Trump news – live: Ex-president hails Putin’s ‘brilliant’ move in Ukraine as E Jean Carroll case continues

The Missouri Senate seat opened by retiring Republican Roy Blunt is a must for the GOP as it tries to retake the upper house, and like many races across the country, some members of the establishment of the party worry about what might happen if a cowardly candidate with a toxic personal history wins the nomination.

The candidate in question is Eric Greitens, a former governor who resigned amid a 2018 scandal that saw him accused of numerous sexual assaults and ‘revenge porn’ blackmail by a woman he had an affair with. . Nevertheless, despite these inquiries and unrelated ethics inquiries, he decided to run for office.

Read more about Mr. Greitens below:

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott took an unusually bold step this week by releasing his own quasi-manifesto for his party’s midterm senatorial campaign. Chairman of the Republican National Senate Committee, which oversees the GOP’s strategy to retake the upper house, he immediately drew criticism from Democrats for his plan, which explicitly accuses them of trying to “rig the election” and appears to suggest raising income tax in half. the adult American population.

In releasing the 11-point plan, Mr Scott preempted his own party’s Congressional leadership, which declined to spell out a specific legislative agenda in favor of simply promising to hobble Joe Biden. Read more about his plans below:

As plans materialize for a U.S. “freedom convoy” protest mimicking the truckers’ occupation of Ottawa — an idea that worries leaders about possible risks to the U.S. Capitol — one of the top organizers is voicing concerns. grievances that have nothing to do with Covid-19 vaccine mandates:

As Alex Woodward writes, the prospects for the protest remain unclear, as do the precise intentions of those involved.

Last night White House press secretary Jen Psaki slammed Donald Trump for his portrayal of Vladimir Putin as a ‘genius’, saying during his briefing that ‘For a matter of politics, we try not to take the advice of anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, and I believe that’s what happened there.

Fearing that Mr Trump’s comments could help turn the Russian invasion into a corner issue in American politics, she remarked: “You know, I think it’s up to the members of the Republican Party to make the decision. , to make the decision.”

The word ‘Helsinki’ is buzzing after Donald Trump’s interview calling Vladimir Putin a ‘genius’ and bragging about how he knew and loved him during his tenure. It’s an invitation to look back at one of the most disastrous moments of the Trump presidency: the 2018 Helsinki meeting where the then-president held a joint press conference with Vladimir Putin and sided on his side about America’s own intelligence services.

“President Putin says it’s not Russia,” Trump said of intelligence assessments that the Kremlin ordered interference in the 2016 election. be so. President Putin has been extremely loud and powerful in his denial. »

Former Russian assistant and expert Fiona Hill has since described how she considered setting off a fire alarm to stop the summit. here’s how The Independent‘s Kim Sengupta wrote the top at the time.

The bumpy near-launch of Donald Trump’s new social media site, Truth Social, saw thousands of fans confined to a waiting list and faced with error messages – and now another problem has emerged: copycats insidious.

According to new reports, many users of the Android Store – where Truth Social is not yet available – downloaded similar apps that prompted them to create profiles before bombarding them with ads and possibly introducing malware to them. their phones.

A Tweet from the official House Republicans Twitter account accusing Joe Biden of “weakness on the world stage” seems to have backfired somewhat, with tons of disgusted and mocking responses to his unclear message…

Adam Kinzinger, an outside Trump critic in the House GOP, highlighted the president’s glowing description of Vladimir Putin:

He was joined in his condemnation by Liz Cheney, a member of the January 6 committee:

The Republican candidate for the US Senate has denounced QAnon leader General Michael Flynn as a “traitor” during a heated primary debate.

Everett Stern, a former bank whistleblower who is running for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat in this year’s midterm elections, made the remark during a debate on other GOP candidates in Philadelphia. Monday evening.

While his opponent Kathy Barnette was speaking, Mr. Stern interrupted him to say, “You are supported by General Flynn. You are supported by a traitor.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has criticized former President Donald Trump for advocating Vladimir Putin’s invasion of parts of Ukraine.

“As a policy, we try not to take the advice of anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened there,” she said, while answering a question about Mr. Trump’s comments.

Maroosha Muzaffar reports.