Donald Trump denies major leak process at White House


The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):
6:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump denies that there's a "major leak process" at the White House following reports that White House press secretary Sean Spicer targeted leaks from his own staff. In an interview with Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends," aired Tuesday, Trump responded to a Politico report that said Spicer convened an "emergency meeting" after details of a planning meeting got out, and conducted a "phone check" to prove they hadn't been leaking information.
He says he "would have handled it differently than Sean. But Sean handles it his way and I'm OK with it."
Trump says "Sean Spicer is a fine human being," but adds, "I would have gone one-on-one with different people."
Trump also White House officials have "sort of ideas" about who may have leaked information, adding that "we have people from other campaigns, we have people from other governments."
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5:00 a.m.
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Tuesday mandating a review of an Obama-era rule aimed at protecting small streams and wetlands from development and pollution.
A senior White House official says the order will instruct the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to review a rule that redefined "waters of the United States" protected under the Clean Water Act to include smaller creeks and wetlands.
The official briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, despite the president's recent complaints about unnamed sources.
Trump had railed against the water rule during his campaign, slamming it as an example of federal overreach. Farmers and landowners have criticised the rule, saying there are already too many government regulations that affect their businesses, and Republicans have been working to thwart it since its inception.
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3:30 a.m.
With his first address to Congress, President Donald Trump has an opportunity to refocus his young administration on the economic issues that helped him get elected. His allies hope it will help him move beyond the distractions and self-inflicted wounds that he has dealt with so far.
Trump's advisers say he will use his prime-time speech Tuesday to declare early progress on his campaign promises, including withdrawing the U.S. from a sweeping Pacific Rim trade pact, and to map a path ahead on thorny legislative priorities, including health care and infrastructure spending.

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