Donald Trump’s administration has installed new plaques beneath portraits of former presidents attacking his predecessors in the US president’s typical fashion.

Among the plaques, apparently written by Mr Trump himself, is one for Joe Biden reading: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst president in American history.”

The “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House features a picture or painting of every former US president – except Mr Biden, who has been replaced by a photo of an autopen.

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden was not mentally capable by the end of his term as president and his staff made decisions on his behalf, using an autopen to sign them off without his knowledge.

The device reproduces a person’s signature, allowing them to repeatedly sign documents without having to do so by hand each time.

The damning decoration goes on to falsely accuse Mr Biden of winning the “most corrupt election ever” and claims he made “unprecedented use of the autopen.”

Another plaque refers to “Barack Hussein Obama” as “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”

The plaque underneath Bill Clinton’s photo reads: “In 2016, president Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the presidency to President Donald J Trump!”

Even George W Bush, a fellow Republican – though not a Trump supporter – is given a badge of rebuke, with his plaque saying the former president “started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened.”

The “Presidential Walk of Fame” is a recent addition to Mr Trump’s White House and displays the portraits along corridors between the Oval Office and the South Lawn.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the plaques were an “eloquent” description of each president’s legacy.

“As a student of history, many were written directly by the president himself,” she said.

It is the latest change to Mr Trump’s White House, which has seen the increased use of gold-coloured accents and gilded fixtures that mimic the decorations in Trump Tower in New York and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Rob Reiner’s son Nick made his first court appearance on Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.

Wearing a suicide prevention smock and shackles, the 32-year-old did not enter a plea as he appeared from behind the glass wall of a custody area.

His next court appearance will be on 7 January.

As it happened: Nick Reiner makes first court appearance

Nick Reiner spoke only to say, “yes, your honour” to agree to the date.

He was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference.

Nick Reiner is being held without bail and could face the death penalty.

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Reiner’s lawyer tells public don’t ‘rush to judgement’

Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added a special circumstance of multiple murders, as well as an allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.

Speaking outside the court, Nick Reiner’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, called on the public not to “rush to judgement”.

Mr Jackson pointed to “complex and serious issues that are associated with this case” that needed to be thoroughly and “very carefully dealt with and examined”.

He added that it was a “devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family”.

‘Unimaginable pain’

Nick Reiner’s two siblings Jake and Romy have released a statement, saying “words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day”.

“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience,” they said.

“They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends. We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life.”

The two asked for “respect and privacy” and for speculation to be treated with “compassion and humanity”.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the killings.

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

Read more from Sky News:
Moment Nick Reiner arrested for murder of his parents
Could Reiner actually face the death penalty?

Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) from the crime scene, according to police.

Rob Reiner was a celebrated director, whose work included some of the most memorable films of the 1980s and 1990s, including This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men.

He met Michele Singer, a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, in 1989, while directing When Harry Met Sally.

Donald Trump has said the quiet stuff out loud. His Tuesday evening social media post on Venezuela feels like an offload, a dump of thoughts. But it is nonetheless very revealing.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” the US president says.

“It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before…”

That’s a reference to the massive US naval and Air Force presence in the Caribbean off Venezuela. It is indeed an armada, and it’s been there for months now.

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‘They’ve treated us badly’

On the face of it, it’s all part of an anti-drug mission, to counter the drug trade from Venezuela into America. At least that’s the public messaging. And the missile and drone attacks on suspected drug boats in the region are all part of the play.

And that’s why the second part of his post is particularly interesting, because he now appears to be saying out loud what plenty have suspected all along – that this is actually about regime change, and it is about oil far more than it is about drugs.

He says that the military will remain in place “until such time as they [Venezuela] return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us”.

He continues: “The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping.”

This is a reference to the fact that the US was once a huge importer of Venezuelan oil. American companies based in the country extracted the oil and refineries on the Texan coast processed it. The refineries were adapted over decades to refine the thick, heavy crude that is typical of Venezuela.

The process was big business for American firms until Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez in the 2000s, nationalised the foreign oil assets.

Read more:
The US-Venezuela crisis explained

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Is America about to invade Venezuela?

Trump wants all that back – the oil, the revenue, the influence. So all this, it seems clear now, is about oil, and it is about spheres of influence – hemispheres. Trump is determined to assert American control over the western hemisphere.

The ultimate ambition it seems is threefold:

• To remove the Maduro regime and support a friendly, compliant government;
• To seize control of the oil, through commercial partnerships, not force;
• And to stop any drug and people smuggling into the US.

With this latest social post, Trump has now said all that out loud. Interesting days ahead are certain.