Trump touts 'weight loss' and 'excellent' health in doctor note: Live – The Independent

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Former president boasts about his apparently ‘exceptional’ cognitive exams the same day his legal team argued against a gag order in his federal election interference trial
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Trump vows to ‘take over’ Washington DC: ‘We are going to make it beautiful’
Donald Trump used President Joe Biden’s 81st birthday to tout his own apparent weight loss and “excellent” overall health.
The former president posted a letter from his doctor Bruce Aronwald on Truth Social on Monday, reading: “His physical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional.”
The letter added that Mr Trump has “reduced his weight through an improved diet and continued daily physical activity, while maintaining a rigorous schedule”.
The former president’s boasts about his apparent good health came the same day that his legal team was in federal court in Washington DC for oral arguments concerning the partial gag order in his federal election interference case.
Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that Mr Trump cannot make “disparaging or “inflammatory” comments about people or entities involved in the case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Mr Trump’s team argued that restrictions during his 2024 campaign would violate his right to free speech.
A panel of judges didn’t appear to buy that argument, but an official ruling is yet to be made.
Meanwhile, his New York civil fraud trial enters its eighth week. The gag order has been paused in that case.
Part of the issue here is that there were also units in the building that were rent-stabilised and these were listed in the spreadsheet and would have a material effect on the valuation of the building. McConney says Mazars was fully aware of this.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled before the trial that fraud took place regarding the presentation of the statements of financial condition to banks and insurers, however, the trial is proceeding to establish whether the defendants did so “intentionally and materially”.
Proceedings in the Lower Manhattan court begin with Mr McConney being asked about Trump Park Avenue, a former historic hotel where Ivanka Trump had the exclusive right to purchase the unit she leased for $14.264m.
A spreadsheet shows this price was set “notwithstanding the filing of any amendment to [the] offering plan that may increase the [price] of the unit”.
The New York Attorney General claims that while Ms Trump has the right to buy the unit at that set price, the company valued it substantially higher.
Mr McConney says the information regarding the apartment and that it may increase in price due to amendments to the offering plan was all disclosed to Mr Bender at Mazars who is copied in on the email that the spreadsheet is attached to.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel zeroed in on Donald Trump’s latest wild claim during his show on Monday night.
At a rally in Iowa at the weekend, the former president brought up allegations in former British spy Christopher Steele’s unverified dossier that he hired sex workers to urinate on him during a trip to Moscow.
Mr Trump told his supporters in Iowa that his wife, Melania Trump, did not believe the allegations about the so-called golden showers because he is a “germaphobe,” he claimed.
“Actually that one, she didn’t believe. Because she said, ‘He’s a germaphobe, he’s not into that, you know? He’s not into golden showers as they say they call them,’” Mr Trump said.
Following the rally, Mr Kimmel zeroed in on the former president’s unprompted remarks.
Martha McHardy has the story.
At a rally in Iowa at the weekend, the former president brought up allegations that he hired sex workers to urinate on him during a trip to Moscow
The civil fraud trial of Donald Trump and the Trump Organization continues today at the New York State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan with co-defendant Jeff McConney’s testimony as a witness for the defence.
The former controller of the Trump real estate empire, who earlier testified as a witness for the prosecution, spent much of yesterday on the witness stand shifting the blame for any discrepancies in the Trump Organization’s statements on financial condition onto Mazar’s accountant Donald Bender, who earlier said the company withheld records needed to accurately assess its finances.
The statements of financial record are at the heart of the fraud charges brought against Mr Trump, his company, key executives, and his two eldest sons by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Mr McConney returned to the witness stand just after 10am for further direct examination by Mr Trump’s defence lawyer Jesus Suarez.
The plaintiffs in the Colorado 14th Amendment case that questioned Donald Trump’s eligibility to be on the ballot in the state in the 2024 election after having fermented an insurrection at the US Capitol in January 2021 have filed an appeal of the lower court’s ruling that kept the former president on the ballot.
A statement from CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) reads:
“We always knew this case would end up before the Colorado Supreme Court, and have been preparing for that from the beginning,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said. “We are planning to build on the trial judge’s incredibly important ruling that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection, and we are ready to take this case as far as necessary to ensure that Donald Trump is removed from the ballot.”
The court held that the six voters stated a claim under Colorado law, that Section 3 may be enforced through state ballot access laws, that the petition does not raise a non-justiciable political question and that the First Amendment does not shield Trump’s incitement. The only question left to be decided is whether the oath Trump took as president-elect subjects him to the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause.
Trump’s lawyers have already indicated to the Colorado Supreme Court that they will appeal the trial court’s decision.
“While Donald Trump is taking a victory lap claiming he won decisively in district court, it’s telling that his lawyers are attempting to overturn that so-called ’victory,’” Bookbinder said.
You can read their full court filing here and below is our earlier coverage of the judge’s ruling in the case:
The attempt to remove the Republican frontrunner from the ballot was based on the claim that he is constitutionally barred from office because of the January 6 insurrection
Donald Trump is in “excellent” health, according to a note he shared on Monday on social media, as both he and his potential 2024 opponent Joe Biden face continued questions about their age and mental fitness for the White House.
“I am pleased to report that President Trump’s overall health is excellent,” the former president’s physician, Bruce Aronwald, wrote in a letter Mr Trump shared on Truth Social. “His physical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional.”
The letter added that Mr Trump was showing improved results on certain tests, likely because of “weight reduction.”
Josh Marcus reports.
Both likely candidates in 2024 presidential election have faced questions about their age and health
House Speaker Mike Johnson met with former president Donald Trump on Monday night at Mar-a-Lago, according to a person familiar with what happened.
The speaker was attending a fundraiser for close Trump ally Rep Bilirakis of Florida.
The dates and venues for the three 2024 presidential debates have been announced.
The debates, which will take place in September and October will be staged at US university campuses in the states of Texas, Virginia and Utah.
The news was announced by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) on Monday.
The first debate will take place on 16 September at Texas State University in San Marcos. It will be followed by the second at Virginia State University in Petersburg on 1 October.
The final debate will take place just over a week later at The University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, on 9 October.
Mike Bedigan has further details:
The debates, which will take place in September and October, will be staged at university campuses in Texas, Virginia and Utah
Bevan Hurley writes:
As anointed son Lachlan Murdoch took the stage at Fox Corporation’s annual meeting in Los Angeles on Friday, he touted the potential windfall the company hoped to see from the 2024 US presidential election.
With national and local political races “heating up”, he told the gathering of execs including father Rupert, board members and shareholders that he expected next year’s pivotal election would drive “strong results across our news properties and local stations”.
The meeting rubber stamped Lachlan’s takeover as chair of Fox Corporation, days after he officially took charge of the Murdochs’ publishing division News Corp as the chosen child.
Less than a year out from the 2024 presidential election, with the warning signs for democracy flashing red and Donald Trump declaring his authoritarian intentions if reelected, the 52-year-old arguably has the power to shape US politics more than any other executive in the country.
Read the full article:
With cable news in a death spiral, Fox Corp facing potentially crippling lawsuits, and dad Rupert Murdoch stepping back, Lachlan will have a full inbox of challenges in his new role as head of the family empire, Bevan Hurley reports
A three-judge federal appeals court panel appears skeptical of arguments from Donald Trump’s legal team to overturn a gag order that blocks the former president from attacking witnesses and prosecutors in a criminal conspiracy case surrounding his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
But the judges also appear likely to narrow the scope of the order, hoping to balance First Amendment protections and political speech against the wave of threats and harassment unleashed by Mr Trump and his supporters towards the prosecutors, judges, witnesses and prospective jurors involved with a growing list of litigation against him.
The gag order imposed by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan last month blocked Mr Trump from launching a “pretrial smear campaign” as he seeks the 2024 Republican nomination for president, the judge wrote.
That order was paused by the appeals court in Washington DC, which heard arguments in the case on Monday during a hearing that lasted nearly three hours. A ruling is not immediately expected.
Alex Woodward followed the hearing for The Independent.
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Trump is seen at a campaign rally in Iowa on 18 November
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