Sep 26, 2018 - Politics & Policy

Trump says he would "prefer not" firing Rod Rosenstein

President Trump speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump said during a news conference Wednesday that he would much rather keep his Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who offered his resignation to chief of staff John Kelly on Monday following reports that he had discussed secretly recording Trump and invoking the 25th Amendment, than fire him.

“He said he never said it. He said he doesn’t believe it. He said he has a lot of respect for me. And he was very nice, and we’ll see ... I would certainly prefer not [firing him]."

Trump added that he might ask Rosenstein to delay their Thursday meeting so that he can watch Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary committee.

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Barak Ravid, author of from Tel Aviv
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Scoop: Secret Israel-Sudan contacts paved the way for deal sealed by Trump

Trump on the phone with the leaders of Sudan and Israel. Photo: Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty

While the U.S. officially brokered the Israel-Sudan normalization deal, it was Israel that facilitated talks between the U.S. and Sudan on the broader deal that included Sudan’s removal from America’s state sponsors of terrorism list.

Why it matters: Israel’s secret contacts with Sudanese officials paved the way for a deal that was nearly a year in the making.

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Axios
Updated 18 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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Orion Rummler
41 mins ago - Health

Trump's testing czar: COVID surge "is real" and not just caused by more tests

Assistant Secretary of Health Adm. Brett Giroir, who leads the federal government's coronavirus testing response, pushed back on Wednesday against President Trump's continued claims that rising coronavirus cases are a product of increased testing.

The big picture: Every available piece of data shows that the pandemic is getting worse again across the country. Hospitalizations are on the rise — and some hospitals are warning that they could soon be overwhelmed — while 13 states set new highs last week for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day.

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