Trump news today: Trump sparks derision for saying he was ‘apple of Putin’s eye’ as EU diplomats ‘terrified’ of 2024 win

Donald Trump has doubled down on claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin “would have never” launched a war on Ukraine if the four-times indicted former American president was still in power.

“Putin would’ve never gotten into Ukraine, but that’s just on my relationship with him. My personality over his,” Mr Trump said. “I was the apple of his eye and I would say, ‘Don’t ever do it.’ It was tough stuff there but he would have never done it.”

It’s almost like you shouldn’t believe everything you read on social media…

The former president was speaking to Larry Kudlow, who worked in the Trump administration, on Fox Business Network when he returned to his often-used talking point that Mr Biden will lead America into armageddon.

Gustaf Kilander watched the interview which could give us a preview of Mr Trump’s planned sitdown with Tucker Carlson instead of participating in the GOP debate on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump’s “inexcusable” online attacks on judges overseeing his legal battles could “imperil” his cases, a retired judge said.

“The former president’s comments and attacks on the federal judiciary and on the specific individual judges who will preside over his trials are unprecedented in American history,” J Michael Luttig, a former federal appeals court judge told CNN.

“They are a grave disservice to the nation. They are inexcusable,” he continued. “And they imperil the former president himself in the defence of his actions on January 6th before the juries that will hear his case.”

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie didn’t hold back (as usual) in his criticism of Donald Trump, this time over his decision to not join his rivals on stage in the first Republican primary debate of the 2024 election.

“Surprise, surprise… the guy who is out on bail from four jurisdictions and can’t defend his reprehensible conduct, is running scared and hiding from the debate stage,” Mr Christie wrote on X.

“Trump – certified loser, verified coward,” he added.

The former president has already been accused of skipping the debate because he is “scared of Chris Christie” as we reported earlier this week.

Trump has until noon on Friday 25 August to be booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta and arraigned at its courthouse before Judge Scott McAfee, where he is again expected to enter not guilty pleas to all charges, as he has at his three previous arraignments in New York, Miami and Washington DC.

A bond agreement is likely to be forged to spare Mr Trump having to stay overnight in jail, as is the usual custom, and he is again unlikely to be seen in handcuffs or forced to pose for a mugshot, although county sheriff Pat Labat has previously insisted he intends to apply the same “normal practices” to the politician and his co-accused as he would any other defendants.

It took less than a day after a Fulton County, Georgia grand jury indicted former president Donald Trump, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and 17 other defendants in a sprawling racketeering case for one of them to invoke a rarely used federal law in an attempt to move the case into federal court.

On Tuesday, attorneys for Mr Meadows, who a Fulton County grand jury charged with a single racketeering count and another sole count of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, quickly filed papers in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to “remove” the case from Fulton County Superior Court.

The move by the former president’s chief of staff was widely expected by legal experts, many of whom have opined that Mr Trump’s legal team can be expected to use a similar manoeuvre within the next 30 days, citing his former position as president of the United States.

But removing the case to federal court would not necessarily provide either of them with an advantage should the case proceed to trial.

Andrew Feinberg explains.

Giuliani — feted, knighted and named Time magazine’s person of the year for his leadership as New York City mayor after the 2001 terrorist attack — has seen his reputation eviscerated and now his liberty imperiled for his steadfast defense of former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.

On Monday, Giuliani’s downfall sank to its lowest level yet with his indictment in Georgia on charges he acted as Trump’s chief co-conspirator in a plot to subvert President Joe Biden‘s victory.

The Rev Al Sharpton has joined a growing chorus against Donald Trump’s use of the word “riggers” as the former president lashes out at Black prosecutors and judges overseeing the criminal cases against him for his attempts to subvert the 2020 election.

The civil rights activist also condemned an apparent refusal from Republican Party leadership and other GOP officials to denounce Mr Trump’s statement, received by his supporters in far-right online forums and on social media as an apparent appeal to their racism and support for political violence.