US says threat of ‘imminent attack’ triggered air strikes against Iran January 3, 2020 US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has claimed that the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was carried out to prevent an “imminent attack” that would have endangered US citizens in the region. Speaking to CNN and Fox News, Pompeo said that the attack was based on an “intelligence based assessment”, but refused to say [...]
Donald Trump impeachment trial: Republicans have not ruled out witnesses December 23, 2019 Mitch McConnell, the US Republican Senate majority leader, has said his party has not ruled out hearing witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. However, he added that he would not agree to the Democrats’ request that the Senate agree ahead of time to take testimony during the trial. Read more: Space Force: [...]
Donald Trump invites Boris Johnson to White House December 22, 2019 US president Donald Trump has reportedly invited prime minister Boris Johnson to visit him in the White House in the new year. The Sunday Times reported that Trump’s invitation to Johnson was made after the British prime minister’s recent election win. Read more: European stocks rally as Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal is approved Formal discussions [...]
Space Force: Donald Trump unveils new US military service December 21, 2019 Donald Trump has officially signed off funding for a US Space Force. It is the first new military service to be implemented in 70 years and was unveiled on Friday after the President signed the $738bn (£567bn) annual US military budget. It will fall under the US Air Force domain and will receive an initial [...]
Trump impeachment vote: When is the vote, and will Trump really be impeached? December 18, 2019 The US House of Representatives is preparing to vote on the prospect of impeaching sitting US President Donald Trump today. Despite a mountain of evidence showing Trump asked Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden, the President has insisted that he did nothing wrong. The House Rules Committee has approved six hours of debate on [...]
Trump: US to suspend planned tariffs after reaching China trade deal December 13, 2019 President Donald Trump said on Friday the US would suspend scheduled tariffs after reaching a “phase one” trade deal with China in a significant de-escalation of tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, Washington will suspend the tariffs on Chinese imports scheduled to be introduced on Sunday, while Beijing would step up [...]
Donald Trump: Britain free to strike ‘massive’ trade deal with US after Boris Johnson election victory December 13, 2019 Traditionally, for the winner of a General Election, results day involves taking congratulatory calls from leaders across the globe. But in Boris Johnson’s case, US President Donald Trump has beaten the others to the punch, tweeting that he will soon bestow the re-elected Tory PM with a “massive” new trade deal once he has delivered [...]
US reaches deal ‘in principle’ with China December 12, 2019 The US today reached a preliminary deal with China to end the year and a half long trade war that has slowed global growth and dampened investment around the world. A source briefed on the talks told Reuters: “The written agreement is still being formulated, but they have reached an agreement in principle.” Read more: [...]
US Congress and White House agree ‘best deal ever’ to replace Nafta December 10, 2019 US President Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi have agreed on a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Canada and Mexico. The Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives gave her support for the USMCA this afternoon. Read more: US and Canada quash fears with last-minute deal to revamp Nafta In exchange [...]
Amazon sues Pentagon over claims Trump to blame for failure to win $10bn defence contract December 9, 2019 Amazon has opened legal proceedings against the Pentagon, alleging that the online giant was denied a $10bn (£7.6bn) US defence contract due to US President Donald Trump’s personal vendetta against chief executive Jeff Bezos. In a court filing made public today, Amazon claimed that its failure to secure the contract was result of improper pressure [...]