Donald Trump

  • US election 2016: Trump momentum forces new Clinton effort

    As opinion polls suggest Donald Trump is gaining support, Hillary Clinton has been holding rallies in states that had been considered safe for the Democrats.

    A BBC correspondent says both teams are now concentrating more on getting their supporters to vote, rather than swaying those undecided.

    Thirty-seven million early ballots have already been cast.

    US authorities say they are assessing the credibility of information on a possible al-Qaeda terror attack.

    New York, Texas and Virginia are believed to be the potential targets mentioned in connection with a possible attack before election day on Tuesday, but a police spokesman said the information “lacks specificity”.

    Officials say they regularly assess all possible threats before major events.

    News of a possible attack came as both Mrs Clinton and Mr Trump made final pushes for support in battleground states across the US.

    They both held rallies in Ohio and Pennsylvania on Friday, two states that may prove crucial on Tuesday.

    Both candidates are due to campaign in Florida today. The state is seen as a key contest that could tip the election.

    In Cleveland, Ohio, Mrs Clinton ended the day’s campaigning at a concert, where she was joined by the singer Beyonce and her husband, rapper Jay Z.

    “We have unfinished work to do, more barriers to break, and with your help, a glass ceiling to crack once and for all,” Mrs Clinton said.

    Addressing the crowd, Jay Z explained his support for Mrs Clinton. He said that though he did not have any “ill will” towards Mr Trump, the Republican’s conversation was “divisive”.

    “That’s not an evolved soul to me, so he cannot be my president. He cannot be our president,” he said.

    The free concert was part of a series of events put on by Mrs Clinton’s campaign as she aims to encourage greater African-American participation in the election.

    Mr Trump, meanwhile, told a crowd of supporters in New Hampshire that his rival wants a “550% increase” on Syrian refugees allowed into the US.

    “Her plan would mean generations of terrorism, extremism, and radicalism spreading into our schools and communities,” the Republican candidate said.

    Earlier, at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mrs Clinton said that her opponent was “unfit” for office because of his temperament and disparaging comments about women and minorities.

    Mr Trump is currently ahead in Ohio, according to a state polling average by Real Clear Politics (RCP), while Mrs Clinton leads by a small margin in Pennsylvania.

    In Florida, RCP’s poll average puts the Democratic candidate ahead, but poll analysis website FiveThirtyEight says Mr Trump has a 52.4% chance of winning the state’s 29 electoral votes.

    National polls have suggested that the Republican candidate has gained substantial ground on his rival in the last week or so. That momentum also appears to have helped him in several key battleground states.

    The Democratic nominee has had a tough few days after the FBI said last week it was looking into emails that may be connected to her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state in the Obama administration.

    Mrs Clinton has said she is confident the new inquiry will not change the FBI’s original finding in July, which criticised her but cleared her of any illegal acts.

    The Clinton camp have questioned the timing of the announcement. Two senior Democrats have now called for an investigation into the role of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump surrogate.

    In an interview on Fox News on Friday morning, Mr Giuliani appeared to suggest he knew about the inquiry before it was announced, saying: “I had no role in it. Did I hear about it? You’re darn right I heard about it.”

    Democratic Representatives Elijah Cummings and John Conyers wrote to the Justice Department on Friday afternoon asking for an investigation into the source of the information to Mr Giuliani.

    “Leaking this information to former FBI officials as a conduit to the Trump campaign is equally intolerable,” they wrote.

    But Mr Giuliani later denied having prior knowledge of the inquiry, telling CNN he had not received advance notice: “No, I’ve spoken to no current FBI agents.”


    Source: BBC

  • Trump ducks election result pledge

    Republican Donald Trump has refused to commit to accepting the election result if he loses, in the final TV debate against Hillary Clinton.

    “I will tell you at the time,” he told moderator Chris Wallace. For days he has claimed the election is “rigged”.

    The Las Vegas debate continued the campaign’s bitter tone, with Mr Trump calling Mrs Clinton a “nasty woman”.

    Polls show Mr Trump is losing in key battleground states after facing a slew of sexual assault allegations.

    The candidates declined to shake hands before and after the political sparring, setting the tone for what would later become yet another debate marked by shouting and interrupting.

    Mr Trump appealed to the Republican establishment by vowing to appoint Supreme Court justices with a “conservative bent” who would overturn a key ruling that made abortion legal in the US and protect gun rights.

    He also stuck to his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants and secure US borders.

    Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton firmly declared she would stand up for the LGBT community, defend abortion rights, focus on restoring the middle class and equal pay for women.

    “The government has no business in the decisions that women make,” she said.

    In one of the more striking moments, Mr Trump twice declined to say whether he would accept the election’s outcome, breaking with the country’s long-standing tradition of a losing candidate’s concession after the votes are counted.

    “That’s horrifying,” Mrs Clinton shot back.

    “He is denigrating and he is talking down our democracy. And I, for one, am appalled that somebody who is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of a position.”

    Mr Trump’s response drew sharp criticism from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said the candidate was “doing the party and country a great disservice by continuing to suggest the outcome of the election is out of his hands and ‘rigged’ against him,” according to a statement.

    Source: BBC

  • New York police arrest man trying to climb Trump Tower

    New York police have arrested a man who tried to scale Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan using rope and suction cups.

    Workers removed windows from the glass-faced, 58-storey skyscraper to prevent him from going higher.

    Police officers eventually grabbed the man as he reached the 21st floor and pulled him inside the building.

    The building is the headquarters of the US presidential campaign of Republican nominee Donald Trump. He also lives in the building but was not in New York.

    Police described the climber as a 20-year-old man from Virginia who wanted to meet Mr Trump. Police said they did not believe the man intended to harm anyone.

    In a YouTube video posted earlier this week he described himself as an “independent researcher” and needed to deliver an “important message” to Mr Trump.

    The man was taken to Bellevue Hospital to be psychologically evaluated, police said.

    Large crowds gathered outside the building along Fifth Avenue as the incident unfolded over several hours.

    “This man performed a ridiculous and dangerous stunt,” said Michael Cohen, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization. “I’m 100% certain the NYPD had better things to do.”


    Source: BBC

  • Trump calls for ‘extreme vetting’ of immigrants to US

    US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he would enact “extreme vetting” of immigrants.

    In a speech in Ohio, the candidate outlined his plans to combat Islamic extremism, including a new screening test for arrivals to the US.

    Applicants will be tested to determine if they share Western liberal values like LGBT and religious tolerance.

    Democratic rival Hillary Clinton poured scorn on his plan, labelling it a “cynical ploy”.

    “This so-called ‘policy’ cannot be taken seriously,” said her spokesman.

    “How can Trump put this forward with a straight face when he opposes marriage equality and selected as his running mate the man [Mike Pence] who signed an anti-LGBT law in Indiana?”

    Under Mr Trump’s plan, citizens from countries with a history of terror will be banned but it is not clear which nations.

    In the speech, he did not lay out his own military strategy for defeating the so-called Islamic State.

    But he did repeat his claim he was opposed to the Iraq War before it began, which fact-checkers say is untrue.

    And he said that the oil in Iraq should have been seized by the US government to prevent it from becoming the property of IS.

    In his speech, Mr Trump promised to:

    Ban immigration from countries where terrorism is widespread and vetting is poor
    Make alliances with all countries fighting against terrorism
    Introduce an ideology test for new immigrants arriving to the US
    Keep Guantanamo Bay prison open
    Establish a presidential commission to investigate Islamic terror
    Work with Nato, despite previously calling it “obsolete”

    The billionaire initially proposed a blanket ban on all Muslims but has changed it to one that is based on an unspecified list of countries that export terror.

    The latest proposal includes creating an ideological test for immigrants entering the country, with questions addressing how each applicant views American values such as religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights.

    “Those who do not believe in our Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into the country,” he said.

    Mr Trump said that the test will not only expose terrorist sympathisers, but also will “screen out any who have hostile attitudes towards our country or its principles”.

    He heavily criticised his rival Hillary Clinton, saying that she lacks the “mental and physical stamina” to defeat IS.
    Jump media player

    And he attacked her plan to increase the rate of Syrian refugees arrivals, which he claimed would cost $400bn (£315bn).

    Mr Trump is still facing a backlash for repeatedly describing Mr Obama and his Democratic rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton, as “founders” of Islamic State.

    Vice President Joe Biden speaking at a campaign event with Hillary Clinton said that Mr Trump’s claim that Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton had “founded” IS proved his views to be “dangerous” and “un-American”, and that it had made US soldiers in Iraq less safe already.

    Recent polls show him significantly trailing Hillary Clinton in key battleground states.


    Source: BBC

  • Trump accuses Obama of being ‘founder of ISIS’

    Donald Trump accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of founding the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) that is wreaking havoc from the Middle East to European cities.

    A moment later, on another topic, he emphasised the president’s full legal name: Barack Hussein Obama.

    “In many respects, you know, they honour President Obama,” Trump said during a raucous campaign rally outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “He is the founder of ISIS.”

    He repeated the allegation three times.

    “He’s the founder of ISIS, okay?” he added. “He’s the founder. He founded ISIS.”

    Trump has long blamed Obama and his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for pursuing Middle East policies that created a power vacuum in Iraq that was exploited by ISIL.

    He has sharply criticised Obama for announcing that he would pull US troops out of Iraq, a decision that many Obama critics say created the kind of instability in which groups such as ISIL thrive.

    The White House declined to comment on Trump’s accusation.

    The former property mogul and reality TV star went on to criticise Clinton, his Democratic party rival for the presidency.

    “And I would say, the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton,” he said.

    The Republican presidential nominee has in the past accused Clinton of “founding” the group.
    Assassination allegations

    ISIL began as Iraq’s local affiliate of al-Qaeda and has carried out massive attacks against Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority, fuelling tensions with al-Qaeda’s central leadership.

    The local group’s then-leader, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in 2006 in a US air strike but is still seen as its founder.

    Trump’s accusation – and his pointed use of the president’s middle name, Hussein – echoed previous instances where he has questioned Obama’s loyalties.

    In June, when a gunman who claimed allegiance to ISIL killed 49 people in a Florida nightclub, Trump seemed to suggest Obama was sympathetic to the group when he said Obama “doesn’t get it, or he gets it better than anybody understands”.

    In the past, Trump has also falsely suggested that Obama is a Muslim or was born in Kenya, where Obama’s father was from.

    Trump lobbed the allegation halfway through his rally at a sports arena, where riled-up supporters shouted obscenities about Clinton and shouted “lock her up”.

    He also railed against the fact that the Orlando shooter’s father, Seddique Mateen, was spotted in the crowd behind Clinton during a Monday rally in Florida, saying: “Of course he likes Hillary Clinton.”

    Trump has been criticised over the past week for comments he made suggesting gun rights advocates could stop Clinton from becoming president and picking new, anti-gun Supreme Court judges, by using their second amendment rights, which allow them to bear arms.

    “Hillary wants to essentially abolish the Second Amendment,” Trump told a rally in North Carolina.

    “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks,” Trump said. “Although the Second Amendment people – maybe there is, I don’t know.”

    Trump’s campaign spokesman later denied allegations that the comments were advocating for Clinton to be assassinated.



    Source: Aljazeera

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