https://www.scmp.com/rss/326858/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com With the US presidential election only some six weeks away, a pertinent question on many American minds is: does President Donald Trump have a plan for personal and business survival? Remember, Trump is a president who, many suspect, has much to hide. Unlike his predecessors and elected officials in general, he has refused to disclose his assets and liabilities. Thus, his decision to put himself forward as a Republican candidate in 2016 was seen as a smart marketing strategy. The Trump... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3102140/how-trumps-fear-and-loathing-mail-voting-threatens-us-stability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3102140/how-trumps-fear-and-loathing-mail-voting-threatens-us-stability?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Sep 2020 20:30:10 +0000 A Florida amateur body builder who admitted sending inoperative pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday by a judge who said he concluded that the bombs purposely were not designed to explode. ‘MAGA bomber’ Cesar Sayoc, 57, wept and crossed himself when US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff announced the sentence. Sayoc earlier this year had pleaded guilty to explosives charges for mailing 16 pipe bombs days before the midterm elections last fall. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3021545/maga-bomber-cesar-sayoc-who-mailed-pipe-bombs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3021545/maga-bomber-cesar-sayoc-who-mailed-pipe-bombs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2019 20:50:51 +0000 If Robert Mueller’s investigation was really just one monumental witch hunt, as Trump has claimed at least 170 times on record, then the findings of the report are irrelevant. In other words, if it was a genuine witch hunt, why should Trump care what Mueller said? If the president truly believed that he did nothing improper – during the 2016 campaign and after he was elected – why was he so nervous that the report was going to be a bombshell? If there was nothing to hide in the first place, what... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003359/donald-trumps-whole-presidency-has-been-obstruction-justice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003359/donald-trumps-whole-presidency-has-been-obstruction-justice?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:30:04 +0000 Roger Stone, a key ally of US President Donald Trump, says he believes his arrest in the special counsel’s Russia probe was “politically motivated” and he is vowing to plead not guilty and fight the charges. Stone has been arrested on charges of obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements, the office of special counsel Robert Mueller announced on Friday. The indictment alleges that Stone made multiple attempts to contact WikiLeaks through an intermediary about documents stolen... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2183691/special-counsels-office-trump-associate-roger-stone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2183691/special-counsels-office-trump-associate-roger-stone?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jan 2019 11:45:18 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general asserted independence from the White House on Tuesday, saying he believed Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, that the special counsel investigation shadowing Trump is not a witch hunt and that his predecessor was right to recuse himself from the probe. Those comments by William Barr at his Senate confirmation hearing pointedly departed from Trump’s own views and underscored Barr’s efforts to reassure Democrats... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2182238/live-william-barrs-attorney-general-confirmation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2182238/live-william-barrs-attorney-general-confirmation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 14:44:58 +0000 US President Donald Trump clashed on live television with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday over funding for the border wall, in an explosive Oval Office encounter that ended with Trump declaring he’d be proud to shut down the government to get what he wants. The stunning public spat, during which Schumer accused the president of throwing a “temper tantrum,” ended with no resolution and appeared to increase the chances of a partial government... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2177533/donald-trump-accused-temper-tantrum-after-camera?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2177533/donald-trump-accused-temper-tantrum-after-camera?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Dec 2018 20:52:43 +0000 US President Donald Trump stared straight ahead. Former President Bill Clinton scanned the program. Former President Jimmy Carter checked his watch. The atmosphere at the funeral of George H.W. Bush on Wednesday was noticeably chilly as the current president had a rare meeting with his predecessors. Trump shook hands with Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, did not engage with Bill or Hillary Clinton, and promptly took his seat at the end of the row. As Trump arrived, Hillary Clinton –... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2176600/awkward-silence-and-straight-ahead-stares-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2176600/awkward-silence-and-straight-ahead-stares-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Dec 2018 18:39:26 +0000 In many ways, the 2018 American midterm elections represented a massive change in Washington; Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives by a wide margin, while the Republicans slightly increased their control over the Senate. But there is one area in which this change will not be felt: US policy towards Taiwan. Congress has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan, and this bipartisan position will continue even with a flip in the House. More importantly, hardening resistance to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2175421/us-position-taiwan-will-not-waver-regardless?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2175421/us-position-taiwan-will-not-waver-regardless?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Nov 2018 04:15:00 +0000 If you are seeking tips on how to overcome a tech addiction, the answer from the world’s biggest game streaming site might sound a bit counter-intuitive. For Emmett Shear, chief executive of San Francisco-based Twitch, Amazon.com’s live streaming site aimed at gamers, watching something for two hours in a row is a lot better than checking an app multiple times within a two-hour period. “The way that a lot of mobile apps work is this dopamine rush,” Shear said in an interview with technology news... https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/2175051/twitch-ceos-advice-tech-addicts-not-good-news-those-china-who-love?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/2175051/twitch-ceos-advice-tech-addicts-not-good-news-those-china-who-love?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Nov 2018 23:32:25 +0000 Donald Trump is not a phenomenon. There is nothing unique about this US president. Yet, Democrats talk about him as if he were a newfangled incarnation of wickedness and incompetence. Republicans talk about him as if he were a political virtuoso of world-shattering stature. Take for example the words of Henry Kissinger: “Donald Trump is a phenomenon that foreign countries have not seen. So it is a shocking experience to them that he came into office.” Who should be Time Person of the Year? Trump... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2174625/trump-no-phenomenon-he-product-todays-america?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2174625/trump-no-phenomenon-he-product-todays-america?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Nov 2018 00:03:27 +0000 Associated Press,New York Daily News Associated Press,New York Daily News The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court on Friday to promptly allow it to ban transgender people from serving in the US armed forces in an unusual move that bypasses the regular federal legal process. The request, filed by Solicitor General Noel Francisco, urges the high court to compound four separate legal challenges to US President Donald Trump’s transgender ban and singularly rule on the issue this term. Trump’s ban is currently not being enforced since all four lawsuits were... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2174799/trump-administration-asks-transgender-military-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2174799/trump-administration-asks-transgender-military-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Nov 2018 23:22:25 +0000 Florida’s outgoing governor, Republican Rick Scott, was declared the winner of the state’s hard-fought US Senate race on Sunday, following a manual recount of ballots in the tight contest against three-term Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. In the recount of the November 6 election, Scott won by 10,033 votes out of 8.19 million cast statewide, Florida elections officials said on Sunday. Scott took 50.05 per cent, compared with 49.93 per cent for Nelson, the officials added. Nelson, first... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173842/republican-rick-scott-wins-florida-us-senate-seat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173842/republican-rick-scott-wins-florida-us-senate-seat?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Nov 2018 19:54:05 +0000 Eleven days after Americans cast their ballots in the midterm elections, Republican candidate Young Kim – aiming to become the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress – was defeated in a tight Southern California race for the US House of Representatives. Although she took the lead on election day, mail-in ballots counted in the weeks following favoured Kim’s Democratic opponent Gil Cisneros in California’s 39th district, which includes portions of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173773/korean-american-young-kim-narrowly-misses-historic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173773/korean-american-young-kim-narrowly-misses-historic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Nov 2018 04:25:26 +0000 Democrat Andrew Gillum, who had sought to become Florida’s first black governor, conceded on Saturday as a recount of ballots neared its end, and he congratulated rival Republican Ron DeSantis, an ally of President Donald Trump. Gillum, the liberal mayor of Tallahassee, had initially conceded the race to DeSantis, a conservative former congressman. But Gillum later withdrew that concession when the results were close enough for an automatic recount. On Saturday, he said that process was drawing... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173766/democrat-andrew-gillum-concedes-florida-governors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173766/democrat-andrew-gillum-concedes-florida-governors?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Nov 2018 23:22:00 +0000 On November 8, one day after the White House shared a doctored video to justify banning a journalist from access to its press briefings, Donald Trump issued a presidential proclamation to mark “World Freedom Day”. “We stand in solidarity with those who still live under tyrannical governments,” his statement said, “and emphasise that the world will be better off when all governments respect the right of all people to live in freedom”. Even by the standards of the noisiest presidency in US... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2173494/beyond-fake-news-donald-trump-takes-steps-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2173494/beyond-fake-news-donald-trump-takes-steps-against?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Nov 2018 19:25:19 +0000 US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Democrats wearing disguises and voting more than once were responsible for Republican losses in tight congressional elections. “The Republicans do not win and that is because of potentially illegal votes,” Trump was quoted as saying by right-wing website The Daily Caller. Final results have yet to be declared in multiple races following last week’s midterm polls, with tense recounts underway in Florida. The midterm races for governor and senator in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173289/donald-trump-says-democrats-wearing-disguises-voted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173289/donald-trump-says-democrats-wearing-disguises-voted?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:11:29 +0000 The US Justice Department defended the legality of US President Donald Trump’s appointment of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker on Wednesday, saying he has the authority to name a replacement for the fired Jeff Sessions outside of the department’s line of succession. In a legal opinion sent to the White House, the department’s Office of Legal Counsel said that the president can “depart from the succession order” that was established by one federal law by using a separate law known as the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173273/us-justice-department-says-trump-has-power-name?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173273/us-justice-department-says-trump-has-power-name?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Nov 2018 15:23:03 +0000 CNN sued the Trump administration on behalf of reporter Jim Acosta on Tuesday, asking a court to restore Acosta’s White House press pass after US President Donald Trump suspended it last week. The unusual suit, an escalation of Trump’s long-running war of words with CNN, seeks a judge’s intervention after Trump banished Acosta from the White House grounds for an indefinite period after a brief altercation between Acosta and a White House press intern. After a testy exchange between the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173051/cnn-sues-white-house-try-regain-access-banned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2173051/cnn-sues-white-house-try-regain-access-banned?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Nov 2018 16:06:52 +0000 US President Donald Trump urged Florida election officials to end a recount and declare his fellow Republicans the winners of disputed races in last week’s elections, while Democrats picked up a US Senate seat in Arizona. US Representative Kyrsten Sinema declared victory and Republican opponent Martha McSally conceded after multiple media outlets called the closely contested Arizona race for the Democrat. Sinema will succeed Republican Senator Jeff Flake, a frequent Trump critic, who did not... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172863/donald-trump-says-honest-vote-count-impossible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172863/donald-trump-says-honest-vote-count-impossible?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Nov 2018 21:56:05 +0000 Your correspondent, John Lam, talks about how Donald Trump faces a fading presidency after the midterm elections (“Trump faces even worse than midterm setback, if he keeps picking on US allies”, November 8). In fact, it was the opposite that had happened. Normally, the ruling party often loses House seats by sizeable margins in midterm elections. This time, the Republican Party only lost around half of the seats the Democrats lost in 2010. In the Senate, three Democratic incumbents lost and the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2172734/why-donald-trump-far-finished-just-look-us-midterm-results?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2172734/why-donald-trump-far-finished-just-look-us-midterm-results?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Nov 2018 21:00:30 +0000 The wildfires that have killed more than two dozen people in California produced an appropriate backdrop for the US midterm elections. True to form, US President Donald Trump lashed out about the fires, blaming them on firefighters and political foes as the death toll continues to mount.  With the Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives and the Republicans strengthening their hold on the Senate, Americans of both political persuasions could find reason to feel comfort and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172736/california-can-burn-climate-change-now-matter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172736/california-can-burn-climate-change-now-matter?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Nov 2018 17:03:11 +0000 After some early bumps, more than half of Florida’s 67 counties began recounting votes Sunday in the razor-thin Senate and gubernatorial races, bringing back memories of the 2000 presidential fiasco. In Democratic-leaning Broward County, the scheduled start of the recount was delayed Sunday because of a problem with one of the tabulation machines. The Republican Party attacked Broward’s supervisor of elections, Brenda Snipes, of “incompetence and gross mismanagement” following the delay, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172701/florida-election-recount-underway-tensions-rise-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172701/florida-election-recount-underway-tensions-rise-over?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Nov 2018 20:20:02 +0000 Florida authorities on Saturday ordered a statewide recount in the contentious races for US Senate and governor, amid tit-for-tat accusations of fraud from the candidates – plunging the state once again into election uncertainty. Eighteen years after the Sunshine State found itself at the heart of a battle for the US presidency, it was once again in the spotlight after Tuesday’s vote, which left the contests for statewide offices undecided. Florida’s 67 counties had been given until midday on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172646/florida-orders-recount-senate-and-governor-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172646/florida-orders-recount-senate-and-governor-race?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Nov 2018 19:38:31 +0000 A week ago, hardly anyone in South Korea had heard the name Young Kim. But with her tipped to become the first Korean-American woman voted into Congress, taking over Southern California’s 39th district from long-serving Congressman Ed Royce, she has been a recent fixture in South Korean media. South Koreans and Korean Americans are divided on whether a victory for Kim, a Republican, would be a good thing. But they all agree it would be a sign of progress for Asian-American voices in US... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2172640/young-kim-wins-california-congressional-race-not-all-koreans-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2172640/young-kim-wins-california-congressional-race-not-all-koreans-are?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Nov 2018 15:00:00 +0000 Christmas hasn’t arrived yet, but all those people out there who despise US President Donald Trump – and they are legion – are already decking their halls with boughs of holly to celebrate after his Republican cronies and enablers lost the House of Representatives to the Democrats in the recently concluded midterm elections. But while the president’s detractors are singing “fa-la-la-la-la”, they may be well-advised to pause mid-pirouette and reflect on the reality that his days in the White... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2172611/midterm-shmidterm-trump-sure-win-second-term-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2172611/midterm-shmidterm-trump-sure-win-second-term-now?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Nov 2018 08:59:46 +0000 Elections are supposed to be a period of exciting campaigns, after which everyone goes back to business as usual. In Tuesday’s US midterm elections, the Democrats regained the House of Representatives and the Republicans increased their majority in the Senate. The next day, President Donald Trump held an ill-tempered press conference during which he called CNN an enemy of the people and then, immediately after the conference, tweeted his thanks to attorney general Jeff Sessions for his services... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172307/all-all-us-midterm-results-are-blip-great?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172307/all-all-us-midterm-results-are-blip-great?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Nov 2018 16:47:41 +0000 Michelle Obama says she felt “lost and alone” after suffering a miscarriage 20 years ago and underwent in vitro fertilisation to conceive her two daughters, events recounted in a memoir in which she also explains her undying fury at Donald Trump. “I felt like I failed because I didn’t know how common miscarriages were because we don’t talk about them,” the former first lady said in an interview broadcast Friday on ABC’s Good Morning America to promote her upcoming memoir, Becoming. ‘’We sit in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172571/michelle-obama-reveals-miscarriage-using-ivf?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172571/michelle-obama-reveals-miscarriage-using-ivf?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Nov 2018 16:46:27 +0000 Florida, the state that dragged the 2000 US presidential election to a crawl and nearly broke the country’s storied democratic process is once again headed toward the uncertainty of a statewide recount. Except this time, instead of one nationally important race, at least three crucial contests must be tallied again in the state’s 67 counties. The looming recounts have already led to unfounded charges of elections theft, a reneged concession speech - and an audacious campaign request by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172443/total-recall-florida-faces-prospect-vote-recounts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172443/total-recall-florida-faces-prospect-vote-recounts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Nov 2018 05:12:01 +0000 The 2018 US midterm elections brought significant gains for Democrats, who retook the House of Representatives and snatched several governorships from the grip of Republicans. But some were left questioning why Democrats suffered a series of setbacks that prevented the party from picking up even more seats and, perhaps most consequentially, left the US Senate in Republican hands. Among the most eye-catching was a statistic showing Democrats led Republicans by more than 12 million votes in Senate... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172431/how-did-republicans-win-senate-when-democrats-got?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172431/how-did-republicans-win-senate-when-democrats-got?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Nov 2018 04:24:34 +0000 Special Counsel Robert Mueller is answering to a new boss, Matthew Whitaker, who has openly criticised his Russia investigation – and has the power to cripple it or end it, just as US President Donald Trump wishes. Trump never forgave Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from overseeing the probe that Mueller now runs, and the president delivered on that long-festering frustration on Wednesday, a day after the midterm elections were over. He forced Sessions to resign and named... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172387/what-about-bob-how-jeff-sessions-firing-could?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172387/what-about-bob-how-jeff-sessions-firing-could?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 19:01:16 +0000 White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Wednesday night shared a video of CNN reporter Jim Acosta that appeared to have been altered to make his actions at a news conference look more aggressive toward a White House intern, during a fiery encounter between Acosta and US President Donald Trump. The edited video looks authentic: Acosta appeared to swiftly chop down on the arm of an aide as he held onto a microphone while questioning Trump at the White House press conference on Wednesday. But... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172385/watch-did-white-house-use-doctored-video-support?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172385/watch-did-white-house-use-doctored-video-support?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 18:21:33 +0000 Former US president Barack Obama said of the US midterm elections that “the character of our country is on the ballot”, and the outcome proved him right. The United States is a psychological basket case, more deeply and angrily divided than at any time since the Vietnam war.  It’s not evenly divided, of course. The popular vote saw the Democrats lead the Republicans nationwide by an 8 per cent margin, but that translated into only a modest gain in seats in the House of Representatives and in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172266/after-midterms-republicans-and-democrats-must?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172266/after-midterms-republicans-and-democrats-must?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 16:48:56 +0000 US President Donald Trump is the best political campaigner since Ronald Reagan. Perhaps better. Unlike Reagan, he is not a politician – he is a man on a mission; to turn America into Trumptown. He targets his own supporters at the expense of the middle ground, but with aggressive energy. And now, in the midterm elections, which are usually difficult for the president’s party, the Republicans have held their own. Trump would declare victory even if he had been thumped, but this performance is... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2172244/donald-trumps-re-election-chances-havent-been-hurt-us-midterm-results?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2172244/donald-trumps-re-election-chances-havent-been-hurt-us-midterm-results?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 15:01:03 +0000 Attorney General Jeff Sessions was pushed out after enduring more than a year of blistering and personal attacks from President Donald Trump, who inserted in his place a Republican Party loyalist with authority to oversee the remainder of the special counsel’s Russia investigation. The move Wednesday has potentially ominous implications for special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe given that the new acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, until now Sessions’ chief of staff, has questioned the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172367/new-us-justice-department-official-fate-russia-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172367/new-us-justice-department-official-fate-russia-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 13:55:00 +0000 I refer to the letter from Lo Wai Kong (“US midterm polls are litmus test for Trump”, November 6). In less than two years’ time, what we have witnessed from US President Donald Trump is not only outright appalling, but also bordering on completely immoral. For this reason, Mr Trump’s presidency will not escape condemnation, despite the midterm elections ending with mixed results for his party. To start off, let’s look back at his “valiant” effort to promote protectionism and discrimination... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2172133/trump-faces-even-worse-midterm-setback-if-he-keeps-picking-us-allies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2172133/trump-faces-even-worse-midterm-setback-if-he-keeps-picking-us-allies?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 12:02:16 +0000 US President Donald Trump wasted no time after the results of the midterm elections to step up the pressure on another long-term trade and security partner, criticising Tokyo for treating the United States unfairly on trade and hinting he will go ahead with a plan to impose tariffs on imported Japanese cars. The threat appears to give weight to concerns voiced by political scientist Ian Bremmer to the South China Morning Post that Trump would respond to his poor showing in the elections by... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2172312/spurned-midterms-trump-turns-sights-japanese-car-firms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2172312/spurned-midterms-trump-turns-sights-japanese-car-firms?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 09:45:30 +0000 Donald Trump has lost the House to the Democrats, but it won’t offer any more breathing space for China. In fact, some analysts say the Trump administration will now act more aggressively in foreign policymaking, now that he is facing hurdles pushing forward his domestic agenda. Ian Bremmer, president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group and a vocal Trump critic, predicted on Wednesday that Trump will make more surprise moves in the coming two years as he competes with the House Democrats... https://www.scmp.com/politics/democrats-house-win-may-lead-more-aggressive-china-policies-trump/article/2172288?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/democrats-house-win-may-lead-more-aggressive-china-policies-trump/article/2172288?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 09:15:30 +0000 As recently as September 20, Wall Street’s leading S&P 500 stock index had delivered a year-to-date return of nearly 10 per cent. Its tech-laden counterpart, the Nasdaq Composite index, had performed even better, rising more than 16 per cent since the start of this year as the popular technology sector continued to turbocharge a rally in American stocks. The so-called America First trade, although under pressure from high valuations and rising interest rates, was far and away the best bet for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172279/donald-trump-suffers-midterms-setback-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2172279/donald-trump-suffers-midterms-setback-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 07:36:14 +0000 EDITOR'S NOTE, November 19: The race for California's 39th Congressional District seat ended with Democrat Gil Cisneros declared the winner after more than a week of mail-in ballot counts, netting 113,075 votes, or 50.8 per cent. Republican candidate Young Kim, with 109,580 votes, or 49.2 per cent, announced on social media on Saturday that she had conceded. California’s 39th Congressional District was one of the tightest races of the 2018 midterm elections, and even with the votes tallied, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172206/history-mailing-southern-california-congressional?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172206/history-mailing-southern-california-congressional?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 23:01:32 +0000 The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of a CNN reporter who earlier sparred with Donald Trump at a press conference, in which the US president called the journalist an “enemy of the people”. A visibly angry Trump called reporter Jim Acosta a “rude, terrible person” after the White House correspondent refused the president’s orders to sit down and give up the microphone during the question and answer session the day after the US midterm vote. “The White House is suspending the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172199/donald-trump-cnns-jim-acosta-you-are-rude-terrible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172199/donald-trump-cnns-jim-acosta-you-are-rude-terrible?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 21:24:54 +0000 Embattled US Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned on Wednesday at President Donald Trump’s request, ending the tenure of a loyalist he soured on shortly after Sessions took office in 2017 because the former senator from Alabama had recused himself from oversight of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Sessions’ departure has long been feared by Democrats who believe that his replacement could be pressured by Trump to fire special counsel Robert Mueller... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172197/us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions-resigns-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172197/us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions-resigns-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 19:54:06 +0000 A brothel-owning, evangelical Christian-backed Republican candidate who died last month won his race for the Nevada state legislature on Tuesday, according to state election officials. Dennis Hof, 72, defeated Democratic candidate and schoolteacher Lesia Romanov in the race for Nevada’s 36th Assembly District, earning about 68 per cent of the vote. County officials said they would have to appoint a replacement candidate from the same party for his seat. A representative for Romanov did not... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172195/dead-republican-brothel-owner-dennis-hof-wins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172195/dead-republican-brothel-owner-dennis-hof-wins?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 17:59:27 +0000 US President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to work with the new Democratic House majority in a bipartisan manner on infrastructure, trade and health care, but warned that he would go to war if Democrats use their subpoena power to investigate corruption in the administration as well as the president’s personal finances and conduct in office. Addressing reporters at a freewheeling, sometimes fiery, 90-minute White House news conference, Trump repeatedly praised House Democratic Leader Nancy... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172193/watch-trump-holds-white-house-press-conference?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172193/watch-trump-holds-white-house-press-conference?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 17:04:03 +0000 US President Donald Trump faced the prospect of bitter partisan warfare on Wednesday after a midterm election delivered a split verdict and revealed a country still sharply divided along party lines. Trump and Democrats emboldened by seizing control of the House of Representatives fired off warning shots even before the dust had settled on Tuesday’s vote. “We will conduct the investigations that Republicans wouldn’t conduct,” Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell of California said on NBC’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172192/means-war-trump-threatens-democrats-two-can-play?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172192/means-war-trump-threatens-democrats-two-can-play?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 16:39:02 +0000 The mixed results in Tuesday’s US midterm elections provided further evidence of the political divisions caused by President Donald Trump’s contentious domestic agenda, but left Beijing no wiser as to the possible future direction of his hardline policy on China. While Trump’s power may be weakened as a result of a divided Congress that looks set to put him under intense scrutiny, observers in both China and the US say the outcome may have little, if any, effect on the unfolding power play... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2172180/us-election-results-unlikely-change-donald-trumps-tough-stance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2172180/us-election-results-unlikely-change-donald-trumps-tough-stance?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 15:32:57 +0000 Owen Churchill Owen Churchill As the results came trickling in for one of the most consequential midterm elections in recent US history, the conclusion of one particular battleground race in central Illinois offered a barometer of American farmers’ faith in a trade war with China that could cost them billions of dollars in exports. As voter rejection of Republicans gathered steam in heavily trade-dependent states like Washington, the battle for Illinois’ 13th congressional district – a traditionally conservative stronghold... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2172097/us-china-trade-war-are-illinois-soybean-farmers-losing-faith?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2172097/us-china-trade-war-are-illinois-soybean-farmers-losing-faith?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 11:31:08 +0000 The United States trade war with China may have been the defining narrative of foreign interest in the American midterm elections. But the result, while a setback for President Donald Trump, is unlikely to affect the course of it. Trump’s punitive tariff regime was not a decisive issue of the campaign. Indeed, some influential Democrats have supported it, and backed the confrontational approach with Beijing. Anti-China sentiment can therefore be expected to continue shaping foreign and trade... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/world/article/2172165/setback-donald-trump-midterm-elections-unlikely-affect?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/world/article/2172165/setback-donald-trump-midterm-elections-unlikely-affect?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 11:16:21 +0000 Don’t pop the champagne just yet – the US midterm election result might be good news for Democrats, but it could spell trouble for Asia, according to one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics. The noted political scientist Ian Bremmer said in an interview on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum that the US president’s instincts to “escalate” at his low points in politics meant Asia could face immediate uncertainties in the aftermath of the Republicans’ loss of the House of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2172104/us-midterms-result-good-democrats-bad-asia-says-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2172104/us-midterms-result-good-democrats-bad-asia-says-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 07:45:00 +0000 With Democrats capturing control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterms, one lawmaker will reclaim the mantle of Washington’s most powerful woman – and an opposition scourge for US President Donald Trump. Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is expected to become speaker of the House, a position she held for four years from 2007, when she made history as the first woman ever to rise to that post. Should she take the gavel from outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan, the 78-year-old would... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172103/us-midterms-former-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-eyes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172103/us-midterms-former-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-eyes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 07:37:55 +0000 Groundbreaking campaigns have broken barriers this election, with historic candidates changing the face of Congress and statehouses across the US. Women have run in record numbers, and Native Americans, Muslims, Latinos, immigrants, millennials and LGBT candidates have already made history with their campaigns. Here are the key trailblazing candidates who are diversifying American politics and have already won their races so far. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, youngest woman elected to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172092/candidates-who-made-history-2018-us-midterm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172092/candidates-who-made-history-2018-us-midterm?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 06:39:35 +0000