Dec 5, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Seated next to Flake, Trump boasts about GOP unity

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) listens as President Trump speaks before hosting a lunch with Senate Republicans. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP

President Trump boasted of the "unity" within the Republican party during a lunch with GOP senators Tuesday. He was seated beside Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who has condemned the "flagrant disregard of truth and decency" of politics in the Trump era and urged his colleagues against "complicity" with the president. Trump's quote:

"There is a great spirit in the Republican party like I've never seen before, like a lot of people say they've never seen before," said Trump. "They've never seen anything like this, the unity."

More from Trump:

  • Why he endorsed Roy Moore: "We want strong borders, we want stopping crime. We don't want a liberal democrat that's controlled by Chuck Schumer. We don't want that for Alabama "
  • On choosing to take the tax bill to conference: "We had a choice, we could've gone directly for a vote and we decided let's put it into the conference and let's come out with something where everting is perfecto."

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Rebecca Falconer
Updated 10 mins ago - World

China says U.S. is "endangering peace" with high-level visit to Taiwan

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during a June briefing in Washington, DC. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Tuesday night he will lead a delegation to Taiwan "in the coming days."

Why it matters: It's the highest-level visit by a U.S. cabinet official to Taiwan since 1979. Azar is also the first U.S. Cabinet member to visit the island state in six years. The visit has angered China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. Chinese officials accused the U.S. early Wednesday of "endangering peace" with the visit, AFP reports.

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Axios
Updated 55 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 18,543,662 — Total deaths: 700,714 — Total recoveries — 11,143,031— Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 4,771,236 — Total deaths: 156,807 — Total recoveries: 1,528,979 — Total tests: 57,543,852 — Map.
  3. States: New York City health commissioner resigns in protest of De Blasio's coronavirus response — Local governments go to war over schools.
  4. Public health: 59% of Americans support nationwide 2-week stay-at-home order in NPR poll.
  5. Politics: Trump's national security adviser returns to work after coronavirus recovery — Republicans push to expand small business loan program.
  6. Sports: Indy 500 to be held without fans — Rafael Nadal opts out of U.S. Open.
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Dave Lawler
Updated 2 hours ago - World

At least 100 killed, 4,000 injured after massive explosion rocks Beirut

Photo: Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

A major explosion has slammed central Beirut, Lebanon, damaging buildings as far as several miles away and injuring scores of people.

Driving the news: At least 100 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured in the blast — and the death toll is likely to rise, the Lebanese Red Cross said, per AP. Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the explosions occurred at a warehouse that had been storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for the past six years.

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