Trump takes Colorado primary ballot fight to Supreme Court: Live

A Republican congressman known for occasional clashes with Trump-aligned conservatives in his own party is now at war with Fox News host Jesse Watters.

Dan Crenshaw took aim at Watters in a multi-post Instagram story that went up on Wednesday after the Fox News talking head used a photo of Crenshaw during a segment about members of Congress profiting through the stock market.

John Bowden is here to explain.

Amid rumours that Nikki Haley, alongside Noem, is ultimately likely to be in contention for the role of Trump’s running mate, loyalists are warning the former president not to go down that route because it threatens to cause a “big fight” within the Republican Party.

“One of the fights we’re going to have, a big fight, will take place in the spring will be – they’re going to try to force Nikki on the ticket,” former White House strategist Steve Bannon confidently asserted on far-right political activist Jack Posobiec’s podcast Human Events.

Bannon predicted that advisers may recommend Haley for Trump’s ticket because she “balances things” and “can bring together that 15 per cent of Never-Trumpers” but cautioned against such a step because of the division it would cause with the GOP.

Undeterred by the prospect of the decisions by Colorado and Maine to bar the Republican from running in 2024 being overturned by the US Supreme Court, South Florida activist Chaz Stevens is seeking to have him struck from the ballot papers there too.

Stevens, who has a reputation as something of a provocateur after campaigning to have “Festivus” polls installed in a nod to Frank Costanza of Seinfeld, has filed a four-page lawsuit with Broward County Circuit Court arguing that Trump is ineligible to run in the state in which he now resides under the same constitutional objections already raised further afield.

“It comes down to this: this is our country and you’re either in the game or you’re not in the game, but you can’t just sit on the sidelines,” Stevens told The Miami Herald.

“If I just write them an email, they’re going to ignore me. Maybe they tell me no, but at least that’ll be a response. Crystalize the issue for us.”

Away from his numerous legal battles, Donald Trump is currently preparing for the upcoming Iowa caucuses.

He is set to visit the Midwest on Friday and Saturday, the third anniversary of the notorious assault on the US Capitol by his supporters, where he plans to address conservative voters with support from South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, widely tipped as a potential running mate and prospective vice president.

The former comedian and actress Roseanne Barr will also stump for Mr Trump in the coming days, as will his son Eric Trump, as the candidate seeks to beat out rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.

“We know that we have the votes,” says Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller. “We just have to turn them out, and we’re gonna be using every method available to us to ensure that we do that.”

Trump has led every Iowa poll by double-digits for several months but has only actually visited the Hawkeye State nine times in the last 90 days, something he plans to address over the next two weeks on the runup to 15 January, traversing the state from Sioux City in the west to Clinton on the Ohio border.

He will also appear in the towns of Mason City, Newton, Atlantic, Indianola and Cherokee during that time.

Here’s more from Katie Hawkinson.

A federal judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit against Donald Trump brought by the partner of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died a day after being attacked by rioters during the 6 January 2021 insurrection.

US district court Judge Amit Mehta has ruled that Sicknick’s partner, Sandra Garza, lacked “statutory standing” to file a claim against Mr Trump as she was not his spouse or domestic partner under Washington DC law.

Police received a call from a man claiming to have broken into Shenna Bellows’s Manchester, Maine home, according to a statement from Maine State Police. Ms Bellows was not home on 29 December, and police found nothing suspicious in or around the home when they searched.

The incident remains under investigation, police said.

Katie Hawkinson has the details.

Donald Trump’s attorneys have formally asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that finds him constitutionally ineligible for the presidency for his actions surrounding the attack on the US Capitol on January 6.

The question could now be in the hands of the nation’s highest court, teeing up a politically explosive case that could reshape the 2024 election and have far-reaching impacts beyond the former president’s campaign.

Donald Trump’s attorneys have appealed a decision from Maine’s top elections official to remove him from 2024 presidential ballots for his actions surrounding the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Last week’s decision from Maine’s secretary of state Shenna Bellows challenges his eligibility under a provision of the 14th Amendment, which bars any person who has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office.

The attack, fuelled by the former president’s false narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, was “an attack not only upon the Capitol and government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law,” she wrote.

“The evidence here demonstrates that they occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing president,” according to her order. “The US Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundation of our government.”

Mr Trump last took part in a sit down with Mr Baier in June, speaking about his handling of classified documents for which he was indicted in Florida. He also commented on former members of his Cabinet speaking out against him returning as president, in addition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Both anchors also moderated the first GOP primary debate in Milwaukee in August, which drew 13 million viewers. The viewership for the subsequent three debates has steadily decreased. Mr Trump has so far declined to take part in any of the debates.

The 41-page filing is likely the last step before three-judge panel in Washington DC hears arguments from Mr Trump’s attorneys and federal prosecutors on 9 January before making a final decision on whether the former president is “immune” from prosecution for crimes committed while in office.

Mr Trump’s trial on conspiracy charges surrounding efforts to reverse his 2020 loss is scheduled for 4 March, but the case has effectively been put on hold while the former president appeals. The US Supreme Court declined to fast-track an appeal, letting the “immunity” question play out as scheduled at the appellate level.

Whatever the outcome of that decision, the “immunity” question is likely to land right back at the US Supreme Court in the weeks to come, in the middle of Mr Trump’s campaign for the Republican nomination for president.