Fox News cuts off Trump rally speech to issue multiple fact-checks: Live

When former president Donald Trump takes to the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, expect him to use the prime time appearance to clean up the Alabama Supreme Court’s mess.

Mr Trump, who has previously bragged about his role in “terminating” the federal right to legal abortion, is set to speak at the annual right-wing confab just days after the Yellowhammer State’s highest court essentially outlawed in-vitro fertilisation in a shock ruling that led the state’s IVF clinics to shutter their doors.

The ruling and its aftermath have sent shockwaves through Republican candidates at the state and federal levels, who have struggled to deal with Democratic enthusiasm as a result of the backlash to the federal Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the half-century-old Roe v Wade ruling which had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide.

But the ex-president appeared to give his party direction on Friday when he took to Truth Social to stress his support for “the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families” and “fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America”.

Court officials have formally approved a final judgment against Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the sprawling fraud case in New York.

The former president, his adult sons, two former Trump Organization executives and the entities associated with the brand-building properties in the Trump real estate empire are now on the hook for more than $464m.

A total judgment against Trump alone is nearly $455m.

Post-judgment interest is accruing daily at the rate of 9 per cent per annum, or more than $114,000 for all defendants – including nearly $112,000 just for Trump.

Apparently windmills cause inflation. Who knew?

“They are pumping it as much as they can under the Trump…”

Trump claims there are five reasons the Justice Department would investigate Nikki Haley… but he won’t tell us what they are… 🤫

“High-quality person” Tim Scott must really want to be vice president:

Trump rallies can be emotionally draining experiences, especially when the topic of tariffs comes up:

Writing on Truth Social on Thursday evening, the Republican presidential front-runner said of ABC, Mr Kimmel’s employers: “They could get a far more talented person, who would also get better Ratings, for 5 per cent of what they are paying this Loser!”

The post came in response to a The Los Angeles Times interview with Mr Kimmel, in which he hinted at his possible retirement.

Joe Sommerlad has the story:

Donald Trump’s attorneys filed a late-night flurry of motions to dismiss federal charges accusing him of illegally withholding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property.

Among the four arguments across more than70 pages on Thursday night, Mr Trump’s legal team claims that the charges should be dismissed on “presidential immunity” grounds, a defence he has used – and which judges have rejected – in a separate federal case surrounding his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

He also has claimed that the US Department of Justice special counsel prosecuting him is doing so illegally, that the case is marred by “unconstitutional vagueness,” and that the Presidential Records Act protects him from prosecution.

Mr Trump’s “immunity” claim has been repeatedly rejected by a federal judge and a panel of appeals court judges in Washington DC, with the question potentially heading to the US Supreme Court.

With the Nevada debacle in the rear view window — an embarrassing defeat to “none of these candidates” in a primary in which Donald Trump declined to participate, it’s officially time for his sole remaining challenger for the GOP nomination to prove that she’s still competitive in the literal sense, rather that just on cable news.

South Carolina is the arena. It’s by no means an ace in the hole, but the state where Ms Haley was governor for eight years is the place where she theoretically should be strongest. It has an open primary, meaning that independent voters can participate. And she’ll be back across the state this week, hitting campaign stops in Myrtle Beach, the Charleston suburbs, and a former steel town.

But don’t be surprised if this is the end.

Eric Garcia explains how the former UN ambassador is simply waiting out Trump…

The Republican presidential front-runner appeared flushed and visibly exhausted as he arrived to address the National Religious Broadcasters’ (NRB) International Christian Media Convention, tripping over simple words like “evangelical” during an address littered with verbal miscues and false claims.

At various points, Mr Trump declared that he had made “Israel” the capital of Israel during his presidency (presumably confusing the decision to move its US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem), said that he planned to close down the Department of Education and praised the Capitol rioters, whom he again characterised as political prisoners and referred to as “the J6 hostages”, for their “tremendous spirit”.

There was more, as Joe Sommerlad reports:

“That’s right,” Kimmel exclaimed. “The forecast is cloudy with a chance of Meatball Ron.”

Amelia Neath has the story: