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Donald Trump to run for president in 2024? Can he succeed?

Donald Trump to run for president in 2024? Can he succeed?

  • Yes he will run and become the next POTUS

    Votes: 27 62.8%

  • Yes he will run and fail to become next POTUS

    Votes: 12 27.9%

  • No he will not run for presidency in 2024

    Votes: 4 9.3%
  • Total voters
    43
Former President Donald Trump's campaign team projects he could formally clinch the Republican presidential nomination by March 19, given his lead in polls in the early voting states, a senior campaign official said on Monday.

The team believes Trump is on track to win 1,478 delegates by then, based on a mix of public and internal polls, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the campaign.

That would be more than enough delegates needed to win a majority of the total of 2,429 delegates who will select a nominee at the Republican National Convention, set for July in Milwaukee.

During the last competitive Republican presidential primary, in 2016, Trump did not formally win the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination until late May.

Trump holds a commanding lead in the Republican primary ahead of the 2024 White House race. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed last week showed 61% of self-identified Republicans said they would vote for the former president in the primary.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, his closest rivals, were each backed by 11% of self-identified Republicans.

Both Haley and DeSantis have performed significantly better in some state-level polls, though neither has come close to eclipsing Trump.

Neither the DeSantis nor Haley campaigns immediately responded to a request for comment, though both have said they are in the race for the long haul and have a good shot at beating Trump as the field consolidates.

Iowa kicks off the nominating process on Jan. 15, with New Hampshire's primary eight days later. Trump's campaign team projects he will win 19 of Iowa's 40 available delegates, the official said.

Florida, the home base of both Trump and DeSantis, is among the states which have their primary election on March 19.

By the end of that day, 36 states and territories will have had their primary contest, including 16 on March 5, which is known as "Super Tuesday".

The Trump campaign official said the projection was an estimate, particularly since there has been no reliable polling yet in some of the states and territories in play.

The official added that, in a bullish scenario, the Trump campaign believes it could mathematically wrap up the nomination as early as March 12, when Republican voters in Washington state, Georgia and a slew of other states will go to the polls.



 
Colorado's Supreme Court has removed Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot, citing an insurrection clause of the US Constitution.

The court ruled 4-3 that Mr Trump is not an eligible candidate because of the 14th Amendment, in a landmark ruling that upends the White House race.

But the decision has been placed on hold pending appeal next month.

Several attempts to kick Mr Trump off the ballot in other states have failed.


BBC
 
A court has ruled that Donald Trump cannot run for president in Colorado because of his actions ahead of the January 6 riot. So what does this mean for the general election?

The ruling said Mr Trump was ineligible as a candidate in the state's Republican primary contest because part of the US Constitution disqualifies people who engage in insurrection.

Mr Trump has said he will appeal to the US Supreme Court to overturn the decision, setting up a court battle that could reshape the 2024 race.

The former president is favourite to become the Republican pick in November's election, where he is expected to face Democratic President Joe Biden.

It said it found "clear and convincing evidence that President Trump engaged in insurrection".

"A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment," it concluded.

Section 3 disqualifies from federal office people who engage in "insurrection or rebellion" against the Constitution.

It dates from the post-Civil War era and was an attempt to stop people who supported southern states leaving the Union from returning to government posts.

This is the first time Section 3 has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.

It was a split ruling, 4-3, meaning three judges on the court believe there is no legal basis to exclude Mr Trump from the ballot.

The lengthy 213-page ruling said Mr Trump's actions in the build-up to January 6 did constitute insurrection.

His lawyers had argued in Colorado that he should not be disqualified because he did not bear responsibility for the riot.

Yes. This ruling only applies to Colorado so it leaves Mr Trump still able to run in other Republican primaries, the state-by-state search by each party for a presidential nominee.

He is far ahead of his Republican rivals so can still win his party's nomination without competing in Colorado.

Joe Biden won in Colorado against Donald Trump in 2020 by a wide margin, and it is unlikely that Mr Trump will need to win the state, to win the election.

But there could be wider implications for the general election.

Dozens of other US states have similar lawsuits trying to bar Mr Trump from running, and this decision could make it more likely some of them succeed.

If he was stopped from running in a state where he and Mr Biden are neck-and-neck, that could be critical in a presidential race expected to be closely fought.

The Trump campaign has already said it will appeal to the US Supreme Court, the highest court in the US.

It will decide whether to take up the case in the new year, but it is not clear when.

As long as his team has appealed by 4 January, Mr Trump's name will remain on the ballot in Colorado, until the Supreme Court makes its ruling.

The justices will have to consider the legal arguments which will take time, but they will be under pressure to decide before the primary on 5 March.

To add to the immense scrutiny on what the Supreme Court decides, their ruling could apply nationally and have an impact on lawsuits elsewhere.

The balance of that court has shifted to more conservative in recent years, thanks in part to three justices appointed by President Trump.

There are two key legal issues to consider.

One is whether Mr Trump's actions in the build-up to the storming of the US Capitol equate to insurrection.

The other is whether the office holders that Section 3 was aimed at barring should include the president.

A lower court in Colorado already ruled that Mr Trump had engaged in insurrection but the law did not apply to the office of the presidency.

This latest ruling disagreed and top legal scholars are divided on whether this law should apply to Mr Trump.

His campaign says the ruling is another example of the justice system being used to persecute their candidate.

Spokesman Steven Cheung said voters in Colorado were being denied the right to pick the candidate they want to represent them.

Even some of Mr Trump's political opponents have described the ruling as undemocratic.

"I think he should be prevented from being the president of the United States by the voters of this country," said Republican Chris Christie, a fierce critic who is running against him.

Mr Trump has faced a litany of legal challenges since leaving office in 2021, including several criminal indictments.

They have done nothing to diminish his popularity, and in fact seem to have energised his supporters and tightened his grip on the Republican race.

Source: BBC

www.bbc.co.uk

Can Donald Trump still run for president after Colorado ruling?

The surprise decision could have far-reaching consequences for the 2024 elections.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Trump transformed the Supreme Court. Now the justices could decide his political and legal future

Trump transformed the Supreme Court. Now the justices could decide his political and legal future. Former President Donald Trump’s bid to win back the White House is now endangered by an insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution. Trump’s team is making moves to appeal the Colorado decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump touts his transformation of the U.S. Supreme Court as one of his presidency’s greatest accomplishments. Now his legal and political future may lie in the hands of the court he pushed to the right.

With three Trump-appointed justices leading a conservative majority, the court is being thrust into the middle of two cases carrying enormous political implications just weeks before the first votes in the Iowa caucuses. The outcomes of the legal fights could dictate whether the Republican presidential primary front-runner stands trial over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and whether he has a shot to retake to the White House next November.

“The Supreme Court now is really in a sticky wicket, of historical proportions, of constitutional dimensions, to a degree that I don’t think we’ve ever really seen before,” said Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Trump’s lawyers plan to ask the Supreme Court to overturn a decision Tuesday barring him from Colorado’s ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it from holding office. The Colorado Supreme Court ruling is the first time in history the provision has been used to try to prohibit someone from running for the presidency.

It would be like kicking the hornet’s nest for the court to get into the merits of this,” Gerhardt said. “It’s a political hot potato. And the court generally tries to avoid taking on sort of hot-button issues that are political by nature ... And the easier route for the court is to just say ‘somebody else has got the responsibility, not us.’”

But the Supreme Court may feel compelled to answer the issues at the heart of the case now.

“There’ll be a lot of political instability if we go through a whole election season not knowing if one of two major candidates is disqualified from serving,” Hasen said. “It’s hard to fathom the kind of world we’re living in, where not only a serious candidate, but a leading candidate, of one of the political parties is in so much legal jeopardy.”

Source : AP News
 
Biden: Trump’s an insurrectionist but courts can decide his ballot fate

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday there was no question that former President Donald Trump was responsible for leading an insurrection. But he declined to weigh in on the legal argument unleashed by the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that barred Trump from the state’s ballot, pointedly leaving those matters to the judiciary.

“It’s self-evident. You saw it all. Now whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision,” the president said during a trip to Wisconsin. “But he certainly supported an insurrection. No question about it. None. Zero.”

Biden’s comments came hours after the state Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday evening that Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection violated the 14th Amendment and invalidated him from holding elected office. They underscored the delicate balance that Democrats have tried to achieve in the wake of the ruling.

For many in the party, there was little upside seen in commenting on a legal matter that was certain to be considered by the Supreme Court — and likely to be struck down by the justices there. Their subdued reaction was driven, in part, by concerns that outward celebration would play into Trump’s hands, inflaming his supporters and giving fodder for him to argue that the judicial system was stacked against him.

Politicians sound off on Colorado barring Trump from ballot
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“It just kind of adds to the pile of wood that he puts on the fire,” said a senior Democratic strategist, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity. “And I just don’t think it’s helpful.”

But it was also sparked by fears that cheering on the decision would make people dismiss the severity of the ruling and risk positioning Biden as hoping the court system was doing his political work for him.

“I would not engage in a discussion about this,” said David Axelrod, the longtime party operative. “I would be preparing to face Trump. The way they’re handling it is the right way. You don’t want to tell the American people — I don’t trust you to make the decision.”

Few Democrats on Wednesday challenged the merits of the Colorado court’s decision. In fact, several Biden allies said they believed that the 4-3 ruling, issued by all Democratic-appointed justices, had been correct.

“I think it’s on point. I think they’re right in what they’re doing,” said former Sen. Ted Kaufman, who served as Biden’s former chief of staff. “That’s what the Constitution says. It says it’s an insurrection, clearly what they did was an insurrection. It’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it?”

Party officials also dismissed the idea that the court had started the country down a slippery slope, inviting a conservative state judicial body to respond by throwing Democrats off their ballot, however specious the reasoning was.

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“If you’re worrying about that, you’re buying into a Republican premise, which is that courts are hopelessly politicized,” said Pat Dennis, president of the Democratic super PAC, American Bridge 21st Century. “And I think that is like a fundamental premise that they need in order to delegitimize a legitimate prosecution of the former president. I don’t buy that premise.”

Republicans, meanwhile, were quick to denounce Tuesday night’s ruling, saying that the findings by the four justices amounted to political interference in the election. They argued that they had far exceeded their authority and warned that Trump would only benefit from the decision.

Trump’s rivals in the primary defended him as well, stressing that they preferred to defeat him at the ballot box — a line later mirrored by the Biden campaign.

“We’re not going to comment on ongoing litigation,” said Biden campaign deputy communications director, Brooke Goren. “What I will say is that the president looks forward to defeating Donald Trump or whoever else emerges from the Republican primary on the ballot box in November in 2024. So I’ll leave it at that.”

Those who did openly celebrate were the longtime conservative lawyers who had helped spearhead the case as well as a portion of the legal and political left that had joined their efforts.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) argued that even were the Supreme Court to reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision, it have some residual benefit — reinforcing public perception that the high court is beholden to the former president.

“It’s going to feed into how partisan and beholden the U.S. Supreme Court is to Donald Trump,” Lieu said. “It feeds into the whole Roe v Wade decision, and how he appointed ultra religious justices to overturn Roe versus Wade. And do you really want Trump, again, who is going to appoint even more.”

Ian Bassin, executive director of the group Protect Democracy noted that, at a minimum, the decision meant that heading into the election, a state Supreme Court “has found that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection.” He also noted “an almost Shakespearean irony” produced by the decision.

“Trump’s MO has always been to accuse others of the transgressions of which he himself is guilty, largely to obfuscate his own guilt,” said Bassin. “So it’s fitting that after rising to political power by falsely accusing Barack Obama of not being eligible to be president, it’s Trump who it turns out has now been found by a court to be the actually ineligible one.”

Republicans, meanwhile, were quick to denounce Tuesday night’s ruling, saying that the findings by the four justices amounted to political interference in the election. They argued that they had far exceeded their authority and warned that Trump would only benefit from the decision.

Trump’s rivals in the primary defended him as well, stressing that they preferred to defeat him at the ballot box — a line later mirrored by the Biden campaign.

Source : POLITICO
 
Biden is already scared that he might lose Muslim votes to Trump in key states like Michigan, that's why Kamala Harris was coming out with Islamaphobia awareness campaigns.
 
daytrader said:
Rudy Giuliani must pay $148 million to 2 Georgia election workers he defamed, jury decides

Washington — A federal jury on Friday ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to pay a total of $148 million to two former Georgia election workers who were at the center of baseless claims he spread in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, a stunning award worth nearly $100 million more than the women had sought.

The jury of eight Washington, D.C., residents deliberated for roughly 10 hours across Thursday and Friday before reaching a decision. Jurors heard four days of emotional testimony in the civil trial against Giuliani, who served as former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer toward the end of his presidency.

The case was brought by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, her daughter, who sued Giuliani for falsely claiming they engaged in a fake ballot processing scheme while they served as election workers for Fulton County in the last presidential election.

A federal judge in Washington determined earlier this year that Giuliani was liable for defaming Freeman and Moss, and the jury was tasked with determining how much in compensatory and punitive damages to award the mother-and-daughter pair. Freeman sought compensatory damages of $23.9 million for defamation, while Moss was asking for $24.7 million.

The jury awarded the following:
​
  • $16,171,000 to Freeman in compensatory damages for defamation;​
  • $16,998,000 for Moss in compensatory damages for defamation;​
  • $20 million each, or $40 million total, in compensatory damages for emotional distress;​
  • $75 million in punitive damages for both​

Giuliani remained defiant after the verdict was read in court. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, he said the threats the women received in the wake of the election were "abominable" and "deplorable" but continued to stand by his baseless claims of voter fraud and vowed to appeal the ruling.

"The absurdity of the number merely underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding," Giuliani said. "I'm quite confident that when this case gets before a fair tribunal, it will be reversed so quickly it'll make your head spin, and the absurd number that just came in will help that."

Giuliani's net worth and assets have fluctuated over the years, but they were currently believed to be less than the $48.6 million the women were seeking, based on a comment from his attorney earlier in the week. Joe Sibley told the jury that an award of that amount would be the "civil equivalent of the death penalty" for his client.

...
www.cbsnews.com

Rudy Giuliani must pay $148 million to 2 Georgia election workers he defamed, jury decides

A federal jury on Friday ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay a total of $148 million to two former Georgia election workers who were at the center of baseless claims he spread after the 2020 election.
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Click to expand...

Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy after $148m defamation verdict

Rudy Giuliani, a longtime associate of former President Donald Trump, has filed for bankruptcy just days after he was ordered to pay $148m (£116m) in a defamation case.

He was ordered to pay the sum after a judge found he defamed two Georgia election workers over false claims they tampered with votes in 2020.

The filing shows he owes millions of dollars in legal fees and unpaid taxes.

A spokesman said the move should "be a surprise to no-one".

In a statement, the spokesman for Mr Giuliani, Ted Goodman, said "no person could have reasonably believed that [Mr Giuliani] would be able to pay such a high punitive amount".

He added that Thursday's bankruptcy filing in New York would give Mr Giuliani the "opportunity and time to pursue an appeal, while providing transparency for his finances under the supervision of the bankruptcy court".

Mr Giuliani, 79, said earlier this year that he was having financial difficulties because of his increasing legal fees and expenses.

Last week, an eight-person jury ordered him to pay $20m to Georgia poll workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea "Shaye" Moss.

The pair said Mr Giuliani's false claim that they tampered with votes had a traumatising impact on their lives. Ms Freeman said she would "always have to be careful" because of lingering fears she might be recognised publicly.

Ms Freeman and Ms Moss were also awarded more than $16m each for emotional distress. Another payment of $75m in punitive damages was ordered to be split between them.

Addressing reporters outside the court after he was ordered to pay the sum, Mr Giuliani said: "I don't regret a damn thing."

On Wednesday, a judge ordered him to start paying the two women immediately and expressed concern he might not comply with the judgement.

It is unclear how the bankruptcy declaration will impact on the payments, but US bankruptcy law does not allow the dissolution of debts stemming from "wilful and malicious injury" inflicted on another party.

The bankruptcy filing lists nearly 20 creditors, including Ms Freeman, Ms Moss and Hunter Biden who sued him in September.

Other creditors include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which he owes more than $700,000 in income tax, and two voting software companies that sued him over his false claims of election fraud.

A law firm that previously represented Mr Giuliani, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, is also included. The firm sued Mr Giuliani for $1.4m in unpaid legal fees in September.

Mr Giuliani still faces an indictment in Georgia on racketeering and conspiracy charges as well as a $10m lawsuit by a former business associate over sexual harassment claims.

www.bbc.com

Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy after $148m defamation verdict

The filing comes days after the longtime Trump associate was ordered to pay the sum in a defamation case.
www.bbc.com
 
Trump is going to EASILY win the presidency if Joe Biden is the Democratic candidate.
Biden needs to step down and allow Gavin Newsom to run
But to be honest, a part of me wants Trump to win because of the comedy it brings.
 
Nikki Haley surges in poll to within four points of Republican leader Trump

Haley’s strong showing in the American Research Group Inc survey came a day after a poll from the Saint Anselm College New Hampshire Institute of Politics found she had doubled her support in the state since September, seemingly cementing her as a clear alternate choice to Trump for conservative voters. The Saint Anselm survey’s findings were more favorable to Trump, however, showing him with a 44% to 30% lead over Haley.

But while Haley still has ground to gain to take the lead in the state, Trump coming in at less than 50% support “shows he has serious competition in the party”, the University of New Hampshire survey center director, Andrew Smith, has previously told USA Today.

Haley’s strong poll showings appear to have drawn a mixed reaction from Trump, who is separately contending with more than 90 criminal charges as he seeks a second presidency.

On one hand, he went on his Truth Social site on Friday and insulted Haley with his preferred nickname for her, writing: “Fake New Hampshire poll was released on Birdbrain. Just another scam!” He additionally spoke with rightwing radio show host Hugh Hewitt on Friday and dismissed the polls showing Haley performing well against him as “fake” and insisted he was untroubled by her as a potential primary contender.

Yet citing two sources familiar with the conversations, CBS News reported on Friday that Trump had also simultaneously been asking his team about tapping Haley to serve as a vice-presidential candidate if he eventually wins the Republican primary to be the 2024 Oval Office nominee, which if accurate would be a sign that he covets capitalizing on her support. CBS said its sources had indicated the far-right reaction to a Trump-Haley ticket has been negative, however.

Haley for now has been touting her recent polling performances.

“Donald Trump has started to attack me,” Haley said at a campaign town hall on Wednesday in Iowa, where the caucuses that customarily kick off presidential election years are scheduled for 15 January. “He said, ‘I don’t know what this Nikki Haley surge is all about.’ Do you want me to tell you what it’s about? … We’re surging.”

Source : The Guardian
 
Trump: ‘May they rot in Hell. Merry Christmas’

Former President Trump in an unusual Christmas message on Truth Social called for various people he sees as “looking to destroy” the nation to “rot in Hell.”

It was one of several Christmas messages on the former president’s preferred social media platform going after President Biden, special counsel Jack Smith and other political opponents throughout Monday.

The opponents included world leaders and people in favor of the use of electric cars.

“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith,” Trump began in a Truth Social post at 2:38 p.m. EST.

Trump frequently describes Smith, who is prosecuting the former president over his actions connected to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as deranged. The Supreme Court just Friday said it would not immediately consider a request by Smith to make a determination on Trump’s insistence he is immune from prosecution because he was taking presidential actions at the time.

“Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and ‘sick’ as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!” the former president concluded.

Trump remains the favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination. He has a 54 percent lead in the aggregation of polls kept by Decision Desk HQ and The Hill.

Source : Yahoo news
 
Trump shares poll showing voters associate potential second term with '

Trump shares poll showing voters associate potential second term with "revenge\
Former U.S. President and Presidential Republican candidate Donald Trump arrives to speak to his supporters during the Florida Freedom Summit held at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida, U.S., November 4, 2023. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Donald Trump posted a poll on Truth Social on Tuesday, highlighting that the word voters most associate with a potential second term under his command is "revenge."

With campaigning ramping up ahead of the first Republican nomination contest, the post followed a separate Truth Social message on Christmas Day, in which the former president called on his political opponents to "rot in hell."

The fact Trump re-posted the poll, presented in the form of a word cloud with "revenge" placed centrally in bright red capital letters, suggests his self-described "retribution" agenda is very much on his mind as the United States heads into an election year.

The poll was conducted by British pollster J.L. Partners.

Trump and many of his allies have been pledging to investigate, incarcerate and otherwise take revenge on his political opponents if he wins the 2024 presidential election in a likely re-match against Democratic President Joe Biden.

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Facing dozens of federal charges, many related to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, Trump claims he is himself the victim of a revenge campaign orchestrated by Biden and his Justice Department.

Trump, 77, the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, denies any wrongdoing.

Earlier in December, former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Kash Patel, both of whom are still close to the former president, said on a podcast that Trump was "dead serious" about exacting revenge against perceived enemies.

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Trump himself has repeatedly promised retribution against his political opponents during a potential second term, suggesting he would direct federal law enforcement agencies to investigate foes.

Source : Reuters
 
Trump election: Michigan supreme court rejects ballot disqualification bid

Michigan's Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by voters in the US state to disqualify Donald Trump from next year's presidential primary.

They sought to invoke a clause in the US Constitution, barring anyone who has engaged in insurrection, over Mr Trump's role in the 2021 Capitol riots.

The decision comes days after Colorado became the first state to rule that Mr Trump was not an eligible candidate.

Michigan is considered a battleground state in the 2024 general election.

Traditionally voting Democrat, Michigan narrowly supported Mr Trump, a Republican, in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. But the state reverted to the Democrats when Joe Biden carried it by a margin of nearly 3% in 2020.

Unlike in Colorado, the Michigan bid failed early on in the process, and the appeal to the state's supreme court was seen as having little chance of success.

Mr Trump praised the decision on Truth Social on Wednesday, calling it a "pathetic gambit to rig the Election".

Pro-democracy advocacy group Free Speech for People filed the lawsuit in September, and the group said in a statement that the ruling was a narrow and technical one that applied only to the state's Republican primary.

"However, the Michigan Supreme Court did not rule out that the question of Donald Trump's disqualification for engaging in insurrection against the US Constitution may be resolved at a later stage," said Ron Fein, Free Speech For People's legal director.

Lower courts in Michigan rejected the case on procedural grounds and did not examine the question of whether the Capitol riot 6 January 2021 qualified as an insurrection under the law and whether Mr Trump played a part in it.

Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Welch explained that Michigan's laws were different from Colorado's.

The appellants "have identified no analogous provision in the Michigan Election Law that requires someone seeking the office of President of the United States to attest to their legal qualification to hold the office", she wrote.

Colorado's 4-3 supreme court decision last week, which refers only to the state's Republican primary on 5 March, does not stop Mr Trump from running in other states.

In the Colorado case, a lower court judge ruled that Mr Trump fell afoul of Section 3 of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment which bars officials "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding federal office.

It was the first instance of the Constitution being used to disqualify a presidential candidate. The amendment was ratified after the American Civil War to block Confederate secessionists from returning to power after southern states re-joined the Union.

But legal experts say the ruling will have a tough time standing up when, as expected, it reaches the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court. The Colorado decision has been put on hold pending an appeal deadline in January.

Similar attempts to kick Mr Trump off the ballot in New Hampshire and Minnesota have failed.

Also on Wednesday, Mr Trump's lawyers urged Maine's secretary of state to recuse herself from a 14th Amendment bid to kick Mr Trump off the ballot in that state. In Maine, ballot challenges are heard by the secretary of state at first instance, not the courts.

Mr Trump's campaign have claimed that Shenna Bellows, a progressive Democrat, is biased against him. Citing tweets she sent in the aftermath of the 2021 Capitol riot, they claimed she "has already passed judgment on the Challengers' core assertions".

Ms Bellows is expected to issue her ruling in the coming days.



www.bbc.com

Trump election: Michigan supreme court rejects ballot disqualification bid

The former US president can stand in next year's presidential primary in the battleground state.
www.bbc.com
 
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Hyatt Hotel in Coralville, Iowa, on December 13.
CNN
—
When news broke that a top aide to Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was joining former President Donald Trump’s campaign last month, Trump advisers were livid, believing the aide was promoting himself, without permission of the campaign’s top brass.

Senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita called the newest team member, Brian Swenson, and “ripped into him,” according to two sources familiar with the conversation. The message was clear: If you want to keep your job, stop running your mouth, the source said. Swenson did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

The episode was indicative of how Trump’s 2024 team has sought to focus the messaging and the media that surrounds the chaotic world of the front-runner for the GOP nomination. His team is viewed by both outside political operatives and current and former Trump officials as his most disciplined to date. Led by seasoned Republican strategists LaCivita and Susie Wiles, the team has sought to prevent the kinds of internal leaks that were ever-present during 2016 and throughout Trump’s presidency from damaging the former president as he seeks to regain the White House.

“They know they aren’t able to control him, he will always say and do what he wants,” one source familiar with the team’s dynamic told CNN, noting that Trump is known to ignore prepared remarks and solicit outside advice from a wide net of allies, often without the knowledge of his closest advisers. “But they can try to control everyone around him.”

The advisers who have spent the last year working to streamline his campaign’s messaging, however, have recently found themselves fighting an uphill battle. They’re attempting to navigate the wide span of Trump allies all itching to be a part of the action and leverage their ties to the former president in hopes of bolstering their influence in the months before the 2024 election.

As Trump’s primary lead has grown, so has the interest in what a second Trump administration would look like – in both policy and personnel. A slew of recent media reports have speculated on potential vice presidential picks and Cabinet members, citing anonymous sources.

“Nobody came out of the woodwork to say they wanted to be a Cabinet secretary 12 months ago when things were really dire and no one wanted to be associated with us,” a senior Trump campaign adviser told CNN, adding that the recent shift in the narrative around the former president has brought with it a surge in outside parties interested in joining a potential administration.

Trump’s senior advisers were recently surprised and annoyed when they learned Kash Patel, a former Trump administration official, was telling Trump allies he was part of the vetting effort for a potential vice presidential pick, according to three senior advisers who adamantly denied his involvement.

Patel, a Trump loyalist who climbed the ranks while Trump was in office, continues to hold sway with the former president and is widely viewed as someone who would likely serve in a national security capacity in a second administration.

“I am not nor have I ever been involved with any vetting process. President Trump and the campaign are solely in charge,” Patel said in a statement to CNN.

The frustration runs deep in the campaign.

“When you’re trying to be disciplined and run a sophisticated campaign, it gets annoying when people who aren’t working on the campaign are creating headaches for the team,” a person close to Trump said. “They’re pissed people are running to reporters saying they’re in line for jobs that the Trump team hasn’t even discussed.”

However, some of those headaches come from Trump himself.

Source : CNN
 
If he does become the President again, it’ll be interesting to see how it’ll affect the relationship between the US and Pakistan.

Trump seemed to have had a good relationship with Imran Khan, will he show his support for Khan?
 
Donald Trump blocked from Maine presidential ballot in 2024

Maine's top election official has ruled that Donald Trump cannot run for president next year in the state, citing a constitutional insurrection clause.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Mr Trump was not eligible because of his actions leading up to the US Capitol riot in 2021.

Maine now joins Colorado as the two states to ban Mr Trump from the ballot.

The decisions increase pressure on the US Supreme Court to weigh in.

Colorado votes reliably Democratic, however Maine is more politically competitive and would be more significant for Mr Trump - the Republican frontrunner - to lose.

The Trump campaign has already said it will lodge an appeal in the state's courts against the Maine ruling, which won't take effect while the legal process plays out.

Hours after Maine's decision, California - America's most populous state- announced that Mr Trump would remain on the Republican primary ballot there.

Courts in other states, including Michigan and Minnesota, have also recently dismissed efforts to block Mr Trump from running as a candidate.

It is likely that the Supreme Court will make the ultimate decision as to whether Mr Trump can run for president or whether he is ineligible because of a Civil War-era amendment to the US Constitution.

Mrs Bellows' 34-page ruling says Mr Trump must be removed from Maine's Republican primary ballot because of the 14th Amendment- which bans anyone whom has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding federal office.

In her order, Mrs Bellows, a Democrat, says that Mr Trump "over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol".

She added that his "occasional requests that rioters be peaceful and support law enforcement do not immunize his actions".

Speaking to BBC News after her ruling, Mrs Bellows said it was her duty to uphold election laws in her state, and that she hoped the "Supreme Court will settle this matter nationwide".

"I'm mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on section three of the 14th Amendment. But I'm also mindful that no presidential candidate has, ever before, engaged in insurrection."

She denied her decision was politically motivated, saying it was "thorough and based on the rule of law".

Mr Trump faces upcoming trials in federal court and in the state of Georgia related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has not been charged with inciting insurrection in either case.

His campaign swiftly criticised Mrs Bellows' decision, having previously called for her to recuse herself from the process.

Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called Mrs Bellows "a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat" and claimed she was engaging in "election interference".

He added that the campaign would "quickly file a legal objection in state court to prevent this atrocious decision in Maine from taking effect".

Mr Trump's Republican rivals for the presidency also criticised Maine's decision.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis said Maine's ruling "opens up Pandora's Box", suggesting Republican secretaries of state could try to disqualify President Joe Biden over the issue of migrants at the southern border.

"I don't think that this ultimately will be legally sustained by the US Supreme Court. But I do think that this is going to be a constant throughout the election year, where there's going to be different parts of these legal cases that are going to be front and centre," he told Fox News.

Vivek Ramaswamy said "this is what an actual threat to democracy looks like".

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he restated that he would "withdraw from any state's ballot that ultimately removes Trump from its ballot".

Mr Trump's 2024 presidential candidacy has been challenged in multiple states, on the grounds that the 14th Amendment bans him from holding office.

The 14th amendment was ratified after the American Civil War in order to block Confederate secessionists from returning to power after southern states re-joined the Union.

Colorado's ban was the first instance of the Constitution being used to disqualify a presidential candidate but legal experts say the Colorado ruling will have a tough time standing up when it reaches the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court.

Source : BBC
 
Special counsel urges appeals court to reject Trump immunity defense

Special counsel Jack Smith urged an appeals court on Saturday to reject former President Donald Trump's efforts to dismiss his federal election interference case on presidential immunity grounds.

In a more-than-80-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Smith argued against Trump's insistence that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution on federal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"Separation-of-powers principles, constitutional text, history, and precedent all make clear that a former President may be prosecuted for criminal acts he committed while in office — including, most critically here, illegal acts to remain in power despite losing an election," prosecutors wrote.

"Rather than vindicating our constitutional framework, the defendant's sweeping immunity claim threatens to license Presidents to commit crimes to remain in office," they added. "The Founders did not intend and would never have countenanced such a result."

Smith filed his opposition in response to a brief to the D.C. Circuit from Trump's lawyers Dec. 23 that said the Constitution and other immunity doctrines protected against the criminal prosecution of a current or former president for official acts "unless he is first impeached and convicted by the Senate."

“Nor may a President face criminal prosecution based on conduct for which he was acquitted by the U.S. Senate,” Trump attorney D. John Sauer wrote in last week's filing. “The indictment against President Trump is unlawful and unconstitutional. It must be dismissed.”

Source : NBC
 
Trump rails against Liz Cheney, Jack Smith in post on immunity claim

Former President Trump took to social media Monday to rail against former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and special counsel Jack Smith in a Truth Social post regarding an immunity claim.

Trump did not fully address a specific claim, but instead said in the post that Cheney “suffers from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome), and was defeated for Congress by the largest margin for a sitting Congressman or Congresswoman in the history of our Country…”

The former president also hit back at Smith in the social media post, after the special council rebuffed his previous claim that he should have received immunity in the federal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“The ridiculous Deranged Jack Smith case on Immunity, which the most respected legal minds in the Country say I am fully entitled to, is now completely compromised and should be thrown out and terminated, JUST LIKE THE RADICAL LEFT LUNATICS DID TO THE EVIDENCE.”

The commentary comes after Trump went after Smith in a previous Truth Social post, in which he claimed he was “fully entitled” to presidential immunity.

Source : The Hill
 

Trump defense strategy in January 6 case may go beyond trying to delay trial, court filings reveal​


Much of Donald Trump’s legal strategy in his federal 2020 election interference case has, so far, centered around trying to delay the start of his March trial until after the November presidential election.

But in recent court filings, and according to sources familiar with the Trump team’s approach, other defense strategies have emerged – namely of absolving Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, of responsibility for the US Capitol attack and positioning him as a victim of disinformation and overzealous government investigators.

Two under-the-radar court filings from Trump’s team in late November offered the clearest glimpse yet into what the former president’s lawyers may try to argue before a jury in the historic case. The filings say that his lawyers hope during the trial to point to people in the federal government he suspects are biased toward him, to foreign influence, and to election disinformation that led him to believe the 2020 contest was stolen.

The foreign interference defense
Trump’s team has already asked a judge to allow him access to more government documents, including classified information from his administration, that he believes would back up his argument that the election result couldn’t be trusted.

Prosecutors “cannot blame President Trump for public discord and distrust of the 2020 election results while refusing to turn over evidence that foreign actors stoked the very same flames,” his lawyers wrote in court in late November.

“Evidence of covert foreign disinformation campaigns relating to the 2020 election supports the defense argument that President Trump and others acted in good faith even if certain reports were ultimately determined to be inaccurate.”

One of the foreign actions they’ve pointed to came from Russia’s foreign intelligence service and a hack of the SolarWinds software that compromised data at several federal agencies in December 2020. Trump’s legal team wrote that attack meant “there were reasonable concerns about the integrity of the election and the possibility of technical penetrations of election infrastructure.”

There is no evidence the SolarWinds hack is connected to election systems and officials have repeatedly found no evidence of widespread election fraud.

Trump’s recent court filings also seek access to intelligence about Iran and China attempting to interfere in US politics. The Justice Department has argued that allowing evidence into the case regarding possible false claims by foreign actors could confuse a jury and is not relevant to Trump’s state of mind when he pushed false claims of election fraud publicly.

Source : CNN
 
Trump asks Supreme Court to overturn Colorado ban

Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to reverse an unprecedented Colorado ruling that barred him from running for president in that state.

Colorado's top court said last month Mr Trump was not an eligible primary candidate because he had engaged in insurrection over the US Capitol riot.

His appeal comes a day after he challenged a similar decision in Maine.

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed in multiple states seeking to disqualify Mr Trump from the November 2024 ballot.

Courts in Minnesota and Michigan have dismissed attempts to disqualify the former US president and Republican front-runner, while other cases. including in Oregon, are still pending.

Mr Trump's appeal to the nation's highest court over the Colorado decision means that the nine Supreme Court justices could end up making a hugely consequential judgment on his eligibility to run for federal office.

The Republican primaries in Colorado and Maine are scheduled for 5 March - so-called Super Tuesday, when many states hold their votes to choose party contenders. But postal ballots need to be sent out weeks beforehand, meaning the Supreme Court is under growing pressure to act.

A US Supreme Court ruling on the issue of Mr Trump's eligibility, based on whether a Civil War constitutional amendment disqualifies him, would be binding nationwide.

The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution bans anyone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding federal office, but the former president's lawyers argue that the 14th amendment does not apply to the president.

In a statement, the Trump campaign accused the Colorado Supreme Court and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, of "doing all they can to disenfranchise all American voters by attempting to remove President Trump".

"This is an un-American, unconstitutional act of election interference which cannot stand," campaign spokesman Steven Cheung added.

The Colorado Supreme Court decision was narrow, with four judges in favour and three against. All seven justices were appointed by Democratic governors.

Mr Trump's appeal to the Supreme Court was widely expected. The decisions to strike him from the ballot in Colorado and Maine are on hold until the legal challenges can be resolved.

The top court has a conservative majority - with three justices appointed by Donald Trump when he was president.

But speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Trump attorney Alina Habba said the former president was concerned the conservative-leaning Supreme Court could rule against him in order to "shy away from being pro-Trump".

"That's a concern he's voiced to me, he's voiced to everybody publicly, not privately," she said. "And I can tell you that his concern is a valid one."

The Colorado case marks the first time in US history that the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate from the ballot.

Source : BBC
 

Why Trump can't use the 'idiot' defense other Jan. 6 defendants often lean on​

For the past three years, defense lawyers seeking leniency for Jan. 6 rioters have often struck a similar theme in trying to explain to federal judges and Washington juries how their clients fell for thoroughly debunked lies about the 2020 presidential election.

They argued that their clients weren’t very smart or that they had conditions that made them vulnerable to disinformation.

In court filings and sentencing memos, lawyers defending Jan. 6 rioters have argued that their clients were duped and manipulated, that they were poorly educated, had low IQs and lacked critical thinking skills. They wanted former President Donald Trump’s “respect” and “approval” and thought they were “following presidential orders,” lawyers argued. Some Jan. 6 defendants have even called themselves idiots, lamenting that they were credulous enough to have fallen for what they now see as obvious lies.

The strategy appears to have had an impact in some cases, with judges agreeing to more lenient sentences, particularly in cases in which defendants appear genuinely remorseful for their conduct and regret that they were so gullible.

But it’s hard to see the same approach working for Trump, who famously called himself a “very stable genius,” as his own Jan. 6 trial nears.

Source : NBC News
 

The Iowa Caucuses and 2024​

With a little over a week left in the much-awaited, GOP Iowa Caucuses, there’s little time for the candidates to appeal to the voters of the state-and make a case to be the next President of the United States.

The remaining candidates in the race-Trump, DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, Christie, and Hutchison, have a turbulence of polling in the state, and nationally. The Iowa Caucuses are essentially, a ‘first in the nation’ polling method practiced every election year, where caucus-goers gather in precincts (schools, churches etc.) to ‘discuss and agree upon a candidate. Unlike primary voting and presidential elections, caucuses are reliant upon a crowd of voters to gather, and openly sit in arrays, according to their preferred candidate. And since Iowans are the first to have their pick in party nominations, it is said that Iowa holds the power to pre-determine presidential elections, early-on, in January of election cycles.

In the last Iowa caucuses, the Democrats caucused and waited for hours-if not days-on end for the final result. It was a huge disaster, and many candidates cited the mishandling of results and voters, as a criticism point. There was also a massive disconnect of paper trails, which took extensive hours of screening by the Democratic Party to come to a final result. It’s worth noting that Mayor Pete Butiigeg won that caucus, and did not go on to win the nomination. Regardless, it gave him much momentum, heading into New Hampshire and South Carolina. And typically, those with less delegates in Iowa, tend to drop out of the race shortly after.

Source : Daily Times
 

Liz Cheney on whether Supreme Court will rule to disqualify Trump: "We have to be prepared" to defeat him at ballot box​

Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming said Sunday that she believes former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from the ballot, saying his behavior related to the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol "certainly" falls under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.

"If you look at the select committee's work, we made a criminal referral with respect to the part of the 14th Amendment that talks about providing aid and comfort to an insurrection," Cheney, who served on the congressional Jan. 6 select committee, told "Face the Nation." "I certainly believe that Donald Trump's behavior rose to that level. I believe that he ought to be disqualified from holding office in the future."

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a high-stakes decision from Colorado's top court that barred Trump from the state's primary ballot, citing the Constitution's insurrection clause. The clause bars a person who has sworn an oath to the Constitution and engages in insurrection from holding public office.

The Colorado Supreme Court, in a divided ruling, said Trump is disqualified from serving as president because of his actions related to the Capitol riot and thus cannot appear on the state's primary ballot. Trump appealed the decisio
"We'll see what happens in the courts," Cheney said when asked whether she thinks the Supreme Court will ultimately disqualify Trump. "In the meantime, and in any case, we have to be prepared to ensure that we can defeat him at the ballot box, which ultimately I believe we'll be able to do."

Another case that could also land at the Supreme Court is whether Trump has presidential immunity to charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has been charged with four federal counts related to the alleged attempt to overturn the results of the election and has pleaded not guilty. He argues the indictment should be thrown out because it arose from actions he took while in the White House.

A federal appeals court is weighing whether to uphold a district court's ruling that Trump is not shielded from federal prosecution for alleged crimes committed while in office.

Source: CBS News
 
Donald Trump has asked a Georgia judge to throw out the election fraud case against him, arguing that he is protected by presidential immunity.

Mr Trump is among 19 people charged with a conspiracy to overturn the state's 2020 election results. But his lawyers said "no President ever faced criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office". If the judge accepts the claim, it would mark a massive expansion of the president's powers of immunity.

"From 1789 to 2023, no President ever faced criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office," Mr Trump's lawyers wrote in the Monday filing. "That unbroken historic tradition of presidential immunity is rooted in the separation of powers and the text of the Constitution." On Tuesday, a federal appeals court hearing in DC will hear arguments over the same presidential immunity claims as Mr Trump tries to throw out a separate election interference case brought forward by special counsel Jack Smith.

Mr Trump is expected to attend the hearing before the three-judge panel.
The former president has for years cited presidential immunity in his efforts to thwart civil and criminal cases brought against him. But this defence was already "convincingly and comprehensively" rejected by US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in December, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told the BBC.

Ms Chutkan wrote that the presidency does not "confer a lifelong 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass" on past holders of the office.
Mr Trump's lawyers also argued the Georgia criminal case should be tossed out on grounds of double jeopardy - that he was already tried and acquitted on similar charges in the US Senate following the Capitol riot in 2021. Finally, in a separate motion, Mr Trump's lawyers argued that the case violates his due process and First Amendment rights.

"President Trump did not have fair warning that his alleged conduct, pure political speech and expressive conduct challenging an election, could be criminalized," the filing says. Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought the charges against Mr Trump and 18 others last year, in a 41-count indictment for alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. Mr Trump was charged with 13 criminal counts including an alleged violation of Georgia's Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Rico).

His other charges include solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiring to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiring to commit forgery, conspiring to commit false statements, and writing and conspiring to file false documents. Prosecutors have suggested an August 2024 trial date, which would disrupt Mr Trump's general campaign if he is chosen as the Republican presidential nominee.
Four of Mr Trump's co-accused have pleaded guilty in the case.

Source :BBC News
 
Donald Trump's lawyers have told appeal judges that he shouldn't face prosecution for efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that culminated in the 6 January assault on the US Capitol - because he was president, and therefore immune, at the time.


SKY News
 

Trump Is Connecting With a Different Type of Evangelical Voter​

Attendees prayed during a Commit to Caucus event held by former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in December. Evangelical voters have long supported Republican candidates, but who identifies as an evangelical Christian has changed over the years.

Karen Johnson went to her Lutheran church so regularly as a child that she won a perfect attendance award. As an adult, she taught Sunday school. But these days, Ms. Johnson, a 67-year-old counter attendant at a slot-machine parlor, no longer goes to church.

She still identifies as an evangelical Christian, but she doesn’t believe going to church is necessary to commune with God. “I have my own little thing with the Lord,” she says.

Ms. Johnson’s thing includes frequent prayer, she said, as well as podcasts and YouTube channels that discuss politics and “what’s going on in the world” from a right-wing, and sometimes Christian, worldview. No one plays a more central role in her perspective than Donald J. Trump, the man she believes can defeat the Democrats who, she is certain, are destroying the country and bound for hell.

“Trump is our David and our Goliath,” Ms. Johnson said recently as she waited outside a hotel in eastern Iowa to hear the former president speak.

Source : The New York Times
 

2024 polls : Trump’s lead over Nikki Haley narrows in New Hampshire as primary season looms​

A new poll from CNN shows former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley within single digits against former president Donald Trump in the New Hampshire primary.

The poll shows that 39 per cent of Republican primary voters prefer Mr Trump while 32 per cent support Ms Haley. The next closest competitor, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, is 20 points behind Ms Haley at 12 per cent. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy polls at 8 per cent and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis polls at 5 per cent.

Support for Ms Haley increased by 12 points since the November CNN/UNH poll.

Ms Haley has enjoyed a wellspring of support in the Granite State. The state’s governor Chris Sununu endorsed her and the influential Koch Network threw its support behind her. She benefited from a series of strong debate performances, particularly when going on the offence against Mr Ramawamy when he attacked her daughter and called her corrupt.

The survey was also conducted after Ms Haley refused to answer directly that slavery caused the Civil War between 1861 and 1865, despite the fact that she pushed to remove the Confederate battle flag from South Carolina’s state capitol grounds.

Haley’s supporters hope New Hampshire will be the arena in which she bests Trump
Ms Haley’s supporters hope that New Hampshire, which votes days after she will theoretically have just pulled off an upset in Iowa, will be the arena in which she bests Mr Trump for real. That expected victory, they presume, will catapult Ms Haley into the realm of true competition for the nomination itself, as Republican voters in other states (they hope) will give Ms Haley a second look — and take seriously her claim to represent the GOP’s best chance at beating Joe Biden.

After New Hampshire, it’s on to Nevada and South Carolina — where Ms Haley served as governor, and where she has her next best shot at overcoming Mr Trump’s lead.

Most of this remains theoretical, at least until Monday. With caucus-day fast approaching, the former ambassador and governor has shifted her focus to a last-minute push in Iowa. Her campaign has also come clearly under the gaze of Mr Trump, who has refocused his own campaign on disparaging the newly-surging Haley.

In the DeSantis camp, things have reportedly been gloomy for months. Now, the beleaguered Floridian faces the prospect of a third-place finish in the state where he invested more time and political capital than did his opponents, even picking up a crucial endorsement from the governor. He remains the only candidate to have visited all of Iowa’s 99 counties, too — making his possible downfall next week all the more crushing should it occur.

One potential wrench in the machinery remains — the lower-performing GOP candidates, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie. While Mr Christie is barely a factor in Iowa, Mr Ramaswamy polled at 9 per cent in the Morning Consult survey; not high enough to matter, but enough caucusgoers to cause real shifts in the dynamic of a second or third round of caucusing, as the losers are eliminated.

As the candidates enter the last stretch of what may very well be Iowa’s last first-in-the-nation caucus, the question remains for Ms Haley: is this the moment she makes it a two-person race? Or does the Trump alternative head into New Hampshire weighed down by rivals and see her own ambitions snuffed out by mathematical realities?

Source : The Independent
 
Donald Trump is ahead of his Republican opponents on key measures of popularity, while US President Joe Biden’s job approval rating has hit a new low, according to a new poll.

The findings from an ABC News/Ipsos poll published on Sunday come a day ahead of the Iowa caucuses as the 2024 race to the US presidential elections speeds up.

The survey showed that former President Trump leads with a huge advantage against the other Republican candidates – Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson – on three fronts.

At least 68 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents say Trump is the candidate with the “best chance” of getting elected in November. That plummets to 12 percent for Haley, 11 percent for DeSantis and single digits for the rest, the report said.

Trump also has an advantage compared to the other candidates in being rated the “strongest leader” and being the “best qualified” to serve as president.

Trump beats his opponents on empathy and shared values as well. He got the most votes – though by a lesser margin – for being the one who “best represents your values” and for best understanding “your problems”.

But Republicans with a four-year college degree were less likely than non-graduates to say Trump was best on each of the attributes tested. Just 27 percent of those with a college degree said Trump best understands the problems of people like them, compared with 57 percent of those without a degree.

By comparison, 57 percent of Democrats would feel the same about President Biden being the Democratic Party’s choice.

According to the survey, Biden’s job approval rating has dropped to a low for any US president in the past 15 years.

At 33 percent, Biden’s approval rating is worse “than Trump’s low as president (36 percent) and the lowest since George W Bush from 2006-2008”, read the report. Fifty-eight percent disapprove of Biden’s work.

Some 31 percent of women approve of Biden’s work in office, a new low. Back in 2020, he won 57 percent of women. Among men, 34 percent approve of his work in office.

There was also no good news from Black and Hispanic voters: Biden’s approval rating is 21 points below average among Black people and 15 points below average among Hispanic people, compared with 6 points among white people.

When comparing the main Republican and Democratic hopefuls, the report said Biden leads Trump in perceptions of his honesty and trustworthiness – 41 percent say this describes Biden, and 26 percent say it describes Trump. But Trump beats Biden in perceptions of “mental sharpness” and “physical health” needed to be president again.

“A Biden/Trump general election, if that’s the outcome of the primary season, would represent a battle of markedly unpopular candidates,” the report added.


Al Jazeera
 
Former President Donald Trump’s huge win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday enshrines one of the most astonishing comebacks in American political history.

Losing one-term presidents almost never mount subsequent successful primary campaigns, much less pull off landslides that demonstrate utter dominance of their party. Trump transformed the GOP in his populist, nationalist, nihilistic image in 2016. By claiming 50% of the vote in the biggest win in caucus history, putting him on course to his third consecutive nomination, he showed that eight years after his outsider presidential victory, the current GOP is entirely his party.

“The big night is going to be in November, when we take back our country,” Trump told his first proper victory party since he shocked the world by winning the 2016 election. His MAGA-hat wearing crowd greeted him with chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump” beneath two vast screens reading “Trump wins Iowa!”

Trump will win Iowa Republican caucuses, CNN projects
But the ex-president’s rebound is more stunning for another reason. He won despite 91 criminal charges and other legal entanglements that threaten his freedom and his fortune. In a head-spinning snapshot of the unprecedented times, he’s expected to show up in a courtroom in Manhattan on Tuesday morning for the opening of a defamation trial.

His Iowa triumph came three years and nine days after he told a mob to “fight like hell” before it ransacked the US Capitol in an attempt to thwart the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. Trump’s dominance on Monday night shows that among the most committed Republican voters, there is no price for him to pay for the worst attack on an election in modern history. In fact, his successful leveraging of his criminal plight to paint a narrative of persecution is the superpower that renewed his bond with GOP base voters and left his rivals with an impossible conundrum about how to exploit his liabilities.

His caucus victory also demonstrates the success of Trump’s election denial strategy, which has convinced millions of GOP voters of the false belief he was illegally ejected from power in 2020. For Americans who believe Biden’s warning that Trump is the “most anti-democratic president with a small ‘d’ in American history,” Monday night will have sown utter dread.

Trump’s vow to win a second term dedicated to “retribution” against his enemies, his labeling of political opponents as “vermin” and his warnings that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America, which are reminiscent of 1930s dictators, were no disqualification in Iowa. Instead, the president who attempted to overturn democracy to stay in power used democracy far more effectively than any of his Republican opponents to win an electoral endorsement from GOP voters who want him back in the White House.

DeSantis and Haley fail to emerge as the single anti-Trump candidate
Monday’s result posed huge questions for Trump’s rivals. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will claim second place, according to a CNN projection, narrowly ahead of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. It is a showing that doesn’t offer DeSantis much hope of capturing the nomination, but may at least give him a rationale for staying in the race.

Haley came third but she is most focused on next week’s New Hampshire primary, where independent, undeclared voters and moderate Republicans offer her best chance to score an early win over Trump. But the electoral map of Iowa also illustrates the daunting task she faces in creating a path to the GOP nomination. In rural areas, where most Republicans live, she made little impression.

And while Haley and DeSantis proved there is a substantial constituency in the GOP for someone other than Trump, it’s not clear that it is large enough to defeat him, even if one of them were able to emerge as the sole alternative to the former president. While Trump was gracious to his opponents in his victory speech, there will be increasing pressure from his campaign for them to get out of the race so he can concentrate on Biden. Kari Lake, a staunch Trump supporter running for Senate in Arizona after refusing to recognize her 2022 gubernatorial loss, told reporters at his victory party that the other candidates couldn’t win and were running “vanity projects.”

Source : CNN
 
Trump's rise sparks isolationist worries abroad, but voters unfazed

As Donald Trump strengthens his lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, some U.S. allies are worried about an American turn toward isolationism, a shift that would reflect an electorate largely focused on domestic issues.

That was shown in polling in Iowa where Trump scored an overwhelming victory on Monday, with foreign policy the top issue for just one in 10 participants in the state's caucus, according to a poll by Edison Research.

That compared to four in 10 who said the economy was No. 1 and three in 10 who pointed to immigration.

National polling provides a similar picture. When Americans have cited matters involving foreigners as the country's top problem, they most often have referred to immigration and not foreign conflicts, Reuters/Ipsos polling over the last decade shows.

In a December Reuters/Ipsos poll, 6% of respondents nationwide said war and foreign conflicts were the U.S.'s most pressing problem, compared to 11% who cited immigration and 19% who pointed to the economy. Ten percent cited crime.

While domestic concerns have long dominated U.S. politics, isolationism has grown in recent years - particularly within the Republican Party - as Trump and other leaders have criticized U.S. aid to help Ukraine fight off Russia's 2022 invasion, while Trump has warned America could become ensnarled in a world war.

Foreign diplomats in Washington are scrambling to assess the former president's foreign plans, with Trump aides saying he would cut defense support to Europe, further shrink economic ties with China and again wield tariffs as a key tool of his foreign policy.

They have also expressed worry at congressional Republicans' opposition to Democratic President Joe Biden's request for more funds for Ukraine, for Israel in its conflict with Hamas and for Taiwan as it faces a more assertive China. The Republican-controlled U.S.

House of Representatives in November passed an Israel aid package that would offset that spending with cuts to the federal tax-collection agency, an idea the Democratic-majority Senate has rebuffed.

"Trump has been instrumental in raising questions about our alliances and our involvement in the world that were pretty much taken for granted," said Dina Smeltz, a public opinion expert at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

A Chicago Council poll in September found, opens new tab that 53% of Republicans thought the U.S. should "stay out of world affairs," the first time a majority of either party backed such an isolationist stance in the council's polls going back to 1974.


 
E Jean Carroll trial: Judge threatens to remove Trump from court

Donald Trump's lawyers accused E Jean Carroll of courting publicity on Wednesday, as she said her reputation was left "shattered" after accusing him of sexual assault in the 1990s.

The second day of the civil defamation trial featured several fiery exchanges.

At one point, the judge threatened to kick Mr Trump out of court after he was overheard criticising her testimony.

A jury found Mr Trump liable for sexually abusing Ms Carroll last year, but he continues to deny the claim.

He was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, though not for rape, and Ms Carroll was awarded $5m. That trial was based on his 2022 remarks that her story was a "con job" and a "hoax".

The current case focuses on different remarks - which the judge has already ruled were defamatory - that Mr Trump made while he was president in 2019, when he called her allegation "totally false". This second trial will determine additional damages.

But much of Wednesday's proceedings were marked by angry exchanges between Mr Trump and the judge, who threatened to revoke the former president's right to attend trial after a lawyer for Ms Carroll heard him call the case a "witch hunt" and criticise his accuser's memory within earshot of the jury.

"Mr Trump has a right to be present here," Judge Kaplan said, frustration evident in his voice. "That right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me, and if he disregards court orders."

"Mr Trump," he continued. "I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial. I understand you're probably eager for me to do that."

"I would love it," the former president replied. "I understand you're probably very eager for me to do that because you just can't control yourself in these circumstances," Judge Kaplan barked back.

In all his years of bomb throwing and political attacks, Mr Trump has rarely had to face the subjects of his ire. But on Wednesday, aside from those comments, he was forced to remain silent as Ms Carroll told a jury how he had damaged her reputation.

In 2019, she alleged Mr Trump forced himself on her after a chance encounter decades earlier inside the luxury Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan.

"I am here because Donald Trump assaulted me, and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened," Ms Carroll, 80, said. "He lied, and it shattered my reputation."

After building a 50-year career as a journalist, she told the court: "now I'm known as a liar, a fraud and a whack job".

"I am here to get my reputation back and to stop him from telling lies about me."

Lawyers for Ms Carroll displayed a series of death threats, rape threats and insults she says she has received since coming forward.

One message told her to "stick a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger", while another called her a "Satan worshipping Nazi" - abuse, she said, that left her fearful.

In the light of these safety concerns, Ms Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, asked her client about a photo showing her smiling next to a man in a rubber Trump mask as she walked past Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Ms Carroll said she felt safe there because of the large police presence.

Sitting two rows back with his legal team, Mr Trump listened intently, staring at Ms Carroll and shaking his head at one point.

During cross-examination, his lawyers went on the attack. Alina Habba - Mr Trump's attorney - tried to make the case that Ms Carroll wanted fame, citing her multiple television and podcast appearances to talk about her book and the allegations.

She said Ms Carroll continues to give interviews about the case she won last year. "After all those appearances, you want to gain more publicity don't you?" Ms Habba asked.

Ms Carroll responded that she had her fill of that, adding that she did not like saying Mr Trump's name but interviewers always wanted to ask about him.

As the court returned for its afternoon session, the tension between Mr Trump, his legal team, and the judge resumed after they asked Mr Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, to recuse himself for "general hostility toward the defence". The motion was denied.

Ms Habba repeatedly clashed with the judge as the day wore on. She asked for the trial to be delayed so Mr Trump could attend his mother-in-law's funeral on Thursday, saying it would be "insanely prejudicial" to have him sit in court.

"The application is denied. I will hear no further argument on it," Judge Kaplan said. "None. Do you understand that word? None."

Though the former president was deposed in the earlier trial, he did not attend in person or testify, both of which he is doing voluntarily in these proceedings. He is expected to take the stand on Monday.

Speaking after court on Wednesday, he fumed at the refusal, calling Judge Kaplan "a nasty man" and a "Trump hating guy".

"It's a disgrace frankly, what's happening. It's a disgrace, [he] happens to be a [President] Clinton appointment, but I'm sure that has nothing to do with it."

Mr Trump, who also faces 91 felony charges across four criminal cases this year and is awaiting judgement in a New York civil fraud trial, is currently the Republican frontrunner for president.

On Monday, he scored a landslide victory in the Iowa caucuses, the first of the state-by-state votes in the race to become the Republican party's White House candidate.
​
www.bbc.com

E Jean Carroll trial: Judge threatens to remove Trump from court

The threat came after the ex-president was overheard criticising his accuser's testimony in court.
www.bbc.com
 
It would be shocking if Trump becomes the next president.

He has a lot of cases against him pending (including criminal cases).
 
His victory is the demand. He is the only person to end the war in Ukraine.
 

Trump keeps returning to his birther playbook​


It is a well-worn page in former President Donald Trump’s playbook to sharply attack his political rivals with insults, conspiracy theories and nicknames to make them seem different from the White voters who primarily make up the GOP base.

He did it over the course of years and on repeat to former President Barack Obama, with lies about Obama’s birth and frequent use of Obama’s middle name, Hussein. Trump has also baselessly questioned whether Vice President Kamala Harris, whose parents are immigrants, was eligible.

He did it to Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who was his most formidable challenger in the 2016 Republican primary, when Trump fanned a false National Enquirer report that sought to tie Cruz’s father, who was born in Cuba, to the John F. Kennedy assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Cruz, by the way, like most Republican officeholders running for reelection, has moved on from that, and this week endorsed Trump’s reelection bid after the former president’s victory in the Iowa caucuses.

Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who Trump also bested in that 2016 primary with taunts of “Little Marco,” also again endorsed Trump this week.

And so it is not at all surprising that as the GOP primary campaign refocuses on New Hampshire ahead of the January 23 primary, Trump has turned forcibly against Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who once served as his administration’s ambassador to the United Nations.

While Haley has always gone by her middle name, Nikki, Trump used her given first name, Nimarata, misspelling it in social media posts and putting it in quotes as “Nimrada.” Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants.

Trump has also pushed a ridiculous theory on his social media platform that Haley should be disqualified from running even though she was born in the US and thus definitively a natural born citizen qualified for the office under the 14th Amendment.

Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley visits a caucus site at the Horizon Event Center on January 15, 2024 in Clive, Iowa.

What to know about false ‘birther’ claims about Nikki Haley
It is actually Trump who faces more legitimate questions about his eligibility under the 14th Amendment.

In Maine, a judge deferred her decision on whether Trump can appear on the 2024 presidential ballot in that state until the US Supreme Court issues a decision on a Colorado case, in which Trump was declared to be ineligible for office under the 14th Amendment’s insurrectionist clause. Oral arguments are scheduled for February 8 at the Supreme Court.

Opposing Trump without too much criticism of him
Haley has been extremely careful in making her own argument that Republicans should move beyond Trump, trying hard not to alienate his supporters and wrapping her criticism of Trump in a generational message that also smacks at President Joe Biden, the other senior citizen in the race.

Source: CNN
 
Boris Johnson claims the world would be 'more stable' under Donald Trump

The former prime minister mocked the "global wokerati" for "trembling so violently" at the idea of Trump returning to the White House after he won 51% of the vote at the Iowa caucus on Monday.

Boris Johnson has endorsed Donald Trump for the US presidency, claiming he will surprise his critics and back Ukraine, making "the West stronger" and "the world more stable".

The former prime minister mocked the "global wokerati" for "trembling so violently" at the idea of Trump returning to the White House.

On Monday, the ex-president won the Iowa caucus, the first event on the path to candidates being nominated, with 51% of the vote.

In his column for the Daily Mail, for which he is being reportedly paid up to £1m a year, Mr Johnson said he is convinced Trump will continue to arm Ukraine.

Trump has failed to commit to sending weapons to the country and consistently expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin.

In a recent interview, he expressed concerns "we are giving away so much equipment… we don't have ammunition for ourselves".

But Mr Johnson wrote: "I simply cannot believe that Trump will ditch the Ukrainians; on the contrary, having worked out, as he surely has, that there is no deal to be done with Putin, I reckon there is a good chance that he will double down and finish what he started - by giving them what they need to win."

He added: "If that is the case, then there is every chance, under Trump, that the West will be stronger, and the world more stable."

Zelenskyy invites Trump to Ukraine

In an interview with Channel 4 on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Trump to visit Kyiv, after he claimed to be able to finish the war against Russia in 24 hours.

Mr Zelenskyy said: "Yes please Donald Trump - I invite you to Ukraine.

"If you can stop the war during 24 hours I think it will be enough to come to Kyiv, on any day I am here."

In his Daily Mail column, Mr Johnson said that "what the worlds need now is a US leader whose willingness to use force and sheer unpredictability is a major deterrent to the enemies of the West".

Commenting on the 91 charges Trump is facing across four criminal cases, the former prime minister said he has been "caught saying a few unguarded things".

But he said he "likes his style", adding: "In the cocktail parties of Davos, I am told, the global wokerati have been trembling so violently that you could hear the ice tinkling in their negronis."
​
SOURCE: BBC
 
Am not in tune with US politics, I thought they were trying to ban him from running due to the Capitol attack. Or is it more of certain states etc could he still win without being able run in certain parts of the US🤔
 
shaz619 said:
Am not in tune with US politics, I thought they were trying to ban him from running due to the Capitol attack. Or is it more of certain states etc could he still win without being able run in certain parts of the US🤔
Click to expand...

There are many court cases against him pending (a few are criminal cases).

He is allowed to run for presidency though.
 
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspends presidential campaign

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - once tipped as Donald Trump's biggest challenger for the Republican presidential nomination - has suspended his campaign.

It comes after Trump won a resounding victory in the Republican Party's Iowa caucuses, with DeSantis only narrowly beating his nearest rival, Nikki Haley.

DeSantis made the announcement in a video on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday night, saying: "We left it all out on the field."

He endorsed Trump for president in his announcement.


news.sky.com

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspends presidential campaign

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - once tipped as Donald Trump's biggest challenger for the Republican presidential nomination - has suspended his campaign.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
Looks like the American Establishment will be happy with a second Donald Trump presidency.
 
Haley vows to stay in GOP race as Trump seeks commanding victory in New Hampshire

Nikki Haley, the last major GOP opponent of Donald Trump, insisted she would not drop out if she loses Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary to the former president, who aimed for a commanding victory to make a November rematch with President Joe Biden more likely than ever.

Trump’s allies were already ramping up pressure on the former U.N. ambassador to leave the race if she falls by a large margin. Haley has focused considerable resources on New Hampshire, hoping to capitalize on the state’s independent streak as she looks for an upset or at least a tight loss that could dent Trump’s continued domination of Republican politics.

“I’m running against Donald Trump, and I’m not going to talk about an obituary,” Haley told reporters.

Trump countered, “Let her do whatever she wants,” saying voters will deliver the nomination to him anyway. His aides have argued for several days that Haley has no realistic path if she loses in New Hampshire.



Source: AP News
 
Only courts can stop DJT from becoming president at this time, he will beat Biden handily because of all the snafus by him.
 
Trump wins New Hampshire primary as rematch with Biden appears increasingly likely

Former President Donald Trump easily won New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday, seizing command of the race for the Republican nomination and making a November rematch against President Joe Biden feel all the more inevitable.

The result was a setback for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who finished second despite investing significant time and financial resources in a state famous for its independent streak. She’s the last major challenger after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ended his presidential bid over the weekend, allowing her to campaign as the sole alternative to Trump.

Trump’s allies ramped up pressure on Haley to leave the race before the polls had closed, but Haley vowed after the results were announced to continue her campaign. Speaking to supporters, she intensified her criticism of the former president, questioning his mental acuity and pitching herself as a unifying candidate who would usher in generational change.

“This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go,” Haley said, while some in the crowd cried, “It’s not over!”

Trump, meanwhile, can now boast of being the first Republican presidential candidate to win open races in Iowa and New Hampshire since both states began leading the election calendar in 1976, a striking sign of how rapidly Republicans have rallied around him to make him their nominee for the third consecutive time.

At his victory party Tuesday night, Trump repeatedly insulted Haley and gave a far angrier speech than after his Iowa victory, when his message was one of Republican unity.

“Let’s not have someone take a victory when she had a very bad night,” Trump said. He added, “Just a little note to Nikki: She’s not going to win.”
​
Source: AP News
 
Friends and allies of Donald Trump are giving him the names of mostly women and Black men as he seeks their advice on a running mate to join his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, five of them have told Reuters.

One ally who spoke to Reuters said a woman or a Black man as his running mate would be "helpful" to Trump, who needs to improve his standing among both demographics and attract more moderate voters in a likely general election rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden in November.

Four other allies, whose advice Trump has been seeking as he mulls his choice of running mate, have given him names to consider.

High on that list of names is South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, all women. Also on the list is South Carolina U.S. Senator Tim Scott, and Ben Carson, Trump's former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, both Black men.

Trump has yet to make a final decision, the allies said, but has been making frequent calls to solicit advice.
"Every day, everywhere he goes, it's, 'What do you think of this person. What do you think of that person?'" one close ally said, describing the nature of Trump's phone calls. The allies, two of whom have direct knowledge of the inner workings of Trump's campaign, spoke on the condition of anonymity to more freely discuss the issue.


Trump declared at a Fox News town hall in Iowa on Jan. 10 that "I know who it's going to be," when asked about a running mate, but allies say his calls for advice on a choice have continued since then.A former Trump White House official who is still in touch with the former president said Trump has expressed a preference to choose a woman as he believes that would help his prospects, with Stefanik and Noem high on his list. A fifth ally said Trump has already compiled a short list. The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about who Trump is considering to be his running mate.

OPPOSITION TO HALEY
There also appears to be broad resistance to picking Nikki Haley, Trump's former U.N. ambassador and last surviving nomination rival, a donor close to Trump said. Opposition to Haley among some of Trump's allies and within Trump's campaign have intensified in recent days as she has increased attacks on his age - he is 77 - and mental acuity. Haley ruled out being Trump's running mate on Jan. 19, saying being anybody's vice president was "off the table." Trump said on Jan. 19 he would "probably" not pick her as a running mate.

When he first ran for president in 2016, Trump realized he needed a vice presidential pick who could help shore up support among Republican evangelicals and social conservatives, who were suspicious of the thrice-married reality TV star.
Trump picked Mike Pence, the then Indiana governor and fierce social conservative, a move that allayed fears about Trump on the right-wing of the party and solidified his Republican base. This year, Trump's allies and Republican strategists say Trump needs help attracting suburban swing voters in a handful of battleground states, where November's election will likely be decided. With an eye to that general election map, the donor said, "A woman on the ticket could be very helpful. An African-American on the ticket could be very helpful."

ON THE TRAIL FOR TRUMP
Noem, Stefanik, Scott and Carson have worked hard stumping for Trump on the campaign trail in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote in the Republican primary. Party insiders and strategists see their appearances as auditions for the vice-presidential pick.

Stefanik has become a fiercely loyal Trump surrogate and is a rising star in the Republican Party.
She gained national prominence in December after embarrassing the heads of three top universities about antisemitism on their campuses during a congressional hearing, which prompted two of them to later resign.
Stefanik spoke at a New Hampshire rally on Friday, stopped by a diner on Saturday and later at the Trump campaign headquarters in Manchester.

As she made her way through the crowd to a bank of TV cameras, Stefanik was asked by Reuters if she had discussed with Trump or his aides the vice president role. She declined to comment on that, but added: "I'd be honored to serve in a future Trump administration in any way."

The question prompted a "VP, VP, VP," chant among Trump supporters in attendance.
On Sunday, at another New Hampshire rally, Trump praised Stefanik - but mispronounced her name.
Alex Degrasse, a spokesperson for Stefanik, said the congresswoman "does not discuss her conversations with President Trump."

Noem, serving her second term as South Dakota's governor after a landslide reelection victory in 2022, is close to Trump. She rose to national prominence after refusing to impose a statewide mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Noem campaigned for and with Trump at several events in Iowa earlier this month, including three stops across the state on Jan. 3.

Before her final speech that day she was asked by CBS News about being Trump's running mate. "I think anybody in this country, if they were offered it, needs to consider it," she replied.

Noem's office referred Reuters to the CBS interview. Scott was a onetime Republican rival to Trump but dropped out of the race in November, and endorsed Trump on Jan. 19. Both Scott and Carson have been on the campaign trail supporting Trump.

In Concord, New Hampshire on Jan. 19, Scott told a crowd that Trump would lower taxes and unite the country.
Andrew Hughes, a spokesman for Carson, said of Trump's potential pick as a running mate, "That is President Trump's decision and he will make it when he's ready."
A spokesman for Scott declined to comment.

LOYALTY TOP PRIORITY FOR TRUMP
Trump is looking for loyalty and deference in a running mate, the close Trump ally said."Remember whose name is on the side of the plane," the ally said. Sanders, Trump's former press secretary, is seen as fiercely loyal to him and frequently defends his record from the governor's mansion in Arkansas. Asked about being Trump's running mate by CBS News on Jan. 21, she said: "I absolutely love the job I have."

Other names popular with Trump's diehard supporters, judging by enthusiastic reactions to their appearances for Trump in New Hampshire in recent days, are Kari Lake, who narrowly lost a gubernatorial bid in Arizona in 2022 and is now running for the U.S. Senate there, and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Both are fiercely loyal to Trump and echo his false claim that he won the 2020 election against Biden. But allies view them as too polarizing for a presidential ticket.

Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, says Trump is such a huge and polarizing figure himself, it may not matter who he picks.
"It's all about the top of the ticket, especially when the top of the ticket is so dominant a personality as Donald Trump, should he win the nomination," Ayres said.

Reporting by Steve Holland in Manchester, New Hampshire; Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Tim Reid in Washington. Additional reporting by Gram Slattery and Nathan Layne in Manchester, New Hampshire; Editing by Ross Colvin, Kieran Murray and Alistair Bell

Source: Reuters
 
This spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of Donald Trump. In London, Paris, Berlin and every other significant European capital, bar Moscow, the horror sequel no one sane wants to see is Trump – The Return: “No more Mr Nice Guy”.

Having spent the last three years being much too nonchalant about the threat of him recapturing the White House, British politicians and their counterparts elsewhere in Europe can no longer deny to themselves that a Trump second coming is terrifyingly possible. The shock is the sharper for having been preceded by so much complacency. His defeat by Joe Biden in 2020 was greeted with a huge exhalation of relief that the United States was back under the leadership of an Atlanticist who believed in the US’s traditional alliances with other democracies and didn’t deny the existence of the climate crisis. “Welcome back America!” whooped the mayor of Paris in a typically euphoric reaction. It didn’t occur to enough people in Europe’s leadership that all Biden’s victory promised was a four-year breather, not a guarantee that we would never see Trumpism empowered again. Time that might have been spent preparing for that possibility by making the UK and the rest of Europe less dependent on America for the security of our continent has been woefully wasted.

What seemed unimaginable to most Europeans back in 2020 is now all too conceivable. He’s clocked up back-to-back victories in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. No one has previously won both and failed to become the Republican nominee for the presidency. Nikki Haley, the last rival candidate standing, managed a decent showing as runner-up in New Hampshire, but the bulk of her support came from independent voters, and many other states don’t give them a say. Haley next goes head to head with Trump in the South Carolina primary at the end of February where, though she was twice elected governor of the state, the polls have her limping a long way behind. The working assumption has to be that the election will be a Biden v Trump rematch. Biden is behind in the latest national polls and in key battleground states.

Trump will be an aggressive protectionist, which will be bad for a country such as the UK that is dependent on free trade
People who are trying to stay optimistic will say that it is not nailed on that Trump will return to the White House. This is true. The criminal trials he faces, including for attempting a coup by inciting a violent insurrection against Congress, may start to worry more American voters about the menace he poses to their democracy. It may sink in more deeply that they could have a convicted felon on the ballot to be their next commander-in-chief and head of state. Biden’s approval ratings may turn for the better as he cranks up his campaign for re-election and the moment of choice comes closer. An act of god may intervene. Cross your fingers and hope for the best by all means. But don’t mistake that for a strategy to prepare for Trump 2.0.

It is very likely that this will be the first time since 1992 that the US and the UK hold general elections in the same year. If Rishi Sunak calls ours for November, they will even be in the same month. In its parochial way, a lot of Westminster is obsessed only with how one contest may influence the other. The Maga branch of the Tory party, whose precinct captains are Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, has been waving flags for Trump. The prime minister has maintained a diplomatic silence. This suggests he grasps that his party’s already dismal prospects won’t be enhanced by hugging close to a figure who is toxic to the great majority of British voters. Sir Keir Starmer will be wary of saying anything to provoke Trump, but in the past he hasn’t disguised his preference for a Biden victory, and I am told the Labour leader is frustrated that he has yet to be invited to call on the White House. A pairing of Trump and Starmer would see America and Britain run by two men whose temperaments, styles, ethics and world views could scarcely be more contrasting. Undrama Starmer is the antithesis of the noxious, corrupt and anti-democratic American demagogue.

Some diplomats will try to reassure us that the “special relationship” is robust enough to transcend whichever particular personalities happen to occupy Number 10 and the White House in any given period. That kind of shrugging is far too insouciant about the perils posed to the UK by another Trump presidency. People close to the prime minister and within the Labour leader’s circle claim they would find a way to “handle” Trump and “make it work”. That is stupendously naive and conceited. It sounds like someone who has only ever had a pet rabbit telling you they know how to control an American bully XL.

British politicians couldn’t dissuade Trump from shredding US commitments to combat the climate crisis when he was in office and they will fail again if he gets another chance. He will be an aggressive protectionist, which will be bad for a country such as the UK that is dependent for a lot of its prosperity on free trade. The greatest source of alarm is what a second term of Trump would mean for the foundations of our security. An unbreakable bond with Washington has been the backbone of British foreign policy under Conservative and Labour governments since the Second World War. Its core belief is that democracies must stand up for each other and its clearest manifestation is the commitment to collective defence enshrined in Nato. The organisation’s first secretary general, a Brit, memorably remarked that the purpose of the alliance was to keep the Americans in Europe and the Russians out.

We know what Trump thinks of the mutual defence treaty. “I don’t give a **** about Nato,” he yelled at John Bolton when the latter was his national security adviser. There were enough adults in the room when he was last in the White House to constrain him from giving full expression to all of his isolationist, nativist, alliance-disdaining, Europe-despising, autocrat-admiring impulses. Second time around, the fear that most shivers the spines of officials in London and elsewhere in Europe is that “Trump unbound” would shatter Nato.

If he recaptures the White House, I’d be very wary of anyone who tells you not to lose too much sleep over it
Even if he didn’t go so far as to formally abandon the alliance, he can eviscerate its value as a deterrent against aggressors by casting severe doubt, as he already is, about whether America would come to the defence of Europe.

The most immediate consequences would be felt by the embattled Ukrainians. If you want a glimpse of how dark the future could be, note that Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill have been trying to derail talks to unblock a tranche of critically needed US aid to Ukraine. At the same time, a package of further EU assistance is being prevented by Hungary’s mini-me Trump, Viktor Orbán.

Trump’s claim that he could strike a deal with Vladimir Putin to end the war “in 24 hours” is as “very dangerous” as Volodymyr Zelenskiy says it is. Since Putin is not going to make a voluntary retreat from the land he has stolen, this can only imply that Trump would try to coerce Ukraine into accepting some kind of grisly deal that left huge swathes of its territory in Russian hands. That would be catastrophic for European security and the reputation of its democracies while emboldening dictators the world over to think that the west will stand idly by while they gobble up the land and freedom of smaller neighbours.

Source: The Guardian
 
The Republican primary race is not officially over but with no obvious pathway to victory for Nikki Haley, a general election showdown between two adversaries is coming into view.

We are months away from the Democratic and Republican conventions, the moment when each party officially unveils its presidential nominee.

But the 2024 election seems all but set in stone.

The contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be unique in modern history as a rematch between the current president and his immediate predecessor.

"Having two presidents running changes the nature of the race," says Todd Belt, a politics professor at George Washington University.

"This is a comparison, not just a referendum on the incumbent. There are no blank slates going into this election."

The contrast will be simple, according to Sean Spicer, who served as Mr Trump's first press secretary and worked for the Republican National Committee prior to that.

"For those people who say, well, during Trump, the policies of Donald Trump made my life better, more secure, made the economy and our communities better, it's a no brainer."

The Trump campaign has every motivation to go on the attack against Mr Biden, in part to distract from his own weaknesses - including his legal troubles, his divisive rhetoric and his attempts to undermine the 2020 election results, which contributed to the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

But Mr Biden also has key vulnerabilities, struggling to sell his first-term achievements and trying to convince the public he has the energy for the campaign and a second term.

Is it time for America's elder statesmen to retire?
Defamation defeat a double-edged sword for Trump
Already in this presidential race he is painting his predecessor as out-of-control and a threat to America, and to democracy itself.

"Usually, that's what you do when you're running against somebody who's unknown in politics," says Susan Estrich, a Democratic author and analyst who managed Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign in 1988.

"But here, you've got somebody who's very well known, and you're just trying to prove he's a big risk."

It's a rematch few Americans say they want - a bare-knuckle, nasty slog of a campaign - but it's a presidential choice that at this point they seem almost certain to get.

Close race on a small map
Mr Biden's approval ratings continue to languish in dangerous territory for an incumbent entering an election year. Public perceptions of Mr Trump are also negative, however.

By all indications, November's general election is going to be tight. National polls show the two candidates either neck and neck or Mr Trump with a slight advantage.

But this early in the race they are of limited usefulness, given the nature of the US political map. While Americans will head to the polls across the nation, this race will once again be decided in only a handful of states.

Source: BBC News
 

Takeaways from the 2024 cash dash: Legal cases drain Trump as clash with Biden looms​

Former President Donald Trump is facing a cash crunch as he tries to defend himself in court, lock down the Republican nomination and turn toward a general election rematch with an increasingly money-flush President Joe Biden.

Campaign finance records filed Wednesday show the main super PAC supporting Trump's campaign, MAGA Inc., spent more than it raised in the last six months of 2023 — primarily by transferring back $30 million to Save America, the main vehicle for paying the former president's prodigious legal fees. Similarly, Trump's official campaign blew through more cash than it took in over the last three months of the year.

That suggests that Trump's recent threats to blackball Republican donors who don't give to him are about more than just loyalty: He also needs the money.

By comparison, Biden's campaign ended the year with $46 million in cash, far more than the $33 million Trump's campaign held before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Future Forward, the main super PAC backing Biden, held a little bit more in the bank than MAGA Inc., $24 million to $23.3 million, at the end of the year.

Democrats crowed Wednesday night that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are stockpiling money for campaign purposes, rather than legal fights.

"While Donald Trump lights money on fire paying the tab on his various … expenses, Team Biden-Harris, powered by grassroots donors, is hard at work talking to the voters who will decide this election and building the campaign infrastructure to win in November," Biden campaign spokesman T.J. Ducklo said in a statement.

Source: NBC News
 
Japan's message for Donald Trump: don't cut a deal with China

U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands ahead of their bilateral meeting during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Acquire Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Japan, America's closest ally in Asia, has been trying to send a message to U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump: don't try to strike any deal with China that could upend years of collective efforts to rein in Beijing and risk the region's fragile peace.

Tokyo has stepped up attempts to engage with people close to Trump in recent weeks, as the 77-year-old's victories in Republican primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire have seen him emerge in some polls as the frontrunner in November's presidential election.

The outreach - detailed in interviews with six Japanese officials, much of it previously unreported - comes as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prepares for an April state visit to the U.S. at President Joe Biden's invitation.
Japan's endeavours have included dispatching a senior ruling-party figure to try to meet Trump, and engagement by Japanese diplomats with think tanks and former U.S. officials aligned with Trump, three of the officials said.

Source: Reuters
 
Fani Willis: Georgia prosecutors in Trump election case admit relationship

Two Georgia prosecutors have rejected calls to take them off their election case against Donald Trump after acknowledging they had a relationship.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said conflict of interest claims were "salacious" and in "bad faith".

Nathan Wade, an outside prosecutor Ms Willis appointed to the case, said in an affidavit the pair had "developed a personal relationship" in 2022.

Mr Trump and co-defendants want them disqualified from the case.

Friday's filings were the first time the two prosecutors publicly acknowledged their relationship.

One of Mr Trump's co-defendants, Mike Roman, has alleged the two prosecutors had an improper relationship and benefitted financially from the arrangement.

The accusations threaten to undermine the prosecution of the former president and his allies for an alleged conspiracy to reverse Georgia's 2020 election results.

The former president seized on the admission, writing on Truth Social on Friday that "by going after the most high level person... she was able to get her 'lover' much more money".

In her filing, Ms Willis argues that they do not meet the threshold for disqualification under Georgia state law.

She has asked Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, to reject legal efforts by defendants to remove her.

"The motions attempt to cobble together entirely unremarkable circumstances of special prosecutor Wade's appointment with completely irrelevant allegations about his personal family life into a manufactured conflict of interest on the part of the district attorney," she writes. "The effort must fail."

The judge has scheduled a hearing for 15 February to address the claims.

In his affidavit, Mr Wade denied that his compensation for working on the case was shared with Ms Willis.

He said he never cohabitated, shared household expenses, or shared a joint account with Ms Willis. Mr Wade also said "expenses for personal travel were roughly divided equally between us", and that they used personal funds for such expenses.

Ms Willis brought Mr Wade on board the investigation as a special prosecutor in 2021. Shortly afterwards, Mr Wade filed for divorce from his wife of two decades.

In January court filings, Mr Roman accused Mr Wade and Ms Willis of financially benefitting from an "improper, clandestine personal relationship".

He alleged Mr Wade profited "significantly" at "the expense of the taxpayers" and, by extension, so did Ms Willis. The filing accuses them of taking lavish trips together.

The document does not provide concrete evidence of these claims.

Mr Trump and another co-defendant, Bob Cheeley, have since joined Mr Roman's motion to disqualify the district attorney.

The defendants' allegations have played out in tandem with Mr Wade's divorce proceedings. His ex-wife, Joycelyn Wade, had filed a subpoena for Ms Willis to testify in their divorce.

The Wades settled their divorce on 30 January, shortly before a scheduled hearing.

If Mr Roman's efforts succeed, it would deal a serious blow to Ms Willis' case.

"A disqualification poses a real danger to the work done by the Fulton County DA's Office," Anthony Michael Kreis, a professor at Georgia State University College of Law, told the BBC.

The legal threshold to successfully remove Ms Willis and her office from the case over a conflict of interest is high, he said.

But if the defendants were successful, the entire Fulton County District Attorney's office would have to be removed from the case and another office appointed in their place, Prof Kreis said.

In that scenario, "it is possible that the trials proceed without any noticeable shifts in strategy," he said. "Or the new prosecutor could make light plea deals or even give up on the endeavour entirely."



BBC
 

The Polling ‘Disaster’ That’s Starting To Terrify Team Trump​

IN THE MIDDLE of last year, several of Donald Trump’s closest advisers, including some of his 2024 campaign’s senior staff, started noticing an ominous trend in independent polling and in internal Republican survey data: A significant share of swing voters in key states — even some Republicans — say they would not want to vote for a freshly-convicted criminal.

The trend spooked them enough that, in recent months, some of these officials and political allies have directly warned Trump of possible looming catastrophe ahead for his 2024 presidential bid, two people with direct knowledge of the matter tell Rolling Stone.

For the most part, Trump has shrugged off such warnings, as he and his campaign brass publicly lean on bravado and their messaging that President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects are unequivocally doomed in November. Still, Trump and his legal team are working diligently to delay his criminal trials, in hopes that he can secure the presidency once again — and the power to quash the cases — before any potential convictions come down.

They’ve had at least some success: On Friday, the judge in Trump’s Washington, D.C. election subversion case declared that the trial will not take place on March 4, as it was originally scheduled, and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Republicans close to the former president and current 2024 GOP frontrunner have been carefully tracking poll results — especially in a handful of battleground states that will decide the expected Biden-Trump rematch — of likely swing voters who say they are open to pulling the lever for Trump, with a major caveat. Many of these survey respondents, including in the crucial bloc of self-identifying independents, keep saying that they would not vote for Trump, if prior to the election, a jury handed down a guilty verdict in one of the criminal cases against him.

In a number of national and state polls, this variable — whether Trump is criminally convicted — puts what has been a moderate Trump lead in peril. For several months, this trend has continued to appear in a variety of high-quality polls, both public and private, including as recently as this week.

But even as the MAGA elite publicly insist that Biden is historically vulnerable as an incumbent, the polling trend has grown increasingly difficult for Trump’s lieutenants to just brush off, according to interviews with seven knowledgeable sources such as conservative activists close to Trump 2024, officials working on the ex-president’s campaign, longtime GOP operatives, and Trump allies in right-wing media.

“[Late last year], I mentioned to him how the polls were saying a conviction would hammer him with some of the voters he needs to keep in his column to win,” says a source who has spoken to Trump about 2024 many times. “I said it was something to take very seriously, but not necessarily a death blow … But in my own thoughts, I kept thinking, ‘It’d be a fucking disaster.’ But we’ll find out, I guess. Hopefully, people are lying to the pollsters.”

Within the upper echelons of Team Trump, there is a range of opinion on what these numbers mean exactly. Some say it’s too early and that it’s all theoretical, and therefore possibly a polling mirage. Others are concerned, but they’re not setting their hair on fire. Some are privately saying that a criminal conviction could be fatal to Trump’s chances at reconquering the White House.

Another close Trump ally tells Rolling Stone that, though there are many variables and Biden’s own polling is uniquely terrible, they can’t shake the feeling that one day they’ll look back on this polling trend as a bright-red warning sign — one that is comparable to the foreboding signs that Trump’s 2016 opponent saw for months before her defeat.

Source: Rolling stones
 

And then the people in US want Biden to be their president :ROFLMAO:​

=======​

Recent gaffes by Biden and Trump may be signs of normal aging — or may be nothing​

Last week, President Biden confused the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico.

In late January, former President Donald Trump appeared to confuse his Republican rival Nikki Haley with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.

The lapses prompted lots of amateur speculation about the mental fitness of each man.

But dementia experts say such slips, on their own, are no cause for concern.

"We've all had them," says Dr. Zaldy Tan, who directs the Memory and Healthy Aging Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "It's just that we are not public figures and therefore this is not as noticeable or blown up."

Also, memory lapses become more common with age, even in people whose brains are perfectly healthy.

The temporary inability to remember names, in particular, "is very common as we get older," says Dr. Sharon Sha, a clinical professor of neurology at Stanford University.

Cognitive changes are often associated with diseases like Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. But all brains lose a step or two with age.

"Even the so-called successful agers, if you measure their cognitive performance, you will see certain changes compared to their baseline," Tan says.

A slower brain
One reason for the decline is a decrease in the speed at which the brain processes information. Slower processing means a person may take longer to respond to a question or make a decision.

That may be a problem for a race car driver or an airline pilot, Tan says. But it's less likely to make a difference to someone who is doing "an executive-level job, where there is a lot of support and a lot more time to do planning and decision making."

Another cognitive change associated with age involves working memory, which allows us to keep in mind a password or phone number for a few seconds or minutes.

A typical person in their 20s might be able to reliably hold seven digits in working memory, Sha says. "As we age, that might diminish to something like six digits, but not zero."

A healthy brain typically retains its ability to learn and store information. But in many older people, the brain's ability to quickly retrieve that information becomes less reliable.

"Trying to remember that name of the restaurant that they were in last week or the name of the person that they met for coffee, that is not in itself a sign of dementia," Tan says, "but it's a sign of cognitive aging."

A glitch or a problem?
Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia become more common with each passing decade. An estimated 40% of people between 80 and 85 have either dementia, which makes independent living difficult, or what's known as mild cognitive impairment.

But diagnosing those conditions requires more than an hour of testing and a thorough history of someone's life, Tan says, not just watching a few seconds of a press conference.

"Some people are reading too much into little snippets of interviews without really knowing what's going on behind the scenes," he says.

Part of the process of diagnosing a brain problem is ruling out other factors.

"We often ask about sleep because that can impair memory," Sha says. "We ask about depression and anxiety, we ask about medication."

It's also critical to measure a person's current cognitive performance against their performance earlier in life, Sha says. A retired professor, for example, may do well on cognitive tests despite a significant mental decline.

Assessing a president
During his presidency, Donald Trump said that he "aced" a test called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment or MoCA. But Sha says that's a 10-minute screening test designed to flag major deficits, not an in-depth look at cognitive function.

"It's a great screening test," Sha says. "But for a president, you would kind of expect that [their score] should be perfect."

Both Sha and Tan agree that voters should consider the benefits of an older brain when considering presidential candidates.

"As you get older, you have more experience, more control [over] your emotions," Tan says. So it's important to not only look at a candidate's cognitive abilities, he says, but also "their wisdom and the principles that they live by."

Source: NPR
 
Looking pretty solid so far. Trump is coming after the presidentship in full swing.

---------------------
South Carolina primary: Donald Trump easily defeats Nikki Haley in her home state

Donald Trump is one step closer to the Republican presidential nomination after a massive win over Nikki Haley in South Carolina.

The former president won his primary opponent's home state by a 20-point margin, his fourth consecutive victory.

Mr Trump made no mention of his rival as he celebrated, setting his sights instead on the general election in November.

That will be a likely rematch with his successor in the White House.

"We're going to look Joe Biden right in the eye," he told supporters minutes after US media projected him as the winner on Saturday night. "He's destroying our country - and we're going to say 'get out Joe, you're fired'."

Mr Trump lauded his party's "unity" after Saturday's result, saying: "There's never been a spirit like this. I have never seen the Republican Party so unified."

It marked a shift from his response to last month's primary in New Hampshire, where he raged against Ms Haley for "doing a speech like she won".

Ms Haley, who once served as a popular two-term governor of South Carolina, congratulated her opponent on his victory in her speech.

She vowed to stay in the race, however, saying the roughly 40% of the vote she received was "not some tiny group".

"There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative," she said, emphasising that her continued campaign was not about her own political ambitions.

"I'm not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden," she added.

The Trump campaign dismissed Ms Haley's continued effort in a statement on Saturday, stating that her "delusion is clouding her judgement, and she is no longer living in reality".

In the days leading up to the South Carolina vote, the Trump campaign predicted the former president will accumulate enough delegates to formally clinch the nomination within the next month.

Ms Haley does not have a clear path forward - her opponent has a large lead in the delegate count and is polling far ahead in all future contests.

And yet the Haley campaign is still standing, in large part, due to contributions from deep-pocketed donors. That flow of cash has continued despite her facing long odds.

Ms Haley raised $16.5m in January alone, campaign officials said. That was her largest monthly total so far, and much more than Mr Trump's numbers.

To drive home the point that he believes the primary has now ended, Mr Trump wasted no time in making his victory speech moments after the race was called, not allowing Ms Haley to speak before him as she had done in New Hampshire.

Flanked at his podium on the Columbia state fairgrounds by nearly two dozen allies, including most of the state's political leaders, he told a raucous crowd: "This was a little sooner than we anticipated."

Mr Trump certainly has much to boast about with this win. Exit polling conducted by the BBC's US partner, CBS News, shows that the ex-president bested Ms Haley with both men and women, and among all age groups.

Lauding them for their support, Mr Trump, 77, reminded his audience: "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

But it does not seem he will be able to fully turn his attention to the general election just yet.

Ms Haley re-committed to staying in the race until at least Super Tuesday - 5 March - when voters in 16 states will cast their ballots on the same day.

"I'm a woman of my word," the former UN ambassador said. "We're headed to Michigan tomorrow, and we're headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week."

The former president also remains beleaguered by his many legal troubles, and faces the first of four criminal trials next month

He is also now on the hook for more than half a billion dollars, the combined total of two recent civil trial rulings against him in New York - one for sexual assault and defamation, and another for business fraud.

As Mr Biden racks up a sizeable cash advantage over him in what will likely be the most expensive presidential race in US history, Mr Trump is increasingly relying on donations to cover his soaring legal costs.

It appears the Republican Party could come to his aid. He has consolidated his hold over it by endorsing key allies to lead its national committee.

His daughter-in-law Lara Trump, his pick to take over as co-chair of the Republican Party, has pledged to "spend every penny" of party funds on his legal defence.

BBC
 
I'm no Trump fan, but this is a policy I could get behind

QVCJDQy.png
 
rickroll said:
Wow. Whats the deal here, Trump does not like the British Royals?
Click to expand...

Basically, meghan markle has been quite vocal about her hatred of donald trump. so he wants to kick them out of the states :ROFLMAO:
 
He is winning it if elections go ahead, doesn’t even seem a slight possibility for Biden.
 

Hahah... Donald Trump is just like the Imran Khan of US, always at the aim of establishment​

=====

Illinois judge kicks Trump off primary ballot​

An Illinois judge has ruled that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and has barred him from the state's primary ballot - though she put the ruling on hold pending an appeal.

Two other states - Colorado and Maine - have removed Mr Trump from their primary ballots for violating a 14th Amendment "insurrection" clause.

The final outcome will likely be decided by the US Supreme Court.

Illinois' primary election is scheduled for 19 March.

Early voting in the primary has already begun. Mr Trump - the front-runner Republican presidential candidate - will remain on the ballot until at least Friday while he has time to appeal against the order.

Cook County circuit judge Tracie Porter agreed with voters who argued Mr Trump had violated the US constitution's 14th Amendment because of his role in the 6 January Capitol riot.

It comes after Colorado's Supreme Court barred Mr Trump from appearing on the Republican primary ballot in December, arguing Mr Trump's actions during the 2021 Capitol riot amounted to insurrection.

In her ruling, Judge Porter called Colorado's rationale "compelling". She argued the state's Board of Elections was wrong to reject a previous bid to kick Mr Trump off the ballot.

"The Illinois State Board of Election shall remove Donald J Trump from the ballot for the General Primary Election on March 19, 2024, or cause any votes cast for him to be suppressed," she said.

A Trump spokesperson has called the ruling "unconstitutional" and vowed to appeal against it.

"The Soros-funded Democrat front-groups continue to attempt to interfere in the election and deny President Trump his rightful place on the ballot," the spokesperson said.

Mr Trump has already appealed against the Colorado case to the Supreme Court.

The top court heard arguments in the case earlier this month, appearing sceptical of Colorado's decision to ban Mr Trump from the ballot.

The legal challenge hinges on a Civil War-era constitutional amendment that bans anyone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding federal office.

But Supreme Court justices have asked tough questions of those representing Colorado voters in favour of banning Mr Trump.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked if there could be a "disenfranchising effect" if voters were not allowed to decide for themselves whether they wanted Mr Trump as president.

The Illinois judge's ruling comes after the Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear yet another case involving Mr Trump. The 6-3 conservative majority court will decide whether the former president has immunity shielding him from a lawsuit over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Source: BBC News
 
Trump moves closer to Republican nomination with string of victories

Donald Trump won a string of Republican presidential contests on Saturday, edging closer to becoming the party's candidate in November's election as he attacked his likely opponent Joe Biden.

The former president won the Missouri, Michigan and Idaho caucuses comprehensively, continuing his clean sweep of states so far.

Mr Trump, 77, told supporters at a rally in Virginia that he was "on a rocket to the Republican nomination".

He is on track to secure it next week.

His last remaining rival in the race, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, is still seeking her first victory and is without a clear path to the nomination given Mr Trump's commanding lead.

He is projected to win all of the delegates available in Missouri and all in Idaho, according to the BBC's US partner CBS news, as well as all of those remaining in Michigan. A third of delegates in that state were awarded earlier this week after a primary that Mr Trump won.

Delegates represent their state or district at the respective party's national convention, and decide who its presidential nominee will be. So far Mr Trump has secured 247 Republican delegates, according to CBS, far more than Ms Haley's 24.

In the Virginia capital of Richmond on Saturday, thousands queued for several hours to hear Mr Trump speak. He vowed to "win big" on Tuesday, when 15 states will choose their presidential candidate on a day that could put him within striking distance of the nomination.

"We got numbers today that were unbelievable," he told the crowd.

But his speech in Virginia - and at an earlier event in Greensboro, North Carolina - largely focused on migration at the US-Mexico border, a message which polls show resonates well with his base. In more than a dozen interviews with the BBC on Saturday, his supporters said the issue was among their primary concerns.

Sharon Roberts, whose son Sean died of a fentanyl overdose in 2018, said she feared an "out of control" border would lead to other families experiencing similar losses. "I'm 100% for Trump, because he'll get these borders closed," she said.

Mr Trump took direct aim at Mr Biden and blamed him once again for the border crisis, after the pair held duelling visits there last week. But he ramped up his attacks by airing a conspiracy that the current president was deliberately encouraging migrants to cross from Mexico.

"Biden and his accomplices want to collapse the American system, nullify the will of the actual American voters and establish a new base of power that gives them control for generations," Mr Trump said. Of the migrants and the Biden administration, he told supporters: "They're trying to sign them up to get them to vote in the next election."

His comments prompted a swift response from the Biden campaign. "Once again Trump is projecting in an attempt to distract the American people from the fact he killed the fairest and toughest border security bill in decades because he believed it would help his campaign," spokesman Ammar Moussa said, referring to a failed bipartisan immigration bill that Mr Trump vocally opposed.

A New York Times and Siena poll released on Saturday found 48% of American voters would support Mr Trump in a hypothetical match-up with Mr Biden, compared to 43% for the current president. It also found strong levels of dissatisfaction for Mr Biden in both parties.

At the Richmond rally, Mr Trump pointed to the poll and urged his supporters to "send a signal" on Super Tuesday.

The poll, however, showed 45% of voters would back Ms Haley in a contest with Mr Biden, with 35% supporting the current president. "I defeat Joe Biden by double digits in a general election match-up, while Trump is barely outside the margin of error," Ms Haley said shortly after it was published.

In his speech, Mr Trump criticised Ms Haley and called on her to step aside to allow Republicans to focus on the general election in November.

She has vowed to stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday. But several former Haley supporters at the Trump event said enthusiasm for her had waned in the face of repeated losses.

The former president, meanwhile, urged his supporters to deliver a decisive blow to Ms Haley on Tuesday. "We want you to get out there and vote in big margins," he said. "We want to send that little freight train going along, because the biggest day in the history of our country is November 5."

BBC
 
The US Supreme Court has ruled Donald Trump can remain on the presidential primary ballot in Colorado, handing the former president a crucial legal win as he mounts another bid for the White House.

The unanimous ruling on Monday overturned a decision from Colorado’s highest court that found the former president was not qualified to hold office because he had engaged in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Colorado is among the 15 states and one territory set to vote in primaries in what is known as Super Tuesday.

The court wrote that states might have the power to disqualify individuals holding or running for state office. However, they did not have the authority under the US constitution to enforce the legal provision Colorado had used to disqualify Trump “with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency”, the justices wrote in an unsigned decision.

In a social media post following the ruling, Trump said: “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a non-profit legal watchdog that represented voters who challenged Trump in lower Colorado courts, on Monday said the high court had “failed to meet the moment”.

The decision undercuts a legal strategy pursued by activist groups and voters in several states to throw Trump off their ballots based on his alleged violation of section three of the 14th amendment, a civil war-era measure that bars officers who have engaged in rebellion or insurrection from holding office. Officials in Colorado, Maine and Illinois had all disqualified him on this basis.

The Supreme Court, however, on Monday said “nothing in the constitution delegates to the states any power to enforce section three against federal officeholders and candidates”.

This case marked the first time the high court addressed how a legal principle originally aimed at keeping Confederates from holding office applied to the eligibility of present-day presidential candidates. Congress should pass legislation first before section three could be enforced, the court wrote.

But four of the nine justices argued separately that while they agreed with the outcome, the ruling had gone beyond the confines of the Colorado case, which they said did not present the question of how section three should be implemented at the federal level.

In one concurring opinion, the three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — wrote: “These musings are as inadequately supported as they are gratuitous.”

The “majority attempts to insulate all alleged insurrectionists from future challenges to their holding federal office”, they added. “In a sensitive case crying out for judicial restraint, it abandons that course.”

Amy Coney Barrett, one of the court’s six conservatives and one of three justices nominated by Trump, also addressed this matter. She wrote separately to say the case did not require the court to address whether federal legislation is the “exclusive vehicle” to enforce section three.

“The court has settled a politically charged issue in the volatile season of a presidential election,” Coney Barrett wrote. “For present purposes, our differences are far less important than our unanimity: All nine Justices agree on the outcome of this case. That is the message Americans should take home.”

The Colorado case was initially brought by a group of voters in the state who argued Trump had engaged in insurrection on January 6 2021, when a group of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in presidential polls. The state’s highest court agreed in a closely divided ruling, and said Trump was disqualified from appearing on its primary ballot. He appealed against that to the US Supreme Court, arguing it had been wrongly decided.

This was the most high-profile electoral case before the Supreme Court since Bush vs Gore, a controversial decision that in 2000 in effect sealed the presidential win for George W Bush after a recount in the state of Florida was blocked.

The Colorado case put the court at the heart of politically sensitive proceedings as it faces criticisms of partisanship after handing down controversial decisions along ideological lines.

Last week the high court also decided to hear Trump’s appeal on whether presidential immunity shields him from prosecution for acts committed while in office. His request stems from a federal indictment that has accused of him of seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Arguments in that case are set for the week of April 22.


Source: Financial Times
 
Trump, Biden dominate Super Tuesday contests as they march toward rematch

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump swept to victory in statewide nominating contests across the country on Tuesday, setting up a historic rematch in November's general election despite low approval ratings for both candidates.

Trump won the Republican votes in a dozen states - including delegate-rich California and Texas - brushing aside former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, his lone remaining rival, who no longer has a viable path to the nomination. Her only win of the night thus far came in Vermont, Edison Research projected.

After a commanding performance across 15 states where more than one-third of Republican delegates were up for grabs on Super Tuesday, Trump had all but clinched his third consecutive presidential nomination, despite facing a litany of criminal charges.

Trump and Biden trained their focus on each other as the results became clear. In a victory speech delivered at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida, Trump focused on Biden's immigration policies and called him the "worst president" in history.

"Our cities are being overrun with migrant crime," he said, though crime data does not support that assertion.

In a statement, Biden again cast Trump as a threat to American democracy.

"Tonight's results leave the American people with a clear choice: Are we going to keep moving forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division, and darkness that defined his term in office?" Biden said.

Biden had been expected to sail through the Democratic contests, though a protest vote in Minnesota organized by activists opposed to his forceful support of Israel attracted unexpectedly strong results.

The "uncommitted" vote in Minnesota stood at nearly 20% with more than half the estimated vote counted, according to Edison, higher even than the 13% that a similar effort in Michigan drew last week. Biden nevertheless won Minnesota and 14 other states, including a mail-in vote in Iowa that ended on Tuesday.

He did suffer one loss, in the U.S. territory of American Samoa's caucus, where entrepreneur Jason Palmer won 51 votes to Biden's 40, according to the American Samoa Democratic Party.

Another campaign between Trump, 77, and Biden, 81 - the first repeat U.S. presidential matchup since 1956 - is one few Americans seem to want. Opinion polls show both Biden and Trump have low approval ratings among voters.

Immigration and the economy were leading concerns for Republican voters, Edison exit polls in California, North Carolina and Virginia showed.

A majority of Republican voters in those states said they backed deporting illegal immigrants. Trump, who frequently denigrates migrants, has promised to mount the largest deportation effort in U.S. history if elected.

Katherine Meredith, a 65-year-old homemaker, voted for Trump in California's Huntington Beach.

"The border is a complete catastrophe," she said.

Tuesday's results will only intensify the pressure on Haley to drop out of the race. She did not make a public appearance on Tuesday, and her campaign has not scheduled any events going forward.

In a statement, her spokesperson said the vote showed "there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump."

BIDEN, TRUMP BOTH SHOW WEAKNESSES

Voters were also casting ballots in down-ticket races.

In California, Democratic U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, the lead prosecutor in Trump's first impeachment trial, advanced to the general election to succeed the late Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. His opponent will be former baseball player Steve Garvey, a Republican who finished ahead of Democratic U.S. Representative Katie Porter.

California's electoral system, in which the top two candidates advance regardless of party, prompted Schiff's campaign to employ an unusual strategy: he ran advertisements designed to boost Garvey among Republican voters, figuring that Garvey would likely be a weaker opponent in November than Porter would be in the Democratic-leaning state.

In North Carolina, Trump-endorsed Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson won the Republican nomination for governor. Robinson, who would be the state's first Black executive, has drawn criticism for harsh comments about LGBTQ people, women and Muslims.

He will face Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein in what will be one of the most hotly contested governor races in the country.

Pop megastar Taylor Swift encouraged her fans to vote in a post on Instagram, though she did not endorse specific candidates. Biden's campaign is hopeful Swift will eventually back his candidacy, as she did in 2020.

Haley's challenge has highlighted some of Trump's potential general election vulnerabilities. She has reached 40% in some state contests, performing particularly well among independent, well-educated and suburban voters who could play a crucial role in battleground states in November.

About one-third of North Carolina voters said Trump would not be fit to serve as president if he was convicted of a crime, while in Virginia, 53% said he would be fit for the office if convicted.

Trump is scheduled to begin his first criminal trial on March 25 in New York, where he is charged with falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star during his 2016 presidential run.

In addition to the New York case, Trump faces separate federal and Georgia state charges for election interference, though it is unclear whether either case will reach trial before the Nov. 5 election. He also faces federal charges for retaining classified documents after leaving office.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four criminal cases.

Biden faces his own weaknesses, including widespread concern about his age. He is already the oldest U.S. president in history.

REUTERS
 
I don’t see how Biden can manage the debate, Trump is still able to do everything he was 4 years ago.
 
Trump gets another endorsement
====
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, has endorsed Donald Trump for president.

Mr McConnell issued a statement shortly after Nikki Haley quite the race to be the Republican presidential nominee.

The long-serving Republican has frequently clashed with former President Trump, notably blaming him for the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot.

He said the endorsement came because "it is abundantly clear" Mr Trump will be his party's nominee.
 
Trump challenges Biden to debates 'anytime' after Super Tuesday wins

Donald Trump has challenged Joe Biden to TV debates, as the rivals hurtle towards a White House rematch following their sweep of the Super Tuesday votes.

The Republican said he would take part in a TV forum with the Democratic president "anytime, anywhere, anyplace" posting online in all capital letters.

Mr Biden's campaign said Mr Trump was "thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal".

No debates have so far been agreed ahead of November's election.

Mr Trump's challenge came hours after his last Republican rival, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the race to be the Republican nominee for the White House.

"It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People," Mr Trump posted on his social media website, Truth Social, hours after Ms Haley's departure from the race.

He added that such debates could be run by the Democratic National Committee, or the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has overseen presidential debates for the last 30 years.

Mr Trump said the debate commission - which declares itself non-partisan, but is accused by conservatives of bias - was a "subsidiary" of the Democratic party.

Mr Trump, 77, has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden, 81, is too old and forgetful to debate him. Mr Biden has in turn suggested it is Mr Trump who is senile.

The White House press secretary was asked earlier on Wednesday whether refusing a debate could cast doubt on Mr Biden's "acuity". She suggested the reporter speak to the president's re-election campaign.

The Biden campaign did not say whether he would participate in a debate against Mr Trump, and instead suggested that the Republican tune in to the president's Thursday evening State of the Union address to Congress.

"That's a conversation we'll have at the appropriate time in this cycle," said Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler.

"If he's so desperate to see President Biden in primetime, he doesn't have to wait! He can join the tens of millions of Americans who will tune in to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night," he continued.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump also said that he would watch the State of the Union and "will correct, in rapid response" Mr Biden's speech.

Mr Trump was fiercely criticised after he refused to take part in TV debates with his Republican rivals for the party's White House nomination this election cycle.

He argued at the time that he had nothing to gain from such forums, citing his wide lead in the polls.

Mr Biden and Mr Trump debated each other twice during the 2020 election.

SOURCE: BBC
 
This election is down to maybe a million people in 4-5 key states. Everyone else is entrenched in their positions and will not change their vote even if both these doddering old white men drop dead from heart attacks a week before the election and their actual corpses are on the ballot.

The primaries were a farce and all the big donors were saving their powder for the big one. This will be the most big money election in history. People in those 4-5 states won't be able to move without being bombarded by ad, events, visits etc.

Sad spectacle for Democracy!
 

A big impetus for Trump​

======

Billionaires to help finance Trump campaign​

Conservative billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein will help fund Donald Trump’s campaign, giving the former president financial support as he seeks to catch a fundraising lead built by President Joe Biden, the Financial Times said on Saturday.

The Uihleins, who founded the Uline shipping and packaging company from their basement in 1980, had donated to the Republican primary campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the race in January.

News of the couple’s decision came after the former president won 14 out of 15 states in the Super Tuesday primaries and his last Republican rival, Nikki Haley, quit the race, the FT said. Her exit all but assured that Trump will be the party’s nominee and face off again against Biden, a Democrat.

Trump has fallen behind Biden in fundraising ahead of the Nov 5 general election. Trump’s cash holdings dropped to just over $30 million at the end of January, down from around $33 million a month earlier, his campaign told the Federal Election Commission.

Biden, facing a less competitive process for his Democratic Party’s nomination, told the FEC his campaign ended January with about $56 million in cash, up from $46 million in December.

Trump’s legal expenses have grown to hundreds of millions of dollars as he grapples with 91 criminal counts across four cases. On Friday, he posted a $91.6 million bond to cover the defamation verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll.

The Uihleins had each given $1.5 million to DeSantis and Liz Uihlein told the FT she would give a similar amount to Trump.

Source: Reuters
 
Trump, the clear victor if establishment does not mess things up
=====
United States President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, are set for an election rematch in November after clinching their respective parties’ nominations.

Primary elections in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington on Tuesday handed Biden the Democratic nomination and Trump the nod from the Republican Party

US economy ‘envy of the world’: Biden takes on Trump’s big advantage

Biden, who had no serious competition in his party, reached the required 1,968-delegate threshold to be nominated while Trump, whose last rival Nikki Haley withdrew from the race last week, also passed the mark of 1,215 delegates needed. Both will be officially nominated at their parties’ conventions in August and July, respectively.

The widely expected results set up the first US presidential election rematch in nearly 70 years, as well as a contest between two candidates that opinion polls suggest that many voters do not want.

At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in US history, while the 77-year-old Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases, involving his handling of classified documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, among other alleged crimes.

Their rematch will almost certainly deepen the country’s political and cultural divides over the eight-month grind that lies ahead until the November 5 election.

In a statement, Biden celebrated the nomination while casting Trump as a serious threat to democracy, accusing him of “running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America”.

Trump, in a video posted on social media, celebrated what he called “a great day of victory”.

“But now we have to get back to work because we have the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump said of Biden. “So, we’re not going to take time to celebrate. We’ll celebrate in eight months when the election is over.”

Brendon O’Connor, a professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, said it was “remarkable” that the Republican Party put Trump forward for a third election in a row after losing the last contest to Biden in 2019.

“Usually, that’s a sign that you should look for a new candidate,” O’Connor told Al Jazeera.

“I think that [Trump] brings fear to his colleagues [in the Republican Party], challenging him is very hard because of his bullying, name-calling way. His supporters are incredibly loyal and vicious against those who challenge Trump within the party,” he said.

In terms of Biden, O’Connor noted that the history of US elections shows that that an incumbent president would not be challenged if they decided to run again for the presidency.

“Once you’ve won a presidential election once, you’d want to win it twice and be a two-term president. That’s usually a mark of success. So, Biden, despite being 81 years old, I think would want that place in the history,” he said.

Biden, who would be 86 years old at the end of his next term, is working to assure a sceptical electorate that he’s still physically and mentally able to thrive in the job.

He is also dealing with additional dissension within his party’s progressive base, furious that he has not done more to stop Israel’s war on Gaza.

The last repeat presidential matchup took place in 1956, when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower defeated former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, a Democrat, for the second time.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
 
Trump will be too cautious, this once
=====
Who Will Be Trump’s VP Pick? The Latest Veepstake Odds.

In a typical presidential-election year, we’d currently be in the thick of primary season. But since the 2024 election will be a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, people with an unhealthy addiction to political drama are already turning their attention to the race to be Trump’s running mate.

This is yet another aspect of the 2024 race where the normal rules don’t quite apply. Candidates typically want a potential vice-president who can “balance” the ticket demographically, ideologically, or geographically. Even Trump succumbed to this thinking in 2016: Mike Pence got the gig because he was a boring, midwestern, ultraconservative Christian with some governing experience — basically the opposite of the erratic, boorish New York TV personality. But this concession to the RNC ultimately backfired (in Trump’s mind) because Pence wouldn’t participate in his January 6 coup attempt.

Now that Trump’s GOP takeover is complete, he’s free to pick anyone he wants. And he’ll probably put a lot of stock in personal loyalty and who has “the look” (he’s known to base hiring decisions on whether candidates are “out of central casting”). This is, obviously, very creepy and inappropriate. But it’s something you have to consider when trying to predict Trump’s VP pick.

Here’s a list (which we’ll keep updated) of who is believed to be on Trump’s short list for vice-president, and the pros and cons of each possibility, loosely arranged from the candidates with the best odds to the worst.

Source : New York Intelligencer
 
Former President Donald Trump vowed on Saturday that there would be a “bloodbath” if he’s not reelected in November

The comments came at a rally here as Trump discussed the possibility of an increasing trade war with China over auto manufacturing. The rally was intended to get out the vote for Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, whom Trump endorsed in December, ahead of Ohio’s primary on Tuesday.

“If you're listening, President Xi - and you and I are friends - but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now…you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us, no. “We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected,” Trump said.

“Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it,” he added. “It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.”

Later, he added, “If this election isn’t won, I’m not sure that you’ll ever have another election in this country.”

In response to the former president’s comments, Trump campaign flaming Karoline Leavitt told NBC News, “Biden’s policies will create an economic bloodbath for the auto industry and auto workers.”

James Singer, a spokesman for President Joe Biden’s campaign, issued a statement following Trump’s remarks, noting that former Vice President Mike Pence announced he will not endorse Trump’s reelection bid.

“This is who Donald Trump is: a loser who gets beat by over 7 million votes and then instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience doubles down on his threats of political violence,” Singer said. “He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”

www.nbcnews.com

Trump says there will be a 'bloodbath' if he loses the election

Trump's comments came at a rally in Ohio in the context of auto manufacturing. The Biden campaign responded by criticizing the former president's "threats of political violence."
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
 
Trump is a great leader, but his main problem is that he has no control over his words.
 
'Take appropriate action': Donald Trump threatens to deport Harry if it is revealed the Duke of Sussex lied on visa forms

Donald Trump has not ruled out deporting Prince Harry from the United States if it is revealed the Duke of Sussex lied about his past drug use on his visa application.

Harry has lived in California for four years with his American wife Meghan Markle and their two children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet but is not yet a citizen of the United States.

The United States often denies entry to convicted or admitted drug offenders.

Last month, the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security to release the visa documents under the Freedom of Information Act, after claiming that Harry may have received favourable treatment when applying for his residency visa.

When applying for residency, applicants must disclose past drug use and the Prince famously revealed in his book Spare that he took drugs, raising questions about his eligibility to live in the United States.

Harry, 39, admitted to previously using a long list of illicit substances in his book, including marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms.

“It wasn’t much fun, and it didn’t make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me… but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal," the Prince wrote.

The lawyer waging the legal battle against DHS told Britain’s Express newspaper the case was designed to expose whether a “dual system of justice” exists for the rich, famous and royals.

In 2014, British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson was barred from boarding a flight to the US after she confessed to using cocaine during an unrelated court case, although the ban was later lifted on appeal.

On Tuesday, Trump sat down with GB News host Nigel Farage and revealed he “may take appropriate action” to deport Harry if he wins the Presidential election in November.

“We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action,” he said.

Farage then asked: “Appropriate action? Which might mean…not staying in America?”

“Oh I don’t know,” the former President and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee replied.

“You’ll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago.”

The comments are not the first time Trump has taken aim at the Duke of Sussex after he previously criticised Harry’s “betrayal” of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Trump also warned that Harry will be “on his own” if he is re-elected as president in a rematch against Joe Biden in November.

“I wouldn’t protect him,” he told The Express newspaper.

“He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”

Conversely, the Biden administration has so far refused to release any information about Harry’s visa records in order to “protect the Duke's privacy”.

SOURCE: https://www.skynews.com.au/lifestyl...s/news-story/73997999cb90186a6dc0d6613d0c4a67
 

Ohio Senate race comes into focus after Trump-backed candidate wins GOP primary​

The closely watched Ohio Senate race came into focus Tuesday night as Bernie Moreno, a Republican endorsed by former president Donald Trump, advanced to a general-election matchup against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). The contest is one of a small number that could determine control of the Senate next year. For the first time this year, presidential contests in several states took a back seat to down-ballot races Tuesday.

Trump won Republican primaries in Ohio, Arizona, Illinois, Kansas and Florida. President Biden notched wins in Democratic primaries in those states, except in Florida, where Democrats canceled the primary.

Soon after Moreno was declared the winner in Ohio, Democratic groups attempted to paint him as an untrustworthy extremist — noting his swerves in the way he talked about Trump and his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and abortion.
Biden has a mix of campaign and official events scheduled Wednesday in Arizona and Texas.

Source: The Washington Post
 
Donald Trump Suffers Brutal Florida Primary Vote Against Him

Donald Trump suffered a blow in Tuesday's primary in Florida, a state he only narrowly won in the 2020 presidential election, after thousands of Republicans refused to vote for him.

While the former president won the primary with 910,857 votes, 81.2 percent of the overall share, some 197,000 people, or 17.8 percent, voted for either Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, despite both candidates having dropped out of the race.

The results suggest the former president is losing support in Florida compared with the previous election in 2020. That year, he won about 94 percent of the state vote in the primary.

The Republican went on to take the state in 2020 by a slim margin, securing 51.2 percent of the vote to Joe Biden's 47.9 percent.
Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.

Last week, Trump was confirmed as the GOP nominee for November's presidential election after securing enough delegates across multiple primaries. He looks set to face-off against Democratic incumbent Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election.

Despite enjoying widespread support from members of his party, a significant number of moderates in the GOP have said they would never vote for the former president and the party has seen infighting in Congress and in its governing body, the Republican National Committee in recent weeks.

Haley, the former South Carolina governor, dropped out of the primary race earlier this month in the wake of Super Tuesday, but still received 13.9 percent of the vote in Florida, 155,461 votes in total according to the Associated Press.

DeSantis, the governor of Florida, received 41,233 votes, amassing 3.7 percent of the total share. He dropped out of the race in January and then endorsed Trump.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott said the results showed division within the Republican Party.

"This is not a united Republican Party," he said.

Progressive political commentator Luke Beasley said the number of votes the Republican lost showed that "Trump is in trouble in Florida."

Last week Trump also lost a number of votes to Haley in the Georgia Republican primary, in which she received 13 percent of the vote, more than 77,000 ballots.

The Republican National Convention, where Trump will be confirmed as the 2024 nominee, will take place in Milwaukee in July.



Newsweek
 
Americans have to choose between Biden and Trump

Brits have to choose between Sunak and Starmer

Pakistani’s, well, Pakistani’s can’t really choose.

The common people are being governed by buffoons, it’s only a matter of time we escape the matrix.
 
Former President Donald Trump’s fundraising picked up last month, but his political operation is still struggling to catch up to President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in money coming in.

Trump’s campaign and his Save America political action committee, two key committees in his political operation, reported raising a combined $15.9 million in February and ended the month with more than $37 million on hand, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday night.

That’s up from January, when the committees raised only $13.8 million. As Trump in February handily won primary contests in Nevada and New Hampshire, the prospects of any Republican challenger overtaking him in the presidential race dimmed significantly.

“Americans know that they were better off with President Trump four years ago than with Crooked Joe Biden and his disastrous policies. We need a return to America First policies that successfully kept our country safe and supercharged the economy for all Americans,” Trump’s campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Unimpressed, Biden campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler said in a statement, “If Donald Trump put up these kinds of numbers on The Apprentice, he’d fire himself,.”

“But here’s why he ain’t got it: his extreme, toxic agenda of banning abortion, slashing Social Security, and promoting political violence is repelling donors and doing exactly (asterisk)nothing(asterisk) to earn support from the voters who will decide this election.”

Source: Cenlanow
 

Trump faces assets seizure as $464m bond deadline looms in New York​


Donald Trump is running out of time to post a bond to cover a $464m (£367m) civil fraud ruling - or face the risk of New York state beginning to seize some of his assets.

The former US president, who is seeking to regain the White House later this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond by Monday's deadline while he appeals against Justice Arthur Engoron's February judgment.

The judge agreed with prosecutors that Mr Trump deceived banks and insurers for years by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals, and said he had to pay a multi-million dollar bond if he wanted to appeal.

Mr Trump has denied wrongdoing in the case and all the cases against him.

The ex-president personally owes $454m (£359m), but the figure goes up when taking into account interest and money owed by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and the Trump Organization.

Here, we take a look at Mr Trump's assets and income - and what may happen if he fails to pay up in time.

If he misses the deadline, what happens?

The state of New York could start seizing the tycoon's assets - but it may be over a year before properties such as Trump Tower and other real estate holdings are on the chopping block.

Some experts believe seizing his bank accounts will be easier and relatively quick compared to dealing with his properties.

A US marshal can simply be asked to take a court order to a bank holding Trump's money.

The process involving properties is more complicated, legal experts say.

Alan Sash, a New York lawyer, said: "Seizing a property is a poor way to describe it, because it gives the impression that someone goes and grabs it.

"It's not like that at all. It's slow and methodical."

However, the New York attorney general will be able to go after any properties Trump owns in order to satisfy the judgment - although the process is likely to be more complex for properties outside of New York.

How much is Trump worth?

A breakdown of his net worth can be achieved based on court filings and federal financial disclosures.

In some cases, the values reported by Trump were disputed in the New York civil case, which the real estate billionaire plans to appeal against.

In a social media post last Friday, Trump said he has "almost five hundred million dollars in cash".

In an April 2023 deposition with New York attorney general Letitia James, he said he had "substantially in excess of 400 million in cash".

A financial statement for 30 June 2021 submitted to the court by Trump showed he had $293.8m (£232.5m) worth of cash and cash equivalents at the time.

In 2022, Trump reported at least $537m (£425m) in revenues related to golf courses and hotels.

He also made money from licensing fees and royalties, and from other interests including speaking engagements and in distributions from his stake in buildings.

His Truth Social platform is said to be worth about $6bn (£4.75bn).

The company is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market - potentially netting the former US president $3bn (£2.37bn).

However, even if the deal gets completed, Trump will not be allowed to sell any of his shares in the combined company for six months or borrow against them, based on terms he previously agreed.

What properties does he own?

Trump owns hotels, office buildings, residential buildings, golf courses and estates.

A June 2021 financial statement listed several of his most valuable properties such as 40 Wall Street, an office building in New York, Trump Tower in Manhattan, and the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

The financial statement said his properties were worth $4.3bn (£3.4bn) at the time.

In the New York case, the judge ruled Trump had overstated the value of some of the properties - and called the estimated value of Mar-a-Lago "fraudulent" and "possibly a billion dollars or more" over its market value.

he case is not the only one draining Trump's finances.

This month, he posted a $91.6m (£72.5m) bond to cover an $83.3m (£65.9m) defamation verdict for writer E Jean Carroll while he appeals.

She sued him after Trump called her a liar for accusing him of raping her decades ago. He has denied wrongdoing.

news.sky.com

Trump wins reduction in $454m bond and has deadline extended

Donald Trump was found to have deceived banks and insurers for years by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
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