Trump travel ban: Judge expands definition of relatives

Donald Trump would have 'no problem' talking to Kim Jong-un

27 May

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has declared that he would be willing to open up talks with Kim Jong-un if he is elected to the White House in November.

"I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him," Trump said during an unusually in-depth discussion of foreign policy with Reuters.

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Engaging in one-on-one talks with North Korea's leader would signal a major shift in attitude towards the pariah state.

"Trump's preparedness to talk directly with Kim contrasts with President Barack Obama's policy of relying on senior US officials to talk to senior North Korean officials," Reuters reports.

Trump added that if he were president, he would encourage China, North Korea's only ally, to put economic pressure on Kim Jong-un to end his country's controversial nuclear testing programme.

"China can solve that problem with one meeting or one phone call," he said, but declined to go into further detail about how such a solution might work.

The Clinton camp was quick to criticise Trump's comments, particularly in light of the Republican frontrunner's recent remarks that he was unlikely to have a good relationship with David Cameron, after the Prime Minister condemned his proposed ban on Muslims entering the US.

"Donald Trump insults the leader of our closest ally, then turns around and says he'd love to talk to Kim Jong-un?" Clinton's senior foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement, accusing Trump of having a "bizarre fascination with foreign strongmen like Putin and Kim".

Elsewhere in the interview, Trump – who has previously described himself as "not a great believer in manmade climate change" – called for a renegotiation of the Paris climate accords. The US was one of 195 nations to pledge to limit global warming at the historic summit last year.

Until now, Trump has generally shied away from detailed discussions of his policies – particularly on foreign affairs, widely seen as Clinton's area of expertise. His willingness to expand on some of his plans for the nation perhaps means the presumptive candidate is making good on his vow last month to become "so presidential that you people will be so bored".

US election 2016: Trump last man standing after Kasich quits

05 May

John Kasich has formally suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination, leaving Donald Trump as the only remaining candidate in the Republican race to become president.

The Ohio governor made his announcement in a downbeat 15-minute speech, delivered in a hastily arranged event a day after fellow White House hopeful Ted Cruz ended his campaign.

"We never had all the money we wanted, we were probably outspent by 50:1, but we did the best we could," he told supporters.

Kasich's exit marks the formal end of "the most extraordinary race for the Republican presidential nomination in modern political history", says The Guardian, leaving Trump with only the Democratic nominee – likely to be Hillary Clinton – standing between him and the White House.

The businessman will now attempt to unite the right, says the Washington Post, but that could prove a tall order.

"Party leaders are scrambling to stave off a parade of prominent Republicans endorsing Clinton, but already there were notable defections," says the newspaper.

George HW Bush and George W Bush, the two living former Republican presidents, who supported John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012, have no plans to endorse Trump.

The antipathy among Republicans "will not fade" simply because his rivals have ceded the race, says the New York Times.

"The widespread discomfort and anxiety about Mr Trump was utterly clear in the hours after he became the presumptive nominee on Tuesday night," adds the newspaper. "Most leading Republicans were publicly silent. And the dearth of congratulatory news releases and Twitter posts spoke volumes."

US election 2016: Trump aims to 'win bigly' as Cruz quits

4 May

Ted Cruz has suspended his presidential campaign after a heavy defeat by Donald Trump in the Indiana primary yesterday.

"From the beginning, I've said that I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory," said Cruz. "Tonight, I'm sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed."

His decision leaves Trump as the Republican Party's "presumptive nominee", the chairman of the Republican National Committee said.

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Ohio governor John Kasich, who was a distant third coming into the vote, has refused to drop out of the race despite Trump's insurmountable lead. "Tonight's results are not going to alter Governor Kasich's campaign plans," his team said.

Trump adopted a more subdued tone than usual in his victory speech, congratulating Cruz and calling him "one hell of a competitor" and a "tough, smart guy" - a sign that the White House hopeful will now begin working on healing the internal rift within the Republican Party after weeks of blistering attacks on the establishment.

"We've been losing all the time - we lose with our military, we can't beat Isis, we lose with trade, we lose with borders, we lose with everything," he told supporters. "We're not going to lose. We are going to start winning again and we're going to win bigly."

But placating the party might prove difficult. "In the coming days there will be a great reckoning, as the party comes to terms with the prospect of Mr Trump as their standard bearer in the autumn," says the BBC. "Some will make peace. Some will despair. Others will say 'I'm with her' and reluctantly move to Hillary Clinton's side."

Nor is it only the presidency at stake. "Many members of his own party fear that his divisive rhetoric is so repulsive to key blocs of voters – especially women and minorities – that the Republicans risk losing not only the White House but also the Senate and perhaps even the House of Representatives in November," says The Times.

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders scored a narrow victory over Hillary Clinton in Indiana, taking the state by 4.8 per cent.

Trump and Clinton extend their leads

27 April

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have extended their leads in the race for their parties' nominations after primaries in five US states yesterday.

Trump swept the board in Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island while Clinton triumphed in all but Rhode Island, where rival Bernie Sanders held out.

Sanders told supporters he intends to "stay in the race until the last vote is counted" and indicated that his campaign style may pivot towards an attempt to secure the nomination at the Democratic convention, rather than relying on the race to win more delegates. About 15 per cent of convention votes are cast by "superdelegates" – former Democratic governors, senators and presidents who are free to change their mind until the ballot.

Though Trump was widely expected to dominate the primaries, his margins of victory represented a "breakthrough", says the New York Times. In some states, he received as much as 60 per cent of the vote after months of winning many primaries without a majority.

"I consider myself the presumptive nominee," the businessman announced.

The wins certainly "keep alive his hopes of clinching the nomination on the first ballot at the GOP convention in July", says The Guardian, but two roadblocks remain: Ted Cruz and John Kasich. Trump's Republican rivals have teamed up against him in recent days to try to prevent him from winning in Oregon, Indiana and New Mexico.