Trump live: Ex-president tells Piers Morgan he ‘threatened’ Putin, as court rules
‘I’m a more honest man than you’: Trump storms out of Piers Morgan interview
Donald Trump has been found in contempt of proceedings brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is investigating allegations of fraud in the Trump Organization’s real estate dealings.
The ex-president and his associates have so far refused to comply with Ms James’s demands for documents, leading a judge to impose a $10,000 daily fine until the records are turned over.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s much-trailed interview with Piers Morgan has aired its first segment with the ex-president insisting he deterred an invasion of Ukraine during his administration by threatening Vladimir Putin “like he’s never been threatened before”.
In advance of their conversation’s screening, Mr Morgan described Mr Trump as “pathological” in his fixation on the supposed theft of the 2020 election, a conspiracy theory for which the journalist insisted there is no evidence.
In the interview, Mr Trump takes aim at Meghan Markle and alleges that she is leading Harry “by the nose” while asserting that the Queen should strip the couple of all royal titles.
ICYMI: McConnell’s contempt revealed in latest book ecxerpts
The upcoming book This Will Not Pass has generated story after story with its reporting on the last phase of the Trump presidency, and now it’s thrown up another, detailing the depth of contempt Mitch McConnell felt for Donald Trump by the time his term was over:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said former president Donald Trump “totally, totally discredited himself” and “put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger” by his actions on the day a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in hopes of preventing Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow finally, totally discredited himself,” said the Kentucky Republican, who was speaking to New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin just hours after rioters had been cleared from the Capitol by law enforcement and National Guard soldiers.
Read more below from Andrew Feinberg.
Andrew Naughtie26 April 2022 11:16
Twitter CEO punts on Trump’s return
It is unclear whether Donald Trump wants to return to Twitter, but the president’s thinking on that won’t matter if he isn’t allowed back. This is one of the biggest questions confronting the social media giant after Elon Musk’s buyout – and according to CEO Parag Agrawal, it’s one for the buyer, not the management.
“Once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go. It’s a question we should address with him [Musk],” Mr Agrawal told a press conference.
Vishwam Sankaran has more.
Andrew Naughtie26 April 2022 10:42
Catch up: the worst moments of Trump’s Morgan interview
Full-length conversations with critical interivewers are not the norm for Donald Trump, especially since the end of his presidency – and that was just part of what made last night’s session with Piers Morgan such bizarre viewing.
Andrew Feinberg has a rundown of the most incendiary, off-base and downright strange moments.
Andrew Naughtie26 April 2022 10:08
McConnell called Trump ‘despicable’, book claims
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said former president Donald Trump “totally, totally discredited himself” and “put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger” by his actions on the day a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol.
“I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow finally, totally discredited himself,” said the Kentucky Republican, who was speaking to New York Times journalist Jonathan Martin just hours after rioters had been cleared from the Capitol by law enforcement and National Guard soldiers.
Mr McConnell’s comments were revealed in a forthcoming book by Martin and fellow New York Times scribe Alex Burns, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the battle for America’s Future. A copy of the book was obtained by The Independent ahead of its 3 May release date.
Andrew Naughtie26 April 2022 09:30
Republicans ask Musk to free Trump’s Twitter account
After Elon Musk took over Twitter for a whopping $44 bn, Republicans pressed the billionaire to unfreeze former president Donald Trump’s account.
“Hey, Elon Musk, it’s a great week to free Donald Trump (sic),” House Republicans wrote on the social media platform.
“Bring back President Trump. Bring back my personal account. Bring back Dr Robert Malone. Bring back Alex Jones. Bring back Milo Yiannopoulos. Bring back the cancelled nation. Bring back freedom of speech. Bring back America,” congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote.
“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH. I…
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