Key events
South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol said a trilateral partnership with the US and Japan “is opening a new chapter, which carries great significance”.
The three countries “must tighten our solidarity” in order to face “challenges that threaten regional security”, Yoon added.
Japan’s prime minister, Kishida Fumio, in his opening remarks at the summit, said that the fact that the three leaders got together “means that we are indeed making a new history as of today”. He added:
I wish to expand and deepen our collaboration in extensive areas, including economic security, such as critical and emergent technology, cooperation, and supply chains resilience.
President Joe Biden welcomed his counterparts from Japan and South Korea to Camp David earlier today as he opened a historic trilateral summit focused on strengthening security and economic ties at a time of increasing concerns about an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-armed North Korea.
“Strengthening the ties between our democracies has long been a priority for me,” Biden said in opening remarks to Japanese prime minister Kishida Fumio and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea.
Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief we all three share.
Biden to hold joint press conference with leaders of South Korea and Japan
President Joe Biden is scheduled to hold a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japan’s prime minister, Kishida Fumio, at 3pm Eastern time.
The trilateral summit marks the first time Biden has invited foreign leaders to Camp David, and comes as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Korea’s nuclear threats and China’s provocations in the Pacific.
Kenneth Chesebro, one of the alleged legal architects of Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, was in the crowd outside the US Capitol on January 6 2021 and spent part of that day closely following the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, according to a CNN report.
Photographs and videos suggest Chesebro recording Jones with his phone as the far-right broadcast agitator ascended to the restricted area of the Capitol grounds where pro-Trump activists eventually broke in.
There is no indication Chesebro entered the Capitol building or was violent, but the photographs and videos place him outside the building at the same time as his alleged plot to keep Trump in office unraveled inside it.
Jared Holt, a disinformation and extremism expert, told CNN:
Even if Chesebro is simply a diehard Infowars fan, I think that would further illustrate how thin the line was between the serious, credentialed people who sought to undermine election results and the extremist figures who sought to unleash havoc was in that period, to the extent it meaningfully existed at all.
Matt Gaetz introduces resolution to censure judge in Trump’s January 6 case
The Republican Florida congressman Matt Gaetz introduced a resolution to censure the judge overseeing the federal trial into Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
In a statement, Gaetz accused US district judge Tanya Chutkan of “showing open bias and partisanship in her official duties on the bench”.
“It is deeply concerning that a United States District Court judge would exhibit such blatant political bias from the bench,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter.
Judge Tanya Chutkan’s extreme sentencing of January 6th defendants, while openly supporting the violent Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, showcases a complete disregard for her duty of impartiality and the rule of law.
It is deeply concerning that a United States District Court judge would exhibit such blatant political bias from the bench. Judge Tanya Chutkan’s extreme sentencing of January 6th defendants, while openly supporting the violent Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, showcases a… pic.twitter.com/JzLKrU6Ryh
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) August 18, 2023
Here’s more on the NYT report that says Donald Trump plans to skip next week’s GOP primary debate and sit for an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson instead.
Trump has told people close to him that he has made up his mind about skipping the debate, the report says, citing sources.
For weeks, the former president has been quizzing aides, associates and rally crowds about what he should do. Until earlier this week, Mr. Trump had been giving people the impression he was considering a last-minute surprise appearance on Wednesday.
Still, people close to him had said for months that he was unlikely to take part in the first two Republican debates, both of which are sponsored by the Republican National Committee. And Mr. Trump’s apparent decision to skip the first debate of the presidential nominating contest is a major affront to both the R.N.C. and Fox News, which is hosting the event.
New York Republican representative George Santos continues to defend his resume despite being charged 13 counts of frauds, money laundering and theft of public funds.
Santos, whose resume has been shown to be mostly fabricated, doubled down on his resume on Fox 5, saying:
“A lot of people have those insecurities. Actually, studies point that most people lie on their resumes …”
In response, Fox 5’s Rosanna Scotto said, “Yeah, but you lied about everything,” to which Santos said, “Not true.”
Rep. George Santos (R-NY): “A lot of people have those insecurities. Actually, studies point that most people lie on their resumes …”
Fox 5’s Rosanna Scotto: “Yeah, but you lied about everything.”
Santos: “Not true.”
Scotto: “You lied about your mom.” pic.twitter.com/GQJq3KhPic
— The Recount (@therecount) August 18, 2023
Donald Trump to skip GOP debate – reports
Donald Trump plans to skip the Republican primary debate next Wednesday for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the New York Times reports.
According to sources speaking to the Times, Trump told those close to him that he has decided to skip the first primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Earlier this week, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, “Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?”
The Times reports that the timing of the online interview with Carlson remains unclear.
Miami’s Republican mayor and GOP presidential candidate Francis Suarez has claimed that he has qualified for the GOP presidential debate set to take place next week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Associated Press reports.
In order to participate in the debates, candidates are required to meet certain fundraising and polling thresholds, including at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.
However, according to senior advisers with the Republican National Committee who spoke to the AP, Suarez, who has emerged as a fierce critic of Florida governor and opponent Ron DeSantis, has not yet officially met the criteria.
Speaking to the AP about DeSantis, Suarez said, “You’ve got to be able to create coalitions and you’ve got to bring people together. The country’s broken divided, How are you going to unify the country? And I don’t think he’s displaying those characteristics.”
The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe is at Miami’s Cafe Versailles where Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is attempting to win over Cuban-American voters.
Despite Christie being a vocal critic of Donald Trump – the GOP’s leading candidate, he told Fox News that he is “uncomfortable” with the “unnecessary” indictment delivered by Georgia’s Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis against Trump and 18 co-defendants.
“I think that this conduct is essentially covered by the federal indictment… I would have less of a problem with this if she decided, ‘OK, I’m not going to charge Donald Trump here, because he has been charged for, essentially this conduct, by Jack Smith,’” Christie told Fox.
Jeffrey Clark, a former justice department official who was charged alongside Donald Trump in a sweeping racketeering case in Georgia, asked a judge on Thursday to reject Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis’ proposed March 2024 trial date.
Clarks attorney, Harry MacDougald, called Willis’ proposed schedule “highly premature”, adding that it “could be interpreted as an attempt to stake out a place at the head of the line of prosecutors seeking the ‘prize’ of trying the former President before the 2024 presidential election.”
MacDougald wrote:
To our knowledge, not one of the 19 defendants named in the indictment has been served with any warrant, taken into custody, had a first appearance, or been arraigned, or waived arraignment.
Clark has been charged with one count of violating Georgia’s racketeering law and one count of criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings. He has denied wrongdoing.
Martin Pengelly
Seeking to resurrect his flagging US presidential campaign, Ron DeSantis suffered a major embarrassment when memos about his preparation for the first Republican debate were reported by the New York Times.
Including advice not to attack the clear frontrunner, Donald Trump, the memos to the rightwing Florida governor ahead of the debate in Milwaukee next Wednesday were posted online by a consulting firm owned by Jeff Roe, chief strategist to Never Back Down, a Super Pac backing DeSantis.
Such documents are often published quietly, the Times said, to satisfy laws against such fundraising committees co-ordinating with candidates in private. In this case, someone tipped off the paper.
“There are four basic must-dos,” one memo advised:
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Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times.
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State [DeSantis’s] positive vision 2-3 times.
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Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response.
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Defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack.
DeSantis has long held second place in polling but in recent months, even as Trump has been hit with four indictments containing 91 criminal charges, the governor has slipped further and further behind.
DeSantis’s hold on second place is now threatened by Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur. Advice lines publicised by the Times included the suggestion DeSantis should attack Ramaswamy on his past stances on abortion, immigration and Covid.
“Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy,” the memo said, advising DeSantis to coin a Trump-style nickname: “‘Fake Vivek’ Or ‘Vivek the Fake.’”
At a briefing this morning, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Ukrainian pilot training on F-16s will be followed by a transfer of jets to the country.
Sullivan’s comments came after Denmark and the Netherlands said the US had cleared the way to allow F-16 fighters to be re-exported to Ukraine after some of its pilots are trained to fly them.
What we did this week is formalised through a letter from Secretary Blinken to his counterparts in Europe, that upon the completion of that training, the United States would be prepared in consultation with Congress to approve third party transfer of F 16 aircraft to Ukraine.
For more updates from the Russia-Ukraine war, please follow our live blog.
Biden welcomes South Korean president and Japanese PM to Camp David
President Biden was photographed with South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol to his left and Fumio Kishida to his right after welcoming the two leaders to Camp David.
Justin McCurry
US officials are confident that its two main allies in the region, Japan and South Korea, share Washington’s view on most global issues, although a joint statement is expected to stop short of directly referring to China to reflect South Korean reservations about openly criticising Beijing.
“Japan and South Korea are core allies – not just in the region, but around the world,” the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said this week, adding that Biden’s summit would “mark what we believe is a new era in trilateral cooperation”.
Blinken said he expected a continued focus on North Korea “given the endless provocation it’s taken” but added that the meeting would address a “much more expansive agenda”.
China has denounced the summit, saying it “opposes relevant countries forming various cliques and their practices of exacerbating confrontation and jeopardising other countries’ strategic security.”
Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said this week:
We hope the countries concerned will go with the trend of the times and do something conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity.
