Archive for the ‘Donald Trump’ Category

Donald Trump says great to be home after landing in Scotland for golf visit – The Guardian US

Donald Trump lands in Scotland to inspect his golf courses video Donald Trump

Former US president arrives in Aberdeen for trip in which he will open course at controversial resort

Donald Trump said it was great to be home as he arrived in Scotland to cut the ribbon on another golf course near Aberdeen.

The first former US president to be charged with a crime said on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, that he was going to the Menie estate near Aberdeen to open a second course.

Trump and his son Eric arrived at Aberdeen airport at about 11.30am on Monday and were met by two pipers, a red carpet and a 10-vehicle motorcade.

Before getting into one of the cars, he said: Its great to be home, this was the home of my mother.

Trumps mother, Mary, was born on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and emigrated to the US.

Trumps visit came as he attempted to have a civil case in which he is accused him of rape and defamation thrown out.

In a letter filed on Monday in Manhattan federal court, Trumps lawyer Joe Tacopina cited several alleged errors by the judge, including what he said was mischaracterisation of the evidence in the claimant E Jean Carrolls favour and interference with his ability to defend his client.

After his time in Scotland, Trump will head to his golf course in Doonbeg on Irelands west coast.

Despite the visit, Trump, who is running for the White House again in 2024 and is seen by many as the presumptive Republican nominee, said his campaign was on my mind, stressing a victory for him would make America greater than ever before.

Will be leaving for Scotland & Ireland soon in order to see and inspect my great properties there, he wrote. The golf courses and hotels are among the greatest in the world Turnberry and Aberdeen in Scotland, and Doonbeg in Ireland.

Will be meeting with many wonderful friends, and cutting a ribbon for a new and spectacular second course in Aberdeen. Very exciting despite the fact that it is make America great again that is on my mind, in fact, America will be greater than ever before.

On Monday, Tacopina claimed he should have been allowed to question Carroll about why she did not seek security camera footage of the alleged rape, and argued that the judge impeded his ability to question her on why she did not go to the police. Trump has consistently maintained that the alleged rape never happened.

Meanwhile, Trump also faces legal trouble in his native New York over his business practices. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records in order, it is alleged, to hide damaging information before the 2016 presidential election.

The charges stem from payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, who said she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, a year after he married his third wife, Melania. They also stem from payments to a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who wanted to sell her story of an affair with Trump; and to a former Trump Tower doorperson, who claimed the former president fathered a child out of wedlock.

Meanwhile, the US justice department has investigations under way in relation to his actions in the 2020 election, including lies that led to the January 6 insurrection and his retention of highly classified documents after he left the White House in 2021. Both are overseen by Jack Smith, a war crimes prosecutor and political independent.

Trump previously spent two days at his Turnberry course while in office in 2018, meeting the then prime minister, Theresa May, and the queen during the visit.

Asked last week whether he would meet Trump, who has made controversial statements about Muslims in the past, Scotlands first minister, Humza Yousaf, said: I would find it difficult, I have to say, to meet with him without raising the significance of concerns I have of the remarks that hes made in the past.

{{topLeft}}

{{bottomLeft}}

{{topRight}}

{{bottomRight}}

{{.}}

See more here:
Donald Trump says great to be home after landing in Scotland for golf visit - The Guardian US

Ex-GOP Rep Points Out Something About Donald Trump That Many Ignore – Yahoo News

Former GOP Rep. Will Hurd of Texas on Sunday reminded voters that Donald Trumps no spring chicken, either. (Watch the video below.)

With much of the negative focus on President Joe Bidens age he would be 82 at the start of a possible second term Hurd said Trump will also face questions for being long in the tooth.

Whether we like it or not, age is going to be a factor in this campaign because, guess what, Donald Trumps no spring chicken, either. And so this is something thats that both candidates are going to have to deal with through their primaries and, and, and President Biden in the general election, he said on ABCs This Week.

Biden, 80, is the oldest serving president. Trump, 76, would be 78 to begin a second term.

Trumps chaotic and gaffe-plagued presidency raised questions about his mental acuity. He famously bragged about passing a cognitive test that involved reciting Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. Its still brought up by Republican supporters.

Trump and Biden, who officially announced his candidacy last week, are the front-runners for their parties nominations. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 44, looms as a strong potential challenger on the GOP side.

GOP contender Nikki Haley, 51, has made age a focus of her campaign, suggesting cognitive tests for candidates in signaling whats likely to be a major Republican attack on Bidens age.

Recent polls indicate that Bidens age is a major concern, but one noted 57% of voters also called Trumps age a concern. In another poll, 65% said Biden would be too old for another term, while 45% said Trump would be too old.

Meanwhile, investigations into Trumps incitement of the Capitol insurrection, his plot to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, his hoarding of classified documents at his resort and his hush-money payoff to a porn star have not aged well at all.

H/T Mediaite

See the rest here:
Ex-GOP Rep Points Out Something About Donald Trump That Many Ignore - Yahoo News

Donald Trump’s legal cases and investigations, in one place – USA TODAY

WASHINGTON Former Vice President Mike Pence's testimony before a federal grand juryis only one of the high-profile developmentsin the investigationsof former President Donald Trumpthis week.

Pence, as president of the Senate, was key to Trumps strategy to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He testified Thursday before the grand jury in Justice Department special counsel Jack Smiths investigation of Trumps role in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trumps other legal challenges include:

Heres what we know about the legal cases:

Pence testified forhourson Thursday, spending at least seven hours at the courthouse.

He is a key figure in any Jan. 6 because Trump and his allies pressured him to single-handedly reject electors from seven states President Joe Biden won, to flip the election to Trump. Pence refused to participate.

Trump tried to block Pence's testimony by appealingto the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. But a three-judge panel denied his appealWednesday.

In previous testimony before the House committee that investigated the attack, Pence aides described how Trump pressured and scolded his vice president.

Greg Jacob, Pences general counsel,testified that Trump called Pence the morning of Jan. 6 in a heated exchange. Jacob said Pence took the call privately but returned looking steely, determined, grim.

Smith hasnt announced any schedule for completing his inquiry, but legal experts say the high-status level of witnesses being subpoenaed suggests charging decisions could be coming soon.

Smith is also investigating classified documents found in a search of Mar-a-Lago, 18 months after Trump left the White House. A conviction for retaining sensitive recordscould disqualify Trump, who is campaigning for the White House in 2024, from holding federal office again.

At stake in the case are documents that contained some of the countrys most important secrets, including the names of undercover agents overseas, according to national security experts.

Again, subpoenas to high-level witnesses such as Trumps lawyers suggest the investigation may be nearing a decision on charges. Attorney-client privilege doesnt cover the discussion of potentially illegal acts.

Legal experts say it might be the most open-and-shut case against Trump. But trying a case over national secrets risks more exposure of what was in the sensitive documents. But public opinion on the case was perhaps challengedafter authorities retrieved classified records from the locations associated withPresident Joe Biden and Pence, as well.

Carrolls civil lawsuit was the first of Trumps current legal troubles to make it to trial, with opening arguments Tuesday.

Carroll alleges Trump raped her in the changing room of a Manhattan clothing store in 1996, which she didnt report at the time. After she described the incident in a 2019 memoir, while Trump was president, he used the most powerful platform on earth to lie about what he had done, attack Ms. Carrolls integrity and insult her appearance, attorneyShawn Crowley told the newly selected jury.

Im here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didnt happen, Carroll told jurors. He lied and shattered my reputation, and Im here to try and get my life back.

Trump earlier said Carroll was totally lying, and he called the case a hoax, a lie and a complete con job.

Trump hasnt attended the trial yet, but U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan admonished his legal team and suggested that the defendant is risking a contempt of court citation.

In Manhattan, District Attorney Bragg urged a judge to limit Trumps access to sensitive documents in a felony case alleging the former president falsified business records.

Bragg also asked the judge prohibit Trumpfrom posting the contents of the documents on social media. At stake are documents dealing with material such as grand jury testimony and victim name and contact information.

Bragg said he wasnt seeking a gag order. But he proposed that Trump only be allowed to review sensitive materials while accompanied by his lawyers and not be allowed to copy or transcribe the information.

Bragg argued his precautions were based on Trump attacking witnesses, jurors and investigatorsin the past, including inDOJspecial counsel Robert Mueller's investigation ofRussian interference in the 2016 presidential electionand two House impeachments.

Trump is charged with falsifying business records to hide payments to silence two women who claimed to have had sex with him before the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty and called the prosecution politically motivated.

The trial is scheduled in January 2024.

Fulton County D.A. Williswarned local law enforcement officials in Georgiaabout the potential for significant public reaction" when grand jury results are announced in July or August, setting a summer timeframe for a long-awaited decision in her inquiry.

Willis has been investigating two potential ways Trump might have committedelection fraud.

I just want to find 11,780 votes, Trump said. Give me a break. You know, we have that in spades already.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and declared the call perfect.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Visit link:
Donald Trump's legal cases and investigations, in one place - USA TODAY

Donald Trump ups competition with Ron DeSantis in planning trip to Iowa – The Gazette

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The competition between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis is intensifying as the former president is scheduling a return trip to Iowa on the same day that the Florida governor was already going to be in the state that will kick off the Republican contest for the White House.

A Trump campaign official said Saturday that the former president plans to be in Iowa on May 13 to headline an organizing rally at a sprawling park in downtown Des Moines. That's when DeSantis was already slated to headline Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra's annual summer fundraiser in northwest Iowa and speak at a party fundraiser later that evening in Cedar Rapids.

The Trump campaign official, who requested anonymity to discuss the trip before it was announced, said the Des Moines organizing rally has been in the planning stage for weeks and is aimed at identifying caucus supporters and volunteers.

The move is a sign of the escalating competition between the two men who, at least for now, are leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump and his allies have become increasingly emboldened in their efforts to attack and marginalize DeSantis, who is expected to announce his White House bid sometime after the Florida Legislature wraps up its work in the coming week.

But Trump's trip is also notable for its emphasis on the type of ground-level organizing that is vital in Iowa politics and was often missing during his 2016 campaign, when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz overtook him and won the state's GOP caucuses.

Trump has been almost singularly focused on swinging at DeSantis, whom he has attacked for policy positions on entitlement reform, his loyalty to conservative causes, even his character. While DeSantis has largely ignored Trumps jabs, a pro-DeSantis super political action committee, Never Back Down, began to respond in paid ads this month.

Meanwhile, the super PAC promoting DeSantis is hiring Iowa staff to begin organizing support for the governor before he enters the race.

The stakes for both men are particularly high in Iowa, where the caucuses in February offer opportunities for them to cement their status atop the GOP. A poor performance, however, would give an opening for other Republicans to mount an upstart campaign.

Trump's 2016 Iowa campaign was a seat-of-the-pants operation disparately managed by campaign newcomers who, including the candidate, had little idea what the caucuses are. The roughly 1,700 precinct-level Republican political meetings, vestiges of prairie civic life, include a presidential preference question but require in-person participation on a typically frigid winter evening.

Eight years ago, Trump's Iowa team had left contact information for roughly 10,000 Iowans interested in supporting him unprocessed before the caucuses, where Trump had led in lead-up polls, but fell short against Cruz's more organized campaign.

Armed with not just refined 2016 caucus data but information collected during two national campaigns, Trump's advisers says they are building a data and digital engagement strategy they say would put him in position to win the caucuses. It's an expectation Iowa GOP strategists say is an absolute must for the former president, who carried Iowa comfortably in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.

Meantime Never Back Down, run by DeSantis' 2022 Florida re-election campaign senior strategist, Phil Cox, has named Iowa Republican operatives to its roster as it seeks to tap into interested GOP activists as the Iowa 2024 campaign gets underway. Among them are Ryan Koopmans, the former chief of staff to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The group has been airing TV advertisements in Iowa and other early-voting states, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, for weeks, and plans to launch a new one Monday.

Read the original here:
Donald Trump ups competition with Ron DeSantis in planning trip to Iowa - The Gazette

Jonathan Swift and Donald Trump Collide in Federal Court – The New York Sun

Buried in President Trumps failed effort to obtain a mistrial in E. Jean Carrolls civil suit against him for libel and battery which maintains that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in a year she cant remember is an accusation of bias on the basis of literary snobbery.

A mistrial occurs when a jury cannot reach a verdict or in the presence of a procedural error or misconduct of such seriousness that it would result in an unfair trial. In such circumstances, a new trial can be ordered. While such an outcome eludes Mr. Trumps grasp for now, his lawyers raised an unusual argument to obtain one,an objectionrooted not in law but in literature.

The indignation expressed by one of Mr. Trumps attorneys, Joseph Tacopina, for Judge Lewis Kaplans comprehension of a literary reference is the latest chapter in the fraught relationship between literature and the law it was William Shakespeare who wrote, The first thing we do, lets kill all the lawyers and the saga of Mr. Trumps tangled legal plot.

The reference was to the Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, who served as dean of St. Patricks Cathedral, Dublin. He was a peripheral player in Englands Glorious Revolution of 1688, mostly as a secretary to the higher-born. He is most famous for his satires: A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, and Gullivers Travels.

The third section of Mr. Tacopinas request for a mistrial is titled, The Jonathan Swift Reference, and zeroes in an exchange where Mr. Trumps attorney cites a passage of a book by Ms. Carroll who is herself a journalist and author titled, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.

In Swifts original, both the English and the affluent solve the problem of Irish poverty by selling their children as food to the rich. As Swift puts it with straight-faced irony, A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee.

Mr. Trumps counsel notes how Ms. Carroll adopted this rhetorical device to suggest that all the men in America be sent to Montana for retraining. He pressed her on this point on the stand, asking of all the men here in this courtroom, in this country, all get shuffled off to Montana and retrained?

Ms. Carroll concedes that she proffered the Treasure State plan, but adds, You understand that was said in satire, to which Mr. Trumps lawyer responds, Ah. Okay. It is Judge Kaplan who steps in to inform that it comes from Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal 700 years ago. It was actually written 293 years ago.

In moving for a mistrial, Mr. Tacopina characterizes this exchange as one where the Court interjected in a manner that corroborated Ms. Carrolls testimony. The motion adds that if Ms. Carroll wished to elicit testimony about a 300 year old book that did not address the subject matter of her own book, she could have done so without Judge Kaplans assistance.

Originally posted here:
Jonathan Swift and Donald Trump Collide in Federal Court - The New York Sun