Donald Trump wrote ‘to-do lists’ on classified documents – latest

Joe Biden knocked Donald Trump for his jobs record while in the White House, noting that only two presidents left the executive mansion with the US jobs market having fewer positions than when they began their presidency.

At a community college in Maryland on Thursday, the president was speaking about his economic agenda, dubbed Bidenomics, when he made the dig at his predecessor.

“There are only two presidents in American history with fewer jobs the day they left office than when they started. One is President Hoover. The other is Donald Hoover Trump,” Mr Biden said to laughter in the room. “My predecessor promised to be the greatest jobs president in history. Well, it didn’t really work out that way. He lost 2 million jobs over the course of his presidency.”

In a widely-criticised interview with Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker, Mr Trump said that Putin’s comments proved that “what I’m saying is right” about resolving the 18-month-old war.

The former president has repeatedly claimed without providing any details that he could end the war within days should he be successful in taking back the White House.

“If I tell you exactly, I lose all my bargaining chips,” Mr Trump said during the interview broadcast on Sunday.

Republicans who control the North Carolina legislature with veto-proof majorities are close to wresting supervision of elections from the governor and the governor’s party — almost always the Democrats for over a century.

A bill that could reach Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk this week would, among other changes, take away from him and future governors the power to appoint members of the State Board of Elections. It would give that authority to legislative leaders instead.

The legislation also could lead to the ouster of the top elections administrator ahead of the next presidential election in a state where former President Donald Trump squeezed out a razor-thin win over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. North Carolina was Trump’s narrowest victory that year, raising hopes among Democrats that Biden could win there in 2024.

GOP attempts since 2016 to erode Cooper’s election board power have been struck down by courts or defeated by voters in a statewide referendum.

Cooper plans to veto the bill. But Republican majorities are large enough to override his veto, and Republican justices now have a majority on the state Supreme Court.

Last year, armed far-right activists in tactical gear were accused of intimidating voters at ballot drop boxes in Arizona, an incident that magnified the threats facing voters and election workers in the volatile aftermath of 2020 elections.

Law enforcement officials and civil rights groups have been sounding alarms about growing threats and potential for political violence, following a surge in pro-gun policies and a landmark US Supreme Court case that limits the scope of legal protections to combat the proliferation of firearms across the country.

There are now “big holes” in protections for voters and election workers ahead of crucial 2024 elections, and “with more guns and more political polarization and violence, states need strong laws to limit risk,” according to a report from gun violence prevention group Giffords Law Center and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.

The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc v Bruen recognized that prohibiting firearms at “sensitive places” like “polling places” were “presumptively lawful” – but only 12 states and Washington DC expressly prohibit both open and concealed carry of firearms at polling places, the report found.

The interview — which ahead of broadcast received much criticism for giving the former president a platform from which he could repeat known falsehoods — was pre-recorded on Thursday and aired on Sunday morning on Welker’s first show as the new moderator.

The wide-ranging questioning turned to Mr Trump’s movements and actions on January 6, with Welker asking why he did not do more to stop the violence as his supporters battled with police and stormed Congress.

“Tell me how you watched this all unfold. Were you in the dining room watching TV?” Welker asked, referring to accounts of the day from people at the White House.

“I’m not going to tell you,” Mr Trump responded. “I’ll tell people later at an appropriate time.”

Molly Michael, a former assistant to Mr Trump, said on multiple occasions she was given lists of tasks on documents she later realised had markings as classified material, ABC reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with her testimony to federal investigators.

A Trump spokesperson told the network that the claims were “illegal leaks” that lacked “proper context and relevant information.”

“President Trump did nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted in a proper manner, according to the law,” the spokesperson said.

More details in our full story.

Donald Trump took credit on Truth Social on Monday for the acquittal of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment proceedings.

“Yes, it is true that my intervention through TRUTH SOCIAL saved Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from going down at the hands of Democrats and some Republicans, headed by PAUL RINO (Ryan), Karl Rove, and others, almost all of whom came back to reason when confronted with the facts. Ken has been a great A.G., and now he can go back to work for the wonderful people of Texas. It was my honor to have helped correct this injustice!” Mr Trump wrote.