Trump signed the letter: "From your husband with love, Donald J. Trump."
Melania has not been seen by Trump's side for months, barring an appearance by the pair at her mother's funeral in January. At that gathering, the couple rode in separate cars.
The former president also asked supporters to send messages to his wife in a fundraising scheme.
Donald Trump on Tuesday evening took aim at Adam Schiff, calling him various names in an all-caps post on social media.
"SLIMEBALL ADAM 'SHIFTY' SCHIFF, ONE OF THE TRUE LOWLIFES IN THE HISTORY OF POLITICS IN AMERICA, IS RUNNING FOR THE U.S. SENATE IN CALIFORNIA, A STATE FOR WHICH HE HAS DONE NOTHING BUT ESCALATE VIOLENT CRIME, DESTROY BY ALLOWING MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS, PUSH THE GREEN NEW SCAM AND ALL ELECTRIC CAR MANDATE, PERPETUATE THE HOMELESS CRISIS AND CRIME, DEFUND THE POLICE, BE BAD TO OUR MILITARY AND VETS, AND STOP WATER FROM FREELY FLOWING INTO THE STATE FROM UP NORTH. OTHER THAN THAT, AND HIS AUTHORSHIP OF THE FAILED AND FULLY DEBUNKED, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA HOAX, PENCIL NECK IS A WONDERFUL GUY," Trump
on Truth Social, his own platform.
"SADLY, BETWEEN RANK 'NO CHOICE' VOTING, AND 'UNLIMITED' NUMBERS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS POURING INTO PLACES UNKNOWN, TO PEOPLE THAT SOMETIMES RECEIVE MANY BALLOTS TO FILL OUT AND SEND BACK AT WILL, CALIFORNIANS ARE 'SCREWED!'" Trump shouted. "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
There was no mention of what spurred the insult-filled post.
The blame game on why the Republicans lost a seat in the House has fingers pointing to the candidate.
"I just happened in the familiarity of a de facto incumbent here," Republican strategist Scott Jennings said while appearing as part of a CNN panel on Tuesday night. "It may have mattered a lot because this district just tried something crazy, basically. And it blew up in their face."
He was speaking about Republican candidate Mazi Pilip who conceded the race in New York to Democrat Tom Suozzi.
"I STAYED OUT OF THE RACE, 'I WANT TO BE LOVED!' GIVE US A REAL CANDIDATE IN THE DISTRICT FOR NOVEMBER. SUOZZI, I KNOW HIM WELL, CAN BE EASILY BEATEN!"
Suozzi returns to D.C. to reclaim the New York congressional seat he held for three terms, and was recently vacated by the disgraced Republican George Santos.
Suozzi also hit the street hard across New York’s 3rd Congressional District where he was making appearances at churches and pickleball courts.
With the win, the Democrats creep closer to the Republican House majority.
In his victory speech in Woodbury, New York, that was sidetracked momentarily by what appeared to be an anti-Israel protester, Suozzi advocated for more civility.
“There are divisions in our country where people can’t even talk to each other. All they can do is yell and scream at each other,” he said. “That’s not the answer to the problems we face in our country. The answer is to try and bring people together to try and find common ground.”
“The way to make our country a better place is to try and find common ground. It is not easy to do. It is hard to do."
Newly elected Tom Suozzi, who flipped the seat left vacant when New York Republicans helped remove George Santos, laughed off an awkward situation on Tuesday.
Suozzi, who defeated a Republican who conceded earlier that night, was just about to start his victory speech when a protester stormed the stage and continued yelling, "Stop supporting genocide! Cease fire now!"
New York Democrats scored a victory on Tuesday night, reported the New York Times and USA Today, with former Congressman Tom Suozzi retaking his seat and defeating Nassau County legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip in the special election for the state's 3rd Congressional District, based in the western part of Long Island.
The victory is another blow to House Republicans, who now find themselves defending an even narrower majority going into the 2024 presidential election.
The result also concludes the lengthy saga that began when former GOP Rep. George Santos was unexpectedly elected to this district, which President Joe Biden won by 8 points in 2020 but saw a rightward shift along with the rest of Long Island in recent years, after Suozzi vacated the seat to run unsuccessfully for governor.
Shortly after his victory, a series of reports revealed that Santos had fabricated much of his life story and qualifications for office on the campaign trail, telling false stories about his education, work experience, and ancestry. He also found himself under state and federal criminal investigations into his campaign finance spending.
After he was indicted for fraud for allegedly mishandling campaign donors' money and even making personal charges to their credit cards, and after a blistering House Ethics Committee report that outlined a pattern of financial schemes and obstruction, the House expelled Santos in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, vacating the seat.
The special election to replace Santos has been marked by debates over a number of national issues, including abortion rights, border security, and even threats to the country's democratic process.
WASHINGTON — A lobbying group for the oil and gas industry has launched a new television advertising campaign targeting the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles in several battleground states.
One ad from American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers accuses Democratic President Joe Biden of “rushing to ban new gas-powered cars, no matter where you live or what you need.”
“They want to force you into an electric vehicle,” the ad continues.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) openly endorsed the 2020 plot to block certification of the election in recent interviews — and it has left Gregory F. Jacob, the counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, disgusted.
Stefanik, who has chaired the House Republican Conference ever since GOP lawmakers ousted former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from that role over her criticism of former President Donald Trump, is now rumored to be a shortlister for Trump's 2024 vice presidential running mate. But Jacob, who knew her when he worked on the White House Domestic Policy Council, sees this as totally disqualifying for that role.
"When she first ran for Congress, in 2014, she was a thoughtful, principled conservative determined to champion the interests of her left-behind upstate New York district. I enthusiastically contributed to her campaign," wrote Jacob. "But now she says she would have done something no vice president has ever done or claimed the authority to do. She would have attempted to exercise a power the Constitution doesn’t grant to swing a presidential election to her preferred candidate. No one who espouses such lawless views should hold a position of authority."
Stefanik doesn't even realize the fire she is playing with, Jacob continued, because if she is on Trump's ticket as vice president, her theory would hold that Vice President Kamala Harris could block her own election from being certified. "Particularly if Ms. Stefanik is on the ticket, these Democrats would be delighted to throw her words back in her face as they exercise their raw political will — cloaked in the rhetoric of defending the Constitution from an 'insurrectionist' — to invalidate Trump electors," he wrote.
The GOP faces a crucial crossroads, concluded Jacob — and members like Stefanik are leading the whole party down a dangerous path.
"Because the Constitution’s checks and constraints on government power are crucial to protecting individual liberty," he wrote. "If Republicans ignore those limits in pursuing our political ends, citizens will rightly conclude there is no difference between the two parties. If we yield to the temptation of unconstrained power, Republicans will lose ourselves — and Americans will be at risk of losing our republic."
"So typically the way the co-chair position works is that you have a chair and then the co-chair of the RNC who must be of the opposite gender," said Republican strategist Kristen Soltis Anderson during an appearance on CNN's "The Lead" with Jake Tapper.
"So by endorsing his daughter-in-law for co-chair, you can argue, how important do people think that job is? Do they think it is one that really does a lot to go fundraise and make money, and if your job is to be someone who's going to go out and fundraise and be popular then maybe it's not a terrible pick, but wow, does it send a really bad message that this is just a family business."
What's more, the radical regime change at the apex of the GOP is taking place as the 45th president has yet to nab his party’s nomination for president.
Anderson points to the Bush era and how their dominance in the party earned pushback from some saying "we need somebody or something different."
But here comes the Trumps who Anderson sees as flexing nepotism.
"They've had the families running politics now they're criticizing Biden for having too many of his family members involved in politics."
"Surely we can have a political system in this country where people can get ahead without having to be related to someone who is running for office."
Anderson hopes that when it comes to top positions like the RNC Chair, that it would be based on merit.
"I think it sends a very bad message to America when you say, 'You know who I think would be best for the job,'" she asked sarcastically. "'Let me just pick someone within my own family!' And I think it's silly for Donald Trump to be doing it."
Trump's mouth is purportedly opening him up to weakness on the campaign stump.
Former President Donald Trump's former aide David Urban, appearing on CNN's "The Lead," talked about his boss falling on his face in recent off-teleprompter comments.
"The only one that beat Donald Trump in the election is Donald Trump — and he's doing a pretty good job right there," said Urban.
The 45th president appearing at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, on Saturday bragged about dressing down an anonymous NATO leader for asking him if they would be protected from Russian aggression if they were behind with remitting their requisite 2% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) share as agreed upon in 2014.
Trump claimed: “One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’"
“I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent?’ "'No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.'"
The quotes have been roundly dismissed as reckless.
But Urban believes the narrator in Trump may have slipped on his own banana in this case.
"He was recounting a story by the way, that happened when he was president saying that if a NATO allies don't pay up, they're not really a part of NATO, right," he said.
He praised Trump for compelling more countries to pay their share for American military support and believes he was doing it again in this case.
For Urban, Trump was putting on "the squeeze again" and "negotiating from a position of toughness."
He also made clear it's time for the financial load to be shared.
"Americans realized that the reasons that the Germans and the French have eight-week vacations in the summer and they've got great health care and universal education for everybody is because we, the United States taxpayers have been shouldering the burden of defending the European continent for 50 years. So they should pay up."
"Putin invade whatever country you want. I think it is a little bit over the line."
Conservative Charlie Sykes quipped that he expected nepotism to extend beyond the Republican National Committee and to the office of the vice president.
"Look, I've said this for years," Johnson began. "I'll repeat this: You don't have a Republican Party anymore. It's a terrorist organization called MAGA. This is part of it. When you have someone who is not an elected official, who was voted out of office, who is basically taking the entire infrastructure of what used to be a party and turned it into his own sort of family affair, you don't really have a functional party anymore."
He explained that now, and in 2020, the GOP didn't have a party platform other than to support Donald Trump.
That's when Sykes asked where the nepotism ends.
"It is not surprising that he is reaching out to family members. I've speculated half-seriously if Donald Trump had his way for a selection of V.P. nominees, he would choose a member of his own family, choose Ivanka, or Don Jr., because he wants this to be a family business," Sykes said. "He wants this to be a dynasty."
Johnson agreed: "That's probably what he'll end up doing. Eric Trump is not that busy. Jared's not that busy. They're not selling state secrets. It's highly likely Trump will pick somebody he likes. Automatic if that is ultimately dangerous."
One of the biggest problems that the Republican Party faces is that if the RNC becomes an extension of Trump, it could end up hurting other GOP candidates who depend on funds and operations for their own races, Johnson said. It could ultimately be a gift to Democrats.
President Joe Biden publicly shredded former President Donald Trump's comment that he would encourage Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to U.S. allies who hadn't paid enough on defense.
In his address from the White House Tuesday, Biden accused Trump of having "bowed down to a Russian dictator," President Vladimir Putin with his recent comments deriding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.
At a rally in South Carolina Saturday, Trump told attendees he would not protect NATO allies from Russia who "didn't pay."
Biden was quick to point out Tuesday that the military alliance of 31 nations, created to provide security against the then-Soviet Union, has been called upon just once to act on the mandate to assist should a member face armed attack.
"It was done to stand with America after we were attacked on 9/11," Biden said. "[Trump] doesn't see the alliance that protects America and the world — he sees a protection racket."
Biden, outraged that Trump should so address the Russian president, issued a warning to Putin and U.S. foreign adversaries he said likely "cheered" when they heard Trump's comment.
"As long as I'm president, if Putin attacks a NATO ally, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory," Biden said.
Biden then addressed House Republicans about to receive a long-awaited $95 billion Senate bill that includes aid to Ukraine, the nation that has been fighting off a Russian invasion since February 2022.
"You've got to decide, are you going to stand up for freedom or are you going to side with terror and tyranny?" Biden asked. "Are you going to stand with Ukraine, you're going to stand with Putin? Will you stand with America or with Trump?"
In a defeat for MAGA election crusaders, Georgia's Republican-controlled State Board of Elections voted down a measure that would have limited the use of absentee voting.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionreported that the board considered an effort from Republican member Janice Johnston to limit no-excuse absentee voting, which became more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supporters of Donald Trump credit his 2020 loss in Georgia to absentee voting.
However, on Tuesday a majority of the Board of Elections voted to uphold no-excuse absentee voting. Two Republicans and one Democrat voted down the measure to limit the practice, while two Republicans voted for the effort.
"For me, it comes down to the will of the people, and the will of the people has been voted on by the General Assembly," Chairman John Fervier said.
Fervier was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who himself voted absentee in 2020 after being exposed to COVID-19.
Though election fraud is rare, Johnston cited security as a reason to curb absentee voting.
"Absentee-by-mail voting cannot and does not protect ballot secrecy, voter privacy or freedom from interference with the voting process," Johnston opined. "The idea of no-excuse absentee-by-mail voting seems easy and convenient but … the reality is that absentee-by-mail voting creates doubt."
Fox News judicial contributor Jonathan Turley said special counsel Jack Smith will likely prevail against Donald Trump at the Supreme Court.
During an interview on Tuesday, Fox News host Harris Faulkner asked Turley about Trump's bid to dismiss his election interference case based on presidential immunity.
"The Trump legal team is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a recent ruling that denied him blanket immunity for alleged crimes committed as president," Faulkner explained. "And this could delay his trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election."
"Well, the court, of course, has already rejected this urgency of special counsel Smith once," Turley noted.
Turley said the court of appeals had forced Trump to take his case directly to the Supreme Court.
"I think Trump has a good argument procedurally," he remarked. "I think it is unfair that he should not be given that same opportunity."
"Where it's going to have trouble, I think, is on the immunity claim. It's very sweeping," the Fox News contributor continued. "And I expect that there are going to be justices, including some on the right, who are skeptical of those claims."
"And what does that mean ultimately for Trump?" Faulkner wondered.
Turley argued there were two aspects to the appeal.
"One is the merits, where I think that it favors Jack Smith with the Supreme Court," he explained. "The other is schedule. Smith is really sort of unyielding and trying to get this thing tried to get Trump convicted before the election."
"Once you're past the summer, you're going to be running out of runway," he added. "The Department of Justice does not like trials right before an election."
