Trump travel ban: Judge expands definition of relatives

Trump's refusal to sell assets is criticised by US ethics chief

12 Janaury

Donald Trump has outlined the steps he plans to take to avoid conflicts of interest when he takes over as president later this month.

He told a press conference yesterday that he was handing control of the vast Trump Organization to his two sons, Eric and Donald Jr. He said that the company would not make any new foreign deals during his presidency.

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The measures were immediately criticised by Walter Shaub, the director of the US Office of Government Ethics, who said they would leave the president vulnerable to "suspicions of corruption", says the New York Times.

He added that Trump should sell his company and place the assets in a blind trust run by a truly independent trustee approved by the ethics office, not a family member.

"His sons are still running the businesses, and, of course, he knows what he owns."

Shaub was appointed by Barack Obama, but also served during the presidency of his Republican predecessor George W Bush. The ethics office "sets standards for 2.7 million employees in the White House and more than 130 executive branch agencies".

"No modern president has entered the White House with such a complicated array of holdings," says the Times. According to Shaub, "every modern president has taken the strong medicine of divestiture".

It's a very rare step for the ethics chief to comment publicly on a President-elect's plans.

The Guardian says that Trump's team did not informed Shaub's office of his plans. The paper quoted Shaub as saying that he was "especially troubled" by plans to put liquid assets in a portfolio approved by ethics officials.

"No one has ever talked to us about the idea, and there's no legal mechanism to do that," he said.

Sheri Dillon, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, told the Times that many of the alternatives the ethics lawyers had advocated, such as selling off Trump's business assets entirely or putting them in a blind trust, were not practical.

Responding to calls to put his assets in a blind trust, she said that Trump "can't unknow he owns Trump Tower, and the press will make sure that any new developments at the Trump Organization are well publicised".

"In addition, Dillon said, the price of a sale of assets would draw scrutiny, and… Trump would still be owed royalties".

Donald Trump has to 'grow up', Joe Biden says

6 January

Joe Biden has publicly declared that Donald Trump needs to "grow up" as he criticised the president-elect's attacks on the US intelligence community.

In a damning interview on PBS NewsHour, the outgoing vice president told the businessman: "Grow up, Donald. Grow up. Time to be an adult. You're president. You've got to do something. Show us what you have."

He added it was "worrisome" that Trump, who takes power in two weeks, was still questioning the intelligence agencies' "overwhelming consensus" that Russia deliberately meddled in the US presidential election by hacking Democratic computers.

"For a president not to have confidence in, not to be prepared to listen to, the myriad intelligence agencies, from defence intelligence to the CIA, is absolutely mindless," he said.

"The idea that you may know more than the intelligence community knows - it's like saying, 'I know more about physics than my professor. I didn't read the book, I just know I know more.'"

Biden also criticised Trump's vow to repeal the Obamacare healthcare plan, saying the future president, while a "good man", lacked knowledge of the system.

This is not the first time he has rounded on the Republican; the pair often clashed during the election campaign, particularly after a tape emerged of Trump talking about groping women, which the vice president said was "a textbook definition of sexual assault.

Biden also told PBS that he will pursue non-political activities, including working with universities on domestic and foreign policy issues, after leaving office this month.

He has said previously that he regrets not running for the White House "every day", although he has not ruled out what would be a third tilt at the presidency in 2020.

In one of his last acts as vice president, Biden will today preside over a joint session of Congress to formally confirm Trump's presidency, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Donald Trump: Why he is siding with Julian Assange against US intelligence community

5 January

Donald Trump has set himself on a collision course with US intelligence services after publicly criticising senior officials and siding against them with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The president-elect mocked the US intelligence agencies due to brief him on alleged Russian hacking of US political groups in a tweet on Wednesday.

"It was his latest attack on a key body he will rely on as commander in chief," says CNN, and again put him at odds with the agencies' unanimous conclusion that Russia hacked Democratic groups and individuals to interfere in the US presidential election.

Despite being elected in November, Trump is yet to meet the heads of US intelligence agencies, although he has repeatedly questioned their assessment of Russian cyber activity.

In another sign of increasing tension between the intelligence community and the president-elect, Trump also tweeted his support for Assange after he told Fox News that Moscow was not the source for WikiLeaks's mass leak of emails from the Democrats.

Both the FBI and CIA say the leaked information was intended to sway the presidential election in Trump's favour.

However, Assange claimed a 14-year-old boy could have carried out one of the hacks and accused the Obama administration of attempting to "delegitimise" a Trump presidency by falsely tying Russia to the attack.

Trump's support represents an astonishing change in fortunes for the Australian hacker, who was publically vilified by conservatives, including Fox News, when he leaked US military secrets and published classified diplomatic cables in 2010.

However, while Trump appears to be on his side, Assange has continued to face criticism from other Republicans. House Speaker Paul Ryan called him a "a sycophant for Russia", later adding: "He leaks, he steals data and he compromises national security."

Senator Mark Warner, vice president of the US intelligence committee, also said the president-elect should have more "respect" for intelligence professionals.

Trump has previously criticised the spy agencies for the faulty intelligence about Iraq's supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction before the US invasion in 2003.

However, "to publicly embarrass some of the most senior intelligence officials in the country and question their motives is unprecedented for a president-elect or incumbent president", says The Independent.

Donald Trump dismisses North Korean missile tests in tweet

3 January

Donald Trump has shot down North Korea's claim that it is close to testing long-range missiles capable of targeting the United States.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made the claim in his New Year message, saying the country was almost ready to test intercontinental ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.

However, the US president-elect derided the suggesting, tweeting simply: "It won't happen!"

Trump also took aim at China over the issue, writing: "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!"

It is Trump's first comment on North Korea's nuclear plans since the US presidential election in November. Prior to that, he had said he might be prepared to have a burger with Kim.

South Korea said Trump's message showed he understood the seriousness of the situation and could be interpreted as a "clear warning" to Pyongyang.

"President-elect Trump and US officials are clearly aware of the gravity and urgency of the North Korean nuclear threat," ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a briefing, reports Reuters.

"There are no ifs or buts in Mr Trump's tweet," the BBC says, adding that the message could mean the president-elect believes North Korea will not be able to finalise the technology or that he thinks the two countries could reach an agreement for it to terminate its nuclear programme.

It could also imply Trump is considering military action, although experts, who calculate Pyongyang is less than five years from conducting successful tests, believe that would be ineffectual.

Methods such as "bunker-busting" bombs would be unlikely to halt the programme, while cyber warfare or the assassination of top scientists would also be difficult.

The US has dismissed North Korea's attempts to hold talks over the years, saying it must disarm first.