Meghan Markle blasted Donald Trump as ‘divisive’ and a ‘misogynist’ in a passionate rant in 2016.

It’s safe to say Donald probably won’t be receiving an invite to the royal wedding, then.

Quotes from a 2016 interview with Meghan – the year Trump was elected into power – reveal exactly what she thinks of the President of the United States.

Appearing on The Nightly Show before the election had taken place, host Larry Wilmore asked Meghan what she thought of the possibility of Trump coming into power.

She replied: ‘It’s really the moment that I go, we film Suits in Toronto and I might just stay in Canada.

‘I mean, come on. If that’s really the reality that we are talking about, come on, that is really a game changer in terms of how we move in the world here.’

During her animated take-down of Trump, Meghan added: ‘Yes of course Trump is divisive. Think about just female voters alone.

‘I think it was in 2012, the Republican Party lost the female vote by 12 points. That’s a huge number and with as misogynistic as Trump is and so vocal about it, that’s a huge chunk of it.

‘You’re not just voting for a woman if it’s Hillary because she’s a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he’s painting for us.’

Meghan should probably savour this discussion as she may not be able to get quite so heated about Trump in future, considering the royal protocol is to remain impartial when it comes to politics.

During his ITV interview with Piers Morgan, Trump responded to Meghan’s previous comments on him being a misogynist and divisive.

He said: ‘Well, I still hope they’re happy.’

Meghan and Harry revealed they are engaged to be married on 27 November last year. They will marry on 19 May in Windsor.

MORE: Council leader who said beggars should be moved for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding could lose his job today

MORE: Meghan Markle ‘to give her own speech’ at wedding to Prince Harry</s>A top FBI official who has faced withering criticism from President Donald Trump is out — and the ongoing investigation into Russian election interference has another wrinkle.

Andrew McCabe, the no. 2 official at the FBI, is leaving his post and will go on “terminal leave” meaning he will stay on payroll until his retirement in March, POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports. While McCabe was expected to retire soon, there were signs that it was earlier than expected. FBI Director Christopher Wray was cryptic in describing the reasons for McCabe’s departure.

“The director's agency-wide email cited an ongoing Justice Department inspector general's investigation into alleged political influence on the FBI's operations and decisions in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, but he did not say what connection, if any, that probe had to the deputy director's exit. Wray simply said that it would be inappropriate for him to comment on that inquiry until it was complete.”

The White House, for its part, that Trump played any role in the decision to push McCabe out.

Meanwhile, the House intelligence committee voted on party lines today to release a secret memo written by Republicans that outlines alleged misconduct by the FBI, POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney reports.

The vote came after Wray viewed the document for the first time and now President Trump will have five days to determine whether to make it public.

TUESDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: you need to know to get ready for President Trump’s first State of the Union address tomorrow night, including where you can stream it, what time it is and who is on the guest list.

ONE ENCHANTED UNIOM: The House some tickets for tomorrow night’s address, spelling union “uniom.”

STATE OF STATES OF THE UNION: The hype for State of the Union addresses the fact that they’re often not that historically significant and somewhat boring.

CALL DROPPED: Republicans, Democrats and industry experts to immediately reject a floated plan by the Trump administration for a nationalized 5G network.

FLIGHT BEHAVIOR: The Wall Street Journal that first lady Melania Trump took $675,000 worth of military flights earlier this year before she moved to Washington, D.C. from New York to various destinations.

THANKLESS TASK: The Washington Post over out-party responses to the State of the Union — a tradition and an often thankless one that nonetheless persists.

There you have it. You’re caught up on the Trump administration. That was Monday. Tomorrow is President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address.</s>Two controversial, opinion splitting characters will come head-to-head for a television interview tonight that is set to cover “everything from trophy hunting, to Meghan Markle, to Europe, to ISIS.”

Good Morning Britain Piers Morgan host met with the US president Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Good Morning Britain presenter first met Trump in 2008 when he appeared on America’s celebrity version of The Apprentice, which he went on to win.

Tonight you can see him quiz Mr Trump, even probing him about football and his retweets of videos from the far-right group Britain first.

Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to the EU that he is unhappy with the bloc's trading relationship with the US, according to Morgan.

Morgan says that Mr Trump claimed he would negotiate Brexit with a "tougher" attitude than the Prime Minister.

In the interview, Mr Trump said he believed the EU had been "very, very unfair" to the US and it would be to the union's "detriment".

Morgan told the Andrew Marr Show: "Does anyone on the planet really doubt that Donald Trump would negotiate this harder than Theresa May and her Government?

"I think he's looked at it and said 'what exactly is Britain negotiating here? Are you actually leaving? Are you trying to pretend you're not leaving?'

"He was very scathing about the EU - he said his own dealing with the EU had been pretty problematic and he actually gave a stark warning that he is coming after them on trade.

"I would not be surprised - the biggest trading partner of America in the world is the EU, 650 odd billion dollars a year.

"He was making it very clear he's not happy with that trade arrangement."

In extracts of the interview in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Trump said: "I'm representing the United States, it's a very unfair situation.

"We cannot get our product in. It's very very tough. And yet they send their product to use - no taxes, very little taxes. It's very unfair.

"I've had a lot of problems with the European Union, and it may morph into something very big from that standpoint, from a trade standpoint."

Morgan said Mr Trump had been on a "charm offensive" toward Britain at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, where the president's arrival was "like Mick Jagger had arrived".

"I think he's a massive force now on the world stage," the former Daily Mirror editor added.

Meanwhile the US president has said he is not aware of any invitation for him to attend Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle.

In the interview with Morgan, Mr Trump replied "not that I know of" when asked if he was given an invite.

Harry's nuptials with the American actress have captured the imagination of her compatriots and will be seen to strengthen the bond between the UK and the US.

But Markle has been a vocal critic of former reality star Mr Trump, backing his rival Hillary Clinton and suggesting before the 2016 election she would leave the US if he won.

Asked if he would like to go to the royal wedding in May at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel, Mr Trump simply said: "I want them to be happy. I really want them to be happy.

"They look like a lovely couple."

When Morgan pointed out she had labelled the billionaire "divisive" and a "misogynist", he said: "Well, I still hope they're happy."

Morgan also pressed the president on his social media habit, confirming he often tweets himself but will delegate if he is busy.

He said: "Well, perhaps sometimes in bed, and perhaps sometimes at breakfast, or lunch, or whatever.

"But generally speaking, during the early morning or during the evening, I can do that.

"But if I'm very busy during the day ... and I'll sometimes just dictate out something really quickly, and I'll give it to one of my people to put it on."

The president also offered hope that the US could come back in from the cold after opting out of the Paris Accord on climate change, a decision that drew scorn from the international community and "disappointment" from Prime Minister Theresa May.

He said: "The Paris Accord, for us, would have been a disaster.

"I'm completely out of it.

"First of all, it was a terrible deal for the United States. If they made a good deal ... there's always a chance we'd get back.

"But, it was a terrible deal for the United States. It was unfair to the United States.

"If somebody said, go back into the Paris Accord, it would have to be a completely different deal because we had a horrible deal.

"Would I go back in? Yeah, I'd go back in. I like, as you know, I like Emmanuel (Macron, French president). I would love to, but it's got to be a good deal for the United States."

Mr Trump also gave his views on climate change, saying he believes in clean air and good cleanliness generally.

He said: "There is a cooling, and there's a heating. I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming.

"That wasn't working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.

"The ice caps were going to melt, they were going to be gone by now, but now they're setting records. They're at a record level."

According to a Nasa analysis in March last year, the sea ice levels in the Arctic reached a record lowest extent during winter and in the same month the sea ice around Antarctica reached its lowest extent ever recorded by satellites at the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Morgan has since been blasted by Arsenal fans for inviting US President Donald Trump to become the football team's new manager.

Morgan - who is a long time Arsenal fan - gave a preview of the moment on Twitter as he posted a picture of himself presenting the President with a personalised Arsenal top.

Piers captioned the image explaining: "*WORLD EXCLUSIVE* The moment I invite President Trump to be Arsenal's new manager - because he'd build a strong defensive wall, have an attacking philosophy & want to win big trophies at all costs.

President Trump - The Piers Morgan Interview airs on Sunday on ITV at 10pm and lasts for 45 minutes.</s>The deputy director of the FBI is stepping down – a week after it was reported that President Donald Trump was lobbying for his ouster.

Andrew McCabe, who had been under fire from Republicans in recent months over perceived partisanship and bias, had indicated that he planned on stepping down as recently as December. Just last week, Mr Trump reportedly encouraged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put pressure on FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire Mr McCabe. Mr Wray had reportedly been pressuring Mr McCabe to do just that, citing an upcoming inspector general report that examines the bureau's many investigations in 2016.

Mr McCabe will remain on the FBI payroll until mid-March, sources told NBC News, when he will be eligible to retire with full benefits.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

The movement in the FBI follows roughly a month after Mr McCabe was thrashed by Mr Trump on Twitter, and also privately during a meeting in the Oval Office.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Monday that Mr Trump did not play a part in the decisions surrounding Mr McCabe's departure, and said that Mr Trump stands by his past statements about the departing deputy director.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that, when Mr Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey last year, Mr Trump met with Mr McCabe in the Oval and the President asked the FBI’s second in command who he had voted for in 2016.

Shape Created with Sketch. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation 1/17 Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty 2/17 Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP 3/17 George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter 4/17 Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images 5/17 Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images 6/17 Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images 7/17 Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images 8/17 Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images 9/17 Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images 10/17 Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters 11/17 Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images 12/17 Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images 13/17 Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters 14/17 Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons 15/17 James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images 16/17 Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images 17/17 Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images 1/17 Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty 2/17 Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP 3/17 George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter 4/17 Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images 5/17 Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images 6/17 Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images 7/17 Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images 8/17 Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images 9/17 Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images 10/17 Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters 11/17 Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images 12/17 Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images 13/17 Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters 14/17 Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons 15/17 James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images 16/17 Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images 17/17 Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

During that meeting, Mr Trump also reportedly vented frustration with the fact that Mr McCabe’s wife, a Democrat, had received donations during her failed 2015 Virginia state Senate race from a political action committee run by a close ally to Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s 2016 opponent. Mr Trump aired those grievances once again on Twitter in December.

Mr Comey’s firing led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, whose team is investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and any ties the Trump campaign may have had with Moscow.

The New York Times reports that Mr Trump also tried to fire Mr Mueller last year, not long after he fired Mr Comey. He was stopped at the time by White House counsel Don McGahn.

Mr Trump, during his visit to Switzerland last week, called those reports “Fake News”.

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The soon-to-be retirement of Mr McCabe marks the end of a long career in public service. Mr McCabe has served at the FBI since 1996, and has worked there during the tenures of both Mr Comey and Mr Mueller.

Mr Mueller's investigation has quickly expanded over the past year, and has resulted in at least four indictments of officials connected to Mr Trump's 2016 campaign.

That includes the indictments of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates, both of whom pleaded not guilty to the charges. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was also indicted by Mr Mueller's team, as was former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.

Mr Mueller's team is also reportedly seeking an interview with Mr Trump himself, and has previously interviewed Mr Sessions as a part of their probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

It is unclear if Mr Trump will eventually agree to an interview with the Mueller team, and under what circumstances the President might agree to doing so.</s>Donald Trump’s latest interview with Piers Morgan for ITV is suddenly becoming ground-shaking news after the 45th president of the United States of America revealed he “wouldn’t call himself a feminist.” Apart from talking about this, the president talked about his ongoing relationship with the UK and how he sometimes tweets from his bed.

With the ongoing #MeToo campaign and Larry Nassar’s case, and with sexual harassment being on the news more than ever, it was important for Piers Morgan to ask President Trump about his views on feminism.

President Trump stated that he is not a feminist because he is not only here to support women, but rather all people, reports CNN.

Trump added that women are doing great and he is “happy about that.”

When Morgan asked President Trump to comment on the recent one-year anniversary of the Women’s March on Washington, he responded that this year’s march was a lot smaller than last year’s.

“You’re always going to have marches,” he added.

Everyone is familiar with President Donald Trump’s Twitter usage. On his official Twitter handle, Trump shares his day-to-day activities, along with his views on change in policies.

During Trump’s recent interview, he was questioned about his Twitter usage and the president explained that this is his way of communicating with the rest of the world. He even stated that a lawyer, John Dowd, once tweeted from his account.

When asked about the timing of his tweets, Trump stated the following:

Throughout the interview, Donald Trump claimed he is very popular in the UK despite ongoing calls for protests if he takes up Theresa May’s official invite for a state visit.

Apart from this, he stated that he is not aware whether he had received an invitation to the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle later this year. There have been several speculations that the couple will invite Barack Obama and his family instead of Donald Trump and his family; however, as of now, the official wedding list is not yet revealed.

“I really want them to be happy. They look like a lovely couple,” Donald Trump added.

President Trump was also asked to comment on his diet which has been in the news in recent times. When asked about eating burgers, junk food, and drinking Coke, Trump stated that he eats fine food as he has some of the finest chefs in the world.</s>Melania Trump has no time for “false” reporting about her relationship with Donald Trump amid swirling rumors over his alleged affair with the former adult-film star, Stormy Daniels. Apparently, she is too busy getting on with the business of being the First Lady of the United States. In response to all the gossip about divorce and how the fallout has affected her marriage with President Trump, Melania dismisses it as fake news, this according to a new report from the Independent.

Melania Trump apparently is breaking her silence about the mounting reports of her torn relationship, but her words came by way of a spokesperson. Days ago, Daily Mail reported that the FLOTUS had been “spending nights at a posh hotel” in Washington, alone, while her husband traveled overseas to promote America’s business interests.

Suggestions of a Donald and Melania Trump divorce have cropped up in some reports. As Inquisitr previously reported, some perceive Melania’s recent behavior as a rebellion that could not only signal divorce with their relationship, but also it could upend Trump’s presidency.

DM claimed that a White House source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the news about Donald Trump’s reported tryst with the former porn star had taken its toll on Melania.

“It’s been upsetting and humiliating; her relationship with President Trump has become strained,” according to the unnamed source. Melania, who is notoriously private and short on words, has not addressed the rumors publically. Further, there is no indication that she has plans. Rather, Mrs. Trump’s spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, made a statement in the wake of the latest rumors amid the lurid details about Stormy Daniels and the POTUS.

Regarding the backstory, as the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Palazzolo and Michael Rothfeld first reported recently (via Vox) on the bombshell news about Donald Trump, the president allegedly had a sexual relationship for nearly one year with Daniels in 2006. Moreover, in exchange for her silence, Trump’s attorney funneled money through a Delaware limited liability company and paid then-candidate Trump’s mistress, real name, Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 in “hush money,” according to a Jan. tweet by Palazzolo where he divulged the names of the attorney and company.

It’s unclear if Melania Trump was aware of her husband’s reported infidelity. The White House and Trump’s legal counsel maintain that the reports are fake news.

Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen tried to diffuse the stunning report by releasing a statement of denial from Daniels. Multiple news outlets were quick to impeach Daniels by providing details of statements she allegedly made in the past.

A Slate writer recalled how he met Stormy Daniels in 2006 after getting in touch with her through an unnamed source. Then, based on his reporting, Daniels acknowledged having an affair with Trump during his marriage to Melania Trump.

On the heels of the WSJ’s report, In Touch Weekly recalled covering a story about Stormy Daniels in 2011 where she allegedly claimed to have “spanked” Donald Trump using a Forbes Magazine. In the same interview, she boasted about being able to “describe his junk” in detail.

It’s unclear what to conclude about how the news has affected the first family. After the news about the president’s purported affair broke, Melania accompanied her husband to their luxury golf resort in Florida. But, according to insiders, things were anything but normal about their relationship.

Apparently, Melania Trump raised red flags about her relationship to the real estate magnate when she was a no-show at two dinners that the president hosted at the property. On her decision to remain behind during Trump’s overseas trip, Melania’s spokesperson said the cancellation was due to “too many scheduling and logistical issues,” as People reported. Still, one reader opined that divorce is a foregone conclusion with the Trumps.

Thursday, as part of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Melania appeared at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum There, she paid homage to the survivors and victims of the World War II-era genocide tragedy.

Melania used social media to document her visit to the facility during the somber occasion.

Kate Andersen Brower, a CNN contributor, told Wolf Blitzer that Melania’s noticeable absence from her husband’s side leaves others to write their own narrative. The expert on first ladies in America said there is little precedent to Melania’s cancellation of her scheduled trip to Davos. She added that Donald and Melania Trump’s relationship has been “unusual” from the beginning of the New York billionaire’s presidency, as Huffington Post reported.

“We haven’t had a relationship this fraught since, I think, the Clintons, even going back and looking at someone like Eleanor Roosevelt or Jackie Kennedy, where there were lots of rumors surrounding their relationship,” Brower said.</s>President Trump may have been sworn in over a year ago, but if you check with these cable news pundits, Donald Trump simply keeps becoming president.</s>Washington (CNN) The escalating campaign by President Donald Trump and his allies against the Russia investigation hit a new peak of intensity Monday.

First came news of the resignation of Andrew McCabe , the deputy director of the FBI, after weeks of attacks by Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill and in conservative media that he was a symptom of a "deep state" conspiracy against the President.

Then the House Intelligence Committee voted to release a memo alleging abuses by the FBI of surveillance law when it used a dossier about Trump and Russia to obtain a warrant to eavesdrop on Trump campaign foreign policy aide Carter Page.

The revelations, following a flurry of developments last week that suggested special counsel Robert Mueller was nearing the end of part of his probe, sent shockwaves through Washington, underscoring the gravity of a building political crisis.

The White House insisted it had nothing to do with the sudden departure of McCabe.

But given the political heat being cranked up by Trump, GOP aides on Capitol Hill and in the pro-Trump media, it would not surprise anyone if special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is next to go.

Though such a step would trigger political mayhem and a potential constitutional showdown that could imperil Trump's presidency, such steps, if they happened, could be seen as the logical outcome of a pressure campaign that has raised concerns about Trump's tendency to rage against legal norms constraining his office.

The swirl of events also comes as speculation mounts over whether Trump will testify in person to the Mueller probe, as some of his friends warn him he could be walking into a trap set by the special counsel's team.

Events of the last year show a clear and consistent pattern by the President of demanding loyalty from law enforcement officials -- including recently forced out McCabe and fired FBI chief James Comey. Trump has also publicly vented at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying he wouldn't have picked him had he known he would recuse himself from the Russian investigation -- another variation on the loyalty theme.

At the same time, the President has shown himself willing to blur the traditional firewalls between the White House and the Justice Department and the FBI, either misunderstanding, or showing disdain for, protocols observed to avoid any impression of political interference in the neutral administration of justice.

The administration has spent weeks cranking up scrutiny on career FBI and Justice Department officials, claiming the Mueller probe is biased against Trump, apparently seeking to discredit its eventual findings and perhaps to shape the political terrain ahead of any calls for impeachment proceedings.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Monday admitted that the President had put pressure on those in the investigation "to get it resolved" so he can go back to work she said Americans care about.

But she denied the White House had ordered McCabe's exit.

"I can say the President wasn't part of this decision-making process," Sanders said.

Another building block in the apparent efforts of the administration and its allies to cast doubt on the probity of the Mueller probe could come later Monday.

Democrats have claimed the House Intelligence Committee memo misrepresents the facts and intelligence officials worry that its release could compromise classified information, though Trump is minded to approve its publication, an official familiar with the matter told CNN last week.

Republicans are adamant that the memo suggests serious problems with the use of the dossier, drawn up by former British spy Christopher Steele, which they claim was the spur for the FBI probe into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign.

"I have read the four-page memo. What I read was very concerning. I support making it public and getting this done as soon as possible," Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a member of the House GOP leadership, told Fox News on Monday.

The memo cites the role of McCabe and Rosenstein for their roles in overseeing aspects of the investigation, according to a source briefed on the matter.

The cresting intrigue Monday follows a flurry of sensational developments in recent days that suggest that Mueller is approaching a critical point of his investigation and that the President's personal jeopardy could be deepening.

The firing never happened, but it could be relevant to Mueller's inquiries into whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey, since it could serve as evidence of the President's state of mind and intent in his apparent attempts to end the Russia investigation.

Trump now has Rosenstein in his crosshairs, CNN reported Friday, and has repeatedly suggested removing him, prompting advisers to warn the President off.

In McCabe's case, Trump's advisers highlighted the fact that the former deputy FBI director's wife mounted a Democratic state Senate campaign in Virginia, before he took his final post with the bureau.

The Washington Post reported last week that Trump had directly asked McCabe who he voted for in the 2016 election in a highly unusual move for a president toward a civil servant. CNN established that McCabe voted in the Republican primary in 2016 but did not vote in the general election.

For some of Trump's critics, the pattern of pressure on key officials is already sufficient to raise strong suspicions that the President, in the Comey firing and subsequent actions, is guilty of obstruction of justice, a potentially impeachable offense.

"On perhaps the most important question of all -- whether the President of the United States committed the crime of obstruction of justice -- the answer now seems clear," Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker staff writer and CNN senior legal analyst, wrote on Friday.

Should he go a step further and seek to fire Mueller, as he apparently recommended in June, Trump could trigger a constitutional crisis.

"I think if the President had gone through with this or tries to go through with it on a going forward basis, we're into uncharted territory, we're into the real question of the fundamentals of our democracy," Virginia Sen. Mark Warner told CNN's Jake Tapper on Friday.

"Are we still going to be a country where the rule of law prevails and that no one, even the President, is above the law?" Warner said.

Still, though it is clear the President is furious about the Russia investigation, and has demonstrably created political pressure on multiple officials linked to it, it does not follow that Mueller is destined to conclude he obstructed justice.

Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who led the investigation against President Bill Clinton, said that he did not believe Trump's actions had demonstrated corrupt intent that would be needed to back up an obstruction finding.

"I don't think that those who have been saying this is obstruction of justice have come forward with pervasive authority and have not addressed what I view as a fundamental question, the power of the presidency," Starr said on ABC News "This Week" on Sunday.

Though he maintained that the President has broad jurisdiction over law enforcement officials in his administration, he did allow that any move by the President to fire Mueller would cause "Armageddon."

Still, a case against the President that fell short of the criminal standards for an obstruction inquiry could still be forwarded to Congress for consideration of whether his conduct amounted to a high crime and misdemeanor required to trigger the political process of impeachment.

Yet given the intense skepticism of the Mueller probe and the orchestrated campaign against it that was again in evidence Monday, there must be significant doubt whether the GOP-led House would decide to move ahead.</s>There are good reasons to be wary of impeachment talk. Congressional Republicans show zero interest, and they’re the ones in charge. Democrats, for their part, need to focus on retaking Congress, and railing about impeachment probably won’t help them win votes.

But let’s set aside realpolitik for a few minutes and ask a different question: Is serious consideration of impeachment fair? I think the answer is yes. The evidence is now quite strong that Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice. Many legal scholars believe a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime. So the proper remedy for a president credibly accused of obstructing justice is impeachment.

The first article of impeachment against Richard Nixon argued that he had “prevented, obstructed and impeded the administration of justice.” One of the two impeachment articles that the House passed against Bill Clinton used that identical phrase. In both cases, the article then laid out the evidence with a numbered list. Nixon’s version had nine items. Clinton’s had seven. Each list was meant to show that the president had intentionally tried to subvert a federal investigation.

Given last week’s news — that Trump has already tried to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating the Trump campaign — it’s time to put together the same sort of list for Trump. Of course, this list is based only on publicly available information. Mueller, no doubt, knows more.

1. During a dinner at the White House on Jan. 27, 2017, Trump asked for a pledge of “loyalty” from James Comey, then the FBI director, who was overseeing the investigation of the Trump campaign.

2. On Feb. 14, Trump directed several other officials to leave the Oval Office so he could speak privately with Comey. He then told Comey to “let this go,” referring to the investigation of Michael Flynn, who had resigned the previous day as Trump’s national security adviser.

3. On March 22, Trump directed several other officials to leave a White House briefing so he could speak privately with Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, and Mike Pompeo, the CIA director. Trump asked them to persuade Comey to back off investigating Flynn.

4. In March and April, Trump told Comey in phone calls that he wanted Comey to lift the “cloud” of the investigation.

5. On May 9, Trump fired Comey as FBI director. On May 10, Trump told Russian officials that the firing had “taken off” the “great pressure” of the Russia investigation. On May 11, he told NBC News that the firing was because of “this Russia thing.”

6. On May 17, shortly after hearing that the Justice Department had appointed Mueller to take over the Russia investigation, Trump berated Jeff Sessions, the attorney general. The appointment had caused the administration again to lose control over the investigation, and Trump accused Sessions of “disloyalty.”

7. In June, Trump explored several options to retake control. At one point, he ordered the firing of Mueller, before the White House counsel resisted.

8. On July 8, aboard Air Force One, Trump helped draft a false public statement for his son, Donald Trump Jr. The statement claimed that a 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer was about adoption policy. Trump Jr. later acknowledged that the meeting was to discuss damaging information the Russian government had about Hillary Clinton.

9. On July 26, in a tweet, Trump called for the firing of Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director, a potential corroborating witness for Comey’s conversations with Trump. The tweet was part of Trump’s efforts, discussed with White House aides, to discredit FBI officials.

10. Throughout, Trump (and this quotation comes from the Nixon article of impeachment) “made false or misleading public statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States.” Among other things, Trump repeatedly made untruthful statements about American intelligence agencies’ conclusions regarding Russia’s role in the 2016 election.

Obstruction of justice depends on a person’s intent — what legal experts often call “corrupt intent.” This list is so damning because it reveals Trump’s intent.

When the framers were debating impeachment at the Constitutional Convention, George Mason asked: “Shall any man be above justice?”

The same question faces us now: Can a president use the power of his office to hold himself above the law? Trump is unlikely to face impeachment anytime soon, or perhaps anytime at all. But it’s time for all of us — voters, members of Congress, Trump’s own staff — to be honest about what he’s done. He has obstructed justice.

He may not be finished doing so, either.</s>
• President Donald Trump has taken aim at McCabe on Twitter in recent months amid an ongoing conflict with the FBI.
• A pair of major stories last week detailed the president's interactions and relationship with McCabe.

A CNN producer and Fox News described sources as saying McCabe was told Monday morning to step down and that he was being "removed" from the FBI.

President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized McCabe in recent months, ignored questions shouted at him about the report during a lunch with United Nations Security Council ambassadors, a Bloomberg reporter said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the White House has sought to distance itself from the McCabe news.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Monday's press briefing that Trump "wasn't a part of the decision-making process," adding that the president stood by all of his previous remarks about McCabe.

Later Monday, The New York Times reported that McCabe left the bureau after FBI Director Christopher Wray raised concerns about an upcoming Justice Department inspector general report examining McCabe's and other senior officials' actions during the 2016 presidential campaign. The FBI was investigating both Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of private email and the Trump's campaigns connections to Russia.

In his discussion with McCabe, Wray suggested demoting the deputy director, a former official said. But instead of accept the demotion, McCabe decided to leave.

In the days prior to the McCabe's departure, a pair of recent stories detailed Trump's interactions and relationship with the deputy director.

The Washington Post reported last week that during an Oval Office meeting last year — meant to be an introductory meet-and-greet session after the president fired James Comey as FBI director in May — Trump asked McCabe, the acting FBI director at the time, who he voted for in the 2016 presidential election.

A former official told The Post that McCabe found the question "disturbing."

During the meeting, Trump reportedly made pointed remarks about McCabe's wife, Jill McCabe, who ran as a Democratic candidate for a Virginia Senate seat in 2015 and lost. Her campaign received $675,000 in donations from the Virginia Democratic Party and a super PAC operated by Terry McAuliffe, the former governor who is a close friend of Hillary Clinton.

Months after that election, McCabe became the FBI deputy director, and he later helped lead two investigations related to Clinton, including into her use of a private email server as secretary of state, though he later recused himself from those.

Also last week, the news website Axios, citing three sources, reported that Wray threatened to resign after Attorney General Jeff Sessions pressured him, at Trump's urging, to fire McCabe.

Axios also reported that Sessions was pressuring Wray to oust James Baker, a former general counsel for the bureau.

Trump has for months taken aim at McCabe on Twitter, often falsely claiming that McCabe was investigating Clinton while his wife was accepting campaign donations linked to her.

Last month, Trump, apparently quoting a Fox News segment, tweeted: "FBI's Andrew McCabe, 'in addition to his wife getting all of this money from M (Clinton Puppet), he was using, allegedly, his FBI Official Email Account to promote her campaign. You obviously cannot do this. These were the people who were investigating Hillary Clinton.'"

Earlier, he went after McCabe and Comey, tweeting: "How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin' James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife's campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?"

That wasn't all. Trump referred to a Post report saying McCabe planned to retire in early 2018, when he is eligible for full pension benefits.

"FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!" Trump tweeted.

The move also came just a day after Wray viewed a Republican memo that alleged surveillance abuse by McCabe, Comey, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Fox News reported.

McCabe is just the latest official to call it quits or to appear to be forced out of the Justice Department since Trump took office last year.

The Post on Saturday quoted a person who had interacted with the team of Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia's election interference, as saying prosecutors were pursuing a theory that Trump's actions with regard to the Russia investigation have followed a pattern.

"Their theory appears to be that he goes after people who are not loyal," they said. "He wants in place people who are loyal, to make sure he doesn't get in trouble in the investigation."

Soon after NBC broke the news of McCabe's departure, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., weighed in on Twitter.
Andrew McCabe resigns as Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation amid a dispute with President Donald Trump.