Trump news – live: President faces Iran drone warning, new rape accusation and outcry over ‘filthy’ detention centres for children

There has been speculation that Mr Trump would look to demote Mr Powell, although the White House has said that they have no plans for such a move.

When asked about it on Sunday, Mr Trump said: I didn’t ever threaten to demote him”. 

“I’d be able to do that if I wanted, but I haven’t suggested that…. I have the right to do that, but I haven’t said that,” the president added. 

Last Wednesday, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, indicating that there would not be a cut in 2019. The central bank, however, forecast one to two possible rate cuts in its predictions, probably both coming in 2020.

The Federal Open Market Committee votes 9-1 to keep the benchmark rate in a target range of 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has upset Mr Trump in not announcing a cut, but one could come as soon as July, with Mr Powell leaving the door open in his post-announcement remarks. 

Donald Trump has hit out again at the US Federal Reserve and their decisions on interest rates – the president has been calling for a cut for a long time and has repeatedly blamed the Fed for slowing the economic growth he is so proud of.

“Obama had someone that kept the rates very low,” Mr Trump told NBC’s Meet the Press in an interview broadcast on Sunday. “I had somebody that raised the rates very rapidly — too much. He made a mistake, that’s been proven.” 

Mr Trump’s tweets have been undercut slightly by the message of Washington’s special envoy for Iran says the US wants international partners to join forces to increase maritime security in the Persian Gulf. 

Brian Hook told reporters earlier on Monday that one option could be to “enhance” an existing multinational maritime force in the region involving about 30 countries that currently fights drug and arms smuggling. 

Alternatively, he said allied nations with commercial interests in the oil-rich region could launch an all-new maritime security initiative. 

However, to be fair to the current president, likely is specifically referring to crude oil production.

According to the EIA: the US surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the global top producer in 2018, when Mr Trump was in office.

Mr Trump also claims that the US has “just become” the largest producer of energy in the world. That is true, but the president should not be claiming all the credit.

The government’s official source for energy data, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), said in 2016: “US petroleum and natural gas production first surpassed Russia in 2012, and the United States has been the world’s top producer of natural gas since 2011 and the world’s top producer of petroleum hydrocarbons since 2013.”

Those were all under the previous administration of Barack Obama, with some of the regulations needed for that rise likely to have discussd even before Mr Obama was in office.

Mr Trump has been tweeting again. And there are a couple of things to unpack.

First, it is about the state of shipping in the Gulf, with a number of vessels. Six oil tankers and a US spy drone have been hit or downed since May either in, or near, the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr Trump is claiming that other countries should protect own Gulf shipping – citing the example of China and Japan. The president seems to be forgetting that protecting those ships are part of defence/trade relationships and alliances that are important to the US.

Here’s our report on Trump flubbing Chuck Todd’s question about his backing Pence for a future tilt at the White House.

US special representative on Iran Brian Hook told reporters that the country could “come to the table or watch its economy crumble,” but declined to give more details about fresh sanctions expected later on Monday.

Hook was speaking by telephone from Oman, where he is touring Gulf countries before heading to Paris.

Pompeo thanked King Salman for meeting him on “such short notice” at their talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah, according to a pool report of journalists travelling with him. In reply, the king called Pompeo a “dear friend”.

Pompeo then met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, for a working lunch.

The top US diplomat had told reporters before departing on a trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that Washington wanted talks with Tehran, even as it planned to impose new economic sanctions.

For its part, the UAE has called for a de-escalation following the attacks on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, which led to the ramping up of tensions brought to head by the drone downing.

There was no public indication of whether Pompeo would raise with Saudi leaders the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. A UN report last week called for the crown prince and other senior officials to be investigated given credible evidence against them.

The Trump administration is pressing the Saudis to show “tangible progress” toward holding to account those behind the killing and wants them to do so before the one-year anniversary of his death on 2 October, a senior administration official told Reuters this month.

But Trump told NBC on Sunday he did not discuss the murder in a recent phone call with the crown prince. Asked if the FBI should investigate, he responded: “I think it’s been heavily investigated.”

The murder tarnished the crown prince’s international standing. The CIA and some Western countries believe he ordered the killing, which Saudi officials deny.

Cummings’ panel said it would vote on a potential subpoena if Conway does not testify before lawmakers at a scheduled Wednesday session focused on her alleged violations of the Hatch Act.

The 1939 law prohibits executive branch employees from engaging in some political activities.

The hearing was scheduled after the Office of Special Counsel, a US government watchdog agency, earlier this month recommended Conway be fired for repeatedly violating the Hatch Act by disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.

Trump has said he would not fire 52-year-old Conway, a former political pollster who became Trump’s campaign manager in 2016 and the first woman to oversee a winning US presidential campaign.

If Conway does not testify at the hearing, the Committee plans to hold a business meeting to consider authorising a subpoena for the White House advisor for “testimony in connection with her failure to comply with the Hatch Act and ethics laws,” Cummings wrote in a letter to Committee members dated Friday.

The threat is a sign of growing frustration among House Democrats who have been thwarted in their efforts to hold to account the Trump administration. Senior administration officials including Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross and attorney general William Barr have all defied subpoena requests from Democratic-led House panels in recent months.

Now serving as counselor to the president at the White House, Conway regularly defends Trump and attacks his rivals online and in television interviews, often on the White House grounds.

The Special Counsel’s office, an independent agency, is run by lawyer Henry Kerner, who was confirmed by the Senate in October 2017 after Trump nominated him for the position. 

Trump denied plotting to depose Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

The vetting documents, obtained by Axios on HBO, highlight potential issues among nearly 100 candidates who were considered in late 2016 and early 2017 for top positions in Trump’s administration. 

Among them was David Petraeus, former director of the CIA, whose vetting form, under the title “Red Flags”, highlighted his publicly stated opposition to torture. 

Just days into his presidency, Trump declared his support for torture in an interview with ABC in which he said “torture works” and he would “absolutely” bring back banned interrogation methods such as waterboarding.