Trump set to attend start of E Jean Carroll’s trial tomorrow: Latest updates

Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s former White House communications director, admitted he would support Joe Biden if he went head-to-head again with Donald Trump.

This election is “going to be a battle for democracy”, Mr Scaramucci told CNN.

Speaking of the dangers of another Trump presidency, Mr Scaramucci said, “he’s going to expand executive power, he’s gonna make things rougher for people, he’s already said he’s going after his adversaries using the Department of Justice.”

“For all of these reasons, we gotta help the Democrats here if [Trump] is eventually the nominee,” the former aide added.

When host Jim Acosta asked to clarify if he is backing President Biden in 2024, Mr Scaramucci said, “100 per cent, if Donald Trump is the nominee.”

Kelly Rissman has the story:

Fox News Digital interviewed former president Donald Trump shortly after the networks called the Iowa caucuses for him.

“I feel great,” Mr Trump said. “I am greatly honoured by such an early call.”

“It really is an honour that, minutes after, they’ve announced I’ve won — against very credible competition — great competition, actually,” the former president said.

He added: “It is a tremendous thing and a tremendous feeling.”

“I feel really invigorated and strong for our country,” Mr Trump said. “We want to Make America Great Again—the greatest slogan ever—and the fact is, that’s what we did.”

Ironically, as the first-in-the-nation contest looks set to do so again nearly a quarter-century later, former President Donald Trump’s expected overwhelming victory on Monday 15 January may reveal the diminished influence of the caucuses, which the Democrats have now dropped altogether in favour of mail-in ballots for the 2024 contest.

Since the 1970s, the entire point of the caucuses has been that in a small state such as Iowa, an unknown presidential candidate can work hard and shake as many hands as humanly possible, perform well above expectations, and subsequently ride the wave of attention and momentum all the way to the nomination.

The example most cited is the 1976 win for Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia who would go on to beat incumbent President Gerald Ford.

Mr Carter did the grunt work, starting to spend time in the state before anyone else, and building his support by doing person-to-person politicking.

Mr Trump has hosted massive rallies, speaking to hundreds and sometimes thousands of people at once. If fewer than 400 attended, it was considered a small event. The ex-president looks likely to win Monday’s contest handily having done very little, if any, of the small-scale campaigning that used to be required to win. Iowa is no longer universally seen as the stepping stone it once was.

Former president Donald Trump overwhelmingly won the Iowa caucuses on Monday evening in the first official contest of the Republican presidential primaries.

Mr Trump posted a double-digit victory in Iowa eight years after he lost the Iowa caucuses to Sen Ted Cruz of Texas. The former president far-outpaced his nearest competitor, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations in his administration.

Mr Trump also defeated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom he spent the better part of a year criticising even before his former protege entered the Republican presidential primary, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

The former president’s win gives him an on-ramp for another win in the New Hampshire primary, where he leads Ms Haley in all polls and his lead varies depending on which survey.

In addition, the former president also leads in Ms Haley’s home state of South Carolina.

“Trump, you’ve taken millions!” a demonstrator yelled on 14 January in the middle of Mr Trump’s speech, held one day before the Iowa caucuses.

The former president snapped, “Thank you, darling. Thank you.”

A smile emerged on the Republican candidate’s face as the crowd booed at the protester. Mr Trump then snapped, “Go home to mommy. Your mommy’s waiting.”

Donald Trump will attend the start of the E Jean Carroll defamation trial in New York City tomorrow.

Later in the evening, the former president will campaign in New Hampshire a week ahead of the first primary next week.

It’s finally here: the first test of the Republican primary field at the hands of voters.

Four prominent Republican candidates have charged into the Buckeye state hoping for different outcomes. Donald Trump, the frontrunner, wants a convincing victory to signal to voters (and donors) that the race is all but wrapped up. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are hoping for shock successes that will give them the momentum needed to overtake Mr Trump in later states, such as New Hampshire. And Vivek Ramaswamy is hoping for a shot of adrenaline in the heart of his struggling campaign following an unceremonious exclusion from the debate stage lineup.

Chris Christie, seeing himself wholly uncompetitive in the first contest of 2024 — and losing ground in New Hampshire — has thrown in the towel.

Political analysts hoping for clues about the trajectory of the rest of the primary, and most crucially an answer to the question of whether anyone has a chance at beating Mr Trump, are also looking at Iowa closely. Monday’s results will likely determine the fate of several candidates, while also providing a window for speculation about the general election.

Here’s what The Independent is keeping an eye on:

Donald Trump’s closing message in Iowa before the first votes of the 2024 presidential election was a familiar one. He’s convinced his supporters that his legal problems are their own, and that he’s the only one who can stop them, while stringing along a fake narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from them.

As he targets a key Republican voting bloc of evangelical Christians, the former president is leaning into a fantasy among supporters and social media influencers depicting him as something of a messianic figure, who was sent by God as a “shepherd to mankind” who ends his week in the Oval Office “by attending church on Sunday,” according to one video shared by his campaign.

Mr Trump never joined a church during his presidency, nor was he seen attending services more than a handful of times. Nevertheless, he shared the video, from a group of meme creators who have worked closely with the former president’s campaign, hours before votes were cast in Iowa.