of the tax plan has dropped by half or more since the spring, when only the general contours were known. In an analysis in April, Goldwein’s group found that the $5.5-trillion plan that was then expected would have been the third-largest since 1940 as a share of gross domestic product, behind Ronald Reagan’s package in 1981 and tax cuts enacted in 1945 to phase out revenue generated for World War II.

But, citing estimated costs of $1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion for Trump’s plan now, Goldwein said several other historically significant tax cuts also would surpass Trump’s: from 2013 and 1964.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Lisa Mascaro and the Associated Press

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Trump promotes book after its author defends him on talk show

President Trump promoted a book written by Robert Jeffress, an evangelical megachurch pastor and Fox News contributor who was also a strong Trump backer during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In a tweet sent Friday, Trump praised “A Place Called Heaven: 10 Surprising Truths About Your Eternal Home,” and called Jeffress “a wonderful man.”

Trump’s tweet came less than an hour after Jeffress appeared on Fox Business Network’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” to discuss criticism of Trump leveled by Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).

Wilson touched off a weeklong back-and-forth with White House officials when she described as insensitive Trump’s phone call to the widow of a slain soldier. The president reportedly told the widow that the soldier “knew what he signed up for” when he joined the Army.

In his interview with Dobbs, Jeffress defended Trump’s message as “absolutely appropriate.”

“It is the height of hypocrisy for this wacko rhinestone cowboy congresswoman to accuse the president of insensitivity when, in fact, she’s the one who is exploiting the widow’s pain for her own partisan gain,” Jeffress said of Wilson.

Wilson has been described as a friend of the widow’s family, and both the widow and the soldier’s aunt have confirmed the congresswoman’s account of the phone call.

Jeffress also suggested during the interview that he would meet with Trump during the president’s visit to Dallas this coming Wednesday.

Trump is slated to travel to Dallas for a fundraiser on Oct. 25, but the exact location has not been disclosed.

Friday night was not the first time Jeffress has appeared in the president’s Twitter feed.

In July, Trump tweeted a flier promoting his appearance at a “Celebrate Freedom” concert and rally in Washington. Jeffress, who also spoke at the event, received second billing. His megachurch, First Baptist Dallas, was one of the event sponsors.

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Trump launches petition in support of tax reform

President Trump urged voters to sign a White House petition supporting his tax reform proposal.

The president’s appeal came in the form of a video shared Friday afternoon via Twitter.

“What could possibly be more bipartisan than allowing families to keep more of what they earn and creating an environment for real job and wage growth in the country that we love so much?” Trump said in the video. “Join me in working to unleash America’s full potential, and together let’s set free the dreams of all of our people.”

Trump then directed viewers to a WhiteHouse.gov web page featuring the petition, which invites potential signers “to stand with President Trump and support action on our broken tax system today.”

Trump’s tweet followed Senate Republicans’ approval late Thursday of a 2018 budget blueprint that will increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years to allow for the president’s proposed tax cuts.

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Trump thanks Geraldo Rivera for defending him on ‘Fox & Friends’

President Trump praised Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera after he appeared on Friday morning’s episode of “Fox & Friends” and defended the president from criticism surrounding his phone call to the widow of a slain soldier.

The controversy touched off Tuesday, when Trump called the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, who was killed earlier this month in Niger, to offer condolences.

A Democratic congresswoman who heard the call later characterized Trump’s tone as insensitive, sparking a back-and-forth with Trump’s chief of staff, a retired Marine general who lost his son in combat.

In the “Fox & Friends” segment early Friday, Rivera claimed that the news media had “distorted” Trump’s actions and lamented the fact that some had used the condolence call as an opportunity “to attack” the president.

“Anything he does is construed in the worst possible light as evil, as some kind of a secret motive, some kind of manipulation,” Rivera said of Trump. “He gets no slack at all, and that’s part of the reason we are so utterly divided now that even this, even the most sacred event honoring a hero, becomes politicized.”

Rivera referred in part to Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida, a longtime friend of Johnson and his family who was with his widow, Myeshia Johnson, when Trump called her.

Wilson said in an interview that the president told Myeshia Johnson that her husband “must have known what he signed up for.” Wilson described the statement as “so insensitive.”

Trump shot back Wednesday, tweeting that Wilson had “totally fabricated” the contents of the conversation. But the soldier’s aunt, who was also present for the phone call, confirmed Wilson’s account.

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Thursday defended Trump and assailed Wilson, whom he called “selfish” and an “empty barrel.”

On Friday, a video was released that contradicted Kelly’s condemnatory recollection of a 2015 speech by Wilson, in which he accused her of grandstanding during the dedication of an FBI facility in Miami named for fallen FBI agents.

Still, neither Kelly nor the White House on his behalf would back down.

This post contains reporting from staff writer Noah Bierman

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Trump hosts U.N. secretary-general at White House: ‘We appreciate all you do!’

President Trump said Friday that the United Nations has “tremendous potential” but has been underutilized in recent years.

Trump praised U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has led the 193-member world organization since January, during an Oval Office meeting expected to focus on Trump’s reform agenda, the Iran nuclear deal, Middle East peace prospects and global extremism. It was their first extended meeting.

“The United Nations has tremendous potential. It hasn’t been used over the years nearly as it should be,” Trump said at the White House, where he was joined by his U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, and national security advisor H.R. McMaster.

The U.N., Trump said, has the “power to bring people together, like nothing else,” and he predicted that “things are going to happen with the United Nations that we haven’t seen before.”

Guterres and Trump met briefly at the White House in April and also held talks on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual meeting last month.

Guterres said he was a “true believer that we live in a messy world, but we need a strong, reformed and modernized U.N. We need a strong United States engaged, based on its traditional values — freedom, democracy, human rights.”

Trump offered praise for the U.N. leader, saying “You need talent, and he’s got the talent.” And the president told reporters: “We’ll see what happens. I’ll report back to you in about seven years.”

Trump said during his U.N. debut in September that the U.N. hadn’t reached its potential because of “bureaucracy and mismanagement,” and called upon the U.N. to change “business as usual and not be beholden to ways of the past which were not working.”

He also suggested the U.S. was paying more than its fair share for U.N. operations.

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Trump incorrectly cites terrorism as driving force behind British crime spike

President Trump has misinterpreted British crime statistics and wrongly blamed terrorism as the driving factor behind higher numbers.

Terror attacks in Manchester and London that killed 35 people only account for 1/100th of a percent of the total number of crimes recorded in the report, and homicides are actually down 2%.

Trump tweeted Friday:

The president appeared to have copied the text from a graphic that aired on One America News Network a short time before his tweet, as liberal watchdog Media Matters for America noted.

An anchor at One America News thanked Trump for watching:

And Robert S. Herring, CEO of the San Diego-based conservative network, also cited its reporting as the impetus for Trump’s tweet:

As Herring wrote, the 13% increase cited by One America — and subsequently by Trump — refers to crime in England and Wales, not the entire U.K., which also includes Scotland and Northern Ireland. The graphic that aired earlier Friday on One America did not clearly make that distinction. Neither did Trump’s tweet.

Figures released Thursday show that police forces in England and Wales registered 5.2 million criminal offenses in the 12 months through June — a 13% increase over the previous year.

The London and Manchester terrorist attacks resulted in 35 homicides and 294 attempted murder offenses, said the Office for National Statistics. But those 329 cases account for less than 1/100th of a percent of the total number of crimes recorded in the report.

“The point is that even unprecedented levels of terrorism-related activity in the U.K. have only a marginal impact on the overall crime figures Trump is referring to,” said Rajan Basra, a research fellow at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London who has studied the nexus between crime and terror. “The 13% increase is neither caused nor explained by terrorism, and it’s misleading to suggest so.”

The biggest jumps in crime reports came in vehicle thefts (17%) and shoplifting (11%), according to the statistics office. Significant increases also were reported in thefts from individuals, burglary and robbery.

The number of homicides actually dropped 2%, to 664, even with the terror-related killings in London and Manchester. However, terrorism did contribute to a 59% increase in attempted murder cases, according to the office. A large number of those were people injured in the Manchester and London attacks.

In a separate report released in September, Britain’s Home Office said there were 379 arrests for terrorism-related offenses in the year ending June 2017 — an increase of 68%. That compares with the 226 arrests in the previous year.

It was the highest number of arrests since authorities began collecting data in 2001.

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Trump praises Senate Republicans for passage of GOP budget

President Trump praised Senate Republicans — giving an unusually upbeat shout-out to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — for passage of a GOP budget that sets the stage for tax reform.

Along with Trump’s tweets, the White House issued a statement in which the president “applauds the Senate for passing its FY 2018 Budget Resolution” and “taking an important step in advancing the administration’s pro-growth and pro-jobs legislative agenda.”

The proposed budget adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade to pay for Trump’s tax cuts. It was approved on an essentially party-line vote, 51-49, late Thursday with one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, joining all Democrats in opposition.

Paul rejected the party’s argument that a tax-cuts package, which is still a work in progress, will more than pay for itself by spurring economic growth that will produce more revenue.

“I will fight for the biggest, boldest tax cut we can pass, but I could not in good conscience vote for a budget that ignores spending caps,” the libertarian-leaning senator said.

The measure now must be reconciled with a House version.

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Trump continues to attack congresswoman over condolence call, seeks to emphasize U.S. gains against terrorism

President Trump is seeking to emphasize gains made in the United States’ fight against terrorism as he continues to hit out at a congresswoman who described as “insensitive” the president’s phone call to the widow of a soldier killed earlier this month in Niger.

In the first of several tweets sent Thursday night, Trump thanked the U.S.-led coalition of military forces that has been battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Trump attached to his message a video compilation consisting largely of clips of his promises during the 2016 campaign to “destroy” Islamic State. The video concluded with an update on the coalition’s progress.

Trump’s tweet came two days after a U.S.-backed Syrian force said that it had wrested control of Raqqah from Islamic State, dealing a powerful symbolic blow to the militants who made the city the de facto capital of their self-styled caliphate.

Raqqah’s fall is the latest in a string of military defeats for Islamic State, which the U.S.-led coalition says has lost 87% of the territory it controlled after a lightning sweep across vast stretches of Syria and Iraq in 2014.

Trump also remains embroiled in controversy over his calls to the families of four soldiers killed in Niger after an ambush on Oct. 4.

That touched off Tuesday, when Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) said during a television appearance that she had heard one of those phone calls.

Wilson has said she was with the widow of Staff Sgt. La David T. Johnson and listening by speakerphone when Trump called to offer condolences on Tuesday. Wilson, who knew Johnson, said the president told Myeshia Johnson that her husband “must have known what he signed up for.”

In a separate tweet Thursday night, Trump blasted the congresswoman as “wacky” and claimed that she had listened “secretly” to the “very personal call.”

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, a retired Marine general who lost his son in combat, gave an emotional defense Thursday of Trump’s call, saying that he was “stunned” and “brokenhearted” to see Wilson on television describing Trump’s conversation.

While Kelly’s description provided the president with some political cover, it also confirmed Wilson’s account of what the president said — and contradicted Trump, who repeatedly has accused Wilson of spreading a “totally fabricated” story.

Minutes after Trump’s tweet attacking the congresswoman, he again pivoted, tweeting praise for a benefit concert for survivors of the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas.

John Rich of the American country music duo Big & Rich was headlining the concert along with Rascal Flatts.

Thursday’s show also featured remarks from Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and Fox News host Sean Hannity, a friend of both Rich and Trump.

This post contains reporting from Brian Bennett, Noah Bierman, Alex Wigglesworth and Alexandra Zavis

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Trump on budget approval: ‘I think we have the votes, but who knows?’

Senate Republicans were on track late Thursday to approve a 2018 budget that will increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years to allow for President Trump’s proposed tax cuts.

Passage of the GOP’s budget blueprint is a largely symbolic exercise, but it sets the stage for smoother passage of Trump’s upcoming tax cuts. It will include special instructions that allow for passage of a tax plan by a simple majority, without threat of a Senate filibuster to block it.

“I think we have the votes for the budget, which will be phase one of our massive tax cuts and reform,” Trump said at the White House. “And frankly, I think we have the votes for the tax cuts, which will follow fairly shortly thereafter.”

But the outcome was not certain, as some conservatives still object to piling onto the deficit. Many joined Congress during the rise of the tea party movement, which railed for years against rising national debt under President Obama after the Great Recession.

“The budget’s a sham,” Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) said at a recent Koch-backed group’s gathering of wealthy donors in New York. “It has nothing to do with reality. ... It’s a tool to get to reality.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) called the budget a “hoax” on Thursday.

But most Republicans argued that Trump’s tax cuts will more than cover the $1.5-trillion shortfall by spurring economic growth and leading to future tax revenues.

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Trump re-airs uranium deal campaign allegations after ‘Fox & Friends’ segment

Re-airing campaign allegations, President Trump is pointing to an Obama-era uranium deal as the “real Russia story” in contrast to a broader inquiry into Russian meddling during the 2016 election.

Trump tweeted early Thursday that media outlets have failed to adequately cover the purchase of American uranium mines by a Russian-backed company in 2010.

The agreement was reached while Hillary Clinton led the State Department, and some investors in the company had relationships with former President Bill Clinton and donated to the Clinton Foundation. But Democrats have dismissed as widely debunked any suggestion that the Clintons provided “help” in connection with the deal, as Trump claimed in one tweet:

As he attempts to push back against the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump has sought to link his former Democratic presidential rival to Russia’s purchase of Uranium One. Democrats contend that Trump is seeking to deflect from the Russia inquiry and his friendly rhetoric toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into a Russian nuclear bribery case after a series of stories by the Hill that showed the FBI had evidence that Russian nuclear officials were involved in fraudulent dealings in 2009 before the uranium deal was approved.

During his 2016 campaign, Trump frequently cited the deal for the uranium, which is used in nuclear reactors, and has returned to the issue at rallies during his presidency. Administration officials have sought to bring attention to the transaction, which also was explored in “Clinton Cash,” a 2015 book by conservative author Peter Schweizer.

Trump’s most recent tweets on the topic came less than an hour after Schweizer made a brief appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” to discuss the Senate inquiry.

Trump tagged the show’s Twitter account in one of the messages.

Later Thursday, Trump repeated the claims to reporters gathered in the Oval Office.

“That’s your real Russia story. Not a story where they talk about collusion and there was none. It was a hoax. Your real Russia story is uranium,” Trump said during a meeting about Puerto Rico’s hurricane recovery.

Clinton’s State Department was one of nine U.S. government agencies that had to approve the deal. Her campaign and former State department officials said she was not involved in the approval process by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS.

In another tweet early Thursday, Trump questioned what he says is a “fake” dossier of allegations about his connections to Russia. The dossier contends the Russian government amassed compromising information about Trump and was engaged in an effort to support and assist him in the 2016 election.

The political research firm behind the dossier balked this week at subpoenas from the House Intelligence Committee. “Fox & Friends” also highlighted that development Thursday morning, a short time before the president tweeted.

Media Matters For America took note of what it terms an “unusual feedback loop” between “Fox & Friends” and Trump, which the liberal watchdog group says has culminated in the show’s “rare power to set the agenda for the rest of the press.”

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Trump rates hurricane response ‘a 10’ during meeting with Puerto Rican governor

President Trump, still facing criticism for his administration’s response to the pair of hurricanes that ravaged Puerto Rico, gave himself high marks Thursday as he met with the island’s governor, Ricardo Rossello.

“I give ourselves a 10,” Trump said.

At one point, Trump looked directly at Rossello, seated beside him in the Oval Office, and asked, “Did we do a great job?”

Rossello, on a delicate mission to secure aid for the U.S. territory, did not answer directly. “You responded immediately, sir,” Rossello said.

“The response is there,” he added. “Do we need to do a lot more? Of course we do.”

Trump has continually expressed frustration with the blame he has received for the federal government’s response in Puerto Rico, where the majority of residents lack electricity. He blamed the island for many of its problems while warning of the limits of the federal government’s commitment.

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Trump again attacks Comey and Justice Department in tweets

President Trump sent a series of tweets renewing his war with the Justice Department and former FBI Director James B. Comey, as Justice’s chief, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, prepared to testify to Congress on Wednesday.

Once again accusing Comey of prematurely exonerating Hillary Clinton, his former rival, before the FBI had completed last year’s investigation of her email practices, Trump wrote, “Obviously a fix. Where is the Justice Department?”

Sessions, a campaign confidant of Trump who, in office, has been repeatedly and publicly criticized by the president, is scheduled to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where one topic could be the investigations into whether the Trump campaign assisted Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election campaign.

Trump advisors initially said he fired Comey in May because the FBI director was unfairly harsh to Clinton in the email investigation; Trump soon contradicted them, saying he took action because of the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign’s involvement with Russia.

Contrary to Trump’s latest tweets, Hillary Clinton was interviewed by the FBI for more than three hours.

Trump’s tweets seize on newly released FBI documents that show Comey began circulating early drafts of his July 2016 statement recommending no charges against Clinton two months before he delivered it in public. The documents are mostly redacted, so it is unclear what is written in the early drafts of the statement.

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Trump tweets video of U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley calling for action against Iran

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley urged the Security Council on Wednesday to adopt the Trump administration’s comprehensive approach to Iran and address all aspects of its “destructive conduct” — not just the 2015 nuclear deal.

She told the U.N. council that Iran “has repeatedly thumbed its nose” at council resolutions aimed at addressing Iranian support for terrorism and regional conflicts and has illegally supplied weapons to Yemen and Hezbollah militants in Syria and Lebanon.

“Worse, the regime continues to play this council,” Haley said. “Iran hides behind its assertion of technical compliance with the nuclear deal while it brazenly violates the other limits of its behavior, and we have allowed them to get away with it.”

“This must stop,” she said at the council’s monthly meeting on the Mideast and the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

The Security Council has endorsed the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, which caps the country’s nuclear program for about 10 years, and the agreement has the support of U.S. allies and the four other veto-wielding council members — Britain, France, Russia and China.

But getting the Security Council to take action against Iran for violations of council resolutions banning the transfer of conventional weapons, and more broadly for what the U.S. considers its support for terrorists and human rights violations, is unlikely. It would require support from Russia, which like Hezbollah is supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad and has good relations with Iran.

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Trump tweets sympathy to those affected by California wildfires

President Trump, who has made four visits to hurricane zones in recent weeks, isn’t rushing to survey the damage from Northern California’s wildfires.

The president has no immediate plans to visit the state to inspect the aftermath of the fires, which have killed at least 42 people and destroyed thousands of homes, becoming the deadliest and most destructive series of blazes in California’s history.

Trump retweeted a tweet on Wednesday from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long, who has been touring the region this week. Trump wrote:

For Trump, the wildfires are ravaging a state that has long been a Democratic stronghold and gave his presidential rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, a commanding victory in California during last year’s election.

Trump received about 31% of the vote in the state, prompting questions of whether politics have influenced his plans after the president visited Republican-leaning states like Texas and Louisiana and campaign battleground Florida after they dealt with massive hurricanes. He also visited Puerto Rico to view hurricane damage and traveled to Las Vegas after the city’s deadly mass shooting.

During a Cabinet meeting on Monday, the president noted that his administration had issued a disaster declaration in California to respond to “devastating wildfires like we’ve never seen. And we mourn the terrible loss of life.”

Administration officials also noted that Vice President Mike Pence met with first responders at the state’s Office of Emergency Services headquarters in the Sacramento area last week during a trip to California.

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Trump presses Congress on tax plan

President Trump called on Congress to pass his tax plan Wednesday in tweets hailing the proposed cuts as “the largest ... in U.S. history.”

The proposal, which still lacks specific legislation, calls for a large cut to the corporate tax rate, reducing it from 35% to 20%, and an end to the estate tax.

Trump frequently overstates the plan’s size. It is, at most, fifth largest in its estimated cost, said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and policy director at the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It could well end up being even lower on the ladder historically.

Trump again said the proposal would provide the largest tax cuts in U.S. history Wednesday afternoon during a White House meeting with a bipartisan group of senators from the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee.

The estimated cost of the tax plan has dropped by half or more since the spring, when only the general contours were known. In an analysis in April, Goldwein’s group found that the $5.5-trillion plan that was then expected would have been the third largest since 1940 as a share of gross domestic product, behind Ronald Reagan’s package in 1981 and tax cuts enacted in 1945 to phase out revenue generated for World War II.

But, citing estimated costs of $1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion for Trump’s plan now, Goldwein said several other historically significant tax cuts also would surpass Trump’s: from 2013 and 1964.

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Trump blasts congresswoman’s claim that he told soldier’s widow ‘he knew what he signed up for’

After facing criticism for not calling the families of four soldiers who died in combat, President Trump reached out to one of the widows Tuesday and said her husband “knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens it hurts anyway,” according to Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).

The call between Trump and Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, lasted about five minutes, according to accounts that Wilson provided to local media.

Wilson, a friend of the family, was in the car for the call, which happened before the fallen soldier’s remains arrived at Miami International Airport.

“Yes, he said it,” Wilson told the media. “It’s so insensitive.”

On Wednesday morning, Trump responded to the claims on Twitter, saying Wilson “totally fabricated” the story.

In an interview Wednesday morning with CNN, Wilson said several other people who were in the car also heard Trump’s remark. “I have proof too,” she said. “This man is a sick man.”

Trump’s initial silence on the deaths of the soldiers, who were killed in combat in Niger on Oct. 6, generated controversy on Monday. When he was asked why he had not commented on their deaths, Trump responded by saying that President Obama and other presidents also had failed to reach out to families of servicemen killed in action.

That comment drew rebukes from former Obama staffers, who noted the many times that Obama had called family members of soldiers killed in action. Alyssa Mastromonaco, a deputy chief of staff for Obama, tweeted that it was a lie.

“He’s a deranged animal,” she said of Trump.

Read MoreTimes staff writer Noah Bierman contributed to this report

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Trump reverses course and appears to reject senators’ bipartisan Obamacare fix

A day after President Trump gave his blessing to a short-term fix to stabilize the insurance market under the Affordable Care Act, he appeared to backtrack with pointed criticism Wednesday of the deal.

Trump singled out the chief negotiator of the accord, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the affable chairman of the Senate Health Committee, who negotiated the two-year agreement with the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington.

For the past two days, Trump has spoken publicly about the need for a temporary measure to curb rising premiums. Prices are expected to spike after Trump announced his decision to eliminate some federal subsidies to insurers under Obamacare.

The senators’ deal would allow those payments to continue, in exchange for loosening restrictions to allow for cheaper, less generous policies in certain cases.

Many conservative Republicans oppose the compromise and would prefer to repeal the 2010 law.

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Trump targets NFL for not forcing players to stand during anthem

At the close of the league’s fall meetings Wednesday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated what he has said all along: Players should stand for the national anthem, but the league is not changing its rules to make that a requirement.

That the league did not make standing for the anthem mandatory did not escape the notice of the president, who Wednesday morning tweeted:

Asked about Trump’s tweet, New York Giants co-owner John Mara smiled wearily and sarcastically said: “I’m shocked.”

Pressed for a reaction, Mara said: “We’re all aware that’s going to continue but we can’t allow ourselves to get baited by that. We’re going to do what we think is right.”

Later Wednesday, in an apparent jab at the NFL, Trump tweeted a video that purported to show a West Virginia coal miner singing the anthem for his coworkers before heading underground.

“This is what REAL PRIDE in our COUNTRY is all about!” Trump wrote.

“We believe everyone should stand for the national anthem,” Goodell said Wednesday. “That’s an important part of our policy.”

He added: “Our players will state to you publicly they are not doing this in any way to be disrespectful to the flag,” and that the league is “not looking to get into politics, but what we’re looking to do is continue to give people a focus on football.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Sam Farmer

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Trump shares poll that found 46% of voters believe news organizations make up stories about him

President Trump commented on a poll showing that 46% of registered voters believe that major news organizations fabricate stories about Trump and his administration.

“It is actually much worse than this!” Trump tweeted Wednesday, tagging Fox News’ Twitter handle in his message.

The poll was conducted by Morning Consult for Politico this month.

Of the 1,991 voters surveyed, 916 — or 46% — said they believe that the nation’s major news organizations fabricate stories about Trump and his administration, and 731 — 37% — said they believe that news organizations do not. An additional 344 — 17% — of respondents said they don’t know or have no opinion.

The responses were largely split along party lines. Of the Republican voters who responded, 76% said they believe that news outlets make up stories about Trump. Among independent voters, that share fell to 44%, and only 20% of Democrat respondents said they believe that news organizations invent stories about Trump.

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Trump thanks Fox News for its reporting

President Trump on Wednesday hailed a pair of Fox News reports highlighting the strength of the economy and gains in the U.S. war against terrorism.

The first was a report on stock market milestones that aired on Fox Business Network.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 23,000 points Wednesday for the first time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite also finished at record highs.

Trump also thanked Fox News’ Dana Perino, host of “The Daily Briefing,” and commentator Brad Thor, after the two credited Trump with U.S.-backed forces’ successes in driving Islamic State militants from territory in Iraq and Syria.

Trump’s tweets Wednesday evening came as he continued to feud with a congresswoman over her account of Trump’s phone call to the widow of a slain soldier.

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Trump pitches tax plan in speech to conservative think tank

President Trump took his tax sales pitch to a conservative think tank Tuesday evening, arguing his plan would be a boon to the economy, boosting growth and jobs.

“Let’s give our country the best Christmas present of all: massive tax relief,” Trump told the annual meeting of the Heritage Foundation’s President’s Club.

Trump also used his appearance to argue that the United States should celebrate and preserve its history, “not tear it down.” He pointed to a movement to take down Confederate statues and other symbols of the country’s divisive past, which have sparked protests and backlash.

“Now they’re even trying to destroy statues of Christopher Columbus? What’s next? It has to be stopped,” Trump said, adding, “You understand that our glorious heritage is the foundation of everything we hope to achieve.”

Trump’s tax plan would lower the corporate rate from 35% to 20%, reduce the number of individual income tax brackets and double the standard deduction. But it would also remove the personal exemption and possibly much of the deduction for state and local taxes — changes that could increase taxes for many families.

As he talked up the plan, Trump repeated his administration’s assertion that the corporate tax cut and other changes would lead to a $4,000 pay raise for the average American family — a claim that has been met with skepticism from tax experts and Democratic lawmakers who say the administration’s math is flawed.

Separate studies, including a 2012 Treasury Department analysis, have found that the vast majority of money saved from corporate tax cuts would end up in the hands of investors, not workers.

Trump has been pitching his tax overhaul as a boon for the middle class even though the details point to major companies and the wealthy as the biggest winners.

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Trump tweets video of border wall prototypes taking shape

President Trump tweeted a video Tuesday that showed prototypes of his proposed border wall taking shape at a construction site in San Diego.

Companies have until Oct. 26 to finish the models, but Border Patrol spokesman Theron Francisco said the last two have come into profile, with crews installing a corrugated metal surface on the eighth model on a dirt lot just a few steps from homes in Tijuana.

Trump has asked Congress for $1.6 billion to replace 14 miles of wall in San Diego and build 60 miles in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.

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Trump celebrates Dow milestone on Twitter

President Trump dispatched a pair of celebratory tweets on Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average hit a new milestone.

The Dow briefly climbed above the 23,000 mark for the first time, settling just below the milestone. Slight gains nudged the Dow and Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes to new highs for the second straight day this week.

Healthcare companies posted some of the biggest gains after UnitedHealth Group and Johnson & Johnson reported strong earnings. News of a plan backed by the White House that would extend federal payments to health insurers also gave the sector a boost. Banks and other financial stocks declined the most. Packaged food and beverage companies were also big laggards.

Trading was mostly listless as investors sized up the latest company earnings news and looked ahead to a slate of corporate report cards later this week.

“Expectations of ongoing earnings growth are reasonably strong, but there may be a bit of a wait-and-see at this point in time given the run in the equity markets,” said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede

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Embattled congressman Tom Marino withdraws from consideration as drug czar, Trump tweets

President Trump’s pick to be the nation’s drug czar withdrew from consideration Tuesday after news reports focused attention on his role in weakening the government’s power to combat the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Trump posted a tweet Tuesday morning announcing that Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) had withdrawn his name from consideration.

Trump said Monday that “we’re going to be looking into” the actions of Marino, who was one of Trump’s early boosters in Pennsylvania, a key state.

As a member of Congress, Marino sponsored legislation that passed with virtually no debate last year which has significantly hindered the ability of the Drug Enforcement Administration to block bulk shipments of opioid drugs from pharmacy wholesalers. Outsize shipments of the drugs to specific pharmacies are often a sign of drug mills that are fueling addiction, drug enforcement officials say.

The legislation and Marino’s role in pushing it were the subject of a Los Angeles Times article last year. The topic got renewed attention this week after a report in the Washington Post and CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which detailed how major drug distribution companies had hired former DEA officials to help craft the legislation and then had pushed it through Congress.

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Trump tweets that Democrats will be to blame if health insurance premiums rise

President Trump on Tuesday said Democrats would be to blame for any future rise in health insurance premiums.

Prices were expected to spike after Trump announced his decision to eliminate some federal subsidies to insurers under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

But in his tweet, Trump faulted Democrats for providing “a ‘product’ that never had a chance of working” when they passed Obamacare.

Trump’s tweet Tuesday came as key senators announced a bipartisan deal to fix parts of the nation’s healthcare law and head off the premium increases faced by consumers in some states.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Health Committee, announced the tentative agreement with the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

The deal would reinstate federal payments to insurers that Trump cut off last week, offering millions of Americans some relief from rising premiums and shaky insurance markets. In a nod to Republicans, it would give states limited new flexibility to offer cheaper, less generous health plans.

The compromise follows repeated failures by the GOP-led Congress in recent months to agree on legislation to dismantle the law and replace it with something else.

Minutes before he tweeted about the healthcare law, Trump hit out at the news media in a tweet targeting “dying magazines and newspapers,” along with major broadcast outlets.

It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what drew the president’s ire.

The tweet came about a week after Trump suggested that NBC might lose its broadcast licenses following critical stories detailing his behavior.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Noam N. Levey, Lisa Mascaro and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump welcomes prime minister of Greece

President Trump reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Greece’s economic recovery at the White House on Tuesday, a meeting that allowed the country’s prime minister to brush aside rough comments he made about Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Trump, joining with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, said Greece had “gone through a lot” during its extended period of economic hardships, but vowed that the U.S. would remain steadfast as the country executes its debt-relief plan.

“The American people stand with the Greek people as they recover from the economic crisis that recently afflicted their nation,” Trump said alongside Tsipras in the Rose Garden. He added: “A strong and flourishing Greece provides immense opportunity for American trade, investment and job creation.”

Greece has relied on international bailouts since 2010 to address hardships during the recent economic recession. In exchange, the country imposed painful spending cuts, tax hikes and reforms.

Eurozone officials have said Greece and its European creditors are on a good path to completing bailout talks with a view to a “clean exit” from strict fiscal supervision.

During a joint news conference, Tsipras was asked about his stinging statement about Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, when the left-leaning Greek leader warned that Trump represented an “evil” set of ideas.

Tsipras, flashed a smile and laughed after he was asked about his comments, prompting Trump to joke, “I wish I knew that before my speech.” The Greek leader said the two leaders had a productive exchange, and “not a moment did I feel threatened at any time” during their encounter. He predicted a “very fertile outlook” for their relationship.

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Trump heads to South Carolina for fundraiser

President Trump waded back into Southern politics Monday, showering praise on one of his earliest supporters, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, during a private fundraiser in Greensville, S.C.

McMaster greeted Trump at the airport in nearby Greer before they traveled to an Embassy Suites hotel for the event. Two of the state’s Republican lawmakers in Washington, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Joe Wilson, flew with Trump on Air Force One.

Trump shared a video of the arrival via Twitter:

At the closed-door fundraiser, Trump praised McMaster as his “friend” and “compatriot” and predicted McMaster would be the state’s governor for “many years,” according to video of the event posted by the South Carolina newspaper The State.

“He’s a terrific person, terrific man. He works so hard,” Trump told the crowd. “He loves South Carolina; he loves the people.”

Trump’s appearance came less than a month after the defeat of Sen. Luther Strange, the president’s preferred candidate in a Republican runoff for a U.S. Senate seat from Alabama.

Some South Carolina political analysts question whether McMaster, who is entering his fourth decade in politics, may be relying too heavily on Trump’s support to boost his 2018 election chances.

Trump, meanwhile, called McMaster a “talented guy” and said that he believes McMaster is doing “really well.”

“You know, I’m a poll person,” Trump said. “I don’t believe ‘em, but I like to read ‘em anyway.”

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Trump criticizes Democrats over tax plan and Iran nuclear deal

President Trump is assailing Democrats as he continues to lobby for his tax overhaul plan.

Trump tweeted Monday:

In another tweet, Trump cited an economist who appeared on Fox News and criticized Democrats:

After a year with no major legislative accomplishments, Trump is hoping to pass a major tax overhaul plan, which includes a proposal to cut the 35% corporate tax rate to 20%.

Republicans have called the plan a benefit for the middle class, arguing that cutting the corporate rate will spur more investment by companies, which would then boost hiring and worker productivity.

Democrats have criticized it as a boon for corporations and the wealthy.

Trump also lashed out Monday morning at top Senate Democrat Charles E. Schumer over the Iran nuclear deal.

A vocal critic of the deal, Trump last week accused Iran of violating the accord. But he did not pull the United States out, instead directing Congress to make the international pact more stringent

Schumer, of New York, said last week that Trump should have listened to his top national security advisors, who have recommended that the nuclear agreement be preserved. Schumer opposed the Iran deal two years ago.

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Trump takes another swipe at Hillary Clinton on Twitter

President Trump took another swipe at former campaign opponent Hillary Clinton on Monday.

Trump tweeted that he hoped that Clinton would run for president again in 2020 and referred to her as “Crooked Hillary.”

Trump repeated the comment at a news conference later Monday, telling reporters in the Rose Garden that he hopes Clinton runs again and adding, “Hillary, please run again!”

Trump was asked about Clinton’s recent defense of NFL players who have taken a knee during the playing of the national anthem. The former secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee said the players were demonstrating in a peaceful way against racism and injustice.

The president said that is an example of why Clinton lost the campaign. He said that “she was not good at what she did.”

Minutes before insulting Clinton on Twitter, Trump touted the stock market rally in a pair of tweets:

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher Friday to wrap up a subdued week, and technology companies did most of the heavy lifting.

Companies in retail, travel and entertainment also moved up after the Commerce Department’s report on retail spending found shoppers spent more money in September.

Health insurers and hospital operators skidded after Trump said he will stop government payments to insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act.

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Trump criticizes New York Times over article assessing his campaign promises

President Trump criticized the New York Times over a report assessing Trump’s campaign promises to completely unravel his predecessor’s legacies.

Trump struck at the newspaper early Sunday in a tweet calling out by name the reporter who wrote the article.

The report published Saturday contrasted Trump’s forceful pledges to completely get rid of certain policies, like the Affordable Care Act and the Iran nuclear deal, with his moves to instead undermine or chip away at their legislative framework.

Trump contended that the article should have instead mentioned other areas in which he’s had more success in undoing President Obama’s signature policies. Per Trump, those include the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, from which Trump completely withdrew the United States, and the Paris climate accord, from which Trump announced his intention to withdraw.

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Trump tweets in support of Republican candidate for Virginia governor

President Trump fired off a Saturday afternoon tweet in support of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie of Virginia.

The November election, one of only two off-year gubernatorial contests, is being viewed as a possible early referendum on Trump’s first year in office and a preview of the 2018 midterm.

Trump’s tweet came as Vice President Mike Pence was set to appear at a rally with Gillespie in Abingdon, Va., on Saturday.

Trump retweeted a message from Pence about the event.

It will be Pence’s first campaign event for Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman who is facing Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, a low-key pediatric neurologist.

Most polls have shown a close race between the two candidates.

Trump also took to Twitter last week to criticize Northam and urge voters to support Gillespie.

Northam has his own high-profile backers: former Vice President Joe Biden is due to host a roundtable discussion with the Democratic candidate in Reston, Va., on Saturday, and former President Obama is set to headline a rally for Northam in Richmond on Thursday.

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Trump tweets that he’s ‘very proud’ of his move to end healthcare subsidies

President Trump defended his move to halt federal health insurance payments for millions of low-income Americans, even as he acknowledged rising costs faced under the Affordable Care Act.

Trump, in a series of tweets late Friday and into Saturday morning, appeared intent on deflecting the outpouring of concern that Americans will suffer under his executive order this week to scrap the payments.

The president had wavered for months over so-called cost-sharing reduction payments, which Republicans in Congress had long targeted in their effort to dismantle Obamacare.

Under the act, the federal government pays insurers to reduce costs of policies for lower-income Americans not covered by their employers. The payments cost about $7 billion a year.

Trump is aiming to draw Democrats eager to save Obamacare to the negotiating table. And that could happen. But healthcare providers and outside analysts warn that, in the meantime, his move likely would result in insurers pulling out of healthcare markets and leaving millions of Americans with no access to plans.

As Trump boasted on Twitter that he had sent health insurance stocks plunging, his critics questioned if he comprehended the impacts of his actions.

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Trump praises Lou Dobbs for saying his presidency ‘may be the most accomplished in modern American history’

President Trump praised Lou Dobbs in a tweet Friday night after the Fox Business Network host said that Trump’s “may be the most accomplished presidency in modern American history.”

Dobbs made the comment on his show Friday night while teasing a segment on Trump’s accomplishments, according to a video posted online by Mediaite.

In the segment that ensued, Dobbs applauded Trump for refusing to recertify the Iran nuclear deal, announcing an end to federal subsidies to health insurers, nominating a new Department of Homeland Security secretary and releasing a list of hard-line immigration demands as trade-offs for legislation to protect the so-called Dreamers, roughly 700,000 young people now facing possible deportation.

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Trump refuses to recertify Iran nuclear deal

President Trump on Friday announced steps to weaken the nuclear deal with Iran, which could potentially unravel one of the most important anti-proliferation agreements of the century.

Trump declared that the agreement the Obama administration and five other world powers reached with Iran in 2015 to suspend its nuclear program is not sufficiently strong to benefit “U.S. national security interests.” Iran should no longer be seen as in compliance with the accord, Trump said. Twice before, under a law requiring the president’s certification every 90 days, Trump had declared that Iran was in compliance.

Trump on Friday called on Congress to consider reimposing sanctions if Iran crosses certain lines, such as firing ballistic missiles or financing terrorism. He also moved to impose new sanctions by executive action, including blacklisting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s elite military unit that is heavily involved in much of the country’s business and trade.

“We cannot and will not make this certification,” Trump said in a speech from the White House ahead of the next deadline for certification on Sunday.

Later Friday, Trump tweeted that his speech had “many people talking, with much agreement.”

Trump’s move to weaken the Iran deal is supported by a number of conservative organizations and members of Congress.

Many others, including several of his top Cabinet officials, most European diplomats and the United Nations, disagree with him and say the deal is working.

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Trump thanks Pakistan after release of American family

The United States and Pakistan are hailing the release of a Taliban-held U.S.-Canadian family as a cautious sign of improved ties for a deeply troubled relationship that has endured years of rancor.

President Trump said Friday that the freeing of Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, and their three children after five years of captivity showed Pakistan’s new respect for America.

Trump also praised Pakistan in a tweet Friday night, thanking the country for its “cooperation on many fronts.”

Still, for the goodwill to last, Pakistan will need to convince a skeptical Washington that it has cut ties to militants who are destabilizing neighboring Afghanistan.

U.S. officials have long accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye or even assisting the Afghan Taliban and the allied Haqqani network, which held the family.

Just last week, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a congressional hearing that it was clear to him that Pakistan’s intelligence service had connections to militant groups.

Tom Bossert, Trump’s Homeland Security advisor, appeared to reflect those concerns as he discussed the captives’ release.

“We thank the Pakistani government and recognize this was a positive step,” he said Friday. “One action, though, does not constitute a reversal of a trend of unfortunate behaviors. However, we’re hopeful that it portends that trend.”

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Trump tweets that Obamacare ‘is imploding’ after announcing he’ll end subsidies

The federal government will cease crucial federal payments to health insurers that provide coverage to low-income Americans, the White House announced late Thursday in a move that threatens to send health insurance premiums skyrocketing for millions of Americans and destabilize markets across the country.

The surprise announcement marks the Trump administration’s most direct assault on the Affordable Care Act.

And it appears likely to spark a new high-stakes battle over the 2010 law, which President Trump has signaled he will try to roll back administratively following the collapse of multiple efforts by congressional Republicans to repeal it through legislation.

Before sunrise Friday morning, Trump went on Twitter to urge Democrats to make a deal:

The move to cut off the payments — known as cost-sharing reduction, or CSR, payments — drew swift condemnation from congressional Democrats and consumer advocates across the country.

Several states, including California, have already joined litigation in a bid to force the federal government to make the payments.

What are the Obamacare subsidies that Trump is trying to eliminate, and why do they matter?>>

But Trump administration officials said ceasing CSR payments is necessary because government lawyers concluded they were not legal.

In a subsequent tweet, Trump slammed the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as “a broken mess” and pledged to “begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves!”

Trump continued to tweet about the topic Friday night, assuring the public that his administration was in the process of dismantling Obamacare but lamenting that, in the meantime, health insurance premiums and deductibles “are way up!”

That came despite the fact that millions of Americans are likely to see their insurance premiums shoot higher as the administration intensifies its effort to scrap the 2010 healthcare law.

Insurers have said that markets in some parts of the country could collapse, leaving many consumers who don’t get insurance on the job with no choices for health plans. And state insurance regulators predicted premiums in the individual market nationally would rise by 12% to 15% next year because of the cutoff.

The payments to health insurers have been the subject of an ongoing legal dispute.

The Obama administration maintained it did not need to seek congressional approval for the payments, and since 2014 made CSR payments to lower deductibles for millions of low-income consumers.

Congressional Republicans have argued that the Obama administration should have sought congressional approval for the payments in a spending bill. Last year, a federal judge agreed with them, though the order was suspended while the case was being appealed.

The Trump administration has continued to make the payments, though the president has repeatedly threatened to cut them off, calling them a “bailout.”

That has prompted many health insurers around the country to raise premiums by double digits in 2018 to account for uncertainty over the fate of the payments.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Noam N. Levey and the Associated Press.

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Trump lauds Revolutionary War anniversary and takes on NFL protests in his weekly address

President Trump tweeted a video of his weekly address on Friday.

In his remarks, Trump called on Americans to celebrate next Thursday the 236th anniversary of the siege of Yorktown, in which George Washington’s Continental Army defeated the British in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.

Trump then detailed the history of the American flag before offering a brief, optimistic assessment of the U.S. economy.

“Companies are moving back into the United States and far fewer will be moving out,” he said. “Believe me. And it’s already happened. American schoolchildren put their hands on their hearts as they recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”

The president also referred to his back-and-forth with the NFL over his repeated denunciations of players who kneel in protest during the playing of the national anthem.

Trump has urged team owners to fire players for such displays.

“Before watching a football game, you want to see those players be proud of their country,” Trump said Friday. “Respect our country. Respect our flag. And respect our national anthem. And we think they will. We certainly hope they will.”

A full transcript of Trump’s address is here.

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Trump cites CNBC report on economy after days of tweets slamming NBC as ‘fake news’

President Trump shared a link to a CNBC report that consumer confidence has risen to its highest level since 2004.

Trump cited the report from the cable TV channel, which is owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, despite waging war on NBC in tweets sent earlier in the week.

On Thursday, Trump tweeted that the public is “just now starting to find out how dishonest and disgusting (FakeNews)” NBC is.

On Wednesday, he suggested that NBC might lose its broadcast licenses following critical stories detailing his behavior, and also claimed that the network “made up” a report on his desire to increase the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

The president doubled down Wednesday evening, tweeting, “Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.”

Trump also referred to NBC as “Fake News” earlier Friday during a Twitter exchange with Bill O’Reilly, the former Fox News host who was ousted from the network in April in the wake of disclosures of sexual harassment complaints and settlements paid to multiple women.

Minutes before that, Trump retweeted a message from O’Reilly extolling the virtues of a free press:

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Trump takes swipe at Democrats: ‘Fighting so hard for Sanctuary crime’

President Trump lashed out at Democrats on Friday in a tweet expressing incredulity that members of the party “are fighting so hard for Sanctuary crime.”

The president appeared to refer to the ongoing battle between his administration and so-called sanctuary cities, where police and elected officials have refused to fully cooperate in enforcing federal immigration laws.

The Trump administration has sought to withhold some federal grants from local governments if they do not give immigration agents access to local jails and give advance notice when immigrants who are in the country illegally are about to be released from custody.

Both Trump and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions have linked sanctuary policies to rising crime.

But studies have suggested that immigrants tend to commit crimes at lower rates than other people, and that counties with sanctuary policies in place have significantly lower crime rates than those that do not.

Trump’s tweet came the day after the Justice Department gave four cities – Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and New Orleans – a “last chance” deadline of Oct. 27 to show that they are complying with federal immigration enforcement before possibly losing grants.

It’s unclear how the warning may affect ongoing legal battles.

A Chicago federal judge last month imposed a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from tying the grants to the compliance conditions. The Justice Department appealed, arguing that the injunction shouldn’t apply nationally but only to Chicago.

On Friday, a judge denied the Justice Department’s request to lift the freeze on the Trump administration policy.

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Trump bids happy birthday to the Navy

President Trump wished a happy birthday to the U.S. Navy on Friday in a tweet.

The Continental Navy, which later became the U.S. Navy, was established Oct. 13, 1775, according to the website of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Trump also released a statement Friday in which he commended the “courage, selfless service and unmatched professionalism” of America’s sailors.

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Trump backs off threat to limit aid to Puerto Rico: ‘I will always be with them!’

President Trump on Friday backtracked from his threat a day earlier to limit federal assistance to Puerto Rico, saying that the United States would help all states and territories beset by recent natural disasters.

“We’ll be there,” Trump told Christian conservatives at an annual gathering known as the Values Voter Summit.

The president also began Friday with a new tweet that, while alluding to his previous arguments that Puerto Rico’s infrastructure was bad before, closed with a more magnanimous point:

In his remarks on Friday, Trump grouped Puerto Rico with Texas, Louisiana, Florida and the Virgin Islands, all of them blasted by hurricanes, as well as California, beset by devastating wildfires.

On Thursday, he’d singled out Puerto Rico, perhaps the most damaged of all and where federal efforts have been most criticized, to warn on Twitter that the government’s efforts there can’t go on “forever.”

Trump’s comments followed similar remarks Thursday from senior administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, seeking to clean up amid a bipartisan backlash to the president’s morning tweet suggesting Puerto Rico was partly to blame for its crisis and warning of an end to aid.

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Trump vows a return to ‘Merry Christmas’ at Values Voter Summit

The Halloween decorations are just going up, and Thanksgiving is more than a month away. But President Trump is getting an early jump on Christmas — the Christmas culture war, that is.

“We’re getting near that beautiful Christmas season that people don’t talk about anymore,” he told an enthusiastic crowd of Christian conservatives Friday. “They don’t use the word ‘Christmas’ because it’s not politically correct.”

“Well, guess what?” he continued. “We’re saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again!”

The line predictably got a standing ovation from the hundreds of people at the annual Values Voter Summit — as did red-meat remarks for the flag, God and Israel. The “war on Christmas” theme has proven politically potent for years on the right, stocked by conservative media, including Trump’s favorite, Fox News. With polls suggesting some core supporters have cooled on him, Trump lately has seemed eager to stoke the culture wars.

His October wish for a Merry Christmas wasn’t even his first such utterance this year. In July, he also raised the specter of a war on Christmas, at a controversial speech to a national Boy Scouts jamboree in West Virginia.

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Trump continues to tweet about tax plan

President Trump continued to tout his tax plan Thursday in tweets.

The president first highlighted the topic in a tweet promoting a segment that aired early Thursday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” The segment apparently included clips of the president’s tax reform speech in Pennsylvania the day before, as well as from his interview with Sean Hannity that aired on Fox that evening.

Later in the afternoon, Trump tweeted a video compilation of clips from the speech he delivered Wednesday in Harrisburg, Pa.

In his remarks, Trump argued that corporate tax changes would benefit ordinary Americans, delivering as much as $4,000 per household. “You’re going to have so much money to spend,” he told the crowd.

The White House said changing the way foreign earnings are taxed — along with a one-time incentive to bring back some of the estimated $2.5 trillion U.S. companies have parked abroad — would result in $4,000 more for American workers over an eight-year period.

But experts doubted such a windfall would flow to workers and said the GOP’s planned changes to individual income tax rates would largely benefit the wealthiest Americans.

Trump continued to tweet about the tax plan Thursday night, sharing another video compilation, this one comprised of clips from his interview with Hannity.

Hannity did not correct multiple falsehoods Trump uttered during the interview.

At one point, Trump repeated his claim that stock market growth since his election had significantly offset the national debt. Both at the rally and to Hannity he asserted that $5.2 trillion in increased stock evaluations negated part of the nation’s $20-trillion debt.

The debt increased by more than $10 trillion during the Obama administration, he said, and the rising valuations “possibly picked up the whole thing.” But those valuations do not serve to reduce the debt, a point neither Hannity nor Trump clarified. Also, much of the debt accrued under Obama owed to the recession he inherited, which slashed tax collections and increased automatic spending for programs like jobless aid, and to growing spending for Medicare and Social Security as the population ages.

Trump also repeated a regularly uttered falsehood about the ranking of the nation’s taxes compared to other countries. “Right now, Sean, we are the highest-taxed nation in the world,” he said.

Actually, the nation’s corporate rate is among the highest in the world, but tax breaks significantly lower it for many companies. Also, the United States is 31st of 35 developed nations in the annual ranking of overall tax burden by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Read MoreLos Angeles Times staff writers Cathleen Decker, Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report.

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Trump lashes out again at NBC News

President Trump lashed out at NBC News again on Thursday in a tweet slamming the network as “dishonest and disgusting.”

That came the day after Trump, who has threatened press freedoms before, suggested that NBC might lose its broadcast licenses following its news reports detailing his behavior in a negative light.

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Trump celebrates National Farmers Day

President Trump wished the public a happy National Farmers Day on Thursday in a tweet.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also marked the holiday with tweets branded #ThankAFarmer.

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In tweets, Trump warns of limit on federal help for Puerto Rico

President Trump drew a sharp and dismayed backlash Thursday from Democratic lawmakers, activists and many Puerto Ricans with his threat to limit federal and military help in the hurricane-battered U.S. territory, where aid workers are warning of a looming humanitarian catastrophe.

More than three weeks after Hurricane Maria raked the island, some 85% of residents remain without power, with nearly half of its 3.4-million population lacking running water.

Food and basic supplies remain scarce in the mountainous interior, waterborne diseases pose a growing threat and many hospitals are in dire circumstances. Deaths attributed to the storm stand at 45, but the number is expected to rise.

In a series of tweets early Thursday, Trump implied that Puerto Rico was to blame for its problems, and suggested he would not endorse the type of years-long, multibillion-dollar federal recovery effort that typically follows a storm of such magnitude, or another large-scale disaster, striking a U.S. locale.

He also cited what he called a “total lack of accountability” on Puerto Rico’s part, and quoted a conservative journalist who characterized the island’s financial crisis as a problem “of their own making.”

Despite a triumphal tone during a presidential visit to the island last week, during which he praised the recovery effort to date as “amazing,” Trump has appeared to grow more and more frustrated with criticism of the scope and timing of the recovery effort in Puerto Rico.

He and aides have painted a picture of robust progress, spoken at length of logistical challenges being overcome and leveled sharp criticism at some local officials.

The verbal dust-up over Puerto Rico, whose residents are U.S. citizens at birth, coincides with a post-storm cash crunch for the island. On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved a $36.5-billion measure that would replenish government disaster aid funds and help Puerto Rico’s government keep working. The Senate is to take up the bill next week.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello told lawmakers over the weekend that without congressional action, the territory’s government would be unable to pay workers or vendors at the end of October.

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Trump touts executive order on healthcare

President Trump moved Thursday to scale back rules on health insurance across the country in the administration’s most ambitious effort to date to use its regulatory powers to undermine the Affordable Care Act.

The controversial new executive order Trump issued aims to open the way for a greater number of relatively cheap health plans that could offer skimpier coverage than allowed under the healthcare law, often called Obamacare.

The move will “provide millions of Americans with Obamacare relief,” Trump said as he formally released the order at the White House. The changes will “increase competition, increase choice and increase access to lower-priced, high-quality healthcare options.”

“People will have great, great healthcare,” Trump added, speaking to an audience made up of Cabinet officials, Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and owners of several small businesses who the White House said would benefit by the new plans.

But while loosening consumer protections in the ACA might make insurance cheaper for those in good health, that would happen at the expense of millions of sicker Americans, who’ll have to pay more, warn patient advocates, state regulators and others across the healthcare sector.

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Trump announces $1-million federal award to Las Vegas police

President Trump announced Wednesday that the federal government will send $1 million to Las Vegas to help pay law enforcement costs related to the Oct. 1 mass shooting.

Trump tweeted that the grant will help pay for overtime logged by law enforcement officers after a gunman killed 58 people and injured hundreds more.

The Justice Department said the grant will come from emergency response funds within the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The grant recognizes the hard work and dedication of law enforcement officers who worked tirelessly in the wake of the attack, the department said.

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Trump commends NFL for ‘demanding that all players STAND’ during national anthem. That didn’t happen

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is not requiring players to stand for the national anthem before games, despite what others — including President Trump — might think.

That’s the message coming from the league Wednesday, the day after Goodell sent a letter to all 32 teams on the topic of the national anthem.

“Commentary this morning about the commissioner’s position on the anthem is not accurate,” the NFL said in a statement Wednesday. “As we said yesterday, there will be a discussion of these issues at the owners meeting next week. The NFL is doing the hard work of trying to move from protest to progress, working to bring people together.… Players from around the league will be in New York next week to meet with owners to continue our work together.”

In the letter he sent out Tuesday, Goodell stated, “Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem” and “We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that together with our players.”

He then wrote, “Building on many discussions with clubs and players, we have worked to develop a plan that we will review with you at next week’s league meeting,” making reference to the league’s fall meeting on Oct. 17-18.

Some people interpreted the letter as an order from the commissioner for players to stand during the national anthem. Trump, who has called for NFL owners to fire players for kneeling during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” appears to be one of those people.

But no such demand appears in the letter from Goodell that Trump seems to be referencing.

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Trump promotes interview with Sean Hannity: ‘Enjoy!’

President Trump advertised his interview with Sean Hannity in tweets sent Wednesday.

The interview was conducted before a rally at the Harrisburg, Pa., airport, and broadcast on Fox later in the evening.

Update: Trump draws a hard line on protection for young immigrants and touts misleading statistics to boost tax plan>>

At least one person close to the White House has described Hannity as a Trump confidant.

“The president has started to call people more on the weekends, from the cellphone, which he didn’t used to do,” the person said, noting that Trump often calls Hannity after the Fox News host’s nightly show. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve relations with Trump.

Lindsay Walters, the deputy White House press secretary, disputed the account of Hannity’s role in advising Trump. She added in an email, “The President has always had a robust list of outside advisers in business and politics because he is open minded and ultimately wants to do the right thing for the country.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Noah Bierman, Cathleen Decker and Brian Bennett

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Trump tweets that GOP seeks ‘biggest tax cut in history’ and stock market growth is ‘unprecedented.’ Neither is true

President Trump is charging that congressional Democrats “want MASSIVE tax increases & soft, crime producing borders.”

Trump said Wednesday in a series of tweets that Republicans will press for “the biggest tax cut in history & the WALL,” a reference to the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Trump has long pushed.

Trump frequently overstates the size of his tax plan. It is, at most, fifth largest in its estimated cost, said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and policy director at the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It could well end up being even lower on the ladder historically.

In an analysis in April, Goldwein’s group found that the $5.5-trillion plan that was then expected would have been the third largest since 1940 as a share of gross domestic product, behind President Reagan’s package in 1981 and tax cuts enacted in 1945 to phase out revenue generated for World War II.

Citing estimated costs of $1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion for Trump’s plan now, Goldwein said several other historically significant tax cuts also would surpass Trump’s: those from 2013 and 1964.

In other tweets, Trump touted positive economic indicators and pledged that if Congress delivers on the tax overhaul he’s seeking, those metrics “will grow by leaps and bounds.”

The president also tweeted early Wednesday that “it would be really nice if the Fake News Media would report the virtually unprecedented Stock Market growth since the election. Need tax cuts.”

Though the stock market has grown since Trump was elected, the rate at which that’s happened is not unprecedented.

According to a Business Insider analysis of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a comparable stock market rally took place just after President Obama was reelected in 2012, and even greater spikes were seen following the elections of Presidents Kennedy, George H.W. Bush and Clinton.

It’s also unclear exactly how much credit Trump can accurately claim for the market gains since his election, as some of the stock index increases appear likely to have been driven by other factors, Business Insider noted.

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Trump pitches tax plan to truckers in Pennsylvania

President Trump pitched his tax plan as a boost for truckers at an event Wednesday in Pennsylvania, saying, “America first means putting American truckers first.”

Trump appeared before about a thousand cheering people at an airplane hangar dramatically draped with American flags. Two big rigs were in the background.

“It will be rocket fuel for our economy,” Trump said of a plan that would dramatically cut corporate tax rates from 35% to 20%, reduce the number of personal income tax brackets and boost the standard deduction.

Trump said a cut to business taxes would help truckers because there will be “more products to deliver and more contracts to fill.” He also said his plan would benefit middle-class families by lowering rates, creating new jobs and making it easier for business owners to pass companies on to their children.

“So many people have come up to me and said give it to the middle class, give it to people who need it,” Trump said.

Trump is diving back into the tax fight after weeks in which his attention has shifted to rapidly emerging crises — including the mass shooting in Las Vegas and the hurricane recovery effort in Puerto Rico — as well as dramas of his own making, such as his escalating feud with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and public tension with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Trump took time during his speech to extend condolences to those dealing with the aftermath of the shooting and hurricane, as well as those affected by wildfires in Northern California.

Taxes are the chief legislative priority for Republicans hungry for a major legislative achievement. With the 2018 campaign year looming, GOP lawmakers want something to show for their time as the majority party, and tax legislation remains their best hope.

Trump has left it up to Congress to fill in many specifics of his plan, which omits details such as the income levels for his new tax brackets. The outreach to truckers in Pennsylvania is an attempt to give a blue-collar appeal to a framework that outside tax analysts say would largely favor the wealthy.

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Trump threatens NBC’s broadcast licenses after critical stories

President Trump, who has threatened press freedoms before, suggested Wednesday that NBC might lose its broadcast licenses following critical stories detailing his behavior.

NBC reported last week that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron” and nearly quit the administration out of concern for Trump’s behavior and policy. The network followed up Wednesday with a report on what had prompted the “moron” comment.

Tillerson made the comment after a July 20 meeting of top national security leaders at which Trump advocated a near-tenfold increase in the nation’s nuclear arsenal, questioning why he lacked the stockpile that U.S. presidents had during the height of the Cold War, the network reported. The United States has since entered into numerous treaties and other legally binding agreements to slow the nuclear arms race.

Trump has been furious at the coverage. He challenged Tillerson to an IQ test in a Forbes interview published Tuesday and tweeted separately Wednesday that the NBC account is “pure fiction, made up to demean.”

Trump intensified his threat against the press Wednesday afternoon at an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, telling reporters that “it is frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write.”

The president doubled down Wednesday evening on Twitter.

Substantively, Trump’s threat is fairly empty: NBC and other networks do not hold a license for the network as a whole. Licenses are issued to local stations, of which NBC owns 28. Under deregulatory measures that Republicans successfully pushed over the last generation, challenging a license on the grounds that coverage is unfair or biased would be extremely difficult.

Gordon Smith, president of the National Assn. of Broadcasters, denounced Trump’s threat on Wednesday.

“The founders of our nation set as a cornerstone of our democracy the 1st Amendment, forever enshrining and protecting freedom of the press,” said Smith, a former Republican senator.

“It is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting of a journalist,” he said.

The tweets fit a pattern for Trump. His threat of government retaliation against NBC followed a tweet Tuesday that threatened the tax status of the National Football League. The league gave up its tax-exempt status in 2015.

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Trump promotes book after author appears on ‘Fox & Friends’

President Trump promoted a book called “The Art of the Donald” in a tweet on Tuesday.

The book purports to offer “motivational self-help advice” gleaned from Trump’s life. It was written by Christopher Bedford, a senior editor at conservative news and opinion website the Daily Caller. Bedford also regularly appears as a political commentator on Fox News.

Trump’s tweet on the topic came less than a half-hour after Bedford appeared on “Fox & Friends” to promote the book, according to Media Matters.

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Trump hosts Penguins at White House to celebrate Stanley Cup win

After adding to the uproar over NFL players who protest during the national anthem, President Trump mostly stuck to hockey in honoring the Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, calling them “true champions and incredible patriots.”

Trump welcomed the Penguins into the Oval Office and celebrated their second consecutive championship in the East Room of the White House.

Trump has grabbed a number of sports headlines in recent weeks, including his criticism of NFL players for kneeling during the anthem and his decision to disinvite the NBA champion Golden State Warriors from the White House for the type of championship visit made by the Penguins, the New England Patriots and the Chicago Cubs, along with the Clemson University football team.

“Everybody wanted to be here today,” Trump said of the Penguins. “And I know why.”

Hours after tweeting that the tax code should be changed to punish NFL teams over the anthem issue, Trump joked that Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle should help him renegotiate NAFTA but largely avoided any talk about other sports.

“It’s been an honor to have them all here,” Trump said.

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Trump accuses Democrats of holding up immigration deal: ‘Don’t care about safety for U.S.A.’

President Trump says that reaching out to congressional Democrats for help in getting immigration legislation passed is difficult because “the Democrats don’t want secure borders.”

Trump sent out a tweet early Tuesday charging that Democrats “don’t care about safety for U.S.A.”

The president’s Twitter post came only two days after he sent congressional leaders an immigration overhaul wish list of legislative proposals, including a requirement that Congress agree to a host of border security improvements and make significant changes to the green card program.

Trump had said on Sunday that security enhancements — and the border wall that he’s demanded — need to be put in place before he would sign on to a bill restoring the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which shields from deportation young people brought to the United States illegally when they were children.

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Trump vows to use ‘power of the pen’ to overhaul healthcare law

President Trump, who has been unable to get Republicans in Congress to roll back the Affordable Care Act, is promising to issue an executive order this week that he says will offer relief to consumers facing rising insurance premiums.

Administration officials are reportedly looking specifically at ways to loosen health insurance regulations and promote wider use of a form of insurance known as association health plans.

Here is a rundown of how these plans work and what the administration’s moves could mean for Americans and their health insurance.

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Trump continues to attack Sen. Bob Corker on Twitter

President Trump continued attacking Republican Sen. Bob Corker, belittling the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman over his stark criticisms of the president as Trump’s allies called for the senator to step down.

Trump resorted to name-calling on Twitter, as is his preference, labeling the 5-foot-7 Tennessee senator “Liddle’ Bob Corker.”

Critics say Trump’s tirades against a growing list of top Republicans, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, are alienating the key members of his party needed to advance tax reform and the rest of the president’s legislative agenda on Capitol Hill.

But White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the president on Tuesday, pointing the finger at Congress.

“I don’t think he’s alienating anyone,” Sanders told reporters. “I think Congress has alienated themselves by not actually getting the job done that the people of this country elected them to do.”

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Trump says U.S. should change tax law to punish NFL

President Trump is suggesting the United States change its tax laws to punish organizations such as the NFL if members are “disrespecting” the national anthem or flag.

The NFL gave up its federal tax-exempt status a few years ago and now files tax returns as a taxable entity. So it’s unlikely that Trump’s proposal, tweeted in the early hours Tuesday, would change anything.

Trump also tweeted Tuesday that ESPN ratings have “tanked” because of Jemele Hill, the anchor suspended for making political statements on social media.

Though NFL viewership is down slightly, ESPN remains among the most popular cable networks, averaging 3 million viewers in prime time. The network has suffered subscriber losses over the last few years as some viewers have moved to streaming services from cable television.

Hill, an African American co-host of the 6 p.m. broadcast of “SportsCenter,” received backlash last month after calling Trump a “white supremacist” in a series of tweets that referenced the president’s comments about a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

That comment prompted Trump to demand an apology from ESPN and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to call for Hill’s firing.

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Trump disputes reports that Chief of Staff Kelly is quitting or getting fired

President Trump on Tuesday disputed media reports that White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly is on the verge of resigning or being fired.

A number of news reports have described Kelly as having difficulty managing Trump’s unpredictable nature and habit of undermining his own policy messages with distracting outbursts.

Kelly succeeded the first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, who had not been able to corral Trump’s wide-ranging spheres of advisors and confidants. Many of them met or talked with the president without Priebus’ knowledge, sometimes influencing Trump to veer off in unexpected ways in making decisions or comments.

Kelly initially served as head of the Homeland Security Department, and won plaudits from the president for helping to stem the flow of immigrants across the Mexican border. He also ingratiated himself by taking full responsibility for Trump’s troubled first order for a ban on travelers from some mostly Muslim countries.

Since he was appointed chief of staff on July 28, Kelly has won good reviews from concerned Republicans on Capitol Hill, though recent praise from Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee — that Kelly, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson helped prevent “chaos” from Trump — angered the president.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Brian Bennett and Cathleen Decker

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Trump praises Jerry Jones for comments on NFL anthem protests

President Trump tweeted praise for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Monday after Jones suggested he would bench players who protest during the national anthem.

Jones, also the team’s general manager, said after a loss to Green Bay on Sunday that the NFL cannot leave the impression that it tolerates players disrespecting the flag. He said that any Cowboys doing so would not play.

Jones was responding to questions about Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to leave an Indianapolis home game in protest of about a dozen San Francisco players who knelt during the anthem.

They were the most provocative comments so far from Jones, a powerful behind-the-scenes force in the NFL and recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee who had already been clear in his support of standing for the anthem.

The NFL players union had a swift rebuke Monday. Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said Jones contradicted assurances last week from Commissioner Roger Goodell and New York Giants President John Mara that players could express themselves without reprisals.

“I look forward to the day when everyone in management can unite and truly embrace and articulate what the flag stands for, liberty and justice for all, instead of some of them just talking about standing,” Smith said.

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Trump proclaims Columbus Day

President Trump has proclaimed Monday Columbus Day — without any of his predecessor’s qualms.

The president’s proclamation, issued Friday, directs the United States to celebrate Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the Americas, noting “the permanent arrival of Europeans ... was a transformative event that undeniably and fundamentally changed the course of human history and set the stage for the development of our great Nation.”

Trump’s proclamation only praises Columbus, Spain and the explorer’s native Italy, contrasting with President Obama’s document almost exactly a year earlier.

Obama’s proclamation acknowledged Columbus’ spirit of exploration. But Obama said the nation should “also acknowledge the pain and suffering reflected in the stories of Native Americans who had long resided on this land prior to the arrival of European newcomers.”

Trump planned to spend Columbus Day at his golf club in Virginia, where he arrived Monday just before noon. The White House said he would be golfing with Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina.

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Trump tweets that U.S. policy on North Korea isn’t working

President Trump tweeted Monday that U.S. policy on North Korea has been unsuccessful, and that America has given “billions of dollars” and received nothing in return.

Trump’s recent tweets on North Korea have prompted questions about whether the president is leaning toward military action.

On Saturday, Trump wrote that U.S. “negotiators” were made to look like fools and that “only one thing will work” when it comes to dealing with the isolated nation.

One prominent Republican senator, Bob Corker of Tennessee, told the New York Times that he is concerned that Trump could set the United States “on the path to World War III.”

Trump also lashed out at Corker in tweets sent Sunday, prompting the respected senator to fire back by tweeting that the White House had become an “adult day care center.”

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Trump: Pence’s attendance at Colts game was ‘long planned’

President Trump says Vice President Mike Pence’s attendance at a 49ers-Colts game this weekend was “long planned.”

Trump’s comment on Twitter on Monday appeared to respond to questions about whether Pence’s brief attendance at the NFL game was a political stunt. Pence left the stadium Sunday after some San Francisco players took a knee during the national anthem.

The former Indiana governor flew in to Indianapolis from Las Vegas so he could watch Peyton Manning’s jersey retirement ceremony. But he did not stay long.

Around kickoff, Pence wrote on Twitter that he left because he would not “dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”

Pence then headed back out West, to California, for a three-day visit to raise money and talk about Trump’s push for a tax overhaul.

In addition to questioning whether the vice president’s walkout constituted a prearranged publicity stunt, some observers took note of the apparent expense of his travel.

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Trump tweets thanks after another report on GOP donations

President Trump tweeted his thanks Sunday evening after the New York Post published a report on a rise in small-dollar donations to the Republican Party, which has been attributed to Trump’s supporters.

The New York Post article was aggregated from a Washington Post report, which Trump also commented on after its publication.

In a tweet yesterday, the president appeared to marvel at the fact that the Washington Post had “finally” published a “good” story about him.

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Trump touts Puerto Rico cleanup by tweeting video that purports to show what ‘fake news’ won’t

President Trump tweeted a video highlighting his administration’s post-hurricane recovery effort in Puerto Rico.

In a message accompanying the video Sunday evening, the president appeared to lament what he viewed as a lack of recognition of the federal government’s achievements.

“Nobody could have done what I’ve done for Puerto Rico with so little appreciation,” Trump wrote. “So much work!”

The nearly nine-minute video opened with the caption, “What the fake news media will not show you in Puerto Rico.”

It went on to feature a variety of federal workers distributing supplies and giving brief interviews about their duties.

The video wrapped up with a slow-motion montage of Trump greeting residents and military personnel during his visit to the hurricane-battered island on Tuesday.

Trump’s tweet came as his administration brushed off fresh criticism from the mayor of San Juan over the federal government’s recovery effort in Puerto Rico.

William “Brock” Long, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, on Sunday dismissed the latest pleas for urgent assistance from the mayor, Carmen Yulin Cruz, as “political noise.”

“We filtered out the mayor a long time ago,” Long said on ABC’s “This Week” when asked about a pair of early morning tweets from Cruz, in which she said she had unsuccessfully sought help from FEMA after the power failed at a major hospital.

Last week, Trump in a tweet suggested Cruz is a “politically motivated ingrate.” She had made a number of pointed public criticisms of the pace and scope of the federal relief effort after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, wrecking the electricity grid and leaving many of its 3.4 million people desperate for food, water and gasoline.

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Trump shares video of Vegas visit

President Trump shared via Twitter a video of highlights of his trip to Las Vegas last week.

The president visited Vegas on Wednesday, three days after a gunman opened fire at a country music concert, killing 58 people, in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

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Trump: Hurricane Nate ‘very much under control’

President Trump issued praise for his administration’s handling of Hurricane Nate, which was downgraded to a tropical depression Sunday after it made landfall in Louisiana and then Mississippi.

In a tweet Sunday afternoon, Trump assured the public that the situation was “very much under control.”

The fourth hurricane to hit the United States in 2017 damaged homes and flooded highways across the Gulf Coast, leaving more than 100,000 customers without power.

But across the coastal region, there was relief as Hurricane Nate spared seaside towns and rural areas the disastrous flooding and destruction of the last three hurricanes — Harvey, Irma and Maria — that pounded Southern states and Caribbean islands over the last six weeks.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Jenny Jarvie

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Trump tweets that he asked Pence to leave NFL game if players knelt

President Trump tweeted that he was “proud” of Vice President Mike Pence for leaving the 49ers-Colts game after about a dozen San Francisco players took a knee during the national anthem Sunday.

The president also wrote in the tweet that he had asked Pence to leave if any players knelt in protest.

That led some to point out that the White House appeared to have anticipated Pence’s early departure from the game.

Pence flew so he could watch Peyton Manning’s jersey retirement ceremony. But the former Indiana governor didn’t stick around long.

He tweeted:

The White House also issued a statement from Pence, in which he said that Americans should rally around the flag.

Pence is a noted sports fan and it was the second major event he’s attended in his home state since taking office in January. He also attended May’s Indianapolis 500, a family tradition.

Pence flew in on Saturday after a statue of Manning was unveiled. The vice president spent most of Saturday in Las Vegas honoring victims of last week’s mass shooting.

He was scheduled to travel next to California for a three-day fundraising trip slated to kick off Sunday evening with a private reception in Los Angeles.

Some observers noted the apparent expense of the travel.

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Trump continues Twitter broadside against Sen. Bob Corker

President Trump launched a Twitter broadside on Sunday morning against a respected senior Republican senator, who fired back by saying that the White House had become an “adult day care center.”

The stunning exchange-by-tweet captured the disruption that Trump has brought to the Republican Party he now heads, and put his agenda further at risk in a Senate where Republicans have just a two-vote margin of control.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee last week had praised several of Trump’s senior advisors for their sober-minded style and declared that they were helping to stave off “chaos,” making clear in follow-up comments that the chaos was the work of the president.

Sunday’s tweets suggested the president was still smarting over that implied criticism of him days earlier.

Corker, who is not seeking reelection, responded with a stunning observation about the White House given its resident’s penchant for Twitter outbursts outside of normal business hours. In so doing, Corker said publicly what many Republicans in Congress have largely limited to their private conversations.

Trump renewed the back-and-forth Sunday afternoon, shortly after he returned to the White House from his Virginia golf club.

Even for a president who rarely allows any slight to go unanswered, Trump’s outburst was an extraordinary show of hostility aimed at a well-respected senator. Corker is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The president has previously tangled with other Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

This war of words began when Corker, without mentioning Trump by name, offered a thinly veiled critique last week of Trump’s leadership style.

“I think Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mattis and chief of staff Kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos,” Corker said Wednesday, referring to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and White House chief of staff John F. Kelly. He was responding to reports of high tensions between Trump and Tillerson.

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Trump praises Washington Post report, continues to lash out at NBC News

President Trump praised a Washington Post article on a rise in small-dollar contributions to the Republican Party.

The article credits Trump’s supporters with helping the Republican National Committee to raise nearly twice as much money as its Democratic counterpart this year.

“Can’t believe I finally got a good story in the @washingtonpost,” Trump marveled Saturday morning in a tweet.

Trump has criticized the Post in past tweets, referring to the newspaper as a “lobbyist for Amazon” and suggesting that it helps the online shopping giant put political pressure on lawmakers to avoid paying taxes.

But on Saturday, the president appeared to have reserved the bulk of his ire for NBC News. He continued to lash out at the network in the wake of a report that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had considered abandoning Trump’s Cabinet earlier this year.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO forcefully denied the report on Wednesday, though he initially did not dispute its claim that he called Trump a “moron” after a July meeting of national security officials at the Pentagon.

Trump also assailed NBC on Wednesday and Thursday in tweets referring to the network as “more dishonest than even CNN” and questioning why the Senate Intelligence Committee hasn’t investigated the so-called “Fake News Networks.”

NBC News has said that it stands by its reporting.

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Trump promotes Mike Huckabee’s new TV show

President Trump promoted former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s new television talk show, which was due to debut Saturday night with an episode featuring a prerecorded interview with Trump.

During the interview, Trump vented his frustration with the Senate’s inability to reform the nation’s healthcare law, according to a preview of the episode obtained by the Christian Post.

Trump and Huckabee also discussed First Lady Melania Trump, with Huckabee referring to her as one of Trump’s “greatest assets.”

Huckabee previously hosted a talk show on the Fox News Channel but pulled the plug in January 2015 as he prepared to seek the Republican presidential nomination.

Huckabee ended his presidential campaign the following February and threw his support behind Trump. His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, currently serves as White House press secretary.

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Trump tweets that FEMA is prepared for Hurricane Nate

President Trump is assuring the public that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is prepared for Hurricane Nate, which is now expected to be a Category 2 hurricane at landfall on the central Gulf Coast in coming hours.

In a tweet on Saturday, Trump also cautioned residents of affected areas to heed the advice of local officials and to “be safe!”

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, Nate was accelerating to 26 mph and headed north-northwest on a course expected to take it onto the central Gulf Coast on Saturday night. Forecasters said the hurricane-force winds extended out up to 35 miles, mainly to the east of the eye.

In addition to hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings already in place along a wide stretch of Gulf Coast, a new tropical storm warning was issued Saturday morning in the Florida Panhandle from east of the Okaloosa-Walton County line to Indian Pass, Fla.

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Trump heads to North Carolina for fundraiser

President Trump wrote that he was headed to North Carolina on Saturday in a tweet assuring the public that “big progress” was being made “on many fronts!”

The president was headlining a fundraiser on Saturday night in Greensboro to benefit his Trump Victory joint fundraising committee with the Republican National Committee.

The event was expected to raise $2 million, with donors paying up to $35,000 per couple to serve as co-hosts.

It wasn’t immediately clear what Trump meant by his reference to “big progress.”

In remarks Saturday evening on the South Lawn before his trip, Trump said that he was willing to consider “a temporary deal” with Democrats on healthcare. The comments echoed a tweet Trump sent earlier in the day.

Before his departure, Trump also repeated his assertion that trying to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs is a waste of time, tweeting, “Only one thing will work!”

Less than an hour later, Trump thanked a supporter who predicted a “landslide” win for Trump in 2020.

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Trump on North Korea: ‘Only one thing will work!’

President Trump appeared to hint at the possibility of U.S. military action against North Korea on Saturday in tweets.

Trump wrote that presidential administrations have been attempting to negotiate with the isolated nation “for 25 years” but have failed despite “massive amounts of money paid.”

“Sorry, but only one thing will work!” Trump concluded.

The president’s comments marked the latest escalation in the heated rhetoric between the United States and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has launched dozens of missiles in pursuit of the technical ability to strike the continental U.S. with a nuclear-tipped warhead.

Trump has been locked in an increasingly personal war of words with Kim, whom Trump has taken to calling “Rocket Man” in tweets and speeches.

Last month, Kim issued a rare public statement referring to Trump as a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and warning that the U.S. will “face results beyond his expectation.”

Trump’s most recent tweets on the topic came two days after he made some cryptic but seemingly ominous remarks at a White House dinner with military leaders and their spouses.

“Maybe it’s the calm before the storm,” Trump told reporters who were ushered into a room to photograph Thursday night’s gathering.

“What’s the storm?” a reporter asked. “On Iran? On ISIS? On what?”

“We have the world’s great military people,” Trump said, again offering what amounted to a tease. “Thank you all for coming.”

The president also addressed rising tensions with North Korea last week on Twitter, writing that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” by trying to negotiate with Kim — an extraordinary public undercutting of the top American diplomat.

Tillerson had told reporters that the U.S. has opened direct “lines of communication” with North Korea over its aggressive nuclear program.

A day later, Trump tweeted in response: “Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Noah Bierman, Jonathan Kaiman and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump tweets that he called Schumer to discuss making healthcare deal with Democrats

With Republicans having failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, at least for now, President Trump on Saturday confirmed he’d once again opened the door to a deal with Democrats. They remain wary, at best.

“I called Chuck Schumer yesterday to see if the Dems want to do a great HealthCare Bill,” Trump tweeted on Saturday morning, speaking of the Senate Democratic leader and fellow New Yorker. “ObamaCare is badly broken, big premiums. Who knows!”

The president’s message, just before he headed for his Virginia golf club, reflected his continued frustration with his own party’s failures to keep its 7-year-old vow to repeal President Obama’s signature domestic achievement. He has flirted with a deal with Democrats before, only to return to Republicans’ position that the law has to be scrapped.

That’s a nonstarter with Democrats, who say the law needs improvements but is working, even as the administration is taking actions that has been compared to “sabotage.”

Schumer underscored that point in his response, making it clear that he and Trump weren’t about to embrace on a healthcare plan.

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Trump accuses late-night TV hosts of ‘dealing with the Democrats’ and demands ‘Equal Time’

In the latest salvo in his ongoing war with the entertainment industry, President Trump took to Twitter on Saturday morning to slam late-night talk show hosts in a pair of tweets for what he called their “unfunny & repetitive material,” complaining that they are “always anti-Trump” and accusing them of “dealing with the Democrats.”

To counterbalance what he sees as “one-sided coverage,” Trump – whose administration has faced a continuous barrage of barbed jokes from the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers on their shows and on social media – raised the question of whether he and other Republicans should be given equal time by the networks.

Trump seemed to be responding to a segment on the Fox News morning show “Fox & Friends” about how many late-night hosts “have taken a hard turn to the left.”

In raising the issue of equal time, the president appeared to be referring to the Federal Communications Commission’s 1934 so-called equal time rule, which requires radio and network TV stations to offer equivalent air time to legally qualified political candidates.

Kimmel, who has placed himself at the forefront of the healthcare debate this year during his ABC show’s monologues, offered his own rejoinder on Twitter to the president’s missives:

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Trump endorses Ed Gillespie for Virginia governor

President Trump has endorsed Republican Ed Gillespie for governor of Virginia.

Gillespie, who served as an advisor to President George W. Bush, is facing Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam in November in one of only two off-year gubernatorial contests.

In a tweet Thursday night, Trump accused Northam of “fighting for violent MS-13 killer gangs” and so-called sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Trump’s comments echo the language used in attack ads released by Gillespie’s camp that accuse Northam of “increasing the threat of MS-13” by supporting sanctuary cities.

The nonpartisan watchdog group FactCheck.org labeled the ads’ claim “misleading,” noting that Gillespie has said publicly that Virginia doesn’t actually have sanctuary cities.

While Northam did cast a tie-breaking vote against a state Senate bill that would ban the establishment of sanctuary cities, the bill passed after another vote was called. It was eventually vetoed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Northam’s team has accused Republicans of engineering the tie in a bid to force Northam into voting on the controversial issue in the run-up to Virginia’s gubernatorial election.

The contest is getting national attention as a potential early referendum on the president’s first year. Most polls have shown a close race in the swing state, where Democrats have won every statewide election since 2009.

Energy and the environment are also expected to be front-line issues in the race. Gillespie has received hefty funding from donors in the oil and gas industry, while Northam is backed by environmental groups and billionaire activist Tom Steyer.

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Trump praises Vegas shooting victims after visit

President Trump praised those dealing with the aftermath of a shooting at a country music concert in Las Vegas that left at least 58 people dead.

Trump’s tweet came the day after he visited Vegas to meet with victims of Sunday’s shooting, as well as law enforcement and medical personnel who assisted the dying and injured.

Minutes later, the president thanked a supporter who had tweeted that Trump and his team were “faithfully and diligently MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

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Trump cheers on stock market rally

Yet another gain for stocks on Thursday sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 index higher for an eighth straight day, its longest winning streak since July 2013.

President Trump celebrated the development Thursday in a tweet.

Thursday’s gain marked the latest step higher for a market that’s methodically climbed to record after record for much of this year as both the economy and corporate profits have improved.

The S&P 500 rose 14.33 points, or 0.6%, to 2,552.07. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 113.75, or 0.5%, to 22,775.39, and the Nasdaq composite rose 50.73, or 0.8%, to 6,585.36. All three indexes added to their records set a day earlier, again.

All those moves higher actually have some professional investors a bit nervous, because even the healthiest markets tend to have some sharp sell-offs from time to time. The last time the S&P 500 had a pullback of just 5% was more than a year ago.

“What’s really troubling most people more than anything is that we just go straight up,” said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. “There hasn’t been a pullback. That’s what most on Wall Street are trying to come to grips with.”

Encouraging reports on the economy have been helping stocks, and on Thursday they included a stronger-than-expected rebound in U.S. factory orders during August and a drop in the number of workers applying for unemployment benefits last week.

With the economy and corporate earnings seemingly solid, TD Ameritrade’s Kinahan said if there is a trigger for a downturn in stocks, it would likely be either a new flash in political tensions with North Korea or somewhere else in the world, or a stumble in Washington’s progress to reform the tax system.

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Trump denies report that Tillerson threatened to resign and attacks ‘Fake News’

The Trump administration sought Thursday to move past the brouhaha over Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s reported insult of his boss, making clear that President Trump alone sets the nation’s agenda that his advisors must execute.

A day after the duo’s sometimes difficult relationship burst into public view, the president joined his top diplomat in disputing a report that Tillerson had considered abandoning Trump’s Cabinet earlier this year. Tillerson “never threatened to resign,” Trump tweeted, labeling NBC News’ account as “fake news.”

The former Exxon Mobil CEO previously rejected the claim on Wednesday.

At the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to address broader concerns about an administration that has been beset by high-profile departures — already including a chief of staff, national security advisor, chief strategist and Cabinet secretary — and persistent infighting that now seems to be pitting Tillerson against Trump’s U.N. envoy Nikki Haley and other top officials.

The NBC story, recounted by others, also claimed that Tillerson called the president a “moron” after a contentious July meeting of top national security officials at the Pentagon.

At the time, the Associated Press and others reported the strains between Tillerson and several of Trump’s closest confidants, such as strategist Steve Bannon and controversial counterterrorism advisor Sebastian Gorka. Those tensions had subsided somewhat after Bannon and Gorka’s dismissals this summer.

Asked about the “moron” claim, Sanders echoed the sentiments of Tillerson in declaring it a “petty, ridiculous accusation.” While Tillerson didn’t deny he made such a statement in his uncomfortable address at the State Department on Wednesday, he later had a spokeswoman deny that he ever used such language.

Sanders took umbrage at the arguments of some of Tillerson’s defenders, including the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that Trump has undermined his secretary of State through his often provocative tweets that have interfered directly with ongoing diplomatic efforts.

“The premise of that question is absolutely ridiculous,” she said. “The president can’t undercut his own Cabinet. The president is the leader of the Cabinet. He sets the tone. He sets the agenda.”

Sanders also insisted Thursday that Trump is an “incredible advocate” for the 1st Amendment.

Then she defended his threat to investigate news organizations with a complaint that Trump had not received enough positive news coverage.

“With the 1st Amendment, with those freedoms, also come responsibilities, and you have a responsibility to tell the truth, to be accurate,” Sanders said during her regular briefing with White House reporters.

She cited a Pew Research Center study that she said asserted that the vast majority of early Trump coverage had been negative, before listing issues on which she believed the administration had achieved great success.

“You’ve only found 5% of your time to focus on some of those big issues,” Sanders said. “And, frankly, those are the issues most Americans care about, not a lot of the things that you cover, not a lot of the petty palace intrigue that you spend your time on.”

This post contains reporting from staff writer Noah Bierman

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‘Great day in Puerto Rico’ despite ‘fake’ news coverage, Trump says

President Trump hailed his Tuesday visit to Puerto Rico, where he surveyed the recovery effort from a Category 4 storm that raked the island.

Trump tweeted Wednesday that some of the news coverage of his visit was “fake,” but that “most showed great warmth and friendship.”

Some residents of the territory welcomed Trump’s visit as a sign that more aid was on the way, but were disturbed by earlier comments seen as disparaging of Puerto Ricans and their local leaders.

Those included Trump’s oddly jovial reference to the cost of the recovery effort Tuesday, when he told assembled officials: “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you threw our budget a little out of whack!”

Trump also referred favorably to the official death count on the island — 16, but expected to rise — by comparing it to the fatality toll when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, killing an estimated 1,800 people.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Laura King

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Trump travels to Las Vegas to meet with shooting victims and first responders

President Trump and the first lady visited victims and first responders Wednesday in Las Vegas, where a gunman killed 58 people at a country music festival on Sunday.

During the visit, Trump praised those who rushed into action during the massacre, and he told family members of the victims, “You are not alone. We will never leave your side.”

“We know that your sorrow feels endless,” he said. “We stand beside you to help carry your pain.”

Praising the work of police and other first responders, the president said: “Words cannot describe the bravery the whole world witnessed on Sunday night. Americans defied death and hatred with love and with courage. When the worst of humanity strikes, and strike it did, the best of humanity responds. Americans dashed into a hail of bullets to rescue total strangers.”

The remarks came at a news conference where Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were flanked by local law enforcement officials and dignitaries, including Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval.

“We’re hurt. We’re hurt badly. But we’re not broken,” Sandoval said at the televised news conference. “The future’s going to come one day at a time. We must be glad. We must be good. We must be brave. And we must have faith.”

In an earlier public appearance at a hospital that had treated more than 100 victims from Sunday’s attack, Trump characterized the gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, as a “very sick man; he was a very demented person.”

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After report of tension with Tillerson, Trump tweets that NBC News ‘should issue an apology to AMERICA!’

President Trump took aim at the “fake news” media Wednesday morning in a string of tweets.

That came amid persistent reports that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson planned to resign over foreign policy differences with Trump.

Trump appeared to take particular issue with an NBC News report that also claimed that Tillerson had called Trump a “moron” at a Pentagon meeting this summer, and that Vice President Mike Pence had to persuade Tillerson not to quit after Trump delivered a partisan political speech to the Boy Scouts Jamboree in July.

In an unusual statement, Tillerson forcefully denied the report Wednesday and instead pledged strong support for the president.

“I have never considered leaving this post,” Tillerson said at a hastily called news conference at the State Department.

When asked about the purported “moron” comment, Tillerson dismissed the question but did not deny it.

Still, Trump put a positive face on the comments, tweeting shortly after Tillerson finished speaking:

Later, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert denied explicitly that Tillerson had described Trump as a moron. “He does not use that kind of language,” she said.

Tillerson has clashed with the White House over climate change and other foreign policy priorities, and his tenure has never appeared secure. Trump publicly undermined him Sunday, tweeting that Tillerson was “wasting his time” by seeking a diplomatic solution to the standoff with nuclear-armed North Korea.

Speaking at a Las Vegas hospital after visiting survivors of Sunday night’s mass shooting, Trump told reporters he was “honored” by Tillerson’s comments and assailed NBC as “fake news.” He said, “Total confidence in Rex. I have total confidence.”

Tillerson, a former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, said news reports about his differences with Trump were the work of people trying to sow dissension.

Read More– Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this report.

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Trump applauds police response to Las Vegas shooting

President Trump praised police in Las Vegas two days after a mass shooting killed at least 58 people.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump called a “miracle” the speed with which officers were able to find the shooter, who fired into a crowd of 22,000 people from a perch high above the fairgrounds where a music festival was held.

From the first reports of gunshots at 10:08 p.m. Sunday, it would be 72 chaotic minutes before a SWAT team crept down a carpeted hallway on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and blew open the hotel room occupied by suspected gunman Stephen Paddock.

By then, the gunfire had long since ceased and Paddock was dead.

Although 72 minutes seem like an eternity during a shooting, officials and experts on Tuesday insisted that the delay before entering the gunman’s hotel room did not suggest a slow response.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Laura J. Nelson, Sarah Parvini and Richard Winton

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Trump praises hurricane recovery effort during visit to Puerto Rico

Brushing aside criticism of his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria, President Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday, hailing the recovery effort as an “amazing job” by first responders, telling officials they should be “proud” of a death toll that stood in double digits instead of thousands.

Nearly two weeks after the Category 4 storm raked the island, Trump, making his fourth visit to a hurricane zone in a month, lavished praise on local officials who spoke highly of him, while taking a veiled swipe at the mayor of San Juan, the capital, who had characterized initial recovery efforts as ineffective.

In a televised meeting with officials in a hangar at Muniz Air National Guard Base, Trump struck an upbeat note about progress made since the storm struck on Sept. 20, knocking out the power grid, snatching away cellphone service, isolating dozens of rural communities and leaving hundreds of thousands scrambling for food, water, medicine, cash and gasoline.

But as sometimes happens when Trump makes off-the-cuff comments, the tone of his arrival remarks seemed jarring at times. He made an oddly jovial reference to the cost of the recovery effort, telling assembled officials: “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you threw our budget a little out of whack!”

Trump also referred favorably to the official death count on the island — 16, but expected to rise — by comparing it with the fatality toll when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, killing an estimated 1,800 people.

“Sixteen people certified versus in the thousands,” he said. “You can be very proud.”

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello later announced that the number of deaths connected to the storm had risen to 34 from 16. Nineteen of them were a direct result of the storm, the rest indirectly connected to the hurricane.

Wrapping up his nearly eight-hour visit with an aerial tour, the president flew by helicopter to a Navy ship offshore, the Kearsarge, where he shook hands with service members and met with the governor of the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands, Kenneth Mapp, before boarding Air Force One for the return flight.

Trump planned to travel next to Las Vegas, where a mass shooting killed at least 58 people Sunday.

Leaving Washington earlier Tuesday, Trump hailed his administration’s recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, shrugging off criticism that the initial federal response was less robust than similar efforts when hurricanes struck Texas and Florida.

“It’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he and First Lady Melania Trump prepared to depart for San Juan.

“In Texas and in Florida, we get an A-plus,” the president said. “And I’ll tell you what — I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico.”

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Trump extends ‘warmest condolences and sympathies’ in wake of Las Vegas shooting

President Trump called for prayer and unity in the face of “an act of pure evil” in a somber address from the White House Monday, hours after a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert killed dozens of people.

The shooter “brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil,” he said.

In a tweet, the president extended his “warmest condolences and sympathies” to the victims and their families.

Trump said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday.

The comments came after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, with more than 50 dead, and one of the biggest tests for Trump during a period of national concern and grief.

During such tragedies, which have visited every modern presidency, Americans typically expect a period of unity as the president seeks to provide comfort.

Trump, reading from a teleprompter in the Diplomatic Reception Room, appeared downcast as he read. He said many Americans would be feeling anger and conceded that “the answers do not come easily.” But he urged resiliency.

“Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence,” he said. “It is our love that defines us today and always will forever.”

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Trump defends hurricane response in Puerto Rico

The Trump administration faced more backlash Friday over the unfolding Hurricane Maria humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, despite the president and other officials indicating the federal government was fully engaged in providing relief.

President Trump defended his administration’s response in a series of tweets.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz was among the most vocal critics of the federal government’s response, saying acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke’s reference a day earlier to relief efforts as a good news story was inappropriate. The situation was about life and death, Cruz said.

Island residents have gone without water, food, power and gas and faced other dire conditions since Hurricane Maria made landfall more than a week ago.

Cruz said people on the island were devastated and that she was frustrated by bureaucracy getting in the way of relief. She said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had requested a memo with a list of needs.

“I’m mad as hell because my people’s lives are at stake . . . . We are dying here,” Cruz said, nearly tearing up during a news conference. “If we don’t get the food and the water into people’s hands, what we are going to see is something close to a genocide.”

Cruz said when Trump visits Tuesday, as planned, he should not only get an aerial view of the situation but actually see municipalities.

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Trump champions effort to prioritize computer science education

President Trump on Monday directed his education secretary to prioritize science and technology education and spend at least $200 million annually on competitive grants so schools can broaden access to computer science education in particular.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior White House advisor on workforce issues, told reporters during a telephone briefing earlier Monday that it is vital that students, especially girls and racial minorities, learn how to write computer code and study computer science.

On Friday, the president shared a video that featured some of his daughter’s comments about the initiative.

“Today represents a giant leap forward as we think about aligning the skills that are taught in the classroom with the skills that are in demand in the modern economy,” Ivanka Trump said Monday in the Oval Office before the president signed a directive instructing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to act.

Money for the grants has been appropriated by Congress, officials said. Trump’s order asks DeVos to prioritize high-quality STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- education, along with computer science education, under an existing grant program that schools and districts have access to.

Ivanka Trump said she would visit Detroit on Tuesday with private-sector officials as they announce pledges in support of computer science education.

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Trump touts tax plan in speech to manufacturers

President Trump tweeted his thanks after giving a speech to the National Assn. of Manufacturers on Friday in Washington.

In his remarks, Trump repeated his assertion that the Republican tax plan benefited the middle class more than the wealthy.

“By eliminating the tax breaks and special-interest loopholes that primarily benefit the wealthy, our framework ensures that the benefits of tax reform go to the middle class, not the highest earners,” he said.

That came as an analysis released Friday by a nonpartisan think tank found that the tax plan would give the biggest benefit to the super-rich in coming years — and slightly raise upper earners’ taxes while reducing them for everyone else.

The sweeping tax changes, which include slashing the corporate rate and lowering the top individual rate, also would increase the federal budget deficit by $2.4 trillion over the first decade and $3.2 trillion over the next one, according to the group’s analysis.

The findings by the Tax Policy Center contradict assertions by the White House and congressional Republicans that the plan unveiled last week would not benefit the wealthy — including Trump himself.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Jim Puzzanghera

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Trump congratulates Americans on Presidents Cup victory

President Trump issued a congratulatory tweet Sunday after the Americans won the Presidents Cup for the seventh consecutive time.

Trump arrived at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J., about 45 minutes before the Americans secured the gold trophy that he was to present to them.

Trump, the honorary chairman of the matches, is the first sitting president to attend on the final day and present the trophy. He dedicated the award to the people who have endured hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

Before arriving at the private club built on a former landfill, Trump dismissed “politically motivated ingrates” who have questioned his administration’s commitment to the devastation of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

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Trump extends thoughts to those observing Yom Kippur

President Trump extended well wishes Saturday to those observing the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, began Friday at sundown.

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Trump lashes out at ‘politically motivated ingrates’ over criticism of Puerto Rico hurricane response

President Trump on Sunday morning assailed “politically motivated ingrates” for criticizing the speed and scope of the federal recovery effort in the wake of Hurricane Maria, while praising first responders, the military, Puerto Rico’s governor and federal workers.

His remarks were in a series of posts on Twitter, just as on Saturday morning when Trump first unleashed attacks on his critics in Puerto Rico from his New Jersey golf resort. While less acidic than those a day earlier that drew a strong backlash, the tweets signaled that Trump is comfortable keeping the furor alive – two days before he is to visit the island on Tuesday.

Maria, a Category 4 storm, devastated Puerto Rico, whose 3.4 million residents are U.S. citizens. It struck on Sept. 20, hard on the heels of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which raked Texas and Florida respectively. Puerto Rico, too, was picking up after Irma’s damage even as Maria slammed it.

In the first of two dozen tweets on Saturday, Trump attacked the “poor leadership” of the mayor of ravaged San Juan, who had criticized him in pleading for more aid, suggested that Puerto Ricans officials were “not able to get their workers to help” and said islanders “want everything to be done for them.”

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, appearing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” for a second day declined to respond directly to Trump’s personal criticism of her, saying: “There’s only one goal, and that’s saving lives.”

Cruz also said she appreciated the efforts of responders, including those from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but felt they had not been given sufficient means to help those in the most dire need. For example, she said, people were being told to register online for aid, but very few have access to the internet.

“I recognize the good heart that the FEMA people have, and they want to help,” she said. “They just don’t have the resources.”

On Sunday news talk shows, Trump’s aides sought to portray the president as the aggrieved party in his Twitter onslaught against Cruz. “When the president gets attacked, he attacks back, and I think the mayor’s comments were unfair given what the federal government has done,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

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Trump tweets that Tillerson is ‘wasting his time’ on North Korea talks

Just a day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested a possible diplomatic breakthrough with nuclear-armed North Korea, President Trump on Sunday undercut his top diplomat, saying Tillerson “is wasting his time.”

The stunning rebuke was the latest incident in which Trump has publicly contradicted Tillerson and quickly dashed any hope for progress in easing perilously volatile tensions with the government in Pyongyang, which has threatened to destroy the United States just as Trump has threatened the same against North Korea.

Tillerson, amid a whirlwind series of meetings on Saturday in Beijing with China’s top leaders, told reporters that the United States had opened direct “lines of communication” with North Korea over its aggressive program to build a nuclear arsenal.

We’re not in a dark situation, or blackout,” Tillerson said in a news conference at the U.S. Embassy, with Ambassador to China Terry Branstad seated at his side.

“We can talk to them, we do talk to them.”

The comments suggested that Washington was perhaps finally moving toward accepting the reality of Kim Jong Un having nuclear weaponry and instead attempting to contain him, as many foreign leaders and some former American officials have urged.

But within hours of Tillerson’s pre-dawn return to Washington on Sunday, Trump took to Twitter from his weekend retreat at his New Jersey golf club:

It apparently escaped Trump’s attention that Kim Jong Un was 8 years old 25 years ago — though he is the heir in a dynastic ruling family.

While Trump has resorted to bellicose rhetoric with North Korea, Tillerson has repeatedly advocated for diplomacy, with support from Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis. Also, Tillerson and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, had been making progress in getting international approval for ever-tougher economic sanctions aimed at pressuring Pyongyang by squeezing the country’s economy.

Yet that gulf in approach — diplomacy versus military threat — seemed wider than ever after Trump’s mockery of his advisor.

In a White House known for chaos and mixed messages, Trump has also clashed repeatedly with other top aides, including Mattis and economic advisor Gary Cohn; on Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was pushed to resign. But belittling the Cabinet member who is traditionally first among equals is remarkable.

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Trump tweets it’s ‘very important’ NFL players stand for national anthem

Detroit Lions players link arms and kneel during the national anthem Sunday.
(Duane Burleson / Associated Press)

President Trump took a break from his Saturday morning counterattack on Twitter against San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz to once again address the National Football League.

At a rally in Alabama last Friday, Trump criticized NFL players who have refused to stand during “The Star-Spangled Banner” to protest the treatment of African Americans by law enforcement.

Trump urged team owners to fire players who protest during the national anthem.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired,” he said.

Analysis: Back into the Trump vortex America goes, where the president fuels a divisive debate >>

Those words prompted a swift response from league officials, players and athletes from other sports.

Last Sunday, several NFL players, coaches and owners knelt, stood with linked arms or stayed in the locker room during the national anthem.

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In wake of special election loss, Trump claims that his endorsement helped Sen. Strange

President Trump credited his endorsement of Sen. Luther Strange for the U.S. Senate in Alabama with having boosted Strange’s standing in the polls by “MANY points.”

Trump’s tweet Saturday came days after Strange’s opponent, former state Chief Justice Roy Moore, won the Republican nomination for the seat left vacant by Jeff Sessions when he became attorney general.

Trump endorsed Strange several times on Twitter in the weeks leading up to the race, and he traveled on Sept. 22 to Huntsville, Ala., to campaign with Strange.

But despite Trump’s tweet, his backing appeared to have little effect in the eyes of voters: Polls conducted before and after the president’s visit indicated that Moore’s lead had increased slightly or remained about the same, according to the Huntsville Times.

After the zealously conservative Moore bested Strange in Tuesday’s election, Trump deleted many of the tweets in which he touted his support for “Big Luther.”

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Trump criticizes Puerto Ricans during Twitter rant defending hurricane response

From the comfort of his New Jersey golf resort, President Trump lashed out Saturday at the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the ravaged island’s residents, defending his administration’s hurricane response by suggesting that Puerto Ricans had not done enough to help themselves.

Trump’s Twitter assault, which began early Saturday and lasted until evening, was set off by criticism from Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who on Friday had criticized the federal response since Hurricane Maria’s Sept. 20 landfall.

The president’s comments were a breathtaking and racially inflected swipe at residents who have labored for more than a week to survive without electricity, running water, food or medical supplies.

Media reports have shown residents in the city and villages sweltering in line for hours with gas cans, hoping for enough fuel to run generators. Nearly every hospital in Puerto Rico lost power in the hurricane, though many have crept toward a semblance of operation. Thousands of crates of supplies have arrived in Puerto Rico, but their distribution has been slowed by destroyed roads and trucks and a shortage of drivers to deliver the goods around the island.

Media reports also have shown Puerto Ricans working together, a visible contradiction of the president’s suggestion that they and their leaders had avoided helping themselves. Cruz has been seen frequently on television reports, including wading through hip-deep water to help people and embracing sobbing constituents as she pleaded for more help.

“I am begging, begging anyone who can hear us to save us from dying,” Cruz said Friday. “We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency.”

Minutes after broadcasts showed Trump telling reporters at the White House on Friday that “we have done an incredible job,” Cruz asserted on camera that the world could see Puerto Ricans being treated “as animals that can be disposed of.”

The controversy created an awkward backdrop for Trump’s plans to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday, and perhaps the American Virgin Islands, also hit hard by the hurricane.

As has been common in other Trump disputes, Democrats immediately condemned the president while Republican leaders — including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — remained silent. But some conservatives lamented the president’s reflexive attacks.

“The people of Puerto Rico are hungry, thirsty, homeless and fearful,” conservative writer and radio host Erick Erickson wrote in an essay. Erickson predicted, accurately, that Trump supporters would contend that Mayor Cruz deserved Trump’s treatment because she criticized the president first.

“Yay, President Trump punched a critic — a critic who is on an island trying her best to help others where most of the people now have no homes, no power, and no running water. What a man he is!” Erickson wrote.

Later in the day, Trump appeared to go out of his way to show some sympathy for the 3.5 million citizens on the island, blaming the news media and Democrats for any suggestion that the recovery effort had been faulty.

Trump’s comments marked the second straight weekend he has set off a national furor with tweets and comments that targeted nonwhites for criticism. Since last weekend — including on Saturday — he has gone after African American athletes protesting police violence by declining to stand when the national anthem is played. He has demanded that the National Football League fire all such protesters.

His tweets Saturday — the only contact Trump had with the country Saturday as he stayed out of sight at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club — carried similar racial overtones. But instead of casting his opponents as unpatriotic, Trump implied they were lazy.

The comments also were in keeping with racial remarks he made in his campaign and presidency — against immigrants, a judge of Mexican descent, the Muslim family of an Army captain killed in Iraq, a Latino beauty queen and others. In June he provoked international criticism when, in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack in London, he suggested that Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, had been politically correct rather than “smart” in countering threats.

As his critics noted, Trump has not been nearly as critical of whites, saying after the violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va., that there were “very nice people” marching amid those carrying Nazi and confederate flags and assault rifles.

The tone of his reaction to Puerto Rico also has differed from his sympathetic response when Texas, Louisiana and Florida recently were struck by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Then the president consistently took pains to reassure affected residents, never suggesting anything but praise for their own efforts.

Read MoreCathleen Decker and Kurtis Lee

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Trump celebrates record close on Wall Street

President Trump tweeted Friday in celebration of a record close on Wall Street the day before.

U.S. stocks finished slightly higher Thursday, led by technology companies and drugmakers. After a big move the day before, that was enough to take stocks back to record highs.

After a slow start, stocks gradually moved upward in afternoon trading as companies in technology, basic materials, real estate and finance contributed modest gains. Industrial firms took small losses.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 3.02 points, or 0.1%, to a record high of 2,510.06.

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His weekly address

President Trump tweeted a link to his weekly address on Friday.

Trump opened his remarks by extending condolences to residents of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, parts of which were devastated the week before by Hurricane Maria.

The president then outlined the Republican tax reform proposal that was rolled out on Wednesday.

A full transcript of Trump’s address is here.

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Trump hits out at Democrats and claims that tax plan drew ‘great reviews’

A day after Republican officials unveiled an outline of their proposed tax overhaul, President Trump tweeted that the plan had received “great reviews.”

The tax plan was met with widespread support from GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill and their allied groups.

But as legislation is drafted and analyzed and winners and losers become apparent, Republicans are almost certain to struggle to hold their majority together.

To make more room to maneuver, Trump hopes to gain some Democratic support for his plan. Tax cuts needn’t be a partisan issue, he said Wednesday in Indiana. Just before he said so, however, he threatened the state’s Democratic senator, Joe Donnelly, a moderate who some White House officials have suggested might side with the tax plan.

If Donnelly didn’t support the tax plan, “we will come here, we will campaign against him like you wouldn’t believe,” he said, drawing some of his loudest applause from a partisan crowd.

One issue for Democrats, and some Republicans, is likely to be the impact on the federal deficit, which the tax plan would worsen by about $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years, according to a preliminary analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

“Without sufficient details on how or even if these tax cuts will be fully paid for, this outline is nothing more than a fiscal fantasy,” said Maya MacGuineas, the group’s president.

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Trump lauds return of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise

Greeted by hugs, tears and a roaring standing ovation, a hobbling Majority Whip Steve Scalise returned to the House on Thursday, more than three months after a gunman sprayed fire at a baseball practice and left the lawmaker clinging to life.

“You have no idea how great this feels to be back here at work in the people’s house,” the 51-year-old Louisiana Republican said to a chamber packed with lawmakers, including senators who had crossed the Capitol to welcome him back.

President Trump spoke to Scalise, said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He also tweeted a congratulatory message that included a video of Scalise arriving in the House chamber:

The moment marked a joyfully bipartisan departure from the bitter divisions that have dominated Congress this year between two parties battling over Trump and the GOP agenda.

“It does show the warm side of Congress that very few people get to see,” Scalise said.

Scalise and four others were wounded June 14 when a gunman opened fire on a Republican baseball practice — GOP and Democratic lawmakers face off in a game each year — in nearby Alexandria, Va. U.S. Capitol Police and other officers returned fire and killed the gunman. The rifle-wielding attacker had nursed grievances against Trump and the GOP.

Scalise was struck in the hip; the bullet tore into blood vessels, bones and internal organs. He arrived at Medstar Washington Hospital Center at “imminent risk of death,” trauma surgeon Dr. Jack Sava said at the time.

Scalise was hospitalized for more than a month and has been receiving rehabilitation treatment ever since.

“I’m a living example that miracles do happen,” he said.

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Trump praises federal hurricane response in Puerto Rico

President Trump tweeted about the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico on Thursday, as authorities said that a three-star military commander would manage relief efforts on the island.

That came as Trump faced criticism that he had not done enough to help the battered U.S. territory.

Later Thursday, Trump agreed to waive a federal law restricting foreign ships from transporting cargo to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello thanked the Trump administration for the move.

“The federal government and the president are aware of what’s happening here, and they have responded to our petitions quickly with a compromise to help the situation in Puerto Rico,” Rossello said at a Thursday briefing in the San Juan convention center.

The convention center was converted into an emergency operations center after the hurricane made landfall Sept. 20. Rossello was flanked by Federal Emergency Management Agency and military officials.

Trump praised the officials Thursday evening in tweets, noting that he planned to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

The federal government had waived restrictions imposed by the 1920 Jones Act to speed relief efforts after recent hurricanes hit Texas and Florida hard. The act was not immediately waived when Hurricane Maria clobbered Puerto Rico, where the island’s 3.4 million residents are still without power and facing shortages of water, food, medicine and other basic supplies more than a week after the storm.

Several federal legislators this week requested that the Trump administration temporarily waive the law for Puerto Rico. The administration said Thursday that Trump responded to a request from Rossello.

Rossello said he expects the law — which restricts foreign-flagged ships from delivering goods to U.S. ports — to be suspended for at least a week, as it was in Texas and Florida. The Trump administration said the waiver was effective immediately.

How much the waiver of the Jones Act will help Puerto Rico remains to be seen as other problems persist, such as blocked roads and a lack of capability to move supplies already available on the island.

Containers have languished at ports even as residents complained of shortages of gas, food, water and other staples. Much of the island remains without electricity or cellphone service. Conditions worsened this week as hospitals across the island closed due to broken generators and lack of fuel.

The storm’s official death toll remained 16 Thursday, but additional deaths had been reported at hospitals where patients were removed from life support due to fuel shortages, Rossello said. Part of the problem is that communications are still spotty, with cellphone towers and networks down, the governor said.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske

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Trump touts upward revision of GDP growth

The U.S. economy grew at an upgraded annual rate of 3.1% in the spring, the fastest pace in more than two years. But growth is expected to slow sharply this quarter in the wake of a string of devastating hurricanes.

The April-June expansion in the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — is up slightly from a 3% estimate made a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. It is the strongest performance since the economy grew at a 3.2% pace in the first quarter of 2015. The upward revision reflected larger farm stockpiles.

President Trump celebrated the announcement Thursday in a tweet.

The year started with a lackluster 1.2% gain in the first quarter. Economists believe growth has slowed again to about 2% in the current quarter.

The revised figure was the government’s third and final look at GDP for the April-June period, and left GDP rising at an average 2% pace over the first six months of the year. That matches the lackluster average annual growth rates seen since the recovery from the Great Recession began in mid-2009.

Analysts have been busy trimming their forecasts for the July-September quarter to reflect the adverse effects of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria that have hit in recent weeks. But many are optimistic that growth will bounce back quickly as rebuilding gets underway.

For the whole year, forecasters with the National Assn. for Business Economics expect the economy will grow a modest 2.2% in 2017 and 2.4% in 2018.

That would be up from the 1.5% growth seen in 2016 but it is far below the growth rates of 3% or better that Trump is pledging to produce with his economic program of tax cuts, regulatory relief and tougher enforcement of foreign trade deals.

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Trump travels to Indianapolis to pitch GOP tax overhaul

President Trump traveled to Indianapolis on Wednesday to pitch the Republican tax overhaul to the American public.

According to the plan, which Republican officials outlined Wednesday, many businesses would see a huge reduction in their tax bills and many middle-class Americans would see tax relief. The plan would reduce the number of individual tax brackets to three from seven and nearly double the standard deduction.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to offer “historic tax relief to the American people,” Trump said during a speech in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

The release of the tax framework kicks off a scramble by lawmakers to hammer out the details, craft legislation and, if all goes according to plan, pass legislation by the end of the year.

Meeting that schedule won’t be easy, in part because Trump has set out goals that to some extent contradict each other. Trump wants to cut taxes for business, a move that generally helps upper-income taxpayers. But he also has insisted that his plan won’t amount to a significant tax cut for wealthy Americans.

“My plan is for the working people and my plan is for jobs,” he said before leaving Washington for Indiana. “I think there’s very little benefit for people of wealth.”

That remains to be seen once the details emerge. Already, however, the framework shows that one particular group could be hit hard — upper-middle-income wage earners in states that have significant income taxes, such as California and New York.

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Trump falsely blames Obamacare repeal failure on senator ‘in hospital’

President Trump lately, and oddly, has taken to blaming Republicans’ failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act this week on the false claim that a GOP senator has been “in the hospital” and couldn’t make the vote.

“We have one senator who’s a ‘yes’ vote, a great person, but he’s in the hospital,” Trump said on Thursday morning’s “Fox & Friends” show.

“We have the votes to get it done. You can’t do it when somebody is in the hospital,” Trump reiterated later in the interview.

On Wednesday, he also tweeted about “one Yes vote in hospital” and later told reporters at the White House that Republicans would have the necessary votes, “but with one man in the hospital we cannot display that we have them.”

In fact, the unnamed senator is Thad Cochran of Mississippi, and while he is back in his state for medical treatment, he is not in a hospital. What’s more, according to his staff, Cochran had arranged to return to Washington if he were needed for the healthcare vote.

The Senate leadership called off the vote earlier this week after the 52-member Senate Republican majority couldn’t muster the 50 votes to pass a bill. The public opposition from three Republican senators doomed that bill to defeat

Yet, more mystifying than Trump’s false claim to have enough votes to repeal and replace Obamacare was his repeated talk of a hospitalized senator -- even after Cochran’s office on Wednesday circulated the senator’s own tweet to the contrary.

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Trump says he’s spoken to Cowboys owner about NFL protests: ‘Players will stand for Country!’

President Trump tweeted that he had spoken Tuesday with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones over the issue of NFL players kneeling in protest during the national anthem.

On Monday night, Jones — a Trump supporter — and his players knelt arm-in-arm before the anthem, then rose for the playing of the anthem before the team’s victory at the Arizona Cardinals.

Beginning with a rally last Friday in Alabama, Trump has been criticizing players who kneel during the “The Star-Spangled Banner” to protest racial injustice. He has said the NFL should require that players stand during the anthem.

Responding to Trump, hundreds of players have been sitting, kneeling, locking arms or remaining in locker rooms.

Later Wednesday, Trump said that there are other places during a game where NFL players can protest “but they cannot do it during the national anthem.”

“You cannot have people disrespecting our national anthem, our flag, our country,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a trip to Indiana. “In my opinion, the NFL has to change. Or you know what’s going to happen. Their business is going to go to hell.”

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Trump accuses Facebook of being ‘anti-Trump’

Days after Facebook agreed to cooperate with Congress on its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, President Trump accused the social network of being “anti-Trump.”

Facebook said last week that it would provide the contents of 3,000 ads bought by a Russian agency to congressional investigators and make political advertising on its platform more transparent. Several committees are investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded on his Facebook page, writing that the social media platform had tried to be neutral in the election.

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Trump praises Roy Moore, deletes tweets backing his opponent

President Trump was all-in for the man he called “Big Luther” – Alabama’s Sen. Luther Strange, the Republican appointed to replace former Sen. Jeff Sessions when Sessions became Trump’s attorney general. Repeatedly, the president endorsed Strange on his favored medium, Twitter, and he campaigned with Strange on Friday at a raucous rally in Huntsville.

Then, on Tuesday, former state Chief Justice Roy Moore won the Republican nomination for the seat as voters brushed aside pleas millions in ads from establishment Republicans and chose a brash and controversial conservative.

Once the election results were in, Trump tweeted to congratulate Moore – first on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning.

Strange was the underdog from the start but Trump repeatedly boasted that, thanks to his backing, “Big Luther” was “shooting up” in the polls.

But by Wednesday morning, some of Trump’s tweets documenting his support for loser Strange were gone from his personal Twitter account.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Jackie Calmes, Cathleen Decker and Sameea Kamal

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Trump pushes back against criticism of Puerto Rico hurricane response

After not mentioning the hurricane-devastated island of Puerto Rico for days, President Trump on Tuesday pushed back aggressively and repeatedly against criticism that he had failed to quickly grasp the magnitude of Maria’s destruction or give the U.S. commonwealth the top-priority treatment he had bestowed on Texas, Louisiana and Florida after previous storms.

Trump announced that he would visit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands next week. He tweeted about Puerto Rico’s needs. He talked about Puerto Rico during a meeting on tax cuts. He raised the subject at a Rose Garden news conference with the prime minister of Spain:

And Trump attended a hurricane briefing. He called a meeting of agency heads tasked with helping Puerto Rico recover, and sent top officials out to the White House driveway to talk to reporters.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long delivered specifics: 16 Navy and Coast Guard ships in the waters around Puerto Rico and 10 more on the way.

Throughout, Trump stressed that Puerto Rico’s officials had praised the federal response, characterizing Gov. Ricardo Rossello as “so thankful of the job we’re doing” and thanking San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for her “kind words on FEMA etc.”

Six days after Maria struck the island, conditions in Puerto Rico remain dire, with 3.4 million people virtually without electrical power and short of food and water. Flights off the island are infrequent, communications are spotty and roads are clogged with debris. Officials said electrical power may not be fully restored for more than a month.

Increasingly desperate local officials have demanded more help from the federal government, and faster delivery of what aid is coming.

“They’re going very slowly, the aid isn’t getting to people fast enough. We seem to be losing a lot of time in jurisdictional trifles,” Cruz said in an interview Wednesday.

“People are dying,” she said. “We don’t have time for that.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Ruben Vives and Melissa Etehad

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Trump thanks Nikki Haley, national security advisors

President Trump stopped at the United Nations’ New York headquarters Tuesday to meet with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, and other U.S. diplomatic officials.

Trump was in Manhattan to headline a fundraising dinner Tuesday night, with the proceeds slated to benefit the Republican Party and Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.

In a video of the U.N. visit posted on his Twitter feed, Trump described Haley as “a very special person” and urged members of her team and their families to “take good care” of her.

He told those gathered: “We’re going to do things like the world has never even dreamed of. We’re going to do it through the United Nations, too.”

Trump also thanked the staff of the National Security Council on Tuesday in a tweet praising the NSC’s “great history” of advising presidents.

That came days after it was reported that some of Trump’s top aides, including national security advisor H.R. McMaster, had repeatedly warned the president not to deliver a personal attack on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the United Nations the week before.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett

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Trump offers prayers to victims of terrorist attacks in Spain

President Trump met Tuesday with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

At a news conference following the White House talks, Trump offered prayers and support to those affected by deadly attacks last month that killed 16 people in Barcelona and a nearby town. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

“I want to assure the people of Spain that America stands with you in confronting this evil that threatens all of humanity,” Trump said. “We will continue to deny the terrorists their funding, their territory, and any form of support for their wicked ideology.”

Trump had said earlier Tuesday that the United States and Spain are allies in the fight against terrorism, saying they share notes and intelligence. He also thanked Spain at the news conference for contributing to a coalition of nations working to defeat Islamic State, including training more than 30,000 members of the Iraqi security forces.

Rajoy said he told Trump that Spain would increase its commitment by contributing a new financial package to help rebuild Iraq.

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Trump meets with House committee to talk tax reform

Ahead of Republicans’ plans to unveil a more detailed overview of their tax reform plan Wednesday, President Trump sat down with a bipartisan group of members that included California Democratic Reps. Linda T. Sanchez and Mike Thompson.

Sanchez, of Whittier, who serves on the House committee that has authority over tax legislation, said members didn’t learn much about the details of the plan Tuesday.

“There were kind of generalities but no specificity, which is why we’re interested to see what they put out tomorrow, because clearly it’s not something that’s had Democratic input,” Sanchez said.

According to a White House transcript of part of the meeting, Trump said the plan is focused on making the tax code “simple and fair,” increasing the deduction most families can take, lowering the business tax rate and bringing wealth stored overseas back to the United States.

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Trump praises ‘Fox & Friends’ interview with Otto Warmbier’s parents

The parents of Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea for more than a year and died soon after being released, said Tuesday he was “jerking violently,” howling, and “staring blankly” when he returned home on a medical flight.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier appeared on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” morning TV show amid an escalating war of words between the Trump administration and North Korea. A North Korean official has claimed President Trump has, in effect, declared war, which the White House denied.

Trump tweeted about the family’s appearance, calling it “a great interview.”

Otto Warmbier’s father said they wanted to speak out about his condition after hearing North Korea claiming to be a victim that’s being picked on.

“North Korea is not a victim. They’re terrorists,” he said. “They kidnapped Otto. They tortured him. They intentionally injured him. They are not victims.”

The parents described the condition his family found the 22-year-old in when they went aboard an air ambulance that arrived June 13 in Cincinnati.

Otto Warmbier died at University of Cincinnati Medical Center less than a week after his return. Doctors there said he arrived in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” and had suffered a “severe neurological injury” of uncertain cause.

North Korea has denied mistreating the youth, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster. He was arrested that January as he prepared to leave the country after visiting as a tourist.

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Trump tweets that NFL should bar players from kneeling during national anthem

No matter what challenges his administration faces, President Trump is keeping up his running commentary on the NFL — tweeting Tuesday about the league’s TV ratings and suggesting it bar players from kneeling during the national anthem.

Trump brought up the topic for the fifth day in a row, dating to a speech to a crowd of supporters in Alabama on Friday night, when he referred to an NFL player making a gesture during “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a “son of a bitch.”

The ratings for Monday’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals were up 63% from the equivalent game a year ago, which went up against a presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

The ratings for Week 3 of the NFL season were 3% higher than the same week last season. But viewership for national telecasts of NFL games is down 11% this season compared with 2016 through three weeks, according to the Nielsen company.

Trump also reacted to the Cowboys putting their own twist on recognizing the national anthem before their “Monday Night Football” game in Glendale, Ariz.

The Cowboys, joined by team owner Jerry Jones and his sons, interlocked arms and walked about 10 yards toward the middle of the field. They then took a knee collectively and were loudly booed. They then stood in unision, unlocked arms and returned to the sideline where they stood for the duration of the anthem.

The crowd booed loudly, then cheered as a field-sized American flag was unfurled.

The NFL, for its part, was not all that eager to continue the back-and-forth with Trump. “He’s exercising his freedom to speak,” league spokesman Joe Lockhart said on a conference call with reporters, “and I’m exercising my freedom not to react.”

Asked about the possibility of the NFL punishing players or league employees for actions during the pregame anthems, Lockhart said: “I will leave the hypotheticals and the speculation to others. I’m not going to go down that road.”

Read More This post contains reporting from staff writer Sam Farmer

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Trump congratulates Roy Moore on Senate primary win in Alabama

President Trump congratulated former state Chief Justice Roy Moore after he won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Alabama on Tuesday.

Moore defeated Sen. Luther Strange, who had been appointed to the seat in April by GOP Gov. Robert J. Bentley to replace Jeff Sessions when he became attorney general. Moore held a double-digit lead throughout the night as votes were counted, and with about two-thirds of precincts reporting, led 56% to 43%.

At the time of Strange’s appointment, Bentley was under threat of impeachment because of a sex scandal, and he later resigned. Throughout the campaign, Strange, who was state attorney general before joining the Senate, had to fight off questions about the ethics of seeking a Senate nomination from a governor his staff was investigating.

But Strange also fought — and Moore appeared to profit from — voters’ anti-Washington sentiment. Not even Trump’s endorsement, and personal pitches including a rally in Huntsville on Friday, persuaded voters to pick the more reserved Strange over Moore, a perennial firebrand.

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Trump acknowledges Puerto Rico’s devastation

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times )

After some criticism about Trump’s focus on the NFL in light of the devastation in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, Trump tweeted about the aftermath.

For several days, Maria pummeled the Caribbean, killing dozens, including at least 15 in Dominica. Twenty people were still missing as of Thursday.

Read MoreIn other tweets:

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Trump continues tirade against the NFL

In silent rebuttal of criticism from President Trump, NFL players in the first game on Sunday kneeled during the national anthem, while other locked arms in solidarity.

The opening moments of the game, played in London, featured numerous players from both the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars kneeling. Their protest came just hours after Trump fired off a pair of early-morning tweets again assailing professional athletes who have staged “take a knee” protests during the playing of the national anthem, and urging fans to shun games.

Trump’s attacks brought a strongly worded rebuttal from an NFL owner who is close to the president: New England Patriots CEO and owner Robert Kraft, who complimented players and said he was “deeply disappointed” by the tone of Trump’s comments on Friday. Kraft said he supported players’ rights to “peacefully affect social change and raise awareness.”

The president did take a moment to higlight the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL, who planned to join the president at the White House for a ceremony.

He also said courageous patriots “have fought and died for our great American Flag,” also retweeting an image and message about NFL player Pat Tillman, who joined U.S. Army in 2002 and was killed in action 2004.

Tillman’s widow, Marie Tillman, later spoke out against the president’s mention of her husband, saying that her husband’s service “should never be politicized in a way that divides us.”

Read MoreIn other Tweets:

  • Trump tweeted that Alaska, Arizona, Maine and Kentucky would be big winners in the revised healthcare proposal in the effort to repeal Obamacare.
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Trump tweet takes on CNN and the NFL

In a series of tweets Monday, Trump continued to rant against the NFL. Some of the comments were prompted by a CNN news report on Gen. John Kelly’s displeasure with Trump’s NFL culture war.

Earlier, Trump tweeted his praise for NASCAR for forbidding protests like those in the NFL.

Trump’s adversarial relationship with the NFL dates back to 1983, when he owned the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League, which successfully sued the NFL for antitrust violations, Times sports columnist Sam Farmer noted.

Trump said he wanted to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014, a move the league viewed as mostly a publicity stunt. He was never seriously considered for ownership.

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Trump’s wide-ranging tweets: From Luther Strange to North Korea, athletes and more

Trump covered a wide range of topics Saturday on Twitter, from criticism of John McCain’s vote against the latest Obamacare repeal effort, to the Warriors’ decision not to come to the White House, to North Korea.

Following his tweets on healthcare, Trump tweeted his endorsement of Luther Strange, the candidate running to replace Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions in Alabama.

At the Alabama rally to support Strange, Trump pivoted to North Korea, escalating his insults against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He continued his comments on Twitter later.

Also on foreign policy, Trump tweeted that Iran test-fired a ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel, adding that they were working with North Korea. News reports later said there was no indication a missile was fired.

The president took a moment Saturday to praise Melania Trump, who met with Britain’s Prince Harry in what the Washington Post called her “busiest week yet.”

Interspersed throughout Trump’s day were tweets about the Warriors’ decision not to visit the White House and protests by NFL players against police brutality.

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Trump announces new travel restrictions

The Trump administration announced a new ban Sunday on most travel to the U.S. by nationals of seven countries — North Korea and six in the Mideast and North Africa.

The order replaces the much-disputed travel ban that President Trump issued in March, parts of which were blocked in court. That order, a revision of one Trump issued during his first days in office, expired Sunday. The latest version, which will be indefinite, takes full effect on Oct. 18.

Trump tweeted out a press release about the administration’s new procedures.

Under the new order, no existing visas will be revoked, and people currently allowed to travel to the U.S. for other reasons will not be affected, the administration said.

The order covers most of the same countries subject to the original travel ban, with Chad and North Korea joining Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Libya on the list and Sudan moving off it.

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Trump tweets that Sen. John McCain ‘let Arizona down’ by opposing latest Obamacare repeal effort

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) delivered a potentially fatal blow to the latest Republican effort to roll back the Affordable Care Act on Friday.

President Trump responded to the senior Arizona senator in a series of tweets early Saturday morning.

The bill, written by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), was initially dismissed by many GOP senators, but a looming deadline and pressure to fulfill their pledge to repeal Obamacare prompted Senate Republican leaders and the White House to launch a new attempt to round up the votes needed to get it done.

Because of the close friendship between McCain and Graham, many Republicans were hopeful that the Arizona senator could be persuaded to support the measure.

Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey also threw his support behind the Graham-Cassidy bill.

McCain criticized his party’s attempt to push through the complex measure with little public scrutiny and no support from Democrats.

“We should not be content to pass healthcare legislation on a party-line basis,” McCain said in a statement.

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Trump lashes out at Rand Paul over opposition to healthcare bill

President Trump lashed out Friday at a Republican senator who opposes the GOP’s last-ditch effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has said he would not vote for the bill, which he complained maintains too much of the current law’s government spending on healthcare.

GOP leaders plan to bring the legislation to the Senate floor next week, and Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have been calling senators for days trying to build support.

But there are serious questions about whether Republicans have the votes to advance their latest repeal effort.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Noam N. Levey and Lisa Mascaro.

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Trump calls North Korea’s leader ‘a madman’ in tweet

President Trump isn’t going to let Kim Jong Un get the last word.

The North Korean leader continued the spat between Pyongyang and Washington on Friday, calling Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.”

The U.S. president responded with a Friday morning tweet, labeling Kim “a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people.”

Some advisors now worry that the escalating war of words has pushed the impasse with North Korea into a new and dangerous phase that threatens to derail the months-long effort to squeeze Pyongyang’s economy through sanctions to force Kim to the negotiating table.

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Trump thanks American Airlines CEO for ‘hurricane flights’

As the first airline flights to hurricane-battered Puerto Rico arrived Friday, President Trump tweeted thanks to American Airlines CEO Doug Parker “for all of the help you have given to the U.S.”

Two American Airlines planes from Miami and one from Philadelphia arrived at San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport Friday morning. The flights carried relief supplies and federal airport screeners to help staff security checkpoints at the airport, an airline spokesman said.

Another plane got halfway to Puerto Rico before returning to Miami because the San Juan airport couldn’t handle another plane.

Two JetBlue Airways planes with relief supplies — one of them also carrying New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — also landed on the island, a JetBlue spokesman said.

All power to Puerto Rico was knocked out by Hurricane Maria. By late afternoon Friday, no commercial flights had left San Juan because of the logistical obstacles at the airport. With no power, screeners were inspecting carry-on and checked bags by hand.

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Trump calls Russia probe ‘hoax’ after Facebook agrees to turn over ads

President Trump on Friday called allegations of Russian election meddling a “hoax,” and insisted the media was the “greatest influence” on the 2016 campaign.

Trump’s tweets early Friday appeared to respond to Facebook’s announcement that it will provide to congressional investigators the contents of 3,000 ads bought by a Russian agency.

Facebook has faced growing pressure from members of Congress to release the content of the ads. The company has already handed over the ads to the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Facebook also said it will now require political ads to disclose both who is paying for them and all ad campaigns those individuals or groups are running on Facebook.

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Trump heads to Alabama to campaign for Strange

President Trump will swoop into Alabama on Friday to bolster the campaign of Sen. Luther Strange, a soft-spoken former state attorney general now in danger of losing the seat he was tapped to fill just months ago after Jeff Sessions joined the administration.

But in this conservative state that overwhelmingly supported Trump and prides itself as the heart of Old Dixie, some think the president is backing the wrong man. And they’re not sure his visit will help.

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Trump touts ‘big day for the U.S.’ at the U.N.

President Trump wrapped up his Thursday tweets with a simple assessment, apparently referring to plans for new sanctions against North Korea. He also met with the presidents of Japan and South Korea, and you just know who they were talking about.

On Friday, Trump tweeted a promotional video of his time at the United Nations General Assembly.

The president also thanked a supporter who tweeted that Trump’s address to the U.N. was “the best speech I have ever heard a sitting US President make in my lifetime.”

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Trump lauds king of Jordan after meeting

President Trump and the king of Jordan vowed Wednesday to continue working together to fight terrorism in the Middle East.

Trump touted the ties between the two nations, saying, “Never has the relationship been better than it is right now.” He also praised King Abdullah II’s efforts to take in a wave of refugees from war-torn Syria.

In turn, the king praised the two nations’ “special relationship” and denounced terrorism as “a scourge around the world.”

The meeting was the first of several scheduled for Trump on Wednesday in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Earlier in the day, Trump touted his busy itinerary in a tweet, to which he appended his slogans “America First” and “Make America Great Again.”

The president also tweeted thanks to a supporter who called him “a winner” and wrote, “No matter what the haters say, he’s actually making this country great again!”

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Trump sits down with Ukrainian president

President Trump praised Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after the two leaders sat down Thursday on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In remarks aired after the meeting, the leaders emphasized economic and security cooperation between the two countries but largely avoided the topic of Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2014 and annexed the Crimean peninsula.

While in Ukraine last month, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis condemned Russia’s attempts to “redraw international borders by force” but stopped short of promising U.S. weapons for Ukraine’s fight against pro-Russia separatists.

Trump’s meeting with Poroshenko was one in a series of sit-downs that took place Thursday, including meetings with the leaders of South Korea and Afghanistan.

Later in the evening, Trump tweeted that it had been “a big day” for the United States at the annual General Assembly, which opened Tuesday and was set to continue through Monday.

U.N. General Assembly live updates>>

This post contains reporting from staff writers W.J. Hennigan and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump on his meeting with Afghanistan’s president: ‘A pleasure!’

President Trump sat down with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

After meeting Ghani, Trump praised efforts to try to drive members of more than 20 militant groups, including the Taliban, out of Afghanistan.

“It’s really a hornet’s nest from that standpoint,” Trump said. “We are hitting them very, very hard and very, very effectively.”

Senior officials have said Trump’s plan, announced last month, to end America’s longest war and eliminate a rising extremist threat in Afghanistan involves sending up to 3,900 additional U.S. troops on top of the roughly 8,400 Americans now in the country.

U.N. General Assembly live updates>>

Ghani stressed that Afghan forces are leading the fight and U.S. forces are advising and training. He said he isn’t seeking “a blank check” of unlimited American help.

Ghani said the Trump administration’s four-year objective is to bring 80% of the country back under the government’s control. The Taliban currently holds sway in nearly half of the nation.

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Trump tweets that his endorsement has boosted Sen. Luther Strange in polls

President Trump will swoop into Alabama on Friday to bolster the campaign of Sen. Luther Strange, a soft-spoken former state attorney general now in danger of losing the seat he was tapped to fill just months ago after Jeff Sessions joined the administration.

Trump first endorsed Strange in August in a tweet.

On Thursday, the president credited his backing with having helped boost Strange’s popularity.

Still, in Alabama, a conservative state that overwhelmingly supported Trump and prides itself as the heart of Dixie, some think the president is backing the wrong man. And they’re not sure his visit will help.

Voter enthusiasm instead runs high for the more Trump-like candidate, Roy Moore, the state’s polarizing former chief justice. His far-right, Bible-quoting views twice resulted in him being forced off the bench for defying higher court decisions, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of gay marriage. Die-hard supporters have no doubt he will be just as unwavering if they send him to Washington.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro

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Trump tweets praise of South Korean president after meeting

President Trump met Thursday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to discuss the ongoing North Korea crisis.

Afterward, Trump tweeted that it “was a great privilege” to sit down with Moon on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

U.N. General Assembly live updates>>

Moon on Thursday praised Trump’s bellicose speech to the U.N. about the North Korean threat, saying the United States had “responded in a very good way.”

Moon deemed North Korea’s provocation “deplorable,” prompting Trump to compliment his word choice.

Trump’s opponent during last year’s election, Hillary Clinton, took criticism for referring to Trump’s supporters as belonging in “a basket of deplorables.”

Trump called it “a lucky word.’”

He also said that the U.S. and South Korea were working on improving trade agreements, though he said that was less important than addressing the North Korea threat.

Later Thursday, Trump announced additional sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.

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Trump announces new sanctions against North Korea

President Trump on Thursday announced plans for new sanctions against North Korea as he struggles to find ways to confront that country’s nuclear buildup.

After threatening earlier this week to completely destroy North Korea if it uses its nuclear weaponry against U.S. territory or allies, Trump told reporters he was issuing a new executive order adding more sanctions to those that the United States and allies already have imposed.

He said the measures would target North Korea’s textiles, fishing industry and shipping. In fact, sanctions against those industries are already in place, so it was not clear what was different about the additional ones.

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Trump thanks ‘Fox & Friends’

President Trump thanked Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, tweeting, “great show!”

It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what the president was referencing, but his tweet came a short time after the show aired an interview with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

In the segment, Sanders defended Trump’s forceful inaugural speech to a packed U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, including the president’s choice to mock North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong Un, as a “Rocket Man” on “a suicide mission.”

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Trump shares High Holy Days message

President Trump tweeted a video message to mark the Jewish High Holy Days, which began at sundown Wednesday with Rosh Hashanah.

“We reaffirm the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel,” Trump said in his remarks. “And we ask God to deliver justice, dignity and peace on Earth.”

The Holy Days end the night of Sept. 30 with the conclusion of Yom Kippur.

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Trump hits out at Hillary Clinton after criticism over North Korea

President Trump lashed out at former opponent Hillary Clinton in a tweet on Wednesday.

Trump appeared to take offense at Clinton’s appearance Tuesday night on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” where she criticized the speech Trump had given earlier in the day before the United Nations General Assembly.

In Trump’s remarks, he mocked North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong Un, as “Rocket Man on a suicide mission” and threatened “to totally destroy” Kim’s “depraved regime.”

He also vowed to “crush loser terrorists” and condemned a “small group of rogue regimes,” including Iran, for threatening global stability.

“I thought it was very dark, dangerous, not the kind of message that the leader of the greatest nation of the world should be delivering,” Clinton told Colbert.

Trump’s tweet about Clinton came three days after he posted a video made to look like he’d hit a golf ball that knocked her over. That tweet prompted predictable outrage from Democrats.

Taken together, Trump’s communication efforts serve to rally supporters to a common cause or, at least, opposition to common enemies.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Cathleen Decker and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump continues to talk up Sen. Luther Strange

President Trump tweeted that he was looking forward to visiting Alabama on Friday in a bid to bolster the campaign of Sen. Luther Strange, who is in danger of losing the seat he was tapped to fill just months ago after Jeff Sessions joined the administration.

The GOP establishment has poured millions of dollars into Strange’s campaign, much from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s aligned Senate Leadership Fund.

But a rival group, run by allies of Stephen K. Bannon, the former Trump advisor, backs the Alabama’s polarizing former chief justice Roy Moore, turning Tuesday’s GOP runoff into a trial run for several upcoming outsider-versus-establishment contests to be waged in a number of states ahead of the 2018 midterm election.

Trump first endorsed Strange last month on Twitter, and his backing was once seen as making Strange a shoo-in for the job.

But now it’s unclear whether voter loyalty to the president can overcome skepticism about “Big Luther,” as Alabamans call the 6-foot-9 senator.

Despite Trump’s endorsement, which Strange has made a central part of his campaign, many Alabama voters view him as an uninspiring mainstream politician being forced on them by McConnell and others.

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Trump hosts luncheon for African leaders

President Trump said Wednesday that he’s interested in boosting U.S. investment in Africa to help create jobs and opportunity on both sides of the Atlantic.

He also told African leaders at a luncheon in New York that he hopes their businesses will consider investing in the United States, too.

The president hosted the leaders of Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guinea, Senegal, Namibia and Uganda for lunch during the annual United Nations General Assembly session.

Trump said that when he sees these leaders he sees “partners” for promoting prosperity and peace.

He also said that Africa has tremendous business potential, which he knows because “I have so many friends going to your countries trying to get rich.”

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Trump praises Palestinian leader: ‘Working hard ... toward peace’

President Trump met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, telling reporters as the two headed into their talks that “I think we have a very, very good chance” for achieving peace.

“Complex subject, always been considered the toughest deal of all,” Trump said, adding, “I think we have a pretty good shot, maybe the best shot ever.”

Later Wednesday, Abbas told the U.N. General Assembly that “Israel is not interested” in achieving peace.

“A commitment to peace by one side is not enough,” said Abbas, who listed various peace blueprints put together over the decades and accused Israel of sabotaging them all.

Trump has spoken frequently and enthusiastically about prospects for Mideast peace, putting his son-in-law Jared Kushner in charge of an effort to bring the two sides to the table, but if anything, the two sides’ positions have hardened since the U.S. president took office.

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Trump makes push to revive GOP healthcare overhaul

President Trump is making a big push to revive the Republican healthcare overhaul days before a Senate deadline.

Senate Republicans have until Sept. 30 to pass their latest legislation, from Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, with 50 votes plus Vice President Mike Pence as the tie-breaker. On Oct. 1, the start of a new fiscal year, the threshold reverts to 60 votes — an impossible hurdle since there are 52 Republicans and the Democratic caucus is solidly opposed to GOP healthcare plans.

Trump voiced his support for the bill Wednesday in a series of tweets. He also lashed out at Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has said he will oppose the legislation.

Cassidy and Graham have been working to salvage the party effort for an alternative health insurance program after the spectacular collapse this summer of an earlier Republican bill to undo President Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act.

But others may join Paul in opposition: Key GOP senators who opposed the earlier overhaul — Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have not said whether they will support the new bill.

Trump touched on one of the most contentious aspects of the bill Wednesday night in a tweet asserting that it would include coverage of preexisting conditions:

Whether that is the case remains a topic of fierce debate.

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who waded into the healthcare debate earlier this year when he choked up on TV recounting his newborn son’s heart condition, skewered the plan Monday night in the opening monologue of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Kimmel has become one of the most prominent celebrities to publicly advocate for preserving Obamacare’s insurance protections — so much so that Republicans themselves have aspired to meet “the Jimmy Kimmel test,” which dictates that patients like the child born with a congenital disease would get the care they need, with no caps on insurance coverage for preexisting conditions, regardless of costs.

Kimmel said the new bill from Graham and Cassidy — a one-time guest on the show who coined the Kimmel test phrase — failed the standard.

“This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face,” Kimmel said.

Trump defended Cassidy Wednesday night, tweeting that the senator “doesn’t lie-just wants to help people!”

Cassidy, a medical doctor who has worked tirelessly on the new bill, also mounted a vigorous defense Wednesday and said Kimmel was mistaken.

“I am sorry he does not understand,” the senator said on CNN. “Under Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson, more people will have coverage, and we protect those with preexisting conditions.”

Experts analyzing the just-released bill say it would more likely cut coverage for millions of Americans.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro and the Associated Press

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Trump pledges support for Puerto Rico in wake of Hurricane Maria

President Trump pledged his support to the people of Puerto Rico and Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Wednesday, as Hurricane Maria left a historic trail of destruction across the U.S. territory.

Maria made landfall early Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane packing 155-mph winds — just 2 mph short of Category 5 status — near the southern city of Yabucoa. But by Wednesday afternoon, the storm had been downgraded to a Category 2, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was continuing its westward march toward the Dominican Republic.

The storm had already devastated Puerto Rico, its powerful winds carving holes in the walls of 300-year-old homes, flooding neighborhoods, sucking metal roofs off buildings, downing 100-year-old trees and leaving the entire island without power.

The White House said in a statement that Trump was continuing to monitor the situation and that he and First Lady Melania Trump “send their thoughts and prayers to all those in harm’s way.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Times staff writers Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Kurtis Lee

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Trump promises help as Puerto Rico braces for hurricane

As Puerto Rico remained locked in the cross hairs of Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm that has already devastated the Caribbean island of Dominica and was continuing to gain strength Tuesday, President Trump cautioned residents to be careful and pledged that the United States would be present to assist with the storm’s aftermath.

Maria was packing sustained winds of nearly 175 mph and gusts even faster. The eye, a “pinhole” just 10 miles wide, was expected to move near or over St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands late Tuesday and cross Puerto Rico on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske

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Trump touts first U.N. speech in tweets

President Trump delivered a forceful inaugural speech to a packed United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, a sprawling 42-minute address — warlike at times, flowery at others — that challenged some tenets of U.S. foreign policy.

With the cavernous hall packed so full that scores of people jammed into the aisles, Trump caused a stir when he mocked North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong Un, as “Rocket Man on a suicide mission” and threatened his “depraved regime.”

“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump added.

Another buzz arose when he warned that parts of the world “are going to hell.” He also vowed to “crush loser terrorists” and condemned a “small group of rogue regimes,” including Iran, for threatening global stability.

Trump first tried out his “Rocket Man” insult in a tweet on Sunday, and his U.N. speech was laced with some of the harsh language and colloquialisms that have delighted his base and horrified his critics.

But Trump also praised U.N. humanitarian aid and development programs that have fought famines and disease, helped victims after wars and disasters, sheltered millions of refugees and educated women and girls.

He applauded U.N. peacekeeping operations for stabilizing conflicts in Africa and complimented Secretary-General António Guterres — who, like Trump, took office in January — for leading efforts to make U.N. operations and agencies more efficient, taking on a problem as old as the institution.

Trump began, as he often does in public gatherings, by boasting about his time in office.

The United States “has done very well since election day,” he said, claiming credit for a rising stock market, low unemployment and a military that he said “will soon be the strongest it has ever been.”

Trump jettisoned traditional U.S. positions advocating for human rights and democratic reforms as part of his “America first” doctrine. He instead promoted national sovereignty as the bedrock of international cooperation, calling it key to his foreign policy.

“In foreign affairs, we are renewing this founding principle of sovereignty,” he said.

Without mentioning Russia or China by name, he said that “we must reject threats to sovereignty, from the Ukraine to the South China Sea.”

The United States and its allies have accused Russia of illegally seizing the Crimean peninsula and backing an armed insurgency in eastern Ukraine, and have sought to counter China as it builds up disputed islands and shoals in the resource-rich South China Sea.

“I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries first,” Trump said to scattered applause. The nation-state, he added, “remains the best vehicle for elevating the human condition.”

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Trump mocks Emmy Awards: ‘Saddened to see how bad the ratings were’

President Trump mocked Sunday’s Emmy Awards ceremony — where he himself was frequently mocked by host Stephen Colbert, presenters and prize-winners.

The president’s Tuesday night tweet was a little off: The show was on Sunday, not Monday, and the ratings didn’t quite hit bottom, though they were close. The Nielsen company estimated that 11.4 million people watched, slightly more than last year’s lowest-ever audience of 11.3 million.

In his tweet, Trump also referred to a remark Hillary Clinton made during last year’s presidential campaign, when she said half of Trump supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables.”

Minutes earlier, the president tweeted thanks to a supporter who wrote, “We love you, Mr. President!”

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Trump extends condolences after earthquake devastates parts of Mexico

In a tweet, President Trump offered assistance to Mexico on Tuesday night, hours after an earthquake devastated parts of the country — including the capital, Mexico City — and killed more than 200 people.

Trump did not extend condolences to Mexico for a week after a deadly earthquake in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas on Sept. 7. Trump blamed poor cellphone reception in the mountains of Mexico for the delay in reaching President Enrique Peña Nieto.

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Trump calls for restoration of democracy in Venezuela

President Trump said the United States is prepared to take further action against the Venezuelan government if President Nicolas Maduro continues down the path of authoritarianism.

Trump discussed Venezuela’s deepening economic and political crisis while speaking at a dinner in New York with leaders of Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Argentina.

After the dinner, he tweeted a video clip of his remarks:

Trump said that Maduro has inflicted terrible misery and suffering on his people. He said Venezuela once was one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but is now collapsing and its people are starving. The situation is “completely unacceptable,” Trump said, and he called on the other leaders to be prepared to do more.

The Trump administration has sanctioned Venezuela, and Trump said last month that he wouldn’t rule out taking military action.

Trump is also expected to call out Venezuela on Tuesday during his first address to the full United Nations General Assembly.

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Trump continues ‘bromance’ with France’s Macron

President Trump met Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Trump tweeted after the meeting that it was “a great honor” to spend time with Macron, with whom Trump is known to share a close connection.

After reminiscing during the meeting about how much he enjoyed watching France’s military parade while in Paris on Bastille Day, Trump also said that he is considering having an armed forces parade in Washington on the Fourth of July to showcase the nation’s military might.

Trump said he has discussed the parade idea with his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, a retired Marine general.

In typical Trump fashion, the president said he wants the parade to be bigger and better than the one he saw in France.

U.N. General Assembly live updates>>

Trump and Macron spoke about other international issues, including terrorism and security, during their meeting.

Brian Hook of the State Department, who sat in on the meeting, said the president shared his concerns about Iran with Macron, and that the leaders discussed working together to address Iran’s missile and nuclear program and destabilizing activities.

The leaders also spoke about the need to prevent Iran from establishing any deep roots or organizing in Syria, Hook said.

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More kind words for Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump, meeting in New York on Monday, discussed the two leaders’ shared aim of “countering Iran’s malign influence in the region,” the White House said.

After the sit-down, Trump praised Netanyahu in a tweet:

Trump and Netanyahu have previously bonded over mistrust toward Iran. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump denounced the landmark 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers as a terrible deal. Netanyahu had lobbied vehemently against the agreement, irritating the then-Obama administration by using a speech to both houses of Congress to make his case.

But Trump has softened his stance somewhat since taking office. Over the summer, his administration grudgingly declared that Tehran was in technical compliance with the accord, but that determination must be made every three months and is next due in mid-October.

Netanyahu also took an upbeat tone in a post-meeting tweet:

The White House said the two sides “discussed their continued cooperation across a range of issues and stressed their goals of countering Iran’s malign influence in the region and resolving the Syria crisis in a manner consistent with American and Israeli security interests.”

Without giving details, the statement said the two “also discussed their continuing efforts to achieve an enduring Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, the optimism in the region about peace, and expanding economic opportunities to improve conditions for peace.”

Those hopes for a regional buy-in for the peace process are in line with the U.S. position when Trump traveled to Israel in May and met with Netanyahu, but Israel’s Arab neighbors are very unlikely to sign on to a renewed peace effort that does not include concrete steps such as a halt to Jewish settlement-building.

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Trump praises secretary-general in tweet after United Nations debut

President Trump used his United Nations debut on Monday to prod the international organization to cut its bloated bureaucracy and sharpen its ill-defined mission. But he also pledged U.S. support for the New York-based world body he had excoriated as a candidate, and his criticisms were more restrained than in years past.

Trump on Monday praised U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said that he shared Trump’s vision for a less wasteful U.N. to “live up to its full potential.” The United States has asked member nations to sign a declaration on U.N. reforms, and more than 120 have done so.

True to form, the president also managed to work into his speech a reference to the Trump-branded apartment tower across First Avenue from the U.N.

United Nations General Assembly live updates>>

Still, Trump’s more measured tone stood in sharp contrast to the approach he took at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s new Brussels headquarters in May, when he scolded member nations for not paying enough and refused to explicitly back its mutual defense pact.

Trump’s short remarks at a forum on U.N. reforms were a precursor to Tuesday’s main event, when he will address the U.N. General Assembly for the first time. His speech is nervously awaited by world leaders concerned about what the president’s “America first” vision means for the future of the world body.

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Trump wishes happy birthday to CIA and Air Force

President Trump tweeted birthday wishes to the U.S. Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency on Monday.

The CIA and Air Force were created by the National Security Act of 1947. For both organizations, Monday marks the 70th anniversary of their founding.

Trump also honored the Air Force’s birthday on Friday with a visit to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

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Trump tweets that he’s looking forward to Netanyahu meeting

President Trump wrote in a tweet Monday morning that he was “looking forward” to meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss peace in the Middle East.

The two leaders were slated to meet Monday in the first of many world leader confabs Trump was scheduled to have in the coming week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Trump was also set to meet Wednesday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Trump’s agenda: ‘Important meetings and calls’

President Trump announced that he had “important meetings and calls” scheduled for Sunday in a tweet in which he also boasted about the strength of the U.S. economy and military forces.

About an hour earlier, the president thanked a supporter who tweeted, “We love and support Trump!”

Trump also replied to a tweet from the Washington Examiner linking to a report that the president had fulfilled his pledge to donate $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

Trump was set to spend much of his Sunday at his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J. From there, he was scheduled to head to Trump Tower in Manhattan, N.Y., where he planned to stay while attending this week’s United Nations General Assembly.

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Trump retweets his own 2-day-old tweets about London terror attack

President Trump retweeted a pair of his own tweets, first sent two days earlier, in which he called for a crackdown on “loser terrorists” and an expansion of his ban on travelers from several Muslim-majority countries.

The president had written the tweets Friday morning in response to news of an explosion in London on an underground train during the morning rush hour.

As of Sunday, two suspects had been arrested in connection with the incident, which authorities said was an act of terrorism.

Trump had also tweeted Friday that the perpetrators were “in the sights” of Scotland Yard investigators before the attack. There was no public evidence to support the claim at the time.

But on Sunday, the website of British tabloid the Daily Mail reported that one of the suspects had been arrested two weeks before the explosion at the same train station where it took place. The suspect was eventually released, according to the report, which was based on accounts from the suspect’s neighbors and was not immediately confirmed by authorities.

Still, a number of right-leaning blogs published takes on the article, with the Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire both prefacing the headlines of their reports with “Trump was right.”

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Trump retweets slew of memes, including one of him hitting Hillary Clinton with golf ball

In the latest instance of President Trump seeming to revel in the notion of physical attacks against perceived enemies, the president retweeted an animated GIF showing him hitting a golf ball that then knocks down his onetime rival Hillary Clinton.

Critics swiftly responded. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), appearing on ABC’s “This Week, said: “It’s distressing to have a president that frankly will tweet and retweet things as juvenile as that.”

The original tweet, from a user whose Twitter handle consists of an expletive, was sent last week and retweeted Sunday by the president, who is spending the weekend at his New Jersey golf property. Here is what he retweeted:

Clinton is out with a new book about the campaign, and Trump has repeatedly used Twitter to deride her as a sore loser.

The president has previously taken to Twitter to retweet animations including one that depicted him pummeling a figure with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. Another presidential Twitter share last month – later deleted – showed a train hitting a person, again with a CNN logo imposed on the figure’s head.

Trump associates have previously dismissed criticism of such retweets, suggesting they were intended to be humorous.

In addition to the animation taking aim at Clinton, the president retweeted a slew of other messages early Sunday. Those included a tweet criticizing a New York Times reporter, a complimentary message from a supporter and several memes containing flattering depictions of Trump.

Trump also retweeted a Bloomberg Technology article published Aug. 17 in which a financial analyst estimated that Twitter’s market value would fall by up to $2 billion if the president were to stop tweeting.

A former Trump campaign strategist, David Urban, brushed aside the controversy over the Clinton GIF. “Retweets do not equal endorsements,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” leading to a sharp exchange.

Read More This post contains reporting from staff writer Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump derides North Korea’s leader as ‘Rocket Man’

With tensions running high over North Korea, President Trump on Sunday mocked its mercurial leader, Kim Jong Un, referring to him as “Rocket Man.”

Trump, who is spending the weekend at his New Jersey golf property, said on Twitter that he had spoken Saturday evening with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, and that the two had discussed Pyongyang’s latest actions, including the firing of two missiles that overflew Japan and a test detonation of the North’s most powerful nuclear device yet.

The White House was more circumspect in a readout of the call, saying that in their conversation, Trump and Moon had “committed to continuing to take steps to strengthen deterrence and defense capabilities.”

Meanwhile, national security advisor H.R. McMaster said on ABC’s “This Week” that Trump was determined to contain the threat posed by North Korea. Of Kim, he said: “He is going to have to give up his nuclear weapons, because the president has said that he is not going to tolerate this regime threatening the United States and our citizens with a nuclear weapon.”

Asked whether that meant Trump was contemplating a strike against North Korea, McMaster said: “He’s been very clear about that – that all options are on the table.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, however, emphasized that military action would be a last resort. Interviewed on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” he said the Trump administration’s strategy centered on a “peaceful pressure campaign” against Kim’s government.

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Trump again endorses Schuette for Michigan governor – this time with spelling fix

For the second time in as many days, President Trump tweeted his endorsement of Michigan Atty. Gen. Bill Schuette for governor.

This time, Trump spelled the candidate’s name correctly.

Trump tweeted the same endorsement Saturday evening, but misspelled Schuette as “Shuette.”

That message was later deleted.

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Trump touts strong economy: ‘Will be getting even better!’

President Trump expressed optimism Saturday afternoon in a tweet, writing that “a great deal of good things” are happening, and that the U.S. stock market and jobs are “at all time highs.”

Trump’s tweet came the day after the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed above 2,500 for the first time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose Thursday to its third record-high close in a row.

As far as jobs numbers, the Labor Department said last week that the number of job openings posted by U.S. employers in July reached 6.2 million, the highest since the department began tracking the data in 2000.

But the 189,000 net new jobs that employers reported adding in July represented a slowdown from June’s payroll increase of 210,000, according to the Labor Department. The downward trend continued through August, which saw 156,000 net new jobs, the Labor Department said.

Overall, the U.S. unemployment rate is at 4.4%, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While that number is the lowest since May 2007 (aside from May and July of this year, when the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%), it is not at an all-time low.

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Trump tweets endorsement of Schuette for Michigan governor

President Trump has endorsed Michigan Atty. Gen. Bill Schuette for governor.

Trump tweeted Saturday that Schuette, who launched a bid Tuesday to be Michigan’s governor, would be “fantastic.” Trump also wrote that he was bringing jobs back to the state, and pledged that Schuette would help.

Schuette has promised to be a “jobs governor” who would cut income taxes and high auto insurance premiums. He is best known for his investigation of lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint. His probe led to criminal charges against 15 current and former government officials.

Schuette is the best-known candidate in the Republican primary to succeed GOP Gov. Rick Snyder, who is term limited. Several Democrats are also running for governor in 2018.

Trump’s tweet misspelled Schuette’s last name as “Shuette.”

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Trump tweets that he’ll head to Alabama to support Sen. Luther Strange

President Trump announced plans to head to Alabama next week to back Alabama Sen. Luther Strange, who faces a runoff in the Republican primary to fill his seat.

Strange took over the seat this year when Jeff Sessions, the state’s longtime senator, resigned to become U.S. attorney general.

Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon that he would travel to Huntsville on Sept. 23 in support of Strange, whom Trump called “a great guy who gets things done!”

Trump has already endorsed Strange on Twitter, but the trip would mark the first time the president has campaigned in person ahead of the tightly-contested Sept. 26 runoff against Roy Moore, Alabama’s former chief justice.

Moore led Strange by 25,000 votes in the first round of balloting and has a loyal following among the state’s evangelical voters. The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democrat Doug Jones in December.

A judicial ethics panel removed Moore from office in 2003 for defying a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building. After he was reelected, the panel suspended him in 2016, ruling that Moore had urged probate judges to defy federal court rulings and refuse marriage licenses to gay couples.

Moore has the backing of a number of anti-establishment forces, including the pro-Trump Great America Alliance, as he seeks to dethrone Strange.

Still, the White House reaffirmed Trump’s support for Strange last week.

This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump visits military base to mark Air Force’s 70th anniversary

President Trump honored the nation’s Air Force on Friday, warning foes and international terrorist groups that the U.S. military would respond to any threats.

“America and our allies will never be intimidated,” Trump told military personnel at Joint Base Andrews, where he appeared to mark the 70th anniversary of the Air Force. “We will defend our people, our nations and our civilization from all who dare to threaten our way of life.”

The president and First Lady Melania Trump met with military families and watched an air show demonstration at the base that serves as the home of Air Force One.

Speaking in a hangar that housed a B-2 stealth bomber, an F-35 and an F-22 fighter jet, Trump outlined his efforts to bolster military spending and reiterated his call for repealing the “defense sequester,” or across-the-board budget cuts instituted by Congress.

The president said he was “honored to join you on this really, really historic occasion, the 70th anniversary of the United States Air Force. The greatest air force on the face of this Earth. By far.”

The Trumps visited the base ahead of a trip to the president’s New Jersey golf club for the weekend and next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York.

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Trump renews criticism of Senate filibuster

President Trump again called for the elimination of the Senate filibuster on Friday, branding the rule “ridiculous” in an early-morning tweet.

Trump has tweeted several times about his desire to see the filibuster eliminated to make it easier to pass legislation with a simple majority.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has brushed off the president’s calls, and most senators from both parties resist the idea.

Besides, top agenda items — healthcare and tax reform — can be accomplished under rules that require only 51 votes for passage.

Trump’s tweet, which appeared to express frustration with Republicans’ inability to accomplish many items on the president’s agenda, came a week after he stunned all sides by agreeing with Democrats on a stopgap measure to fund the government, temporarily lift the nation’s borrowing limit and provide Hurricane Harvey aid.

This post contains reporting from staff writer Lisa Mascaro

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Trump honors American prisoners of war

President Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday marking Sept. 15 as “National POW/MIA Recognition Day.”

The honorary holiday is intended to commemorate American service members who are prisoners of war or missing in action.

Full text of the proclamation is here.

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Trump demands apology from ESPN

President Trump called on ESPN to apologize days after one of the sports network’s anchors called him a “white supremacist” and “bigot.”

ESPN said Thursday it had accepted the apology of its SportsCenter host Jemele Hill for her tweets about Trump on Monday. Hill said that she was sorry for causing her employer trouble.

ESPN has repeatedly said that Hill’s comments don’t reflect the view of the network.

But that apparently hasn’t satisfied Trump.

The president also took a shot at falling ESPN subscriber numbers in his tweet, writing: “ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers.”

The network didn’t immediately issue a response to the president’s comments on Friday.

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Trump thanks 11-year-old boy who mowed White House lawn

President Trump tweeted thanks to an 11-year-old boy from Falls Church, Va., who got the lawn-mowing gig of a lifetime Friday when Trump put him to work in the Rose Garden.

Frank Giaccio, who goes by the initials FX, was so focused on doing his job that he didn’t even notice when Trump emerged from the White House to check out his work.

When the boy finally paused, the president called him the “future of the country right here” and asked what he wants to be when he grows up. “A Navy SEAL!” Trump exclaimed. “Well, he’ll make it.”

The White House said that FX had written to Trump to say he admires the president’s business acumen and runs his own neighborhood lawn-care business.

According to a letter that White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders read to reporters, the boy wrote that it would be his “honor to mow the White House lawn.” He also enclosed a menu of his services, which include weed-whacking.

“It’s probably the biggest day of my life so far,” FX said on Friday.

He added that his day was “jam-packed” with media interviews, watering plants, mowing the lawn and visiting the Oval Office with his dad. “It was a lot bigger than I thought,” he said.

FX said he normally charges $8 per lawn but decided to mow the White House lawn free of charge.

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Trump tweets that ‘chain migration’ can’t be included in any immigration deal

Just over a day after agreeing with Democratic leaders to make an immigration deal, President Trump on Friday took a hard line against allowing close family members to follow new immigrants, a position that could stymie bipartisan legislation.

Trump wrote on Twitter that any immigration bill cannot include “chain migration,” a term used by advocates of limiting immigrants to criticize how new U.S. citizens can sponsor family members for legal status.

If Trump sticks to that position, it could sap Democrats’ support for Wednesday’s tentative agreement between Trump and the top two Democrats in Congress to seek a law giving legal status to roughly 800,000 “Dreamers.” Those are mostly young people brought to the country illegally as children.

Immigration hard-liners, including in the White House, are concerned that a law might allow beneficiaries to eventually become U.S. citizens, and they in turn would sponsor their parents and close relatives for lawful permanent residence, enlarging the number of legal immigrants in the country.

The surprise maneuvering follows Trump’s announcement last week that he would phase out Dreamers’ protection from deportation under the five-year-old Obama administration program known as DACA — for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The program allows them to work and attend college after a federal background check. Beneficiaries’ two-year work permits and deportation deferrals will begin expiring in March if Congress doesn’t act.

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Trump responds to London attack by calling for ‘tougher’ U.S. travel ban

President Trump signaled he would like his controversial travel ban expanded, writing on Twitter on Friday that his ban on travelers from several Muslim-majority countries “should be far larger, tougher and more specific” but complaining that enlarging it would not be “politically correct.”

Trump wrote the tweet in response to news of an explosion in London on an underground train during morning rush hour. British authorities said they were treating the incident as a terrorist act.

Trump went further than British officials and said the perpetrators were “in the sights” of Scotland Yard investigators before the attack. There was no public evidence to support this claim at the time of his tweet.

In what seemed to be a response to Trump’s tweet, London Metropolitan Police said in a statement, “any speculation is extremely unhelpful at this time.”

Later Friday morning, Trump called the London attack “a terrible thing,” while he was in the Rose Garden watching an 11-year-old boy from Falls Church, Va., mow the White House lawn.

“It keeps going and going, and we have to be very smart and we have to be very, very tough—perhaps we’re not nearly tough enough,” he said in response to a question from a reporter.

Trump said he had been briefed on the London attack, and said he had been told about “new risks of things happening.”

About 10 hours after his initial tweet about the attack, Trump tweeted his condolences to those affected.

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Trump’s weekly address

President Trump tweeted a video of his weekly address on Friday.

In his address, Trump said that he was continuing to pray for those affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. He also remarked on the 230th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, which falls on Sunday.

A full transcript of his remarks is here.

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Trump congratulates son Eric and wife, Lara, on birth of their son

Eric Trump, the president’s son, and Eric’s wife, Lara, welcomed their son, Eric “Luke” Trump on Tuesday, the Trump Organization announced on Twitter.

President Trump congratulated his son and daughter-in-law in a tweet.

With the birth, Trump became a grandfather for the ninth time.

Eric Trump and his brother Don Jr. were forceful advocates for their father on the campaign trail and have remained in New York to run the family business.

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After meeting with hurricane victims, Trump pledges that Florida ‘will be better than ever’

President Trump told Florida hurricane victims his administration is “there for you 100%” as officials moved urgently to safeguard the state’s vulnerable elderly and restore power to millions of homes and businesses.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump arrived aboard Air Force One in Fort Myers on the peninsula’s southwestern Gulf Coast, then traveled by helicopter to Naples, 40 miles away. It was Trump’s third disaster-zone visit in less than three weeks.

In a Naples mobile home park, not far from where then-Hurricane Irma made its second landfall in Florida, Trump shook hands with residents, quizzed people about how they were faring and joined volunteers serving lunch.

“We love the people of Florida,” he said, pledging that he would be back to monitor recovery progress. “We are there for you 100%.… These are special, special people.”

Earlier, Trump hailed his administration’s performance as well as that of state and local officials.

“I think we’re doing a good job in Florida,” Trump said in a brief question-and-answer session with reporters after landing in Fort Myers.

Addressing a group of rescue workers and officials assembled in an airport hangar, he paid special tribute to first responders and Florida Gov. Rick Scott. The governor, flanking him, in turn praised the White House and federal response.

“As you know, our state’s been devastated,” Scott said.

Florida’s nascent restoration drive is projected to take months and cost billions of dollars, after the storm battered parts of the Florida Keys, triggered serious flooding in the northern part of the state and upended daily life in major cities and small towns in between.

The presidential visit to Florida comes a day after at least eight patients died in a sweltering nursing home in Hollywood, Fla., that was left with limited power after Irma pounded the region.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Kurtis Lee, Patrick J. McDonnell and Laura King.

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Trump tweets that U.S. needs tax reform to compete with China

President Trump said he’d still like to see the corporate tax rate reduced to 15% as he tried to sell lawmakers on his broad tax reform goals.

In a tweet Wednesday, Trump compared the United States with China and wrote that the U.S. “should do everything possible to match them in order to win with our economy.”

But Trump’s tweet appeared to have misstated the facts. According to the Financial Times, China’s corporate tax rate is actually 25% and can exceed 45% when additional fees are factored in. Still, the current U.S. corporate tax rate is 35%.

Trump’s tweet came hours after he held a White House meeting with moderate lawmakers from both parties and said that he was still pushing for the 15% corporate rate. He said that he would like to see a rate “much lower than that for individuals.”

As for the wealthy, Trump said that “the rich will not be gaining at all with his plan.”

The tax overhaul principles put forth by Republicans envision cuts to the corporate tax rate and individual tax rates, but the White House hasn’t provided specifics.

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Trump calls single-payer health insurance ‘a curse’ and vows to veto if necessary

Leading Democrats are scrambling to support single-payer health insurance, a system that would represent a huge expansion of government control over healthcare and which the party’s presidential nominee declared last year would “never, ever” come to pass.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose support for universal coverage was central to his 2016 presidential campaign, on Wednesday unveiled the latest version of his plan to expand Medicare to cover all Americans.

On Thursday, President Trump weighed in, tweeting that the plan is “a curse on the U.S.” and vowing to veto single-payer legislation if necessary.

Trump also blamed Republican legislators for allowing the idea to take root by failing to reach an agreement to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

In the days before Sanders’ announcement, Democrats as ideologically diverse as liberal Sen. Kamala Harris of California and conservative Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia expressed support for his effort. Their statements reflect a significant shift within the Democratic party, driven by multiple developments: a belief that the window has closed on Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare; a surge in support for government-run insurance among younger, more activist Democrats; and looming 2018 and 2020 contests that demand clarity on what Democrats support — not just whom they oppose.

The shift toward single payer brings risk for Democrats. The party suffered huge losses after attempts to restructure the nation’s insurance system during the Clinton and Obama administrations.

And although polls show rising support for a government-run insurance plan, much of that increase comes among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — meaning the party will be pushing an approach nearly as partisan as Trump’s recent efforts to repeal the current healthcare law.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Cathleen Decker

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Trump tweets that poor cellphone reception delayed him from offering condolences to Mexico after earthquake

President Trump says he has finally spoken with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to offer his condolences after last week’s deadly earthquake in Mexico.

Trump tweeted Thursday afternoon that he had spoken to Peña Nieto “to give condolences on terrible earthquake. Unable to reach for 3 days b/c of his cell phone reception at site.”

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that he had “a good talk” with Peña Nieto. “That whole earthquake is terrible,” he said. “We paid our respects.”

Trump also explained his delay in reaching his Mexican counterpart, saying that Peña Nieto had had no cell reception because he was in the mountains.

At least 95 people died in Sept. 7’s magnitude 8.1 earthquake, according to Mexico’s Foreign Ministry, most of them in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

While authorities scrambled to dig victims from rubble and provide shelter to the homeless on the southwestern coast, a Category 1 hurricane struck Mexico’s Gulf Coast on Saturday, killing at least two people.

Trump did not immediately offer condolences to Mexico after either disaster, as is common when tragedies befall U.S. allies, even as multiple American mayors and governors offered their sympathies and help. Nor did Trump offer U.S. aid to Mexico.

Trump’s silence as the earthquake death toll climbed was seen by many as another sign of the president’s cool attitude toward Mexico.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Kate Linthicum and the Associated Press.

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Trump denies reaching a final agreement on DACA

In his first comments since Congress’ top two Democrats announced Wednesday night that a deal had been reached to help so-called Dreamers, President Trump denied a final agreement was made concerning the young immigrants.

Responding to heavy criticism from conservatives that he was backing away from his promise to build a wall along the Mexican border, Trump insisted that “massive border security” would need to be part of any agreement.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco said Wednesday night that Trump had agreed to legislation that would revive the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which Trump recently decided to terminate. In exchange, the Democrats said they agreed to unspecified border security measures, though not including funding for the wall.

Trump also emphasized in his tweets the need to help Dreamers.

Whether a bill actually can pass — getting by the multiple minefields that have exploded immigration agreements repeatedly over the last 15 years — remains to be seen.

On Capitol Hill, many Republicans who have opposed immigration measures in the past suggested they might go along now in deference to Trump.

But news that Trump was negotiating a deal on DACA with Pelosi and Schumer generated a furious response from some of the president’s most ardent supporters.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Edmund Sanders, Lisa Mascaro, Brian Bennett and David Lauter

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Trump urges lawmakers to ‘move fast’ on tax reform

President Trump pushed lawmakers to “move fast” on a tax overhaul Wednesday in a series of tweets.

Trump also tweeted that he would head to Florida on Thursday to meet with those affected by Hurricane Irma, which slammed into the state over the weekend.

The president linked the need for tax reform to the devastation parts of Florida suffered from Irma, as well as Hurricane Harvey’s effects on Texas.

It wasn’t immediately clear how a tax overhaul might assist the states in their rebuilding efforts.

Trump has already signed into law a package providing more than $15 billion in disaster-related aid to Harvey victims.

Trump’s tweets came after he had dinner Tuesday with a group of Republican and Democratic senators to talk taxes. The push to overhaul the tax code is a top priority for Trump and Republicans after their effort on healthcare failed.

Trump has been pushing for changes to the tax code to cut corporate and individual rates and simplify the system, but has offered few specifics.

White House legislative director Marc Short said Tuesday that principles for the tax overhaul will be released “in a matter of days, not weeks.”

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Trump renews Twitter feud with Hillary Clinton

President Trump has renewed his Twitter feud with an old foe: Hillary Clinton.

Clinton has been making the media rounds promoting her new book, “What Happened,” in which she recounts her loss to Trump in last year’s presidential election.

Trump tweeted that Clinton lost because she “had no game,” appearing to refer to her comment last year at a campaign event that half of Trump’s supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables.”

Clinton has said that she takes “responsibility for all” of her campaign’s mistakes.

But she wrote in her book that she believes that sexism, Russian interference and former FBI Director James B. Comey’s handling of the investigation into her emails also played roles in the election’s outcome.

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Trump lashes out at those writing ‘books and major articles’ about him

President Trump lashed out at those “writing books and major articles” about him Tuesday morning in a tweet.

Trump wrote that such authors knew nothing about him and “have zero access.”

It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what Trump was referencing.

Fox News suggested that the intended target of Trump’s tweet might be NBC News reporter Katy Tur, who on Tuesday released a memoir, “Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History.”

Trump singled Tur out for public criticism several times during campaign events, which she detailed in the book.

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Trump tweets that Irma’s devastation ‘was far greater ... than anyone thought’

President Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma was “far greater” than expected, “at least in certain locations.”

Trump also thanked rescue and aid workers dealing with the storm’s aftermath, calling them “amazing people.”

Irma, which slammed into Florida over the weekend, was one of the most powerful storms to ever crawl out of the Atlantic.

After ripping through Caribbean islands with Category 5 winds, killing at least 37 people, it weakened slightly as it took direct aim at Florida, whose explosive real estate development in recent decades has made it the nation’s third-most-populous state.

Florida was slammed with huge storm surges, violent winds and heavy rains that socked the peninsula from south to north, flooding towns and knocking out power to millions of people.

But the most shocking thing about Irma may be what it didn’t do: kill in large numbers.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Matt Pearce, Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Evan Halper

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Trump welcomes Malaysia’s prime minister despite corruption allegations

President Trump praised Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak for his country’s financial investments in U.S. companies during a meeting Tuesday at the White House.

Left unsaid by either leader: anything about the massive corruption scandal swirling around Najib’s multibillion-dollar state fund.

Malaysia’s government has said it found no criminal wrongdoing at the fund, called 1MDB and founded by Najib. But it has been at the center of investigations in the United States and several other countries amid allegations of a global embezzlement and money-laundering scheme.

The U.S. Justice Department has said that people close to Najib stole billions of dollars, and the federal government is working to seize $1.7 billion it claims was taken from the fund to buy assets in the U.S.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said later Tuesday that she was “not aware” of the corruption accusation coming up during Trump’s conversations with Najib.

Trump and Najib instead focused on areas of agreement, such as economic development and counterterrorism measures, when they spoke during a public appearance in the Cabinet room of the White House.

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Trump commemorates Sept. 11 attacks

Standing near where a hijacked airliner nose-dived into the Pentagon 16 years ago, President Trump commemorated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Monday in a solemn tribute to the victims, the first responders and the nation.

“On that day, not only did the world change, but we all changed,” Trump said. “Our eyes were opened to the depths of the evil we face. But in that hour of darkness, we also came together with renewed purpose. Our differences never looked so small, our common bonds never felt so strong.”

It was one of scores of solemn ceremonies Monday marking the Al Qaeda attacks that claimed 2,977 lives and wounded thousands more when hijacked aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a field in Pennsylvania.

Thousands gathered in Lower Manhattan for a moment of silence, prayer and the deliberate tolls of a silver bell to mark when the twin towers fell in the deadliest foreign attack on U.S. soil since the start of World War II.

Trump, a native New Yorker and real estate magnate, identifies strongly with the twin towers and the people who were killed there. He speaks regularly about the terrorist threat.

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Trump retweets condolences to former Fox News host Eric Bolling

As Hurricane Irma continued to bear down on Florida on Sunday morning, President Trump retweeted a slew of messages about disaster preparedness.

Most of the tweets highlighted efforts by federal government and law enforcement agencies to provide assistance to those affected by the storm.

Trump also retweeted two messages offering condolences to former Fox News host Eric Bolling.

Bolling was cut loose from the network Friday amid a sexual harassment investigation. The same day, his 19-year-old son was found dead.

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Trump on Twitter warns of Hurricane Irma’s ‘enormous destructive power’

President Trump urged any U.S. residents still in Hurricane Irma’s path Saturday to “just get out of its way” and not worry about possessions, as he monitored the powerful storm’s advance on Florida from the secluded Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Irma was expected to strike the Florida Keys at daybreak Sunday.

Trump called Irma “a storm of enormous destructive power” and asked “everyone in the storm’s path to heed ALL instructions.”

“Property is replaceable but lives are not and safety has to come first,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting at the Maryland retreat, where he was spending the weekend with his wife, First Lady Melania Trump. “Don’t worry about it. Just get out of its way.”

Trump shared a brief video of his remarks on Twitter:

Irma hammered Cuba on Saturday with punishing winds and rain before setting its sights on Florida, where massive evacuations were being carried out.

Trump said that the United States is grieving for those who were killed by Irma even before the hurricane reached the U.S. mainland. The storm left more than 20 people dead in the Caribbean. He said his administration is monitoring the situation “around the clock” and is in “constant communication” with governors and other officials from the affected areas.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” Trump said, pledging — as he did after Hurricane Harvey — that recovery and rebuilding would happen quickly.

Trump has been receiving regular briefings on both Irma and Jose, another hurricane in the Atlantic, along with updates on recovery and relief efforts that continue in southeast Texas and Louisiana after Harvey, the White House said. Harvey brought record rainfall and severe flooding to Houston and surrounding areas of the Texas Gulf Coast in late August before it moved on to Louisiana.

Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was scheduled Saturday to brief Trump and his advisors on the storms.

The president and first lady invited members of the Cabinet and their spouses to Camp David for the weekend, the White House said. It marked Trump’s fourth visit to the retreat. He met there in August with members of his national security team, but Saturday was the first time he had hosted the entire Cabinet there, including Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who turned 67 on Friday.

In a bit of deja vu, Trump was at Camp David when Harvey struck Texas last month.

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Trump appears to side against federal government in lawsuit over Harvey relief

President Trump appeared to side against the federal government in a lawsuit filed by three Texas churches that were damaged during Harvey and are now seeking access to disaster relief funds, which religious groups are not eligible to receive.

Trump tweeted Friday night that churches should be entitled to Federal Emergency Management Agency grants, “just like others.”

The churches – Harvest Family Church in Cypress, Hi-Way Tabernacle in Cleveland and First Assembly of God in Rockport – filed the lawsuit against FEMA on Monday in federal court in Texas.

According to the complaint, all three churches were flooded during Harvey, and the First Assembly of God lost its roof. At least one of the churches, the Hi-Way Tabernacle, is still serving as a shelter and meal center for evacuees, the complaint states.

The lawsuit states that the churches would like to apply for aid through FEMA’s public assistance program, but are ineligible because they dedicate more than 50% of their physical spaces to religious programming, a service that FEMA defines as neither critical nor essential.

The churches claim that FEMA’s policy violates the 1st Amendment’s free-exercise clause. They are seeking an injunction barring FEMA from enforcing the rule, as well as damages and attorney’s fees.

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Trump offers reassurances ahead of Hurricane Irma: ‘Federal G is ready!’

President Trump assured the public that the federal government is prepared for Hurricane Irma, which continued its deadly sweep through the Caribbean on Friday as residents of Florida waited with frazzled nerves and growing fears over just how bad the storm will be.

In a tweet Friday morning, Trump also marveled at the potentially historic nature of the storm and warned those in its path to “get out of its way, if possible.”

The Category 4 hurricane, with a footprint as big as Texas, is expected to make landfall early Sunday and blow through central Florida with 150 mph winds, reaching Georgia by Monday morning.

Compared to Hurricane Harvey, which hit southeast Texas, Irma will be faster moving, making it unlikely that Florida will see the kind of severe inland flooding that crippled Houston. However, for coastal cities such as Miami and Miami Beach, an anticipated storm surge of up to 10 feet could be catastrophic.

Mandatory evacuations were in place for most coastal communities, affecting 650,000 people or more. Already, supplies of water, batteries, flashlights and plywood had disappeared from most stores throughout South Florida.

Streams of fleeing evacuees, from the Florida Keys to Miami and farther north, were creeping north on the state’s two major north-south arterials, Interstates 75 and 95. Traffic tie-ups were reported as far north as Ocala, 80 miles northwest of Orlando.

In the president’s weekly address, he called Irma “a storm of absolutely historic disruptive potential” and again called on residents of the affected areas to heed the advice of local authorities.

In his remarks, Trump also pledged to do everything in his power to ensure preparedness and coordinate whatever relief and restoration efforts are eventually needed.

“America stands united, and I mean totally united,” he said.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from John Cherwa, Les Neuhaus and Alex Wigglesworth

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Trump criticizes Senate Republicans over filibuster: ‘Death Wish!’

A day after he reached a surprise deal with Democrats on a stopgap measure to temporarily fund the government and provide Hurricane Harvey aid, President Trump used Twitter to vent his frustration at members of his own party.

Trump, who headed to Camp David this weekend, said Friday on Twitter that unless the Senate does away with the filibuster, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is unlikely to do, Republicans will always be stymied by the 60-vote threshold that currently requires at least eight senators from the Democratic caucus to join the 52-seat GOP majority to advance bills.

But in reality, the filibuster is not wholly to blame. On the healthcare overhaul, Republicans used special budget rules that allow for majority passage, and they still lost.

Trump’s tweets came as Congress gave final approval Friday to the surprise package to fund the government and lift the nation’s borrowing limit until Dec. 8, and provide Hurricane Harvey aid.

The president swiftly signed it into law, giving Democrats momentum over Republicans in the battles ahead over tax cuts and deportation protections for young immigrants known as Dreamers.

For Trump, still frustrated by the collapse of the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, it was a lesson that his agenda may have more success if he reaches across the aisle to broker compromises with Democrats.

Still, he urged Republicans to speed up work on tax reform legislation in another Friday morning tweet.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has tried to maintain his hold on the majority, but lawmakers are increasingly worried about facing voters back home with little to show for the first eight-plus months in office. After early stumbles, confidence is slipping that Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) have a strategy for success on tax reform and the spending issues ahead this fall.

Conservatives don’t blame Trump for the disarray as much as they do their own House and Senate leadership, who they do not believe sufficiently sketched out a legislative game plan to accomplish the goals of a healthcare overhaul and tax reform they promised voters.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Lisa Mascaro

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Trump endorses ex-U.S. presidents’ hurricane relief fundraiser

The five living former U.S. presidents said Thursday they would team up to create the “One America Appeal” to raise money for storm recovery as Texas and Louisiana seek to regroup from Harvey and Florida and the Atlantic Coast brace for Hurricane Irma.

The hurricane recovery effort was announced by former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.

President Trump tweeted his support:

The hurricanes represent the latest philanthropic collaboration by living ex-U.S. presidents and their first joint effort since Trump’s election. The elder Bush and Clinton raised money for victims of the devastating tsunami in Asia in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After Haiti’s massive earthquake in 2010, Obama tapped Clinton and the younger Bush to lead a relief effort.

For the Bush family, Harvey struck close to home. George H.W. Bush lives part of the year in Houston while George W. Bush, a former Texas governor, lives in Dallas.

Organizers said that a special restricted account had been established through the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation to collect and quickly distribute donations. Officials said “100 cents out of every dollar” donated will help hurricane victims. All donations are tax-deductible.

The effort was being launched with a public service announcement broadcast on NBC during the Thursday night kickoff of the NFL season.

Donations designated to help victims of Harvey will be distributed to the Houston Harvey Relief Fund and the Rebuild Texas Fund. The appeal is expected to be expanded to help those affected by Irma, which could strike South Florida and the state’s Atlantic Coast and then move up into Georgia and South Carolina.

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Trump thanks GOP for tweet highlighting his donation to Harvey relief efforts

President Trump thanked the Republican National Committee for a tweet highlighting his personal donation to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump are donating a total of $1 million to a dozen organizations involved in Harvey relief work, including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity, the White House announced Wednesday.

The White House said the donations are coming from the president’s personal funds.

Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast of Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane. It was soon downgraded to a tropical storm but lingered for days, dropping up to 50 inches of rain on Houston and the surrounding area before moving eastward to Louisiana. Homes and roads spent days underwater.

The White House first said last week that Trump wanted to make a donation, and sought suggestions from journalists on where he should contribute.

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Trump issues warning for those in Hurricane Irma’s path

Hurricane Irma took aim at South Florida on Thursday, threatening millions with historic winds, huge storm surges and unrelenting rainfall as it left behind a trail of still-uncharted devastation in the Caribbean and a death toll that climbed to at least 13.

Although the storm’s track remained uncertain, a widening area braced for its effects. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statewide emergency declaration Thursday, a day after South Carolina did so.

President Trump was briefed in the Oval Office about storm preparations and Irma’s projected path. Earlier, he tweeted a reminder to those in Irma’s path to “be careful, be safe,” as the storm approaches.

The president issued a more forceful warning later Thursday, urging all those in the path of the monster Category 5 storm to heed the advice of local authorities.

With South Florida under a hurricane watch, Philip Levine, the mayor of vulnerable barrier island Miami Beach, called Irma a “nuclear hurricane.” Irma’s leading edge was expected to reach Florida as soon as Saturday, and Gov. Rick Scott spoke of a “catastrophic storm that our state has never seen.”

In South Florida, home to about 6 million people, flight from the mighty storm that was bearing down turned chaotic at times, with the state’s two main south-north arteries clogged with traffic and gasoline in short supply. Florida Highway Patrol troopers were trying to keep vehicles moving, towing disabled cars left by the roadside and escorting fuel trucks.

Florida lore is full of die-hards who ride out hurricanes, and defying a storm’s fury is romanticized in films such as the 1948 noir classic “Key Largo.” But Scott, in a televised public briefing, pleaded with any holdouts in evacuation zones, especially in the Florida Keys, to obey orders to depart.

“Leave. Get out,” the governor said, addressing those who had been told to go. “We can’t save you once the storm starts.”

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from Evan Halper and Laura King.

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Trump hails Kuwait’s efforts to mediate Qatar crisis

President Trump on Thursday hailed efforts by the leader of Kuwait, a staunch American ally, to mediate a festering diplomatic crisis involving Qatar and its Arab neighbors that could have implications for the U.S. military presence in the region.

At a White House news conference with Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jabbar al Sabah, Trump said he appreciated the emir’s thus-far unsuccessful bid to end the dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.

Trump applauded Kuwait’s “critical contributions to regional stability” but also repeated an offer to mediate himself, particularly between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He suggested that a deal would be “worked out very quickly” if he became personally involved.

Trump said that all of the countries involved — members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — are “essential partners” with the United States in efforts to crack down on extremism, including the fight against the Islamic State miltant group. “We will be most successful with a united GCC,” he said. “We will send a strong message to both terrorist organizations and regional aggressors that they cannot win.”

The president’s comments came after he sent conflicting signals about where he stands on the dispute. Trump initially appeared to side with Saudi Arabia, but then instructed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to support the Kuwaiti mediation effort.

Still, the dispute has dragged on for more than three months even after Tillerson shuttled between the parties in July and dispatched two other U.S. envoys to bolster the 88-year-old Kuwaiti emir’s initiative.

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Trump reassures ‘Dreamers’ in tweet; Pelosi says it came at her urging

President Trump indicated that he was willing to sign the long-stalled Dream Act into law if it passes Congress, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, another sign that Trump may be uneasy about his decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

Pelosi said she encouraged the president in a morning phone call to assure young immigrants that they are not in immediate danger of deportation.

Trump tweeted a message to the so-called Dreamers shortly after his conversation with Pelosi, saying they were in “no danger” during the six months he has given Congress to find a solution to the program.

“The president, I think -- I’m hoping and I’m praying ... that the president really cares about the Dreamers,” the San Francisco Democrat told reporters.

Democrats have vowed to push a vote on the Dream Act, a bill first introduced in 2001 but never approved, as part of must-pass legislation on the congressional agenda this fall.

The latest version of the bill would put young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children on a path to legal status.

About 800,000 who received work permits and other protections under DACA could be affected.

Trump on Wednesday outlined the contours of a deal that would beef up border security as part of a legislative fix for DACA, which President Obama created in 2012.

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Trump touts North Dakota tax pitch in tweets

President Trump made an overt pitch Wednesday for Democrats to support his tax overhaul plan, singling out a North Dakota Democratic senator whose vote would be prized by the White House.

Delivering an outdoor speech to a crowd of hundreds at an oil refinery, Trump called for the state’s governor and congressional delegation to join him onstage, including Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, the only statewide elected Democrat in heavily Republican North Dakota.

“Everybody’s saying: What’s she doing up here?” Trump said of the first-term senator, adding, “I hope we’ll have your support,” and calling her “a good woman.”

Heitkamp, up for reelection next year, flew in with Trump aboard Air Force One as he sought to frame the tax overhaul as a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to cut taxes and simplify the tax code.

Trump used the event to sell his plan, but its details are still to be determined. He said he’d be getting into “great detail” on the plan in the next two weeks. Overall, it calls for a major simplification of the tax code and lowering personal rates, especially for the middle class, by raising the standard deduction, among other changes, and lowering business taxes to about 15%.

“It’s your money, not the government’s money,” Trump said.

“If Democrats don’t want to bring back your jobs, raise your pay and help America win, voters should deliver a clear message: Do your job to deliver for America, or find a new job,” he said.

Trump traveled to North Dakota after a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House in which the president sided with Democrats on a deal to fund the government and raise the federal borrowing limit for three months, all aimed at expediting money for Hurricane Harvey relief.

Marc Short, Trump’s top legislative advisor, told reporters aboard Air Force One that “helping to clear the decks in September enables us to focus on tax reform for the American people. We need to get the economy growing again and that’s what the president focused on.”

Trump has sought to pressure Democrats to back the tax plan, a key priority after his push to overhaul the healthcare system failed.

Heitkamp has not said that she supports Trump’s plan, only that the small-business owners, energy industry workers, farmers and parents in her state are eager for changes to a tax code they believe is broken.

She said after Trump’s visit that she was encouraged by his commitment to promoting American workers as key to any tax policy.

“But, as North Dakota’s former tax commissioner, I know the devil is in the details of any reform plan as tax codes are complex, and we need to know what those details are,” Heitkamp said in a written statement.

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Trump incorrectly claims that U.S. is ‘highest taxed nation in the world’ in tweet promoting reform

President Trump headed Wednesday to North Dakota, where he was slated to deliver a speech on tax reform.

Before departing Washington, Trump tweeted about the need for such reform, complaining that the United States is “the highest taxed nation in the world” and promising to change that.

Trump has complained before about the U.S. tax burden, but it is actually one of the lowest among the 32 developed and large emerging-market economies tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Taxes made up 26.4% of the total U.S. economy in 2015, according to the OECD. That’s far below Denmark’s tax burden of 46.6%, Britain’s 32.5% or Germany’s 36.9%. Just four OECD countries had a lower tax bite than the U.S.: South Korea, Ireland, Chile and Mexico.

Asked Wednesday about the tweet, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said: “The president is probably referring to the fact that in the developed world we have the highest corporate tax rate.”

The U.S. does have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, but because of tax breaks, many companies don’t pay the full rate.

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Trump tweets that he’s monitoring Hurricane Irma: ‘No rest for the weary!’

President Trump tweeted that he was “closely” watching Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes, as it set a wild, wind-churned course toward Puerto Rico, with the U.S. mainland in its sights, likely over the weekend.

The monster hurricane made landfall in the Caribbean, where it was blamed for at least four deaths.

The president tweeted Wednesday that his “team” was ready in Florida, adding: “No rest for the weary!”

As he did while Hurricane Harvey pounded Texas late last month, Trump unleashed tweets about the storm’s strength. “Hurricane looks like the largest ever recorded in the Atlantic!” he wrote Wednesday morning on Twitter.

Later, heading into a meeting with congressional leaders, he described the storm as “something that could be not good — believe me, not good.”

Amid an overnight assault of battering waves and 185-mph winds, two deaths were reported in French island territories, a third in Anguilla, a British territory, and a fourth in Barbuda, part of a tiny independent nation.

Trump on Wednesday declared states of emergency in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Florida began activating its National Guard, with 7,000 members told to report for duty Friday.

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott implored constituents to obey calls to flee the storm’s path when the time came.

“I cannot stress this enough — do not ignore evacuation orders,” Scott said at a news briefing as the storm began lashing Puerto Rico with rain, still on track for the U.S. mainland. “If you’re told to evacuate, don’t wait — get out quickly.”

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Trump tweets that he’s allowing South Korea and Japan to buy more U.S. military equipment

For as long as North Korea couldn’t strike the United States with nuclear weapons, U.S. allies Japan and South Korea felt assured that the promise of an overwhelming American military response would deter the communist country from launching attacks.

Pyongyang’s emerging capabilities are upsetting all calculations. The North this weekend exploded its strongest-ever nuclear weapon and in July tested a pair of intercontinental ballistic missiles that might soon be able to threaten the entire American mainland.

The North’s technological progress is adding to insecurities compounded by President Trump’s sometimes lukewarm support for defending U.S. allies under his “America first” agenda.

The uncertainty is driving the Trump administration to reassure its allies: On Tuesday, Trump said he would allow Japan and South Korea to “buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States.”

The tweet followed Trump giving South Korean President Moon Jae-in an “in-principle approval” for weapons with less restrictions and more powerful warheads.

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Trump tells Congress to resolve fate of ‘Dreamers’: ‘Get ready to do your job’

President Trump on Tuesday took action to strip away protections from deportation for roughly 800,000 people brought into the country illegally as children, giving Congress six months to write a law to resolve their plight.

Trump wrestled with the decision, he and his aides said, but ultimately decided to keep his campaign promise and let Congress resolve the issue. Even before his decision was public, Trump started the day with a tweet that signaled his intent and put the onus on lawmakers:

Trump’s long-awaited decision to get rid of the Obama-era program for so-called Dreamers fit a pattern of his young presidency: As with other signature campaign promises on infrastructure, tax reform and health insurance, he offered little guidance on what exactly he wanted done and left it to a polarized Congress to fill in the details.

The president and some supporters have suggested that the fault will be lawmakers’ if Congress fails, and the Dreamers are put in jeopardy of being deported to countries they know little of, if anything.

Trump did not announce the action, which is opposed by a majority of Americans, polls show. He left it to U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a longtime anti-immigration advocate, to do so from the Justice Department. The president issued a written statement, though he later responded briefly, at an unrelated White House event, to reporters’ shouted questions.

“I have a love for these people and, hopefully, now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly,” Trump said of the Dreamers.

“And I can tell you,” he added, “speaking to members of Congress, they want to be able to do something and do it right. And really we have no choice. We have to be able to do something, and I think it’s going to work out very well, and long term it’s going to be the right solution.”

For Republicans in Congress, however, swiftly approving any immigration legislation is virtually impossible given the divisiveness of the issue within the party — as more than a decade of failed attempts have shown. Also, with the party in control of Congress, Republicans are struggling to advance a stalled agenda and must-pass budget bills with time running out for the year.

Late Tuesday, Trump seemed to accept the prospect that Congress might not be able to agree on legislation.

It was unclear what he meant by “revisit.”

Congressional Republican leaders who met with Trump at the White House, ostensibly about still-unwritten tax legislation, only tentatively committed to addressing Trump’s demand on immigration. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan expressed hope for a solution, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress “will continue working” on it.

The legislative uncertainty created by the president’s action translated to even greater personal uncertainty for the many people affected. Protests were immediate in cities nationwide.

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Trump tweets Labor Day message

President Trump wished the public a happy Labor Day Monday in a tweet.

The tweet followed North Korea’s test of what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb over the weekend.

Trump spoke Monday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and sought to ratchet up pressure on North Korea, the White House said.

Trump also raised North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test in a Labor Day call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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Trump: ‘Big week coming up!’

Donald Trump’s presidency has been defined largely by political crises of his own making, from his decision to fire FBI Director James B. Comey to his comments after racial violence in Charlottesville, Va. It was inevitable that circumstances outside his reach would complicate his tenure.

And now they have, raising the question of how he will handle a double-barreled pair of crises — the growing threat from North Korea and the recovery and relief efforts for hundreds of thousands of Americans caught in epic floods in Texas and Louisiana.

Trump appeared to acknowledge the importance of the upcoming week Monday night in a tweet.

To add to his challenges, the White House has said Trump will disclose Tuesday whether he will authorize the deportation of 800,000 so-called Dreamers, immigrants brought here illegally as children — a decision that will be politically combustible no matter what he decides.

Off in the wings are high-stakes battles that will begin Tuesday on Capitol Hill, including funding the government to avoid a shutdown by Sept. 30, raising the federal debt ceiling, and approving billions in aid for the victims of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation.

Undergirding all these is special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of whether Trump’s aides cooperated with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. That probe has steadily gathered steam, even if pushed out of view in recent weeks.

The combination would tax any president, but particularly Trump, who has proved to be a tempestuous and unpredictable chief executive.

Read More This post contains reporting from staff writer Cathleen Decker

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Trump tweets that U.S. might end trade with countries doing business with North Korea

President Trump and his national security advisors planned to meet Sunday to discuss options after North Korea’s weekend test of what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a morning statement that the president was monitoring the situation closely.

Trump later suggested in a tweet that he would consider blocking trade with countries doing business with Pyongyang — a threat principally aimed at China, which is North Korea’s chief trading partner.

North Korea has for decades posed a danger to its neighbors Japan and South Korea — in the event of a military conflict, its conventional weapons could kill thousands in Tokyo and Seoul. Yet it has been diplomatically and economically close to China since the 1950s. China accounts for 90% of North Korea’s trade volume; its leaders fear that instability in Pyongyang could precipitate a refugee crisis along the two countries’ shared border.

Still, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s repeated nuclear and missile tests have clearly worn Beijing’s patience.

The United Nations Security Council recently voted unanimously to impose stricter sanctions on North Korea, and China complied by barring imports of coal and other key commodities.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Cathleen Decker, Jonathan Kaiman and Jessica Meyers.

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In response to North Korean nuclear test, Trump lashes out at South Korea and China

President Trump on Sunday called North Korea a “rogue nation” and a threat to the United States, hours after Pyongyang announced it had detonated a thermonuclear device, its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date.

The nuclear test was a vivid show of defiance against Trump, who warned last month he’d bring “fire and fury” against North Korea if it continued to threaten the U.S.

In tweets responding to the North Korean move, Trump seemed to put the onus on China to rein in the government of Kim Jong Un.

Beijing is by far North Korea’s largest trading partner, but China has so far rebuffed the notion that responsibility to slow or halt North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs should fall on it.

Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said that he was preparing a stiffer package of sanctions and hoped to enlist North Korea’s neighbors in the effort. He specifically cited China.

But asked on “Fox News Sunday” whether the weekend test moved the region closer to military conflict, Mnuchin would not rule it out.

“The president has made it clear this isn’t the time for just talk, it is the time for action,” he said.

Everything President Trump has tweeted about North Korea >>

Kim’s latest move presents one of the greatest challenges yet to the Trump administration, which has issued muddled messages about its policy toward the isolated country. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said the U.S. is open to negotiations with North Korea, though Trump last week said “talking is not the answer.”

Trump, in a tweet early Sunday morning, suggested he still felt that way.

He also chastised U.S. ally South Korea, warning against “appeasement” of the Pyongyang government.

The escalating North Korea tensions come as Trump is weighing pulling out from a free-trade pact with South Korea. The White House said Saturday that “discussions are ongoing” about the trade agreement.

The trade tensions with South Korea are nothing new. In a June meeting at the White House with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump said he would renegotiate a trade pact that was a legacy of the era of Presidents George W. Bush and Obama.

But as recently as last week, Trump and Moon vowed to press ahead with diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea. Trump also gave “conceptual approval” to a massive arms sale to Seoul.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writer Cathleen Decker

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Upon return to White House, Trump tweets about storm recovery, the economy – and Hillary Clinton

President Trump returned Saturday night to the White House after visiting Texas and Louisiana to meet with victims of Hurricane Harvey.

His Twitter finger appeared to be itchy.

In the first of three tweets sent minutes apart, the president touted a rise in the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index, which measures how quickly U.S. factories are expanding.

The index now stands at its highest level since April 2011, pointing to solid economic growth.

Trump then provided an update on rescue and recovery efforts in areas hit by Harvey, which slammed into the Gulf Coast on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 storm and delivered days of drenching rain.

Echoing the tone he took while touring flood-ravaged areas earlier Saturday, Trump remained decidedly upbeat and praised the “cooperation & coordination” of authorities, relief workers and volunteers.

The president concluded the string of tweets by issuing a reminder that he had signed a proclamation establishing Sunday as a day of prayer for those dealing with Harvey’s aftermath.

Also on Saturday night, the president retweeted two messages from a conservative blog highlighting his trip to Texas.

Trump retweeted a third message that mocked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with a doctored photo of her upcoming memoir, “What Happened.”

Several hours later, Trump tweeted a video montage featuring highlights of his stop in Louisiana and thanked law enforcement officials and volunteer rescuers who helped save residents there.

The last tweet, sent at 1:17 a.m. Eastern time Sunday, came about an hour and a half after North Korea conducted what appeared to be its sixth underground nuclear test, according to South Korean military officials.

Trump did not immediately address the development on Twitter.

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Trump’s message to Harvey victims: ‘America is with you’

President Trump and his wife, Melania, arrived in Houston on Saturday in their second trip to the region this week, this time to meet with victims of Hurricane Harvey.

The president’s trip, which will include a planned stop in southeast Louisiana, comes after criticism that his first visit on Tuesday to relatively unscathed Corpus Christi didn’t include a meeting with victims of the storm. Trump said that was intentional because he did not want to interfere with rescue and recovery operations.

After landing midmorning at Ellington Field, Trump spoke to local legislators, handed out food to people forced from their homes by flooding and sought to reassure families and children that his administration was engaged in Texas’ recovery efforts.

“As tough as this was, it’s been a wonderful thing,” Trump said, praising the state’s response. “It’s been very well-received.”

“We’re signing a lot of documents now to get money,” he said, a reference to the White House’s request to Congress on Friday for $7.9 billion in immediate aid. Officials said this was only a down payment, a portion of a much larger funding request that could exceed $100 billion.

At the hurricane relief center, the president praised Texas’ rescue and recovery efforts and called Gov. Greg Abbott a “great, great governor.”

“It’s going so well that it’s going fast, in a certain sense,” he said, adding that while the process of rebuilding might take some states years, “because this is Texas, you’ll probably do it in six months.”

The president did not mention the dead or the survivors who remain stranded days after the storm lashed Texas with record rainfall.

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Trump hails ‘great progress’ in Texas and Louisiana

President Trump said that “great progress” was being made in areas of Texas and Louisiana recovering from Harvey.

Trump tweeted Friday night that he and First Lady Melania Trump planned to visit both states on Saturday.

The president also said that he would spend the rest of the weekend at the White House. He assured the public that he would be working while there.

Trump’s tweet came a short time after his administration approved Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ request to expand a federal emergency declaration there.

Though the storm had largely moved on by Friday, evacuation orders were issued for parts of Texas and western Louisiana as rivers threatened to overflow and water was released from reservoirs in some areas.

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Trump touts rise in U.S. stocks

U.S. stocks rose Friday as investors viewed a relatively weak jobs report for August as likely to help keep interest rates low.

President Trump noted the development Friday evening in a tweet.

The Labor Department said U.S. employers added 156,000 jobs in August. That was a bit less than analysts expected, but investors were pleased that the economy kept growing at a steady pace while inflation remains weak. They bet that will keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates too quickly.

Car companies made gains as they reported their August sales. Wall Street expects them to get a boost as Gulf Coast residents replace the hundreds of thousands of cars damaged by rains and flooding this week.

Banks rose as bond prices dropped, which sent yields and interest rates higher.

The pattern of slow but steady job gains and weak inflation has helped push stocks up for years. Investors have worried at times that the Federal Reserve would raise rates too fast and that the economy would stumble.

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Trump says his administration is getting things done ‘at a record clip’

President Trump praised his chief of staff Friday and said that his administration is getting things done “at a record clip.”

Trump took to Twitter to push the positive pronouncements Friday morning amid reports that he’s feeling increasingly shackled by John F. Kelly’s attempts to control the information he receives and limit who has access to the president.

Trump also insisted that his administration is accomplishing his mandates quickly, despite his failed attempt at a healthcare overhaul and other major setbacks.

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Trump proclaims day of prayer for Harvey victims

President Trump has signed a proclamation establishing Sunday as a day of prayer for those dealing with the aftermath of Harvey.

The president was joined Friday in the Oval Office by leaders of the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.

He commended the families and rescue workers dealing with the remnants of the massive storm in Texas and Louisiana.

Trump said that the people of Texas and Louisiana have taught Americans “a powerful lesson” with their resilience and strength, and that there’s been an “outbreak of compassion” that has inspired the nation.

Trump will be going to Texas and Louisiana on Saturday to survey the damage from the storm. He traveled to Texas earlier in the week.

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Trump bashes FBI’s handling of Hillary Clinton email probe: ‘A rigged system!’

The FBI’s Hillary Clinton email investigation that ended last year without charges remains a lingering grievance for President Trump, who for months has held it up as an example of a “rigged” criminal justice system that shielded his Democratic opponent from punishment for her private server.

Trump flared up again Friday, tweeting that FBI Director James B. Comey exonerated Clinton months before the investigation was actually over.

Trump’s tweet appeared to have been prompted by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s release Thursday of excerpts from interview transcripts involving top FBI officials, including people close to Comey.

The interviews were done by investigators from the independent Office of Special Counsel, who were trying to determine whether Comey’s actions had violated a federal law that bars government officials from using their positions to influence an election. That investigation was closed following Comey’s firing by Trump in May.

There is some support for Trump’s contention that Comey expected to close out the investigation well before he actually did, but there is more to it. Transcripts released by the Senate Judiciary Committee show that Comey, who had been receiving regular briefings on the investigation, had determined that charges were not warranted months before Clinton and other key witnesses had been interviewed.

But Trump’s tweet overlooks the fact that the FBI never actually closed out the investigation until all of the witnesses were interviewed, which means that Comey and his agents could have changed their assessment at any time.

It’s also rather simplistic to say that Comey “exonerated” Clinton. Though he declined to recommend criminal charges, he delivered a public rebuke of her during an unusual news conference in which he chastised her and her aides as “extremely careless” in their handling of classified information.

And Comey did effectively reopen the investigation months later, when the FBI discovered an additional batch of emails tied to the case on a laptop belonging to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, has filed for divorce.

The public revelation of the emails, coming days before the Nov. 8 election, led to bipartisan criticism that the FBI was inappropriately commenting on an open investigation.

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Trump responds to North Korea’s latest missile test: ‘Talking is not the answer!’

President Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to respond to North Korea’s latest missile test, which flew over northern Japan on Monday, and to subsequent threats from the isolated nation’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

North Korean state media quoted Kim as saying that Monday’s test of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile was “the first step of the military operation” to target Guam, a U.S. territory that’s home to U.S. Navy and Air Force bases.

North Korea has fired 21 missiles during 14 tests since February, including three on Saturday, with many landing in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

Last month, North Korea successfully test-launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles — weapons in theory capable of striking the U.S. mainland, including California.

Trump’s statement Wednesday raised questions about what the president meant, if diplomacy was not the way forward. Trump’s Cabinet members, including Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, have repeatedly advocated for dialogue to ease tension with the defiant communist country.

Less than three hours after Trump’s tweet, Mattis again emphasized diplomacy as the path forward.

“We’re never out of diplomatic solutions,” he told reporters while greeting South Korea’s defense minister, Song Young-moo, at the Pentagon.

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Trump thanks ‘incredible heroes’ in Texas

President Trump thanked rescuers who continued to pluck victims from floods inundating Texas towns on Thursday.

With the weakened remnants of former Hurricane Harvey delivering drenching rainfall, Houston and the vast area already hammered by the massive storm grappled with fresh perils as the waters began to recede, leaving behind a stew of toxic muck.

The death toll from the storm — which roared ashore Friday as a hurricane and was downgraded first to a tropical storm, then overnight to a tropical depression — reached 31, but was expected to rise, perhaps sharply. The grim work of recovering the bodies of those who were trapped in homes or vehicles gathered speed in Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city.

Methodical block-by-block searches were underway in what had been some of the hardest-hit areas, said Houston’s assistant fire chief, Richard Mann.

The Trump administration was maintaining a visible presence in the hurricane-hit zone. After a high-profile visit Tuesday by President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence flew in, accompanied by several Cabinet secretaries.

Read MoreThis post contains reporting from staff writers Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Laura King and Matt Pearce

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Why did Trump lash out at ‘dying magazines’? Backlash over Melania’s ‘hurricane heels’ might be to blame

President Trump lashed out at the news media Wednesday morning in a tweet expressing incredulity at what he called “false reporting and even ferocious anger in some dying magazines.”

It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what sparked the comment.

Some speculated that the president was responding to what he saw as overly critical media coverage of his Tuesday trip to Texas to tour Harvey recovery efforts, including a number of reports that focused on First Lady Melania Trump’s choice of footwear.

The first lady was photographed wearing stilettos as she boarded Air Force One for the trip, though she reportedly changed into sneakers before landing in Texas.

By that time, the stilettos had launched a litany of commentary, with some describing them as a metaphor for a White House that critics have portrayed as out of touch with the nature of everyday realities.

A Fox News report labeled “bias alert” noted that Vogue.com published one such column with the headline, “Melania Trump’s Hurricane Stilettos, and the White House’s Continual Failure to Understand Optics.”

Similar columns appeared on the websites of the Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair and the New York Times.

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Trump seeks to reassure Harvey victims at top of speech on tax reform

President Trump set aside his focus on talking up Harvey recovery efforts Wednesday to speak directly to the suffering of victims, saying that “all of America is grieving with you.”

His remarks came at the top of an address in Springfield, Mo., about the tax code.

Trump sought to reassure those who had lost loved ones and property. “We are here with you today, we are here with you tomorrow, and we will be with you every single day after, to restore, recover, and rebuild,” he said.

Trump thanked Texas responders and officials, noting that he’d traveled to the state Tuesday to begin coordinating a “very big and unprecedented federal response” to damage wrought by the storm.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump tweeted that on his trip to Texas he had witnessed “first hand the horror & devastation” wrought by Harvey. He wrote that after seeing the widespread damage, “my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!”

But Trump saw little damage during his visit to Corpus Christi — mostly boarded-up windows, downed tree limbs and fences askew. And that was through the tinted windows of his SUV as his motorcade took him from the airport to a firehouse in a city already nearly back to normal.

The president deliberately kept his distance from the epicenter of the damage in Houston to avoid disrupting recovery operations. Trump also visited Austin during his trip Tuesday, when he met with officials at the state emergency operations center.

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Trump talks up tax reform ahead of speech: ‘So badly needed!’

President Trump traveled Wednesday to Missouri to speak about tax reform, which he called “so badly needed!” in a morning tweet.

In a speech heavy on populism but almost devoid of specifics, Trump launched what the White House said will be an aggressive push for a tax-code overhaul centered on slashing the rate paid by companies.

“Lower taxes on American business means higher wages for American workers and it means more products made right here in the U.S.A.,” Trump told a crowd at the Loren Cook Co. manufacturing plant in Springfield, Mo.

As expected, Trump provided no new details on a tax plan that he is leaving largely to congressional Republicans to draft. Advisors and lawmakers have said it would be unveiled in the coming weeks, based in part on a skeletal one-page outline that the administration released in April.

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