Donald Trump news today: Trump attacks Wall Street Journal and Fox after being ridiculed over Melania’s absence in Iowa

That astonishing rant (even by his standards) came after he returned to the early primary state of Iowa over the weekend and faced ridicule when a banner was flown over a college football game he was attending asking “Where’s Melania?”.

Mr Trump’s wife has rarely been seen in public of late and appears to want no part in his re-election campaign, having evidently not enjoyed her four-year tenure as US first lady.

The game between the University of Iowa and Iowa State University also marked the first time that he was at the same place as one of his closest rivals, Ron DeSantis, since their appearances at the Iowa State Fair last month, as the Republican candidates vying for the GOP’s 2024 nomination prepare for Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses early next year.

While Mr DeSantis sat in the stands at Jack Trice Stadium alongside state governor Kim Reynolds, whom Mr Trump has denounced, the former president sat in a box seat behind glass, where he looked out at a crowd that appeared to be giving him a middle finger.

The former president’s supporters insist the middle fingers were meant for rival fans.

Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to rage about “a phony and probably rigged” poll in The Wall Street Journal that asked respondents their opinion of his age and mental competency as he makes a fresh run for the White House in 2024 – despite battling no fewer than four criminal indictments.

At 77, Mr Trump is just three years younger than Joe Biden, whom he has long argued is too old for the demands of the presidency.

Taking to social media, the former commander-in-chief claimed that he had recently “ACED” a psychological examination and fumed as follows:

“In a phony and probably rigged Wall Street Journal poll, coming out of nowhere to softened the mental incompetence blow that is so obvious with Crooked Joe Biden, they ask about my age and mentality. Where did that come from? A few years ago I was the only one to agree to a mental acuity test, & ACED IT. Now that the Globalists at Fox & the WSJ have failed to push their 3rd tier candidate to success, they do this. Well, I hereby challenge Rupert Murdoch & Sons, Biden, WSJ heads, to acuity tests!”

Was that all? Oh no, absolutely not. He continued in a second post:

“Page 2: I will name the place and the test, and it will be a tough one. Nobody will come even close to me! We can also throw some physical activity into it. I just won the Senior Club Championship at a big golf club, with many very good players. To do so you need strength, accuracy, touch and, above all, mental toughness. Ask Bret Baier (Fox), a very good golfer. The Wall Street Journal & Fox are damaged goods after their failed DeSanctimonious push & stupid $780,000,000 “settlement.” MORONS!!!”

Donald Trump will head to South Dakota on Friday for a party fundraiser that will double as an opportunity for the state’s governor, Kristi Noem, to showcase herself as a potential vice presidential pick, two senior Republicans familiar with her told The Associated Press.

Mr Trump will join the South Dakota Republican Party for a “Monumental Leaders Rally” in Rapid City.

Ms Noem will appear alongside the former president and is expected to endorse him, creating an image of the pair that Noem’s allies hope looks like a presidential ticket, according to two senior Republicans familiar with her thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity because she had not yet made her endorsement public.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Maybe he’s dreaming of a Hail Mary.

That might have been on former Vice President Mike Pence’s mind when likened his polling gap to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 race to an NFL game after a recent poll revealed a huge margin between the two candidates.

Former president Donald Trump, who was recently found liable for the second time for defaming E Jean Carroll over his sexual assault of her, shared an article that called him “un-Christian” for his attack on her and his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels.

On Truth Social, Mr Trump shared a Milwaukee Independent article called “A MAGA Idol: Why Trump’s Un-Christian Behavior Makes Him A Hero To Conservative Christians.”

The article features an image of the former president holding a Bible in front of St John’s Parish House with his eyes closed.

“For eight years, Donald Trump has managed to secure the support of many evangelical and conservative Christians despite behavior that often seemed at odds with teachings espoused by Christ in the Gospels,” the article began.

The piece noted that he is the 2024 GOP frontrunner “even after he recently was found liable for sexually abusing a New York woman in 1996 and was indicted in a criminal case related to hush money payments to a porn actress.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has long denied corruption accusations that have dogged him for years. But as his impeachment trial gets underway, another defense is emerging: that fellow Republicans plotted to oust him.

His attorneys have so far presented no evidence in the trial, which continued Thursday, that Paxton was the victim of an attempt to replace him. But as former aides give testimony about how Paxton pressured them to help a political donor who was under FBI investigation, Paxton’s attorneys have raised questions about lobbyists and a meeting at Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, and have brought up George P. Bush, who lost to Paxton in last year’s Republican primary.

“It was not a mutiny,” Ryan Bangert, one of Paxton’s former aides, testified Thursday about a group of deputies who reported their boss to the FBI in 2020. “We were protecting the interest of the state and protecting the interest of the attorney general and, in my view, signing our professional death warrant at the same time.”

Donald Trump’s 2024 calendar is quickly booking up with court dates corresponding to his plentiful criminal indictments and civil lawsuits.

“After months of speculation about her next move, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi just announced she’s running for re-election in 2024.

The legendary California lawmaker, who turned 83 this year, has been in Congress for 36 years, led the House Democratic caucus for 20 years, and was the first woman Speaker of the House. Now, with the honorary title of Speaker Emeritus, Pelosi’s announcement clears the potential primary field and puts her on the path toward an almost certain re-election.”

“The group suing me in Colorado to ridiculously try and Unconstitutionally keep me off the ballot (I am leading against DeSanctimonious by almost 50 points, and beating Crooked Joe, BIG!), is TRUMP DERANGED “CREW,” composed of many slime balls & groups like Norm Eisen through Brookings or Just Security, Andrew Weissmann, Joyce Vance, et al. They are, perhaps illegally, working with Weissmann acolyte Lisa Monaco at “Injustice.” I have been beating them for years, including Impeachments. MAGA!!!”