Displaying items by tag: Donald Trump

Former president Donald Trump returned to the spotlight at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. He stated, ‘The Republican Party is going to unite and be stronger than ever before. I am not starting a new party.’ He focused much of his speech on criticising the first few weeks of President Biden's administration, making it clear he wants a leading role in the GOP in future. With the 2022 midterms just around the corner, he wants Democrats defeated, also each GOP lawmaker who voted for his impeachment.

Donald Trump's second impeachment started on 9 February. Mr Trump was so irate with his defence team he was ‘screaming’ at the television while watching the proceedings unfold. Recent polls show 52% want Trump impeached for his actions leading to the Capitol riot. The Biden administration has high approval ratings, but they need to deliver immediately on climate change and immigration. Many believe this impeachment determines whether Republicans are tied to Trump for the next few years. The nine Democrat managers finished their opening arguments on 11 February, and thought their evidence was compelling enough to convince more Republicans to vote to impeach Trump. Meanwhile there are concerns that the trial will diistract Congress from taking swift action on urgent priorities around pandemic and economic fallout. Pray for scientists and communities to accelerate Covid vaccinations without interference. Pray for governing bodies in commerce and industry to agree on badly needed stimulus relief. See

After the storming of the Capitol building when President Trump incited aggressive moves to overturn the 2020 election result, the House voted for an article of impeachment against him. Nations are commenting on US events. The Archbishop of Wales said that Trump is a person of questionable morals, judgment, and wisdom who believes he can ignore democratic processes and the will of the people. ‘No politician has a right to be unaccountable for their behaviour.’ See Meanwhile the FBI have called for assistance in securing Washington as the inauguration nears. They believe the attack on the Capitol will potentially motivate additional follow-on attacks by extremists throughout 2021 and will very likely serve as a significant driver of violence for domestic extremists.’The range of potential future targets of attack was varied, extremists could zero in on government officials and institutions, as well as racial and religious minorities, journalists and more.

On 5 January a throng of Trump supporters swathed in red, white and blue had a ‘Jericho march’ around Washington in imitation of the Israelites besieging the city of Jericho. Some wore ‘Make America Great Again’ hats, waved flags featuring Trump, and held signs saying ‘Donald v Goliath’. Some were singing ‘How great Is our God’. The Georgia runoff on 6 January gave legislative advantages to the Democrats, while a rally gathered at the nation’s capital. Then Trump’s supporters stormed and ransacked the Capitol building, abruptly forcing Congress members and vice-president Mike Pence to flee the premises. Dozens were arrested, and at least four people were killed during the chaos. The next morning Trump agreed to leave office in an orderly transition of power, but he did not admit defeat or say he was conceding. He also failed to acknowledge publicly the deadly riot by his supporters inside the Capitol.

The Washington riots and deaths have demonstrated how deeply damaged US politics has become. Pray for God to turn this build-up of animosity and eventual breakdown of law and order into a wakeup call for Americans. May they make the humble effort to work together and repair the damage done. Pray for a shift in political fault-finding and for wise reasoning to enable them to resolve their problems. May they recognise that the division must be healed rather than worsened. Donald Trump is giving no indications of disappearing from the spotlight any time soon. Pray for Republican politicians to have the wisdom and moral strength to begin repairing the damaged democratic reputation. Trump’s reputation is badly tarnished, but he still has strong sway over a sizeable segment of the party's base. Pray for Republicans to resist the temptation to lay claim to his populist mantle, and decide to build the country not their status.

Electors from each state meet on 14 December to nominate the next president formally, but Trump wants to overturn the result, and challenges the Pennsylvania result. His legal team claims voters in Democrat-leaning areas were given more opportunities to correct mistakes on their postal ballots than elsewhere, and over 680,000 postal ballots were counted without proper oversight from poll watchers. They lost the case but then took it to a federal appeals court where it was also rejected. The judge said, ‘Calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and proof. We have neither here.’ The team intends taking the case to the Supreme Court. The government's top lawyer, William Barr, said, ‘We have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.’ Challenges are dropped or settled in most other states as 14 December looms.

On 24 November, Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, formally designated Joe Biden as the apparent winner of America’s presidential election, providing federal funds and resources to begin an official transition from Trump to Biden. The new president must now fill 4,000 political positions (see). President Trump has spent over two weeks claiming that he had won the election and pushing conspiracy theories about fraudulent voting. He tweeted, ‘Our case STRONGLY continues; we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.’ Pray for swift, smooth and unhindered organising of the president-elect’s packed schedule, particularly the daily security briefing.

Donald Trump had previously said if the presidential election were close, he would accuse his opponents of voter fraud and trying to steal victory. Before all votes are counted he has done just that, claiming to have won, and launched a supreme court challenge, baselessly alleging fraud. At the time of writing, Biden is in the lead, but by the slenderest of margins. On 5 November, Trump tweeted, ‘I hereby claim victory’ - despite trailing at the time by 214 votes to 253. Pray for acceptance to replace the anger in people wanting to win more than they want to be right. With the nation on edge, the final result may not be known for days. Pray for peace on the streets.

Donald Trump took off his face mask to enter the White House after being hospitalised with coronavirus. This dismissive message - 'don't be afraid of Covid, don't let it dominate your life' - immediately met with angry statements saying he was putting Americans at risk. The American Medical Association warned that 'the only thing we have to fear is complacency'. Meanwhile the 74-year-old tweeted that he was feeling 'better than I did 20 years ago!' On 7 October Trump described his Covid-19 illness as a blessing from God. He wants all Americans to have access to the treatment he was given, even though the drug has not been approved by federal regulators and its use is known to carry a risk affecting behaviour and judgment.  Coronavirus has claimed over 210,000 American lives, and many are saying his message was 'a slap in the face' to bereaved families. He has refused to take part in a TV debate with Joe Biden because it would have to take place virtually.

A New York Times investigation of Donald Trump’s taxes show chronic losses and years of tax avoidance. He paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency, and the same amount in his first year in the White House. He paid no income taxes at all in ten years - because he reported losing more money than he made (see) Trump’s hair styling for television was claimed as $70,000 expenses, and $95,464 was the total sum that nine of Trump’s companies have paid to style his wife’s hair. Also $210,000 was written off as expenses to hire a photographer to take photographs at the Mar-a-Lago club. These are just a few of the expenses claimed. In total he paid no taxes in 11 of the 18 years the paper examined. A judge has ruled that his son, Eric Trump, must testify in the tax probe: see