Donald Trump has said he hates Taylor Swift – just days after the pop mega-star endorsed his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

In an all-caps posting on his Truth Social media account, Mr Trump wrote: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”

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Trump ‘safe’ after ‘gunshots in vicinity’, campaign says

Following last week’s Trump-Harris debate, Swift informed her 284 million Instagram followers that she planned to vote for Ms Harris, currently the US vice president.

She said it was “because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them”.

Mr Trump initially dismissed Swift’s endorsement of his rival for the presidency by simply saying he was “not a Taylor fan“.

But since then, with public opinion polls showing Ms Harris gaining significant ground on Mr Trump in what is expected to be a close 5 November presidential election, the former president has ratcheted up his rhetoric against one of the most successful recording artists in history.

Swift’s post backing Ms Harris has drawn over nine million “likes”, fuelling speculation it could boost the Democrat’s chances of winning the presidential election.

However, others argue celebrity endorsements do not make a big difference in US elections, with much of Swift’s fanbase likely to have voted Democrat anyway.

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After Mr Trump’s online outburst, the Harris campaign sought to tease him with a pun-heavy press release referencing Swift’s songs.

“Mr. Not-at-all Fine has spent this week working through his feelings, whining about his Champagne Problems, and spending exactly none of his time addressing the issues facing the American people,” the statement says.

It adds: “His rambling, yelling and constant conspiracy theories have many asking if The Man is ‘too emotional’ to be president.

“Call it What You Want, but it’s Nothing New for the Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”

Referencing his presidential debate performance earlier this week, it goes on to say the Trump campaign can’t “Shake it Off as the Bad Blood between Trump, his running mate, and his own party boils”.

One person has been arrested and an assault rifle recovered after “an apparent assassination attempt” on Donald Trump, according to the FBI.

Mr Trump was believed to have been taking part in a round at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach when shots were heard at 2pm local time.

According to Sky’s US partner NBC, Secret Service agents saw someone they suspected of aiming a gun at the former president, so they opened fire.

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Secret Service move Trump to safety after shots heard

It is not yet known whether the suspect fired first or fired a round at all or if only the Secret Service fired.

One person is currently being questioned by local police and a gun was found in the bushes near where the former president was playing.

Afterwards, a statement from Mr Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!

“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.

“Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you.”

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told reporters his officers followed the suspect vehicle for a while before making a “felony stop”.

“Our road units picked the vehicle up and we waited a while. We didn’t stop him right away. We didn’t want a high-speed chase.

“So we were able to wait until we had adequate units, surrounded the vehicle, and forced it to a stop.”

He added that due to good tactics, they managed to take the suspect into custody peacefully.

A witness said he saw “20 or more cop cars flying from nearby streets” as he described the emergency response outside Mr Trump’s golf course.

“From what I saw, five black unmarked SUVs blocked in a grey Mercedes in front of the golf course,” Max Egusquiza told the AP news agency.

“There were about 20 or more cop cars flying from nearby streets,” he said.

Mr Trump has since returned to his Mar-a-Lago resort.

A White House statement said: “The President and Vice President have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was golfing.

“They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”

It comes two months after the Republican presidential nominee was shot during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Former US presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has said he is being investigated for cutting off the head of a dead whale with a chainsaw.

Speaking during a campaign event for Donald Trump in Glendale, Arizona, RFK Jr said: “I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago.”

The 70-year-old did not go into detail about the decapitation of the whale, but his daughter previously described how he had used a chainsaw to cut the head off a dead whale 30 years ago.

Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, 36, described how when she was six her father had taken the head of the whale after it washed ashore in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and lashed it to the family’s car with bungee cords to drive it to their home in New York.

“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” she told Town & Country magazine in 2012.

“We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”

RFK Jr said he had responded to the letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute and added: “This is all about the weaponisation of our government against political opponents.”

He told NBC News he has never killed a whale.

After the story about him beheading a whale resurfaced last month, an environmental group called on federal officials to investigate.

“Kennedy may think that his name and privilege mean the rules don’t apply to him, but if he had a shred of integrity left he’d surrender this whale skull and any other illegally collected wildlife parts to the authorities,” said Brett Hartl, political director for the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund (CBDAF).

“If he doesn’t, NOAA law enforcement should open an investigation and potentially bring charges against him.”

The CBDAF said that under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act it is illegal to possess any part of an animal, dead or alive, protected under either law, and transporting the whale skull from Massachusetts to New York, across state lines, represented a potential felony violation of the Lacey Act.

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Dead bear prank

Last month RFK Jr announced he was suspending his independent campaign for the presidency to lend his support to Mr Trump.

It comes after he was criticised for abandoning the dead body of a young bear in New York City’s Central Park.

He said he initially intended to skin the bear but decided to try to make it look like the cub had got hit by a bike in the park, adding: “We thought it would be amusing for whoever found it or something.”

At the time, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said it was against the law to dispose of a dead bear the way RFK Jr said he did. He could have faced a fine but the statute of limitations for such offences was a year, it added.

RFK Jr’s father, Robert F Kennedy, was assassinated as he ran for president in 1968. His uncle, former Democratic US president John F Kennedy, was shot dead in 1963.