U.S. President Donald J. Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and set in motion a plan to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a fiercely contested Holy site.
“While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise,” Trump said while standing beneath a portrait of George Washington. “They failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering.”
The announcement capped off a busy week for Trump who faced more questions about obstruction of justice charges and offered his full support for a Senate candidate accused of child molestation.
Here’s what else you missed in the world of the American president.
Dec. 7: Franken resigns amid sexual harassment allegations
Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken announced Thursday that he is resigning from Congress amid the growing number of women who have accused the Senator of sexual misconduct.
The former comedian, writer and Saturday Night Live star said that while he maintained that some of the allegations against him are not true he said they had prohibited him from carrying out his responsibilities as a Senator.
READ MORE: Al Franken to resign from Senate over sexual harassment allegations
“I know in my heart that nothing I have done as a senator — nothing — has brought dishonour on this institution,” Franken said from the Senate floor.
WATCH: Al Franken announces he is resigning from U.S. Senate
“I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party,” Franken said referring to the multiple allegations of sexual assault against Trump and Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, both of whom have denied those allegations.
READ MORE: Donald Trump’s slurred speech was due to ‘dry’ throat: White House
Also Thursday, protests continued in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank over Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. At least 31 people were wounded by Israeli gunfire and rubber bullets, according to Reuters.
Dec. 6: Trump’s ‘dangerous’ move in Israel
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In a move that leaders around the world called ‘dangerous’ and ‘irresponsible’, Trump formally announced the U.S. would officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city.
“I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” Trump said.
The move sparked protests in the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinians took to the streets. The Islamist group Hamas called for a new intifada, or uprising.
READ MORE: World leaders call Trump’s Jerusalem decision ‘dangerous’ and ‘irresponsible’
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Both Israel and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their spiritual capital, and these tensions over the area have helped fuel the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We believe it is unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region,” U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement
READ MORE: Donald Trump Jr. refuses to discuss meeting with dad during congressional panel appearance
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland called for “calm” and said Canada is a friend to both the Israeli and Palestinian people.
“Canada’s longstanding position is that the status of Jerusalem can be resolved only as part of a general settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute,” Freeland said.
WATCH: Canada will not move embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Trudeau says
READ MORE: Why it matters if the U.S. embassy in Israel is located in Jerusalem
Dec. 5: Mueller has Trump finances in the crosshairs
Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller has issued a subpoena for Trump’s bank records with Deutsche Bank, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt.
Deutsche Bank – where Trump’s real estate companies owe roughly $300 million — confirmed on Tuesday that the bank is co-operating and handing over records. The bank’s Russian offices have deep ties to the state official and have long been involved in funnelling Russian money to offshore accounts.
READ MORE: Republican Jeff Flake makes campaign donation to Roy Moore’s Democratic opponent
Mueller‘s office and the Justice Department have now spent nearly $7 million investigating Russian election interference and possible co-ordination with associates of President Donald Trump.
Also Tuesday, it was reported that while border patrol arrests sank to a 45-year low, detentions by deportation officers soared during the president’s first months in office.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 143,470 arrests, an increase of 25 per cent. After Trump took office, ICE arrests surged 40 per cent from the same period a year earlier.
“The president made it clear in his executive orders: There’s no population off the table,” Thomas Homan, ICE’s acting director, told reporters on Tuesday. “If you’re in this country illegally, we’re looking for you and we’re going to look to apprehend you.”
Dec. 4: Trump supports alleged child molester Roy Moore and McDonald’s
Trump, who was accused of sexual misconduct by at least a dozen women, gave his full support to Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama on Monday with a ringing endorsement to Moore’s campaign despite several allegations that the candidate had sexually assaulted teenage girls.
In both a phone call and message on twitter, Trump endorsed a candidate who is alleged to have molested a girl when she was 14 and he was in his 30s.
“Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!”, Trump tweeted.
READ MORE: Donald Trump backs Roy Moore despite sexual misconduct allegations, dubs him ‘fighter’ in phone call
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team has apparently already begun working on a defence for a crime Trump has yet to be charged with – obstruction of justice.
WATCH: White House says Trump supports Roy Moore because he’d support agenda
At issue is whether Trump’s admission that he fired former FBI director James Comey because of his dissatisfaction with Comey’s handling of the Russia probe and testimony from Comey that Trump pressured him to “drop” the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The question of obstruction of justice was raised again over the weekend thanks to an ill-advised tweet from Trump and an interview with John Dowd, Trump’s personal lawyer, who said a president couldn’t be guilty of obstructing justice.
READ MORE: Trump not exempt from obstruction of justice charges, despite lawyer’s claim, say experts
“If I were a lawyer, I would not take the strategy of trying to shoot down possible crimes that my client might be charged with in advance,” Thomas Dupree, former U.S. deputy assistant attorney general, told Global News.
Also Monday, excerpts from a new tell-all book by former advisers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, revealed the daily chaos that surrounded Trump’s campaign. It also revealed that the then-GOP nominee’s regular order from McDonald’s is “two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted.”
*With files from Jackson Proskow and The Associated Press
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