US election 2016: Donald Trump defends Wisconsin police shooting
17 August
Donald Trump has said initial evidence suggests the killing of a 23-year-old black man by police officers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was justified.
Sylville Smith was shot dead by police on Saturday after officers claimed he has been acting "suspiciously" and fled when approached. Police say he was carrying a firearm and refused to drop his weapon when they opened fire.
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"The gun was pointed at his [a police officer's] head supposedly ready to be fired," the Republican presidential candidate said. "Who can have a problem with that? That's what the narrative is. Maybe it's not true. If it is true, people shouldn't be rioting."
Speaking on the outskirts of the city last night, the billionaire also said Hillary Clinton and the Democrats had "failed and betrayed" African-Americans.
However, says the New York Times, Trump has "turned down repeated invitations to address gatherings of black leaders, ignored African-American conservatives in states he needs to win and made numerous inflammatory comments about minorities".
Smith's death, the latest in a series of shootings by police officers in the US, sparked a wave of protests across the city, some of which turned violent. Several arrests were made and a curfew imposed.
"[But] by Monday morning, many residents called for healing as prayer circles formed in the neighbourhood in which the businesses were burned," CNN reports.
Local resident Syreeta McFadden says the protests are a symptom of a much deeper problem in the city. "Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in the country," she writes in The Guardian. "Economic pressures coexist with tensions between police and black citizens. My hometown has been in crisis for decades and perhaps now, finally, the nation is listening."
US election 2016: Donald Trump 'must disclose Russian ties'
17 August
Donald Trump's presidential bid was hit by another scandal yesterday, when his campaign manager was forced to deny receiving millions of dollars in off-the-books cash payments from the former Russian-backed Ukrainian government.
A series of handwritten ledgers uncovered by Ukrainian investigators and given to the New York Times appear to show $12.7m (£9.7m) in undisclosed payments being made to Paul Manafort from the party of Viktor Yanukovych, the former Ukrainian president, between 2007 and 2012.
Manafort played a key role advising Yanukovych as a political consultant before the politician fled the country in November 2013.
Investigators for Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau, "assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system" that included a "murky" $18m (£13.8m) deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets to a partnership put together by Manafort and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, says the NYT.
Manafort denies the claims, saying he "never received a single off-the-books cash payment" and calling the report "unfounded, silly and nonsensical".
He added: "The simplest answer is the truth: I am a campaign professional. It is well known that I do work in the United States and have done work on overseas campaigns as well."
His lawyer, Richard Hibey, said the allegations were part of a politically motivated "smear" campaign.
Manafort's work in Ukraine "has come under scrutiny and drawn flak for the Trump campaign", says CNN, particularly as the standoff between Ukraine and Russia devolved into violence following Yanukovych's flight to Russia and as the former government's pro-Russian ties and corruption have been made public.
The allegations will also raise further questions over Trump's own links to Russia and "come at a time when his relationship with Moscow and knowledge about regional politics and world events has come into question", says the Daily Mail.
The Democratic Party yesterday insisted questions had to be answered, given the "pro-Putin policy stances adopted by Donald Trump".
Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, said the Republican presidential candidate "has a responsibility to disclose Manafort's and all other campaign employees' and advisers' ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities, including whether any of Trump's employees or advisers are currently representing and or being paid by them".
US election 2016: Donald Trump 'would be our most reckless president'
9 August
Donald Trump would be "the most reckless president in American history", say 50 Republican security experts, who have vowed not to vote for their party's candidate for the White House.
"We are convinced that he would be a dangerous president and would put at risk our country's national security and well-being," they said in an open letter.
The signatories, senior party members who have worked in national security or foreign policy positions in Republican administrations from Richard Nixon to George W Bush, say Trump "lacks the character, values and experience to be president".
He also "appears to lack basic knowledge about and belief in the US Constitution, US laws, and US institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary", they say.
Trump dismissed the signatories as a "failed Washington elite", adding: "The names on this letter are the ones the American people should look to for answers on why the world is a mess and we thank them for coming forward so everyone in this country knows who deserves the blame for making the world such a dangerous place".
The letter "follows a fresh round of Republican defections in the wake of recent controversy surrounding Mr Trump", says the BBC, listing a number of prominent Republicans who are publicly refusing to vote for the nominee, including former first lady Barbara Bush and 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
It also coincided with an announcement by "little-known former CIA operative" Evan McMullin that he would be launching a third-party bid for president as a conservative alternative to Donald Trump, says The Guardian.
McMullin has the support of the "Never Trump" movement, but will "face hurdles getting on the ballot in states where the deadline has already passed", adds the newspaper.
US election 2016: Trump sinks further in worst week of campaign
5 August
Donald Trump has slipped further behind Hillary Clinton in the polls after one of the worst weeks of his campaign and in the face of widespread criticism for his comments to the parents of a fallen US serviceman.
The biggest gap appears in a survey of 1,132 adults published by McClatchy-Marist, which shows Trump's presidential rival with a 15-point lead, standing at 48 per cent to his 33 per cent.
A separate poll in Pennsylvania, a state Bloomberg says is considered a crucial bellwether by Trump's top strategists, the Republican nominee is trailing by 11 points ‒ 49 per cent to 38 per cent ‒ among likely voters at Franklin and Marshall College.
Meanwhile, a national poll of registered voters conducted for NBC News/Wall Street Journal puts Clinton nine points ahead as she bolsters support among women, better-educated and minority voters, almost doubling her lead from July, before the party conventions.
CNBC notes that Clinton's lead, as indicated by these latest polls, is now higher than that held by President Barack Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in 2012.
The polls are further bad news for Trump, who has faced condemnation from all sides over his behaviour towards Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of Muslim war hero Humayun, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq in 2004.
Trump continues to clash with members of his own party, including Speaker Paul Ryan, one of the GOP's most popular and powerful figures, for his suggestion that Khan's wife had been blocked from speaking alongside her husband at the Democratic National Convention.
The businessman also accused Khan of "viciously" attacking him – a comment the Daily Telegraph [5] describes as the point at which the Republican had "finally gone too far".
US election 2016: Is Trump about to drop out of the race?
4 August
Donald Trump is having a bad week: he has slipped in the polls, been labelled "unfit" to hold office by President Barack Obama, caused a media storm and bipartisan condemnation for offending the parents of a fallen serviceman and, in a major blow to party unity, refused to endorse two of the most senior Republicans - Paul Ryan or Senator John McCain - for re-election.
These developments, along with the presidential nominee's unpredictability in both behaviour and rhetoric, have led to rumours GOP officials are preparing a contingency plan should the businessman go into meltdown and quit the race.
Trump, however, insisted at a rally in Florida yesterday that his campaign is doing well. "It's never been so well united. It's the best in terms of being united since we began,” reports CNN.
So what would happen if he did throw in the towel? Well, things could get messy…
Who would step up?
The first thing to note is that the nominee for vice president, in this case Mike Pence, does not receive preferential treatment. According to the Republican National Committee's (RNC) rule book, a replacement can be either a candidate nominated by the national convention or one selected by the 168 members of the committee. It is difficult to know who the preferred individual would be - perhaps speaker of the House Ryan?
Has a candidate ever dropped out before?
No. It would be an unprecedented move and one that could dent confidence in not just the Republican Party, but the entire electoral process.
There have been instances where vice presidents have been replaced, however. Andrew Buncombe of the Independent reports that in October 1912, William Howard Taft’s running mate, James Sherman, had to be changed after he died days before the election. In 1972, Senator Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic nominee, was removed from the race weeks after being nominated because of mental health issues.
If Trump doesn’t quit, can the Republicans oust him?
Not now. We are too far in to the campaign and there is no turning back. If the Republicans wanted to prevent Trump from running for president, reports Vox, the party should have blocked him before offering him the nomination. “It had chances to do that; it passed those chances up”.
Does the billionaire really want to win?
That is the billion-dollar question. The New York Times reported last month that the Republican candidate was asked what would happen if he proved all the naysayers wrong in November and beat Hillary Clinton to the White House. Would he then walk away? "I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens," he said.
US elections 2016: Trump refuses to endorse Ryan and McCain
3 August
Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has refused to endorse two of the most senior Republicans for re-election, in a major blow to party unity.
The billionaire says he is not ready to throw his weight behind House Speaker Paul Ryan or Senator John McCain, as they prepare for their primaries in Wisconsin and Arizona this month.
"I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country," Trump told the Washington Post. "We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm just not quite there yet."
Pundits were quick to point out that his comments mimicked Ryan's remarks about Trump earlier this year. "Trump not only remembered the way Ryan slighted him in May but remembered nearly the exact phrasing and spat it back at Ryan in a brutally effective bit of rhetorical jiu-jitsu," says Vox.
Speaking about McCain, Trump said he has "never been there with him because I've always felt that he should have done a much better job for the veterans."
The Washington Post describes Trump's comments as "an extraordinary breach of political decorum" that underscores the deep divisions that have emerged in the party throughout the presidential race.
Both Ryan and McCain have endorsed Trump, but have been highly critical of some of his most controversial policies and statements.
A campaign spokesperson for Ryan told CNN that "neither the Speaker nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Trump's endorsement," adding that the team "is confident in a victory regardless".
In a sign of the widening split in the party, Richard Hanna became the first Republican member of Congress to say he would vote for Hillary Clinton in the November election. "Trump is unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country," he said.
The New York Times predicts a wave of Republican defections as Trump's campaign continues.
US election 2016: Trump hits back at 'disastrous' Obama
3 August
Donald Trump has hit back at Barack Obama's criticism of being "unfit to hold office" with a scathing attack on the US President's "disastrous" leadership.
"I think he's been a disaster," Trump said in an interview with Fox News. "He's been weak. He's been ineffective."
He also tweeted that Obama will be remembered as the "worst president in the history of the United States".
Earlier, Obama had accused the Republican candidate of being "woefully unprepared" for the White House.
The US President also called on Republican Party leaders to withdraw their endorsements of Trump, questioning how, after repeatedly distancing themselves from the businessman's controversial policy positions, they could continue to support his campaign.
The rebuke came after Trump's criticism of the family of a Muslim US soldier who died in Iraq, along with "comments that displayed apparent confusion related to the Russian incursion into Ukraine", CNN says.
At the weekend, the Republican had told ABC News that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "not going to go into Ukraine, all right?" When reminded of the country's annexation of Crimea, he replied: "OK, well, he's there in a certain way."
Trump's campaign team also took to Facebook to attack Obama and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.
"Obama-Clinton have single-handedly destabilised the Middle East, handed Iraq, Libya and Syria to Isis, and allowed our personnel to be slaughtered at Benghazi. Then they put Iran on the path to nuclear weapons. Then they allowed dozens of veterans to die waiting for medical care that never came," they wrote.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley called Obama's comments "a highly unusual and almost unprecedented moment" as sitting presidents are rarely openly critical of opposition party candidates, the New York Times reports.
"It’s a reflection of just how radical and dangerous President Obama feels that Trump is," he said.
US election 2016: Clinton is the devil, says Trump
2 August
Donald Trump said Hillary Clinton was "the devil" and warned that the presidential election would be "rigged" as he faced growing criticism for his attacks on a US Muslim soldier's grieving family.
Addressing a rally in Pennsylvania, the Republican candidate said Bernie Sanders had "made a deal with the devil" by endorsing Clinton for the Democratic Party's nomination.
"She's the devil," he added.
He'd earlier accused the veteran senator of looking as if he had "buyer's remorse" when listening to Clinton's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
"When she was talking about Bernie last night, the camera was on him and he was angry," he said in an interview with ABC News. "It almost looks like he has buyer’s remorse, like he shouldn't have made the deal.”
The controversial billionaire's comments come in the face of condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats over his remarks relating to the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq in 2004.
Khizr Khan, with his wife, Ghazala, by his side, spoke out against Trump at the Democratic convention – to which the Republican responded by suggesting Ghazala had been blocked from speaking.
He also accused Khan of "viciously" attacking him.
Speaking to the BBC, the Khans said it was time to stand up to Trump.
Senator John McCain and investor Warren Buffett are the latest to criticise the Republican nominee for his comments, which have hit him hard in the polls, with Clinton now leading with 52 per cent to Trump's 43 per cent, according to the latest data from CNN/ORC.
Meanwhile, at a campaign town hall in Columbus, Ohio, Trump said he feared the election would be "rigged", a comment The Guardian says is an unprecedented statement for a major party nominee in modern history.
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