Donald Trump joins Republican presidential candidate rivals at campaign dinner
Donald Trump has told supporters at an influential campaign event in Iowa he is the only Republican candidate who can beat President Joe Biden.
The former president took to the stage at the Lincoln Day Dinner with his main rival Ron DeSantis and several other candidates in the race to become the party’s nominee in 2024.
While his competitors broadly refused to speak about Mr Trump‘s ongoing legal problems, the former president made one veiled reference, saying: “If I weren’t running, I would have nobody coming after me.”
Pic: AP
He also insisted the same would be true if he were trailing in the polls.
The other Republican candidates mostly reserved their sharpest criticism for Mr Biden and a Democratic party they argued had lost touch with mainstream America.
“The time for excuses is over. We must get the job done,” Mr DeSantis told around 1,200 Republican party members and activists.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks at the Lincoln Dinner Pic: AP
“I will get the job done,” he said.
The Florida governor also repeated his promise to halt the “weaponisation” of the Justice Department, alluding to Mr Trump’s indictments.
Mr Trump, who has a comfortable lead in the polls, was heavily critical of his rivals. He repeatedly branded Mr DeSantis “DeSanctus” and said: “I wouldn’t take a chance on that one.”
As he opened a campaign office outside Iowa’s capital Des Moines before the dinner, Mr Trump said: “I understand the other candidates are falling very flat… it’s like death.”
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Mr Trump frequently avoids attending events involving other candidates, questioning why he would share a stage with competitors who are trailing him in polls.
While most Republican candidates refused to criticise him, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchison said, “as a party, we need a new direction for America and for the GOP”, drawing only muted reaction from the crowd.
Will Hurd, a former Texas congressman, faced loud boos when he said: “The reason Donald Trump lost the election in 2020 is he failed to grow the GOP brand.
“Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again… Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison.”
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Iowa’s caucus, one of the first contests in the race for the Republican nomination, is set to take place in January 2024.
Trump is facing several criminal and civil investigations and has been indicted twice.
On Friday, federal documents said he faced new charges over classified documents he allegedly took from the White House, including deleting CCTV footage of his staff moving boxes at his Florida home.
A trial in that case has been set to start on 20 May 2024 – just weeks before the Republican and Democratic national conventions where each party’s nominees are set to be announced.
Children are among the fatalities in a mass shooting at a child’s birthday party in California.
Police said four people had died and 10 were wounded in the incident in Stockton, about 60 miles east of San Francisco.
Officers were called on Saturday to a banquet hall just before 6pm local time (2am UK time) and district attorney Ron Freitas said children were among the dead.
He said the attacker was still at large.
First responders walk through a parking lot near the scene of a mass shooting in Stockton, California. Pics: AP
“We can confirm at this time that approximately 14 individuals were struck by gunfire, and four victims have been confirmed deceased,” San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said on X.
The post said early indications suggest it could be a “targeted incident” but that information remains limited.
Police have so far not disclosed the attacker’s identity and the motive is unclear.
Stockton’s vice mayor Jason Lee confirmed on Facebook that the shooting on Lucile Avenue happened at a child’s birthday party.
Pics: AP
Mayor Christina Fugazzi also said that “families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive”.
California governor Gavin Newsom’s office added that he had been briefed on the “horrific shooting”.
Venezuela has accused Donald Trump of a “colonial threat” after he said the airspace “above and surrounding” the country should be considered closed “in its entirety”.
Mr Trump made the declaration amid growing tensions with President Maduro – and as the US continues attacking boats it claims are carrying drugs from Venezuela.
He wrote on Truth Social: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
Air traffic above Venezuela on Saturday afternoon. Pic: FlightRadar24
Venezuela’s foreign affairs office called it a “colonial threat” and “illegal, and unjustified aggression”.
It accused the president of threatening “the sovereignty of the national airspace… and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan state”.
President Trump’s words were part of a “permanent policy of aggression against our country” that breached international law and the UN Charter, it added.
The Pentagon and the White House have so far not given any additional detail on the president’s statement.
Mr Trump’s post comes after the American aviation regulator last week warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation”.
Nicolas Maduro is widely considered a dictator by the West. Pic: Reuters
The South American nation revoked operating rights for six major airlines that went on to suspend flights to the country.
Mr Trump warned a few days ago that land operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers would begin “very soon”.
Such a move would be a major escalation in Operation Southern Spear – the US naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific that’s so far attacked at least 21 vessels.
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Three killed as US strikes another alleged drug boat
Venezuela has said the attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder.
The US has released videos of boats being targeted, but hasn’t provided evidence – such as photos of their cargo – to support the smuggling claims.
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The Pentagon has sought to justify the strikes by labelling the drug gangs as “foreign terrorist organisations” – putting them on par with the likes of al Qaeda.
It claims the boats targeted are carrying drugs bound for the US, although Sky’s chief correspondent says the final destination is likely to be Europe and West Africa.
President Maduro has denied Mr Trump’s claims he is involved in the drugs trade himself and said his counterpart wants to oust him so he can install a more sympathetic government.
Venezuelan officials have also claimed Mr Trump’s true motivation is access to the country’s plentiful oil reserves.
Mr Maduro is widely considered a dictator who’s cheated elections and has been president since 2013.
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