Trump speaks to recipients of award for fighting human trafficking — live updates

President Trump is greeting the recipients of an award for combatting human trafficking Tuesday. 

But Mr. Trump, who typically ties human trafficking to illegal immigration, has had other topics on his mind Tuesday morning, as House Democrats announced they’ll take a vote on procedures for their impeachment inquiry into the president. The White House has long said it won’t cooperate with Democrats because the impeachment inquiry is too secretive, an argument that Democrats would be addressing with the impending vote and upcoming open phase of the inquiry. 

On Capitol Hill, White House national security official Alexander Vindman is being deposed behind closed doors by the committees carrying out the inquiry. According to his prepared remarks, Vindman was troubled by Mr. Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — which he listened to from the White House Situation Room — because he did not think it was appropriate to ask Zelensky to investigate Mr. Trump’s political opponents. 

“How many more Never Trumpers will be allowed to testify about a perfectly appropriate phone call when all anyone has to do is READ THE TRANSCRIPT! I knew people were listening in on the call (why would I say something inappropriate?), which was fine with me, but why so many?” the president tweeted Tuesday morning.