Trump continues attacks on his Attorney-General

SBS World News Radio: United States President Donald Trump says he's disappointed in his Attorney-General, Jeff Sessions, but won't say whether one of his most loyal supporters should resign.

Trump continues attacks on his Attorney-General

Trump continues attacks on his Attorney-General

The comments come nearly a week after United States President Donald Trumplaunched an open critique of Mr Sessions in an interview with the New York Times.

President Trump has publicly attacked one of his most loyal supporters, Attorney-General Jeff Sessions, yet again.

President Trump has already labelled Mr Sessions "beleaguered" and "VERY weak" on Twitter.

In a joint news conference with the Lebanese prime minister he wouldn't confirm whether or not he thinks the Attorney-General should resign.

"I am disappointed in the Attorney-General. He should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office. And, if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office and I would have, quite simply, picked somebody else."

In March Attorney-General Sessions recused himself from involvement in any investigations into Russian influence on the Trump campaign.

It was revealed Jeff Sessions had two meetings with the Russian Ambassador to the US while working with the campaign, something he didn't mention during his Senate confirmation hearing.

Mr Trump says that recusal was very unfair to the presidency, and he would not have given him the job had he known beforehand.

"I told you before, I'm very disappointed with the Attorney-General, but we will see what happens. Time will tell, time will tell."

The attacks on the Attorney-General have been labelled another distraction by some observers, and come at a time when President Trump is relying on Republican senators to ensure an unpopular health care bill makes it through Congress.

Republicans won an important legislative victory, securing enough votes to open debate on their health care legislation to repeal Obamacare.

Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 Senate tie to pass the motion to proceed.

And Senator John McCain made a dramatic return to the Capitol for the first time after being diagnosed with brain cancer to cast a decisive "yes" vote.

He angrily called for more bipartisanship from colleagues in order to make progress on important issues like health care.

"Let's return to regular order. We've been spinning our wheels on (delaying) too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. That's an approach that's been employed by both sides mandating legislation from the top down without any support from the other side, with all the parliamentary manoeuvres that requires. We're getting nothing done, my friends. We're getting nothing done."

But the victory was short-lived, with the Republican alternative to Obamacare failing to get enough votes for approval.

It's the first of many votes expected this week on repealing and replacing elements of President Obama's signature healthcare law.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea.

The bill would force President Trump to obtain Congress permission before easing any sanctions on Moscow.

Californian Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro says the bill will hold other governments accountable for any destabilising actions.

"These sanctions are a clear signal that the United States will hold President Putin and his close associates accountable for their actions. They are also a declaration that Congress can and will act even when President Trump refuses to do so."

The sanctions bill comes as the Congress investigates possible meddling by Russia in the 2016 US presidential election, and potential collusion by the Trump campaign.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has called the bill one of the most expansive sanctions packages in history, but it still has to be passed by the Senate and signed off by President Trump.

At a rally in Ohio, President Trump was focusing on health care and was quick to hail the vote in the Senate.

"We're now one step closer to liberating our citizens from this Obamacare nightmare, and delivering great healthcare for the American people - we're going to do that too."

Polls show Obamacare is now far more popular than the Republican alternatives.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the Senate's replacement bill could lead to as many as 22 million fewer Americans being insured.

 






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4 min read
Published 26 July 2017 3:00pm

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