Key events
Trump to meet New York’s Mamdani later today
President Donald Trump will meet with incoming New York mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday, the first in-person talks between political opposites who have clashed over everything from immigration to economic policy.
A democratic socialist and little-known state lawmaker who won New York’s mayoral race earlier this month, Mamdani requested the sit-down with Trump to discuss cost-of-living issues and public safety, Reuters reports.
The Republican president has threatened to strip federal funding from the biggest US city, while the mayor-elect has regularly criticized a range of Trump’s policies, including plans to ramp up federal immigration enforcement efforts in New York, where four in ten people are foreign-born.
The 79-year-old president, a former New York resident, has labeled Mamdani, 34, as a “radical left lunatic,” a communist and “Jew hater,” without offering evidence for those assertions.
Mamdani, who will be sworn in as mayor on 1 January, said at a press conference on Thursday: “Being a New Yorker means that you’re prepared for all situations.”
Trump condemned across the floor for ‘calling for execution’ of Democratic lawmakers
Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with the news that Donald Trump has been accused of calling for the “execution” of elected Democratic lawmakers following his comments on social media.
The president said the group has engaged in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH” and that they should be arrested after they posted a video in which they told active service members they should refuse illegal orders.
The video, released on Tuesday, features six Democratic lawmakers who have previously served in the military or in intelligence roles, including senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, and representatives Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio, Chrissy Houlahan and Jason Crow.
“Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this constitution,” the lawmakers said in the 90-second video. “And right now, the threats to our constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders, you can refuse illegal orders, you must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.”
That seemed to prompt a furious response from the US president. On Thursday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.”
In another post, he wrote: “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP??? President DJT.” In a third post, he added: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also reposted a statement that said: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
In response, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, condemned Trump’s remarks and posted on X: “Let’s be crystal clear: the President of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials.”
He added: “This is an outright THREAT. Every Senator, every Representative, every American – regardless of party – should condemn this immediately and without qualification.”
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, defended Trump’s claim that the Democrats had engaged in “sedition”, describing the video as “wildly inappropriate”, adding: “It is very dangerous, you have leading members of Congress telling troops to disobey orders, I think that’s unprecedented in American history.”
Following Trump’s statements on Thursday, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic whip Katherine Clark and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar released a joint statement condemning the remarks.
“Political violence has no place in America,” they wrote. “Representatives Jason Crow, Chris DeLuzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan and Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin all served our country with tremendous patriotism and distinction. We unequivocally condemn Donald Trump’s disgusting and dangerous death threats against members of Congress, and call on House Republicans to forcefully do the same.”
Read our full story here:
In other developments:
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will negotiate with Donald Trump on a US-backed peace plan that called on Kyiv to make painful concessions in order to end the Kremlin’s invasion of his country. Zelenskyy’s office on Thursday confirmed that he had received the draft peace plan, which was prepared by US and Russian officials, and that he would speak with Trump in the coming days about “existing diplomatic opportunities and the main points that are necessary for peace”.
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The Trump administration on Thursday announced new oil and gas drilling off California’s and Florida’s coasts, setting the stage for a political showdown – including with Sunshine state Republicans who have largely opposed petroleum development in the Gulf of Mexico. This announcement comes as the US petroleum industry, despite contending with low crude prices, has been pushing for an entree to additional offshore drilling areas.
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A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website has been changed to reflect the belief of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health and human services secretary, that there is a link between vaccines and autism, a view flatly contradicted by experts and scientifically validated studies. Public health and autism specialists roundly condemned the alteration to the CDC’s “vaccine safety” webpage, after it was changed to read: “The statement ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim.”
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US district judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former president Joe Biden, temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying national guard troops to enforce the law in the nation’s capital without approval from its mayor. Cobb paused her ruling until 11 December to allow the Trump administration to appeal.
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The justice department is investigating how two Trump allies handled the investigation into whether California senator, Adam Schiff, committed mortgage fraud, according to a copy of a subpoena obtained by the Guardian and a person familiar with the matter. The office of the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche is overseeing the inquiry, which appears to have developed as an offshoot of the main case into Schiff – a notable development since the justice department is essentially investigating activities of two close allies of the president.
