Our live coverage has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how the day unfolded.
President Trump, speaking in the Rose Garden, said he and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to work toward eliminating tariffs and barriers between products, reducing tensions for now in a brewing trade war.
Earlier today, President Donald Trump sought to assure farmers that he has their back, as some began to feel the effects of the escalating trade war with China.
Trump said both sides agreed to halt for now tariffs that threatened to devolve into a trade war as negotiations proceed.
“This was a very big day for free and fair trade,” the president said.
President Trump is speaking in the White House Rose Garden alongside European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.
Trump opened his remarks speaking about the “big day” the two men had had, and said they had met with plans to “launch a new phase in the relationship between the United States and the European Union, a phase of close relationship, of strong trade relations and both of us will win.”
A White House official says President Trump and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will make statements and likely take questions shortly in the Rose Garden. We’ll cover it live here.
The sudden White House decision to delay President Trump’s next meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is a big deal that should not be overlooked by the flood of other news today.
Here’s why:
There will be no Trump/Putin summit in Washington this year after all.
The White House issued a statement from national security adviser John Bolton, saying that the next possible meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t happen until 2019.
Here’s the statement:
Earlier this month, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump hoped to welcome Putin to Washington this fall.
President Trump, speaking in a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said the US would be “extremely pleased” if all tariffs and barriers were eliminated with the European Union.
He said the two sides were working toward a reciprocal trade agreement that can be “good for everybody.”
President Trump is meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House.
The two leaders gave brief statements, but neither responded to questions shouted at the end of the meeting. Trump did not address questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Michael Cohen tape.
Watch the moment:
President Trump is scheduled to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The meeting comes amid a trade fight with Europe. The US has already put tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from the European Union, and now Trump is threatening to hike tariffs on cars made in Europe to 20%. EU officials hope the trip will help defuse the tension.
Last week, President Trump called the EU a “foe.” When pressed on why he listed them as such, Trump responded: “No, I look at them all. Look, EU is very difficult. … In a trade sense, they’ve really taken advantage of us and many of those countries are in NATO and they weren’t paying their bills.”
At a NATO summit earlier this month, Trump called out US allies — including many European countries — for not spending enough on defense. He also called Germany a “captive of Russia.”
Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s attorney, is tweeting about the Trump-Cohen tape, which was provided to CNN by Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis:
An important note: The tape was not privileged because the Trump legal team waived the privilege designation on it.
Why he’s talking about cash
The audio — in which Trump is heard discussing with Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier — is muddled. The meaning of Trump’s use of the word “cash” is disputed by the two sides.
When Cohen tells Trump, “We’ll have to pay,” Trump is heard saying “pay with cash” but the audio is muddled and it’s unclear whether he suggests paying with cash or not paying. Cohen says, “no, no” but it is not clear what is said next.
No payment was ever made from Trump, Giuliani has said. Giuliani has previously acknowledged that the recorded discussion related to the buying the story rights.
Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said this when asked about the Cohen tape:
Warner added that Trump “did remarkable damage to our country’s image with that pathetic performance” at his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Warner said Cohen — like others in Trump’s circle — “are all out for their own interest.”
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, is “not overly optimistic” about his upcoming talks with President Trump on trade tariffs, a European Commission spokesperson said.
Spokesman Alexander Winterstein told reporters that Juncker will approach this meeting with ideas on how to “avoid a trade war and de-escalate or calm the situation,” adding that Juncker is prepared to have “a good dialogue” with Trump
Trump will host Juncker at the White House Wednesday, just a week after referring to the European Union as a foe.
CNN asked Stephanie Grisham, East Wings communications director, about a New York Times story that indicated the President was upset that his wife had CNN playing on Air Force One when the two were traveling last week.
Here’s how she responded:
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden told CNN that the Cohen tape raises “very troubling” questions and says investigators need to “follow the money.”
“There’s no question Americans are going to want more details on this,” Wyden said.
“I’m surprised Rudy Giuliani tried to get out in front of this with a declaration that this was all so favorable to the president. I think the people who have heard this whole snippet of discussion are not inclined to say Mr Giuliani is right.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to assure farmers that he has their back, as some begin to feel the effects of the escalating trade war with China.
“China is targeting our farmers, who they know I love & respect, as a way of getting me to continue allowing them to take advantage of the U.S.,” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning.
“They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We were being nice - until now! China made $517 Billion on us last year,” he continued.
It’s unclear which figure Trump is referencing in his tweet. Commerce Department data show the US trade gap with China was $335.7 billion last year – by far the biggest imbalance with any trading partner but a figure smaller than the one cited by the President.
The tweet follows Trump’s message at a VFW event in Missouri on Tuesday, in which the President implored farmers – many of whom reside in key swing states the helped power him to victory in 2016 – to weather the pain from the trade fight.
“We’re opening up markets,” he said Tuesday. “You watch what’s going to happen. Just be a little patient.”
China has announced retaliatory tariffs on various US agricultural products, including soybeans, grains, meats and dairy products, as a response to Trump’s plan to impose $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.
The Trump administration has planned an emergency aid package that would offer up to $12 billion for farmers hurt by tariffs caused by the trade dispute.
“This is a short-term solution that will give President Trump and his administration time to work on long term trade deals to benefit agriculture and all sectors of the American economy,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said.
However, some Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been critical of the plan, including South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune.
“It’s a short-term solution and it doesn’t solve any of the problems agriculture’s got right now,” Thune previously said.
“What (US agriculture) needs is more markets, expanded markets. These policies are restricting markets, and to offset that they are going to make, basically, payments to farmers to recognize the loss they have experienced. But it’s just not the right way to do it.”
The recording, which was provided to CNN by Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis, was made in September 2016. It’s the latest breakdown in the decade-long relationship between Trump and Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for the President. Cohen in recent weeks has made clear he is open to cooperating with US prosecutors.
“What is this about? This is about honesty versus false disparagement of Michael Cohen. Why is Giuliani out falsely disparaging Michael Cohen – because they fear him,” Davis said on “Cuomo Prime Time.”
“What do they fear, Chris? Why am I representing him? They fear that he has the truth about Donald Trump. He will someday speak the truth about Donald Trump. The truth is that when Donald Trump said ‘cash,’ which Rudy Giuliani knows that only drug dealers and mobsters talk about cash, it was, you heard Michael Cohen … say what? ‘No, no, no, no.’”
Davis later added: “Ladies and gentlemen, if you voted for Donald Trump, listen to the tape and ask yourself: Is Donald Trump lying when he said he didn’t use the word ‘cash’ and accuses Michael Cohen of using the word ‘cash’? Cohen has been disparaged. Cohen has been insulted and called all sorts of things by people around Donald Trump.”
Watch Davis’s interview:
President Donald Trump blasted his former attorney Michael Cohen on Wednesday, the morning after CNN aired the audio of a recording Cohen made of the two.
“What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!” Trump tweeted.
In the audio aired first on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” Trump and Cohen can be heard discussing how they would buy the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story about an alleged affair she had with Trump years earlier, which Trump denies. Court filings said federal prosecutors have 12 recordings from Cohen, and CNN previously confirmed the recording with Trump is among those 12.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to the audio recording of the conversation aired exclusively on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time.”
The recording offers the public a glimpse at the confidential discussions between Trump and Cohen, and it confirms the man who now occupies the Oval Office had contemporaneous knowledge of a proposal to buy the rights to the story of Karen McDougal, a woman who has alleged she had an extramarital affair with Trump about a decade ago.
Listen:
Cohen told Trump about his plans to set up a company and finance the purchase of the rights from American Media, which publishes the National Enquirer. The recording captures what appears to be a routine business conversation of several matters on their agenda. The audio is muddled and the meaning of Trump’s use of the word “cash” is disputed by the two sides.
“I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” Cohen said in the recording, likely a reference to American Media head David Pecker.
When financing comes up again later in the conversation, Trump interrupts Cohen asking, “What financing?” according to the recording. When Cohen tells Trump, “We’ll have to pay,” Trump is heard saying “pay with cash” but the audio is muddled and it’s unclear whether he suggests paying with cash or not paying. Cohen says, “no, no” but it is not clear what is said next.
No payment was ever made from Trump, Rudy Giuliani, the President’s attorney, has said. Giuliani has previously acknowledged that the recorded discussion related to the buying the story rights.
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