Trump compares himself to Mandela amid fears over Nato pull-out: Live – The Independent

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Mar-a-Lago member claims Mr Trump told Melania to walk around the Palm Beach club in a bikini
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Donald Trump says civil fraud trial is going ‘very well’
Donald Trump rallied in New Hampshire on Monday, and compared himself to South African civil rights icon Nelson Mandela as he faces several criminal investigations into his conduct.
Meanwhile, Rolling Stone reported that Mr Trump plans to fully withdraw the US from Nato should he take power in 2025.
The ex-president’s apparent comments about Melania Trump and classified government information have also come to light in newly-leaked audio.
A trove of secret recordings of Australian Billionaire Anthony Pratt speaking about his interactions with Mr Trump was obtained by 60 Minutes Australia in a joint investigation with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and also shared with The New York Times.
In one clip, the Mar-a-Lago member claims Mr Trump told Melania to walk around the Palm Beach club in a bikini to show his friends “what they were missing”.
While Republican lawmakers scramble to vote for a new House Speaker three weeks after ousting Kevin McCarthy and repeatedly failing to rally around a successor, Liz Cheney is pinning the blame on the former speaker.
Mr McCarthy was “looking the other way in the face of the kind of assault on our democracy that we’ve seen from Donald Trump and his allies in the House, including Jim Jordan,” she told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
Mr Jordan was among the most prolific and vocal Republican lawmakers supporting efforts to overturn 2020 election results. He repeatedly failed this week to rally support among his GOP colleagues for House Speaker.
Domestic threats against lawmakers during the chaos are “absolutely being driven by Donald Trump and, unfortunately, some of his supporters,” she told CBS Face the Nation.
A new report from Rolling Stone has revealed that Donald Trump is already working with allies on the far right on plans to withdraw the US from Nato should he be elected president in 2024.
Long thought to be a goal of Mr Trump’s, a US withdrawal from the anti-Russia alliance would be a massive blow to regional security across Europe and to some extent in the Middle East and Africa as well. It would also empower both Russia and China at a time when the two eastern powers are competing with the US on a number of strategic and economic issues.
Read more at Rolling Stone.
Donald Trump is once again at the centre of explosive leaked audio — this time after an Australian billionaire and member of his Mar-a-Lago club gabbed about his extensive conversations with the former president.
Anthony Pratt, a businessman and chairman of Visy Industries, was heard on the tapes describing how Mr Trump would objectify his own wife and brag about his access to world leaders and US national security secrets as he sought to impress his friends and colleagues in the business world. Audio of Mr Pratt making those remarks was published by 60 Minutes Australia over the weekend.
Take a look at what Mr Pratt is alleging:
Mar-a-Lago club member is heard describing conversations with Trump about Melania, Iraq, impeachment and more
“The latest revelations from an Australian businessman reflect once again what the former president really cares about – the power to commit crimes and hurt people and never be held accountable,” writes Noah Berlatsky for The Independent.
The latest revelations from an Australian businessman reflect once again what the former president really cares about – the power to commit crimes and hurt people and never be held accountable
Donald Trump was greeted by a protester chanting “lock him up” as he arrived in New Hampshire to file for the state’s Republican primary ahead of a rally with supporters this afternoon.
The ex-president was seen greeting supporters as he stepped out of a black vehicle, surrounding by Secret Service agents. A man was heard chanting “lock him up! Donald Trump!” into a megaphone for a few seconds before journalists were shooed away by handlers with the Trump campaign.
Watch the moment here:
Ex-president filed for New Hampshire primary on Monday before rallying with supporters
The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case has agreed to temporarily lift a narrow gag order on the former president.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan had put the order in place to limit Mr Trump’s public statements about the federal criminal case, in which he is accused of illegally attempting to undo his 2020 loss.
The Friday ruling allows Mr Trump’s lawyers time to prove why his comments should not be restricted as the case heads toward trial.
The Independent’s Mike Bedigan has more:
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan put order in place to limit public statements about federal criminal case
One of the GOP’s most prominent Trump critics could enter the race against him for the Republican nomination in 2024.
In an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, she described Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, as “the single most dangerous threat that we face” and pledged to spend the next year “helping to elect serious people, helping to elect sane people” from both parties. And she wouldn’t rule out running against him.
Who is this Mar-a-Lago club member claiming that Donald Trump blabbed about US state secrets?
Mr Trump claims that he never disclosed highly classified information about American nuclear-powered submarines and their weaponry to Anthony Pratt, the wealthy Australian whose leaked audio sparked a firestorm over the weekend.
Get to know the latest ally of the former president whose remarks make him the latest in a growing list of people who have said that Mr Trump was careless with sensitive information.
Pratt is the 213th richest person on the planet with a net worth of $9.2bn, dwarfing Trump’s $2.6bn.
Supporters of Donald Trump are mobilising behind Rep Byron Donalds, a second-term member of the House, as he runs for the speakership this week.
Republicans are now in their third week of total disfunction and chaos as their caucus, which controls the chamber through a single-digit majority, seems unable to settle on a candidate for Speaker of the House. Democrats remain united behind Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of their caucus.
Over the weekend, Mr Donalds’s candidacy was endorsed by fellow Florida Republicans such as Carlos Gimenez and Cory Mills.
But he faces numerous rivals also seeking the nomination, including Tom Emmer, the House Majority Whip whose candidacy is supported by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Republican caucus is meeting today for a candidate forum as they prepare for a third attempt at finding a replacement for Mr McCarthy who can reach 218 votes — the magic number needed to vote in a Speaker given the current standings of the GOP and Democrats in the lower chamber.
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Donald Trump is charged over handling of classified info
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