Trump news live: Trump launches explosive attack on DeSantis and Murdoch media as GOP figures turn against him

Donald Trump has launched a stinging attack on GOP rival Ron DeSantis following the Florida Governor’s impressive showing in the midterm elections.

The one-term president branded him “Ron DeSanctimonious” on Truth Social on Thursday, explaining exactly how the Florida politician owed him his entire career.

Mr DeSantis is now seen as a strong challenger to Mr Trump for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.

Long-time allies and MAGA enthusiasts began to turn on former US President Donald Trump after the midterms proved to not materialise into a “red wave” as many shifted their focus to the likely challenger for the GOP ticket in 2024, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis.

The Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp empire - which includes Fox News on TV and the New York Post in print - made clear their feelings about Mr Trump with a scathing cover on Thursday morning.

“TRUMPTY DUMPTY,” read the front page in bold letters as a cartoon of the 45th president showed him appearing as Humpty Dumpty precariously perched on a brick wall.

Elsewhere, a reportedly mercurial Mr Trump spent the day after the midterm elections lashing out at those he believes gave him bad advice as several of the candidates he endorsed in pivotal races came up short.

Mr Trump is reportedly blaming his wife Melania Trump for advising him to back Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania senate race, which he lost to Democrat John Fetterman.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted on Wednesday that there are people urging Mr Trump to reschedule his expected 2024 presidential campaign announcement that’s currently expected to occur next week.

Key points

• Trump launches furious attack on ‘average’ DeSantis and Murdoch press amid GOP civil war over midterms

• Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post goes after Trump in scathing cover

• Trump-endorsed candidates ‘had more allegiance to him than anything else,’ GOP commentator says

• Morning Joe celebrates Trump ‘losing’ America: ‘Desantis is GOP leader now’

• Trump leaves DeSantis out of election night congratulations speech

Donald Trump Jr rants about ‘brainless’ election winners

08:51 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Donald Trump Jr has finally returned to social media and ranted about “brainless” election winners after two days of humiliating midterm silence.

The former president’s eldest son had predicted a “bloodbath” for Democrats on election day earlier this week, as well as wishing his followers “Happy Red Wave Day” on Instagram and even added “LFG!!!”

Mr Trump posted “bloodbath” after the first round of polls closed on the east coast on Tuesday evening and had not been heard from until he posted a meme on Instagram involving John Fetterman and Joe Biden.

“That we think these people should be making decisions for people while being clearly far less competent then them is amazing. Imagine what other countries think of us as we elect brainless people to major offices?” he wrote in a caption.

Graeme Massie reports.

Don Jr rants about ‘brainless’ election winners after two days of midterm silence

VOICES: Trump will have a showy blowout media announcement

08:00 , Noah Berlatsky

Trump, for his part, is going to have a big, showy blowout media announcement where he praises himself and sneers at his opposition. He won’t commit to any specific policies but will instead insist that he’s great and awesome and undefeatable. He’ll lie about the 2020 election again and again. He’ll probably use the sneering nickname “DeSanctimonious” at least once.

Many in the GOP would rather go with the more respectable-appearing approach to bigotry represented by DeSantis. But do they have a choice?

The reason Republican party actors don’t like Trump is the reason they also fear him. He has no commitment to the party, and no compunction about attacking or harming other party actors, or the GOP as a whole.

The Trump-DeSantis primary will be the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen

‘Everyone knows that Trump is not the kingmaker he has long pretended to be’

07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In an analysis for The Washington Post, Philip Bump writes that “everyone knows that Trump is not the kingmaker he has long pretended to be and that he never has been. But Republicans went along with it through 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021, because they were worried about 1) his base of support and 2) invoking his wrath. Those points of leverage exist today as they did on Sunday”.

He added that “Trump’s been champing at the bit to throw everything he can at [Florida Governor Ron] DeSantis — and he is no more bound than he ever was to only offer valid criticisms”.

The columnist noted that a challenge to Mr Trump “from the party’s most popular non-Trump official” could “weaken the former president, disinclining him from running at all. It’s more likely, though, that DeSantis would begin his second term in office fending off incessant attacks from his right flank”.

VIDEO: Biden says his intention to run again, Trump pressured to delay his announcement for a 2024 run

06:00 , Gustaf Kilander

VOICES: The Trump-DeSantis Republican primary will be the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen

05:00 , Noah Berlatsky

The 2022 midterm results have made one thing clear: The real danger for the Republicans looms in 2024. It looks more likely than ever that we are on our way to a highly competitive GOP DeSantis/Trump primary that could tear the party apart.

Since 2020, former president Donald Trump has dominated polling for the 2024 Republican nomination. FiveThirtyEight, which aggregates and collects polls, lists a number of early-November, pre-midterm polls showing Trump ahead of Florida Governor DeSantis among Republican primary voters by 22 points (48-26), 28 points (56-27) and even a whopping 50 points (65/15.)

Those numbers make Trump’s position look unassailable. But the midterm results tell another story. Trump’s personally endorsed candidates performed embarrassingly. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz lost to John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano got crushed. So did governor hopeful Dan Cox in Maryland, Senate candidate Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, and House candidates J.R. Majewski in Ohio and Yesli Vega in Virginia.

Even victories showed Trump’s weakness. His endorsed Senate candidate JD Vance stumbled to a narrow victory in very red Ohio by 53.3 to 46.7%. Republican non-Trumpie governor Mike DeWine, meanwhile, crushed his opponent by 62.8 to 37.2%.

Read more:

The Trump-DeSantis primary will be the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen

Republican Virginia Lt Gov says she ‘could not support’ Trump in 2024

04:00 , Gustaf Kilander

VIDEO: Michigan Republicans divided over party’s future - and whether it includes TrumP

03:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Republican who beat Democratic campaign chief says it’s time to leave Trump behind

02:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The Republican who beat the Democratic campaign chief Sean Patrick Maloney in New York state has said that it’s time for the GOP to leave Donald Trump behind.

“I would certainly like to see the party move forward. There are a lot of rising stars,” Congressman-elect Mike Lawler told The New York Post.

“Governor Ron DeSantis has energized voters in the state of Florida. It’s always good to have new voices,” he added.

VIDEO: Ron DeSantis To Consider Running Against Trump In 2024

01:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Poll finds that 74% of Jewish voters view Trump and MAGA as ‘threat to Jews in America’

00:15 , Graeme Massie

The GBAO Election Night poll commissioned by J Street found that 76 per cent of Jews believe that the former president and the GOP are responsible for the rise of antisemitism in America.

And that 74 per cent believe Mr Trump and the MAGA movement are a “threat to Jews in America.”

The poll also found that three out of four Jews voted for Democrats in the US midterm elections.

The endorsements that helped and hindered during the midterms

00:01 , Graeme Massie

Leading up to the midterm elections, Republican candidates fought for an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. However, rather than being a golden ticket, it seems that Mr Trump’s endorsement is more of a coin flip; according to polling data from midterm contests that have been called, the former president’s preferred candidates were only successful in about half the House and governor races, though so far have been doing well in Senate races.

His longtime critic, outgoing Congresswoman Liz Cheney, did better with her endorsements, though she made significantly fewer than the former president.

Graig Graziosi reports.

Trump endorsed candidates fare well in Senate but poor everywhere else

Kinzinger says more GOP losses needed to ‘fully exorcise’ Trump from party

00:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Allies pressure Trump to delay 2024 announcement

Thursday 10 November 2022 23:50 , Graeme Massie

Republican leaders and allies are urging former president Donald Trump to delay his 2024 presidential announcement to “look at realities on the ground” amid setbacks for the GOP in midterm elections.

With counting still underway after the 2022 midterms, Joe Biden appeared to have beaten the historical odds by diminishing the Democratic party’s losses while Republicans argued with each other over their surprisingly weak performance.

Mr Trump has been eager to announce his 2024 presidential race as he sought to capitalise on preassumed Republican success in the midterms. But he was stopped by Republican leaders from announcing his candidacy at a rally in Ohio and trailed an announcement on 15 November.

Shweta Sharma reports:

Trump urged to delay 2024 announcement amid midterms setbacks for Republican party

‘Trump either has to make a bad decision or be seen as a weak coward'

Thursday 10 November 2022 23:40 , Graeme Massie

Lincoln Project co-founder tweeted on Thursday that “you don’t want to be in Mar-a-Lago right now. Trump either has to make a bad decision or be seen as a weak coward”.

Mr Trump has been urged to delay his 2024 campaign announcement, which was planned for Tuesday next week, after the Republicans did worse than expected in the midterms.

Pundits on the left and the right both agreed that the former president was the biggest loser of the night despite not being on the ballot.

Trump launches furious attack on ‘average’ DeSantis and Murdoch press amid GOP civil war over midterms

Thursday 10 November 2022 23:31 , Graeme Massie

Former president Donald Trump has lashed out at New York Post and Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch and Florida governor Ron DeSantis after the newspaper baron’s properties blasted the twice-impeached ex-president’s impact on the 2022 midterms and promoted the Florida governor as a potential 2024 Republican standard-bearer.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Trump launches furious attack on ‘average’ DeSantis and Murdoch’s press

Trump launches explosive attack on DeSantis and Murdoch media

Thursday 10 November 2022 23:19 , Graeme Massie

Donald Trump has not taken the Republican love for Ron DeSantis well following the Florida Governor’s impressive showing in the midterm elections.

The one-term president launched a stinging rebuke of “Ron DeSanctimonious” on Truth Social on Thursday, explaining exactly how the Florida politician owed him his entire career.

Mr DeSantis is now seen as a strong challenger to Mr Trump for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.

“Ron DeSanctimonious is playing games! The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, and he says, ‘I’m only focused on the Governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future.’ Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer…This is just like 2015 and 2016, a Media Assault (Collusion!), when Fox News fought me to the end until I won, and then they couldn’t have been nicer or more supportive,” wrote Mr Trump.

And he added: “I also fixed his campaign, which had completely fallen apart. I was all in for Ron, and he beat Gillum, but after the Race, when votes were being stolen by the corrupt Election process in Broward County, and Ron was going down ten thousand votes a day, along with now-Senator Rick Scott, I sent in the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys, and the ballot theft immediately ended, just prior to them running out of the votes necessary to win. I stopped his Election from being stolen…”

DOJ and House panel ask Supreme Court to greenlight release of Trump taxes

Thursday 10 November 2022 23:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The Department of Justice and the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee have in separate legal filings requested that the Supreme Court reject Donald Trump’s attempt to avoid having to comply with the committee’s request for his tax returns.

Trump lawyers filed an emergency application on 31 October to reject a lower court’s decision that the request for the returns was valid, Reuters reported.

The panel said in its filing that agreeing with Mr Trump would damage the authority of an equal branch of government “by in effect preventing Congress from completing any investigation involving a former president whenever there are allegations that the investigation was politically motivated”.

VIDEO: Biden on Donald Trump's potential presidential run

Thursday 10 November 2022 22:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Conservative writer says ‘Trump is perhaps the most profound vote repellent in modern American history'

Thursday 10 November 2022 21:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In an essay for the New York Post, conservative writer John Podhoretz said that “Trump is perhaps the most profound vote repellent in modern American history”.

“The surest way to lose in these midterms was to be a politician endorsed by Trump,” he added.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal wrote in an editorial that “Trump is the Republican Party’s biggest loser”.

“Since his unlikely victory in 2016 against the widely disliked Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump has a perfect record of electoral defeat,” The Journal added. “The GOP was pounded in the 2018 midterms owing to his low approval rating. Mr Trump himself lost in 2020. He then sabotaged Georgia’s 2021 runoffs by blaming party leaders for not somehow overturning his defeat.”

‘If it gives you the power, why would you oppose it?'

Thursday 10 November 2022 20:40 , Gustaf Kilander

In a CNN analysis, Chris Cillizza wrote on Thursday that “the only thing that matters to Trump is power – and how to wield it”.

An excerpt from an upcoming memoir by former Vice President Mike Pence was published in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

“Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and other Republicans had filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to declare that I had ‘exclusive authority and sole discretion’ to decide which electoral votes should count,” Mr Pence writes.

“‘I don’t want to see ‘Pence Opposes Gohmert Suit’ as a headline this morning,’ the president said,” he added, referring to a conversation he had with Mr Trump while they were both in office. “I told him I did oppose it. ‘If it gives you the power,’ he asked, ‘why would you oppose it?’”

“If you had only one quote to understand Trump and how he views the world, that would be a pretty good one,” Mr Cillizza wrote.

Trump aide says campaign announcement to go ahead as planned, reporter says

Thursday 10 November 2022 20:05 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump is reported to have decided to stick with his initial plan to announce his 2024 campaign on Tuesday, NBC News reporter Mark Caputo tweeted on Thursday.

Mr Caputo said shortly after 2pm that “a senior Trump adviser just confirmed” that the announcement would go ahead.

“The media, the corporate elites, and political establishment [have] all moved in unison against Donald Trump at their own peril. It’s like they want to recreate 2015-2016. Let them. We are doing it again. Buckle up,” the adviser said, according to Mr Caputo, who added that invites for the announcement should be sent out today.

Trump calls himself a ‘stable genius’ and denies claim he blamed Melania for midterms

Thursday 10 November 2022 20:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump is playing defence the only way he knows how after the Republican Party failed to present a strong showing in Tuesday’s midterm elections and left both the Senate and House Democratic majorities still potentially intact.

The ex-president went on his Truth Social platform Thursday morning to denounce media reports that he was furious at his own allies for the inability of the GOP to conclusively capture the House and Senate.

He specifically denied a piece of reporting claiming that he blamed his wife, Melania Trump, for convincing him to endorse Dr Mehmet Oz, the GOP candidate who was defeated in the race for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat.

“For those many people that are being fed the fake narrative from the corrupt media that I am Angry about the Midterms, don’t believe it. I am not at all angry, did a great job (I wasn’t the one running!), and am very busy looking into the future. Remember, I am a ’Stable Genius,’” he posted.

Read more:

Trump calls himself a ‘stable genius’ and denies claim he blamed Melania for midterms

JD Vance condemns critics writing Trump’s ‘political obituary’

Thursday 10 November 2022 19:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Senator-elect JD Vance criticised people who have claimed that former president Donald Trump’s standing is diminished after many of his candidates lost in the 2022 midterms.

Mr Vance spoke to The New York Times after he beat Representative Tim Ryan to win Ohio’s open Senate seat. Mr Trump had endorsed Mr Vance in the Republican primary, which catapulted him to the Republican nomination. in May,

Eric Garcia reports on his comments.

JD Vance condemns critics writing Trump’s ‘political obituary’ as he backs 2024 run

Paul Ryan blames ‘Trump hangover’ for GOP’s failed ‘red wave’

Thursday 10 November 2022 19:12 , Oliver O'Connell

Former House speaker Paul Ryan has joined in on GOP criticism of Donald Trump after the party’s predicted midterms “red wave” turned out to be anything but.

Mr Ryan, the last Republican to serve as speaker of the House, reacted to Tuesday’s election results by calling for his party to nominate anyone other than Mr Trump when it comes time to pick a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Ex-House speaker Paul Ryan blames ‘Trump hangover’ for GOP’s red wave failure

Pence says Lincoln Project ad annoyed Trump so much it fuelled bid to overturn 2020 election

Thursday 10 November 2022 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Former vice president Mike Pence has claimed that former president Donald Trump’s push to overturn the 2020 election and keep himself in office against the wishes of US voters was sparked by an anti-Trump super PAC advertisement highlighting the vice president’s role in certifying presidential elections.

In an excerpt from his forthcoming book published as a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Mr Pence claimed a television ad from the Lincoln Project was “the first time anyone implied” that he could singlehandedly change the result of the 2020 election by presiding over the counting of electoral votes on January 6, 2021.

Andrew Feinberg reports on what the former vice president wrote.

Mike Pence says Lincoln Project ad fuelled Trump bid to overturn election result

Republican Fox News guest decries ‘My Pillow-ization’ of GOP

Thursday 10 November 2022 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A Republican guest on Fox News has decried the “My Pillow-ization” of the GOP, Mediaite reports — specifically referring to My Pillow founder, conspiracy theorist, and avid Trump supporter Mike Lindell.

During today’s edition of America’s Newsroom, co-host Bill Hemmer quoted former George W Bush adviser Karl Rove, who wrote in The Wall Street Journal that he blamed former President Donald Trump for producing “weak candidates”.

Former RNC Communications Director Doug Heye joined in the criticism on the show, saying the Trump effect on the GOP was what stopped a red wave forming during the midterms.

Here’s what he said:

Don Jr appears to take break from social media after midterms posts mocked

Thursday 10 November 2022 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr has seemingly taken a break from social media after his bold predictions of a Republican midterm election “bloodbath” fell humiliatingly flat.

Graeme Massie has the story.

Don Jr takes break from social media after humiliating midterm posts

Murdoch turns on Trump via NY Post

Thursday 10 November 2022 17:45 , Andrew Naughtie

The New York Post, a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper that’s long voiced its support for Donald Trump, shared a scathing cover of the former president that showed those loyalties may be eroding.

On Thursday, the right-leaning News Corp-owned paper published a stunning cover that featured a caricature of the one-term president precariously placed atop a wall with a headline that read, “TRUMPTY DUMPTY”, an allusion to the nursery rhyme character, Humpty Dumpty, who, as the poem goes, “had a great fall”.

“Don (who couldn’t build a great wall) had a great fall - can all the GOP’s men put the party back together again?” the front page headline continued, giving more than a heavy-handed hint that the newspaper does not endorse Mr Trump for another term, like they did in 2020.

Johanna Chisholm reports:

Murdoch turns against Trump in scathing New York Post cover: ‘TRUMPTY DUMPTY’

Trump rants about fictional corruption in outstanding Senate races

Thursday 10 November 2022 17:20 , Andrew Naughtie

This week’s slow counts in Nevada and Arizona were long expected and are mainly a result of a surge in mail-in ballots – but Donald Trump is now attempting to reactivate his 2020 “big lie” that slow declarations are an indication of malfeasance:

Mary Trump of worse to come if Trump not indicted soon

Thursday 10 November 2022 16:55 , Andrew Naughtie

Mary Trump, former president Donald Trump’s niece, has warned that the clock is ticking for the Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland to decide on whether to indict her uncle now that the midterm elections are over.

Ms Trump was speaking on The Dean Obeidallah Show on SiriusXM, discussing the results of the midterms with the host and the much-teased possibility that the former president will announce another bid for the White House imminently.

She expressed her wish that the Justice Department would now quickly come to a decision on whether or not to indict him.

Oliver O’Connell reports:

Mary Trump warns DoJ must decide on Trump indictment before 2024 run

Ashli Babbitt’s brother faces jail after hate crime conviction

Thursday 10 November 2022 16:30 , Andrew Naughtie

A San Diego jury has convicted the half-brother of a Donald Trump supporter, who was killed by police while trying to reach members of Congress during the January 6 attack on the Capitol, of a hate crime for assaulting and shouting racial slurs at a utility worker last year.

According to the San Diego, California City Attorney’s office, Roger Stefan Witthoeft Jr was found guilty on charges of misdemeanor battery with a hate crime allegation, as well as a charge of violating the Latino utility worker’s civil rights.

City Attorney Mara Elliott said the verdict “sent a clear message that violent, abusive, and racist conduct like this has no place in our community”.

Witthoeft’s sister was shot by a Capitol Police officer as she climbed through a broken window inside the Capitol. Her death has remains the subject of various false conspiracy theories in certain quarters of the hardcore right.

Andrew Feinberg has more:

Brother of killed Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt faces jail for hate crime

In angry “truth”, Trump rejects reports he’s angry at result

Thursday 10 November 2022 16:08 , Andrew Naughtie

Yesterday and today have seen a blaze of reports that Donald Trump is furious at the outcome of the midterm elections, and at briefings from Republican figures that he is now seen by many of them as a drag on the party’s electoral chances.

Mr Trump has now taken to his semi-cloistered mouthpiece Truth Social to dismiss these reports, angrily insisting he is anything but angry:

John Bowden has more:

Michael Cohen claims he knows ‘exactly what Trump is up to’ in DeSantis attacks

Thursday 10 November 2022 15:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen took to Twitter on Thursday to provide his post-mortem takeaways from the 2022 midterms.

“The midterm takeaway is the current feud between #Trump and #Desantis. I know exactly what Trump is up to (between the name calling and the overt threats) as it’s exactly what he did in 2016 to eliminate Cruz, Rubio and others. With @nypost not on his side, who will he turn to?” tweeted Mr Cohen, while resharing a picture of the New York Post’s cover that featured an cartoonish takedown of the former president.

Paul Ryan: Trump is a drag on the GOP

Thursday 10 November 2022 15:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Republican ex-congressman Paul Ryan, who served as Speaker of the House from 2015 to 2019, has offered his two cents on what the midterm results say about Donald Trump’s effect on the GOP – and his diagnosis is not flattering:

Mr Ryan was speaker during Mr Trump’s first two years in office, but announced his retirement from Congress just before his party lost control of the House in 2018. He has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office, but has criticised Mr Trump publicly on several occasions.