Trump hails trade deals as he wraps up Gulf trip - US politics live

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President Donald Trump said on Friday he was returning to Washington after wrapping up his Gulf tour.

“Let’s see what happens with Russia and Ukraine,” he said, referring to Russia-Ukraine talks taking place in Turkey.

Trump said he will meet Russian president Vladimir Putin “as soon as we can set it up”.

James Comey investigated over seashell photo claimed to be ‘threat’ against Trump

A photo of seashells posted on Instagram by the former FBI director James Comey is now being investigated by the US Secret Service, after the US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said it constituted a “threat” against Donald Trump.

On Thursday, Comey posted a photo of seashells forming the message “8647”, with a caption that read: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

Trump’s supporters have interpreted the message as an endorsement of violence against Trump – the 47th president. There is more debate around the use of 86, a slang term often used in restaurants to mean getting rid of or throwing something out, and which, according to Merriam-Webster, has been used more recently, albeit sparingly, to mean “to kill”.

Comey later took down his post, saying in a statement that he was unaware of the seashells’ potential meaning and saying that he does not condone violence of any kind.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” Comey said in a statement. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

A spokesperson for the Secret Service confirmed the agency was “aware of the incident” and said it would “vigorously investigate” any potential threat, but did not offer further details.

Trump agenda hits speed bump in US Congress as hardliners revolt

A Republican push to advance US president Donald Trump’s sweeping tax bill through Congress appeared to hit a roadblock on Thursday, as hardline conservatives demanded deeper cuts to Medicaid in exchange for their support in a key procedural vote.

House budget committee chair Jodey Arrington warned that the vote, planned for Friday, could be delayed due to opposition to the measure, which could add trillions to the nation’s $36.2tn in debt over the next decade, Reuters reported.

“There are concerns about having to get more information, which would potentially delay this to next week,” Arrington, of Texas, told reporters.

He later issued a statement saying he was confident that Republicans on his committee would advance the legislation, even though at least four hardliners had threatened to block it. There was no indication late on Thursday that their positions had changed.

Four “no” votes would be enough to stop the measure from advancing, given Republicans’ 21-16 majority on the committee.

House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson insisted that the legislation was still on track for a floor vote next week, while other Republican leaders said disagreements between warring party factions had dwindled to a handful of issues.

“This is always what happens when you have a big bill like this. There’s always final details to work out, all the way up until the last minute, so we’re going to keep working,” House majority leader Steve Scalise told reporters.

The legislation would extend tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term. Congress’ bipartisan Joint Tax Committee estimates the tax cuts would cost $3.72tn over a decade.

Trump has highlighted measures including lifting taxes on tips and overtime that Republicans say would boost working class Americans, while critics say the bill will offer more benefits to the wealthy.

Trump announces more than $200bn of deals between US and UAE

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and will be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours.

We begin with news that Donald Trump has announced deals totaling more than $200bn between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, including a $14.5bn commitment among Boeing, GE Aerospace and Etihad Airways, as he pledged to strengthen ties between the US and the Gulf state during a multiday trip to the Middle East.

The White House said on Thursday that Boeing and GE had received a commitment from Etihad Airways to invest $14.5bn to buy 28 US-made Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft powered by GE engines.

“With the inclusion of the next-generation 777X in its fleet plan, the investment deepens the longstanding commercial aviation partnership between the UAE and the United States, fueling American manufacturing, driving exports,” the White House said.

Antonoaldo Neves, the CEO of Etihad, said last month that the airline planned to add 20 to 22 new planes to its fleet of roughly 100 aircraft this year, as it aims to expand to more than 170 planes by 2030 and boost Abu Dhabi’s economic diversification strategy.

Etihad, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s $225bn wealth fund ADQ, has been through a multiyear restructuring and management shake-up, but has expanded under Neves.

He said that 10 of the new aircraft this year would be Airbus A321LRs, which the carrier launched on Monday and will start operating in August. The remainder include six Airbus A350s and four Boeing 787s.

In other news:

• A Republican effort to advance President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax bill hit a setback today, as hardline conservatives demanded larger Medicaid cuts in exchange for their support in a procedural vote. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, a Republican from Texas, said that the vote, scheduled for Friday, could be delayed amid internal opposition.

• The Trump administration is planning to drop routine Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women, children, and teenagers, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Department of Health and Human Services, led by secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, is expected to make the change as it introduces a new vaccine approval framework. The timing of the announcement is unclear but could come within days.

• Donald Trump announced deals totaling over $200bn between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, including a $14.5bn commitment between Boeing, GE Aerospace and Etihad Airways, the White House said. The White House said Boeing and GE had received a commitment from Etihad Airways to buy 28 American-made Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft powered by GE engines.

• Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship found no traction today at the supreme court, with justices taking issue at the attempt to sidestep the constitution. However, the conservative majority seemed open to limiting district judges’ ability to issue broad injunctions against federal policies.

• Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Donald Trump for calling America “stupid” as she joined hundreds of protestors outside the supreme court. Trump had earlier called the US “stupid” for upholding the 14th amendment. Pelosi said: “No Mr President, America isn’t stupid. It’s the Constitution of the United States which all of us in elective office take an oath to protect and defend.” She added: “This is about birthright, it’s about citizenship, it’s about due process.”

• Trump arrived in the UAE for day three of his Middle East tour aimed at drumming up investment in the US and securing lucrative economic deals with the Gulf nations. He finished the day walking out of the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi with UAE President Sheik Mohammed after dinner.

• Trump said he will “probably” return to Washington on Friday after a tour of three Gulf countries, although he said his destination is unknown as of yet. Trump earlier had hinted that he could stop in Istanbul for talks on Ukraine.

• His secretary of state Marco Rubio echoed Trump’s earlier remarks that the only way a breakthrough will happen in the efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine would be through direct talks between the US president and Vladimir Putin after Moscow sent a second-tier team to talks taking place in Turkey. Rubio said he would travel to Istanbul for meetings on Friday with Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan and a Ukrainian delegation, but said he did not have high expectations for the talks.

• The Trump administration said it will audit some $15bn in grants to power grid and manufacturing supply chain projects awarded during the Biden administration.