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Former President Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that he asked his Secret Service detail to take him to the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, acknowledging a key detail of his actions that were central to the findings of the House committee established to investigate the attack. During a campaign rally in Waukesha, Wis., Mr. Trump brought up a sensational but disputed element of testimony given to the House Jan. 6 committee by a Trump White House aide: that Mr. Trump had lunged for the wheel and physically struggled with Secret Service agents when they refused to take him to join the large crowd of supporters who were marching toward the Capitol. “I sat in the back,” Mr. Trump said, giving his version of events. I said, ‘I’d like to go down there because I see a lot of people walking down.’ They said, ‘Sir, it’s better if you don’t.’ I said, ‘Well, I’d like to.’”“It’s better if you don’t,” Mr. Trump recounted an agent saying. The former president said he replied, “All right, whatever you guys think is fine,” and added, “That was the whole tone of the conversation.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “, ” Mr, ‘, ’, it’s, Mr, ” Organizations: Capitol, Trump White House, Secret Service Locations: Waukesha, Wis

Holding his first campaign rallies since his criminal trial in Manhattan began, former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday urged college presidents to take a tougher approach to protests over the war in Gaza that have swept across campuses and praised police action at the demonstrations. Calling protesters “raging lunatics” and suggesting without any evidence that they were hired by liberal groups to draw attention away from the surge of migrants at the border, Mr. Trump commended New York City police officers who, in riot gear, arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University and cleared a building that they had occupied. Speaking to supporters in Waukesha, Wis., Mr. Trump called for similar actions at universities across the country. “To every college president, I say remove the encampments immediately,” he said. “Vanquish the locals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ”, “ Organizations: Wednesday, New York City, Columbia University Locations: Manhattan, Gaza, Waukesha, Wis

Mr. Trump now faces dozens of felony charges in connection with those events. As he campaigns in battleground states this year, Mr. Trump has repeatedly tried to sow doubt about the integrity of the fall election, while repeating many of the same lies that he used to assail the integrity of the 2020 election. Months before any voting has taken place, Mr. Trump has regularly made the baseless claim that Democrats are likely to cheat to win. “Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020, but we’re not going to allow them to rig the presidential election — the most important day of our lives — in 2024,” Mr. Trump said at a rally in Freeland, Mich. Mr. Trump has for years promoted the lie that he won Wisconsin in 2020, and he did so again in the Journal Sentinel interview.

Persons: Trump’s, Biden, Trump, “, you’re, ”, we’re, ” Mr, Jan, Robin Vos Organizations: Capitol, Democrats, Wisconsin, Journal Sentinel, Republican, Legislature Locations: Freeland , Mich

Donald J. Trump, having failed to fend off a criminal trial in Manhattan that begins on Monday, said that he planned to testify in the case stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star. Taking questions Friday from reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Mr. Trump, when asked whether he would take the stand, responded that he would. I tell the truth,” he said, standing just off a sunny patio of the private club with Speaker Mike Johnson behind him. And the truth is that there’s no case. They have no case.”A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has charged Mr. Trump with 34 felonies, declined to comment on his remarks.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “ I’m, ”, Mike Johnson Locations: Manhattan, Lago, Palm Beach, Fla

☆ Melania Trump Plans to Appear at a Mar-a-Lago Fund-Raiser This Month
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Melania Trump, who has been mostly absent from public view while her husband, Donald J. Trump, campaigns for president this year, will appear at a fund-raiser at Mar-a-Lago on April 20 for the Log Cabin Republicans, the group’s president said. The event, which was first reported by Politico, is a return of sorts to the political arena for Mrs. Trump, who has consistently stayed away from campaign events. Mr. Trump has insisted for months that Mrs. Trump would join him on the trail. And she did not join him at a Super Tuesday party at Mar-a-Lago, the couple’s home in Palm Beach, Fla.Last month, Mrs. Trump made a rare public appearance with Mr. Trump, accompanying him when he cast his ballot during Florida’s primary. When asked if she would appear more regularly this year, Mrs. Trump replied, “Stay tuned.”

Persons: Melania Trump, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Politico, Mar Locations: Mar, Lago, Palm Beach, Fla

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, added a new item to the list: a $60 Bible. Days before Easter, Mr. Trump posted a video on his social media platform in which he encouraged his supporters to buy the “God Bless the USA Bible,” named after the ballad by the country singer Lee Greenwood, which Mr. Trump plays as he takes the stage at his rallies. “All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book,” said Mr. Trump, who before entering politics was not overtly religious and who notably stumbled while referencing a book of the Bible during his 2016 campaign. “It’s a lot of people’s favorite book.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ”, Lee Greenwood, “

☆ On a Bright Night for His Campaign, Trump Again Conjures a Dark Vision
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Despite dominating the Super Tuesday nominating contests, former President Donald J. Trump gave a victory speech short on celebration or exultation and long on sinister evocations of what he portrayed as a grim fate for the country if President Biden is re-elected. “We’ve watched our country take a great beating over the last three years,” Mr. Trump told supporters on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. “And nobody thought a thing like this would be possible.”He made no mention of his lone Republican rival, Nikki Haley, his former United Nations ambassador, whose victory in the Vermont primary — the first state she has carried — was called by The Associated Press just as he finished speaking. A somber Mr. Trump recited a meandering list of grievances, insisting that the nation was descending toward chaos under Mr. Biden’s leadership. He railed against a lack of border security, China policy and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, at one point spinning off to complain about “brand-new beautiful equipment left behind.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, “ We’ve, ” Mr, Nikki Haley, ” Organizations: Mar, Republican, United Nations, The Associated Press Locations: Palm Beach, Fla, Vermont, China, Afghanistan

Former President Donald J. Trump, long the dominant front-runner in the Republican nominating contest, has made it clear for months that he is itching to focus on a likely general election matchup between him and President Biden. On Saturday, he’ll campaign in Nevada, a critical battleground state. Off the trail on Friday, Ms. Haley assailed Mr. Trump as “unhinged” on Fox News as she continued to try and bait him into a one-on-one debate. Mr. Trump was in a New York City courtroom, but his campaign sent out email blasts pointing to articles that seemed to bolster the case that she should cede the race to him, and attacking her on immigration. “There’s one thing Americans know — Nikki will always put America last,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman, wrote.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, Nikki Haley, she’s, Haley, Mr, ”, “, — Nikki, ” Steven Cheung Organizations: Republican, Fox News, America, Trump Locations: Nevada, New York City

Nikki Haley might have come in third in the Iowa caucuses, but as she campaigns in New Hampshire for its first-in-the-nation primary next week, her attention is squarely focused on only one rival: Donald J. Trump. Ms. Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Mr. Trump, has begun fine-tuning her argument against her former boss, trying out new jabs and unleashing a new attack ad right out of the gate. She has also stepped up her efforts to frame herself as Mr. Trump’s top rival, announcing that she would no longer participate in primary debates that don’t include him. In recent remarks and in a new television ad, Ms. Haley paints Mr. Trump and President Biden as two sides of the same coin: politicians past their prime who are unable to put forth a vision for the country’s future because they are “consumed by the past, by investigations, by grievances.”At a campaign rally on Wednesday in Rochester, N.H., she fended off Mr. Trump’s attacks on her immigration record, warned voters not to believe his ads against her and reminded them that it was Mr. Trump who had wanted to raise the age for Social Security eligibility and had once proposed increasing the gas tax.

Persons: Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump, Ms, Haley, Trump’s, Biden Organizations: United Nations, Mr, Social Security Locations: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Rochester, N.H

The expulsion of George Santos from the House on Friday, after a year shaped by audacious lies and outright frauds, ended his 11-month congressional tenure. But as he stormed off Capitol Hill, Mr. Santos made abundantly clear that he had no intention of returning to obscurity. Mr. Santos, a New York Republican, is scheduled to stand trial next year on a lengthy rap sheet that includes charges he defrauded donors, lied to election officials and stole unemployment benefits. But in American politics, even convicted criminals are often given second acts — if not in elected office, then on reality TV or the big screen. Here’s what might be next — and what will not be — for the disgraced and recently deposed former congressman.

Persons: George Santos, Santos Organizations: Capitol, New, New York Republican Locations: New York

☆ Trump’s Defense to Charge That He’s Anti-Democratic? Accuse Biden of It
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump, who has been indicted by federal prosecutors for conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with a plot to overturn the 2020 election, repeatedly claimed to supporters in Iowa on Saturday that it was President Biden who posed a severe threat to American democracy. While Mr. Trump shattered democratic norms throughout his presidency and has faced voter concerns that he would do so again in a second term, the former president in his speech repeatedly accused Mr. Biden of corrupting politics and waging a repressive “all-out war” on America. ”Joe Biden is not the defender of American democracy,” he said. “Joe Biden is the destroyer of American democracy.”Mr. Trump has made similar attacks on Mr. Biden a staple of his speeches in Iowa and elsewhere. He frequently accuses the president broadly of corruption and of weaponizing the Justice Department to influence the 2024 election.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, Mr, ” Joe Biden, ”, “ Joe Biden Organizations: Justice Department Locations: United States, Iowa, America

George Santos, the New York Republican congressman whose tapestry of lies and schemes made him a figure of national ridicule and the subject of a 23-count federal indictment, was expelled from the House on Friday after a decisive bipartisan vote by his peers. The move consigned Mr. Santos, who over the course of his short political career invented ties to the Holocaust, Sept. 11 and the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, to a genuine place in history: He is the first person to be expelled from the House without first being convicted of a federal crime or supporting the Confederacy. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana announced the tally to a hushed House chamber: The measure, which required a two-thirds majority, passed with 311 lawmakers in favor of expulsion, including 105 Republicans, and 114 against. Two members voted present. “The new whole number of the House is 434,” a downcast Mr. Johnson announced, confirming that with Mr. Santos’s ouster, the already paper-thin margin of Republican control had shrunk to three votes.

Persons: George Santos, Santos, Mike Johnson, Johnson, Santos’s Organizations: New York Republican Locations: Orlando, Louisiana

As the House of Representatives opened the floor on Thursday to debate the fate of George Santos, Republican of New York, the arguments over whether to expel him took an immediate and indecorous turn. Mr. Santos’s use of Botox was invoked several times, even by those defending him. His detractors pointed to falsified ties to the Holocaust and to his claims, contradicted by paperwork, that his mother was at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The final speaker calling to expel Mr. Santos concluded with the briefest of remarks: “You, sir, are a crook.”The dramatic floor debate was, perhaps, a fitting culmination to a political career that has been defined by spectacle, scandal and lies. All that could come to an end on Friday, when the House is scheduled to vote on a resolution to expel Mr. Santos, 35, following the release of a damning and detailed report from the House Ethics Committee that found “substantial evidence” that he had violated federal law.

Persons: George Santos, Botox, Mr, Santos, “ Organizations: Republican, World Trade Locations: New York

House Democrats on Tuesday moved to force a vote this week on whether to expel Representative George Santos of New York from office, a strategic effort to prevent Republican leadership from slow-rolling any bid to push one of their own out of office. Since then, Republicans have debated whether to shield or expel Mr. Santos, aware that either path could come with grave costs. But the resolution from Democrats is privileged, meaning that Speaker Mike Johnson must address it within two days. Republicans could still move to table or postpone the vote, moves that would each require the support of a majority of the House. Those maneuvers would not rule out a vote on Mr. Guest’s resolution, however, if Republican leadership chooses to act on its own party’s motion to lessen the appearance of Democrats forcing the Republicans’ hand.

Persons: George Santos, Robert Garcia of, Dan Goldman, Santos, Michael Guest of, Mr, Mike Johnson Organizations: Democratic, Republican, Republicans Locations: George Santos of New York, Robert Garcia of California, New York, Michael Guest of Mississippi

This turn inward has sounded new alarms among experts on autocracy who have long worried about Mr. Trump’s praise for foreign dictators and disdain for democratic ideals. They said the former president’s increasingly intensive focus on perceived internal enemies was a hallmark of dangerous totalitarian leaders. Scholars, Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans are asking anew how much Mr. Trump resembles current strongmen abroad and how he compares to authoritarian leaders of the past. “There are echoes of fascist rhetoric, and they’re very precise,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor at New York University who studies fascism. These ambitions include using the Justice Department to take vengeance on his political rivals, plotting a vast expansion of presidential power and installing ideologically aligned lawyers in key positions to bless his contentious actions.

Persons: Trump, ”, Ruth Ben, Mr Organizations: Trump Republicans, New York University, Justice Department

☆ Trump Focuses on Iowa as He Looks to Close Out the Republican Race
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But speaking in Fort Dodge, Mr. Trump projected confidence. Mr. Trump suggested that those funds alone should secure him a win in January. “My guys say: ‘Please, sir, don’t take it for granted that you’re going to win Iowa. It doesn’t sound good,’” Mr. Trump told the crowd. I got them $28 billion.

Persons: Trump, ”, “, ” Mr, you’re, ’ Organizations: Iowa Locations: Fort Dodge, Iowa, China

The Republican chairman of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee introduced a resolution on Friday to expel Representative George Santos of New York from Congress, citing the committee’s damning new report documenting pervasive campaign fraud and violations of House rules. The move by Representative Michael Guest of Mississippi, the committee’s chairman, laid the groundwork for a pivotal vote after Thanksgiving that could make Mr. Santos the sixth representative to be ejected in the chamber’s history. “The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s investigative subcommittee investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment,” Mr. Guest said in a statement accompanying his five-page resolution. “And the most appropriate punishment is expulsion.”Mr. Santos, a Republican, has survived two expulsion efforts after a crush of reports in The New York Times and other publications exposed his fabricated life story and federal prosecutors charged him with 23 felonies.

Persons: George Santos, Michael Guest of, Santos, Mr, Guest, ” Mr Organizations: Republican, The New York Times Locations: George Santos of New York, Michael Guest of Mississippi

☆ After Calling Foes ‘Vermin,’ Trump Campaign Warns Its Critics Will Be ‘Crushed’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign rejected criticism that he was echoing the language of fascist dictators with his vow to root out his political opponents like “vermin,” then doubled down: It said on Monday that the “sad, miserable existence” of those who made such comparisons would be “crushed” with Mr. Trump back in the White House. “Those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said, “and their sad, miserable existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.”At a campaign event Saturday in New Hampshire, Mr. Trump vowed to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.” He then said his political opposition was the most pressing and pernicious threat facing America. “The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within,” Mr. Trump said. “Our threat is from within.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, ”, Trump, Steven Cheung, “, Mr Organizations: Trump Locations: New Hampshire, America

☆ Trump Takes Veterans Day Speech in a Very Different Direction
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He also promised to care for America’s veterans, reviving a hyperbolic claim that he made throughout his 2016 campaign that Democrats “treat the illegal aliens just pouring into our country better than they treat our veterans.”And he said he would divert money currently earmarked “for the shelter and transport of illegal aliens” to instead provide shelter and treatment for homeless military veterans. Here are some of the more notable elements of Mr. Trump’s Veterans Day speech. Courtroom CamerasMr. Trump, who is facing a civil fraud trial in New York and four criminal indictments, said in a radio interview earlier this week that he would welcome cameras in the courtroom. He went further on Saturday. “I want this trial to be seen by everybody in the world,” Mr. Trump said to a cheering crowd, referring to his federal election trial in Washington.

Persons: Trump’s, Trump, “, Mr, Biden, weaponizing Organizations: “, Justice Department Locations: New York, Washington

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s most prominent politicians, have circled each other on the campaign trail, with Mr. Trump consistently ridiculing Mr. DeSantis and the governor only recently beginning to fire back. It was the rare occasion where Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis were set to share the same stage, albeit hours apart. Yet Mr. DeSantis, who faces a vast polling gap behind Mr. Trump, did not directly attack the former president, whose manhood he questioned this week. Even as the rivalry between Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis has defined the presidential primary contest for months, the former president’s grip on the party has not loosened. Mr. DeSantis, long considered his foremost challenger, has been losing ground.

Persons: Donald J, Ron DeSantis, Trump, DeSantis Organizations: Trump, Gov, Mr, Florida Freedom, Republican Locations: Florida, Kissimmee

But he narrowly avoided becoming the first representative since the Civil War to be removed from office without a criminal conviction, and only the sixth member of the House to be expelled in the body’s history. Representative Kelly Armstrong, a Republican from North Dakota who is a former public defender, had predicted the expulsion of Mr. Santos would fail over due-process concerns. “What’s the point of having the Ethics Committee, if you don’t let them do their work?” Mr. Armstrong said hours before the vote. He added that he believed Mr. Santos should resign, but absent a decision from the “Ethics Committee or a conviction, it turns into a political vote. “You don’t get to get rid of due process in the hardest cases,” he said.

Persons: Kelly Armstrong, Santos, “, Mr, Armstrong, ” Organizations: Republican Locations: North Dakota, “

One of Donald J. Trump’s new comedic bits at his rallies features him impersonating the current commander in chief with an over-the-top caricature mocking President Biden’s age. With droopy eyelids and mouth agape, Mr. Trump stammers and mumbles. A burst of laughter and applause erupts from the crowd as he feigns confusion by turning and pointing to invisible supporters, as if he does not realize his back is to them. Mr. Trump has had a string of unforced gaffes, garble and general disjointedness that go beyond his usual discursive nature, and that his Republican rivals are pointing to as signs of his declining performance. On Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa, Mr. Trump wrongfully thanked supporters of Sioux Falls, a South Dakota town about 75 miles away, correcting himself only after being pulled aside onstage and informed of the error.

Persons: Donald J, Biden’s, Trump, squints Organizations: Republican Locations: Sioux City , Iowa, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

☆ Dean Phillips Will Run Against Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Representative Dean Phillips, a moderate Minnesota Democrat who has for months publicly argued that President Biden should not run for re-election, announced his candidacy for president on Thursday, setting up an underdog challenge for the Democratic nomination. In an interview with CBS News, Mr. Phillips — who plans to officially launch his campaign on Friday in New Hampshire — argued that finding an alternative to Mr. Biden was essential because of polling showing the president at risk of losing to former President Donald J. Trump. “I will not sit still and not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying that we’re going to be facing an emergency next November,” he said. Late Thursday evening, he posted his campaign announcement on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, saying, “It’s time to put our country back together again.”Mr. Phillips, a third-term congressman who represents a district that includes suburban Minneapolis, enters the race with long-shot odds.

Persons: Dean Phillips, Biden, Phillips —, New Hampshire —, Donald J, “, ”, ” Mr, Phillips Organizations: Minnesota Democrat, Democratic, CBS News, Trump Locations: Minnesota, New Hampshire, Minneapolis

☆ Mitt Romney’s Sickest Burns: Book Reveals Harsh Views of Fellow Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Michael Gold | More About Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Even before Senator Mitt Romney of Utah announced he would not seek re-election next year, he made no secret of his disapproval of the direction of the Republican Party and former President Donald J. Trump’s grip on it. But in a new, deeply reported biography, “Romney: A Reckoning,” set to be released next week, Mr. Romney goes beyond his broad disdain for the party and gives his unvarnished opinion of some of his fellow Republicans. In interviews with the book’s author, McKay Coppins, Mr. Romney, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, offers frank appraisals that are rare in Washington. Such tell-all, insider books often foster a practice known as the “Washington read,” in which boldfaced names immediately flip through the index to find out what damaging assessments may come to haunt them.

Persons: Mitt Romney, Donald J, “ Romney, ”, Romney, McKay Coppins Organizations: Republican Party, Republican Locations: Utah, Washington

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a significant array of additional charges against Representative George Santos of New York, accusing him of new criminal schemes, including stealing the identities and credit card details of donors to his campaign. The new accusations were made in a 23-count superseding indictment that laid out how Mr. Santos had charged his donors’ credit cards “repeatedly, without their authorization,” distributing the money to his and other candidates’ campaigns and to his own bank account. The new indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York added 10 charges against Mr. Santos: conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsifying records to obstruct the commission. The accusations against Mr. Santos, a first-term Republican of New York, seem vastly different from the typical corruption cases that ensnare politicians. Many of those have hinged on intricate quid pro quos and complex legal questions about the nature of a political bribe.

Persons: George Santos, Santos, “ Organizations: of, Federal Locations: George Santos of New York, Eastern, of New York, United States, New York

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