Trump: ‘We’re going to save lives on both sides of the border’
Updated 3:10 p.m.: President Donald Trump says in a speech at the Department of Homeland Security that his executive actions on immigration show that “beginning today,” the U.S. will get back “control of its border.”
Trump says his administration will be working in partnership in Mexico to improve safety and economic opportunity for both countries and will have “close coordination” with Mexico to address drug smuggling.
Trump says, “We’re going to save lives on both sides of the border.”
The new president spoke shortly after signing executive orders to strengthen border security and crack down on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
It will set in motion the construction of his proposed border wall, a key promise from his 2016 campaign.
Trump says torture works
Updated 3 p.m.: President Donald Trump says that he believes torture works, saying that “we have to fight fire with fire.”
In an interview with ABC News, the president says he will confer with Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo to determine what can and cannot be done legally to combat the spread of radicalism.
He says that radical groups “chop off the citizens’ or anybody’s heads in the Middle East, because they’re Christian or Muslim or anything else.”
Adding, “we have that and we’re not allowed to do anything. We’re not playing on an even field.”
But Trump says, of using torture tactics, “absolutely I feel it works.”
Agencies cracking down on ‘inappropriate’ social media updates
Updated 1:55 p.m.: The White House says certain government agencies are taking action to address the “inappropriate” use of social media.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer addressed an incident at the Defense Department in which tweets were sent from the department’s official account that suggested underhanded criticism of President Donald Trump’s policies.
Spicer said an “unauthorized user” had an old password and logged into the Twitter account from the San Francisco office, then tweeted “inappropriate things that were in violation of their policy.”
He also cited an incident last year at the Environmental Protection Agency, saying both agencies are going to take action.
E-mails sent to EPA staff and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts as part of a push by the Trump administration to institute a media blackout.
Stefan Passantino to counsel White House on ethics
1:50 p.m.: President Donald Trump has selected Washington attorney Stefan Passantino as his White House ethics counselor.
In announcing the appointment on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said: “No one understands the ethics office better than Stefan.”
Passantino’s LinkedIn profile now lists him as deputy White House counsel for compliance. He formerly served as political law chairman of the firm Dentons.
He also worked as general counsel for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 2012 Republican presidential bid. Gingrich has become a close adviser to Trump.
Spicer said that Gingrich praised Trump’s selection of Passantino.
The White House announcement came on the same day that the Trump Organization said it had hired a compliance officer and ethics adviser of its own.
Local election officials: Trump strategist Steve Bannon was registered to vote in Florida and New York until today https://t.co/Ib5Vj8pQWP pic.twitter.com/n4PHZ4So7R
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 25, 2017
Trump signs orders to build wall and crack down on illegal immigration
Updated 1:45 p.m.: President Donald Trump is signing two executive orders in keeping with campaign promises to boost border security and crack down on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
The president signed the two orders Wednesday during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security after honoring the department’s newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly.
The executive orders jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, one of his signature campaign promises, and strip funding for so-called sanctuary cities, which don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Spicer says Trump wants to understand extent of voter fraud
Updated 1:40 p.m.: White House press secretary Sean Spicer is saying that President Donald Trump plans to open an investigation into voter fraud “to understand where the problem exists, how deep it goes.”
Trump tweets on Wednesday calling for the investigation revisited unsubstantiated claims he’s made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.
Spicer did not provide many details as to what the probe would look like, calling it at one point “a task force.”
He suggested that the probe would focus on dead people who remained on the voter rolls and people registered in two or more states. In particular, he singled out “bigger states” where the Trump campaign “didn’t compete” in the election.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud occurring in November’s election.
Russian hacking investigation to include media leaks
Updated 1:30 p.m.: The House intelligence committee says it will focus on leaks of classified information to the media as part of its investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
In a tweet earlier this month, then President-elect Trump asked the intelligence committees to investigate “top secret intelligence” shared with a news organization.
The House panel is already investigating the intelligence agencies’ finding that Russia interfered in the election to benefit President Donald Trump. The Senate intelligence committee is also conducting an investigation.
Spicer denies White House intiated torture review document
Updated 1:25 p.m.: The White House is distancing itself from a draft executive order that would lead to a major review of America’s methods for interrogating terror suspects and the possible reopening of CIA-run “black site” prisons outside the United States.
Spokesman Sean Spicer said the draft “is not a White House document.” He says he has “no idea where it came from.”
The AP obtained the draft order from a U.S. official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consultations before Trump signs it. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.
The order would also reverse America’s commitment to closing the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and instruct the Pentagon to send newly captured “enemy combatants” to the site.
Trump hotel contractor sues for $2 million
Updated 1:15 p.m.: An electrical contractor who worked on the Trump International Hotel in Washington has sued a company owned by President Donald Trump for more than $2 million, alleging it was not fully paid.
AES Electrical of Laurel, Maryland, filed suit in District of Columbia Superior Court, the latest in a string of lawsuits involving Trump’s renovation of the historic Old Post Office building a few blocks from the White House.
AES alleges it bore increased expenses because of change orders and other demands from Trump’s staff. AES claims it was told to accelerate the pace of work so that the then-Republican presidential candidate could hold a televised media event to celebrate the “soft opening” of the $200 million project prior to the November election.
The complaint was first reported by Politico.
Warner refuses to weaken law on torture
Updated 1:10 p.m.: The Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat has informed two key members of President Donald Trump’s national security team that he will not stand for any attempt to get around the U.S. law banning torture.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia says in a statement that he spoke Wednesday morning to Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Warner says he told them “any attempt by this administration to restart torture is absolutely unacceptable, and I will strongly oppose it.”
Warner is responding to reports that Trump is considering a major review of America’s methods for interrogating terror suspects and the possible reopening of “black site” prisons outside the United States.
Warner says he’ll hold Mattis and Pompeo “to their sworn testimony to follow the law banning the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.”
Groups want more questioning scheduled for labor nominee
Updated 12:30 p.m.: More than 100 workers rights groups say President Donald Trump’s choice for labor secretary raises enough questions to warrant a “rigorous” and extended confirmation hearing.
The groups wrote in a letter to the Senate committee conducting the Feb. 2 hearing that senators should be able to ask multiple rounds of questions of fast food executive Andrew Puzder about everything from his business record to his personal history. The groups say that’s because Puzder has no record of public service and because he’s publicly opposed employer mandates.
He should be subjected to “rigorous examination” that includes the testimony of former workers of Puzder’s companies, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.
Chairman Lamar Alexander allowed only one round of questions for Trump’s controversial picks for education and health secretary last week.
Trump Organization hires ethics lawyers
Updated 12:10 p.m.: The Trump Organization is tapping a former George H.W. Bush campaign lawyer and a top executive at the company as ethics monitors for the business.
The company says that Bobby Burchfield of the law firm King & Spalding will become the independent ethics adviser to review transactions for conflicts-of-interest problems. Burchfield was general counsel to Bush’s re-election campaign in 1992.
The company says executive vice president George Sorial will take on the role of chief compliance counsel.
A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a question about whether Trump has plans to hire a White House ethics counselor, as at least the previous two presidents have done. That attorney would be beholden to the American public, unlike the Trump Organization attorneys, who report only to the privately held company.
Pelosi pushes back on voter fraud investigation
Updated 11:40 a.m.: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says she feels “very sad” and “sorry” for President Donald Trump for falsely claiming he’d have won the presidential popular vote but for votes cast against him by millions of people in the U.S. illegally.
The California Democrat told reporters Wednesday that the new president is “so insecure.” She said suggesting massive voting irregularities undermines the election system’s integrity and is “really strange,” and she says she’d prayed for him.
She contrasted Trump’s assertion with the intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russians intervened in the election to help Trump win. She said Trump “resists” investigating that.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that he’s ordering an investigation into voter fraud.
Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by almost 3 million votes
Haley sworn in as U.N. ambassador
Updated 10:20 a.m.: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has been sworn in to be President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Vice President Mike Pence swore in Haley on Wednesday. The Senate voted 96-4 Tuesday night in favor of her nomination despite her lack of significant foreign policy experience.
During her confirmation hearing, the South Carolina-born daughter of Indian immigrants said she supports Trump’s call to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
She also took a harder line against Russia than Trump, saying she doesn’t think Moscow can be trusted right now.
Haley resigned as South Carolina’s governor moments after the Senate vote. She was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster.
Supreme Court pick to be announced Feb. 2
Updated 7:30 a.m.: President Donald Trump says he will reveal his Supreme Court pick next Thursday. The court has had only eight justices since the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Trump tweeted early Wednesday, “I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week. Thank you.”
A person familiar with the process said the president has narrowed his choice to three federal appellate judges. They all were on the list of 21 potential high court picks Trump announced during his presidential campaign.
The leading contenders — who all have met with Trump — are William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman, the person said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly about internal decisions.
Trump orders voter fraud investigation
Updated 7:25 a.m.: President Donald Trump says he will order an investigation into voter fraud.
The president tweeted early Wednesday that the measures will affect those registered to vote in more than one state, “those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time).”
Trump says that “depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures.”
Trump repeatedly made disputable claims of a rigged voting system before the election, but now in the White House, he continues to raise concern over fraud.
Trump orders media blackout at EPA
Updated 10:40 p.m. Tuesday: The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants, part of a broader communications clampdown within the executive branch.
The prohibitions came to light Tuesday as the agency moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules finalized in the closing months of President Barack Obama’s term, a potential first step to seeking to kill the regulations.
A summary of the actions posted in the Federal Register includes a long list of regulations that include updated air pollution rulings for several states, renewable fuel standards and limits on the amount of formaldehyde that can leach from wood products. President Donald Trump signed a directive shortly after his inauguration on Friday ordering a “regulatory freeze pending review” for all federal agency rules that had been finalized that have not yet taken effect.
Emails sent to EPA staff and reviewed by The Associated Press also detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts.
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