Donald Trump news today: Trump nominee named special master in FBI raid as DoJ bid to

Former president Donald Trump says in a new book that he will not pick his former vice president Mike Pence to serve as his running mate if he launches another White House bid in 2024.

Mr Trump made the remarks in The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021, written by Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker, The Guardian reported. Mr Baker and Ms Glasser interviewed Mr Trump in April and November of last year.

The Independent’s Richard Hall reports on how John Fetterman, a very different kind of Democrat, is hoping to chip away at Trump’s support in rural Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, was reportedly so disturbed by her husband’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that she took to characterising his response as “screwing up”.

The news of one of the former president’s closest confidants, among others, expressing doubts in his ability to handle critical geopolitical issues comes from a forthcoming book from New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker and New Yorker staff writer and CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser.

CNN obtained an early copy of the book.

In one of the book’s more damning passages, the pair of veteran reporters cite interviews with Trump insiders who were able to confirm that the one-term president’s partner was concerned with how his administration was responding to the pandemic.

Johanna Chisholm reports.

The state of New York’s chief law enforcement officer may soon file a civil lawsuit against former president Donald Trump, his eponymous real estate and licensing conglomerate, and at least one of his adult children after the twice-impeached ex-president’s proposed settlement that would have ended a years-long probe into whether his companies defrauded state tax authorities was rejected.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

Former president Donald Trump on Thursday hinted that his supporters could engage in a protracted campaign of violence if he were to be indicted for any crimes discovered in the criminal investigations into his conduct.

Speaking on the conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, Mr Trump said an indictment would not deter him from running for president because he would have “no prohibition against running”.

“But I think if it happened, I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps, we’ve never seen before. I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it,” he added.

Asked what kinds of problems he was predicting if he were to be charged with a crime, Mr Trump added ominously: “I think you’d have big problems — big problems”.

“I just don’t think they [his supporters] would stand for it. They will not,” he said. “They will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes”.

Andrew Feinberg has more.

President Joe Biden has nominated a Miami litigator and longtime government lawyer to serve as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the office currently involved in the Justice Department‘s investigation of classified records at former President Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Markenzy Lapointe would replace Juan Antonio “Tony” Gonzalez, who has been a top prosecutor in Southern Florida involved in the investigation of the classified records and the debate over whether a judge should appoint a special master to review the documents taken by FBI in the search.

Democrats are punting a vote to protect same-sex and interracial marriages until after the November midterm elections, pulling back just days after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to put the Senate on the record on the issue “in the coming weeks.”

Donald Trump has claimed he had “the absolute right” to declassify top secret documents that federal agents found at his Mar-a-Lago mansion.

The one-term president made the claim during an appearance on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show this week and insisted that he will not be prosecuted over it.

Graeme Massie listened to the interview.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney had no sympathy for Democratic leaders in cities and states around the country on Thursday after news broke of GOP governors stepping up efforts to bus groups of migrants to their jurisdictions.

The campaign, begun by Texas’s Greg Abbott and now joined by Florida’s Ron DeSantis, aims to embarrass the Biden administration by taking the issue of immigration enforcement into state hands. Over the past several months, the governors have found groups of undocumented migrants and enticed them with various means to accept bus rides, a dozen or so at a time, out of state to destinations unknown.

John Bowden has the story.