Time magazine wanted me to be the 'Person of the Year'; I declined: Trump

United States President Donald Trump claimed that he denied being named Time's 'Person of the Year' after the magazine told him he "probably" would be selected "like last year."

"Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named "Man (Person) of the Year," like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!" Trump tweeted.
 
The magazine named Trump 'Person of the Year' in 2016, following his shocking victory over Hillary Clinton.

"It's a great honor. It means a lot," Trump said at the time. "To be on the cover of Time magazine as the person of the year is a tremendous honor," reported the Hill.

Time defended the controversial decision by saying the award is given to "the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year".

Time began conducting a reader poll for its Person of the Year competition earlier this month.

Trump's tweet came in the backdrop of an online readers' poll that shows Trump being outperformed by singer Taylor Swift and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for this year's honor.
READ MORE

Why aren't investigators looking into 'crooked' Hillary's crimes: Trump

US President Donald Trump took to social media to ask why congressional committees and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are not investigating the links between the Russian government and "dishonest" Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump on Monday resorted once again to Twitter to lambaste Clinton and lash out at the investigations being pursued by several congressional committees to determine if his election campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to influence the result of the election and hurt Clinton's chances at the polls, Efe news reported.

"So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes and Russia relations?" tweeted Trump.


So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017
 The President's comment comes a few hours after his son-in-law Jared Kushner denied having "improper contacts" with Russian officials.
Kushner released a statement outlining the testimony he intends to provide on Monday behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the congressional bodies pursuing the Russia investigation.
READ MORE

Trump Jr, former campaign manager to testify before Russia probe panel

President Donald Trump's eldest son and a former campaign manager will testify before Congress next week as part of US investigations into the Trump team's alleged contacts with Russia, a Senate panel has announced.

Donald Trump Jr and Paul Manafort are scheduled to testify in an open hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday at 10 am (local time).

Both men attended a controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer last year in which they were expecting to receive dirt from Moscow on Donald Trump's 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton.

Adding to the political drama in Washington next week, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, albeit in a closed- door session, CNN reported, citing Kushner's lawyer.

Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, also attended the June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Trump Jr sent shockwaves through Washington when he confirmed the meeting by releasing a series of emails in which the now-president's son was told the campaign could get "very high level and sensitive information" that was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump."
READ MORE

Clinton as President would have made America weaker, Putin happier: Trump

US President Donald Trump has said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would have been happier if his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton would have won the last year's general elections, as this would have made America weaker.

In his first major interview after his last week's maiden meeting with Putin in Hamburg, Germany on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit, Trump said he and the Russian leader both are advocating interest of their respective countries. But there is scope for co-operation between the two at the global stage.

"We are the most powerful country in the world and we are getting more and more powerful because I'm a big military person. As an example, if Hillary had won, our military would be decimated. Our energy would be much more expensive. That's what Putin doesn't like about me," Trump told Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in an interview.

"And that's why I say, why would he want me? Because from day one I wanted a strong military, he doesn't want to see that," he said, according to the excerpts of the interview released by CBN.

"From day one I want fracking and everything else to get energy prices low and to create tremendous energy. We're going to be self-supporting, we just about are now. We're going to be exporting energy - he doesn't want that.

"He would like Hillary where she wants to have windmills. He would much rather have that because energy prices would go up and Russia as you know relies very much on energy," he continued.
READ MORE

Mr Comey and all the President's lies

Weeks after being described by Donald Trump as a “nut job,” James Comey on Thursday deftly recast his confrontation with the president as a clash between the legal principles at the foundation of American democracy, and a venal, self-interested politician who does not recognize, let alone uphold, them.

In sworn testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mr Comey, the former FBI director, made clear that he had no confidence in the president’s integrity. Why? “The nature of the person,” he said. Confronted with low presidential character for the first time in his career, Comey began writing meticulous notes of every conversation with Trump. “I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting,” he said.

Comey said he was stunned during one Oval Office meeting by Trump’s request — which he very reasonably understood as an order — to drop the FBI investigation into Michael Flynn. Flynn had been forced to resign as national security adviser the day before, after lying about his contacts with Russia. And Russia, Comey usefully reminded the senators, had gone to unprecedented lengths to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, using “overwhelming” technological firepower.

“This is about America,” Comey kept saying. Russia “tried to shape the way we think, we vote, we act — that is a big deal,” he added. “They’re coming after America. ... They want to undermine our credibility in the face of the world.”

And yet Trump, the beneficiary of Moscow’s meddling, has never appeared even slightly concerned by this Russian attack. He told Comey to stand down and fired him when he refused. “I was fired because of the Russia investigation,” Comey testified. “That is a very big deal.” As he decried Russia’s attempt to “dirty” American democratic institutions,Comey could as well have been talking about Trump’s behavior.

With restrained fury, Comey described President Trump’s remarks last month that the bureau was a mess and that the director had lost the trust of his agents as “lies, plain and simple.”

Confronted later with the sworn testimony of a dignified and affronted lawman, the White House press office, its own credibility in tatters, was left to feebly insist, “The president is not a liar.”

READ MORE