Trump reposts Christmas presidential speech amid Truth social rants: Live

Donald Trump started Christmas off with a video of his various presidential speeches during his presidency.

The former president used the video to cap off an evening of rants about his various legal troubles and the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

Donald Trump’s lawyers filed a request to a federal appeals court late on Saturday night, asking to throw out the 2020 election interference case against the former president – citing his presidential immunity.

The 55-page filing was submitted just two days after the Supreme Court refused to rule on Mr Trump’s presidential immunity appeal in the case.

Mr Trump’s lawyers reiterated much of their previous argument in the filing to the DC circuit for the Court of Appeals, saying that the former president’s decisions were made under his official acts, which are protected according to the Constitution.

The filing also leaned on the fact that Mr Trump was acquitted by the Senate for “the same and closely related conduct” and hinted that the indictment could have a chilling effect on future presidents.

It is the latest in a back-and-forth between Special Counsel Jack Smith and Mr Trump’s legal team in the fight to keep the indictment moving forward. Mr Smith has asked the court of appeals to expedite the process of hearing the immunity appeal.

The 2024 presidential election has begun and The Independent is here to help you unpick the twists and turns of the race as the starting gun goes off.

Despite the fact he faces four indictments and remains an incredibly polarising figure in American politics, Donald Trump remains immensely popular.

Join The Independent for a virtual roundtable event recapping the election results in Iowa and looking ahead to the rest of the year.

Deputy US editor David Taintor and senior Washington correspondent Eric Garcia will sit down with a panel of experts to analyse the results from the Iowa caucuses and look ahead to New Hampshire, using early signs to share predictions on how the upcoming race for the White House could unfold.

Our expert panel includes Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee communications director and deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He also managed Republicans communications for the 2012 Iowa Caucus.

The event will be hosted on Zoom and will last one hour. It will take place on Thursday January 18 and will start at 4pm ET (9pm GMT).

Once signed up you will be able to ask questions to the panel.

For more information and to sign up for a free ticket click here.

After spending months lashing out at his closest Republican rival in the 2024 race, Donald Trump is now said to be considering her as his second in command if he retakes the White House.

Multiple insiders told Politico and CBS News that the former president has been asking allies what they think about him picking Nikki Haley as vice president if he secures the GOP nomination.

“What do you think of Nikki?” Mr Trump has reportedly asked.

The suggestion, however, has been widely panned by his inner circle, with the sources saying that Mr Trump’s allies and advisors are trying to warn him off the idea – arguing that Ms Haley does not fit with his Maga base.

Mr Trump’s eldest son Don Jr recently said in a Newsmax interview that he will “go to great lengths to make sure” a Trump-Haley ticket doesn’t emerge.

Meanwhile, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said this week on his podcast that he plans to “advocate against” the union “as strongly as I could”.

Lawsuits challenging Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the 2024 presidential primary ballots have sprung up in several states.

Individuals and left-wing organisations have claimed that Mr Trump violated Section Three of the 14th Amendment – known as the insurrection clause – citing his involvement in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

So far only one state, Colorado, has removed Mr Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. The state’s Supreme Court ruled on 19 December that the former president is ineligible to appear on the state ballot and cannot be considered an option for the White House.

While Mr Trump says he plans to appeal the Colorado decision, likely taking the case up to the US Supreme Court, he is also preparing for challenges, appeals and decisions in other states.

Here’s a look at the other challenges to Mr Trump’s eligibility for the 2024 race:

Donald Trump personally pressured two Republican officials in Michigan to not certify the 2020 presidential election result in the state, according to a report.

In a 17 November 2020 phone call, the then-president told the officials Monica Palmer and William Hartmann – both members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers – that they would look “terrible” if they certified the results.

According to The Detroit News, which obtained audio of the call, Mr Trump went on to tell the officials: “We’ve got to fight for our country.”

Mr Trump also reportedly told Ms Palmer and Mr Hartmann that his team would “take care” of them, saying that “we can’t let these people take our country away from us”.

As the 2024 presidential primaries draw closer and Donald Trump remains the Republican frontrunner, it is becoming increasingly likely the former president could end up in the White House again.

But a former Trump administration cabinet member is raising concerns that another Trump presidency could be even more tumultuous than the first.

Former attorney general Bill Barr told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto on Friday that Mr Trump’s “chaotic” style of governance could lead to some problems and, unlike his first term, he may not have an administration to keep him in line.

Fox News host Neil Cavuto took a few minutes on his show “Your World” to respond to hate mail from viewers on Thursday.

A few viewers were particularly disgruntled about Mr Cavuto’s refusal to reject the results of the 2020 election.

“Sad to watch an intelligent man proudly display his ignorance when Neil Cavuto insists with moral certitude that the 2020 election rigging absolutely did not occur,” a viewer named Kevin wrote to Mr Cavuto.

Former President Donald Trump and several of his associates are facing an array of legal headaches stemming from their false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, from felony charges to blockbuster payouts. In April, Fox News also reached a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, avoiding a trial that would examine the network’s coverage of false claims that 2020 election was rigged.

“So, Neil Cavuto, the Omnipotent One, has concluded that the last election wasn’t stolen,” JJ, another viewer, wrote. “Says who, fat head?”

Mr Cavuto did not mince words in his response to JJ.

“Well, says every rational human being on the planet,” he said. “That includes 38 investigations, scores of recounts, then recounts of recounts, and dozens of more court cases often led by Trump-appointed judges. Outside of that, take your pick.”