Donald Trump launches 2024 presidential campaign
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After the former president’s account on Twitter was reinstated, Republicans are rejoicing even as Donald Trump has snubbed the social media platform.
US representative from Texas, Troy Nehls, shared the news on Twitter and wrote: “2023 is going to be great. 2024 will be better.”
Paul Gosar, a republican from Arizona also welcomed Mr Trump back to the platform and wrote: “He’s back.”
Donald Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated early on Sunday after being banned for almost two years.
It was after Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk held a survey on the platform earlier on Saturday and announced he would restore Mr Trump’s account after the majority voted in favour.
Shortly after the announcement, Mr Trump’s account reappeared on Twitter along with his previous tweets. It was restored with 0 followers and following 0 accounts, but within minutes the number of followers started rising dramatically into the hundreds of thousands.
Asked about Mr Musk’s public poll, the former president told a crowd that he sees “no reason” to rejoin Twitter as he enjoys his own social network.
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Trump Twitter account remains silent after restoration
Donald Trump’s Twitter account did not roar back to life as many of his supporters had hoped this weekend after Elon Musk moved to unban the ex-president from the platform.
Instead, the president’s last post from before his ban — announcing that he would not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration — continued to garner more retweets and comments as it became a means of spreading the news of Trump’s unban. Other, older Trump tweets also saw a resurgence.
John Bowden20 November 2022 17:47
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Ex-CFO says Trump kids raised pay after learning of scheme
The embattled former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg, testified on Friday that Donald Trump’s adult son Eric Trump raised Mr Weisselberg’s pay after learning about a scheme to dodge federal taxes by paying employees off the books via lucrative perks.
He testified that Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization, knew from the audit that Weisselberg had not reported his company-paid apartment as taxable income, as required by law.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, had derided Mr Weisselberg’s treatment by the government as “VERY UNFAIR!” on Truth Social just a day earlier.
Read more about the Trump Organization’s ongoing tax fraud trial:
Ex-CFO says Trump kids raised pay after learning of scheme
The Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer has testified that Eric Trump hiked his pay by $200,000 after an internal audit spurred by Trump’s 2016 election found that he had been scheming to dodge taxes on lavish corporate perks
John Bowden20 November 2022 16:00
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There’s only one word to describe a Trump second term
A second term for Donald Trump would be “stormy”, writes Kim Sengupta in The Independent.
“One can imagine how a bitter and vengeful, twice-impeached president would go after his domestic enemies, including those in the Republican party, law-enforcement agencies, the military high-command, the judiciary, the media and more.”
John Bowden20 November 2022 15:21
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Mike Pence calls special counsel’s Trump probe ‘very troubling’ and blames lawyers for Mar-a-Lago papers
Former Vice President Mike Pence said that the appointment of a special counsel to lead criminal investigations into the former president is “very troubling”.
“No one is above the law, but I am not sure it’s against the law to take bad advice from your lawyers,” he added.
The former president’s legal team has claimed that Mr Trump’s possession of White House records seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate were designated “personal” by virtue of their removal from the White House, a claim roundly rejected by federal prosecutors.
Alex Woodward20 November 2022 14:00
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Election deniers overwhelmingly failed in 2022. The people who beat them are bracing for 2024
In critical races for the top statewide offices in battlegrounds that Trump lost in 2020, voters overwhelmingly rejected candidates who amplified his bogus narrative that the election was stolen from him, or marred by Democratic fraud or malfeasance, and pledged antidemocratic agendas that would upend the electoral process to ensure GOP victories.
That movement failed to gain any significant ground, with victories in fewer than one in six races across the US in roles that oversee election administration, including governor, secretary of state and attorney general – roles that will be critical in 2024 elections.
Alex Woodward20 November 2022 13:00
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ICYMI: GOP megadonor splits with Trump: Time for ‘new generation of leaders’
An influential conservative donor will not support Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, a stance that shows just how deep the fractures within the GOP may run after midterm elections, The Independent’s John Bowden reports.
Alex Woodward20 November 2022 12:00
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ICYMI: Trump sees ‘no reason’ to get back on Twitter
(AFP via Getty Images)
Appearing over video at a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Las Vegas on Saturday, the former president had kind words for Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk, who ran a Twitter poll to see whether Trump should be allowed back on the platform that booted him “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” in the wake of the Capitol attack.
He founded a competing platform, Truth Social, under his Trump Media & Technology Group after leaving office.
Mr Trump claimed that his platform is doing “phenomenally well” and that “engagement is much better than it is with Twitter.” “I’ll be staying there,” he said. “But I hear we’re getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don’t see it, because I don’t see any reason for it.”
Alex Woodward20 November 2022 11:00
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Nancy Pelosi makes a subtle dig at Donald Trump in her leadership farewell speech
Outgoing House speaker Nancy Pelosi said she “enjoyed working with three presidents” during her time in Congress.
She highlighted her work on investing in clean energy with President George Bush, passing the Affordable Care Act alongside President Barack Obama, and taking action on infrastructure, health care, and the climate crisis with President Joe Biden.
One president was notably missing from the lineup.
Alex Woodward20 November 2022 10:00
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Hakeem Jeffries officially declares candidacy to succeed Nancy Pelosi as House Democratic leader
Democratic Caucus chair and New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries was widely expected to make a run for Democratic leader following Nancy Pelosi’s departure.
He made it officials last week, with leadership elections scheduled for 30 November.
Alex Woodward20 November 2022 09:00
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Nancy Pelosi: The most powerful woman in American politics. Period.
On 17 November, House Spaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she would step down from her post as Democratic leader, after Republicans secured a slim majority of seats in the chamber.
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg looks back on her legacy in Congress:
Alex Woodward20 November 2022 08:00