Race row Support for US president from inner circle

A member of Donald Trump’s inner circle has issued a defiant message defending the president against allegations he is siding with neo-nazis in an effort to draw a line under the scandal.

Steve Mnuchin, Mr Trump’s treasury secretary, defended the US leader after 350 former classmates from Yale wrote an open letter arguing Mr Mnuchin should resign rather than work for a president whose views were antithetical to American values.

However, Mr Mnuchin, who had stood next to Mr Trump at a press conference last week when the president failed to condemn neo-nazis, said he would not be resigning.

“I don’t believe the allegations against the president are accurate, and I believe that having highly talented men and women in our country surrounding the president in his administration should be reassuring to you and all American people,” Mr Mnuchin wrote in response.