Trump news today: Trump urges GOP to vote McCarthy for House speaker as he hits out at party ‘turmoil’

Donald Trump has urged Republicans to vote for Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, the former president endorsed the GOP House leader saying that he “will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB”.

“Some really good conversations took place last night, and it’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA,THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE “HOUSE” TWICE!” he wrote.

“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”

His show of support for Mr McCarthy comes after three roll call votes were held on Tuesday – all ending with the GOP leader failing to secure enough votes to be elected to the House speaker role.

Around midnight on 2 January, Mr Trump fired off a message on Truth Social claiming there were “contradictions” in Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman’s testimony to the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot.

Former President Donald Trump is apparently only afraid of one person on the planet, and that is his wife Melania — at least according to the person notable for coining the phrase “alternative facts.”

Former senior White House counselor Kellyanne Conway made the statements during testimony she gave the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot. The committee released the transcript of Ms Conway’s interview on 2 January.

The one-term president’s widely mocked non-fungible token collection featured him depicted as a superhero, cowboy, astronaut and fighter pilot.

They were sold by the “TrumpDeployer” account on NFT trading platform OpenSea, which has reportedly also been used to trade other digital collectables.

Republican-leaning areas of the United States saw a “sharp rise’ in births after Donald Trump’s presidential win in 2016, dubbed the “Trump baby bump”.

However, Democratic counties experienced a baby slump, a new study has revealed.

Researchers suggest Trump’s presidency increased Republicans’ economic optimism, motivating them to have more children.

Alice Clifford has the details.

Gen Milley, the highest-ranking officer in the US military whose position makes him the chief military adviser to the President of the United States, made the startling admission during an interview with the House January 6 select committee.

The House January 6 committee is shutting down, having completed a whirlwind 18-month investigation of the 2021 Capitol insurrection and sent its work to the Justice Department along with a recommendation for prosecuting former President Donald Trump.

Nearly two months after the Republican Party’s disappointing showing in the 2022 midterm elections, former president Donald Trump has claimed that he played no role in high-profile defeats for the GOP in numerous statewide races, despite having endorsed each of the losing candidates.

Mr Trump spent much of the last day of 2022 and first days of 2023 blasting out repeated defences of his political record in a series of statements issued through his presidential campaign, including a bizarre press release listing Republican senators and House members who chose to retire or were defeated in GOP primaries after crossing the ex-president in one way or another.

Mr Kinzinger, whose term in Congress will come to an end on Tuesday when the new House is sworn in, issued a grave warning on Sunday about what could happen if the Justice Department (DOJ) does not hold the former president to account.

“If this is not a crime, I don’t know what is. If a president can incite an insurrection and not be held accountable, then really there’s no limit to what a president can do or can’t do,” he told CNN on Sunday.

Rachel Sharp has the story.

Both political parties are opening the new year confronting critical questions about the people and policies they want to embrace as the next election speeds into view.

The challenges are particularly urgent for Republicans, who hoped to enter 2023 with a secure grip on one, if not both, chambers of Congress. Instead, an underwhelming midterm election yielded only a thin House majority that will expose fierce intraparty divisions this week as California Rep. Kevin McCarthy fights for the speakership. And before the end of the month, the Republican National Committee must resolve a divisive leadership battle of its own.