Trump news – live: Ex-president says Musk won’t buy Twitter at ‘ridiculous price’ as Pence backs Gov Kemp

It has emerged that during the Trump administration, the Department of Justice issued a subpoena for the phone records of an investigative reporter looking into its family separations policy at the US border.

The journalist in question was The Guardian’s Stephanie Kirchgaessner – and the paper itself was apparently not made aware of the subpoena at the time it was issued.

Gino Spocchia has the news.

Donald Trump’s endorsee in the Georgia governor’s race, David Perdue, has failed dismally to catch up with the Republican incumbent, Brian Kemp. And with the vote set for 24 May, Mr Kemp has attracted a high-profile supporter of his own: Mike Pence.

While Mr Pence has not explicitly condemned Mr Trump for his actions after the 2020 election, Mr Trump has essentially ruled out including him on a future presidential ticket. For his part, Mr Pence has continued a schedule of speaking engagements and campaign-style appearances around the country, raising some speculation that he might make a tilt at the presidency if Mr Trump does not or cannot run.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was not flattered by the recent release of audio recordings from after the 6 January riot on which he said Donald Trump bore responsibility for the events of the day and said Joe Biden would be “maybe the best person to have” in the White House.

Now, Mr Graham has gone back on his comments, telling Fox News host Jesse Watters that he was “wrong” about Mr Biden.

“I’ve known Joe for 30 years. He’s a nice guy, but he’s been a disaster as president,” he said. “Nobody fears Joe Biden abroad, and at home his policies are failing.”

Eric Garcia has the story.

Elon Musk sent Twitter shares into a dive with an overnight tweet saying he was putting a pause on his plans to buy out the company while he evaluated its estimates of how many accounts are fake or spam.

Since then, however, he has sought to calm things down:

Mr Musk has reiterated that he would like to see Donald Trump’s Twitter account restored, though the former president has said (for now) that he intends to remain on his own platform, the problem-stricken Truth Social.

Andrew Griffin has more.

Having been subpoenaed by the 6 January select committee, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appears to be keeping a lower-than-usual profile as he goes about his day on Capitol Hill:

Former President Donald Trump has taken to his own social media site, Truth Social, to share some thoughts on Elon Musk’s intention to buy Twitter.

He wrote (truthed?): “There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS or Spam Accounts. Fake anyone?”

The former president continued: “By the time you get rid of them, if that can even be done, what do you have? Not much? If it weren’t for the ridiculous Billion Dollar breakup fee, Elon would have already been long gone. Just my opinion, but Truth Social is MUCH better than Twitter and is absolutely exploding, incredible engagement!”

Mr Musk had previously said he would allow Mr Trump back on Twitter, from which he has been banned since 6 January 2021. Earlier today Mr Musk said his purchase of the micro-blogging social media site was “on hold” while a review was conducted into how many bots and spam accounts existed on the platform.

A bespoke social media platform (albeit a beleagured one) is all very well, but Donald Trump now seems to be pursuing another venture to provide a “refuge” for the president’s fans: a right-wing alternative to Netflix.

The Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) is recruiting staff for the new venture. In an ad posted on Wednesday, the group announced that the streaming service, named TMTG+, will be “a ‘Big Tent’ platform offering broad-based entertainment rooted in free speech”.

It added that “in addition to the Social Media platform Truth Social, our SVOD [Subscription Video on Demand] platform TMTG+ will be the home for a wide variety of non-scripted, scripted, and original content”.

Sravasti Dasgupta has more.

Donald Trump says Elon Musk will not buy Twitter at “such a ridiculous price” after the billionaire announced he had paused his $44bn purchase of the platform.

The Tesla boss says he is “still committed” to buying Twitter but that the deal is on hold until he had gathered more information about the spam and fake accounts on the platform.

Mr Musk has vowed to let Mr Trump back onto the platform once he has taken control of it, but the one-term president cast doubt on that ever happening in a post on his own Truth Social platform.

Graeme Massie reports:

As hardcore right-winger Kathy Barnette surges in the Pennsylvania Senate primary, supporters of Donald Trump and his chosen candidate, Dr Mehmet Oz, are starting to turn on her. Among the most visibly incensed is Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has blasted out a remarkably bilious thread attacking Ms Barnette head-on:

White House press secretary Jen Psaki is currently giving her final briefing before stepping down from the role. It is her 224th briefing.

Here’s our compilation of clips of her key moments behind the lectern in the briefing room.