Trump called appeaser by Pence as GOP slings dirt over Hamas – live

Mike Pence led the charge for the foreign interventionist wing of the 2024 Republican primary against their isolationist rivals this weekend as new hostilities erupted between Israel and the Hamas militants of the occupied Gaza Strip.

It was a banner weekend for that wing of the GOP, whose members among the 2024 primary field spent their hours one-upping each other with rhetoric endorsing an unmitigated Israeli response against the Palestinian militant group that launched attacks across the country.

Mr Pence made his remarks in Iowa, where he is battling for a surprise victory (or at least a decent-enough showing) in the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Calling out Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis by name, he accused them of supporting America’s retreat from a global military, diplomatic and economic footprint he argued was previously responsible for tamping down on unrest around the world.

John Bowden has the full story.

Should he become speaker, he would be the highest-ranking elected Republican in the country and every Republican would immediately be tied with him. That might give Republicans who are from swing districts pause and ultimately lead to them not choosing Mr Jordan, regardless of what Mr Trump says.

At this point, the fact the House GOP conference has a slim majority goes without explanation. But for the most part, the focus has stayed on the 15 to 20 conservatives who at any given moment could sink Mr McCarthy or Republican legislative priorities.

Fewer people realise that Republicans have about just as many Republicans from swing districts who would not want to be associated with Mr Jordan or his antics, from leading a subcommittee on the “weaponisation of the federal government,” to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, to his questioning of the story of a 10-year-old rape victim in his state who sought an abortion in Indiana, to his vociferous defences of Mr Trump.

As he left in the middle of the third day of a trial he was voluntarily attending, Donald Trump held another one of his hallway press conferences inside a Manhattan courthouse in front of two rows of cameras staged outside the third-floor courtroom’s door.

“I’m here, stuck here, and I can’t campaign,” he said.

He wasn’t, and he could have, but after stewing in frustration from the defence table for roughly 12 hours across the first three days of a trial on allegations of fraud, he unloaded his grievances and claimed once again that the latest legal threat against him – one that could imperil his business empire – joins a far-reaching political conspiracy to keep him away from the White House.

After he left, New York Attorney General Letitita James – who sued Mr Trump, his adult sons, chief associates and business entities – told reporters that “the Donald Trump show is over”.

Alex Woodward reports from court.

Mike Pence has gone after his Republican presidential primary rivals for their isolationism policies after the deadly Hamas attacks in Israel.

“This is what happens when we have leading voices like Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis signaling retreat from America’s role as leader of the free world. When I’m President of the United States, we’ll lead from American Strength,” Mr Pence told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.

Nikki Haley has criticised Donald Trump for calling for former Joint Chairman Chief Mark Miller to be executed for treason.

In an interview on Meet The Press, Ms Haley was asked about Mr Trump accusing the recently-retired general of going behind his back to communicate with China during the final months of his administration

“I just think it’s irresponsible. You don’t need to say things like that. Any man or woman who has served out country deserves the highest respect,” Ms Haley said.

Jon Sopel writes for The Independent:

“The story of Kevin McCarthy is the parable of the appeaser; the man who keeps feeding morsels to the crocodile hoping it will eat sufficiently well that it won’t gobble him up in its deadly jaws, but – snap – eventually it does.

“And with one sickening crunch on Tuesday afternoon the teeth of the ultra-Maga Republicans in the House of Representatives sunk into McCarthy – and he was done; well and truly chewed up and spat out by the people he’d spent nine months bowing down to, accommodating, and trying to please.

“Unlike the UK system where the speaker is essentially a kind of referee – the neutral umpire upholding the Commons’ rules – it is more instructive to think of the speaker of the House of Representatives as akin to our prime minister. You are responsible for deciding what legislation to introduce, directing what the House committees investigate – and just like the PM, the speaker is chosen by the party that holds a majority. And after the 2022 midterms that was the Republicans (with the squeakiest of majorities). McCarthy’s long-cherished dream was within sight.”

Mr Trump announced his support for the House judiciary committee chairman and his ally on Truth Socialon Friday at midnight, stating that he had his “complete and total endorsement”.

Mr Trump came under fire for claiming that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” in an interview earlier this week, the latest in a series of unhinged statements as he faces a high-profile fraud trial in New York and four criminal indictments.

On CNN’s Outfront on Friday, Ms Burnett, during an interview with Republican Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, said that the reference to “poisoning the blood” was a phrase that was “used repeatedly by Hitler”.