Trump news at a glance: president says Democrats should be arrested for ‘seditious behavior’, drawing outrage

Donald Trump called for the arrest of a group of Democratic lawmakers he accused of engaging in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH”.
The president’s remarks, issued on his Truth Social platform on Thursday morning, came after the legislators posted a video in which they told active service members they should refuse illegal orders.
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!!”
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.
“Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed,” the statement added.
The White House walked back the president’s comments later Thursday, saying Trump does not want to see Democratic members of Congress executed.
Democrats condemn Trump for saying they should be punished ‘by death’
“Political violence has no place in America,” Democratic leaders wrote in a statement following Trump’s posts on Truth Social. “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.”
The Democratic leaders also said that they had been in contact with the House sergeant at arms and the United States Capitol police “to ensure the safety of these members and their families”.
Zelenskyy to negotiate with Trump over US-Russia peace deal
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”.
“We agreed to work on the points of the plan so that it would bring a worthy end to the war,” Zelenskyy’s office said in a statement.
Drill, baby, drill (off California and Florida)
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.
CDC website now reflects RFK Jr’s belief in link between vaccines and autism
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.”
Judge halts Trump’s deployment of national guard to Washington DC
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.
Justice department investigates handling of Adam Schiff’s mortgage fraud case
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.
Trump officials reveal plan to roll back Endangered Species Act protections
The Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.
The proposedchanges would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events – including the impacts from the climate crisis – and rescind the “blanket rule” that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered.
Republicans warn Bondi: don’t bury the Epstein files
The passage of the the Epstein Files Transparency Act marked a rare moment of bipartisan support in an otherwise ideologically fractured Congress as it now sets a 30-day deadline for the release of Department of Justice files related to the actions of convicted sex offender of minors and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“People who feel very strongly about this will feel like they’ve been duped” if the justice department claims “we can’t release anything because of an active investigation,” said Republican senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Elizabeth Warren calls for inquiry into Trump’s ballroom funding
The US senator from Massachusetts said that the next independent Department of Justice “should investigate” the private donations that have funded the construction of the new White House ballroom.
Warren – who is the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee – told the Guardian in a statement that the ballroom could be “a golden crime scene” and urged the next administration to “follow the money” to uncover “whether any crimes were committed” in its financing.
Donald Trump and JD Vance snubbed for Dick Cheney’s funeral
The president and vice-president were not invited to former vice-president Dick Cheney’s funeral, which took place on Thursday, according to a White House official familiar with the matter.
Cheney, the former US vice-president to George W Bush and a Republican defense hawk who became a fierce critic of the current US president, died earlier this month at the age of 84.
What else happened today:
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Fears of a growing bubble around the artificial intelligence frenzy resurfaced on Thursday as leading US stock markets fell, less than 24 hours after strong results from chipmaker Nvidia sparked a rally.
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Connie Chan, a progressive lawmaker who serves on the San Francisco board of supervisors, has entered the race to succeed the former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi next year.
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Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist who participated in protests at Columbia University and was detained by Ice earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit demanding the Trump administration release its communications with anti-Palestinian groups he says contributed to his March arrest and efforts to detain him.
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The White House issued a full-throated defense of Donald Trump’s reference to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a “piggy” on Thursday, claiming without evidence that the president “calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information”.
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Democratic congressman Ro Khanna has a warning for anyone in the Trump administration who would impede Epstein files release: comply or face the consequences.
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“President Trump is the biggest con job in American history,” Nancy Pelosi, the US speaker emerita, told reporters on Thursday while criticizing his anti-climate agenda. That follows Trump telling the UN general assembly in September that the climate crisis was “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”.
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The White House under Gerald Ford tried to block a landmark Senate report that disclosed the CIA’s role in assassination attempts against foreign leaders and ultimately led to a radical overhaul in how the agency was held to account, documents released to mark the 50th anniversary of the report’s publication reveal.
Catching up? Here’s what happened Wednesday, 19 November.
