Trump Saudi statement: What the president's words reveal
- 20 November 2018
- From the section US & Canada
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Getty Images
"Statement from President Donald J Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia" - the title of the White House release leaves little doubt about where he comes down on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
With the US Central Intelligence Agency reportedly poised to conclude that senior members of the Saudi Arabian government were responsible for Khashoggi's death, Mr Trump's move could be viewed as an attempt to pre-empt that finding and clearly indicate that a strong US-Saudi alliance will continue undeterred.
Each section of the exclamation-point-filled presidential statement (full transcript at foot of page) merits closer inspection.
America First!
The world is a very dangerous place!
Say what you want, the president knows how to write a good opening. In two lines, he offers a distillation of his foreign policy priorities - contrasting the supremacy of American interests with a dismal view of the rest of the world, where bad things often happen beyond US control.
Iran
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US mid-terms: How election results just got worse for Trump
- 19 November 2018
- From the section US & Canada
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Getty Images
It's taken almost two weeks, but most of the dust has finally settled from the 2018 mid-term elections. What initially appeared to be a mixed picture for Donald Trump and the Republicans has grown darker - but there is a Sunshine State silver lining.
On the morning after polling, Mr Trump said the results showed almost a "complete victory".
Read full article US mid-terms: How election results just got worse for Trump
US mid-term election set record voter turnout
- 15 November 2018
- From the section US & Canada
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Getty Images
If Donald Trump has one undisputable achievement during the first two years of his presidency, it's that he has succeeded in increasing the political engagement of a large share of the American public.
Preliminary figures for nationwide turnout in the 2018 mid-term elections are in, and they've reached a mark not seen in more than a century. Across the US, 49.2% of the voting age public cast ballots. In 2014 that number was 37%, and the average over the last few decades has hovered around 40%.
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Mid-term election results: The lessons US Democrats can learn for 2020
- 8 November 2018
- From the section US & Canada
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Getty Images
Calibrate your watches. The race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination starts… right… NOW. And what happened in Tuesday's mid-term elections could have a big influence on how that contest shapes up.
The Democratic doomsday scenario, where the party failed to take control of either chamber of Congress, was averted.
Read full article Mid-term election results: The lessons US Democrats can learn for 2020
Trump fires Jeff Sessions - is Robert Mueller next?
- 7 November 2018
- From the section US & Canada
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Donald Trump may not be about to shut down Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation. If that's what he's trying to do, however, this is what the first step would look like.
By finally dropping the axe on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the president ensures that a much friendlier, more partisan official is now in charge of the probe. Because of Mr Sessions' recusal from the matter due to his ties to the Trump campaign and his own questionable contacts with Russian officials, oversight duty had fallen to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Read full article Trump fires Jeff Sessions - is Robert Mueller next?
Mid-term election results: What it all means for Trump
- 7 November 2018
- From the section US & Canada
The Democrats have clawed their way back to a measure of power in the US federal government. The era of unified rule for Donald Trump and the Republicans is over.
Calling just two years an "era" may be a stretch, of course, but in the age of Trump even days and weeks can seem like an infinite and expanding series of news cycles.
Read full article Mid-term election results: What it all means for Trump
Mid-term election results: A tale of two chambers
- 7 November 2018
- From the section US & Canada
The 2018 US mid-term election saw high turnout and a change in who controls one chamber of Congress. Here are some of the key takeaways I had as the results came in.
23:15 EST (04:15 GMT) It's a tale of two chambers
The door to a Democratic-controlled Senate slammed shut with little suspense. Donald Trump will continue to have a Republican majority ready and willing to confirm his executive and judicial appointments. The only question now is the size of his party's advantage.
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US mid-term elections: The Republican who changed his mind over guns
- 22 October 2018
- From the section US & Canada
Not long ago Republican Phil Scott was one of the most popular governors in America, poised for a comfortable re-election in November. Then, after a possible school shooting was discovered by police in Vermont, he decided to support sweeping gun-control legislation - and has reaped a political whirlwind.
The Vermont governor stands at a lectern in front of the state capitol building in Montpelier on a grey, blustery April day earlier this year. His wife and various politicians, officials and dignitaries stand behind him. Before him, a motley crowd. Some are cheering; others are angry - and loud.
Read full article US mid-term elections: The Republican who changed his mind over guns
Kiah Morris: Vermont's only black woman lawmaker on why she quit
- 16 October 2018
- From the section US & Canada
Kiah Morris, the only black woman in the Vermont legislature, shocked the US state when she resigned last month, citing ongoing racial harassment. Even in one of the most progressive states in America, she says white supremacy and a toxic political discourse are serious, unacknowledged problems.
Kiah Morris was puzzled. Why did friends on social media keep sending her links to a Saturday Night Live comedy video? Then she watched it.
Read full article Kiah Morris: Vermont's only black woman lawmaker on why she quit
Kavanaugh vote: The political fallout from the Supreme Court battle
- 6 October 2018
- From the section US & Canada
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Reuters
The Republican Party finally got the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Although that battle is over, the political war is just beginning.
Donald Trump's court pick generated a controversy that captured the nation's attention in a way that few political issues do. It generated daily headlines rivalled only by the US quadrennial presidential elections.
Read full article Kavanaugh vote: The political fallout from the Supreme Court battle
