Trump and Melania set to attend Al Smith dinner together as former president rips Harris’s no-show: Live

Donald Trump has tried to strike yet another hush money deal with adult film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to a report.

The former president’s attorneys allegedly sent Daniels an offer where the amount she owed him over a defamation suit would be lowered if she agreed not to make “defamatory or disparaging statements” about him.

The details were revealed in a special report by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who obtained calls, documents and emails about the deal.

Read more:

Dave Bautista has mocked Donald Trump’s “tough guy” pose, calling the presidential candidate “a weak, tubby toddler.”

Bautista, 55, rose to fame as a WWE wrestler before building a career as an action star in movies including Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, the James Bond film Spectre and both instalments of Dune.

On last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, late-night host Kimmel quoted a recent New York Times poll that found Trump is leading rival candidate Kamala Harris by 17 points among male voters. “But is he the strong, alpha man these men believe him to be?” asked Kimmel. “Not according to one of the toughest guys I know, he isn’t.”

Read on:

US leaders denounced Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after reports of his death were confirmed by the Israeli military on Thursday, calling him a “terrorist”.

President Joe Biden said that he was informed early Thursday morning that Sinwar had likely been killed in a targeted operation the day earlier, and described his killing in the Gaza Strip as an opportunity for diplomacy to begin again.

“DNA tests have now confirmed that Sinwar is dead. This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” said the president.

Read more:

The National Rifle Association, the influential firearms lobbying group, was mocked online for allegedly getting the facts wrong on a video claiming vice presidential candidate Tim Walz doesn’t know how to use a shotgun.

“Tim Walz previously claimed he kept a shotgun in his car so he could hunt pheasants after football practice,” the group wrote introducing the video, posted on X on Tuesday. “This is Tim Walz attempting to load his shotgun this past weekend.⁩”

The clip then features a video of Walz using a shotgun over circus-like music, and captions that claim “that dog don’t hunt” and urging viewers to defeat “confiscation Kamala.”

X users quickly added a community note to the post, linking to a video suggesting Walz was in fact unloading the shotgun.

“Clearly unloading and checking the action,” one user, a Colorado cattle rancher, commented.

Keep reading:

US leaders denounced Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after reports of his death were confirmed by the Israeli military on Thursday, calling him a “terrorist”.

President Joe Biden said that he was informed early Thursday morning that Sinwar had likely been killed in a targeted operation the day earlier, and described his killing in the Gaza Strip as an opportunity for diplomacy to begin again.

“DNA tests have now confirmed that Sinwar is dead. This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” said the president.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Donald Trump held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Joe Biden responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war in an interview — but made no reference to Vladimir Putin.

Two and a half years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump pinned the blame squarely on Zelensky and Biden for the conflict during an interview with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, which aired Thursday.

Kelly Rissman reports.

You might be wondering where Donald Trump is ahead of tonight’s Al Smith dinner.

Well, this afternoon he visited a barber shop in the Bronx:

And then posted that he had just found out Kamala Harris would be delivering a video message to the dinner:

Just found out that Lyin’ Kamala is doing a video message tonight instead of being at the Al Smith Dinner. She shouldn’t be allowed to do a video message. Kamala should be there like almost every other Presidential Candidate in their History, except Walter Mondale, who lost 49-1. They didn’t give me the option of a video message, nor would I have done it. This is very disrespectful to everyone involved. She should be here, or lose the Catholic Vote!

This evening Trump will be joined by his wife Melania Trump at the white-tie dinner for Catholic charities, as well as by a host of New York luminaries and elected officials, including the state’s attorney general Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted him for fraud.

Senator Mitch McConnell reportedly referred to Donald Trump as a “despicable human being” and “narcissist” who is “stupid as well as being ill-tempered”.

In the weeks leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, McConnell privately told people he was “counting the days” until Trump left office as the former president spread lies about mass voter fraud in an attempt to overturn election results in his favor.

His comments, revealed in a forthcoming biography, give some insight into his contentious relationship with Trump and his true feelings about the former president.

Ariana Baio has the story.

Bill Clinton mocked Donald Trump for his impromptu dance party this week after two members of the audience at his town hall had medical emergencies: “I’m only two months younger than Donald Trump. But I will not spend 30 minutes swaying back and forth listening to music. And I will not clap offbeat… I am not here running for anything anymore except for my grandchildren’s future.”