Trump to stop officials from listening in on calls
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has said that he might end the long-running practice of letting other administration officials listen in on Presidential calls with foreign leaders.
That’s after Trump’s impeachment was triggered by his July phone call with the President of Ukraine.
“I may end the practice entirely,” Trump told Geraldo Rivera in a radio interview that aired on Thursday. Records experts said that was a bad idea, for multiple reasons.
Trump also offered new insights into his feelings about being impeached, saying it made him think about the “dark” days when Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal before his own likely impeachment.
“Well, it’s a terrible thing and, you know, I think of Nixon more than anybody else and what that dark period was in our country and the whole thing with the tapes and the horror show,” Trump said. “It was dark and went on for a long time, and I watched it.” He said he often passes portraits of past presidents that hang in the White House. “The portrait of Richard Nixon — I don’t know. It’s a little bit of a different feeling than I get from looking at the other portraits of presidents,” he said. “I got impeached for no reason whatsoever — totally partisan.”
Trump was impeached over his decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine. House Democrats allege that Trump abused his power by asking Ukraine to announce investigations of political rival Joe Biden and other Democrats in exchange for releasing the aid.
Senate acts to restrain Trump’s military powers against Iran
The Senate approved a bipartisan measure on Thursday limiting President Donald Trump’s authority to launch military operations against Iran.
The measure, authored by Sen Tim Kaine, D-Va., says Trump must win approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. Eight Republicans joined with Democrats to pass the resolution by a 55-45 vote. Kaine and other supporters said the resolution was not about Trump or even the presidency, but instead was an important reassertion of congressional power to declare war.