Former president repeats lies about 2020 election loss in interview after Wisconsin rally

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked Donald Trump for his thoughts on Wisconsin’s abortion ban , which is being challenged before the state supreme court, where liberal justices recently gained a majority.

The former president declined to comment, and generally avoided the issue in his rally in Waukesha, instead repeating that he thought it should be up to states to regulate the procedure, the Journal Sentinel reports.

Trump is back in Manhattan as his trial resumes with testimony from Keith Davidson , a lawyer for adult film actor Stormy Daniels , who is at the heart of the allegations against the former president. We have a live blog covering everything that goes on in the courtroom.

Police moved in against protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles as colleges nationwide grapple with anti-Israel demonstrations. Follow our live blog for more on this developing story.

Biden is heading to North Carolina to pay his respects to the four law enforcement officers killed while serving a warrant earlier this week, then will speak about his economic policies in the city of Wilmington at 4.30pm ET.

Keith Davidson is expected back on stand on Thursday; judge Juan Merchan will hold hearing on further claims Trump violated gag order

• Lawyer who negotiated Stormy Daniels deal to resume Trump-trial testimony
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As Donald Trump walked down the aisle to the defense table, he looked around at the gallery.

His expression hadn’t changed much since his last appearance in court.

Keith Davidson is expected back on stand on Thursday; judge Juan Merchan will hold hearing on further claims Trump violated gag order

• Lawyer who negotiated Stormy Daniels deal to resume Trump-trial testimony
• Sign up for our free Trump on Trial newsletter

During his brief break from court, Trump returned to the campaign trail on Wednesday – and used a campaign stop to repeat his attacks on the trial judge as “crooked”.

The AP writes:

Keith Davidson, who also represented Karen McDougal, gave colorful testimony about how agreements came together in 2016

The lawyer who negotiated hush-money deals on behalf of two women alleged to have had affairs with Donald Trump is set to continue testifying in Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Thursday in Manhattan.

Keith Davidson has already given colorful testimony about how deals to pay Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels came together in 2016. Prosecutors are using his testimony to help jurors understand the mechanics of Trump’s efforts to pay off women and convince jurors that it was done in service of his campaign.

Ex-chancellor and Truss were close political allies and friends before he was sacked over a crisis stoked by the mini-budget

Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor of the exchequer for 43 of Liz Truss’s 49 days as British prime minister, has said Truss “essentially” sacked him “on Twitter”, a dismissal he called “kind of Trumpian” in its swiftness and brutality as Britain fell into crisis.

Kwarteng said: “One of the things that I feel bad about, among other things, was that she capitulated very quickly [to pressure to sack him]. So I came back and I was sacked, essentially on Twitter. So, kind of Trumpian.”

On a day off from his criminal trial, the ex-president hit the campaign trail – and ran through his familiar litany of falsehoods and complaints

At a remote rural airport in Michigan, an outsized plane touched down as music from Tom Cruise’s film Top Gun boomed from loudspeakers. Late afternoon sunshine gleamed off five giant golden letters on the plane’s side – “TRUMP” – and its Rolls Royce engines. A crowd bedecked in red roared as the plane rolled to a standstill behind a blue “TRUMP” lectern.

A door opened and men in dark glasses and dark suits from what Donald Trump would call “central casting” made their way down the stairs. “Trump! Trump!” the audience chanted, raising hundreds of camera phones in eager anticipation. Great Balls of Fire, Macho Man and YMCA blared. Finally, the former and would-be future president emerged, clapping and fist pumping to the sound of whoops and cheers and Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA.

Focus of rally went beyond immigration, to fear of authoritarianism, as Trump held campaign event nearby

Led by a mariachi band, hundreds of demonstrators on Wednesday morning marched across Milwaukee to Fiserv Forum – the home of the Milwaukee Bucks and, in July, the venue of the Republican National Convention.

The rally, organized by the immigrant and workers ’ rights group Voces de la Frontera, is an annual event, but in 2024 it holds particular weight. The focus of the rally extended beyond immigration, to fear of authoritarianism under Republican candidate Donald Trump and critique of President Joe Biden’s handling of the US role in Israel and Gaza.

Republican senator says Noem’s story of killing her 14-month-old hunting dog makes her unlikely to be Trump’s running mate

• US politics – latest updates

Mitt Romney may have infamously tied a dog in a kennel to the roof of his car for a cross-country trip but at least he didn’t shoot it, the Utah Republican senator said, as outrage over the South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, telling her story of killing a 14-month-old hunting dog continued to ripple through US politics.

“I didn’t eat my dog. I didn’t shoot my dog. I loved my dog, and my dog loved me,” Romney said, on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, as reported by HuffPost.

Far-right Republican congresswoman says she is ‘absolutely’ calling vote on motion next week and thinks vulnerable Democrats could be hurt by supporting Mike Johnson

A reporter asked Greene why she wanted to wait until next week to vote on the motion to vacate.

“ Everybody needs the weekend to prepare,” Greene replied. “I’m not irresponsible. I care about my conference. I have been measured, I have given this time. I have given warning after warning after warning. And that’s why we don’t have to rush. We can do it next week.”

I’m actually not going to concede that the vote will fail.

Now, you may say … congressman Massie, Hakeem Jeffries just told you, he’s gonna save Mike Johnson’s bacon. So why go through with it? It’s a futile exercise … Why would you go through with this? Look, we didn’t get elected to make excuses. We didn’t get elected to say we shouldn’t even try. We got elected to come here and give it our best and also to impose transparency. What we’ve seen here is the coming out of the uniparty, and it will be consolidated and it will be transparent and apparent next week to all Americans when this vote happens. Too many of our colleagues have thrown up their hands in frustration and apathy. ‘Oh, we shouldn’t even try. Let’s just coast this one out’. I tell you what, it’s too dangerous to coast this one out. We cannot coast this one out. Hakeem Jeffries knows if we coast this one out, we lose the majority.