Trump news - live: Ex-President rages at Fulton County prosecutors for ‘trying to steal a second election’

Donald Trump attempted to have popular late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel silenced during his presidency by having his White House staff call ABC owner Disney to demand an end to his jokes at the administration’s expense, according to Rolling Stone.

A former Trump official told the magazine that that “severity of Mr Trump’s fury” was conveyed in at least two separate phone calls to executives because the commander-in-chief felt the comedian had been “very dishonest and [was] doing things that he would have once sued over”.

“I do not know to who, but it happened,” the unnamed ex-aide said. “Nobody thought it was going to change anything but DJT was focused on it so we had to do something… It was doing something, mostly, to say to him, ‘Hey, we did this.’”

Meanwhile, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has told CNN that a “loyalty pledge” might become a requirement for candidates taking part in the party’s presidential debates, which would compel the likes of Mr Trump to support the eventual winner if he himself is not nominated, a bid to avoid the damaging name-calling, animosity and ill-feeling that has toxified previous head-to-heads.

Key Points

• Trump tried to silence Jimmy Kimmel over mockery

• GOP to introduce ‘loyalty pledge’ for presidential candidates

• Trump ridiculed over ‘knock heads’ Ukraine peace plan

• Ex-president accused of ‘shell game with classified documents’

• Trump calls for Zuckerberg to be prosecuted and screams: ‘Biden is leading us into oblivion!!!’

Trump takes aim at Fulton County prosecutors

14:48 , John Bowden

After his attorneys told Axios that they don’t accept the validity of Fulton County’s investigation into their boss, Donald Trump took aim at the Georgia prosecutors investigating his effort to change the lawful results of the 2020 election.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, the ex-president accused Georgia law enforcement of “trying to steal a second presidential election” as he continues his efforts to denigrate trust in America’s election systems, court systems, and civil servants.

GOP leaders, stung by losses, plan to wade into Senate races

14:31 , John Bowden

Angry over a wave of losses experienced by pro-Trump candidates in the last election cycle, Republican leadership isn’t willing to let Donald Trump steer the ship anymore — at least not unopposed.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee intends to wade into party primaries in key states, providing resources to its preferred candidates in a bid to produce nominees who are more palatable to general election voters.

Follow this story in The Independent:

GOP leaders, stung by losses, plan to wade into Senate races

Ron DeSantis moves toward Republican presidential bid on his own terms

13:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Republican presidential contenders typically fight for prime speaking slots at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). But as activists gather in suburban Washington this week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis will be courting donors more than a thousand miles away in Texas and California.

The apparent CPAC snub is nothing new for Mr DeSantis, who has emerged in the early phase of the 2024 presidential election as a leading contender for the GOP nomination even as he ignores many conventions of modern politics.

Mr DeSantis is a regular voice in conservative cultural fights on cable television but often avoids gatherings of fellow Republican governors and party leaders, who are quick to complain in private about his go-it-alone approach.

He is the only top-tier presidential prospect yet to court voters in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina, the states hosting the GOP’s opening presidential primary contests. And he is often at odds with the press, refusing even to notify local media of last week’s rare three-state tour with law enforcement.

Here’s a little more on his singular approach to courting national political popularity.

DeSantis moves toward GOP presidential bid on his own terms

Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for saying 6bn migrants have crossed US border under Biden

13:15 , Joe Sommerlad

MAGA Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wildly inflated the number of migrants she alleges have illegally crossed the US border from Mexico during Joe Biden’s time in the Oval Office during a tweet over the weekend, a statement for which she was roundly and rightly ridiculed.

“$113 Billion has been appropriated to Ukraine in just 1 yr,” she declared. “Trump’s wall would have only cost $22 billion, but Congress refused to fund it. 6 Billion people illegally crossed our border since Biden took office, but Ukraine’s border is the only border that matters to Washington.”

The population of the entire world is only 8bn, lest we forget, and just 332m live in the US.

Graig Graziosi rounds up the ridicule.

Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for saying 6 billion crossed US border

Bryan Cranston says Trump's Make America Great Again slogan is racist

12:45 , Joe Sommerlad

The Breaking Bad star sat down with veteran anchor Chris Wallace for his CNN interview show over the weekend to offer an interesting point of view about the MAGA movement and its assumptions, arguing that it intentionally sidelines the African American experience.

John Bolton says he will run to be next US president to stop Trump

12:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Speaking to Camilla Tominey on right-wing GB News, the Republican’s hawkish former national security adviser turned enemy John Bolton said he plans to run for the White House in a bid to block Trump, saying it was a “very difficult decision" to put his name forward but that he was determined to do so to prevent a belated second Trump term..

"I think it’s very important that Donald Trump not be the nominee of the Republican Party in 2024,” he said.

"I think he can be defeated. I’d certainly like to help out in making that happen.

"And if if I think being a candidate myself does show a path to getting the nomination, to winning in November of next year, then, yes, I’ll get it."

Trump calls for Zuckerberg to be prosecuted and screams: ‘Biden is leading us into oblivion!!!’

11:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Over on Truth Social, Mr Trump has been posting about a Fox story allegedly tying Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to a $2m donation to the Georgia elections board.

“He cheated on the Election(s),” the former president raged: “The whole system is RIGGED. Why isn’t he being prosecuted? The Democrats only know how to cheat. America isn’t going to take it much longer!”

Clearly having a very normal Sunday evening at home in his rotting mansion, Mr Trump also tweeted, sorry “truthed”: “Crooked Democrat Prosecutors, many of them Racists in Reverse, are trying to steal a second Presidential Election. They did it in 2020, and we’re not going to let them do it again in 2024. MAGA!!!”

All of which came after this beauty: “This is the most dangerous time in the history of our Country. World War III is looming, like never before, in the very dark and murky background. ‘Leadership’ is solely responsible for this unprecedented danger to the USA, and likewise, the World. HOPELESS JOE BIDEN IS LEADING US INTO OBLIVION!!!”

Ho boy.

Ex-president accused of ‘shell game with classified documents’

11:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Department of Justice (DoJ) investigators are examining whether the actions by Mr Trump and at least one of his long-time aides may have kept a box containing documents with classified markings from being discovered during the search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, property by FBI agents on 8 August last year.

According to CNN, the box at issue contained “a handful” of documents bearing classification markings as well as copies of presidential schedules dating back to Mr Trump’s time in the White House.

It was discovered in December after DoJ officials told Mr Trump’s attorneys to conduct another search for government-owned records at the twice-impeached ex-president’s property and subsequently turned over to federal authorities.

Citing a person familiar with both the box’s laborious journey between locations connected to the ex-president and the inquiry being overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, CNN said federal investigators suspect Mr Trump played a “shell game with classified documents” by directing staff to move the box between Mar-a-Lago and a nearby office block rented by Mr Trump’s team with federal funds available to him under the Former Presidents Act.

Andrew Feinberg has more.

Trump accused of ‘shell game with classified documents’ after box moved around

Trump ridiculed over ‘knock heads’ Ukraine peace plan

10:45 , Joe Sommerlad

If the former president is so sensitive to Jimmy Kimmel jokes, he perhaps ought to try a little harder to avoid presenting comics with such easy material.

Mr Trump is currently being mocked for his ludicrous remarks on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, made in a radio interview with former Fox anchor Glenn Beck.

“The saddest part about the war is that this is a war that should’ve never happened, right, okay?” the 45th president said.

“So now it happened. Now you have to get people in a room. You have to knock heads and you have to get it done.

“That would mean saying things to [Vladimir] Putin and saying things to [Volodymyr] Zelensky that they’re not gonna want to hear and getting them into a room and getting it done.”

Sure thing Don.

Sheila Flynn has more.

Trump mocked after sharing his plan to end Ukraine war: ‘Knock heads’

GOP to introduce ‘loyalty pledge’ for presidential candidates

10:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has told CNN that a “loyalty pledge” might become a requirement for candidates taking part in the party’s presidential debates, which would compel the likes of Mr Trump to support the eventual winner if he himself is not nominated, a bid to avoid the damaging name-calling, animosity and ill-feeling that has toxified previous head-to-heads.

“We haven’t put the criteria out, but I expect a pledge will be part of it,” Ms McDaniel told Dana Bash on Sunday’s State of the Union, adding: “I think they’re all going to sign it.”

John Bowden has the full story.

GOP chair says party may try to force Trump to back GOP nominee even if it’s not him

Trump tried to silence Jimmy Kimmel over mockery

09:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Donald Trump attempted to have popular late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel silenced during his presidency by having his White House staff call ABC owner Disney to demand an end to his jokes at the Trump’s administration’s expense, according to Rolling Stone.

A former Trump official told the magazine that that “severity of Mr Trump’s fury” was conveyed in at least two separate phone calls to executives because the commander-in-chief felt the comedian had been “very dishonest and doing things that he would have once sued over”.

“I do not know to who, but it happened,” the unnamed ex-aide said. “Nobody thought it was going to change anything but DJT was focused on it so we had to do something… It was doing something, mostly, to say to [Trump], ‘Hey, we did this.’”

Shweta Sharma has more.

Trump tried to get Jimmy Kimmel censored in 2018, report says

09:36 , Joe Sommerlad

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, plotting a return to the White House in 2024.