Trump news today: Trump hints at two possible VP candidates

The Republican also told Bartiromo that his “dictator on day one” comment to Sean Hannity was “made in jest”… before repeating it:

He also hyped up his election prospects bigly and appeared to trail the end of Ronna McDaniel’s tenure as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.

Trump also painted a bizarre vision of weeping steelworkers and talked tough on China.

Here’s Namita Singh on the latter point.

Donald Trump has given the names of two possible candidates to be his running mate in the event that he beats Nikki Haley to become the Republican Party’s nominee for president, as it is widely expected he will.

Interviewed by Maria Bartiromo for her Fox show Sunday Morning Futures, Trump was asked when qualities he was looking for in a prospective vice president and said: “It’s got to be who would [be] able to be a good president. I mean, you always have to think that because you know, a civil emergency… Things happen right? No matter who you are, things happen. It’s got to be number one. Who’s your enemy?”

He said that there were “a lot of good people” in contention for the role and said he would make an announcement on the matter “in a little while”.

Pressed for names, he mentioned South Carolina senator Tim Scott and South Dakota governor Kristi Noem.

Trump said that Scott, who was briefly a rival for the GOP nomination, had been “very low-key” as a candidate but had since impressed him stumping on his behalf while Noem had likewise proven herself an “incredible” campaigner.

Interestingly, Bartiromo picked up on HR matters, asking about the high turnover of personnel in his administration.

A court-appointed monitor overseeing his businesses reported financial disclosures that are “either incomplete, present results inconsistently,” or “contain errors.”

One of those findings, according to her report, appears to suggest that the former president evaded taxes on millions of dollars in income by hiding money in fake loan transactions.

The president of far-right media outlet One America News Network allegedly sent a Donald Trump-linked lawyer a spreadsheet that claimed to contain passwords belonging to employees of a voting technology company that is now suing the network for defamation.

Donald Trump’s election conspiracy trial date dropped off the federal court’s calendar this week, signalling what had long been anticipated and what prosecutors have warned judges would happen:his attempts to evade criminal prosecution by claiming “presidential immunity” have thrown the schedule off track.

It was all but expected. After Trump’s “immunity” defence was shot down by the federal judge overseeing his case, his appeal has effectively ground proceedings to a halt for the last two months.

The judge confirmed the case was off the books for now on Friday, with a single entry on the court’s docket.

Now, Trump’s first criminal trial of the year could be the one waiting for him back in Manhattan.

The Independent’s Washington chief Eric Garcia analyses the latest polling around Joe Biden’s re-election prospects against his likely Republican rival:

After Donald Trump stormed the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary this month, all eyes now turn to Nevada.

Trump and his rival Nikki Haley now find themselves heading into one of the most bizarre primary systems in the 50 states, where two competing nominating contests are being held.

Next week, US Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments in a major case that could determine whether Trump’s support for the January 6 attack – and his failure to stop it – disqualify him from holding public office under the scope of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection” clause.

Today, justices scheduled 80 minutes of oral argument time for the hearing on 8 February.

That includes 40 minutes from Trump’s team, 30 minutes from a group of Colorado voters who sued to kick him off the ballot, and 10 minutes from Colorado’s secretary of state, whose office handles elections.

Justices are expected to move relatively quickly in the case, which arrives smack dab in the middle of the 2024 election cycle, with Trump as the GOP’s likely presidential nominee.

Campaign finance reports show Donald Trump’s campaign-supporting PACs paid legal bills to 46 firms last year, with eight of them earning the lion’s share of that $55m.

This weeks filings only scratch the surface of his mounting legal expenses. Jury trials have not yet started, he is in the middle of several appeals involving at least two cases likely headed to the US Supreme Court, and he cannot legally touch PAC money to pay out civil suit judgments.

New York County Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron acknowledged that “everyone’s anxious for a decision” following 11 weeks of trial testimony and closing arguments in a civil fraud case that could imperil Donald Trump’s business empire. He said that he would do his best to issue a final judgment by 31 January.

A spokesperson for New York court told The Independent this week that a decision is now likely “early to mid-February, as a rough estimate, and subject to modifications.” There will not be a court hearing or a news conference or other event to announce the decision; it will be posted publicly to the docket along with other case filings.