Trump news - live: President posts ‘most important’ 46-minute speech filled with false voter fraud claims

Ivanka Trump was indignant this week when it emerged she had been deposed in a lawsuit brought against one of her father’s hotels for allegedly overcharging his presidential inauguration committee when it reserved event space in January 2017.

The case, which has been brought by authorities in the District of Columbia, specifically accuses the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee – created to arrange events around Donald Trump’s swearing-in – of illegally wasting nonprofit funds by “grossly overpaying” the Trump hotel and organisation for event space.

Andrew Naughtie has the story.

Two panelists on a financial news show became embroiled in a heated on-air row over face masks and restaurant closings.

Andrew Ross Sorkin and Rick Santelli got into the fierce argument as they discussed how coronavirus restrictions have hit businesses.

Tension between the two bubbled over when Mr Santelli denied that wearing a face mask was backed up by science.

Bonds expert Mr Sorkin accused his CNBC colleague of “doing a disservice to the viewer” for suggesting that restaurants should be kept open despite the virus surge.

Graeme Massie has the story.

President Donald Trump has raised $207.5 million since Election Day while seeking to overturn the results, according to a new report, while actually spending just a small fraction of that on efforts to challenge the vote count in key states.

But his campaign has only spent $8.8 million on the resulting legal efforts, as well as a recount in Wisconsin — which ended up providing more votes to Mr Biden.

Chris Riotta has more.

Progressive congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib called for another round of coronavirus stimulus checks, as Congress continues to dither on passing a new relief package with unemployment and rental aid supporting millions weeks from expiring.

“People can't afford water to wash hands,” Ms Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, tweeted on Thursday. “Families are crowdfunding to bury loved ones they lost to COVID-1. Renters + homeowners are losing the roof over their head. Stimulus check now (monthly)! It would have the most impact on lives, especially children.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has more.

Mike Pence has been ridiculed on Twitter for copying Joe Biden’s statement that “help is on the way” to Americans amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The president-elect, whose inauguration as president comes next month, told Americans that “help is on the way” amid the current health crisis that Donald Trump’s administration has downplayed, despite more than 275,00 deaths.

“My message to everyone struggling right now is this: Help is on the way,” wrote Mr Biden on Tuesday December 1.

Mr Trump’s vice-president, Mr Pence, also used the same statement, as he tweeted prior to a roundtable discussion on Covid-19 vaccines at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. 

Gino Spocchia has more.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - a stalwart ally of Donald Trump - reportedly tried to suppress negative information about the status of the state's coronavirus pandemic between early September and the 3 November general election.  

The South Florida Sun Sentinel revealed the coverup in a recent investigation.  

The newspaper found that Mr DeSantis used his influence to direct a state's department of health to stop issuing public statements regarding Covid-19 between 3 September and 3 November.  

The paper noted that the information suppression began in the run up to the 2020 election.  

The investigation alleges that Mr DeSantis's actions "suppressed unfavorable facts, dispensed dangerous misinformation, dismissed public health professionals, and promoted the views of scientific dissenters" who supported Mr DeSantis' response to the virus.  

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi has the report.

Donald Trump’s administration has extended its suspension of federal student loan repayments through the end of January 2021, keeping interest rates at zero per cent, amid the public health crisis and massive economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

President-elect Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated on 20 January, will likely seek to extend relief or cancel certain loans entirely upon taking office.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward is following the story as it unfolds.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Friday a resolution to a bitter dispute with Qatar seemed “within reach” after Kuwait announced progress towards ending a row that Washington says hampers a united Gulf front against Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner had held talks in Doha on Wednesday following a visit to Saudi Arabia.

“We have made significant progress in the last few days thanks to the continuing efforts of Kuwait but also thanks to strong support from President Trump,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told a Rome conference via videolink.

“We hope this progress can lead to a final agreement which looks within reach and I can say I am somewhat optimistic that we are close to finalising an agreement between all the nations in the dispute.”

Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Friday welcomed the developments, state-run news agency KUNA said.

It quoted him as saying “this agreement has shown that all concerned parties are keen on retaining the pan-Gulf and the pan-Arab solidarity, unity, and stability.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking remotely at a Bahrain summit on Friday, said the United States was “very hopeful” that the dispute would be resolved. - Reuters

A federal appellate court rejected Sidney Powell’s appeal to keep her so-called Kraken released in the wilds of Georgia.

Powell, working as a kind of freelancer independent from the Trump campaign’s “elite strike force”, appealed to the the Eleventh Circuit for for the court to decertify the presidential election.

The appeal was dismissed on the basis of jurisdiction and sent back to the US District Court, According to Law & Crime, which has been closely following the court cases.

The District Court had previously ordered a restraining order on wiping Dominion Voting Systems machines so a forensic investigation could be conducted, buy Powell was seeking broader relief.  

“This appeal arises from last-minute litigation that alleges widespread election-related misconduct and seeks sweeping relief,” Judge Andrew Brasher began, according to the outlet. “The issue before us, however, is a narrow question of appellate jurisdiction: has the district court entered an order that we have jurisdiction to review? Because the answer to that question is ‘no,’ we must dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction and allow the proceedings to continue in the district court.”

One of the Trump campaign’s key witnesses at a hearing about alleged voter fraud before the Michigan legislature just got off probation for an unspecified digital crime, the Daily Mail reports.

Mellissa Carone, a former contractor for Dominion Voting Systems, went before the Michigan House Oversight Committee on Wednesday and claimed in bizarre, oftentimes belligerent testimony that instantly went viral, that she witnessed a host of election misconduct at a Detroit counting center. 

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has more on Trump’s election challenges.