Trump news today: Donald Trump fills memorial speech for vlogger Diamond with his favourite rally gripes

Mitch McConnell is officially Donald Trump’s #1 target on Truth Social — after Joe Biden and the various law enforcement agencies closing in around him.

The ex-president posted another “Truth” about the GOP Senate minority leader on Saturday evening, blaming him for Joe Biden’s success.

“Mitch McConnell has made the Biden Presidency “look” MUCH better than it would have without the Old Crow pushing massive Green New Deal type funding for the Radical Left Democrats. Inflation and Debt will be the end result, however, not good for anybody, especially our Country!” he wrote.

Donald Trump was in Fayetteville, North Carolina this weekend for the funeral of Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway, better known as “Diamond” of the duo Diamond and Silk. The two were top supporters of his during the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Mr Trump was invited onstage to give remarks during the event — and, shockingly, chose to gripe about the length of the funeral service he was sitting through.

After paving his path to celebrity with a media image of enormous wealth and self-made success, Donald Trump has spent years attacking critical coverage, falsely accusing reporters of lying, and publicly suggesting they should be imprisoned for imaginary crimes.

The former president’s rhetoric has alarmed civil rights groups and press freedom advocates, warning his potentially chilling remarks pose a threat to constitutionally protected speech.

During the four years of his presidency, he called journalists and news outlets “fake news” roughly 2,000 times, averaging more than one daily broadside against the press and continuing a long legacy of attempts to undermine his critics that has continued well after his time in the White House.

Alex Woodward takes a look at the ex-president’s long, contentious relationship with the media as he prepares to battle them again in 2024:

“10 dead in California shooting, horrible gun wielding ANTIFA protest against our great police in Atlanta – Nothing will happen to them despite night of rage and destruction,” the former president posted on Truth Social. “Yet our January 6th protestors, over a Rigged Election, have had their lives ruined despite nobody killed except true Patriot Ashli B. This situation will be fully rectified after 2024 Election. Thank you!”

The gunman – who police have only described as a male – is still at large after opening fire at a dance ballroom.

Donald Trump is still seeing heavy support from Republicans – and he’s not being quiet about it.

Taking to Truth Social on Saturday, the ex-president shared a news story about a new poll which showed him well ahead of his 2024 rivals.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released to The Hill shows Mr Trump at the top of a theoretical eight-way primary with 48 per cent of voters indicating they’d pick him.

That’s miles ahead of the 28 per cent who favoured Mr Trump’s main rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Trailing far behind in third place with 7 per cent was former vice president Mike Pence, followed by former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Senator Marco Rubio tied at just 3 per cent.

Donald Trump and one of his attorneys have been fined almost $1m by a federal judge in Florida over what he ruled had been a “frivolous” lawsuit launched against ex-US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and 30 other defendants.

Mr Trump had claimed his opponents had attempted to rig the 2016 US presidential election to try to prevent him from winning.

Joe Sommerlad takes a look at how that panned out:

This push to jail journalists for doing their jobs — their Constitutionally protected jobs — echoes a speech Trump gave last November, during which he mused about the same reporter being sexually assaulted in jail: “The reporter goes to jail. When the reporter learns he’s going to be married to a certain prisoner that’s extremely strong, tough, and mean, he will say, ‘You know, I think I’m going to give you the information.’”

This isn’t mere idle talk. According to the New York Times, while president, Trump told FBI Director James Comey “to consider putting reporters in prison” during an Oval Office meeting. More recently, Rolling Stone reported that Trump gathered advisors to discuss ways around the First Amendment in order to emulate authoritarian leaders’ crackdowns on journalists.

The politics world continues to be rocked by new revelations around Republican Congressman George Santos – with a new report claiming that he invited friends over to celebrate his engagement to a man, which he was reportedly still married to a woman.

“Good evening everyone! As you all may already know Pedro and I have decided to join our toothbrushes! Lol and a very few friends have been selected to share this special moment with us,” Mr Santos wrote in the invitation.

Mr Santos and his wife would not divorce until five years later.

The Daily Beast learned of the invitation from Mr Santos’ old roommate, Greg Morey-Parker. Pedro Vilarva, the man mentioned in the invitation, also confirmed that Mr Santos planned the celebration.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi has more:

Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, is reportedly arguing that she should remain in her current role as she is best able to convince Donald Trump not to run a third-party candidacy in 2024 should he not get the party’s nomination.

A report published on Thursday in The Washington Postsays Ms McDaniel is attempting to thwart challenges to her leadership of the RNC by stirring up fears of a Trump third-party run splitting the GOP’s base.

Ms McDaniel has faced criticism from RNC members for presiding over the disappointing 2022 midterm election results which saw the party only narrowly win the House of Representatives and lose a seat in the Senate. Many had predicted a red wave sweeping the nation two years into the Biden presidency and propelling the GOP into full control of Congress.

With some party members blaming Mr Trump for the poor electoral performance many also appear to believe that Ms McDaniel is far too tied to him to continue to lead the party and that it is time to move on.

Steve Bannon asked Ms McDaniel about the criticism of her leadership on his show. Accusing her main challenger Harmeet Dhillon of lying about her, Mr Bannon asks her to be specific:

Donald Trump’s tenure as president was marked by staffing turbulence – and it appears his successor is about to get a taste of that.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who has spent more than two years as President Joe Biden‘s top aide, is preparing to leave his job in the coming weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mr Klain’s expected departure comes not long after the White House and Democrats had a better-than-expected showing in the November elections, buoyed by a series of major legislative accomplishments, including a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a sweeping climate, health care and tax package that all Republicans rejected.

His tenure as chief of staff is the longest for a Democratic president in modern times.

The person familiar with Mr Klain’s plans was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the development, which was first reported by the New York Times.

The White House did not return calls or emails seeking comment on Klain’s expected exit.