Trump and DeSantis have private meeting in Florida to discuss 2024 election – latest

Another target of Trump’s fury was Saturday Night Live regular Colin Jost, who roasted him remorselessly at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening.

Notoriously thin-skinned, there’s no way the Republican was going to take jokes like these with good grace.

Trump refused to attend the event when he was commander-in-chief after being mocked remorselessly in person by Barack Obama when he did go in 2011, with the 44th president riotouslessly sending up the Republican’s ludicrous “birther” conspiracy theory of the time.

President Biden also got in on the act on Saturday, teasing his election rival by saying his hush money trial had left him facing “Stormy weather”, nicknamed him “Sleepy Don” for dozing in court and admitted that age was an issue in the race for the White House after all: “I’m a grown man running against a six-year-old”.

Here’s more on the night from Ariana Baio.

The former president was otherwise busy this weekend attacking his numerous enemies on his social media platform, going after everyone from President Biden to California governor Gavin “Newscum” while getting in jabs at outgoing Utah senator Mitt Romney and even Bill Maher and Howard Stern.

He reserved particular venom for independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, however, amid recent polling indicating the anti-vaxxer is attracting the support of potential Trump voters.

Here’s Ariana Baio with more on his angry reaction to RFK Jr, who has claimed he was approached by the Trump campaign to be the Orange One’s running mate.

Donald Trump is understood to have met with Florida governor Ron DeSantis in Miami on Sunday in order to resolve their differences after a bruising primary rivalry in time for November’s presidential election.

DeSantis’s campaign for the GOP nomination ended in disappointment in January after failing to live up to expectations and after he was brutally taunted by the former president, who now hopes to capitalise on his influence with Sunshine State conservative donors and sat down with him for an hours-long meeting to bury the hatchet, according to The Washington Post.

Trump has consistently fallen behind President Joe Biden’s fundraising efforts so far and is exploring all avenues as he seeks to make up the difference.

Although the front-runner ridiculed DeSantis throughout the campaign – taking credit for his election to the governor’s mansion, mocking him for wearing heeled cowboy boots to appear taller and calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “Meatball Ron” – the governor endorsed Trump for the presidency when he announced the suspension of his campaign.

The pair have reportedly not spoken since, however, and DeSantis was branded “a sad little man” in February by Trump campaign aide Chris LaCivita after criticising the candidate.

Sunday’s detente was intended to bring an end to that animosity between the two men.

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Donald Trump’s race for the White House and numerous legal entanglements.

The Republican presidential candidate’s New York hush money trial is in recess on Monday but, never fear, there’s plenty more going on in Trumpworld to keep us occupied.