Trump: ‘Ahead of Schedule’ on China Trade Deal

McConnell Criticizes Impeachment Inquiry as ‘Kangaroo Court’ in Fundraising Pitch

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has new criticism for the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, accusing the Democrats of running a “kangaroo court.” The Democratic leadership is “conducting a kangaroo court over in the House, denying the president his due process rights that every American is entitled to,” McConnell stated in the Facebook ad. “If I have your support, I hope you’ll donate now,” he added, reported The Hill. The ads began running on Oct. 24, according to Facebook. In a caption for one ad, he wrote that “we cannot sit back and let the House Dems deny President Trump basic fairness and due process. Help me fight this kangaroo court!” McConnell hasn’t made many public statements about the impeachment inquiry. “We have not had any conversations on…

WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 28 he expected to sign a significant part of the trade deal with China ahead of schedule but did not elaborate on the timing.

“We are looking probably to be ahead of schedule to sign a very big portion of the China deal, we’ll call it Phase One but it’s a very big portion,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before leaving on a visit to Chicago.

Leaders of the world’s two biggest economies are working to agree on the text for a “Phase 1” trade agreement announced by Trump on Oct. 11. Trump has said he hopes to sign the deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month at a summit in Chile.

Trump on Monday said the signing was planned for the summit but made a reference to recent political unrest in Chile and said he believed they could work things out.

The U.S. president said the phase one portion would “take care of the farmers” and “also take care of a lot of the banking needs.”

“So we’re about I would say a little bit ahead of schedule maybe a lot ahead of schedule,” he said.

Agricultural products are a major area of discussion.

Beijing wants the United States to cancel some existing U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, according to people briefed on high-level telephone discussions on Friday, in return for pledging to step up its purchases of U.S. commodities like soybeans.

The United States wants Beijing to commit to buying these products at a specific time and price, while Chinese buyers would like the discretion to buy based on market conditions.

Beijing and Washington are trying to calm a nearly 16-month trade war. Trump agreed earlier this month to cancel an Oct. 15 increase in tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods as part of a tentative agreement on agricultural purchases, increased access to China’s financial services markets, improved protections for intellectual property rights and a currency pact.

By Alexandra Alper and Doina Chiacu

This article is from the Internet:Trump: ‘Ahead of Schedule’ on China Trade Deal

House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff Says He Wasn’t Told About al-Baghdadi Raid

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is heading the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, said he was not told about the raid that left ISIS terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead on Saturday. Schiff, who heads the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC News that he wasn’t told about the operation. Hours before, Trump said in a press conference that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other officials were not told due as it would risk potential leaks that would have imperiled the lives of American soldiers. “My understanding [Pelosi] wasn’t [told]. But a couple of things, first of all, good riddance. [Al-Baghdadi] was a blood thirsty killer to the degree that he retained operational control of ISIS,” Schiff told the broadcaster. “This is an operational success, this is a symbolic victory. He…