LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Tuesday hit back at Robert De Niro, calling him a “very low IQ individual,” after the Oscar-winning actor’s expletive-laden attack on the American president on live television.

Two days after De Niro’s outburst on the stage of the Tony Awards ceremony in New York, Trump said he had watched the clip “and (I) truly believe he may be punch drunk.”

Representatives for De Niro did not immediately return a request for comment.

De Niro, one of the most respected American actors, twice used the so-called F-Bomb against Trump on Sunday, prompting loud applause from the audience of theater actors, directors and producers at Radio City Music Hall.

The “Raging Bull” actor’s remarks were bleeped for more than 6 million Americans watching the awards show on CBS at home.

De Niro took the stage to introduce rocker and Tony Awards performer Bruce Springsteen. Without any preamble, he said, “I’m gonna say one thing. Fuck Trump.”

With the audience of theater actors, directors and producers shrieking and rising to their feet in applause, De Niro said: “It’s no longer down with Trump. It’s fuck Trump.” He did not elaborate on his comment.

Trump was on his way to Singapore to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the Broadway awards show was taking place. He delivered his response on his Twitter account while on his way back to the United States.

“Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to many shots to the head by real boxers in movies. I watched him last night and truly believe he may be ‘punch-drunk’,” Trump tweeted.

“I guess he doesn’t realize the economy is the best it’s ever been with employment being at an all time high, and many companies pouring back into our country. Wake up Punchy!”

De Niro won an Oscar for playing American boxer Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film “Raging Bull.” He returned to the ring in “Grudge Match” in 2013 and played a boxing trainer in 2016 movie “Hands of Stone.”

De Niro, a noted liberal, has been increasingly critical of Trump, a Republican, at smaller show business events in the past year, but none of them had the profile enjoyed by the Tony Awards.</s>During a press conference on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the actions reviewed by the DOJ’s IG report helped President Trump win the 2016 election.

Schumer stated, “Did Director Comey, the FBI, and DOJ handle the public aspects of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email correctly? Of course not. We Democrats said that then. The inspector general makes it clear now. But Director Comey’s mishandling of the publicity around the Clinton email campaign all accrued to the benefit of then-candidate Trump, not the other way around. It was Trump who benefitted from all these mistakes. So, it hardly reflects deep state or bias against him.”

He added, “Donald Trump won that election, so the complaints about the FBI and Jim Comey and all the rest don’t lead anywhere. At the end of the day, the actions reviewed in this report helped Donald Trump win the election, not the other way around.”</s>U.S. President Donald Trump is hitting back at Robert De Niro following the star’s profane rant against him during the Tony Awards.

The American leader took to Twitter on Tuesday to insult the actor’s intelligence, joking the 74-year-old must have taken too many blows to the head while portraying boxer Jake LaMotta in the film Raging Bull as he kicked off a speech at the Tonys on Sunday with expletives aimed at Trump.

“Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to (sic) many shots to the head by real boxers in movies,” Trump tweeted. “I watched him last night and truly believe he may be ‘punch-drunk’.”

“I guess he does not realize the economy is the best it’s ever been with employment being at an all time high, and many companies pouring back into our country,” he continued, adding, “Wake up, Punchy!”

Launching into his rant, which network executives at CBS were forced to censor, De Niro raged, “Hey Trump – I’m talkin’ to you!” as he raised both his fists into the air. “I’m gonna say one thing: F— Trump.”

The star’s comments were met with roaring applause from members of the audience at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, who then took to their feet to give bold De Niro a standing ovation.

“It’s no longer down with Trump. It’s f— Trump,” he added, prompting further applause.

A spokesperson for CBS issued a brief statement after the ceremony, which read: “Mr. De Niro’s comments were unscripted and unexpected. The offensive language was deleted from the broadcast.”</s>New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood sued President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and their charitable foundation Thursday, claiming "a pattern of persistent illegal conduct" for more than a decade.

Underwood said the Donald J. Trump Foundation engaged in "extensive unlawful political coordination with the Trump presidential campaign."

She also alleged "repeated and willful self-dealing transactions to benefit Mr. Trump's personal and business interests." She said the foundation violated "basic legal obligations for non-profit foundations."

In addition to Trump and the foundation, Underwood is suing Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and their sister Ivanka Trump, a senior adviser to the president.

The family members are all board members of the foundation, according to Underwood, who filed suit in state court in New York City. Underwood said the board of directors "existed in name only," since it never met after 1999 and did not approve of any grants.

Instead, Trump himself "made all the decisions related to the Foundation," according to the AG's office.

"As our investigation reveals, the Trump Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality," Underwood said in a statement.

"This is not how private foundations should function and my office intends to hold the Foundation and its directors accountable for its misuse of charitable assets."

The attorney general, a Democrat, said that the president used the foundation's name and funds it raised from the public to pay off his legal debts, promote Trump-branded hotels and other businesses "and to purchase personal items."

Those allegedly questionable payments included a $100,000 payment to settle legal claims against the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a $158,000 payment to settle claims related to a hole-in-one tournament at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County and $10,000 at a charity auction to buy a painting of Trump that was later displayed at his Trump National Doral in Miami.

And, at Trump's behest, the foundation "illegally provided extensive support to his 2016 presidential campaign by using the Trump Foundation's name and funds it raised from the public to promote his campaign," Underwood's office said.

The AG said the foundation raised more than $2.8 million at a nationally televised event that Trump hosted after he declined to participate in a presidential debate in Iowa.

Trump's campaign director at the time, Corey Lewandowski, "in violation of state and federal law," then "dictated the timing, amounts, and recipients of grants by the Foundation to non-profits," the AG's office said.

The suit said at least five grants of $100,000 apiece were awarded by the foundation to groups in Iowa just days before the Feb. 1, 2016, presidential caucuses there.</s>WASHINGTON: Donald Trump's former campaign chief was sent to jail on Friday (Jun 15) pending trial on a series of federal charges, as the US president ramped up efforts to discredit the wider probe into possible collusion between his campaign team and Moscow.



Paul Manafort, who is facing money laundering and tax evasion charges among others, was the first former Trump campaign aide to be jailed in the sprawling probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller since May 2017.

The revocation of Manafort's bail was a fresh sign of the looming collision course between Mueller and Trump, with the White House increasingly worried that the president could face obstruction of justice charges and an impeachment effort in Congress.

Manafort, 69, had been under house arrest while awaiting trial in both the US capital and Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, which also include obstruction of justice.

Trump condemned the treatment of Manafort, a veteran Washington political consultant, as he sought to paint Mueller's team as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation - which Mueller once ran - as deeply biased and illegitimate.

"Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns," Trump wrote on Twitter.

"Didn't know Manafort was the head of the Mob," he said. "Very unfair!"

Earlier, Trump lashed out at the entire investigation, labelling it a "ridiculous witch hunt" after a Justice Department watchdog report revealed that several FBI investigators had sent anti-Trump text messages during the 2016 campaign.

"There was no collusion, there was no obstruction, and if you read the report ... what you'll really see is bias against me," Trump said.

Manafort, who is facing trial later this year on money laundering charges involving his work for Ukraine that predated the 2016 presidential election, saw his bail revoked by Judge Amy Berman Jackson over claims he was trying to influence witnesses in his case.

He is one of 20 people and three companies already indicted by Mueller, who is investigating whether members of the campaign colluded with Russia during and after the election.

Mueller's team has been seeking to interview Trump as well, and questions they have submitted to the White House indicate that they are also investigating whether Trump has illegally interfered with the probe.

On Friday, Trump sought to make use of the Justice Department inspector general's report on the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state to erode confidence in Mueller's operation.

While the IG report made almost no mention of Mueller or any alleged wrongdoing by Trump, the president claimed it "exonerates" him, while his lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Mueller and his team themselves should be investigated.

"The report yesterday may be more important than anything. It totally exonerates me," Trump told journalists in front of the White House.

The report faulted the FBI and its former director James Comey, whom Trump fired in May 2017, over the handling of the Clinton email probe.

It said Comey, who cleared Clinton of allegations of mishandling classified materials, was insubordinate and guilty of bad judgment.

It also showed several agents involved in both that investigation and the subsequent Russia meddling probe repeatedly expressing anti-Trump bias in private text messages.

"That is probably the tip of the iceberg," Trump said. "There was total bias, I mean total bias."

He referred to Comey and other senior FBI officials as "the scum at the top" of the bureau and as "total thieves."

The investigation led by Mueller "has massive conflicts," Trump said.

"I think that the Mueller investigation has been totally discredited," Trump said.

Trump's lawyers see that convincing the public ahead of November's congressional elections that the Mueller probe is illegitimate could be crucial to his political fate.

If Mueller finds evidence of obstruction of justice, the president could face impeachment in the House of Representatives.

Currently the House is in Republican hands, and would be unlikely to support an impeachment motion. But if Democrats capture control of the chamber in November, that vote could shift.</s>The Trump administration is announcing a 25 per cent tariff on US$50 billion worth of Chinese imports, escalating a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to clamp down on what he calls China’s unfair trade practices. China has said that it will retaliate with $50 billion in tariffs in response, rattling financial markets.

It comes in the aftermath of Trump’s nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his push for China to maintain economic pressure on the North.

Trump has already slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, Europe and Japan, drawing a rebuke from U.S. allies.</s>NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s foundation served as a personal piggy bank for his businesses, legal bills and presidential campaign, New York’s attorney general said Wednesday as she sued the charity, Trump and three of his children.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation “was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality,” Democratic AG Barbara Underwood said as she sued to dissolve the foundation and seek $2.8 million in restitution.

The lawsuit against the foundation and its directors, including the president and his children Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., alleges that the foundation illegally helped support the Republican’s campaign by raising money at a nationally televised fundraiser in January 2016, then allowing campaign staffers to dictate how the money was spent in grants.

Foundation attorney Sheri Dillon and a Trump Organization spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment. She still represents the foundation.

The president responded with a pair of tweets.

“The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000. I won’t settle this case!…,” he wrote. “….Schneiderman, who ran the Clinton campaign in New York, never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years. Now he resigned his office in disgrace, and his disciples brought it when we would not settle.”

Underwood’s predecessor, Democrat Eric Schneiderman, began investigating the foundation in 2016 following Washington Post reports that foundation spending personally benefited the presidential candidate. Schneiderman ordered the foundation to stop fundraising in New York.

The Trump campaign, at the time, said the foundation intended to cooperate with the investigation. The campaign had previously called Schneiderman “a partisan hack” who backed Trump’s 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.</s>President Donald Trump , his sons and daughter, were accused Thursday of "persistently illegal conduct" at their family foundation, in a lawsuit alleging Trump misused charity funds to finance everything from his election campaign to a portrait of himself.The suit filed by New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood accuses the Donald J. Trump foundation of "extensive unlawful political coordination" with the Republican's 2016 campaign, and "repeated and willful self-dealing transactions to benefit Mr. Trump's personal and business interests," violating laws governing non-profit foundations.According to the suit, the real estate tycoon used foundation funds to settle lawsuits, promote his Trump-branded hotels, and for personal spending -- including the purchase of a portrait that was then mounted on the wall at one of his golf clubs.The civil lawsuit, filed on Trump's 72nd birthday, marked a new addition to the legal woes facing the White House, ranging from lawsuits from two women claiming affairs with Trump, to the sprawling probe into his campaign's ties with Russia and obstruction by Special Counsel Robert Mueller But while it carries the threat of multi-million dollar financial penalties, and the closure of the charity, the New York suit is unlikely to lead to criminal charges against the president or his children, or to strengthen the case of those seeking his impeachment.Trump branded the lawsuit a "ridiculous case" drummed up by "sleazy New York Democrats" and indicated he will fight it.He accused prosecutors of "doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000.""I won't settle this case!" he said.The suit raised a new challenge to the president just as he returns from a ground-breaking summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which the White House hopes will lead to Kim giving up his nuclear weapons.It names the president, sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and daughter Ivanka Trump , who were on the board of the foundation.It seeks restitution of $2.8 million and the shutdown of the foundation, as well as a 10-year ban on Trump serving on the board of any other New York charity. A one-year ban is sought for his three children.It also recommends the Internal Revenue Service investigate the foundation -- which provides Trump with an avenue for tax writeoffs -- over tax violations, and that the Federal Elections Commission examine the case for breaches of campaign law."As our investigation reveals, the Trump Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality," said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood."This is not how private foundations should function and my office intends to hold the foundation and its directors accountable for its misuse of charitable assets," she said in a statement.The lawsuit paints a picture of habitual misuse of foundation funds for years, signed off on by Trump, who was president of the thinly staffed charity.That included the January 2016 charity event which the Trump campaign, using the foundation, put on for veterans. About half the money raised, $2.8 million, was directed by campaign staff -- not foundation staff -- to be moved through the foundation to boost Trump's image.Other alleged abuses included providing foundation funds to a Florida political campaign; settling a 2007 lawsuit between the City of Palm Beach and Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, and settling a lawsuit by a golfer who took part in a Trump-sponsored charity event in 2012.There was so little oversight of the foundation, the suit said, that its board has not met since 1999, despite legal requirements for an annual board meeting to review the foundation's finances.In a statement the Trump Foundation defended its activities and said it had planned to wind up after Trump's election, but was held up by the New York probe."Virtually every dollar donated to the foundation went to worthy causes, and helped any number of the most vulnerable among our citizens," it said.It also said the investigation was the brainchild of the previous state attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, who it said was seeking to bolster his own political future by going after Trump.</s>The suit seeks 2.8 million dollars (£2.1 million) in restitution and the dissolution of the foundation.

Democrat Barbara Underwood filed the suit against the Trump Foundation and its directors, Mr Trump and his children Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump.

New York’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s foundation, claiming it served as a personal piggy bank for his businesses, legal bills and presidential campaign.

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Ms Underwood said the foundation illegally helped support the Republican’s campaign by raising money at a nationally televised fundraiser in January 2016, then allowing campaign staff to dictate how the money was spent in grants.

Mr Trump insisted he would not settle the lawsuit, calling it a “ridiculous case” that former state attorney general Eric Schneiderman “never had the guts to bring” forward before he “resigned his office in disgrace”.

Trump made a similar claim that he would not settle a lawsuit charging that his Trump University misled customers, but ultimately paid a 25 million dollar (£18 million) settlement last year.

The Trump Foundation said the new lawsuit is “politics at its very worst”.

The foundation defended its record, saying it had donated over 19 million dollars (£14 million) to worthy charitable causes.

It said it had been planning to shut down for more than a year, but had been stopped from doing so because of the state’s investigation.</s>(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File). FILE - President Donald Trump holds up an executive order for border security and immigration enforcement improvements after signing the order during a visit to the Homeland Security Department headquarters in...

NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on New York's lawsuit against the Trump Foundation (all times local):

The White House is blasting a lawsuit filed by New York's attorney general against President Donald Trump and his foundation, suggesting that is politically motivated.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Attorney General Barbara Underwood was "outrageously biased." Sanders also blasted Underwood's predecessor - Eric Schneiderman, who resigned last month - for being a longtime Trump antagonist.

Sanders said the alleged bias was "problematic."

Underwood and Schneiderman are Democrats. Trump is a Republican.

The lawsuit alleges that Trump and his adult children used the charity's money to settle disputes in his business empire and promote his political fortunes during his run for the White House.

The lawsuit seeks $2.8 million in restitution, additional unspecified penalties and the foundation's dissolution. Trump had already pledged to dismantle it.

The Trump Foundation says in a statement that a lawsuit filed against it by New York's attorney general is "politics at its very worst."

The suit filed Thursday says President Donald Trump illegally used the charity to pay legal settlements related to his golf clubs, buy a painting of himself and bolster his political image with donations directed by his campaign staff.

The Foundation defended its record, saying it had donated over $19 million to worthy charitable causes.

It said it had been planning to shut down for more than a year, but had been stopped from doing so because of the state's investigation.

It also said it had $1.7 million remaining to give out to charity "that the NYAG has been holding hostage for political gain."

President Donald Trump is declaring that he "won't settle" a lawsuit from the New York attorney general alleging that the Trump Foundation engaged in pattern of illegal self-dealing.

The president is calling it on Twitter a "ridiculous case" that former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman "never had the guts to bring" forward before he "resigned his office in disgrace."

The lawsuit, brought by current state Attorney General Barbara Underwood, alleges that the president's charitable foundation served as a personal piggy bank for his businesses, legal bills and presidential campaign. The lawsuit targets the foundation, Trump and three of his children.

Trump made a similar claim that he wouldn't settle a lawsuit charging that his Trump University misled customers but ultimately paid a $25 million settlement last year.

New York's attorney general says President Donald Trump's foundation served as a personal piggy bank for his businesses, legal bills and presidential campaign.

Democratic Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit Thursday against the foundation and its directors, Trump and his children Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump. The suit seeks $2.8 million in restitution and the dissolution of the foundation.

Underwood says the foundation illegally helped support the Republican's campaign by raising money at a nationally televised fundraiser in January 2016, then allowing campaign staffers to dictate how the money was spent in grants.

The 10:55 a.m. item has been corrected to say the lawsuit was filed Thursday, not Wednesday.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The attorney general of New York announces she is suing the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its directors, President Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump.