List of All Articles with Tag 'me'

Donald Trump is marking his 77th birthday today as the first current or former president arrested on federal criminal charges in American history. On Tuesday, Mr Trump pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in a Miami federal courthouse on 37 charges over his handling of classified national security documents after leaving the White House. Miami officials had braced for protests outside the courthouse but much of the Maga army of supporters failed to show up as expected. One anti-Trump protester jumped in front of the former president’s motorcade. After the hearing, Mr Trump stopped by the famous Cuban restaurant Versailles where supporters sang him ‘Happy Birthday’. He then flew back to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he gave a speech launching into his usual unsubstantiated narrative that he is the victim of political persecution. In the remarks, he claimed that the boxes of classified documents discovered in his possession actually contained clothes. “They were containing all types of personal belongings – many, many things, shirts and shoes, everything,” he said as a bizarre explanation for why he wanted to hold onto them. The speech was widely lambasted by critics for its litany of falsehoods. Read More Desperate deflections, revenge plans – and a supplicant Fox News: What we learned from Trump speech Defiant Trump accuses ‘corrupt’ Biden of undermining democracy with ‘evil and heinous’ federal charges Trump addresses reason he refused to give back boxes saying they contained ‘shoes and shirts and everything’ Tucker Carlson blasts ‘filthy and decadent’ Trump aides who exploited his need for flattery

Donald Trump was met with a circus scene on Tuesday in Miami as he was in Florida to face 37 federal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. In a packed restaurant in the Little Havana, supporters alternatively prayed over the ex-president and sang him happy birthday, in honour of his 77th birthday, which is on Wednesday. Mr Trump also posed for a photo with MMA fighter Jorge Masvidal and declared, “Food for everyone!” inspiring cheers from his fans. Earlier that day, Ms Trump was in a federal courthouse, where he pleaded not guilty to 37 charges related to his handling of government documents after leaving the White House. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information. Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

It was perhaps the first royal wedding of its stature to have been filmed in the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing this weekend, the State Department announced on Wednesday -- a significant trip that comes as the Biden administration navigates its complicated relationship with China.

'Black Mirror' returns with its sixth installment offering five more gruesome episodes about tales of a dystopian future

DC Co-CEO James Gunn showered 'The Flash' with praise as its early screenings received mixed reviews

Former President Donald Trump delivered a blunt message to Americans on Tuesday night, speaking outside his New Jersey club hours after pleading not guilty in a Miami courtroom to a vast and damning federal indictment.

Hours after he was criminally charged in a federal courtroom in Miami, Donald Trump returned to his New Jersey club to deliver a barrage of false statements and declare his innocence in front of a throng of supporters. The former president, who has routinely used his platforms to project allegations he faces toward his political enemies, lambasted the federal case against him as “the most evil and heinous abuse of power” under President Joe Biden, who Mr Trump falsely suggested was responsible for charging him. “This day will go down in infamy and Joe Biden will forever be remembered as not only the most corrupt president in the history of our country but perhaps, even more importantly, the president who together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits and Marxists tried to destroy American democracy,” Mr Trump said from his golf club in Bedminster on 13 June. Mr Trump – who is formally charged with illegally retaining highly sensitive national defence documents and conspiring to obstruct government efforts to retrieve them for months after he was no longer president – has admitted that he possessed the documents he is accused of withholding, while falsely characterising the laws that govern them by stating that “whatever documents the president decides to take with him, he has the right to do so.” He falsely characterised the classified documents in his possession as his “own presidential papers” and his “own documents”. Dismissing the decades-long prison sentence he could face if convicted, he falsely said that ”just about every other president” also removed papers from the White House in the same manner. A former president accused of hoarding hundreds of classified documents, disclosing them to others and storing them haphazardly was out of the courthouse and visiting a restaurant in Miami within two hours of his arrival before he boarded a private plane to one of his many resorts and cast himself as the most persecuted man alive. After his arrival at his golf club’s outdoor stage, he absorbed the crowd’s applause while a sound system blasted Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”. Moments later, the crowd sang him “happy birthday.” His 30-minute remarks relied on a familiar tactic: denying wrongdoing, claiming that federal authorities are selectively prosecuting, then blaming his rivals – including Mr Biden and Bill and Hillary Clinton – for allegedly doing the same or worse. Mr Trump defended his actions under the Presidential Records Act, which the National Archives and Records Administration clarified last week “requires that all records” from presidents and vice presidents be turned over to the agency at the end of their administration, and that an outgoing president is required to separate personal documents from such records before leaving office. He closed his remarks by repeating a familiar refrain, arguing that his own criminal cases are evidence of a Democratic conspiracy against his supporters. “They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you,” he said. “I am the only one that can save this nation.” Mr Trump allegedly broke the law dozens of times by withholding top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate months after he left the White House in January 2021, then lied to a grand jury and federal agencies trying to recover them them – accusations detailed in a sweeping indictment following a special counsel investigation under the US Department of Justice. Last week, a grand jury in Florida voted to recommend charges against the former president, who now faces years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty. He has repeatedly rejected any charges and investigations against him in several jurisdictions as political “witch hunts,” pointing to the Democratic majorities in New York City – where was found liable for sexual abuse, hit with a $250m lawsuit from the state attorney general, and criminally charged with more than 30 counts of falsifying business records – and Atlanta, where his efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are expected to result in state charges this summer. The historic charges against the former president raise the prospect of a potential presidential candidate facing at least two criminal cases in state and federal courts. His arraignment in federal court comes roughly three months after prosecutors in Manhattan criminally charged the former president with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with so-called hush money payments he reportedly arranged to suppress stories about his alleged affairs. He similarly returned to his Mar-a-Lago property hours after his Manhattan criminal court appearance. In his remarks from his estate that night, he lambasted New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the judge overseeing the case, as well as the judge’s family members, and continued his narrative of political persecution. In his remarks from New Jersey, he also took aim at Jack Smith, the independent special counsel appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland to head up investigations into the former president. “He looks like a thug,” he said of Mr Smith, who was in federal court with Mr Trump hours earlier. “He's a raging and uncontrolled Trump hater, as is his wife, who also happened to be the producer of that Michelle Obama puff piece.” (Mr Smith’s wife, Katy Chevigny, is a documentary filmmaker who produced 2020’s Becoming.) The New York and Florida cases are separate from the Justice Department probe into Mr Trump’s role in the events surrounding January 6 and a Georgia prosecutor’s investigation into his attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election in that state, among many of the mounting legal challenges facing the former president as he seeks the 2024 Republican nomination for another shot at the White House. Mr Trump remains the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, and he has insisted that he will remain in the race regardless of any outcome in the cases against him. He has relied on the investigations and indictments to raise money for his campaign, which netted millions of dollars in the days after charges were announced in his New York case. But the timeframe for the federal investigation – and, potentially, other pending cases that could result in criminal charges this year – could complicate his campaign ambitions. A first debate among Republican candidates is set for 23 August. A trial for the New York attorney general lawsuit targeting Mr Trump, his adult children and his business is slated to begin in October. And he is scheduled to return to Manhattan Criminal Court on 25 March – days after voting begins in primary states. Read More Trump indictment – live: Trump denounces ‘evil and heinous’ arraignment in address to fans at golf club How Trump’s second indictment unfolded: A timeline of the investigation into Mar-a-Lago documents

While all eyes were on Donald Trump’s arraignment on federal charges of mishandling top secret material at a Miami courthouse on Tuesday, a personal aide who was virtually unknown just days ago sat beside him in the dock. Walt Nauta, 40, is charged alongside his longtime boss and alleged co-conspirator with helping to conceal some of the nation’s most sensitive documents from federal investigators. He was arrested, fingerprinted, and unlike Mr Trump, had his mugshot taken ahead of the arraignment. Mr Nauta did not enter a plea to six charges during the brief appearance, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing a document or record and making false statement. This was apparently due to him not having an attorney who was sanctioned to enter a plea for him in Florida. Mr Nauta became a trusted figure within Trump’s inner circle during seven years of service, stretching from the beginning of his presidency until the present day. According to an indictment unsealed on Friday, he allegedly moved boxes containing classified material from the White House to the ex-president’s Florida home and then lied about it to investigators. Beyond Mr Trump’s orbit, Mr Nauta’s name was known only to a few seasoned political observers and until a few days ago. He now finds himself in the centre of the most high profile criminal investigation in the country, his fate likely resting in the hands of a man who has shown little loyalty to associates who find themselves in legal jeopardy. Who is Walt Nauta? Waltine Torre Nauta, 40, was born in the US territory of Guam in the Western Pacific, and grew up one of six siblings in the small village of Agat, according to the Washington Post. Most of the inhabitants of Agat are Chamorros, the indigenous population of Guam, and a large US naval base is near by. He enlisted in the US Navy in 2001, where he worked primarily as a cook. From 2012 to 2021, Mr Nauta served in the Presidential Food Service in Washington DC, according to his service record. The unsealed indictment listed him as a “valet”, and he’s also been described as Mr Trump’s “body man”, an assistant who follows a political leader around the clock carrying out whatever tasks he may need. In Mr Trump’s case, this would reportedly involve bringing him Diet Cokes on a silver platter when he pressed the presidential call button on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. Mr Nauta was also constantly by his boss’s side during domestic and foreign trips. When Mr Trump’s term ended in disgrace after the January 6th riots, Mr Nauta was one of the few White House staff members who followed his boss to Mar-a-Lago. He would travel with the former president to his private Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, and to campaign rallies and press conferences. Mr Nauta reportedly earned a salary of $135,000 for his labours. ‘Key witness’ Mr Nauta earned a reputation as someone who could stay out of the bitter fights between Trump staffers, according to a Washington Post article in March that identified him as a “key witness” in the classified documents probe. It was only when the Justice Department unsealed a 49-page indictment last Friday, that the extent of his alleged involvement in concealing the documents became apparent. Mr Nauta is alleged to have helped a maintenance worker move boxes of classified materials from Mar-a-Lago after a subpoena had been issued, and prior to an FBI raid last August. Mr Nauta initially denied knowledge of classified materials being kept at Mar-a-Lago when questioned by investigators. However after surveillance footage seized by the FBI apparently contradicted his account, Mr Nauta reportedly admitted in a second interview that he had moved boxes at Mr Trump’s direction. He later stopped cooperating with investigators, according to CNN. In an interview in March with the Post, his aunt Elly Nauta said he had kept his immediate family informed about the Justice Department investigation. “He told his mom there’s nothing to worry about. He didn’t do anything wrong. All he was instructed was to put the boxes where they were supposed to go,” his aunt told the Post. The few pictures that exist of the pair together appear to show a natural rapport between the two men. In images captured in March, Mr Nauta was seen disembarking from the former president’s private plane and into a black Suburban carrying papers and a black bag. Two months later, the soft spoken aide was pictured adjusting the ex-president’s collar at an LIV Golf Pro-Am golf tournament at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. ‘A wonderful man’ Mr Trump’s attorneys, accountants, aides and family members have found themselves entangled in the estimated 4,000 investigations he’s been embroiled in over the course of his business and political career. Longtime fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison for helping to arrange hush money payments in the lead up to the 2016 election. Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, served three months in Riker’s Island after he pled guilty to accepting $1.7m in untaxed compensation. And three of Mr Trump’s children have been jointly accused alongside him in a $250m lawsuit of perpetrating what some observers dubbed “the art of the steal” through a litany of fraudulent business practices by the New York Attorney General’s office. In a Truth Social post on Friday, Mr Trump criticised what he called the “‘Thugs’ from the Department of Injustice” for indicting a “wonderful man”. He described Mr Nauta as a member of the US Navy, “who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide”. Mr Trump said that federal investigators were “trying to destroy his life”. Early on in the criminal process, Mr Nauta appears to be unmoved in his support for Mr Trump. According to the Post, his legal fees are being covered by the Trump-aligned Save America PAC. Because he did not have legal counsel in Florida at the time of the arraignment, he was unable to enter a plea and must do so at a later date. Several of the charges he is facing carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison. Read More Trump indictment – live: Trump claims boxes of classified papers actually held clothes in post-arrest speech Mike Pence has sudden change of heart over Trump classified documents: ‘I can’t defend it’ Desperate deflections, revenge plans – and a supplicant Fox News: What we learned from Trump speech Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

JOHANNESBURG South African business confidence fell slightly in May, with lower trade volumes, fewer tourists and a weaker

In a pivotal meeting that could shift the direction of the US economy, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce Wednesday that it will hold interest rates steady after increasing them 10 straight times to bring down historically high inflation.

Millions of borrowers may learn soon whether they could receive up to $20,000 in debt relief under President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness program. The fate of the debt cancellation program lies with the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in late June or early July.