Trump news – live: Trump says DeSantis to blame for Disney becoming ‘woke’, as he praises Erdogan victory

Donald Trump slammed Disney and his main rival in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, claiming that he’s responsible for the entertainment giant becoming “woke”.

“Disney has become a Woke and Disgusting shadow of its former self, with people actually hating it. Must go back to what it once was, or the ‘market’ will do irreparable damage,” he wrote on Truth Social. “This all happened during the Governorship of ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious. Instead of complaining now, for publicity reasons only, he should have stopped it long ago. Would have been easy to do - Still is!”

Mr Trump also congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the leader claimed victory in Sunday’s runoff election.

“Congratulations to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his big and well deserved victory in Turkey. I know him well, he is a friend, and have learned firsthand how much he loves his Country and the great people of Turkey, which he has lifted to a new level of prominence and respect!” Mr Trump said.

Meanwhile, Texas Republicans ignored the pleas from Mr Trump and impeached their own state Attorney General Ken Paxton on charges of corruption.

Key points

• Diverse Republican presidential primary field sees an opening in 2024 with voters of color

• Trump leads DeSantis among California Republicans

• Government tries to claw back money so Jan. 6 rioters don't profit from online appeals

• Liz Cheney to give Colorado College graduation speech as GOP campaign speculation persists

• Trump spokeswoman appears to mock Pete Buttigieg’s military service over Memorial Day weekend

Trump fumes at his enemies in bizarre Memorial Day message

13:13 , Megan Sheets

Donald Trump marked Memorial Day with a furious Truth Social message that briefly recognised the reason for the holiday before descending into one of his usual rants.

In all caps, the ex-president fumed: “Happy memorial day to all, but especially to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country they love, and to those in line of a very different, but equally dangerous fire, stopping the threats of the terrorists, misfits and lunatic thugs who are working feverishly from within to overturn and destroy our once great country, which has never been in greater peril than it is right now. We must stop the communists, marxists and fascist “pigs” at every turn and, make america great again!”

Texas GOP attorney general Ken Paxton impeached by Republican-controlled Statehouse

13:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has been impeached by the GOP-controlled Statehouse in a historic vote.

The vote came after Mr Paxton was accused of threatening colleagues with political blowback if they supported his impeachment.

State representative Charlie Geren, who like Mr Paxton is a member of the Republican party, said “several members of this House while on the floor of this House, doing the state business, received telephone calls from general Paxton personally, threatening them with political consequences in their next election,” according to The Texas Tribune.

Mr Geren made the claim during the opening remarks in the impeachment hearing in the Texas statehouse. The 73-year-old rejected Mr Paxton’s claims that the impeachment is a witch hunt and that the whistleblowers behind a lawsuit against him are “political” appointees.

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Texas GOP attorney general Ken Paxton impeached by Republican-controlled Statehouse

Trump may be liable under Espionage Act in Mar-a-Lago classified files case

12:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Tom Nichols says a vote for Trump is ‘a failed test of civic character'

11:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Cheney’s speaking schedule fuels presidential primary speculation

10:00 , AP

Liz Cheney’s busy speaking schedule and subject matter have fueled speculation about whether she may enter the 2024 GOP presidential primary since she left office. Candidates ranging from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have calibrated their remarks about Trump, aiming to counter his attacks without alienating the supporters that won him the White House seven years ago.

Though some have offered measured criticisms, no declared or potential challenger has embraced anti-Trump messaging to the same extent as Cheney. She did not reference her plans on Sunday but has previously said she remains undecided about whether she wants to run for president.

Though she would face an uphill battle, Cheney’s fierce anti-Trump stance and her role as vice chairwoman of the House committee elevated her platform high enough to call on a national network of donors and Trump critics to support a White House run.

A super PAC organized to support of her candidacy has remained active, including purchasing attack ads on New Hampshire airwaves against Trump this month.

After leaving office and being replaced by a Trump-backed Republican who defeated her in last year’s primary, Cheney was appointed to a professorship at the University of Virginia and wrote “Oath and Honor,” a memoir scheduled to hit shelves in November.

Two of Cheney’s five children as well as her mother are also graduates of the liberal arts college.

Cheney’s speaking tour appears to be picking up. She is scheduled to appear Thursday at the Mackinac Policy Conference in Michigan.

Cheney tells college students that election deniers know they ‘can’t succeed if you vote’

09:00 , AP

In three terms in office, Liz Cheney rose to the No. 3 GOP leadership position in the House, a job she lost after voting to impeach Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol and then not relenting in her criticism of the former president.

Cheney’s speech at Colorado College touched on themes similar to those she has promoted since leaving office in January: addressing her work on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and standing up to the threat she believes Trump poses to democracy. She also encouraged more women to run for office and blasted one of the election-denying attorneys who worked for Trump after the 2020 election for recent remarks about college students voting.

“Cleta Mitchell, an election denier and adviser to former President Trump, told a gathering of Republicans recently that it is crucially important to make sure that college students don’t vote,” Cheney said. “Those who are trying to unravel the foundations of our republic, who are threatening the rule of law and the sanctity of our elections, know they can’t succeed if you vote.”

VIDEO: Competition for Trump

08:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Liz Cheney urges graduates not to compromise with the truth in commencement speech

07:00 , AP

Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney implored new college graduates to not compromise when it comes to the truth, excoriating her House Republican colleagues for not doing enough to combat former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen.

In a commencement speech at Colorado College, the Wyoming Republican repeated her fierce criticisms of Trump but steered clear of talking about his 2024 reelection campaign or her own political future.

Cheney, who graduated from Colorado College in 1988, recalled being a political science student walking into a campus building where a Bible verse was inscribed above the entrance that read, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

“I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership,” Cheney said Sunday in Colorado Springs, connecting her experiences as a student to her work in the U.S. House of Representatives. “As I spoke to my colleagues on my last morning as chair of the Republican Conference in May of 2021, I told them that if they wanted a leader who would lie, they should choose someone else.”

‘I may not like you as an individual, but I like your issues'

06:00 , AP

In Chicago, Tyrone Muhammad, who leads Ex-Cons for Social Change, lashed out at Republicans for being “losers” for not seizing a very real opportunity to win over more African Americans. While sitting next to Vivek Ramaswamy on stage, he also declared that the Republican Party is racist.

Later, he said he actually voted for Trump in 2020 because Trump enacted a criminal justice bill that aimed to shorten prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and address racial inequalities in the justice system. While the GOP has since embraced tough-on-crime rhetoric, Muhammed noted that Biden as a senator helped pass the 1994 crime bill that led to the mass incarceration of Black people.

Muhammad said he might vote Republican again in 2024, despite the party’s shortcomings. He pointed to the GOP’s fight against illegal immigration as a core reason for support.

“I may not like you as an individual, but I like your issues, I like your policies,” he said.

Republican backed by 14 per cent of Black voters in 2022 midterms

05:00 , AP

A majority of Latino voters supported Biden in the 2020 presidential contest, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive national survey of the electorate. But Trump cut into that support in some competitive states, including Florida and Nevada, revealing important shifts among Latinos from many different cultural backgrounds.

In last fall’s midterm elections, support grew for Republican candidates among Black voters, although they remained overwhelmingly supportive of Democrats, AP Votecast found. Overall, Republican candidates were backed by 14% of Black voters, compared with 8% in the midterm elections four years earlier.

While the shifts may be relatively small, strategists in both parties acknowledge that any shift is significant given how close some elections may be in 2024.

Biden, GOP reach debt-ceiling deal, now Congress must approve it to prevent calamitous default

04:15 , AP

Any deal would need to be a political compromise in a divided Congress. Many of the hard-right Trump-aligned Republicans in Congress have long been skeptical of the Treasury’s projections, and they are pressing McCarthy to hold out.

Lawmakers are not expected to return to work from the Memorial Day weekend before Tuesday, at the earliest, and McCarthy has promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting.

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Biden, GOP reach debt-ceiling deal, now Congress must approve it to prevent calamitous default

Debt ceiling tests McCarthy, as GOP speaker rides breezily through fight of his career

03:30 , AP

Even if conservatives grow frustrated with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, he still has one important voice in his corner: former President Donald Trump.

As one of the earliest backers of Trump’s first White House bid, McCarthy has tried to stay close to the former president despite their on-again, off-again relationship. He said they spoke in recent days and Trump told him, “Make sure you get a good agreement.”

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Debt ceiling tests McCarthy, as GOP speaker rides breezily through fight of his career

Right-wing populist Javier Milei gains support in Argentina by blasting 'political caste'

02:45 , AP

He believes selling human organs should be legal, climate change is a “socialist lie,” sex education is a ploy to destroy the family and that the Central Bank should be abolished. He also could be Argentina’s next president.

Javier Milei, an admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump, is the latest example of how right-wing populists are making inroads in Latin America, appealing to a citizenry angry with politics as usual and eager for outsiders to shake up the system.

A libertarian economist and self-described “anarcho capitalist,” Milei made a name for himself by shouting against the “political caste” on television. His presidential candidacy looked like a sideshow until recently. Polls show his popularity rising, and his proposals dominate discussions ahead of October elections.

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Right-wing populist Javier Milei gains support in Argentina by blasting 'political caste'

‘There are multiple shades of melanin in this Republican race’

02:00 , AP

Federal officials were preparing to relocate hundreds of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to Chicago’s South Side, even as many local residents struggled with violence and difficult economic conditions.

“It is certainly true that there are multiple shades of melanin in this Republican race,” Vivek Ramaswamy said in an interview. “I think that in some ways dispels the myth that much of the left will perpetuate that this is somehow you know, a racist party or whatever drivel.”

He added: “But personally, I could care less what someone’s skin color is. I think what matters is, what are they going to accomplish? What’s their vision?”

As of now, the GOP does not have any Hispanic candidates in the 2024 contest. But Francis Suarez, the Miami mayor, said he may change that in the coming days.

“I think it’s important the field does have candidates that can connect with and motivate Hispanics to continue a trend that’s already happening,” he said in an interview, noting that he’s “very strongly” considering a White House bid. “Democrats have failed miserably to connect with Hispanics.”

‘Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil'

01:15 , AP

In her announcement video, Nikki Haley noted that she was raised in a small town in South Carolina as “the proud daughter of Indian immigrants — not black, not white, I was different.” Like Scott, she has defended the GOP against charges of racism.

“Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil,” Haley said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Larry Elder is quick to criticize the Democrats’ “woke” agenda, Black Lives Matter and the notion of systemic racism.

Critics say such messages are actually designed to win over suburban white voters more than to attract voters of color. But on the South Side of Chicago on a recent Friday afternoon, there were signs that some Black voters were open to the GOP’s new messengers, given their frustration with both political parties.

One attendee at Vivek Ramaswamy’s town hall waved a flyer for a “Biden boycott” because the Democratic president has not signaled whether he supports reparations for the descendants of slaves, although Biden did back a congressional effort to study the issue. None of the GOP’s presidential candidates supports reparations, either.

Others condemned Democrats, in Chicago and in Washington, for working harder to help immigrants who are in the country illegally than struggling African American citizens.

New Hampshire governor puts emphasis on campaign exits, not entrances, to beat Trump

Monday 29 May 2023 00:30 , Gustaf Kilander

As the anti-Trump coalition within the Republican Party begin to figure out who their favoured standard-bearer will be, some worry that 2024 will be a repeat of 2016 when Mr Trump was able to win as the vote against him was split between several candidates in the primary.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu told The New York Times that “everyone says, ‘We have to keep people from getting in’”.

“That’s the wrong message, the wrong mentality, and that’s not going to work,” he added, before admitting that consolidation will have to take place in order to beat Mr Trump.

“The discipline is getting out,” he said.

‘All Republicans have to be hitting Donald Trump’

Sunday 28 May 2023 23:45 , Gustaf Kilander

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has told The New York Times that “all Republicans have to be hitting Donald Trump”.

He added that he’s “50-50” about entering the 2024 race himself.

“Any Republican that isn’t hitting Donald Trump hard right now is doing the entire party a disservice because if only one or two people are willing to take a shot at Donald Trump, it looks personal. It looks petty,” he added.

Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet

Sunday 28 May 2023 23:00 , AP

The Texas Legislature already made one historic move with its impeachment of Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Another one is coming.

The GOP-led House of Representatives on Saturday approved 20 articles of impeachment on sweeping allegations of wrongdoing that have trailed the state’s top lawyer for years, including abuse of office and bribery. The vote immediately suspended Paxton from office.

But the intraparty brawl in the nation’s largest conservative state, one that even drew political punches Saturday from former President Donald Trump, is far from over. The Republican-controlled Senate will hold a trial of Paxton next, and he and his allies hope conservatives there will save him.

One member of that chamber is his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, and she could cast a vote on her husband’s political future, which is now in jeopardy in part because of bribery allegations linked to his extra-marital affair.

Read more:

Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet

Texas Republicans ignore Trump pleas and impeach state AG on corruption charges

Sunday 28 May 2023 22:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Texas Republicans ignored the pleas from former President Donald Trump and impeached their own state Attorney General Ken Paxton on charges of corruption.

Mr Paxton, who was impeached by a bipartisan vote of 121-23, said after Sunday’s ballot that he has “full confidence” as his fate is to be decided in a trial in the state senate, where some of his allies, including his wife state Senator Angela Paxton, will serve as jurors.

The state attorney general was immediately suspended following his impeachment on 20 articles, including bribery and abuse of public trust.

Ahead of the vote, Mr Trump called Mr Paxton “one of the most hard-working and effective Attorney Generals in the United States” and said that the Republican speaker of the Texas statehouse was a “RINO”.

Republican candidates in presidential primary field have embraced the GOP’s ‘anti-woke' agenda

Sunday 28 May 2023 21:30 , AP

With few exceptions, the Republican candidates who have entered the presidential primary field have embraced the GOP’s “anti-woke” agenda, which is based on the notion that policies designed to address systemic inequities related to race, gender or sexuality are inherently unfair or even dangerous.

DeSantis this past week described such policies as “cultural Marxism.”

Still, the GOP’s diverse field is not ignoring race. Indeed, some candidates are making their race a central theme in their appeal to Republican primary voters even as they deny that people of color face systemic challenges.

Scott insisted that America is not a racist country in his recent announcement speech.

“We are not defined by the color of our skin. We are defined by the content of our character. And if anyone tells you anything different, they’re lying,” he said.

VIDEO: Ron DeSantis comments on Trump, Republican primary debate in August

Sunday 28 May 2023 20:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump slams Disney and DeSantis: ‘A Woke and Disgusting shadow of its former self'

Sunday 28 May 2023 20:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump slammed both Disney and Ron DeSantis on Truth Social on Sunday.

“Disney has become a Woke and Disgusting shadow of its former self, with people actually hating it. Must go back to what it once was, or the ‘market’ will do irreparable damage,” he wrote.

“This all happened during the Governorship of ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious. Instead of complaining now, for publicity reasons only, he should have stopped it long ago. Would have been easy to do - Still is!”

Trump congratulates Erdogan: ‘He is a friend’

Sunday 28 May 2023 20:03 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Trump congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday after the leader claimed victory in Sunday’s runoff election.

“Congratulations to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his big and well deserved victory in Turkey. I know him well, he is a friend, and have learned firsthand how much he loves his Country and the great people of Turkey, which he has lifted to a new level of prominence and respect!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Republican presidential candidates of color largely support DeSantis’ positions

Sunday 28 May 2023 20:00 , AP

The NAACP recently issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida under DeSantis’ leadership, warning of open hostility “toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” The notice calls out new policies enacted by the governor that include blocking public schools from teaching students about systemic racism and defunding programs aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Republican presidential candidates of color largely support DeSantis’ positions.

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said the GOP’s policies are far more important than the racial and ethnic diversity of their presidential candidates. He noted there also were four Republican candidates of color in 2016, the year Trump won the White House after exploiting tensions over race and immigration.

“White nationalists, insurrectionists and white supremacists seem to find comfort in the (Republican) Party,” Morial said. “I think we’re beyond the politics of just the face of a person of color by itself appealing to people of color. What do you stand for?”

As GOP field expands, Trump is getting what he wants

Sunday 28 May 2023 19:15 , Gustaf Kilander

As each candidate enters the Republican race for president, Ron DeSantis is becoming less and less likely to snag the nomination from Donald Trump as the anti-Trump vote within the party is given more opportunities to splinter, according to The New York Times.

2024 may very well end up looking like 2016 when Mr Trump came out victorious in the broad GOP primary as the non-Trump vote was shared among several candidates.

Mr Trump’s base, more than 30 per cent of the GOP, remains devoted to the former president.

Dave Carney, a New Hampshire GOP strategist, told The Times that it’s a “gigantic problem” for Mr DeSantis.

“Whatever percentage” the lower-level candidates receive “makes it difficult for the second-place guy to win because there’s just not the available vote,” he said.

GOP may have opportunity in 2024 to weaken Democrats’ grip on African Americans and Latinos

Sunday 28 May 2023 18:30 , AP

The Republicans’ increasingly diverse leadership, backed by evolving politics on issues such as immigration, suggest the GOP may have a real opportunity in 2024 to further weaken the Democrats’ grip on African Americans and Latinos. Those groups have been among the most loyal segments of the Democratic coalition since Republican leaders fought against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Republican presidential contenders of 2024 walk a fine line when addressing race with the GOP’s overwhelmingly white primary electorate.

In most cases, the diverse candidates in the Republican field play down the significance of their racial heritage. They all deny the existence of systemic racism in the United States even while discussing their own personal experience with racial discrimination. They oppose policies around policing, voting rights and education that are specifically designed to benefit disadvantaged communities and combat structural racism.

Diverse Republican presidential primary field sees an opening in 2024 with voters of color

Sunday 28 May 2023 17:45 , AP

During Donald Trump‘s first visit as president to Chicago, a frequent target in his attacks on urban violence, he disparaged the nation’s third largest city as a haven for criminals and a national embarrassment.

At a recent town hall, Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy sat alongside ex-convicts on the city’s South Side and promised to defend Trump’s “America First” agenda. In return, the little-known White House hopeful, a child of Indian immigrants, found a flicker of acceptance in a room full of Black and brown voters.

The audience nodded when Ramaswamy said that “anti-Black racism is on the rise,” even if they took issue with his promise to eliminate affirmative action and fight “woke” policies.

“America First applies to all Americans — not just the few that Republicans talk to,” he said.

Race has emerged as a central issue — and a delicate one — in the 2024 presidential contest as the GOP’s primary field so far features four candidates of color, making it among the most racially diverse ever.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the first Black senator in the South since Reconstruction, entered the contest earlier in the month. He joined Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who is of Indian descent, and Larry Elder, an African American raised in Los Angeles’ South Central neighborhood who came to national attention as a candidate in the failed effort two years ago to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is of Cuban descent, says he may enter the race in the coming days.

Most of the candidates of color are considered underdogs in a field currently dominated by Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Read more:

Diverse Republican presidential primary field sees an opening in 2024 with voters of color

Trump leads DeSantis among California Republicans

Sunday 28 May 2023 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump is leading his main rival for the GOP presidential nomintation, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, among Republicans in California.

The former president have the support of 44 per cent of Republicans in the state, while Mr DeSantis has 26 per cent, according to a poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.

Three months ago, Mr DeSantis led Mr Trump among likely GOP primary voters in the state by eight percantage points.

Poll director Mark DiCamillo told the Los Angeles Times: “Trump dominates the news, and I think he enjoys that, and I think he gets the sense when he is dominating the news, he’s probably expanding his messaging to his base.”

“I think this poll pretty much proves that. Even when the news isn’t necessarily great, he’s able to give his own opinion about why things are the way they are, and the Republican base pretty much believes him,” he added.

Among California’s overwhelmingly Democratic electorate, there are still millions of Republican voters.

Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux on new Watergate series White House Plumbers: ‘It’s absurd and ridiculous’

Sunday 28 May 2023 16:15 , Louis Chilton

When White House Plumbers was first announced in late 2019, Donald Trump was still in office. As a series of legal battles involving the twice-impeached president continues to intensify, the significance of Watergate has only sharpened.

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Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux on their ‘absurd’ new series White House Plumbers

Government tries to claw back money so Jan. 6 rioters don't profit from online appeals

Sunday 28 May 2023 15:30 , AP

Less than two months after he pleaded guilty to storming the U.S. Capitol, Texas resident Daniel Goodwyn appeared on Tucker Carlson‘s then-Fox News show and promoted a website where supporters could donate money to Goodwyn and other rioters whom the site called “political prisoners.”

The Justice Department now wants Goodwyn to give up more than $25,000 he raised — a clawback that is part of a growing effort by the government to prevent rioters from being able to personally profit from participating in the attack that shook the foundations of American democracy.

An Associated Press review of court records shows that prosecutors in the more than 1,000 of the Jan. 6, 2021, criminal cases are increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of prison sentences to offset donations from supporters of the Capitol rioters.

Dozens of defendants have set up online fundraising appeals for help with legal fees, and prosecutors acknowledge there’s nothing wrong with asking for help for attorney expenses. But the Justice Department has, in some cases, questioned where the money is really going because many of those charged have had government-funded legal representation.

Read more:

Government tries to claw back money so Jan. 6 rioters don't profit from online appeals

Liz Cheney to give Colorado College graduation speech as GOP campaign speculation persists

Sunday 28 May 2023 14:45 , AP

Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney will give a graduation speech at her alma mater, an elite Colorado liberal arts college, amid questions about her political future and insistence that Donald Trump never become president again.

At Colorado College’s commencement on Sunday, the Wyoming Republican is expected to touch on themes similar to those she has promoted since leaving office in January: Addressing her work on the House January 6 Select Committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol insurrection and standing up to the threat she believes Trump poses to democracy.

Cheney’s busy speaking schedule and subject matter have fueled speculation about whether she may enter the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Declared or potential candidates ranging from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have calibrated their remarks about Trump, aiming to counter his attacks without alienating the supporters that won him the White House seven years ago.

Read more:

Liz Cheney to give Colorado College graduation speech as GOP campaign speculation persists

'There’s nothing pleasurable about Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump’

Sunday 28 May 2023 14:00 , Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia

Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who briefly served with Mr DeSantis in the House of Representatives, said she took no enjoyment from watching Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis bicker.

“There’s nothing pleasurable about Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump,” she told The Independent. “The hell that he’s wreaked on us in our state has been devastating to education, to health care, women’s reproductive decisions.”

Ms Wasserman Schultz said she hoped Mr DeSantis’ run would be the beginning of the end of his political career.

Trump spokeswoman appears to mock Pete Buttigieg’s military service over Memorial Day weekend

Sunday 28 May 2023 13:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In a Twitter spat between spokespeople for the top two candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, the military service of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared to be used as a cudgel against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington tweeted on Saturday: “Ron ‘Dee-Santis’ has run for 4 different offices in the past 7 years. That’s not someone who’s in it for the country, it’s someone who’s in it for himself.”

The “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account then responded, saying that “the Trump campaign said @RonDeSantis is ‘not someone who’s in it for the country.’”

“Here’s our response,” they added, sharing images of Mr DeSantis in his Navy uniform and from his time serving in Iraq, a clear dig at former President Donald Trump, who avoided joining the military by claiming that he had medical issues that prevented him from serving.

Ms Harrington then replied by only posting an image of the transportation secretary in his military gear, seemingly in an attempt to denigrate the service of both Mr Buttigieg and Mr DeSantis.

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Trump spokeswoman appears to mock Pete Buttigieg’s military service

DeSantis struggles to gain support from Florida delegation

Sunday 28 May 2023 12:00 , Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia

When Mr DeSantis departed Washington after winning the governor’s mansion in 2018, he did so with few friends other than Mr Trump, whose support among the Florida delegation remained strong enough that the Florida governor’s much-hyped visit to the Capitol earlier this year ended with multiple Florida congresspersons walking out of a meeting with him to declare that they were endorsing the former president once again.

One of those members was Representative Byron Donalds, a second-term congressman who represents the Sunshine State’s 19th District.

Mr Donalds, who in the past has been a close ally of the Florida governor, said in a statement that he was backing the twice-impeached ex-president over his own state’s governor.

“There is only one leader at this time in our nation’s history who can seize this moment and deliver what we need — to get us back on track, provide strength and resolve, and Make America Great Again,” he said.

DeSantis had reputation as an awkward loner

Sunday 28 May 2023 11:00 , Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia

After he was sworn into Congress in January 2013, he quickly became one of the most conservative members of an avowedly conservative House Republican Conference. After he won a second term in the 2014 midterms, he became a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of far-right Republicans that would become such a thorn in the side of then-House Speaker John Boehner that the Ohio Republican chose to resign rather than suffer the indignity of being forced out for forging one too many compromises with Mr Obama.

The Florida Republican compiled as conservative a voting record as any member of the House GOP, but despite arriving on the scene at a time when his brand of hard-right conservatism was becoming more and more en-vogue in the House, he never became as well-known as some of his equally conservative colleagues, such as Reps Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Mark Meadows (R-NC) or Justin Amash (R-MI).

One possible reason for that — his reputation as an awkward loner — appears to have already hampered his chances against Mr Trump.

DeSantis found a way to capitalise on anti-Obama sentiment

Sunday 28 May 2023 10:00 , Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia

Mr DeSantis’ reinvention as a woke-battling colossus standing astride the Sunshine State could not be a starker contrast to how he conducted himself during the five years he spent in Washington while representing Florida’s 6th Congressional District in the House of Representatives.

The future governor won his first House election in 2012, just two years after the Tea Party movement that arose after Barack Obama’s inauguration helped the GOP retake control of the chamber from the Nancy Pelosi-led Democratic caucus.

As he geared up to run in that election, Mr DeSantis found a way to capitalise on the anti-Obama sentiment within the GOP by calling his first book Dreams from Our Founding Fathers ­— a title that positioned it as a response of sorts to Mr Obama’s best-selling memoir, Dreams from My Father.

GOP political strategists says governor’s reputation is a carefully manufactured façade

Sunday 28 May 2023 09:00 , Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia

Mr DeSantis gained his support — and a national profile — by winning the hearts and minds of some former Trump boosters through his wholehearted rejection of any and all restrictions or mandates meant to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, and he has kept his core support among some GOP diehards by using a compliant state legislative majority to enact a laundry list of conservative priorities and use resulting culture war battles to raise his profile even further.

A Republican media strategist who worked on Mr Trump’s 2020 campaign, Giancarlo Sopo, told The Independent he believes Mr DeSantis is “the obvious choice” to lead the GOP in next year’s election because of what he described as the Florida governor’s role in enacting “the boldest conservative agenda this country has seen since Ronald Reagan” and Mr DeSantis’ “unique ability to demoralize and defeat the left”.

Yet Mr Sopo’s confidence in Mr DeSantis’ abilities wasn’t shared by many Florida GOP veterans contacted by The Independent.

None of the Florida-based operatives would speak on the record for fear of alienating the governor, who has earned a reputation for vindictiveness during his five years in Tallahassee.

But the consensus opinion among the GOP political strategists, many of whom have had a hand in national campaigns of years past, was that the governor’s reputation as a lib-triggering prizefighter is a carefully manufactured façade — a recent invention that is a fabrication formed by a coterie of combative press aides and sympathetic media outlets.

Can Ron DeSantis beat Donald Trump? These Florida political veterans aren’t so sure

Sunday 28 May 2023 08:00 , Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia

He’s a ubiquitous presence in conservative media with a reputation as an anti-woke warrior who has used a compliant state legislature to make Florida a mecca for Trump-era Republicanism.

But if Ron DeSantis wants to be president, he has to defeat Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and prominent Florida politicians aren’t so sure either of those things will ever happen.

The second-term Florida governor, who for months has sojourned through the traditional primary battlegrounds of Iowa and New Hampshire while hawking his manifesto-cum-memoir The Courage to be Free, was once seen as a formidable obstacle to the twice-impeached ex-president’s dream of reclaiming his place in the White House.

But in the weeks since Mr Trump found himself on the wrong end of an indictment from a New York grand jury, the Florida governor has seen his standing in the polls tumble while his fellow Floridian has surged to a commanding lead among GOP primary voters.

Still, Mr DeSantis has launched a presidential presidential campaign that has support from a decent chunk of his party and a formidable war chest transferred from his successful re-election run last year. On 24 May, Mr DeSantis filed paperwork declaring his candidacy.

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Can Ron DeSantis beat Donald Trump? These Florida political veterans aren’t so sure

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused of threatening colleagues as his impeachment hearing begins

Sunday 28 May 2023 07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been accused of threatening colleagues with political blowback if they vote for his impeachment.

State Representative Charlie Geren, who like Mr Paxton is a member of the Republican Party, said that “several members of this House while on the floor of this House, doing the state business, received telephone calls from general Paxton personally, threatening them with political consequences in their next election,” according to The Texas Tribune.

Mr Geren made the claim during the opening remarks in the impeachment hearing in the Texas statehouse. The 73-year-old rejected Mr Paxton’s claims that the impeachment is a witch hunt and that the whistleblowers behind a lawsuit against him are “political” appointees.

Mr Geren, who sits on the House General Investigative Committee, repeated what the panel said in the articles of impeachment filed against Mr Paxton, that the committee wouldn’t have probed the issue if he hadn’t made the request that the legislature greenlight a settlement worth $3.3m to the former members of staff.

“We are here today because the attorney general asked the state Legislature to fund a multimillion-dollar settlement,” Mr Geren said. “There was no investigation prior to this time. We wanted to look further into the reasons behind that.”

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Ken Paxton accused of threatening colleagues as his impeachment hearing begins

Trump spokeswoman appears to mock Pete Buttigieg’s military service over Memorial Day weekend

Sunday 28 May 2023 06:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In a Twitter spat between spokespeople for the top two candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, the military service of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared to be used as a cudgel against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington tweeted on Saturday: “Ron ‘Dee-Santis’ has run for 4 different offices in the past 7 years. That’s not someone who’s in it for the country, it’s someone who’s in it for himself.”

The “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account then responded, saying that “the Trump campaign said @RonDeSantis is ‘not someone who’s in it for the country.’”

“Here’s our response,” they added, sharing images of Mr DeSantis in his Navy uniform and from his time serving in Iraq, a clear dig at former President Donald Trump, who avoided joining the military by claiming that he had medical issues that prevented him from serving.

Ms Harrington then replied by only posting an image of the transportation secretary in his military gear, seemingly in an attempt to denigrate the service of both Mr Buttigieg and Mr DeSantis.

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Trump spokeswoman appears to mock Pete Buttigieg’s military service

Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger celebrates 100th birthday, still active in global affairs

Sunday 28 May 2023 05:00 , AP

Former diplomat and presidential advisor Henry Kissinger marks his 100th birthday on Saturday, outlasting many of his political contemporaries who guided the United States through one of its most tumultuous periods including the presidency of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War.

Born in Germany on May 27, 1923, Kissinger remains known for his key role in American foreign policy of the 1960s and 1970s including eventual attempts to pull the U.S. out of Vietnam, but not before he became inextricably linked to many of the conflict’s most disputed actions.

David Kissinger, writing in The Washington Post on Thursday, said his father’s centenary “might have an air of inevitability for anyone familiar with his force of character and love of historical symbolism. Not only has he outlived most of his peers, eminent detractors and students, but he has also remained indefatigably active throughout his 90s.”

The elder Kissinger will celebrate this week with visits to New York, London and his hometown of Fürth, Germany, David Kissinger wrote.

In recent years Kissinger has continued to hold sway over Washington’s power brokers as an elder statesman. He has provided advice to Republican and Democratic presidents, including the White House during the Trump administration, while maintaining an international consulting business through which he delivers speeches in the German accent he has not lost since fleeing the Nazi regime with his family when he was a teenager.

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Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger celebrates 100th birthday, still active in global affairs

DeSantis fights back – kind of

Sunday 28 May 2023 04:00 , AP

Although the Florida governor has largely avoided confrontation with Trump, he has managed to throw a few jabs back.

As prosecutors prepared an indictment against Donald Trump in New York, DeSantis criticized the investigation but also said, “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”

In a Piers Morgan interview that aired a few days later, he laughed off a question about the nicknames Trump was using for him.

“I don’t know how to spell DeSanctimonious. I don’t really know what it means, but I kind of like it. It’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels. I mean, so we’ll go with that. That’s fine. You can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner,” DeSantis said.

On Wednesday, after launching his campaign, DeSantis avoided referencing Trump by name but made a subtle dig at him over national Republican election losses.

“We must end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years,” DeSantis said on Twitter Spaces. “The tired dogmas of the past are inadequate for a vibrant future. We must look forward, not backwards.”

Trumps escalates DeSantis attacks

Sunday 28 May 2023 03:00 , AP

In recent months, Trump has dramatically intensified his criticism of DeSantis, taking particular umbrage as what he sees as the governor’s ungratefulness.

“DeSantis got elected because of me. You remember he had nothing. He was dead. He was leaving the race. He came over and he begged me, begged me for an endorsement,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in February. “He said, ‘If you endorse me, I’ll win.’ And there were tears coming down from his eyes.”

Trump’s campaign resurrected the 2018 DeSantis ad to remind viewers of Trump’s help in the governor’s political rise.

“Isn’t it time DeSantis remembers how he got to where he is?” the ad says.

Trump has also shared a photo suggesting impropriety when DeSantis was a teacher two decades ago, despite no evidence of that; said DeSantis needed a personality transplant; and aired an ad accusing DeSantis of “sticking his fingers where they don’t belong” — a reference to a Daily Beast report that the governor once ate chocolate pudding with his fingers.

On Wednesday, after DeSantis’ presidential announcement on Twitter Spaces was plagued by glitches, Trump posted a video on Truth Social of a “Ron” rocket falling over and exploding.

Prosecutors have recording of Trump speaking to witness in hush money criminal case

Sunday 28 May 2023 02:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s criminal case in Manhattan have shared a recording of the former president speaking to a witness with Mr Trump’s legal team.

The witness hasn’t been identified, a document made public by the prosecutorial office on Friday stated, according to CBS News.

The document is known as an automatic discovery form and outlines the charges that a defendant is facing and also provides an overview of the evidence gathered against Mr Trump that’s set to be put forward at trial or at a preliminary hearing.

Both Mr Trump’s lawyers and the press had made several requests that an automatic discovery form be made public after Mr Trump’s 4 April arrest.

Mr Trump, the first ex-president in US history to be criminally charged, has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money case. The 34 instances are alleged to have taken place between 14 February and 5 December 2017 during Mr Trump’s first year in the White House.

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Prosecutors have recording of Trump speaking to witness in hush money criminal case

DeSantis becomes DeSanctimonious

Sunday 28 May 2023 01:30 , AP

As DeSantis’ national profile began to rise, so did chatter about his potential as a 2024 presidential prospect — and the former president noticed.

“If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else,” Trump said of DeSantis in October 2021, while saying that he didn’t expect the governor to challenge him.

Days before the 2022 midterm election, Trump unveiled his new nickname for the governor: Ron DeSanctimonious. He then visited Miami for a rally to support U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio — but not DeSantis, who was holding a separate campaign event that same day for his own reelection.

In the days following DeSantis’ reelection victory, Trump put out a statement knocking him as an “average REPUBLICAN governor with great Public Relations” and criticizing him for not ruling out a 2024 presidential bid.

“He says, ‘I’m only focused on the governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future.’ Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer,” Trump said.

DeSantis, asked to comment on Trump’s remarks at a press conference, said being the target of attacks was simply part of the job.

“What you learn is all that’s just noise,” DeSantis said.

Trump floated DeSantis as running mate in 2021

Sunday 28 May 2023 00:45 , AP

Trump and DeSantis remained publicly supportive of each other in early 2021 — so much so that Trump even floated the Florida governor as a possible 2024 running mate.

“A lot of people like that,” Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo in April 2021. “You know, I’m just saying what I read and what you read. They love that ticket. But certainly Ron would be considered. He is a great guy.”