Trump News Today: Ex-president sells DC hotel as Biden calls him ‘the great MAGA king’

GOP governor calls on fellow Republicans to ‘drop’ Trump
President Joe Biden took aim at his predecessor Donald Trump in Chicago on Wednesday and called him a “great MAGA king.”
“Under my predecessor, Great King MAGA, the deficit grew every year he was president,” Biden said, speaking to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
“The first year of my presidency, I reduced the deficit by $350 billion.”
Also on Wednesday, the Trump Organization said it had completed the sale of a long-term lease of the Trump International Hotel in Washington to Miami’s CGI Merchant Group.
The hotel had served as a symbol of his power to the GOP politicians who congregated there and of corruption to his critics during his tenure as president.
Meanwhile, newly leaked emails show Mr Trump’s former lawyer John Eastman urging GOP officials in Pennsylvania to reject thousands of mail-in ballots in a bid to ultimately overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election, Politics reports.
And in New York, the former president was ordered to pay $110,000 in fines as a judge lifted a contempt order against him stemming from a legal dispute over documents from the Trump Organization.
Supreme Court justices to meet for first time since draft Roe decision leaked
The nine Supreme Court justices will meet privately on Thursday for the first time since a leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
The meeting comes amid concerns over the future of abortion rights in the country.
The meeting will be held in the judges’ private paneled conference room and could be a tense affair.
No one but the judges is present, and the youngest of them, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, is in charge of note taking, the Associated Press reported.
An abortion rights activist protests outside the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 in Washington.
(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Sravasti DasguptaMay 12, 2022 07:18
Michael Flynn says US military ‘persecutes’ him for taking money from Russian government TV station
Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, claims he is being “persecuted” by the military trying to recover nearly $40,000 he was paid by the Russian government.
Olivier O’ConnellMay 12, 2022 06:10
The National Archives will release more documents at the January 6 panel
The National Archives is set to release another set of documents to the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 of last year, CNN reported.
According to a new set of letters released by the agency on Wednesday, the release of the document will contain around 23,000 emails and attachments.
This will be the eighth installment of records processed by the Archives for the House committee.
The Archives said Wednesday it would not withhold records Trump wants to keep secret from House investigators.
The Archives has consulted with the White House, which does not want to keep the documents secret, CNN reported citing a letter published Wednesday.
In March, Donald Trump said he potentially wanted to claim executive privilege tied to some of the documents in the National Archives collection.
FILE – Violent insurgents loyal to President Donald Trump storm the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Sravasti DasguptaMay 12, 2022 05:42
Emails show Trump’s attorney told GOP officials to reject mail-in ballots in 2020 election
Newly leaked emails show Donald Trump’s former lawyer John Eastman urged Republican officials in Pennsylvania to discard thousands of mail-in ballots and recount the popular Commonwealth vote to show that Mr Trump leads there in an effort to finally overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
Olivier O’ConnellMay 12, 2022 05:30
Biden mocks Trump as ‘great MAGA king’
President Joe Biden took aim at his predecessor Donald Trump in Chicago on Wednesday and called him a “great MAGA king.”
“Under my predecessor, Great King MAGA, the deficit grew every year he was president,” Biden said, speaking to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
“The first year of my presidency, I reduced the deficit by $350 billion.”
Although the president does not usually mention Mr. Trump by name, he did so on Wednesday while defending his own economic policies amid rising inflation and a volatile stock market.
Sravasti DasguptaMay 12, 2022 05:09
New York judge lifts contempt order against Trump but orders him to pay $110,000
Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $110,000 in fines as a judge lifts the contempt order against him put in place following a dispute over financial records from the Trump Organization.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron lifted the order assuming a number of requirements would be met.
Olivier O’ConnellMay 12, 2022 04:50
Trump sells Washington hotel to Miami-based investor group
The Trump Organization said Wednesday it had completed the sale of a long-term lease of the Trump International Hotel in Washington to CGI Merchant Group of Miami.
The hotel had served as a symbol of his power to the GOP politicians who congregated there and of corruption to his critics during his tenure as president.
Sources told The Associated Press that the hotel was sold for $375 million, giving the Trump family $100 million in profit.
The new owners plan to remove the Trump name from the facade and rebrand the hotel as Waldorf Astoria.
FILE – The Trump International Hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, is seen in Washington
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Sravasti DasguptaMay 12, 2022 04:46
ICYMI: Elon Musk says he wants to lift Donald Trump’s Twitter ban
In news that will be celebrated by Trump supporters as enthusiastically as it is condemned by his critics, the tech billionaire who is in the process of buying the social media network, said the initial January decision 2021 had been incorrect.
“I think it was a morally wrong decision, to be clear, and stupid in the extreme,” he said at a Future of the Car event in London hosted by the Financial Times.
Olivier O’ConnellMay 12, 2022 04:00
A mixed bag for Trump-endorsed GOP candidates in Nebraska and West Virginia
Former President Donald Trump had a mixed bag Tuesday night when a candidate he endorsed triumphed in West Virginia but another failed in Nebraska, showing the former president’s endorsement is powerful but not a rubber stamp for Republican voters.
Olivier O’ConnellMay 12, 2022 03:00
ICYMI: Steve Bannon threatens Mark Esper following Trump revelations
The former Secretary of Defense, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense in Extraordinary Timeshas made several stunning statements since his time in the White House when Mr. Trump was president.
Olivier O’ConnellMay 12, 2022 02:00