Trump rejected plan to negotiate deal over papers, as he raises $7m from supporters

The 45-year-old Republican mayor, the only Hispanic candidate in the race, filed paperwork declaring his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Suarez, who is vying to become the first sitting mayor elected president, joins a GOP primary battle that includes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former vice president Mike Pence, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Despite having a candidate field in the double digits, the race is largely seen as a two-person contest between Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis.

After arguing that bringing federal criminal charges against the former president would send a “terrible message to the world” last week, the former vice president has now said that he “can’t defend” his ex-boss’s alleged actions laid out in the indictment.

“Having read the indictment, these are very serious allegations,” Mr Pence told The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board on Tuesday.

“And I can’t defend what is alleged.”

In the fall of 2022, Donald Trump ignored the advice of one of his lawyers who suggested seeking a settlement regarding the quickly escalating investigation into his mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

Attorney Christopher Kise told Mr Trump that a settlement, including potentially avoiding charges, would be a good way to “take the temperature down” and avoid the unprecedented spectacle of a former president being criminally prosecuted.

However, according to The Washington Post, Mr Trump ignored this advice after hearing contrasting views from other attorneys who wanted to take a more adversarial approach.

Sarah Palin is facing fresh derision after she denied that Donald Trump’s devoted Maga base was a cult — before accurately describing its cult-like characteristics.

Newsmax’s John Huddy asked Ms Palin whether the former president’s supporters at the restaurant had engaged in cult-like behaviour.

“No,” she replied. “The definition of a cult is a group of people who are excessively supporting one another and a cause, all about conformity and compliance, and intolerance of anyone who doesn’t agree with what their mission is.”

Bevan Hurley has the details.

“The American people will not stand for this corrupt attempt to interfere in the 2024 election against the leading candidate for President who will demolish the Deep State and finish the job of draining the Swamp,” Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington announced in a statement on Wednesday.

More details in our full story.

A lesser-known member of Trumpworld found herself in the public eye this week after she was misidentified on Fox News as none other than the former president’s wife, Melania Trump.

The sunglasses-wearing aide accompanying Donald Trump to his arraignment in a Miami courthouse this week was not the former first lady, but actually his deputy communications director, Margo Martin. Ms Martin, 27, is one of a long series of young conservatives who saw their careers take off under the ex-president, who since the beginning of his political career has had a penchant for bringing along fresh-faced staffers and elevating them past many of their older peers.

The most famous example of that trend was Mr Trump’s longtime personal assistant, Hope Hicks, who would serve as communications director in the White House in her early thirties.

Ms Martin was misidentified by the Fox reporter on the scene, John Roberts, who told viewers as he spotted her: “We have some video that we want to play out here, Melania Trump entering the courthouse just a short time ago.”

John Bowden has the full story.

“Are there tapes that you accepted bribes, President Biden? Is that true?” Mr Biden was asked by the New York Post on Tuesday as he left an event attended by US diplomats at the White House.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Retired Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz said that the indictment against former president Donald Trump that led to his arraignment on Wednesday is the most serious case against him, comparing it to “a gun with Trump’s fingerprints on it.”

Mr Dershowitz made the comments on Charlie Kirk’s show on Tuesday. Mr Dershowitz served as Mr Trump’s attorney during the former president’s first impeachment trial and also defended other celebrity clients such as OJ Simpson and Mike Tyson.

For Americans who lived through the 1990s, the words “Clinton” and “socks” may bring to mind a whimsical image of a certain famous feline, of the black-and-white tuxedo variety, who prowled the most prestigious halls of American power at a time when the US was emerging as the world’s sole unchallenged superpower.

But for former president Donald Trump, those two words represent the latest attempt to manifest a legal defence for his alleged unlawful retention of hundreds of documents with classification markings at levels up to “top secret,” long after his term.

Andrew Feinberg explains…

For the second time in three months, the man who served as the 45th President of the United States stood before a judge as a defendant in a criminal case that could cost his freedom for a significant portion of his remaining lifespan.

Flanked by attorneys Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise, Donald Trump entered a Miami federal courtroom as US Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman formally presented him with a 37-count indictment accusing the former president of illegally retaining national defense documents and other classified materials at his Florida home, and obstructing government efforts to reclaim them.

Asked to enter a plea to the charges, Mr Blanche replied on behalf of the twice-impeached and now twice-indicted former president: “We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty.”

Andrew Feinberg in Miami and Alex Woodward in New York report on a historic day in court.