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Donald Trump is loving it.

He danced after making the announcement about the announcement, all smiles and signature clenched fists.

He has the look of a man who is back in the game – the rhetoric, too.

On stage in Ohio, Mr Trump labelled Nancy Pelosi – Speaker of the House of Representatives – an “animal”. Never mind common decency, or that her husband was recently attacked by an intruder with a hammer inside their home.

So inappropriate, so Trump, and his loyal audience lapped it up.

To them, bad patter isn’t an issue. They are just happy to have him back.

A solid Trump base provides a platform for his return. The support structure can only be enhanced by the many individuals, Trump-endorsed, expected to win office and authority at these midterm elections.

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They assert the same unfounded claims of (2020) election fraud as Mr Trump himself – they wouldn’t have qualified for his endorsement otherwise. He is the kingmaker who wants to be king again, and they owe him.

It makes a Trump candidacy difficult for the Republican Party as a whole. Consider rival candidates for the top of the ticket in 2024. Potential contenders like Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo would find it very difficult to engage in a contest with a strident and well-supported Trump leadership campaign.

His overwhelming presence and support could well dissuade rivals from standing and lead to a truncated party contest that was no contest at all.

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‘We’re going to take back the White House’

Mr Trump’s return would also be a difficulty for the wider Republican Party, many of whom were happy to tolerate him while he delivered power over but don’t relish his return.

There is a constituency within the party that was happy to hold its nose and clutch its pearls when he carried them into government and, yet, grew weary over time. Having seen the back of Trump, they see a handbrake turn back towards chaos in Republican ranks – it concerns them and threatens cohesion in the party.

Read more:
Trump vows to make ‘very big announcement’ next week

If a good night for the Republican Party would give Mr Trump’s comeback a push, it would give Joe Biden a pushback. He has said he’s confident of holding on to the Senate, which would preserve his clout as president and bolster the foundations of a run for the second term, if that is what he wants.

Biden regarded as liability – but he’s achieved

However, if he lost the Senate and the House of Representatives, Mr Biden would effectively be a lame-duck president, hamstrung by the numbers against him and threatened by impeachment and investigation into matters such as the Afghanistan withdrawal, his COVID policies, his relationship with his son Hunter’s business dealings, etc. Republicans have made it known they want to settle scores.

Mr Biden is regarded as something of a liability within the ranks of his own party. His popularity level stands at 40%, a historical low for a president at this stage in an election cycle.

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The US president declares ‘We are the United States of America!’ at a rally in Maryland

And yet, Mr Biden has achieved. With a wafer-thin majority, he’s been productive on policy, with results on climate change, healthcare and wiping away student debt. Sadly, for him, he has probably delivered too late for the population at large to feel the economic benefit and too late for people who voted him in on a promise of change and waited too long to see it transpire.

Should the Democrats have a bad night, it will be argued that a key campaigning weakness has been around the message. The warning about democracy being on the ballot may be difficult to argue with, but it doesn’t chime with voters’ priorities at a time when the economy is flagging. Surveys show that inflation, fuel costs, crime, and immigration are further up the list of concerns.

It would raise questions for Mr Biden about electoral strategy and, as such, suitability for a second presidential run.

However, that assumes Democratic defeat and, as Mr Biden said himself, he thinks Democrats will hold on to the Senate.

It’s a hope worth holding onto – his career depends on it.

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Donald Trump says second UK state visit could happen in September

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Donald Trump says second UK state visit could happen in September

Donald Trump has said his second state visit to the UK could take place in September.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handed over an invitation from the King when he visited Washington in February.

Trump teases return to UK – latest updates

Buckingham Palace previously only said the visit would happen “when diaries allow”, but Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday: “I think they are setting a date for September.”

“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one,” he said.

“The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”

Sir Keir Starmer the Trump charmer.
Pic: PA
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Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: PA

Mr Trump will become the only elected political leader in modern times to be invited to two state visits by a British monarch.

The president called the UK a “great country” in his comments at the White House on Thursday and said it was “an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William”.

His first state visit was in 2019, when he was hosted by the late Queen.

Second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit usually get tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.

Read more from Sky News:
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Two dead and five injured in shooting at Florida university

The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
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The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters

But Mr Trump is set to get all the pomp and ceremony laid on again in his honour – with another state banquet likely at Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Family‘s soft power diplomacy is viewed as a way of currying favour with the president, who’s known for his love of the monarchy and links to the UK through his mother, who was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

It comes as the government seeks an economic deal with the US, in the hope of potentially lessening the impact of the president’s tariffs.

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Four in hospital as police deal with active shooter at Florida university

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Four in hospital as police deal with active shooter at Florida university

Four people are in hospital as police deal with an active shooter on a university campus in Florida.

Videos showed people running through traffic, fleeing the scene, around the time of the shooting at the student union at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.

Local police were “on the scene or on the way”, according to an alert sent out by the school and students have been told to “shelter in place”.

The FBI is also said to be responding to the incident.

Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne
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Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne

In a statement, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it was “actively receiving and caring for patients” from the incident.

“At this time, details are still unfolding, and we do not yet have specific information to share. However, we want to assure the community that our teams are fully mobilised and prepared to provide the highest level of care and support to all those affected,” it added.

President Donald Trump said he was fully briefed on the incident and described it as “a shame”.

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He added: “It’s a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place.”

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, in a statement posted on X, said: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”

Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles raced to the campus around midday local time (5pm UK time) on Thursday.

As students streamed away from the area of the student union in their hundreds, some were visibly emotional and others were glued to their phones.

Dozens later gathered near the university’s music school, waiting for news.

Florida State University student Daniella Streety told NBC News of the chaos that unfolded at the scene.

She remained on lockdown in a campus building and said: “I did see them carry out one student in what looked like on a stretcher and kept them in the road until an ambulance was able to pick them up.”

Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of an active shooter.

Police escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads, he said.

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US judge warns Trump administration could be in criminal contempt over El Salvador deportations

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White House rages at 'appalling' attempt to return wrongly deported man from El Salvador

A US federal judge has warned that he could hold the Trump administration in contempt for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador.

US District Judge James E. Boasberg said he had found “probable cause” to hold the administration in criminal contempt and warned he could refer the matter for prosecution if it does not “purge” its contempt.

If the government doesn’t purge the contempt, charges could be brought forward by the Justice Department, NBC News reported.

And if the executive-led Justice Department refused to prosecute the matter, Judge Boasberg said he would appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt.

Mr Boasberg said the administration could “purge contempt by returning those who were sent to El Salvador prison, in violation of his order, to the US.

This, he said, “might avail themselves of their right to challenge their removability”.

“The Constitution does not tolerate wilful disobedience of judicial orders – especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” the judge wrote.

Executive vs judicial

This marks a notable escalation in the ongoing tensions between the judicial and executive branches of the US government during Donald Trump’s second term.

Parts of the US president’s legislative programme have been halted by judges, as the administration strains against the restraints of the separation of powers.

Mr Trump previously called for Judge Boasberg to be impeached while the Justice Department claimed he overstepped his authority – both reflecting the administration’s attempts to overcome perceived obstacles to the implementation of its agenda.

Mr Trump’s administration has also argued it did not violate any orders.

It claimed the judge didn’t include a turnaround directive in his written order and said the planes had already left the US by the time the order came down.

‘Administrative error’

At the heart of the legal wrangling is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.

Washington acknowledged that Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”.

The US Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return, upholding a court order by Judge Paula Xinis, but Trump officials have claimed that Mr Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: CASA / AP
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: CASA/AP

Mr Garcia’s lawyers have argued there is no evidence of this.

This all comes after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele visited the White House earlier this week.

During his time with Mr Trump, Mr Bukele said that he would not return Mr Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”

The US and El Salvador presidents in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Image:
The US and El Salvador presidents in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Along with Mr Garcia, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, whom it claims are gang members without presenting evidence and without a trial.

Democrat senator travels to El Salvador

Meanwhile, Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday, saying he would seek a meeting with the country’s officials to secure Mr Garcia’s release.

“I just arrived in San Salvador a little while ago and look forward to meeting with the US embassy team to discuss Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release,” Mr Van Hollen said on social media.

Deportations have been an important part of Mr Trump’s second term, with him being vocal on the issue throughout the campaign trail and into office.

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