Trump news - live: Trump sues CNN for defamation as he seeks to delay special master documents case

Donald Trump has filed a $475m lawsuit against CNN for defamation, claiming the network “fears” that he will run again in 2024.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Mr Trump are seeking to delay a hearing in the case of classified documents recovered from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home.

After the US Justice Department appealed a recent ruling appointing a so-called “special master” to review the documents seized from the former president’s property, Mr Trump’s lawyers want to push back a hearing on the matter to January 2023.

Meanwhile, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared silent days after his wife and Mr Trump’s former transportation secretary was subjected to “racist” comments from the former president.

Mr Trump said Elaine Chao was “China loving” in a Truth Social post and that her husband, the most senior GOP figure in Congress, had made “a DEATH WISH” by agreeing to a spending plan that would see the government funded until 16 December and after the midterm elections.

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

Trump rallies drift to fringe ahead of potential 2024 bid

09:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

“Donald Trump’s rallies have always attracted a broad swath of supporters, from first-timers taking advantage of their chance to see a president in person, to devotees who camp out for days and follow him around the country like rock band groupies. But after spending much of the last two years obsessively peddling false claims of a stolen election, Trump is increasingly attracting those who have broken with reality, including adherents of the baseless QAnon conspiracy, which began in the dark corners of the internet and is premised on the belief that the country is run by a ring of child sex traffickers, satanic paedophiles and cannibals that only Trump can defeat.”

Read the full story here:

Trump rallies drift to fringe ahead of potential 2024 bid

Trump sent staffer to buy Superman shirt for planned dramatic reveal while in hospital with Covid

08:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

While in hospital with Covid-19 in October 2020, former president Donald Trump was so enamoured of the visual of him emerging from Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre and ripping his dress shirt open to reveal Superman’s iconic logo that he sent a campaign staffer on a shopping trip in search of a Superman t-shirt.

Read the full story by Andrew Feinberg here:

Trump sent staffer to buy Superman shirt for him while in hospital with Covid

Author Maggie Haberman on Trump’s desire to run again

08:00 , David Taintor

New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman has been on a publicity blitz promoting her new Trump tell-all. Ms Haberman told her own publication in a Q&A-style interview that Donald Trump would likely make another bid for the White House in order to get “revenge” on Joe Biden.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe:

Maggie Haberman says Trump is driven to run again by desire for revenge on Biden

ICYMI: Prosecutors say Oath Keepers planned ‘armed rebellion’ on Jan 6 as seditious conspiracy trial begins

07:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The leader of a far-right anti-government militia group and four of its members planned to attack the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021 to violently obstruct Joe Biden’s presidency, according to opening arguments from federal prosecutors in the seditious conspiracy trial against members of the Oath Keepers.

“They did not go to the Capitol to defend or help,” according to assistant US Attorney Jeff Nestler. “They went to attack.”

Read the full story by Alex Woodward here:

Oath Keepers planned ‘armed rebellion’ on Jan 6, according to federal prosecutors

Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants

07:16 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state is seeking search warrants in the case, a sign that the wide-ranging probe has entered a new phase.

Read the full story here:

Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants

Trump asked aides if Ghislaine Maxwell had mentioned him after her arrest

06:14 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The arrest of notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislane Maxwell left former president Donald Trump anxious that she might raise his name to investigators or the press, according to a new book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, which The Independent obtained ahead of publication.

Read the full story by Andrew Feinberg here:

Trump asked aides if Ghislaine Maxwell had mentioned him after her arrest

Conservatives pounce on Kamala Harris - but miss key context

06:00 , David Taintor

Vice President Kamala Harris has faced criticism from conservatives over recent comments she made in the wake of Hurricane Ian. While missing the key context of the question Ms Harris was responding to, conservatives claimed that the vice president was arguing that hurricane relief would take “equity” into account. But that’s not what she was saying.

Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:

How conservatives are taking Kamala Harris’s ‘equity’ comments out of context

Trump nicknames Maggie Haberman ‘Maggot’ after serving as source for her book

04:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Donald Trump nicknamed New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman “Maggot” after serving as a source for her book.

“Maggot Hagerman of the Unfunded Liability plagued New York Times is my self appointed Biographer, even though she got the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax & the Mueller Report conclusion completely wrong, & refused to write about the FACT that the Democrats spied on my campaign, Lied to Congress, & Cheated and Lied to the FISA Court,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social about Ms Haberman’s new book Confidence Man.

Read the full story by Gustaf Kilander here:

Trump nicknames Maggie Haberman ‘Maggot’ after serving as source for her book

Stewart Rhodes urged allies to reject 2020 outcome hours after Election Day, trial hears

04:18 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Hours after Election Day on 3 November 2020, the leader of a far-right anti-government militia group called on his allies to resist a potential Joe Biden victory, which would not be declared until several days later.

“The left, including the Democratic Party … seek our destruction,” Stewart Rhodes allegedly wrote in a message on the encrypted chat app Signal after 1am on 4 November, just hours after polls had closed.

“We must defeat them,” the message continued. “Even if one of them occupies the White House.”

Read the full story by Alex Woodward here:

Stewart Rhodes called on Oath Keepers to reject election within hours, trial hears

Trump ally Gaetz votes against hurricane relief money in home state of Florida after Ian devastation

04:00 , John Bowden

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, a vocal ally of Donald Trump, just voted against setting aside funds for hurricane relief efforts in his home state of Florida as part of his bid to vote against any Democrat-led spending bills floated in Congress.

The far-right Republican’s hardline stance has won some support from other hardline conservative in the House but did not materialize into anything close to what would have been necessary to tank the continuing resolution passed by the House and Senate to fund the government and provide relief funding.

Read more in The Independent:

Matt Gaetz votes against hurricane relief money in home state of Florida

Tillerson to testify at corruption trial of Trump adviser

03:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s first secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, testified on Monday against the ex-chair of Trump’s inaugural committee.

Tom Barrack, a billionaire private equity manager and Trump confidante, is accused of secretly working as a foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO, famously fired by the ex-president via tweet in 2018, was the highest-profile witness so far at the trial.

Read more in The Independent:

Tillerson to testify at corruption trial of Trump adviser

Donald Trump plans to ‘take revenge’ on Ron DeSantis if reelected, niece Mary Trump says

02:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump is likely to escalate simmering tensions between his wing of the GOP and those who have moved on in favour of Florida’s Ron DeSantis should he win election to the White House in 2024, his niece Mary Trump says.

On a recent episode of her podcast, she agreed with the assertion made by Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat that Mr Trump would seek reelection both as a means of escaping consequences and to enact revenge on his rivals.

Read more in The Independent:

Trump plans to take ‘revenge’ on Ron DeSantis if reelected, Mary Trump says

Senator Susan Collins warns of violent threats: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed’

01:00 , John Bowden

Maine’s centrist GOP senator is warning that increasingly heated rhetoric from Donald Trump and other far-right GOP figures is contributing to dangerous escalations of threats against sitting US lawmakers.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed,” she said. “What started with abusive phone calls is now translating into active threats of violence and real violence.”

Read more from Eric Garcia in The Independent:

Susan Collins issues dark warning: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator were killed’

Mike Lindell’s appeal denied by Supreme Court, will face Dominion defamation suit

00:00 , John Bowden

Add Mike Lindell to the list of people who will face legal action over false claims made about the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court handed a victory to Dominion Voting Systems on Monday, rejecting an appeal from Mr Lindell. His defamation case will now go forward.

Mr Lindell had sought to block the costly suit — seeking damages of $1.3bn — on grounds that political speech is protected by the First Amendment. A lower court had ruled that the standard did not apply to obviously false statements, and today’s ruling in effect upholds that decision.

Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:

Mike Lindell’s appeal denied by Supreme Court, will face Dominion defamation suit

Trump sues CNN for defamation claiming network ‘fears’ his political comeback

23:44 , David Taintor

Donald Trump has just filed a massive lawsuit against CNN, claiming the news network “fears” that he will run again in 2024. Mr Trump is seeking a whopping $475m in damages.

Read more on the lawsuit from The Independent’s Graeme Massie:

Trump sues CNN for defamation and claims network ‘fears’ him running in 2024

Greg Abbott sends more migrants to Kamala Harris’s Washington DC home

23:00 , John Bowden

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sent a new group of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s Washington DC home.

The latest 46 migrants arrived by bus on Monday morning at the Naval Observatory in the northwestern parts of the US capital, according to an aid group.

The Republican leader, along with his ally Ron DeSantis in Florida, are plotting to continue the busings in an attempt to keep immigration enforcement a top issue on voters’ minds as midterms approach.

Read more from The Independent:

Greg Abbott sends more migrants to Kamala Harris’s Washington DC home

Anger mounts over Trump’s McConnell ‘death wish’ but Republicans stay quiet

22:23 , John Bowden

Few Republicans are speaking out — publicly — after Donald Trump’s latest unhinged attack on Mitch McConnell, including a racist jab at his wife.

The former president criticised Mr McConnell on his Truth Social account for supporting Democratic-led legislation after Mr McConnell voted for a continuing resolution to keep the government open.

Read more about this developing intra-party feud from Eric Garcia:

Anger mounts over Trump’s McConnell ‘death wish’ but Republicans stay quiet

Trump attacks Kamala Harris for not entering North Korea

21:29 , John Bowden

Donald Trump attacked Kamala Harris in a Truth Social post on Monday for not physically entering North Korean soil (at Kim Jong Un’s invitation) as he had done.

A video posted by the ex-president on Monday depicted Ms Harris viewing the Demilitarized Zone through binoculars while next to it in a second clip Mr Trump is seen talking with the North Korean leader.

Mr Trump’s overtures towards North Korea during his presidency famously ended long before he left office after he failed to achieve a meaningful agreement with Pyongyang.

Trump sent staffer to buy Superman shirt for planned dramatic reveal while in hospital with Covid

21:00 , John Bowden

In another intriguing piece of reporting from Maggie Haberman’s upcoming book on Donald Trump, Confidence Man, the New York Times reporter reveals that the former president planned a made-for-TV return to the White House as he lay sick from Covid at Walter Reed Hospital.

According to Haberman, Mr Trump planned to rip his dress shirt open as he returned to the presidential residence to reveal Superman’s iconic logo — even going as far as sending a campaign staffer on a shopping trip in search of a Superman t-shirt.

Read more in The Independent:

Trump sent staffer to buy Superman shirt for him while in hospital with Covid

Trump nicknames Maggie Haberman ‘Maggot’ after serving as source for her book

20:33 , John Bowden

Donald Trump has coined a new nickname for New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman after serving as a source for her book.

The former president has furiously claimed that much of the book’s reporting is false, particularly one reported anecdote in which he supposedly considered firing both his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner from the White House.

Read more from Gustaf Kilander:

Trump nicknames Maggie Haberman ‘Maggot’ after serving as source for her book

Journalist Maggie Haberman says Trump is driven to run again by desire for ‘revenge’ on Biden

20:02 , John Bowden

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, author of a forthcoming book about Donald Trump, says Mr Trump misses the “pomp” of the presidency and wants revenge against Joe Biden.

Haberman remains one of the best-sourced correspondents following the former president and his closest allies. In a new interview about her upcoming book, she described the president’s primary motivations which have emerged following his 2020 loss.

“I ... think he wants revenge on Biden, and on the media, and on a whole range of people,” she said.

Read more in The Independent:

Maggie Haberman says Trump is driven to run again by desire for revenge on Biden

Trump asks appeals court to delay classified documents case until 2023

19:10 , John Bowden

Attorneys for former president Donald Trump have asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to deny a Department of Justice request to expedite its appeal of a Trump-appointed judge’s decision which has effectively blocked the criminal investigation into whether the ex-president broke the law by hoarding government-owned records at his Florida beach club.

Mr Trump’s legal team has argued in court documents that it would be “appropriate” for a three-judge panel to hear oral arguments in the case in January 2023 at earliest.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Trump asks appeals court to delay classified documents case until 2023

Former DC police officer Michael Fanone blasts Kevin McCarthy as a ‘f**king weasel b***h’

18:48 , John Bowden

Michael Fanone, the former Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer who was critically injured in the Capitol riots, has offered a stunningly harsh rebuke of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

In a new profile for Rolling Stone, he criticises the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives and accuses him of lying his way through his meeting with Mr Fanone and the mother of Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the riot.

Read more in The Independent:

Michael Fanone blasts Kevin McCarthy as a ‘f**king weasel b***h’

Donald Trump pushes to delay special master classified documents case until 2023

18:02 , John Bowden

Former President Donald Trump wants a federal judge to wait until 2023 to procede further with a case examining whether he illegally retained documents, including classified materials, at his Florida estate.

That’s from a new court filing on Monday from the Trump team, who are asking for several months to review tens of thousands of pages of documents seized by the FBI for potential attorney-client privilege protections.

It’s unclear if the former president will get his way, but the new filing comes shortly after the Trump-appointed judge overseeing the case threw out the special master’s proposed timeline for a speedy review of the documents.

Trump makes bizarre claim about Bolsonaro

17:08 , John Bowden

Donald Trump took to Truth Social around noon on Monday and issues his first reaction to Jair Bolsonaro being forced into a runoff with Lula De Silva, his top opponent in Brazil’s presidential election.

In his post, the US president attempted to portray Mr Bolsonaro as an underdog — a perplexing label to slap on an incumbent president who has held rallies with thousands of people.

“So happy to have helped a great person and leader get into the difficult to achieve, with other Conservative candidates and certain difficult rules and regulations, run off for President of Brazil. The Voters made a great decision in giving such strong backing to the brilliant and very hard working current President, Jair Bolsonaro. Now, for the sake of Brazil and its future greatness, they have to get Jair over the finish line, against a Radical Left Socialist, on October 30th. Go Bolsonaro!!!” Mr Trump wrote on his site.

‘They went to attack’: Prosecutors say Oath Keepers planned ‘armed rebellion’ on Jan 6 as seditious conspiracy trial begins

16:47 , John Bowden

The trial of Stewart Rhodes, leader of a far-right anti-government militia group known as the Oath Keepers, begins today.

The militia leader is charged with seditious conspiracy, with prosecutors arguing in opening statements today that Mr Rhodes and four other members planned to “attack” the Capitol and prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. He has plead not guilty.

Read more on the beginning of one of the most important January 6 trials thus far from Alex Woodward:

Oath Keepers planned ‘armed rebellion’ on Jan 6, according to federal prosecutors

16:22 , John Bowden

Mike Lindell will join Fox News and other targets of Dominion Voting System’s retribution for the false claims, conspiracies and nonsense spread about the company by Trump supporters in 2020.

That was the result of a decision by the Supreme Court on Monday to deny Mr Lindell’s appeal of a lower court decision determining that the company’s lawsuit against him could go forward.

The MyPillow CEO is facing a staggering $1.3 bn lawsuit for espousing false claims about Dominion voting machines and their supposed use by Joe Biden to steal the 2002 election.

Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:

Mike Lindell’s appeal denied by Supreme Court, will face Dominion defamation suit

Greene claims Democrats ‘killing’ Republicans in Trump rally speech

15:40 , Gino Spocchia

Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed thatt Democrats are “killing” Republicans while speaking at a Donald Trump rally in Michigan on Saturday.

“Democrats want Republicans dead, and they have already started the killings,” the US representative said in her address to the crowd.

Ms Greene cited a North Dakota incident where an intoxicated man allegedly had a “political” argument with a pedestrian who he hit with his car, and later claimed was “part of a Republican extremist group,” according to court documents reported by The Daily Beast.

The remarks were widelycondemed on social media.

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Democrats are ‘killing’ Republicans

‘Its never OK ok to be racist’, says Rick Scott

15:05 , Gino Spocchia

While Republican Senator Rick Scott avoided directly condemning Donald Trump for his attack on Mitch McConnell, the lawmaker did go as far as to say that “it’s never ever OK to be a racist”.

Mr Scott’s response came during an interview on CNN when he was confronted with Mr Trump’s recent social media tirade against Mr McConnell and his wife Elaine Chao, who the former president used racist language against.

“As you know, the president likes to give people nicknames,” said the Florida Republican, who also added: “I hope no one is racist”.

The psychiatrist who warned of Donald Tump in 2017

14:40 , Gino Spocchia

In 2017, Dr Bandy Lee put together a conference and consulted other medical professionals, then published a book containing 27 essays from psychologists and psychiatrists calling Donald Trump a “clear and present danger.”

The book outlined all of the ways a Trump presidency could threaten the country, with writers touching upon his perceived sociopathy, narcissism, paranoid delusions, impulse control problems, antsocial personality disorder and a range of other concerning traits.

As Sheila Flynn writes in an interview with Dr Lee, it’s hard for anyone to argue, at this point, that the book wasn’t highly prescient. And now she’s even more scared for the future:

Dr Bandy Lee warned five years ago Trump was dangerous. She’s more worried now