Trump speech – live: Ginni Thomas thanked for supporting election lies as Trump breaks silence on hurricane

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Donald Trump heads to Michigan, a state that spurned him in 2020 after he saw a surprise victory there four years earlier, on Saturday.

He’s in the state for a rally in Warren where he hopes to bump the candidacy of Tudor Dixon, his chosen acolyte in the race to unseat incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The president is eager to have a supporter of his bogus conspiracies about his 2020 defeat in the governor’s mansion should he make another bid for the White House in 2024.

Polls show Ms Dixon badly trailing the governor, who was the intended victim of a shocking kidnapping plot foiled by the FBI in 2020. The most recent poll of the race, from the GOP-aligned Trafalgar Group, showed Ms Dixon down by six points.

In Mr Trump’s other legal news, it was just revealed that he hoarded some 200,000 pages of federal documents at his Palm Beach home. The new court filing was to argue that an early October deadline for scanning and reviewing the documents is unrealistic because they cannot be processed quickly enough. There are reports that Mr Trump is ignoring some of the legal advice he is receiving over the matter.

Key points

  • Trump breaks silence on Hurricane Ian

  • Court filing shows Trump hoarded 200,000 pages of federal records

  • Poll: Majority of Americans want Trump blocked from 2024 run

  • Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ginni Thomas get shout-outs at rally

  • Trump plays video attacking NY AG Letitia James

Maggie Haberman says Trump tried to have her phone records seized to expose sources

05:09 , John Bowden

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said that Donald Trump went above and beyond in his attempts to stop her widely-sourced reporting of Trumpworld.

In her upcoming book Confidence Man, she claims: “Trump, angry about my published stories, would bellow that he wanted administration officials to obtain my phone records and identify my sources.”

Read more from Oliver O’Connell in The Independent:

Maggie Haberman says Trump tried to have her phone records seized to expose sources

Trump reportedly ignoring advice from lawyer he paid $3m retainer for Mar-a-Lago documents case

03:05 , John Bowden

Weeks after paying a respected Florida defence attorney a $3m retainer to represent him in dealings with the Department of Justice following the 8 August search of his home, former president Donald Trump is reportedly ignoring the attorney’s advice in favour of tactics that are far more combative but place him at greater legal risk.

Sources close to Mr Trump told theThe Washington Post that Chris Kise remains on the ex-president’s team but is likely to have “a less public role” in the Mar-a-Lago documents matter because Mr Trump “seems ... to be heeding advice from those who have indulged his desire to fight”.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

Trump reportedly ignoring advice from $3m lawyer in Mar-a-Lago documents case

Trump rally ends with ex-president touting ongoing movement

02:05 , John Bowden

Former President Donald Trump ended his rally Saturday evening touting the ongoing Maga movement as he continues to clearly set himself up for a 2024 presidential run.

The de facto leader of the GOP called the Maga right “one movement, one People, one family and one glorious American nation” before his fans mouthed along with his vow to “make America great again”.

The rally ended at just about 9pm est on the dot.

Trump winds down rally vowing to take back White House in 2024

01:53 , John Bowden

Donald Trump winded down his rally with a vow that the GOP would retake the White House in 2024, while being careful to not say that it would be he himself that would run.

And he once again lashed out at his supporters’ Democratic political opponents, blasting them for creating a “failing nation”.

“This nation does not belong to them. It belongs to you,” he told his cheering supporters.

Trump calls for death penalty for all drug dealers

01:28 , John Bowden

Claiming that “we don’t have a choice”, Donald Trump spoke at length at his rally on Saturday about the supposed need for the US to implement a draconian policy of punishing convicted drug dealers with the death penalty.

Mr Trump spoke about his conversations with China’s Xi Jinping and called for “quick trials” for accused drug dealers, which he quipped had a “100 per cent conviction rate”. And he then spoke about how any American who sells a controlled substance of any kind should be put to death, which he said would be necessary to scare off other criminals.

It’s hard to imagine most natonal Republicans signing on to that idea, which would likely be unconstitutional given the requirements for proportionate punishments in the US justice system.

Trump attacks Maggie Haberman book as ‘disgusting’ and denies he nearly fired Ivanka via tweet

01:01 , John Bowden

During a rally in Michigan on Saturday, Donald Trump continued his attacks on a forthcoming book about him from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.

“I had a story the other day that I wanted to fire my daughter Ivanka, that didn’t happen,” he told the crowd, calling the story “disgusting.”

“No, but how do you how do you call your daughter and explain this?” he added, as the audience laughed.

Read more from Josh Marcus:

Trump attacks Maggie Haberman book as ‘disgusting’ and denies he nearly fired Ivanka

Trump thanks Ginni Thomas for sticking to stolen election lies

Sunday 2 October 2022 00:53 , John Bowden

Former president Donald Trump on Saturday offered a shout-out to the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for continuing to parrot his lies about the 2020 election in an interview with the House January 6 select committee.

Mr Trump praised Ms Thomas during remarks at his most recent political rally in Michigan, calling her “a great woman” who is the wife of “a great man”.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Trump plays video attacking NY AG Letitia James

Sunday 2 October 2022 00:49 , John Bowden

The ex-president played a video attacking the credibility of New York Attorney General Letitia James’s civil lawsuit against him, his family and company during his rally Saturday evening.

His video came after a diatribe attacking Ms James as “racist” and describing her as “one of the worst” AG’s in the country.

Donald Trump’s first comments on the hurricane

Sunday 2 October 2022 00:38 , John Bowden

The former president’s comments on Hurricane Ian on Saturday were his first since the storm made landfall in his new home state.

The devastation in Fort Myers and other cities in Florida has been evident for days, but elicited nothing until now from the West Palm Beach complex of Mar-a-Lago where Mr Trump has taken up residence.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Trump finally breaks silence on Hurricane Ian after devastating storm hits Florida

Marjorie Taylor Greene gets a shout-out

Sunday 2 October 2022 00:33 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s first significant shout-out of the night went to Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right congresswoman from Georgia and rising star on the Maga right.

Mr Trump spoke to his rallygoers about Ms Greene’s visit with January 6 defendants in the Washington DC jail, where he said that accused rioters were being treated horribly in “filthy” conditions.

Calling the accused rioters “political prisoners”, he noted: “Somebody who did go there [to see them] was Marjorie Taylor Greene. She went there, she went there”.

Trump attacks Biden over using Strategic Oil Reserve

Sunday 2 October 2022 00:24 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s first attack aimed at Joe Biden on Saturday was perplexingly over his use of the Strategic Oil Reserve to alleviate soaring energy prices, which are resulting from the war in Ukraine and other factors.

The ex-president fumed that the oil reserves were “not supposed” to be used to alleviate surging demand amid low supply — it should only be used for “wartime”, or other emergencies, he insisted.

Donald Trump takes the stage

Sunday 2 October 2022 00:20 , John Bowden

As Proud to be an American blared on the speakers, the former president took the stage just about 15 minutes late.

He opened up his rally offering his “profound sympathy” to victims of Hurricane Ian.

“Not a good hurricane,” Mr Trump quipped. “This was a bad one.”

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is in attendance

Sunday 2 October 2022 00:00 , John Bowden

One of the very few people still pursuing Donald Trump’s false campaign to overturn the 2020 election is Mike Lindell — the pillow-vendor-turned-activist who is one of Mr Trump’s most vocal supporters.

Mr Lindell was a part of Right Side Broadcasting’s pre-rally coverage, and discussed those conspiracies while alluding to how important the Michigan governor’s election would be for future efforts to contest election results that do not turn out in favour of the GOP.

The MyPillow CEO has attended most of Mr Trump’s recent rallies around the country, including his recent appearance in Youngstown, Ohio.

Donald Trump’s rally in Warren, Michigan is beginning

Saturday 1 October 2022 23:11 , John Bowden

Hundreds of Donald Trump’s fans are pouring in to the Macomb County Community College Sports & Expo Center as the ex-president’s rally is set to get underway shortly.

The ex-president is in town to stump for Tudor Dixon, the Republican running for governor. Donald Trump is eager to have a supporter of his bogus conspiracies about his 2020 defeat in the governor’s mansion should he make another bid for the White House in 2024.

Mar-a-Lago papers: Trump reportedly ignoring advice from lawyer he paid $3m retainer

Saturday 1 October 2022 14:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Weeks after paying a respected Florida defence attorney a $3m retainer to represent him in dealings with the Department of Justice following the 8 August search of his home, former president Donald Trump is reportedly ignoring the attorney’s advice in favour of tactics that are far more combative but place him at greater legal risk.

According to The Washington Post, Mr Trump has largely sidelined ex-Florida solicitor general Chris Kise because the veteran litigator has counseled him to “turn down the temperature” with the Justice Department.

Andrew Feinberg has the latest.

Trump reportedly ignoring advice from $3m lawyer in Mar-a-Lago documents case

Most voters want Trump blocked from 2024 run, poll finds

Saturday 1 October 2022 14:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A new poll shows that the majority of Americans do not believe Donald Trump should be allowed to serve as president again given “what we know about the ongoing investigations” into him.

The Yahoo News/YouGov poll of 1,566 registered voters found that 51 per cent are against the former president running again in 2024.

Majority of Americans want Trump blocked from 2024 run, poll finds

Senior Republicans evasive on Biden impeachment demand floated by Trump allies

Saturday 1 October 2022 13:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Calls from Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Trump loyalists in the Republican House caucus to pass an article of impeachment against Joe Biden are growing louder — but aren’t echoing in the halls of leadership just yet.

John Bowden explains why.

Senior Republicans evasive on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Biden impeachment demands

Maggie Haberman says Trump tried to have her phone records seized

Saturday 1 October 2022 12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

New York Times writer Maggie Haberman says in her new book about Donald Trump that the former president tried to have officials seize her phone in order to identify her sources for stories about the administration.

Writing in Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, Ms Haberman says that the then-president was angry about leaks within the White House.

Maggie Haberman says Trump tried to have her phone records seized to expose sources

Despite cheating allegations, Trump embraces ‘best golfer’ title

Saturday 1 October 2022 11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has presented himself as the “greatest” golfer among all United States presidents in history despite previous claims he cheated by kicked golf balls so blatantly he was nicknamed Pele, a reference to the Brazilian football icon.

Gino Spocchia has the story.

Trump embraces ‘best presidential golfer’ title despite reports of blatant cheating

After Trump accuses her of lying, Maggie Haberman fires back with photo of her book notes

Saturday 1 October 2022 10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has hit out at New York Times writer Maggie Haberman over her new book about him, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

The former president accused her of telling made-up stories and not fact-checking, while calling her a “creep” and misspelling her name.

Read more:

Maggie Haberman fires back at Trump with photo of book notes after he says she lied

Trump to avoid saying in court if he thinks FBI planted documents

Saturday 1 October 2022 09:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The Florida federal judge who has repeatedly intervened in the FBI’s investigation of Donald Trump’s hoarding of government-owned documents after his term ended in 2021 has once again stepped in to assist the ex-president’s efforts to delay review of documents seized during the 8 August search of his Florida residence.

Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday rejected a case management plan put forth by Judge Raymond Dearie, the New York jurist who she appointed as a special master to review the more than 10,000 documents taken from Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property to determine whether any should be shielded from the government under attorney-client or executive privilege.

Andrew Feinberg reports on the latest in the ongoing legal saga over the federal documents taken by the former president.

Trump won’t have to say if he thinks FBI planted documents, judge rules

Don Jr shares meme accusing Greta Thunberg of Nord Stream sabotage

Saturday 1 October 2022 07:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr shared a meme accusing Greta Thunberg of being behind the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, echoing a conspiracy theory that has been picked up in conservative circles in the last week since the natural gas lines erupted.

The meme, which shows the young climate activist photoshopped in front of Nord Stream with explosives strapped around one of the pipelines, was shared by the former president’s son on Truth Social on Thursday night.

Don Jr shares meme accusing Greta Thunberg of Nord Stream pipeline sabotage

Trump avoids fraud lawsuit deposition by staying in Florida during hurricane

Saturday 1 October 2022 05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has avoided a deposition for a fraud lawsuit by remaining in Florida as Hurricane Ian bore down.

The former president had been due to be deposed in a civil class action lawsuit first filed in 2018.

It accuses Mr Trump, his children, and the Trump Organization, of committing deception and fraud.

It is different to the lawsuit filed earlier this month by New York Attorney General Letitia James, that similarly accuses Mr Trump and the others of fraud, for allegedly overvaluing his assets by billions of dollars.

Andrew Buncombe has the story.

Trump avoids fraud deposition by staying in Florida as Hurricane Ian hits

Jury chosen for first Capitol riot seditious conspiracy trial

Saturday 1 October 2022 04:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A jury was selected Thursday in the seditious conspiracy case against the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates in the highest profile prosecution stemming from the Capitol riot to reach a trial.

A panel of 12 jurors and four alternates was chosen after three days of questioning about their feelings concerning the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and potential biases against the far-right group accused of plotting to use force to stop the transfer of presidential power.

Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in federal court in the case against Stewart Rhodes and his associates — the first Jan. 6 defendants to go to trial on the Civil War-era charge of seditious conspiracy.

Capitol riot jury picked for 1st seditious conspiracy trial

Capitol rioter’s family called DC police officer Michael Fanone a ‘piece of s***t’

Saturday 1 October 2022 03:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A Washington DC police officer who was tasered as he defended the US Capitol on January 6 has said the mother of the rioter involved in the attack called him a “piece of s***” after her son was sentenced.

Speaking on CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight after Kyle Young was sentenced on Tuesday, Michael Fanone recounted how he was insulted by the rioter’s mother when leaving the court.

Andrea Blanco reports.

Family of Jan 6 rioter called DC police officer a ‘piece of s***t’ at sentencing

Trump asked for political donations from Mar-a-Lago as hurricane ravaged Florida

Saturday 1 October 2022 02:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump turned to social media to plead for donations to his political campaign as parts of Florida began rescue and recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian.

Speaking in a video on Wednesday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, southern Florida, the former president pleaded for donations to his Save America PAC ahead of a fundraising deadline.

Trump begs for donations from Mar-a-Lago amid Hurricane Ian

Biden says US will not be intimidated by Putin’s ‘reckless words and threats’

Saturday 1 October 2022 01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden on Friday said the United States and its allies will not back down on supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion forces despite Vladimir Putin’s claims to have annexed the country’s Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions.

“America and its allies ... are not going to be intimidated by Putin and his reckless words and threats. He’s not going to scare us and he doesn’t intimidate us,” said Mr Biden.

Andrew Feinberg has the latest on the administration’s reaction to the today’s major moment in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Biden says US will not be intimidated by Putin’s ‘reckless words and threats’

Ketanji Brown Jackson formally welcomed as newest Supreme Court justice

Saturday 1 October 2022 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell

US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received a formal welcome at the nation’s high court before the justices convene for their next term beginning on Monday.

An investiture ceremony for Justice Jackson on 30 September was attended by members of the court, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress, witnessing the formal introduction of the first-ever Black woman and first former public defender to serve on the nine-member panel.

Justice Jackson was sworn into the role on 30 June, replacing now-retired Justice Stephen Breyer.

Alex Woodward reports.

Ketanji Brown Jackson formally introduced as newest Supreme Court justice

Andrew Cuomo hints at political comeback

Saturday 1 October 2022 00:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been dropping more hints about a potential political comeback as he announced plans to create a new podcast and political action committee (PAC).

Mr Cuomo, who resigned in shame last year after almost a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment, released a video on Wednesday where he vowed that he is “not done fighting yet”.

In the eight-minute video, titled “What’s Next?”, the former governor said his time out of office had given him a “new perspective” on government and politics.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Andrew Cuomo hints at political comeback with launch of podcast and PAC

Former Trump aide jailed for possession of child sexual abuse images

Friday 30 September 2022 23:20 , Oliver O'Connell

A Trump Commerce Department official has been jailed for five-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to possession of child sexual abuse images.

Adam Hageman was arrested in November 2020 when Homeland Security agents executed a search warrant at Hageman’s Washington home.

Graeme Massie reports.

Former Trump aide jailed after admitting possession of child sexual abuse images