Tag: White House

White House denies Iran ransom payment

by Andrew BEATTY WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The White House on Wednesday denied renewed accusations that it paid Iran ransom for the release of four American prisoners, parrying a tidal wave of condemnations from Republicans. Amid revelations that the US helped airlift $400 million worth of Swiss francs and euros to Iran after a prisoner release, the White House insisted the two were not linked. In January, five American prisoners were released as Washington […]

Obama says Trump ‘unfit’ to be president

by Andrew BEATTY WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — In a searing and virtually unprecedented presidential rebuke, Barack Obama declared embattled Republican White House nominee Donald Trump “unfit” to be president Tuesday and called on party leaders to disown him. Obama piled on as Trump’s campaign reeled from multiple self-inflicted scandals, calling the 70-year-old mogul “woefully unprepared” and “unfit to serve as president.” “He keeps proving it,” said Obama, standing alongside the prime minister of Singapore […]

Trump feud with slain soldier’s parents roils White House race

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – by Michael Mathes Donald Trump’s confrontation with the parents of a slain Muslim American soldier escalated Monday, shaking the US presidential campaign amid Republican Party outcries over the real estate tycoon’s comments about the couple. The feud has become a flash point of the 2016 White House race that pits Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton. It has dominated the news cycle ever since Pakistani immigrant Khizr Khan galvanized the Democratic […]

Clinton, Trump take gloves off in White House slog

by Ivan Couronne with Jennie Matthew in New York PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded insults at opposite ends of the country Friday, taking their fight for the White House to rival battleground states and portraying starkly different visions of America. One of the most divisive US campaigns in modern history is entering a new chapter with Republicans and Democrats having selected their nominees, leaving the candidates slogging it out […]

Clinton vows to be president for ‘all Americans’

PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Hillary Clinton on Thursday accepted the Democratic Party’s White House nomination, casting herself as a tireless champion of the people and rejecting Donald Trump’s dark picture of America. Becoming the first woman to win the nomination of a major political party, Clinton promised to be a president for “all Americans,” whether they voted for her or not. Making a bold play for the political center ground in an election year […]

Chelsea Clinton hails ‘wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious mother’

PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Chelsea Clinton on Thursday tried to lift the public veil on one of America’s best-known and most disliked politicians, telling the Democratic convention her mother, their presidential nominee, was “wonderful, thoughtful” and “hilarious.” Trying to soften a public image forged over decades of withering political trench warfare, Chelsea Clinton recounted a mother who read her “Goodnight Moon” and a grandmother who broke from politics to read “Chugga Chugga Choo Choo.” […]

Obama passes torch to Clinton, warns election is test of US democracy

by Andrew BEATTY PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Democrats to carry Hillary Clinton to victory over Donald Trump, saying the 2016 White House race was not just about party politics, but the nature of American democracy. The two-term president offered potent testimony on the third night of his party’s national convention about how Clinton, his onetime rival, became an ally and trusted advisor. Painting Republican nominee Donald Trump […]

Obama says Clinton uniquely qualified for the White House

by Andrew BEATTY PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama will spearhead a Democratic effort to paint Donald Trump as unfit to be commander-in-chief Wednesday, contrasting the Republican nominee with his more experienced rival Hillary Clinton. Obama, acting as a character reference for his former primary foe and secretary of state, will make the case to Democrats gathered in Philadelphia for their national convention that Clinton is uniquely qualified to be president. “Nothing […]

Trump encourages Russia to hack Clinton emails

by Leila MACOR MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump sensationally challenged Russia on Wednesday to hack into Hillary Clinton’s emails as a furious Democratic campaign accused the Republican nominee of inviting foreign spies to meddle in the US presidential election. At a sweeping news conference, the New York billionaire tried to undermine his White House rival, astonishingly implied that Vladimir Putin used a racial slur against President Barack Obama and promised a heyday of […]

Sanders camp nudges Democratic platform to left

PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Bernie Sanders is urging his most passionate supporters to back Hillary Clinton in the battle for the White House, assuring them they have already helped shape “the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.” The common statement of policy principles was adopted Monday on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Here are its key points: The one percent Echoing a central message of […]

Sanders says Clinton ‘must become’ next US president

PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Vanquished White House hopeful Bernie Sanders on Monday told a riven and lively Democratic convention that his rival Hillary Clinton must become the next US president. To cheers and some boos, Sanders said that “based on her ideas and her leadership,” Clinton was a better choice than Donald Trump and “must become the next president of the United States.” “The choice is not even close,” he said. “This election is […]

Democratic Party chair resigns in wake of email leak

PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Embattled Democratic Party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Sunday she is resigning, following a leak of emails suggesting an insider attempt to hobble the campaign of Hillary Clinton’s rival in the White House primaries Bernie Sanders. Wasserman Schultz will step down at the end of the Democratic National Convention, she said in a statement on the eve of the confab in Philadelphia that is set to anoint Clinton as the […]