Trump attacks constitution’s ‘phony Emoluments Clause’ over scrapped G7 plans – live | US news

Trump bounced from one falsehood to another while speaking to reporters during his cabinet meeting at the White House.

Here are just a few fact-checks from reporters about the president’s 70-minute meeting:

While imploring Republicans to get “tougher” in combating the impeachment inquiry, Trump also took a swipe at senator Mitt Romney.

The president said of House Democrats: “They’re vicious and they stick together. They don’t have Mitt Romney in their midst.”

The Utah Republican recently gave an interview in which he offered several criticisms of the president. Asked what was the “dumbest” thing Trump has done in office, Romney said: “I think the places where I would be most critical of the president would be in matters that were divisive, that appeared to be appealing to racism or misogyny.

“Those are the kinds of things that have been the most harmful long-term to the foundation of America’s virtuous character.”

While speaking to reporters during his cabinet meeting, Trump said that congressional Republicans have to get “tougher” in combating House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Defending his phone call with the Ukrainian president as a “perfectly fine conversation,” Trump slammed the Democrats’ probe as a “phony investigation.”

The president then said: “Republicans have to get tougher and fight. We have some that are great fighters, but they have to get tougher and fight.”

He went on to claim that House Democrats were trying to harm the Republican Party in the run-up to the 2020 election.

The timing of Trump’s comments is interesting, given that a number of Republicans have recently criticized the president’s thinking on everything from Syria to his canceled plan to host the June G7 summit at his Florida resort.

Trump needs a united Republican front to push back against the impeachment inquiry, but there are signs that GOP lawmakers are getting tired of defending him.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• Trump dismissed allegations of self-dealing in connection to his canceled plans to host the June G7 summit at his Florida resort. Referring to the constitutional clause barring gifts from foreign states to federal officeholders, Trump said: “You people with this phony Emoluments Clause.”
• Nancy Pelosi issued a “fact sheet” for her Democratic caucus, which outlined what the House speaker considers to be the most serious allegations against Trump in the impeachment inquiry.
• Trump reportedly reversed his decision to hold the G7 summit at his Florida resort amid pushback from congressional Republicans, which is only the latest sign that cracks are appearing in the president’s base of support among GOP lawmakers.

The blog will have plenty more coming up, so stay tuned.

The White House press pool has been escorted out of Trump’s cabinet meeting after the president and some senior administration officials spoke for more than an hour.

Trump took reporters’ questions on everything from Syria to trade to the G7 summit, which is no longer being held at the president’s Florida resort.

Trump’s dismissal of the constitution’s emoluments clause as “phony” immediately sparked pushback from lawmakers and commentators.

From a House Democrat:

From a former federal prosecutor:

From HuffPost’s White House correspondent:

Taking questions from reporters about his canceled plans to hold the June G7 summit at his Florida resort, Trump appeared dismissive of a constitutional clause forbidding federal officeholders from accepting gifts from foreign states.

The president said, according to the pool report: “You people with this phony Emoluments Clause.”

Trump also denied that his businesses needed a financial boost and delivered this quote for the ages: “If you’re rich, it doesn’t matter.”

Even after reversing his decision to hold the June G7 summit at his Florida resort, Trump is still insisting that the property would have been the best place for the multi-nation event.

The president is blaming Democrats for forcing his hand on the issue, but a number of reports have surfaced that Trump only changed his mind after hearing frustration from congressional Republicans about having to defend the decision.

Trump told the pool reporters gathered for his cabinet meeting at the White House that the ceasefire (which Turkish officials referred to as a “pause” in operations last week) was holding in Syria.

The president also demanded credit for the weakening of the Islamic State, insisting that Barack Obama deserved no credit for the group’s losses in recent years.

Trump said: “I’m the one who did the capturing. I’m the one who knows more about it than you people or the fake pundits.”

In a comment that will certainly raise eyebrows among some Republicans who have criticized his Syria policy, Trump said of America’s Kurdish allies: “We never agreed to protect the Kurds for the rest of their lives.”

Speaking during his cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump defended Tulsi Gabbrd, saying the Democratic presidential candidate is not a Russian agent.

The question of Gabbard’s ties to Russia arose last week, when Hillary Clinton suggested that the Kremlin was “grooming” the Hawaii congresswoman to launch a third-party presidential bid. (Clinton did not provide evidence to back up this claim.)

Gabbard vigorously denied the claim, but news reports have pointed out that Russian state media frequently mention the candidate, even though she is one of the lower-polling contenders in the Democratic primary race.

The White House press pool was just escorted into Trump’s meeting with his cabinet, which have proven to be very newsworthy events in the past.