Category Archives: Donald Trump

While Biden and Kishida exchange praise in Washington, Japan is asking ‘what if Trump’?

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Despite warm words from the US and Japanese leaders during their summit this week, back in Japan the spectre of a second Trump White House looms large

Joe Biden was effusive in his praise for Japan and its “bold” prime minister, Fumio Kishida, during a state visit that took place this week amid new and growing security threats in the Asia-Pacific, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and months of political uncertainty ahead for both leaders.

The first ladies, Jill Biden and Yuko Kishida, exchanged gifts and hugs, there was talk of cherry blossoms and a state banquet menu inspired by Japanese cuisine – and even a half-decent joke from Kishida about the Flintstones.

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Trump and Mike Johnson push for redundant ban on non-citizens voting

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Planned bill to ban already illegal practice is latest Republican step to spread falsehoods about immigration and voter fraud

Donald Trump and the House speaker, Mike Johnson, plan to push for a bill to ban non-citizens from voting, the latest step by Republicans to falsely claim migrants are coming to the country and casting ballots.

Voting when a person is not eligible – for instance if they lack US citizenship – is already illegal under federal law. It is unclear what the bill Johnson and the former president will discuss in their Friday press conference at Mar-a-Lago will do to alter that. But it is one more way for the former president to focus on election security and to ding the Biden administration over the situation at the US-Mexico border, a key issue for likely Republican voters this November.

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Trump says he would not sign abortion ban if elected as Republicans backpedal on reproductive rights – live

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Former president says Arizona abortion ban went too far as Democrats note he appointed justices who ended Roe

The Arizona supreme court decision upended Donald Trump’s gambit on abortion, a day after the former president sought to neutralize the political issue by declining to support a national abortion ban.

Trump had hoped that his announcement on Monday would keep abortion rights mostly out of the conversation ahead of the November elections, but Tuesday’s ruling showed just how difficult it will be to do that, the Washington Post’s Dan Balz writes.

All abortion politics are national, not local. Abortion developments – new laws, new restrictions, new stories of women caught up in heart-wrenching and sometimes life-threatening decisions – are no longer confined to the geography where they take place. They are instantly part of the larger debate.

There is no safe harbor for Trump and the Republicans at this point. The abortion issue is no less complex and no less difficult for many Americans than it was while Roe was in force. But politically the winds have shifted, and done so dramatically.

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Gerald Ford foundation accused of not honoring Liz Cheney over Trump fears

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Ford’s White House photographer resigns from board, alleging it refused to honor Republican over fear of retribution

Gerald Ford’s White House photographer resigned from the board of the 38th president’s eponymous foundation and alleged it refused to honor Liz Cheney, the anti-Trump former Republican congresswoman, for fear of reprisal should Donald Trump return to power next year.

The honor in question was the Gerald R Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Recent recipients include the former defense secretary Robert Gates; the late Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole and his wife, the former senator Elizabeth Dole; and the late secretary of state Colin Powell.

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Cameron’s Mar-a-Lago lobbying may not be enough to reach the new Republican party

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The UK foreign secretary’s Trump dinner appeared to fail to bring support for Ukraine, and his Washington meetings don’t look any more promising

Whatever happened at Mar-a-Lago between David Cameron and Donald Trump on Monday night, was clearly going to stay in Mar-a-Lago.

Dinner at the Trump Florida residence was always going to be a stiff test of the UK foreign secretary’s influence over the former president, presidential candidate, and the man he had previously referred to variously as protectionist, xenophobic, and misogynistic.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: David Cameron meets Donald Trump to urge more US support for Kyiv

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British foreign secretary talked with Republican presidential candidate following Trump’s repeated questioning of US aid to Ukraine

Russia and China will continue to cooperate in the fight against terrorism as part of their ever-strengthening relationship, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in Beijing on Tuesday after talks with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.

“I thank the Chinese side for their condolences in connection with the terrorist attack in the Moscow region on March 22 of this year, for supporting Russia’s fight against terrorism,” Russian news agencies cited Lavrov as saying.

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New York appeals judge rejects Trump’s request to delay hush-money trial

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Lawyers had argued trial should be postponed while they seek a change of venue to move it out of heavily Democratic Manhattan

A New York appeals court judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his 15 April hush-money criminal trial while he fights to move the case out of Manhattan.

The decision came Monday, a week before jury selection was set to start.

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Trump to seek federal investigations of Biden if re-elected, report says

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‘Trump ally’ tells Axios federal charges all were precedent ex-president would need to prosecute Biden in turn

Donald Trump will seek to mount federal investigations and prosecutions of Joe Biden and his family if Trump wins re-election this year, the news site Axios reported.

“Everything you have seen from the Biden Department of Justice you can expect to see from the Trump DoJ,” a source “close to the Trump campaign” was quoted as saying.

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‘He can help Trump win’: US groups take on RFK Jr after No Labels stands down

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Advocacy groups raise alarm over threat of third-party candidate: ‘anyone who divides the anti-Trump coalition is dangerous’

Celebrating the demise of No Labels as a third-party presidential election threat, two advocacy groups who mobilised against it have said they would now turn their sights on Robert F Kennedy Jr’s independent run for the White House.

Though it is hard to make solid predictions, a high-profile third-party run in 2024 unnerves both Republicans and Democrats who fear it might siphon off their votes. But the nervousness is especially pronounced among supporters of Joe Biden, who worry such a campaign could split the center and left and allow Donald Trump and his highly motivated rightwing base to win a return to the Oval Office.

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No Labels national director says he will vote for Joe Biden

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Joe Cunningham says ‘I would vote for Biden over Trump’ after third-party group dropped effort to run own candidate

The national director of No Labels, the third-party group which on Thursday said it would not run a candidate in the US presidential election, will now vote for Joe Biden, not Donald Trump.

“Me, as a person?” Joe Cunningham told Fox News. “I would vote for Biden over Trump.”

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Judge rejects Trump attempt to toss classified documents case with caveats

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Trump’s Presidential Records Act argument could be resurrected at trial even as the judge denied his motion to dismiss

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents denied his effort to have the case dismissed on the contention that the Presidential Records Act allowed him to transform them as personal property and possess them at his Mar-a-Lago club.

The ruling by US district judge Aileen Cannon was significant as it struck one of Trump’s main defenses and suggested the case is headed to trial.

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Biden tells Netanyahu Gaza aid strikes ‘unacceptable’ and Israel must end civilian suffering to keep US support – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For more on the Biden-Netanyahu phone call, you can read our full report:

Jill Biden pleaded with her husband, Joe Biden, to “stop it, stop it now”, referring to the war in Gaza, the president told guests at the White House, according to a report.

At a meeting with Muslim community members on Tuesday, a guest told Biden that his wife had disapproved of him attending the event because of the president’s support for Israel in its war in Gaza, the New York Times reported yesterday. The report states:

Mr Biden replied that he understood. The first lady, he said, had been urging him to ‘Stop it, stop it now,’ according to an attendee who heard his remarks.

Just like the president, the first lady is heartbroken over the attacks on aid workers and the ongoing loss of innocent lives in Gaza. They both want Israel to do more to protect civilians.

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Trump classified documents case faces delays amid argument over ‘flawed legal premise’

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Jack Smith says if judge decides Trump can cite federal records law in his defense to claim immunity, he will appeal to higher court

In a court filing, the special counsel Jack Smith said that the judge in Donald Trump’s criminal case over his retention of classified information was relying on a “fundamentally flawed legal premise” when asking lawyers to consider whether the former president can claim immunity under federal records law.

Smith also said that if the judge, Aileen Cannon, ruled Trump can indeed cite the Presidential Records Act (PRA) in his defence, he would appeal to a higher court, seeking an order for her to apply the law correctly and, implicitly, her removal from the case.

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Trump rails against ‘migrant crime’ and ‘rigged’ 2020 election at Wisconsin rally

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Thousands show up in Green Bay where ex-president attacks ‘fake media’ and ‘tyrants’ in state where he lost to Biden four years ago

On Wisconsin’s presidential primary election day, Donald Trump made his first campaign stop in the state, where he railed against so-called “migrant crime” and doubled down on false election claims.

“We won in 2016 – we did much better in 2020, hate to say it, we did a hell of a lot better,” the former president told the roaring crowd, nodding to the disproven and unfounded “rigging” numerous times during his speech.

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Biden and Trump sweep four primaries including battleground state Wisconsin

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Both candidates have clinched nominations, but Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin turnout may hint at 2024 results

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump won primary elections in four states, including the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin.

Hundreds of delegates were up for grabs in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin on Tuesday, and Biden and Trump have already amassed enough delegates to win their respective nominations. But the turnout could provide more clues about the general election in November.

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Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut primaries: follow live results

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Voters cast ballots in four states including key battleground for Trump and Biden. Get up to speed with the results as they come in

Voters in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin cast ballots in the presidential primaries on Tuesday. Much attention will be paid to Wisconsin, where voters will signal strength and weaknesses in the critical swing state for Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

There are also options in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Wisconsin for voters to choose “uncommitted” in a show of protest against Biden’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

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Biden faces test in Wisconsin as Gaza supporters call for ‘uninstructed’ vote

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Voters will also potentially enshrine two state amendments that some say could have a negative impact on elections administration

Voters in Wisconsin cast their ballots today in an election that will test voter enthusiasm for Joe Biden and Donald Trump – and potentially enshrine two amendments in the state constitution impacting election administration across the state.

The president and former president are already the presumptive nominees and will almost certainly face off in the general election in November, and it seems that the threat of prosecution, general unpopularity and advanced age can’t stop them.

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Trump’s Truth Social reveals $58m loss as auditor raises doubts about viability

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Shares dropped by as much as 25% as investors scrutinize fundamentals of company’s business

Shares in Donald Trump’s Truth Social dropped by as much as 25% on Monday after the social media company revealed it lost $58.2m last year and an auditor disclosed “substantial doubt” over its ability to continue operating.

An extraordinary stock market debut last week left Trump Media & Technology Group valued at more than $7bn. But it generated sales of just $4.13m in 2023, according to regulatory filings.

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Extremist ex-adviser drives ‘anti-white racism’ plan for Trump win – report

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Former White House adviser and white nationalist Stephen Miller plans to reinterpret civil rights laws should Trump return to power

The former Trump White House adviser, anti-immigration extremist and white nationalist Stephen Miller is helping drive a plan to tackle supposed “anti-white racism” if Donald Trump returns to power next year, Axios reported.

“Longtime aides and allies … have been laying legal groundwork with a flurry of lawsuits and legal complaints – some of which have been successful,” Axios said on Monday.

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Election of Donald Trump ‘could put world’s climate goals at risk’

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Former UN climate chief warns of global impact of a possible regression in US green policies

Victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk, a former UN climate chief has warned.

The chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim, but Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter, according to Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022.

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