Nicholas Wu USA TODAY Published 10:29 AM EDT Jul 19, 2019 WASHINGTON – The Trump campaign says they have a plan to make straws great again.  Brad Parscale, President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign manager, tweeted on Thursday evening, “Making Straws Great Again,” along with a link to buy Trump-branded straws from the Trump campaign store.  “Liberal paper straws don’t work. STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today,” says the straws’ description on the Trump campaign website.  The pack of 10 straws sells for $15, coming…

Sean Rossman USA TODAY Published 9:26 AM EDT Jul 19, 2019 Rep. Ilhan Omar, who faces security concerns after President Donald Trump’s supporters chanted to “send her back” during a Wednesday rally, was enthusiastically welcomed to her home state of Minnesota on Thursday with a crowd of people shouting “Welcome home, Ilhan.” Video of Omar, D-Minn., arriving at the airport shows her walking into a crowd of people clapping and cheering. As she walks into the mass, she’s surrounded by supporters and television cameras as the chants grow louder. More than 100…

Rebecca Morin USA TODAY Published 7:23 PM EDT Jul 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s feud with The Squad, a group of four Democratic congresswomen of color, came to a head Wednesday evening when a “send her back” chant broke out at the president’s rally after he began talking about Rep. Ilhan Omar. During a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump blasted the members of “The Sqaud” — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, and Omar, D-Minn. While he was riffing about Omar, chants of “send her back” erupted from the crowd several times….

Ledyard King USA TODAY Published 7:25 PM EDT Jul 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – Nearly two years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria left Puerto Rico in shambles, the pace of recovery on the U.S. territory remains at a crawl as the island faces fresh controversies and verbal attacks from President Donald Trump.   Disputes between the Trump administration and island leaders over rebuilding costs and the unsteady implementation of a new process to approve project funding have severely hamstrung recovery. Out of some 10,000 schools, bridges and other damaged sites dotting the island, funding for only…

Christal Hayes and Jason Lalljee USA TODAY Published 8:01 PM EDT Jul 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s attacks on freshmen Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that spurred his supporters to chant “send her back” at a rally Wednesday night, have increased urgent calls for her to have more security.  Rep. Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, wrote a letter Thursday evening requesting the Capitol Police Board hold an “emergency meeting” to examine increased security for lawmakers targeted by the president and his supporters, explaining that “the President’s attacks on Members of Congress…

Rebecca Morin USA TODAY Published 10:37 PM EDT Jul 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – Saying President Donald Trump does not fully comprehend how it feels to be treated “like less than a dog,” Rep. Elijah Cummings on Thursday explained that the president’s recent “go back” comments have sparked memories of racist attacks he experienced as a child in Baltimore. Cummings, D-Maryland, said that he was attacked by a white mob, who taunted and threw rocks and bottles at him and several other Black kids seeking to integrate a pool in South Baltimore, when he was…

Kristin Lam USA TODAY Published 12:13 AM EDT Jul 19, 2019 A New Hampshire lawmaker came under fire this week for claiming American slavery was based on economics, not racism.  Republican state Rep. Werner Horn stated his case in a now-deleted Facebook post, then reaffirmed his position in multiple interviews with media outlets. Horn initially drew attention for his comments in a Facebook post by former state House member Dan Hynes, who posed the question: “If Trump is the most racist president in American history, what does that say about all of the other…

John Fritze and David Jackson USA TODAY Published 9:06 PM EDT Jul 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate Eugene Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, to lead the Labor Department. Scalia, if confirmed, would take over a department that has been a key player in the Trump administration’s campaign to cut business regulations, including many implemented during the Obama administration. The previous Labor secretary, Alex Acosta, resigned last week amid the fallout over a plea deal he oversaw involving wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, a sex offender…

Rebecca Morin USA TODAY Published 9:11 PM EDT Jul 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – Democrats will face off on the debate stage later this month, and the lineup for the two-night event was revealed Thursday. Twenty Democratic presidential candidates were divvied up between two nights during a live draw on CNN Thursday evening. The second Democratic primary debate takes place on July 30 and 31 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. Here is a breakdown of the two groups of candidates and the dates on which they will debate: On July 30, from left to…

John Fritze and Michael Collins USA TODAY Published 8:02 PM EDT Jul 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – Less than two hours after a trove of documents shed new light Thursday on the effort to pay off a former porn star who alleged an affair with President Donald Trump, White House aides hastily called reporters into the Oval Office. As news outlets flashed alerts about evidence of Trump’s involvement in the hush-money scheme to quiet Stormy Daniels, the president revisited another furor he had set into motion days earlier: A series of attacks aimed…