US President Donald Trump has chastised French President Emmanuel Macron for sending Iran “mixed signals”.

Trump scolded Macron on Thursday telling him that no one was authorized to act in the role of mediator between the US and Iran.

“I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself,” Trump said in a tweet.

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump · 11h

Iran is in serious financial trouble. They want desperately to talk to the U.S., but are given mixed signals from all of those purporting to represent us, including President Macron of France….

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump

….I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself. No one is authorized in any way, shape, or form, to represent us!

It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to, but a report earlier this week said Macron had invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to this month’s G7 summit to meet Trump.

European leaders are seeking to ease the escalating crisis between Tehran and Washington after Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear last year prompting Tehran to scale back its commitments under the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

A main topic of the G7 summit later this month is expected to be the repercussions of European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal continuing to renege on their obligations.

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the US cannot change the fact that affairs were shifting in favor of Iran.

Zarif rebuked the hawkish group of politicians and regional leaders, often referred to as the B-team, who were trying to pressure and isolate Iran by undermining the Iran nuclear deal and instigating regional tensions.

Trump and his administration officials have previously claimed that the US leadership is open to talks with Iran and that the United States does not want a war with Iran.

Source: Presstv

US Democratic presidential front runner Joe Biden says President Donald Trump has “fanned the flames of white supremacy” in the country as Americans are yet recover from two deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.

Speaking at a campaign event in Burlington, Iowa, Wednesday, the former US vice president directly attacked Trump for promoting hate and fear within America in the wake of the two shootings that left more than 30 people dead and many others injured.

“In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation,” said the 76-year-old 2020 presidential candidate. “His low energy, vacant-eyed mouthing the words written for him condemning white supremacists this week, I don’t believe, fooled anyone at home or abroad.”

President with no ‘moral authority’

Biden further slammed Trump’s double policy in slamming what he refers to as “Islamic terrorism,” yet failing to condemn white supremacy.

“Trump readily, eagerly attacks Islamic terrorism but can barely bring himself to use the words white supremacy,” he said. “Our president has aligned himself with the darkest forces in this nation. It makes winning this battle for the soul of our nation that much tougher, harder.”

Biden made the comments as Trump was visiting Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, to meet with police and some of the surviving victims but anti-Trump protesters were also there to shout that he is not welcome.

“Indeed we have a president with a toxic tongue who has publicly and unapologetically embraced the political strategy of hate, racism and division. So it’s up to us as it was in the 20s,” Biden said. “It’s up to us. We’re living through a rare moment in this nation’s history where our president isn’t up to the moment, where our president lacks the moral authority to lead, where our president has more in common with George Wallace than he does with George Washington.”

His comments are probably the harshest so far directed at the US president.

In his visit to El Paso, Trump asserted that he had an “amazing day,” further bragging about witnessing the “love for the office of presidency.”

Source: Presstv

Five lawmakers hailing from Washington state have joined the long list of legislators pressing for an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

The Hill carried the report on Sunday, identifying the quintet as Derek Kilmer, Kim Schrier, Suzan DelBene, and Denny Heck from the House as well as Patty Murray from the Senate.

The representatives all cited a report compiled by former special counsel Robert Mueller on accusations of collaboration between Trump’s election campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election that was won by Trump.

Mueller testified to Congress on Wednesday. He said he would not exonerate Trump from allegation of obstructing justice in the case, although the report failed to directly blame the head of state for such wrongdoing during his electioneering.

Trump touted the hearings as a success, declaring the “phony cloud” cast by the investigation had been lifted and insisted “there was no defense to this ridiculous hoax, this witchhunt.”

The foursome’s support for the impeachment probe brings the total number of House Democrats calling for the proceedings to 103, just 15 shy of a majority of the House Democratic Caucus.

Murray, meanwhile, said in his statement, “As we have learned more about the gravity of the potential threats to our democracy identified in Special Counsel Mueller’s report, it has become clear the House should begin proceedings to determine whether the President’s actions necessitate impeachment.”

Also on Sunday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, conveyed his verbal support for Trump’s impeachment, but withheld an official endorsement.

“My personal view is that [Trump] richly deserves impeachment. He has done many impeachable offenses,” Nadler said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Source: Presstv

Large majorities of Americans believe the tone of political debate in the United States has become more negative in recent years and the inflammatory political rhetoric could encourage acts of violence, and President Donald Trump is a major factor in this growing problem, according to a new poll.

Some 85 percent of US adults say that political debate in the country has become more negative and less respectful, according to a survey conducted this spring by the Pew Research Center, a fact tank based in Washington, DC.

The poll found that 55 percent of Americans believe Trump has changed the tone and nature of US political debate for the worse, while  just 24 percent say he has changed it for the better.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents overwhelmingly say the Republican president has changed political discourse for the worse. Eight-in-ten or more Democrats say Trump’s comments often or sometimes make them feel concerned, confused, embarrassed, exhausted, angry, insulted and frightened.

Republicans are considerably less likely than Democrats to report these negative reactions to Trump’s rhetoric.

Additionally, nearly three-quarters of Americans, or 73 percent, say that elected officials should avoid using heated language because it could encourage violence. Just a quarter believe that elected officials “should be able to use heated language to express themselves.

Trump’s recent attacks on four female lawmakers in the US House of Representatives has triggered widespread backlash in the country.

The four legislators are all women of color and members of the Democratic Party, serving in their first term in office.

Trump triggered a firestorm this week after he tweeted that the four progressive lawmakers, known as “the squad,” should “go back” where they came from, even though all are US citizens and three are US-born.

The so-called squad are Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

Omar was born in Somalia and immigrated to the US as a refugee in 1995 when she was a child. She became a US citizen in 2000 at age 17.

Trump stepped up his vilification of four liberal female lawmakers as “un-American” at a raucous rally on Wednesday, in Greenville, North Carolina. As Trump recounted past comments by Omar, the crowd began chanting: “Send her back!”

Omar told reporters at the US Capitol on Wednesday that Trump is “spewing his fascist ideology.”

“As much as he’s spewing his fascist ideology on stage, telling US citizens to go back because they don’t agree with his detrimental policies for our country, we tell people that here in the United States: dissent is patriotic,” Omar said.

Source: Presstv

The US House of Representatives has passed a resolution officially condemning President Donald Trump’s racist comments against four minority Democratic congresswomen.

The resolution passed on Tuesday denounces Trump for his “racist comments that have legitimized fear and hatred of New Americans and people of color.”

Referring to Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib Michigan and Ayanna Pressley Massachusetts, Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly……

Three of the four Representatives were born in the United States, but all are US citizens. Omar, a Muslim congresswoman, was born in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and immigrated to the US as a refugee.

Speaking on the House floor prior to Tuesday vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to “join us in condemning the president’s racist tweets.”

“To do anything less would be a shocking rejection of our values and a shameful abdication of our oath of office to protect the American people.”

Meanwhile, a growing number of Republicans, after initial hesitation, began to openly criticize Trump.

Texas Representative Will Hurd, for example, described Trump’s tweets as “racist and xenophobic” and “unbecoming of the leader of the free world.” Also, after one Ohio Representative, Mike Turner, called Trump’s words “racist,” four other Republicans from the same US state joined him in condemning the comments.

Nonetheless, some other Republicans continued to support Trump, with Representative Dan Meuser, Republican of Pennsylvania saying, “What has really happened here is that the president and his supporters have been forced to endure months of allegations of racism.”

“This ridiculous slander does a disservice to our nation,” Meuser said.

Trump, in response to the vote, said on Twitter that “those Tweets were NOT Racist,” adding, “I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!”

Source: Presstv

A new opinion survey shows that US President Donald Trump trails the Democratic Party’s most-talked-about presidential aspirants, ex-vice president Joe Biden, senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

The poll was conducted between July 7 and 9 among 800 registered voters. It was undertaken jointly by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal.

Clashing head to head, Biden would beat Trump 51 to 42 percent in the next election, while Sanders would overtake him ​​​​50 to 43, the poll showed.

Warren would also beat Trump outside the poll’s 3.5 percent margin of error by 48 percent against the president’s 43.

Sen. Kamala Harris will be successful too, but winning over Trump 45 to 44.

The hopefuls attend a heated televised debate on a monthly basis, which bears heavily on their respective popular image.

The competition is gaining momentum amid continued controversy surrounding Trump’s 2016 victory.

The furor concerns the country’s Electoral College system, and ongoing accusations of foreign meddling in the elections.

The system overrides the popular vote, which gives the victory to the candidate winning the most ballots. It instead makes 538 electors across different states, who are chosen based on each state’s representation in Congress, liable for electing the chief executive. Therefore, if a contestant secures at least 270 of the electoral votes, they have won the presidential race.

In 2016, the mechanism handed the presidential election’s victory to Trump over Hillary Clinton, although the voters had given the latter three million more votes.

The accusations of foreign intervention relates to claims that Russia conducted a campaign, including through various social media accounts, in order to positively influence the public opinion in Trump’s favor. Both Moscow and the president roundly rejects the claims.

Britain’s ambassador to Washington resigned Wednesday after Donald Trump labelled him “stupid” and “wacky” following a leak of confidential diplomatic memos in which the envoy said the US president’s administration was inept.

The shock resignation of British Ambassador to the US, Kim Darroch, a day after a Conservative Party leadership debate sparked accusations that frontrunner Boris Johnson had thrown the envoy “under the bus”.

At a Tuesday night debate, Johnson and Jeremy Hunt — the two contenders for the prime minister’s post – were asked if they would support Darroch if they were prime minister.

While Hunt replied in the affirmative, Johnson evaded the question and gave a banal response on the importance of US-UK bilateral relations.

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump

The wacky Ambassador that the U.K. foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy. He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister May, about their failed Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism of how badly it was…

“It was the make-or-break moment,” explained Philip Turle, FRANCE 24’s international news commentator. “Reports are coming in that Sir Kim Darroch watched that debate and because Boris Johnson is the favourite to take over as prime minister after Theresa May, he [Darroch] knew that if that was the case he would not receive the support from Boris Johnson to remain in the job. That’s what pushed him to hand in his resignation.”

‘Johnson’s comments may have prompted resignation’

‘Impossible’ to carry out ambassador’s role

The resignation followed days of embarrassing headlines and tweets which were sparked by a leak of British diplomatic cables that included Darroch’s assessment that the Trump presidency was inept.

The US president responded with a series of withering tweets, branding Darroch “very stupid” and May “foolish”. As the spat intensified, Trump said he would no longer deal with Darroch.

Citing reasons for his resignation, Darroch said his position had become untenable. “Since the leak of official documents from this Embassy there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding my position and the duration of my remaining term as ambassador,” said Darroch, who was due to step down at the end of the year.

“I want to put an end to that speculation. The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.”

May backs Darroch

In his confidential memos dating from 2017 to the present, Darroch, 65, had said reports of in-fighting in the White House were “mostly true” and last month described confusion within the administration over Trump’s decision to call off a military strike on Iran.

“We don’t really believe this Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction-riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept,” Darroch wrote in one cable.

May told parliament that ministers had expressed their backing for Darroch, a career diplomat who was due to leave his post anyway at the end of the year.

“I have told him it is a matter of great regret that he has felt it necessary to leave his position as ambassador to Washington,” she said. “The whole cabinet rightly gave its full support to Sir Kim on Tuesday.”

May supports Darroch’s ‘full and frank advice’

The souring of relations between Britain and the United States comes at a particularly unwelcome time for London, which is mired in the details of how and when to leave the European Union, a departure currently scheduled for October 31.

Britain is hoping to strike a major post-Brexit trade deal with Washington as one of the upsides of leaving the bloc.

May herself is due to step down as prime minister by the end of July and while one of the two contenders to replace her, foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, had said Darroch should keep his job, the other, frontrunner Boris Johnson, had pointedly declined to do so.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

A new poll shows nearly half the United States population believes that President Donald Trump should be impeached over his performance at the White House while the majority, 53 percent, say he should not.

The new Gallup poll released Wednesday shows that 45 percent of Americans want US Congress to take action and impeach the commander in chief.

The figure involves seven percent of Republicans, 46 percent of Independents and 81 percent of Democrats.

The poll was released as Democrats in control of the US House of Representatives were wondering whether they should confront Trump with impeachment.

Support for impeachment, however, has exceeded former Presidents Clinton and Nixon at the during the Monica Lewinsky scandal and at the beginning of the Watergate controversy respectively, according to Gallup.

Calls for impeachment of Trump have grown among politicians in the United States in the wake of the special counsel’s final statement at the conclusion of the so-called Russia probe.

In his last statement, the special counsel neither cleared the president nor charged him, throwing the ball into the Congress’ court.

Mueller argued that the decision not to charge Trump was made based on the Justice Department’s longstanding policy of not bringing charges against a sitting president.

Mueller has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committee on July 17.

The Gallup poll also showed that the president is still enjoying a low favorability, fluctuating between 40% and 43% since early May.

Source: Presstv

Former US Vice President Joe Biden, who is considered the favorite Democratic candidate to face President Donald Trump in the 2020 race for the White House, has lost some of his supporters following a weak showing in the first presidential debate last week, a new poll shows.

The CNN survey released Monday showed that Biden’s popularity among Democratic voters slipped to 22 percent after the debate on Friday, a whopping 10 percent drop since late May.

The veteran politician, who served as former President Barack Obama’s VP, still polled the highest among the two-dozen contenders for the Democratic nomination.

Biden’s loss was largely due to a surprisingly strong showing by Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat whose exchange with Biden on racial discrimination has been described by many as the highlight of the debate.

Harris, who aims to be the first black female US president, ranked a relatively close second to Biden with 17 percent support in the poll.

A separate poll by Politico/Morning Consult on Saturday returned similar result, with Biden’s support dropping to 33 percent from 38 percent before the debate.

This is while Harris doubled her support as she climbed to 12 percent from six percent pre-debate.

Tying with Harris at 12 percent was progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren in that poll. Warren shadowed Harris in the CNN poll with 15 percent support.

The poll also recorded declining support for leftwing Senator Bernie Sanders, who dropped to 14 percent from 18 per cent before the debates.

The Politico/Morning Consult poll however did not register any changes in Sanders’ and put him in second place after Biden.

Pete Buttigieg, the young mayor of South Bend, Indiana, came in fifth place in both polls, scoring four percent in the CNN poll and six percent in the Politico/Morning Consult survey.

Despite the drop in support, voters still saw Biden as the strongest candidate in the field, with 43 percent saying he was the only Democrat with a chance to unseat Trump.

Only 13 per cent believed Sanders could do the job, while Harris managed to convince 12 per cent of voters.

US President Donald Trump has confidently spoken about his intention to sweep the country’s upcoming presidential polls, playing down poll returns that have cast doubt on his reelection chances in some key states.

CNN and other American media outlets have reported that the US president is behind key Democratic hopeful and former vice president Joe Biden in states like Michigan and Wisconsin.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Trump, however, said, “I’m probably not too prepared to lose. I don’t like losing. I haven’t lost very much in my life.”

The head of state has also ordered firing of several pollsters in reaction to the unwelcome statistics.

In 2016, a mechanism called the Electoral College system, which overrides the popular vote making 538 electors across different states liable for electing the chief executive, handed the presidential election’s victory to Trump over the Democratic Party’s Nominee Hillary Clinton. This is while voters had given the latter three million more votes.

Still, Trump claimed he did not “believe” in the validity of “a lot” of votes cast which showed he had lost the popular vote to Clinton.

“I’ll say something that, again, is controversial. There were a lot of votes cast that I don’t believe,” he said on NBC.

Trump, though, hailed Clinton as “a great candidate,” saying, “She was very smart. She was very tough. She was ruthless and vicious.”

He suggested that he would find running against Biden to be much easier than having to contend against Clinton again. “[Biden’s] sleepy. She was not sleepy.” 

The US president formally launched his re-election campaign on June 18.

“We are going to keep America great again,” Trump told a packed arena in Orlando, Florida, distancing himself from his trademark 2016 election slogan of “Make America Great Again,” which had invited him much controversy.

He sidestepped the issue of a consistent unfavorable performance in popularity votes, which has dogged him ever since he took office, and took credit for a strong economy.

The US economy has grown to some extent under Trump. Economists, however, put the growth down to his cutting the country’s contribution to various international accords and humanitarian funds as well as huge increase in the American arms exports to flashpoint areas across the world under the president.

Source: Presstv