President Donald Trump is intensifying his efforts to discredit a highly anticipated report on the special counsel's Russia investigation.
In an interview with Fox Business Network to be aired Friday, Trump said: "I have a deputy, appoints a man to write a report on me, to make a determination on my presidency. People will not stand for it."
Trump's comments came as special counsel Robert Mueller is expected to soon deliver a report to the Justice Department on his investigation into Russian election meddling.
Trump complained about Mueller's appointment, calling him a "best friend" to James Comey, who succeeded Mueller as FBI director. Trump fired Comey while he was leading an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. There is no evidence the two are close friends.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed Cuba Wednesday from the State Department's short list of countries that it deems less than fully cooperative against violent groups.
In a statement, the State Department said Blinken had found that Cuban and U.S. law enforcement were again working together on counterterrorism and other efforts.
The State Department had cited Cuba as a “not fully cooperating country” in 2022, saying that Cuba had refused to engage with Colombia in the extradition of members of the National Liberation Army group.
Colombia later dropped its arrest warrants for those members, however. “Moreover, the United States and Cuba resumed law enforcement cooperation in 2023, including on counterterrorism," Wednesday's statement said.
The State Department, in compliance with U.S. laws on arms exports, maintains a list of countries perceived as not cooperating fully on counterterrorism.
The U.S. kept North Korea, Syria, Iran and Venezuela on the list in Wednesday's rulings.
Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez acknowledged the decision, but he said that Washington could do more.
“The U.S. has just admitted what is known to everyone: that #Cuba fully collaborates with the efforts against terrorism,” Rodríguez said on X, formerly Twitter.
But he added that “all political manipulation of the issue should cease and our arbitrary and unjust inclusion on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism should end.”
Associated Press writer Andrea Rodríguez reported from Havana.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister following their talks in Kyiv on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski, Pool Photo via AP)
