Trump news today: Trump rally cancelled in Iowa over weather and tornado threat as Ron DeSantis courts voters

A far-right Christian nationalist campaign amplifying conspiracy theories and political violence in a message wrapped in biblical prophecy has arrived at one of Donald Trump’s signature properties.

The ReAwaken America Tour has launched a three-day event at Trump National Doral Miami resort this weekend, featuring far-right personalities and Trump-supporting pastors for a conference that draws from tent-revival preaching and trafficks in far-right conspiracy theories and antidemocratic attacks.

The tour, created by Covid-19 conspiracy theorist Clay Clark and supported by one-time Trump administration official and prominent QAnon figure Michael Flynn, has held more than 20 conferences in more than a dozen states over the last two years. The events often draw from or are hosted by megachurches with large congregations.

A squad of FBI agents, assisted by local police, carried out the raid on Thursday morning at the luxury beachfront high-rise, The Miami Herald reports.

The target of the search, Unit 4102, is owned by a shell company, MIC-USA LLC, which is controlled by Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Agunda Konstantinovna Makeeva, accordion to state records.

Oliver O’Connell reports.

A showdown with Congress that has the nation’s creditworthiness at stake; a frenzied scene at the border as pandemic restrictions ease; a pivotal foreign trip meant to sustain support for Ukraine and contain a more assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.

Three weeks since launching his reelection campaign, President Joe Biden is confronting a sweeping set of problems in his day job that defy easy solutions and are not entirely within his control. If, as his advisers believe, the single best thing Biden can do for his reelection prospects is to govern well, then the coming weeks can pose a near-existential test of his path to a second term.

Economists warn that the country faces a debilitating recession — and worse — if Biden and lawmakers can’t agree on a path to raising the debt limit. Biden wants Congress to raise it without precondition, equating Republicans’ demands for spending cuts with ransom for the country’s full faith and credit.

More details in this full report.

Donald Trump has been forced to cancel his rally scheduled for Saturday evening in Iowa due to expected severe weather.

By mid-afternoon, a tornado watch was in effect from one side of the state to the other with De Moines at the centre.

At 3.30pm ET the former president posted on Truth Social: “Tornado Watch in Iowa. For safety of our great Patriots, we have been asked to delay or cancel today’s sold out Rally.”

Oliver O’Connell reports for The Independent.

Joe Biden is still narrowly leading the 2024 pack, according to a Yahoo! News/ You Gov poll released earlier this week.

He tops the field with a two-point lead over Donald Trump, and a three-point lead over Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

ES Family Trust, an obscure financial entity tied to a Caribbean bank known for taking payments from the adult entertainment industry, could become a prominent shareholder in a Trump media company, The Washington Post reports.

The trust, whose owners are still unclear, reportedly offered Trump Media and Technology Group an $8m loan in exchange for eventual shares in the company once it completed a still-stalled merger.

The opaque identity of ES Family Trust, or the fact it reportedly never disclosed to regulators it would assume partial ownership of the Trump company, may be why the former president’s planned special purpose acquisition company merger hasn’t been approved.

Donald Trump has been forced to cancel his rally scheduled for Saturday evening in Iowa due to expected severe weather.

By mid-afternoon, a tornado watch was in effect from one side of the state to the other with De Moines at the centre.

At 3.30pm ET the former president posted on Truth Social: “Tornado Watch in Iowa. For safety of our great Patriots, we have been asked to delay or cancel today’s sold out Rally.”

He added: “I am near the Palm Beach Airport, ready to go, but we are on hold because of the very bad weather in Iowa. Please Seek Shelter or Safe Haven!”

Oliver O’Connell has the details.

Eric Trump has reportedly threatened to sue MSNBC‘s Rachel Maddow for pointing out that he will appear alongside anti-Semitic speakers during a ReAwaken America Tour stop at Trump National Doral in Miami this weekend.

Donald Trump‘s younger son is scheduled to speak this weekend along with his wife, former Fox News contributor Lara Trump, alongside right-wing influencers Scott McKay and Charlie Ward, who have been accused of spreading anti-Smitic conspiracy theories and praising Adolf Hitler, according to The Daily Beast.

Maddow made note of the speaker schedule and expressed shock that one of Mr Trump’s sons would publicly appear alongside them.

Graig Graziosi has the full story.

Tucker Carlson discussed trying to steer the overall direction of Fox News in a more pro-Trump direction and threatening colleagues who didn’t go along with his vision following the 2020 election, according to text messages obtained as part of the now-settled Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against the network.

In the 19 November 2020 messages, obtained by The Daily Beast, Carlson reportedly responds to a message from producer Justin Wells regarding a story viewed as critical of Mr Trump, which featured references to “the growing number of coronavirus cases nationwide and the ongoing upheaval over President Trump’s refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden.”

“We’re not going to succeed if this continues,” Carlson allegedly said in the messages. “The brand will be too damaged. We should jump on a couple of examples just to send a clear message. Let’s start with this one. Can we find out who did this?”

I’m happy to start threatening people individually,” he added. “It’s too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue.”

Get all the details in our full story.

Ron DeSantis is in Iowa today, a typical early stop on presidential campaigns where candidates meet voters face-to-face to build their profile in the important primary state.

That wasn’t the case with the Florida governor.

Mr DeSantis reportedly “made little effort to connect with voters one-on-one at a picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center as several hundred conservatives ate hamburgers,” according to the Associated Press.

Such details play into the Trump campaign’s narrative about Mr DeSantis.

The former president has been hammering his rival for being dull, calling on him to get a “personality transplant.”