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White House blames Democrats and journalists for attack at Correspondents’ Dinner as suspect to be charged – US politics live | Trump administration
Trump’s press secretary blames Democrats and journalists for attack on president
Karoline Leavitt quickly pivoted to blaming Donald Trump’s opponents for the attack at the White House correspondent’s association on Saturday, including Democratic lawmakers and reporters.
“Nobody in recent years has faced more bullets and more violence than president Trump. This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat party and even some in the media,” Leavitt said.
“This hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed at president Trump, day after day after day for 11 years, has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment.”
She singled out “those who constantly, falsely label and slander the president as a fascist, as a threat to democracy and compare him to Hitler to score political points” for fueling the violence.
Key events
Veering back into partisan politics, Leavitt argued that if the White House ballroom had been built, Saturday’s attack would not have been able to happen.
“It’s why the White House ballroom project is not just a fun project for president Trump, like you will read in the media, it is actually critical for our national security,” Leavitt said.
Rightwing commentators had been making such an argument almost immediately after Saturday’s attack, and Republican senators Lindsey Graham, Katie Britt and Eric Schmitt just announced they would today introduce a bill to fund the ballroom’s construction.
Democrats haven’t publicly changed their minds about a project they have scorned:
All that being said, Leavitt said that Donald Trump “satisfied” with the security response to Saturday’s attack.
“I think if you just sit here and say everything is perfect all the time, that’s not a good way to operate. And so the White House will continue to engage with DHS and with Secret Service of to find ways to improve and strengthen security,” Leavitt said.
“But as far as Saturday night is concerned, the president was satisfied with the response, and he’s very grateful to the men and women who provided the response for him and his wife and members of his team.”
Leavitt continued by rattling off a list of statements from Democrats in which they accuse Donald Trump of acting like a “dictator” or in an authoritarian fashion.
“Senator Adam Schiff, saying President Trump using a dictator playbook. Senator Ed Markey, calling President Trump a dictator, saying that this administration’s actions are authoritarianism on steroids,” Leavitt said.
But it’s not just Democrats who are worried about the direction Trump has taken governance in the United States during his second term:
Leavitt calls for reopening of homeland security department after attack
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt urged Congress to restart funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been partially shut down since mid-February amid a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over immigration enforcement.
“Saturday night served as yet another reminder of how important it is to fund the Department of Homeland Security. It is shameful that the United States Congress has kept this vital agency defunded for 73 days, the longest shutdown of a federal agency in US history,” Leavitt said, adding that the Secret Service, a sub agency of DHS, “has been directly impacted by this reckless political game and gamesmanship.”
Funding for DHS lapsed after Democrats refused to support an appropriations bill for the agency unless it included new restrictions on immigration enforcement operations. Negotiations between the White House and Senate Democrats on those restrictions eventually broke down, and the Senate unanimously passed a bill to fund all of DHS with the exception of some of its agencies focused on deportations.
But House Republicans have refused to pass that bill until those agencies – Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection – are funded. Republicans expect to do that along party lines using the reconciliation procedure, with the Senate taking a major step towards doing that last week:
Trump’s press secretary blames Democrats and journalists for attack on president
Karoline Leavitt quickly pivoted to blaming Donald Trump’s opponents for the attack at the White House correspondent’s association on Saturday, including Democratic lawmakers and reporters.
“Nobody in recent years has faced more bullets and more violence than president Trump. This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat party and even some in the media,” Leavitt said.
“This hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed at president Trump, day after day after day for 11 years, has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment.”
She singled out “those who constantly, falsely label and slander the president as a fascist, as a threat to democracy and compare him to Hitler to score political points” for fueling the violence.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt kicked off the briefing by recounting the events of Saturday night.
“Saturday was supposed to be a joyful evening celebrating free speech and the first amendment with all of you members of the press. Instead, the night was hijacked by a crazed anti-Trump individual who traveled across the country to assassinate the president and as many administration officials as possible,” said Leavitt.
She noted that she was supposed to be on maternity leave, but decided to hold the briefing in light of the attack: “I felt it was prudent to be here today to answer your questions and inform the American people about how the administration is responding to yet another attempt on president Trump’s life.”
King Charles to meet Donald Trump off camera to avoid awkwardness
Kiran Stacey and Pippa Crerar
King Charles will be spared the potential humiliation of being upbraided in public by Donald Trump this week after the White House agreed that any meeting between the two men should be held off camera.
British officials have pushed for the Oval Office meeting between the monarch and the US president to be held off camera for fear of a repeat of the scenes when Trump berated the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in front of the world’s press.
Sources involved in planning the trip say Charles will pose for the cameras at the start of his centrepiece bilateral meeting tomorrow, but will not be filmed talking about anything substantive.
UK ministers have pinned great hopes on the state visit, which they are hoping will help repair the relationship between the two countries at one of its most difficult periods in decades.
With Trump threatening retaliation for criticism of the Iran war by UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the British government is hoping the king might be able to talk the US president down from some of his more aggressive statements.
The king will attend several other events with Trump, at which he will be accompanied by palace officials as well as UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, in line with usual practice for a state visit.
Diplomatic sources suggested that Cooper, who has previously travelled with the monarch to the Vatican, was ready to step in to deal with any awkward moments if required.
She’s ready to leap into action as a human shield for the king should Trump start criticising Starmer or the UK more generally, as he is prone to do.
Justice department to hold news conference at 3pm ET after suspect’s court appearance
The Department of Justice will hold a 3pm ET news conference today, led by acting attorney general Todd Blanche, FBI director Kash Patel, and US attorney Jeanine Pirro, following the initial appearance in federal court of the suspected White House correspondents’ dinner gunman.
We’ll bring you all the key lines from that when it gets under way later.
It was ‘quickly assessed’ that ‘continuity of government’ was in place after shooting, says Rubio
Speaking to Fox News earlier, secretary of state Marco Rubio described his experience of Saturday night’s shocking shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner.
“I didn’t hear shots I just saw a bunch of security people rushing in,” he said. “The first thing you wonder immediately is … is there an internal threat, is there a threat inside the ballroom itself?”
He said he watched the staff follow “all the security protocols”, adding:
It was sort of an unfortunate situation that happened there, where one individual can disrupt what is one of the bigger nights in Washington, especially when the president attends.
That’s kind of the world we live in right now.
As well as Donald Trump, many key figures in the presidential line of succession including vice-president JD Vance and Rubio himself were at the event.
Rubio said that after administration officials “went backstage to the command center, where the president sat in the back” after being rushed out of the ballroom, it was “quickly assessed” that the “continuity of government” was in place.
Sort of the first assessment that needed to be made was to be clear that all the continuity of government things were in place, and that was quickly assessed to be the case.
Washington Hilton puts out statement about event’s security
In a statement issued today, the Washington Hilton hotel, the venue for Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, has said it had been operating under “stringent” Secret Service protocols.
“The hotel was operating under stringent security protocols for the property as directed by the U.S. Secret Service, which led security,” a hotel spokesperson said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for the president’s safety, worked in coordination with a range of security teams, including local Washington DC police and hotel security, the spokesperson added.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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