Nation & World Glance
WASHINGTON — In the latest shake-up for President Donald Trump’s turbulent administration, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley abruptly announced Tuesday she is resigning at the end of the year, raising fresh questions about the Trump team and about the outspoken diplomat’s own political ambitions.
The news blindsided some key U.S. allies and many congressional Republicans involved in foreign policy matters. And it came less than a month before congressional elections, thwarting White House efforts to project an image of stability, with the loss of one of the highest-profile women in the administration at a time when women’s votes are being vigorously pursued.
A smiling Haley announced her decision at an Oval Office meeting alongside the president, bringing up her own political prospects even as she underscored her continued support for Trump. Without prompting from reporters, she said she had no plans to run for president “in 2020” and would campaign for Trump.
Trump rally crowd chants ‘Lock her up!’ about Feinstein
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Chants of “Lock her up!” rang once again throughout an Iowa arena as President Donald Trump rallied supporters Tuesday night.
But this time, the staple of Trump’s 2016 campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton had a new target: California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Trump, who was in the state boosting Republican candidates ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, claimed that Feinstein, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had leaked a letter written by California professor Christine Blasey Ford alleging Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.
Feinstein has denied her office was the source of the leak.
Fiancée asks Trump to help Post’s missing Saudi contributor
ISTANBUL — The fiancée of a missing Saudi contributor to The Washington Post on Wednesday asked President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to “help shed light” on his disappearance.
The request on behalf of Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared a week ago while visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, comes as Turkey said it was preparing to search the diplomatic post.
While Saudi officials haven’t acknowledged the pending search, it would represent an extraordinary development in a case that has Turkish officials saying they fear Khashoggi was killed there. Though Riyadh has dismissed the allegation as “baseless,” their possible consent to a search shows the increasing international pressure the kingdom faces over Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Court jovial as Kavanaugh takes place on bench
WASHINGTON — Brett Kavanaugh took the bench with his new Supreme Court colleagues for the first time Tuesday in a jovial atmosphere that was strikingly at odds with the tension and rancor surrounding his high-court confirmation.
The new justice dived into his new job, asking a handful of questions in the first arguments of the day following a traditional welcome from Chief Justice John Roberts, who wished Kavanaugh “a long and happy career in our common calling.”
Kavanaugh took his seat at the end of the bench to Roberts’ far left, a visible manifestation of a moment that Republicans have dreamed of for decades, with five solidly conservative justices on the court.