Trump news: Senators call for 'nothing but the truth' in final plea for witnesses after president's lawyers reject calls for Bolton testimony
Donald Trump’s legal team delivered its closing remarks at the US Senate impeachment trial on Tuesday, working to discredit the Democratic-led investigation into the president’s conduct towards Ukraine and fixating on Hunter Biden.
The final defence comes as Democratic senators have characterised their arguments as “nonsensical”, “absurd” and “incredibly surreal”. The team of attorneys gave their closing remarks, which ends the initial phase of the trial, just as a new survey indicated a staggering majority of millennials across the country support the impeachment against Mr Trump, with 63 per cent of those surveyed saying they want senators to vote to remove the president from the Oval Office.
The US Senate was set to vote at the end of the week about whether to add witnesses to the ongoing trial, following a leak of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s new memoir that appeared to directly connect Mr Trump to demand for political investigations into Joe Biden.
The president has meanwhile unveiled his ambitions plans to bring peace to the Middle East today alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just before heading to Wildwood, New Jersey, for his latest "Keep America Great" rally.
He also backed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his battle with National Public Radio and tweeted out more media criticism, one target familiar and the other less so.
Mr Trump introduced Mr Pompeo at an East Room announcement of the administration's Mideast peace plan, saying it was "very impressive" that he got a standing ovation from the White House workers and guests.
"That reporter couldn't have done too good a job on you," the president said. "I think you did a good job on her, actually."
NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly angered Mr Pompeo with a short interview on Friday, then he reportedly berated her afterward in his office. The State Department then announced Monday that NPR reporter Michele Kelemen would not be allowed on Mr Pompeo's upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia; NPR had no immediate comment on the president's remarks on Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, the president tweeted an insult at CNN's Don Lemon, who received some criticism in conservative media for hosting a segment over the weekend where two of his guests made fun of the "rube demo" that backed Mr Trump.
He also tweeted criticism of his favourite network, Fox News Channel, for "trying to be 'politically correct"' by having a Democratic senator discuss impeachment on the network.
The president said Fox's Chris Wallace, who on Monday challenged a Fox contributor for not having her facts straight in a discussion about impeachment witnesses, shouldn't be on the network.
"What the hell has happened to Fox News?" Mr Trump tweeted. "Only I know!"
Additional reporting by Associated Press. Please allow a moment for our live blog to load
