Trump takes break from White House with 17-day vacation at his golf club

Taking a break from the capital and a rocky first six months in office, President Donald Trump spent the first full day of his "working vacation" quietly.

Burdened with West Wing conflict, a stalled legislative agenda and a pile of investigations, Trump departed Washington yesterday afternoon for a 17-day trip to his private golf club in central New Jersey. He was accompanied by his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, both senior advisers, as well as the aide charged with resetting his chaotic administration- new chief of staff John Kelly.

A White House official said Trump's plans for Bedminster included meetings with aides and lawmakers. He was briefed by Kelly about the three US Marines who were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia on Saturday while trying to land.

The White House did not answer questions about whether Trump was golfing on a day that started out overcast, but grew sunny in the afternoon.

Typically an enthusiastic social media presence, Trump was relatively quiet on Twitter Saturday. Around midday, he tweeted: "Prosperity is coming back to our shores because we are putting America WORKERS and FAMILIES first."
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Jared Kushner adds 70 assets worth $10 mn to revised financial disclosure

President Donald Trump's son-in- law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has added more than 70 assets worth at least $10.6 million to his revised personal financial disclosure.

According to the disclosure, the additional assets were "inadvertently omitted" from an earlier form. The revised form was certified by the Office of Government Ethics on Thursday and released yesterday.

Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump, also filed new federal disclosures. She reported assets of at least $66 million and at least $13.5 million in income last year from her various business ventures.

The new forms reflect that Kushner sold his interest in the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, New Jersey. He also no longer has a stake in a company that had held interest in property in Toledo, Ohio.
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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."
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Trump's son, Kushner met Kremlin-linked lawyer during prez campaign: Report

Donald Trump's eldest son, son-in-law and then-campaign chairman met with a Russian lawyer shortly after Trump won the Republican nomination, in what appears to be the earliest known private meeting between key aides to the president and a Russian.

Representatives of Donald Trump Jr. And Jared Kushner confirmed the June 2016 meeting to The Associated Press after The New York Times reported yesterday on the gathering of the men and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower.

Then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attended, according to the statement from Donald Trump Jr.

He described it as a "short introductory meeting" during which the three discussed a disbanded program that used to allow US citizens to adopt Russian children. Russia ended the adoptions in response to American sanctions brought against the nation following the 2009 death of an imprisoned lawyer who spoke about a corruption scandal.

Trump Jr. Said he invited the other two Americans, was asked to attend by an acquaintance not named in the statement, and was not told beforehand with whom he would meet.

"It was not a campaign issue at that time and there was no follow up," he said.

Kushner lawyer Jamie Gorelick said her client already disclosed the meeting in a revised filing of a form that requires him to list meetings with foreign agents.

"Mr. Kushner has submitted additional updates and included, out of an abundance of caution, this meeting with a Russian person, which he briefly attended at the request of his brother-in-law, Donald Trump Jr. As Mr. Kushner has consistently stated, he is eager to cooperate and share what he knows," she said.
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