The Latest: Trump lashing out on Twitter against his critics
By Associated Press
Feb 20, 2018 11:51 AM CST
President Donald Trump gestures as he walks as he leaves the White House, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, in Washington, for a trip to his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)   (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

10:55 a.m.

President Donald Trump is lashing out at a woman who claims he once forcibly kissed her, saying it "Never happened!"

Trump tweeted Tuesday: "Who would do this in a public space with live security......cameras running. Another False Accusation." Trump says he doesn't know Rachel Crooks and "to the best of my knowledge, never met" her.

Crooks is among 14 women who have accused Trump of past inappropriate behavior. Trump has denied the allegations. The Washington Post featured Crooks in a story Tuesday.

Trump asks why doesn't the Post "report the story of the women taking money to make up stories about me?"

Crooks went public during the 2016 election. She said she was a 22-year-old receptionist at Trump Tower in New York in 2005 when Trump kissed her repeatedly on the cheeks and then "directly on the mouth" during an introductory conversation.

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8:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump is crediting "popular Tax Cuts which the Dems want to take away" with giving his Republican Party an edge in recent polling.

Trump tweeted Tuesday: "Republicans are now leading the Generic Poll, perhaps because of the popular Tax Cuts which the Dems want to take away. Actually, they want to raise you taxes, substantially. Also, they want to do nothing on DACA, R's want to fix!"

Generic polls ask voters which political party they plan to vote for, not which candidate.

No Democrats voted for the $1.5 trillion tax cut Trump signed into law before Christmas. Democrats say corporations — not individuals — received too many of the benefits.

Trump also criticized Democrats on immigration, saying they don't want to protect from deportation individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children and stayed illegally. Democrats say protecting "Dreamers" is a priority but won't agree to Trump's demands for a border wall.

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8:45 a.m.

President Donald Trump is encouraging Pennsylvania's political leaders to challenge a new court-imposed congressional map all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

Trump tweets Tuesday to Pennsylvania: "Your Original was correct! Don't let the Dems take elections away from you so that they can raise taxes & waste money!"

The Democratic-majority Pennsylvania Supreme Court voted 4-3 on Monday to impose a new map for the state's 18 congressional districts, effective for the May 15 primary. The new map substantially overhauls a Republican-drawn congressional map widely viewed as among the most gerrymandered in the nation, and boosts Democrats heading into November's election.

The new boundaries will usher in changes to Pennsylvania's predominantly Republican congressional delegation, which is already facing big changes with six open seats.

Legal challenges are expected.

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8:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump is again accusing his predecessor of not doing enough to prevent Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump tweets that's because President Barack Obama "thought Crooked Hillary was going to win and he didn't want to 'rock the boat.'" But Trump says when he won "the whole game changed and the Russian excuse became the narrative of the Dems."

Trump's tweet Tuesday included a quote from Obama saying in October 2016 that "there is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America's elections." Obama was addressing Trump's claims of voter fraud, not Russia's attempt to influence voters on social media.

Obama has defended his response to Russian meddling, saying he had told the Russian president to "cut it out."

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2 a.m.

President Donald Trump is offering support for taking limited steps to strengthen the federal background checks on gun purchases.

The White House says he spoke Friday to Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, about a bipartisan bill designed to strengthen the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers.

Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders qualified the support, stressing that talks continue and "revisions are being considered," but said "the president is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system."

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