Trump announcement live: Trump readies 2024 run speech as judge dismisses
Lara Trump says it would be ‘nicer’ for Ron DeSantis to stay out of 2024 presidential election
Donald Trump is preparing to deliver a highly anticipated speech at Mar-a-Lago this evening in which he is expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign.
The announcement comes despite a growing movement within Republican circles to move on from Mr Trump following the disastrous midterm election results in which a supposed red wave did not materialise. Traditional conservatives and Maga-adherents are blaming each other for the lacklustre performance.
Even though the former president faces multiple investigations into his business empire, actions on January 6, and hoarding of government documents, he appears determined to secure another term in office.
As he riles up his more dedicated followers with cultish QAnon posts on Truth Social, Mr Trump will likely face an uphill struggle to win over moderate Republicans and independents going forward as other GOP presidential hopefuls step forward. Former Vice President Mike Pence told ABC: “We’ll have better choices in the future.”
Mr Trump was given some good news amid his myriad of legal woes on Tuesday. A court case brought against him and his siblings by his niece Mary Trump claiming she had been bilked out of millions of dollars was dismissed by a New York State judge.
Trump Organization ex-CFO Weisselberg takes stand at tax fraud trial
Allen Weisselberg, a longtime senior executive at former President Donald Trump’s family business, took the stand on Tuesday as the prosecution’s star witness at the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial in New York state court.
Mr Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty in August to avoiding taxes on $1.76m in personal income and helping Trump’s real estate company engineer a 15-year tax fraud scheme. His plea was part of a deal with prosecutors to testify at the trial in exchange for a five-month jail sentence.
The company has pleaded not guilty. Its lawyers argue that Mr Weisselberg — who worked for Trump for half a century, and is currently on paid leave — orchestrated the scheme to benefit only himself.
Mr Trump has not personally been charged with a crime, but has called the prosecution politically motivated. Both Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his predecessor who began the investigation, Cyrus Vance, are Democrats.
The case is one of several legal troubles facing 76-year-old Mr Trump as he is set to announce another bid for the presidency after losing in 2020.
Oliver O’Connell15 November 2022 20:12
Trump trying to convince Ivanka and Jared to join his 2024 announcement, report says
Former President Donald Trump sought to have Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the two members of his family who joined his administration from 2017-2021, at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday for his big announcement of his 2024 plans.
Mr Trump has been teasing the announcement for days, while not stating exactly what it will be. But it’s commonly known that he has been preparing to launch a…
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