https://www.scmp.com/rss/507393/feed President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for Covid-19 early on October 2, 2020, after senior aide Hope Hicks who travelled with the couple fell ill. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com More than two years into the pandemic, a second US president has tested positive for Covid-19. But the calmer outlook surrounding Joe Biden’s case contrasts with the grave concern over Donald Trump’s diagnosis: a reminder of progress made in the pandemic, even as it becomes clearer that the virus eventually comes for all. Both are men of advanced age – Biden is 79, while Trump was 74 at the time – meaning their mortality risk is many times greater than younger groups. Key differences however... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3186200/biden-and-trump-tale-two-presidents-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3186200/biden-and-trump-tale-two-presidents-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Jul 2022 05:53:13 +0000 Former US president Donald Trump is slamming politicians who refuse to say whether they have received Covid-19 booster shots as “gutless”. “You gotta say it. Whether you had it or not, say it,” Trump said in an interview that aired on Tuesday night on the conservative One America News Network. Trump, who was booed last month by supporters after revealing he had received a booster shot, has become increasingly vocal in calling out those who have questioned the vaccines’ efficacy and safety. It’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3163172/donald-trump-calls-out-gutless-politicians-who-wont?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3163172/donald-trump-calls-out-gutless-politicians-who-wont?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jan 2022 21:21:57 +0000 Former US president Donald Trump’s blood oxygen level plunged to a dangerous low when he had Covid-19 last year. Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, revealed the detail in his new book titled The Chief’s Chief. It comes in stark contradiction to Trump’s denial that his bout with Covid-19 in October 2020 was not as bad as it seemed. “That morning, Dr Conley pulled me aside and delivered some bad news,” Meadows wrote in the book, referring to Dr Sean P. Conley, who headed Trump’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3158737/donald-trumps-blood-oxygen-level-was-dangerously?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3158737/donald-trumps-blood-oxygen-level-was-dangerously?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Dec 2021 06:05:53 +0000 Donald Trump had a positive Covid-19 test, quickly followed by a negative, shortly before he went into a presidential debate with challenger Joe Biden last year, according to a new book. Despite getting the all-clear in that second test, Trump would get so sick with Covid-19 within a week that he had to be urgently hospitalised. The testing detail emerged Wednesday in a report by The Guardian, which obtained an advance copy of The Chief’s Chief, a memoir by Trump’s chief of staff at the time,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3158087/donald-trump-tested-positive-coronavirus-shortly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3158087/donald-trump-tested-positive-coronavirus-shortly?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Dec 2021 16:54:09 +0000 It’s the end of an era, of sorts – @realDonaldTrump, the Twitter feed that grew from the random musings of a reality TV star into the cudgel of an American president, died on Friday. It was not quite 12 years old. The provocative handle was brought into the world by a New York real estate tycoon who used it to help him become the 45th US president. It began with a May 4, 2009, tweet promoting Donald Trump’s upcoming appearance on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman. The Trump family in 2020,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3117262/rip-donald-trumps-twitter-covid-19-capitol-hill-tracing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3117262/rip-donald-trumps-twitter-covid-19-capitol-hill-tracing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jan 2021 03:00:12 +0000 Rudy Giuliani became the latest member of US President Donald Trump’s circle to test positive for coronavirus, the commander in chief announced on Sunday, and the former New York mayor stated that he’s doing well. “Thank you to all my friends and followers for all the prayers and kind wishes. I’m getting great care and feeling good,” Giuliani tweeted Sunday night. “Recovering quickly and keeping up with everything.” The 76-year-old was exhibiting some symptoms and was admitted Sunday to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3112802/rudy-giuliani-tests-positive-coronavirus-donald?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3112802/rudy-giuliani-tests-positive-coronavirus-donald?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Dec 2020 21:10:23 +0000 In an update posted to Instagram, Donald Trump Jnr said on Friday that he's not feeling the symptoms of the coronavirus and is passing the time under quarantine by cleaning his guns.  The president's son announced he had tested positive for the virus earlier this week. “Apparently I got the 'rona,” he said on Friday. “You wouldn't know it based on anything that I've felt or have seen. I guess I've been totally asymptomatic.” “But out of an abundance of precaution, I'll quarantine,” he added.... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3110848/coronavirus-donald-trump-jnr-says-he-spending-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3110848/coronavirus-donald-trump-jnr-says-he-spending-his?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Nov 2020 20:33:20 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jnr has tested positive for Covid-19 and is quarantining without symptoms, the latest in a long list of infections among those with links to the White House. “Don tested positive at the start of the week and has been quarantining out at his cabin since the result,” his spokesman said. “He’s been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended Covid-19 guidelines,” the spokesman said of the 42-year-old. Trump Jnr’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3110797/coronavirus-donald-trump-jr-isolation-after-testing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3110797/coronavirus-donald-trump-jr-isolation-after-testing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Nov 2020 23:32:26 +0000 Dozens of US Secret Service officers assigned to protect President Donald Trump have been sidelined by Covid-19, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported on Friday as the coronavirus outbreak spread at the White House. Two US government sources familiar with the situation confirmed that Secret Service officers had tested positive for the virus but did not provide a specific number. One of the sources said a larger number of officers who had not tested positive had gone into quarantine... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3109839/white-house-outbreak-dozens-donald-trumps-secret?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3109839/white-house-outbreak-dozens-donald-trumps-secret?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Nov 2020 21:45:09 +0000 A new wave of people in Donald Trump’s orbit – including long-time adviser Corey Lewandowski and Republican lobbyist Jeff Miller – have tested positive for the coronavirus after attending an election-night party at the White House. It is unclear if either of them contracted the virus at the White House. Billionaire shipping magnates Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein, who are among the president’s biggest donors, also tested positive for the virus, though they did not attend the party. Republican... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3109648/trump-loyalists-hit-new-coronavirus-wave-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3109648/trump-loyalists-hit-new-coronavirus-wave-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Nov 2020 22:14:06 +0000 It was supposed to be a scene of celebration. Instead, the Trump campaign’s election night watch party in the White House East Room has become another symbol of President Donald Trump’s cavalier attitude toward a virus that is ripping across the nation and infecting more than 100,000 people a day. Polls suggest that attitude was a serious drag on the president’s re-election bid as voters chose to deny Trump a second term in favour of his Democratic rival, now President-elect Joe Biden. And the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3109030/was-donald-trumps-election-night-party-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3109030/was-donald-trumps-election-night-party-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Nov 2020 04:17:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Trump administration is expected to announce a 180-day ban on a range of asylum requests citing the threat posed by the coronavirus, according to two people familiar with the matter, in its latest effort to restrict immigration ahead of the November 3 election. Under the new rule, anyone entering or trying to enter the US by land from Canada or Mexico would be ineligible for asylum – and subject to removal – because of potential national security threats to the US amid the Covid-19 pandemic,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107898/trump-administration-announce-180-day-ban-asylum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107898/trump-administration-announce-180-day-ban-asylum?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Oct 2020 00:08:56 +0000 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said data from a late-stage clinical trial suggest that its antibody cocktail therapy for Covid-19 significantly reduces virus levels and the need for further medical care. Patients getting the therapy were 57 per cent less likely to need medical care within a month of treatment, with 2.8 per cent of those given the antibody and 6.5 per cent of those on placebo seeing a health care worker within 29 days. The Tarrytown, New York-based company has shared the results with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107516/coronavirus-regenerons-antiviral-cocktail-reduces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107516/coronavirus-regenerons-antiviral-cocktail-reduces?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Oct 2020 22:53:57 +0000 The White House planned a Monday night celebration of the Republican Senate’s expected confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court, a month after a similar event was linked to a Covid-19 outbreak that preceded President Donald Trump’s own infection. While Democrats have fiercely opposed the conservative jurist’s nomination, Trump’s fellow Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority and her confirmation to a lifetime post on the court seems assured. Trump pressed the Senate to confirm... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107163/donald-trump-plans-second-event-amy-coney-barrett?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107163/donald-trump-plans-second-event-amy-coney-barrett?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Oct 2020 17:06:35 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Alex Isenstadt on politico.com on October 25, 2020. US President Donald Trump’s top advisers have plunged into a bitter round of finger-pointing and blame-shifting ahead of an increasingly likely defeat. Accusations are flying in all directions and about all manner of topics – from allegedly questionable spending decisions by former campaign manager Brad Parscale, to how White House chief of staff Mark... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107054/paranoia-and-finger-pointing-trumpworld-us-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107054/paranoia-and-finger-pointing-trumpworld-us-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Oct 2020 02:32:57 +0000 One of President Donald Trump’s top White House officials said on Sunday that the US government will not bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control, comments underscored by an outbreak among aides to Vice-President Mike Pence, who continues to attend election campaign events even as cases surge across the country. “We‘re not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines therapeutics, and other mitigation areas,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107029/coronavirus-us-white-house-chief-staff-says-were?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3107029/coronavirus-us-white-house-chief-staff-says-were?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Oct 2020 15:21:21 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Garrett M. Graff on politico.com on October 23, 2020. The coronavirus pandemic was always going to make the 2020 election uniquely complicated, and Donald Trump’s norm-busting style was always going to make it tense, but headlines in recent days have started to read like political thriller plot lines. We’ve seen Iranian skulduggery, dummy ballot boxes and mysterious threatening emails. Congressional... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106966/day-day-guide-what-could-happen-if-election-goes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106966/day-day-guide-what-could-happen-if-election-goes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Oct 2020 18:04:29 +0000 The US Food and Drug Administration approved Gilead Sciences’ antiviral therapy remdesivir on Thursday, making it the first drug to obtain formal clearance for treating the coronavirus. Regulators had granted an emergency-use authorisation for remdesivir earlier this year, and since then the drug has become a widely used therapy in hospitalised Covid-19 patients. It was given to US President Donald Trump this month when he was diagnosed with the virus. The approval of remdesivir, sold under the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106734/gileads-remdesivir-first-coronavirus-drug-get-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106734/gileads-remdesivir-first-coronavirus-drug-get-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Oct 2020 23:37:31 +0000 Former US president Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail on Wednesday, launching a blistering attack on Donald Trump with less than two weeks to go before the Republican president’s Election Day face-off with Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Speaking at a drive-in rally in Philadelphia on behalf of Biden, his former vice-president, Obama offered his most pointed critique yet of his successor. “He hasn’t shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself,” Obama said of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106559/barack-obama-stumps-joe-biden-launching-blistering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106559/barack-obama-stumps-joe-biden-launching-blistering?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Oct 2020 23:23:23 +0000 As the US presidential election campaign nears its conclusion, and Covid-19 infections surge across the nation, interest has intensified in the handful of “battleground” states which, under the electoral college system, will ultimately decide the election’s result. In 2016, Donald Trump won in Michigan by 0.3 per cent, his smallest margin nationally. In 2020, the state has been constantly in the headlines as he feuds with its Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, over her relatively tough and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3106511/us-election-what-does-michigans-coronavirus-experience-say-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3106511/us-election-what-does-michigans-coronavirus-experience-say-about?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Oct 2020 17:30:14 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s wife Melania cancelled a rare joint appearance with him at a campaign rally Tuesday due to a “lingering cough” following her infection with the coronavirus, a spokeswoman said. “Mrs Trump continues to feel better every day following her recovery from Covid-19, but with a lingering cough, and out of an abundance of caution, she will not be travelling today,” Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. The first lady’s appearance with Trump in Erie, Pennsylvania, was to have... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106352/melania-trump-cancels-rare-campaign-appearance-due?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106352/melania-trump-cancels-rare-campaign-appearance-due?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:59:25 +0000 Twitter blocked a tweet from a contrarian medical adviser to President Donald Trump which stated that wearing masks does not help slow the spread of the coronavirus. “Masks work? NO,” Scott Atlas said in a tweet removed as of Sunday by the social media site. The post, which linked to an article in the American Institute for Economic Research that argued against the effectiveness of masks, was in violation of the company’s rules against sharing false and harmful information, Twitter told... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106040/twitter-deletes-trump-coronavirus-adviser-scott?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3106040/twitter-deletes-trump-coronavirus-adviser-scott?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Oct 2020 17:49:29 +0000 The United States’ handling of Covid-19 has accelerated its declining power advantage over China, according to a new index of power in Asia, with the gap between the superpowers halving since 2018. While retaining the top spot in the region, the US saw its relative power drop the most of any country in 2020, according to the annual index produced by the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank. The US scored 81.6 in the index, a drop of three points from the previous year, with its position... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3106012/us-power-advantage-over-china-declines-wake-coronavirus-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3106012/us-power-advantage-over-china-declines-wake-coronavirus-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Oct 2020 13:09:21 +0000 Melania Trump lashed out on Friday at “self-serving adults” for focusing on her falling out with a friend and adviser, writing that the attention paid to “salacious claims” about the broken relationship comes at the expense of her work on behalf of children. Mrs Trump also sharply criticised Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the former friend and aide who recently wrote a tell-all book about the friendship, her role in helping produce President Donald Trump’s inauguration and her work helping the first... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105921/first-lady-melania-trump-lashes-out-media-focusing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105921/first-lady-melania-trump-lashes-out-media-focusing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2020 23:19:43 +0000 US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday criticised what he called President Donald Trump’s “panicked” response to the coronavirus pandemic, while Trump defended his handling of a crisis that has killed more than 216,000 Americans and refused to denounce the QAnon conspiracy theory. The rivals spoke in simultaneous town halls broadcast on separate television networks after a debate originally scheduled for Thursday was called off following Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105752/trump-defends-coronavirus-plan-refuses-denounce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105752/trump-defends-coronavirus-plan-refuses-denounce?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:53:34 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Caitlin Oprysko on politico.com on October 15, 2020. US President Donald Trump sought to tamp down expectations ahead of his town hall with NBC on Thursday night, accusing the news network of setting him up. “So, you know I'm being set up tonight,” he claimed to supporters at a rally in North Carolina, before deriding the network and its personalities – including the moderator of his upcoming town... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105736/donald-trump-bashes-nbc-ahead-his-prime-time-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105736/donald-trump-bashes-nbc-ahead-his-prime-time-town?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Oct 2020 20:53:38 +0000 A passenger on Joe Biden’s campaign plane has tested positive for Covid-19, the Democratic presidential nominee’s campaign announced on Thursday. An administrator for the aviation charter company the campaign uses was on the plane this week for trips to Ohio and Florida but sat more than 50 feet (15 metres) from the former vice-president, used a different entrance and exit, and both Biden and the person were wearing masks at all times, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105726/biden-running-mate-kamala-harris-cancels-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105726/biden-running-mate-kamala-harris-cancels-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Oct 2020 15:38:34 +0000 First lady Melania Trump and son Barron have recovered from Covid-19, after, she says, taking “a more natural route” of vitamins and healthy eating, according to an official White House statement. She also said she kept her morale up by focusing on her family, and stressed that mental health is a crucial part of overall well-being. While her husband, President Donald Trump, took a catalogue of pharmaceuticals – including remdesivir, the steroid dexamethasone and Regeneron, an experimental... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3105662/donald-trump-used-remdesivir-and-other-drugs-fight-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3105662/donald-trump-used-remdesivir-and-other-drugs-fight-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Oct 2020 08:59:25 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron, tested positive for coronavirus while his parents recovered from Covid-19 but never showed symptoms of the disease, his mother said. First lady Melania Trump said in a post on the White House website on Wednesday that Barron Trump, 14, initially tested negative after his parents both contracted the virus. “I couldn’t help but think ‘what about tomorrow or the next day?’,” she wrote. “My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105576/melania-trump-says-son-barron-had-coronavirus-has?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105576/melania-trump-says-son-barron-had-coronavirus-has?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Oct 2020 21:03:27 +0000 The apparent recovery of Donald Trump since his Covid-19 diagnosis has focused attention on an experimental treatment he received. The US president was given three drugs, but leading US respiratory disease expert Anthony Fauci has said he is “strongly suspicious” that the 74-year-old’s recovery is attributable to an experimental cocktail called Regn-Cov2 that uses cloned antibodies taken from the blood of recovered Covid-19 patients to neutralise the virus. These drugs, known as monoclonal... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3105296/donald-trumps-treatment-reminds-us-hedge-bets-covid-19-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3105296/donald-trumps-treatment-reminds-us-hedge-bets-covid-19-research?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:01:30 +0000 Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday that the government-sponsored clinical trial of its Covid-19 antibody treatment similar to one taken by US President Donald Trump has been paused because of a safety concern. Trump touted the Lilly drug, along with the antibody treatment from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc that he received for his Covid-19, as tantamount to a cure in a video he posted last week. The announcement comes one day after Johnson & Johnson said it was forced to pause a large high-profile... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105405/eli-lilly-pauses-trial-antibody-drug-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105405/eli-lilly-pauses-trial-antibody-drug-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2020 21:49:47 +0000 An Indian man who worshipped Donald Trump and was upset by the news of the US president contracting Covid-19 died of a cardiac arrest on Sunday, an official from his village and police said. Bussa Krishna, who had said his devotion for Trump began more than four years ago when the leader appeared to him in a dream, had days ago posted a tearful video on his Facebook page wishing for his idol’s recovery from the viral disease that has killed more than 1 million people worldwide. Trump revealed on... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3105295/trump-worshipper-india-dies-after-being-upset-about-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3105295/trump-worshipper-india-dies-after-being-upset-about-us?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2020 06:52:24 +0000 Just a week after his release from the hospital, US President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Monday for the first time since contracting the coronavirus, resuming his effort to stage a late comeback in the election’s final stretch. “It’s great to be back in my home state, Florida, to make my official return to the campaign trail,” Trump declared in front of a crowd of thousands of supporters, standing shoulder to shoulder, mostly without masks, despite the ongoing pandemic. Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105239/donald-trump-returns-campaign-trail-florida-holding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105239/donald-trump-returns-campaign-trail-florida-holding?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2020 00:12:56 +0000 The US presidential election on November 3 will be the most consequential in a generation, both for the United States and the rest of the world. The lack of policy-oriented debate in the campaign to date means that the future of US foreign policy and the country’s approach to the Asia-Pacific is unusually speculative regardless of which candidate wins. On October 1, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for Covid-19, throwing another wild card into the heated... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3104846/will-trump-or-biden-be-better-asean-countries-amid-us-china-stand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3104846/will-trump-or-biden-be-better-asean-countries-amid-us-china-stand?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Oct 2020 02:00:24 +0000 US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he no longer had the coronavirus and claimed he was now “immune”. “It seems like I'm immune, so I can go way out of a basement, which I would have done anyway,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News. “The president is in very good shape to fight the battles,” Trump said in response to a question from Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo. “I beat this crazy horrible China virus … I passed the highest test, the highest standards, and I'm in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105071/donald-trump-declares-himself-immune-covid-19-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105071/donald-trump-declares-himself-immune-covid-19-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Oct 2020 16:39:12 +0000 US President Donald Trump, who contracted the coronavirus earlier this month, floated an idea to surprise observers by ripping open his button-down shirt to reveal a Superman T-shirt underneath, according to a New York Times report. Trump made several calls during his stay at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week, in which he proposed the idea of first appearing physically weak to observers, people familiar with the matter reportedly said. Upon leaving the hospital, he would... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105033/donald-trump-proposed-ripping-open-his-shirt-reveal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105033/donald-trump-proposed-ripping-open-his-shirt-reveal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Oct 2020 06:52:01 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s doctor said the president was no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus. In a memo on Saturday, Dr Sean Conley said Trump met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for safely discontinuing isolation and that by “currently recognised standards” he was no longer considered a transmission risk. Conley, who has been accused of a lack of transparency with the public, said it had been 10 days since Trump first began showing symptoms of the new... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105004/trump-makes-first-public-address-white-house-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3105004/trump-makes-first-public-address-white-house-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Oct 2020 18:54:22 +0000 Those following the arguments around how and when the next US presidential debate will take place were subjected to further whiplash on Friday, when news broke that organisers had decided to cancel the upcoming head-to-head altogether. “It is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15,” the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) said in a statement: “The CPD will turn its attention to preparations for the final presidential debate scheduled for October 22.” The decision to cancel the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104958/second-us-presidential-debate-between-trump-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104958/second-us-presidential-debate-between-trump-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Oct 2020 04:22:42 +0000 US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump’s chief rival in Congress, proposed a commission on Friday to assess a president’s capacity for carrying out his duties – a move that highlights concerns about Trump’s health weeks before the election. Despite the conspicuous timing of the unveiling, Pelosi insisted that “this is not about President Trump”, who has been treated for Covid-19 for the past week and is desperate to return to campaigning. Trump on Saturday will hold his first public event... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104943/amid-donald-trumps-coronavirus-woes-nancy-pelosi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104943/amid-donald-trumps-coronavirus-woes-nancy-pelosi?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Oct 2020 18:21:31 +0000 US President Donald Trump is on track to get the all clear from his doctor to resume “public engagements” on Saturday – even though that’d be less than two weeks since he was first diagnosed with Covid-19. Stuck in quarantine at the White House this week, Trump has been itching to get back on the campaign trail, with Joe Biden trouncing him in nearly all polls as the November 3 election looms less than four weeks away. Trump on Thursday said he was doing “really good” and that he might try to do... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104783/donald-trump-can-return-public-events-saturday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104783/donald-trump-can-return-public-events-saturday?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 23:55:04 +0000 The Trump administration’s resistance to contact tracing since the president tested positive for Covid-19 reflects a calculation that there’s little political upside in highlighting this close to the election the number of people at the pinnacle of US power potentially exposed to the virus by him, say health experts and political analysts. Masks and contact tracing – used effectively in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and elsewhere – are proven tools in breaking the chain of infection in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3104779/white-house-coronavirus-hot-spot-cold-contact-tracing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3104779/white-house-coronavirus-hot-spot-cold-contact-tracing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 22:51:07 +0000 Beijing offered no immediate response on Thursday to US President Donald Trump’s accusation that the coronavirus was “China’s fault”, signalling that Beijing does not want to add to tension with the US and be dragged into a presidential election already overshadowed by the pandemic. In a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, Trump – who returned to the White House on Monday after being treated for the coronavirus – vowed that China “will pay a big price for what they did to the world, and to us”,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3104759/coronavirus-beijing-holds-fire-trump-threat-make-china-pay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3104759/coronavirus-beijing-holds-fire-trump-threat-make-china-pay?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 14:00:15 +0000 President Donald Trump added more turbulence on Thursday to the US presidential race by refusing to participate in an October 15 debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden after it was changed to a virtual event to guard against the spread of Covid-19, prompting Biden to book a solo televised town hall-style event instead. Trump, who was hospitalised for three days after disclosing last Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, blasted the format change announced by the non-partisan... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104757/donald-trump-says-he-wont-take-part-virtual-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104757/donald-trump-says-he-wont-take-part-virtual-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 13:22:22 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Ryan Lizza on politico.com on October 8, 2020. At one point during Wednesday night's vice-presidential debate, Mike Pence answered a question about abortion laws in Indiana by discussing Qassem Soleimani. Kamala Harris responded to a question about whether she and Joe Biden would expand the Supreme Court by invoking Abe Lincoln. Let's say this at the outset: this was a boring, unfocused debate between... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104672/vp-debate-offers-america-glimpse-post-trump-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104672/vp-debate-offers-america-glimpse-post-trump-future?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 06:40:45 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Steven Shepard on politico.com on October 7, 2020. At this stage of the campaign in 2016, Donald Trump trailed his Democratic opponent by as much as the mid-teens in polls. This year, Trump is behind by similar margins in some surveys as the election enters the final stretch. Yet while the top lines of the 2020 race might look the same, it isn't. Trump has trailed in this campaign more consistently and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104665/wave-polls-paints-dire-picture-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104665/wave-polls-paints-dire-picture-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 06:15:17 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Meredith McGraw on politico.com on October 7, 2020. Wednesday had all the trappings of a typical day at the Trump White House. There was a morning flurry of all-caps tweets from US President Donald Trump. From his residence, Trump cycled through his favourite subjects – he wanted his political opponents jailed, Democrats were ruining the balloting system, etc. Then, in the early afternoon, Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104649/donald-trump-returns-west-wing-ghost-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104649/donald-trump-returns-west-wing-ghost-town?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 04:24:35 +0000 Wednesday night’s match-up between US Vice-President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Senator Kamala Harris opened without the fireworks that marred last week’s chaotic debate between President Donald Trump and former vice-president Joe Biden. But Trump’s Covid -19 infection, and his and Biden’s advanced age, made it perhaps the most consequential US vice-presidential debate in living memory. Here are a few stand-out moments from the debate: Packing the court? Frustrated that Trump and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104631/fly-mike-pences-head-and-5-other-highlights-vp?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104631/fly-mike-pences-head-and-5-other-highlights-vp?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 03:10:30 +0000 US Vice-President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris clashed early and often over the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic during their debate on Wednesday, as the White House struggled to contain an outbreak that has infected President Donald Trump and dozens of others. The policy-heavy debate stood in stark contrast to last week’s chaotic presidential debate, with Harris going on the attack on topics from healthcare to the economy, climate change and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104621/us-vice-presidential-debate-harris-and-pence-clash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104621/us-vice-presidential-debate-harris-and-pence-clash?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 02:35:38 +0000 US Vice-President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, California Senator Kamala Harris, are facing off in their first and only debate less than a month before the US election, with coronavirus adding a sudden twist to the event. The showdown between vice-presidential candidates is more often a sideshow of US presidential elections, but this year the encounter between President Donald Trump’s and Democrat Joe Biden’s running mates takes on far greater significance with the economy... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104613/mike-pence-and-kamala-harris-face-us-vice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3104613/mike-pence-and-kamala-harris-face-us-vice?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 00:56:56 +0000 US President Donald Trump, appearing at the White House for the first time since he returned from hospital on Monday night, vowed to “make China pay” for damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic and called his infection “a blessing from God”. Speaking effusively about the medications that made him feel “great” – in particular an experimental antibody therapy known as REGN-COV2 developed by American biotechnology company Regeneron – Trump said in a video posted to Twitter that he wanted to speed... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3104611/donald-trump-new-video-vows-make-china-pay-coronavirus-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3104611/donald-trump-new-video-vows-make-china-pay-coronavirus-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2020 23:01:37 +0000