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Mr Trump sent holiday message days after Supreme Court declined to rule in presidential immunity case
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Donald Trump doubles down on anti-immigrant rhetoric after Supreme Court decision
Donald Trump marked Christmas Day by sharing a video compilation of his festive presidential speeches after spending hours ranting about the 2024 election, his legal woes and posting a seasonal greeting that his opponents “rot in hell”.
“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA,’” the former president wrote.
The holiday greeting was also aimed at world leaders, “both good and bad”, and the “sick” thugs at home “looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
Looking ahead to next year, Mr Trump will be juggling four criminal trials that carry a total of 91 felony counts as well as his presidential campaign.
Mr Trump’s legal team is making concerted efforts to try to delay or dismiss the cases. On Saturday, his lawyers asked an appeals court to throw out the 2020 federal election interference case against him on presidential immunity grounds.
The 2024 presidential election has begun and The Independent is here to help you unpick the twists and turns of the race as the starting gun goes off.
Despite the fact he faces four indictments and remains an incredibly polarising figure in American politics, Donald Trump remains immensely popular.
Join The Independent for a virtual roundtable event recapping the election results in Iowa and looking ahead to the rest of the year.
Deputy US editor David Taintor and senior Washington correspondent Eric Garcia will sit down with a panel of experts to analyse the results from the Iowa caucuses and look ahead to New Hampshire, using early signs to share predictions on how the upcoming race for the White House could unfold.
Our expert panel includes Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee communications director and deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He also managed Republicans communications for the 2012 Iowa Caucus.
The event will be hosted on Zoom and will last one hour. It will take place on Thursday January 18 and will start at 4pm ET (9pm GMT).
Once signed up you will be able to ask questions to the panel.
For more information and to sign up for a free ticket click here.
You can also post questions in the comments of this article.
Late Night host Seth Meyers delved into all the times Donald Trump has shown “admiration for dictators” in his show on Thursday night – following the former president’s recent declaration that he would be a dictator on “day one” of a possible second term and his recent anti-immigration comments echoing Adolf Hitler.
In a recent interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Mr Trump was asked if he would ever “abuse power” if he returns to the White House in 2024.
The former president replied: “Except for day one.”
While many GOP lawmakers defended his remarks, putting them down to one of Trump’s many “Trump-isms”, Mr Meyers decided to take a closer look at the times the former president has shown his appreciation for history’s most disturbing dictators.
“He used to be pro-choice, now he’s anti-abortion. He used to be for gun control, now he’s against it. But the one thing he’s been consistent on his entire life is his support for dictators,” Mr Meyers said on his show on Thursday.
Read the full article
First there were Ron DeSantis’ alleged heeled boots, now there are Donald Trump’s “toe pads.”
Social media has not taken kindly to the discovery of the two black rectangular pads spotted under the former president’s feet while he was speaking at Mar-a-Lago.
“What is Trump standing on here? How often does he use these?” one account asked in an X post, which included a photo of Mr Trump’s shiny black shoes leaning on the pads.
One user joked, “trump toe pads, desantis’ heels – does the Republican Party have a foot fetish?”
Read the full article
Donald Trump personally pressured two Republican officials in Michigan to not certify the 2020 presidential election result in the state, according to a report.
In a 17 November 2020 phone call, the then-president told the officials Monica Palmer and William Hartmann – both members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers – that they would look “terrible” if they certified the results.
According to The Detroit News, which obtained audio of the call, Mr Trump went on to tell the officials: “We’ve got to fight for our country.”
Mr Trump also reportedly told Ms Palmer and Mr Hartmann that his team would “take care” of them, saying that “we can’t let these people take our country away from us”.
Read more here:
President Joe Biden beat Mr Trump by 154,000 votes in Michigan, paving the way for him to win the White House
So, amid all the angry posting on Truth Social, how did Donald Trump spend Christmas?
Well, footage captured by a dinner guest at Mar-a-Lago on Christmas Eve and posted to Instagram shows the former president greeting diners and joining one table for at least part of the meal.
The video clip has been circulating on X, formerly known as Twitter, with users once again pondering the whereabouts of former first lady Melania Trump — rarely seen with her husband, even during the holidays.
Lawsuits challenging Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the 2024 presidential primary ballots have sprung up in several states.
Individuals and left-wing organisations have claimed that Mr Trump violated Section Three of the 14th Amendment – known as the insurrection clause – citing his involvement in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
So far only one state, Colorado, has removed Mr Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. The state’s Supreme Court ruled on 19 December that the former president is ineligible to appear on the state ballot and cannot be considered an option for the White House.
While Mr Trump says he plans to appeal the Colorado decision, likely taking the case up to the US Supreme Court, he is also preparing for challenges, appeals and decisions in other states.
Here’s a look at the other challenges to Mr Trump’s eligibility for the 2024 race:
Voters, former politicians and left-wing organisations have filed lawsuits in at least 16 states to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential primary ballot
Fox News host Neil Cavuto took a few minutes on his show “Your World” to respond to hate mail from viewers on Thursday.
A few viewers were particularly disgruntled about Mr Cavuto’s refusal to reject the results of the 2020 election.
“Sad to watch an intelligent man proudly display his ignorance when Neil Cavuto insists with moral certitude that the 2020 election rigging absolutely did not occur,” a viewer named Kevin wrote to Mr Cavuto.
Former President Donald Trump and several of his associates are facing an array of legal headaches stemming from their false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, from felony charges to blockbuster payouts. In April, Fox News also reached a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, avoiding a trial that would examine the network’s coverage of false claims that 2020 election was rigged.
“So, Neil Cavuto, the Omnipotent One, has concluded that the last election wasn’t stolen,” JJ, another viewer, wrote. “Says who, fat head?”
Mr Cavuto did not mince words in his response to JJ.
“Well, says every rational human being on the planet,” he said. “That includes 38 investigations, scores of recounts, then recounts of recounts, and dozens of more court cases often led by Trump-appointed judges. Outside of that, take your pick.”
President Joe Biden said there is “no question” that Donald Trump was responsible for fuelling an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. “It’s self-evident. You saw it all,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“I’m not an insurrectionist,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social the next day. “Crooked Joe Biden is!!!”
He didn’t elaborate, but it’s the latest attempt from the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 to spin, or project, accusations against him toward those doing the accusing.
It’s a claim spread across his marathon rallies and on his social media. It’s echoed by his allies and supporters. And it only comes after Mr Trump faces criminal charges for his own attempts to overturn the results of millions of Americans’ votes in the 2020 presidential election, and the growing list of lawsuits threatening to remove him from 2024 ballots because of it.
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Trump attends a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa on 19 December
REUTERS
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