Trump loses latest bid to throw out hush money case after touting $100bn SoftBank deal: Live
Judge disagrees with president-elect’s attorneys that case should be dismissed on ‘presidential immunity’ grounds after he was found guilty on 34 counts of business fraud by a Manhattan jury in May
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has lost his latest bid to throw out his New York hush money conviction, with the judge overseeing the case rejecting his attorneys’ conjecture that he is protected by “presidential immunity”.
The president-elect appears likely to enter the White House as a convicted felon, though it remains unclear when, or if, the justice will continue to postpone a sentencing date after a unanimous jury found him guilty in May of falsifying business records tied to hush money payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels in October 2016.
Trump used a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday to announce a $100bn investment deal with Japan’s SoftBank, which he and the bank’s CEO Masayoshi Son promised would create hundreds of American jobs.
The incoming president also used the session to try to ease concerns about his nomination of vaccine-sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary, also suggesting he would pardon New York Mayor Eric Adams and attacking Joe Biden over his administration’s failure to provide an explanation for the mysterious drones spotted flying over New Jersey, insisting: “The government knows what’s happening.”
Trump hush money judge refuses to throw out conviction on presidential ‘immunity’ grounds
Trump claims ‘there’s something wrong’ with autism rates when asked about vaccines: ‘We’re going to find out about it’
Trump mocked for geography snafu during press conference: ‘You wouldn’t believe how many countries there are’
Trump is bringing a hawkish Iran policy back in with him
Trump makes New Jersey drone sighting plea to White House: ‘Something strange is going on’
This is what the president-elect had to say about the matter of unidentified flying objects over the East Coast and the Biden administration’s odd failure to put people’s concerns at rest.
Trump makes drone sighting plea as he claims ‘something strange is going on’
Donald Trump has claimed the government knows more than it is telling the public about the mystery drones spotted flying over New Jersey. Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday (16 December), the president-elect questioned why the Biden administration is keeping the public “in suspense”. Trump claimed: “Look, our military knows where they took off from.” When asked if he had received an intelligence briefing on the drones, Trump declined to answer. “Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” Trump said. The president-elect added: “Something strange is going on. For some reason they don’t want to tell the people.”
Trump says he would consider pardoning New York City Mayor Eric Adams
The president-elect, all too familiar with federal indictments himself, said yesterday that he believed Mayor Adams was “treated pretty unfairly” and said he “would” issue a pardon once he had reviewed the indictment against him on corruption charges that was issued in September if he felt it merited it.
Here’s more from Ariana Baio.
Trump says he would consider pardoning New York City Mayor Eric Adams
For months, speculation has circulated about a pardon because of the cozying relationship between Adams and the president-elect
Trump claims ‘there’s something wrong’ with autism rates when asked about vaccines
Let’s have a look back at the president-elect’s latest meandering press conference yesterday, at which he took questions on a wide range of subjects in addition to making the SoftBank announcement.
Here’s Eric Garcia on his worryinging refusal to say definitively that vaccines do not cause autism during comments intended to ease concerns about his nomination of vaccine-sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary.
He was at least positive about the polio vaccine, although not about mandates relating to it.
Trump says ‘something’s wrong’ with increased autism rates when asked about vaccines
Trump also says he is not a fan of mandates as Robert F Kennedy heads to Capitol Hill
Softbank CEO announces $100bn investment in US during Mar-a-Lago visit
Trump used a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday to announce a $100bn investment deal with Japan’s SoftBank, which he and the bank’s CEO Masayoshi Son promised would create hundreds of American jobs.
Here’s what they had to say:
Donald Trump loses latest bid to throw out hush money case on ‘presidential immunity’ grounds
Good morning!
Donald Trump has lost his latest bid to throw out his New York hush money conviction, with the judge overseeing the case rejecting his attorneys’ conjecture that he is protected by “presidential immunity”.
The president-elect appears likely to enter the White House as a convicted felon, though it remains unclear when, or if, the justice will continue to postpone a sentencing date after a unanimous jury found him guilty in May of falsifying business records tied to hush money payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels in October 2016.
Here’s a full report from Alex Woodward.
Trump hush money judge refuses to throw out conviction on ‘immunity’ grounds
Trump is likely to enter White House as first convicted felon president
Lindsey Graham breaks with Trump on jailing Jan 6 committee members
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina explicitly said he disagrees with Donald Trump’s suggestion that the members of the House Select Committee to investigate January 6, 2021, should be jailed.
Graham, a staunch Trump supporter, told Kristen Welker of Meet the Press on Sunday that he disagrees with the presidency-elect but did not elaborate further.
“President-elect Trump told me he thinks the members of the January 6 committee should go to jail, do you agree with that statement?” Welker asked.
Graham replied, “No.”
Read more:
Lindsey Graham breaks with Trump on jailing Jan 6 committee members
Republican lawmaker voted to certify the 2020 election results but also voted to acquit Trump during his second impeachment
TikTok prepares for US ban after delay bid rejected
US lawmakers have told Apple and Google to prepare to remove TikTok from their app stores on 19 January after the Chinese-owned platform failed in its bid to delay a nationwide ban.
China-based ByteDance must sell TikTok in the US before that date to avoid the ban, which has been ordered due to national security concerns.
Read more:
TikTok prepares for US ban after delay bid rejected
More than 170 million Americans use TikTok, with a nationwide ban set to come into force on 19 January
Steve Bannon is pushing the idea that Trump can run in 2028 (despite what the Constitution says)
MAGA acolyte Steve Bannon is currently floating the idea that Donald Trump could run for a third presidential term, even though the United States Constitution says otherwise.
During a speech at the New York Young Republican Club’s Gala on Sunday night, the former Trump chief strategist suggested that the 22nd Amendment – which states that presidents can not be elected more than twice – didn’t apply to Trump because the president-elect’s terms are non-consecutive.
Read more:
Steve Bannon pushes idea that Trump can run in ‘28 (despite what Constitution says)
MAGA acolyte Steve Bannon is currently floating the idea that Donald Trump could run for a third presidential term, even though the United States Constitution says otherwise.
Trump’s mass deportation plan could hurt the country more than the Great Recession, report says
President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promise of sweeping deportations could result in “severe economic fallout,” devastating the economy even more than the Great Recession, according to a report by Democrats in the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.
Although Trump’s messaging about improving the economy for Americans during his second term appeared to strike a chord with voters, another one of his campaign fixtures — mass deportations — could have harmful economic consequences, the December 11 report warns. The 78-year-old Republican has suggested that would use the military to assist in mass deportations.
Read more:
Trump’s mass deportation plan could hurt the country more than the Great Recession
Mass deportations could lead to a 7.4 percent drop in the GDP, meaning ‘the U.S. economy would not grow at all’ during President Trump’s second term, the report says
Mitch McConnell warns Trump against four years of ‘right-wing isolationism’
Mitch McConnell, the retiring Senate minority leader, has warned Donald Trump against embracing “right-wing isolationism” when he returns to the White House in January.
In an essay for Foreign Affairs magazine, the veteran Kentucky lawmaker, 82, warned the president-elect that he is set to encounter “a world far more hostile to US interests than the one he left behind four years ago” – citing the ever-growing challenges posed by China, Russia and Iran.
Read more:
Mitch McConnell warns Trump against four years of ‘right-wing isolationism’
Retiring Senate minority leader warns president-elect: ‘America will not be made great again by those who simply want to manage its decline’
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