Trump under fire for violent rhetoric as Waco rally said to invoke cult siege – live

Mr Trump posted an article to his social media platform Truth Social which included a composite picture of himself next to Alvin Bragg, who has accused the one-term president of creating “a false expectation” of being arrested this week.

Graeme Massie has the story.

A federal judge in Washington has rejected former president Donald Trump’s attempt to keep his ex-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and a large group of other former top White House and Trump administration officials from having to give evidence before the grand jury investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

A grand jury in New York City investigating Donald Trump’s alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money payments to an adult film star will likely continue considering the case on 27 March, when the panel is scheduled to meet next.

Alex Woodward has the details.

ABC News reports that Judge Beryl Howell has rejected former president Donald Trump’s claims of executive privilege and ordered Mark Meadows and other top aides from the administration to testify in the Justice Departments January 6 probe.

The network cites multiple sources familiar with last week’s sealed order.

Meadows and others were subpoenaed by Special counsel Jack Smith for testimony and documents relating to the investigation of the events leading up to the 2021 Capitol riot.

Trump’s former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, his former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, former top aide Stephen Miller, and former deputy chief of staff and social media director Dan Scavino, are also reported to be covered by the order, in addition to aides Nick Luna and John McEntee, along with former top DHS official Ken Cuccinelli.

The missing portrait of Donald Trump — a present from El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, given to Mr Trump in his last year in office — has been located in the basement of one of his hotels.

In the bowels of the Trump National Doral hotel in Miami, in a small space leading to electrical rooms, an enormous portrait of the 45th president of the United States rests on a piece of deteriorating purple-colored foam.

Stored next to a stack of old yoga mats, the former president’s portrait sits underneath a halogen light and the metal sheen of air ducts, propped between two doors with placards that read “ELECTRICAL ROOM No Storage.”

The tiny room is overwhelmed by the grandiose portrait, standing about eight feet tall and featuring a grinning Donald J. Trump.

While the portrait has apparently sat there ignored for months, back in Washington, it is at the center of a debate over the laws and ethics covering presidential gifts.

Here’s Josh Marcus with the background on this debate:

Mary Trump, the clinical psychologist and author who is former president Donald Trump’s niece, has called on Americans to flood her uncle’s campaign website with ticket requests for his 25 March rally in Waco, Texas, so tickets will be allocated to people who won’t show up for the event.

Writing on Twitter, Ms Trump wrote that the Waco location is “a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI”.

A Texas newspaper has lambasted former president Donald Trump’s decision to hold his first 2024 presidential campaign rally not far from the site of the deadly law enforcement siege in Waco, Texas, an event that galvanised far-right conspiracy theories as a symbol of violent government overreach.

The watchdog for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that Trump administration appointees to the agency intervened to weaken scientific findings on a toxic substance.

Louise Boyle has the story.

Mary Trump, former president Donald Trump’s niece, has asked for help in derailing his rally in Waco, Texas, tomorrow.

Describing it as “a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI”, she reminded her followers that scores of people died and “he wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice”.

She then directed people to book out the venue to try and ensure there are plenty of empty seats on Saturday night.