Biden news - Trump blames Cuomo for ‘witch hunt’ after Scotus tax ruling as US hits 500,000 Covid deaths

Donald Trump Jr has drawn criticism for using a display of guns as the backdrop for a video attacking teachers’ unions, with some calling the choice particularly tasteless “in the era of school shootings” and others suggesting it resembles the sort of video posted by “extremists”.

On Sunday, Mr Trump shared a video entitled “These teachers unions are out of control” in which he criticised unions for speaking out against opening schools with the Covid pandemic still raging.

With the US poised to cross half a million Covid deaths on Monday, the son of former president Donald Trump called union opposition to schools reopening “all political”.

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Donald Trump will send a message that he is the “presumptive 2024 nominee” for the Republican Party during his first public appearance since leaving the White House, Axios has reported.

The former president is to appear at the annual CPAC conference on Sunday, and the US news outlet reports that one Trump adviser says he will make a “show of force” that will attempt to convey to the GOP that “I’m still in charge”.

Mr Trump is expected to organise 2022 primaries of Republican lawmakers he feels have been insufficiently loyal, and has not publicly ruled out running for the presidency again.

Former US President Donald Trump had reportedly offered North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un a lift home on the Air Force One after a summit in Hanoi in 2019, according to a new BBC documentary.

Mr Trump’s meetings with Mr Kim were among the most eye-catching moments of his presidency, culminating in the former president declaring his love for the North Korean leader after a summit in Singapore in 2018.

He told a crowd at a campaign rally: “He wrote me beautiful letters and they’re great letters. We fell in love.”

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Joe Biden’s public schedule shows that the US president will this morning receive his presidential daily brief - which details America’s most sensitive national security issues - before he delivers a pair of remarks first concerning small businesses, then later regarding the country’s death toll due to coronavirus.

The US is expected to pass 500,000 confirmed deaths from Covid-19 later today - by far the highest confirmed total of any country.

A former Florida cop who entered the US Capitol with the rioters and live streamed the trespass on Facebook from inside the building, has now been arrested.

Nicholes Lentz, 41, was arrested on Friday on charges of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct, same as other rioters who were identified in the mob that entered the Capitol building on 6 January.

The FBI affidavit quoted byThe Miami Herald states that Mr Lentz posted a video where he can be seen saying: “America has spoken. You cannot stop millions of people.”

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Tensions over the future direction of the Republican party continue, with a USA Today poll on Sunday finding that 46 per cent of Republican voters would be prepared to defect to a third party should Donald Trump choose to start one.

The same poll also found that 85 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the 45th president should he run again for the presidency in 2024 — as he will allegedly do on Sunday.

As Joe Sommerlad writes: “Republican elected officials have likewise largely stayed quiet on his prospects, although the likes of congressman Matt Gaetz have repeatedly pledged their loyalty while House minority whip Steve Scalise was still refusing to concede that Joe Biden had won the election fairly during an interview on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.”

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The White House has said it is “continuing to work toward” Neera Tanden’s confirmation as director of Office for Management and Budget, following the announcement senator Susan Collins would not vote for her.

Ms Tanden has a history of prolific, and often excoriating, tweets aimed at lawmakers, an issue that is causing problems for her confirmation in the Senate.

Democratic senator Joe Manchin has already said he will not back the former government official, meaning the Biden administration needs at least one Republican vote they are yet to find.

“Neera Tanden = accomplished policy expert, would be 1st Asian American woman to lead OMB, has lived experience having benefitted from a number of federal programs as a kid, looking ahead to the committee votes this week and continuing to work toward her confirmation,” press secretary Jen Psaki has tweeted.

Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly told a journalist that Jeffrey Epstein recorded tapes of former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, who were former acquaintances of the disgraced sex offender.

Ms Maxwell, who awaits trial on charges she assisted Epstein’s crimes in the 1990s, reportedly told a CBS “60 minutes” producer that she would not release tapes of Mr Trump without those of Mr Clinton before the 2016 presidential election.

The apparent revelations were made by Ira Rosen, an ex-producer for the CBS show, who released a memoir called “Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes,” which reveals details about his time on the award-winning programme.

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The Supreme Court has declined a request from former President Donald Trump to withhold his tax records from the Manhattan district attorney after New York state prosecutors sought his personal and corporate tax returns. 

The move serves a post-presidency defeat to Mr Trump, who has for years battled to keep his tax records private, and paves the way for a New York grand jury to review his long-sought financial records.

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Lawyers for Dominion Voting, a voting systems company falsely accused by Donald Trump and allies of involvement in election fraud, have said the firm has filed a defamation lawsuit against MyPillow chief Mikel Lindell.

Mr Lindell, one of Mr Trump’s most high profile allies, was responsible for much of the misinformation that percolated in right-wing media following Mr Trump’s defeat by President Joe Biden.

“Despite repeated warnings and efforts to share the facts with him, Mr Lindell has continued to maliciously spread false claims about Dominion,” said John Poulos, CEO of Dominion.