Ex-president’s decision to sell Bibles branded with his name is ‘risky business’, says Warnock, pastor of historic Atlanta church

Donald Trump ’s decision to sell Bibles branded under his name is “risky business”, Democratic US senator Raphael Warnock said Sunday, as the former president stands accused of having few moral scruples in four separate criminal indictments pending against him.

“The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Warnock, the pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist church, said to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. Speaking on Easter, one of Christianity’s holiest celebration, Warnock added: “It’s a risky bet because the folks who buy those Bibles might actually open them up, where it says things like thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not bear false witness, where it warns about wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing.

Former UN climate chief warns of global impact of a possible regression in US green policies

Victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk, a former UN climate chief has warned.

The chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim , but Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter, according to Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022.

Donald Trump is embroiled in a balancing act between several criminal and civil trials, which could cost him millions of dollars and potentially even put him behind bars. On top of that, there’s the small issue of a presidential campaign. So the question is: can he afford to do it all?

This week Jonathan Freedland speaks to Erica Orden, of Politico, to discuss the highs and lows Trump experienced this week, and whether or not he can raise the money to save himself from bankruptcy

Archive:

Trump lawyers at hearing in Atlanta to argue the first amendment is grounds for dismissing the state’s 2020 election subversion case

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Today in Georgia, Donald Trump ’s legal team will argue that the case brought against him by Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis for allegedly trying to overturn the state’s 2020 election result should be dismissed on first amendment grounds, CNN reports . The hearing in Atlanta will be the first held since judge Scott McAfee ruled Willis could continue handling the case, but only if special prosecutor Nathan Wade quit, which he did . For Trump, the odds are not looking particularly good: two of his 18 co-defendants have made similar claims that they were merely exercising their free speech rights when claiming, without evidence, that the 2020 election was marred by fraud, but McAfee rejected their arguments.

Today’s hearing nonetheless represents a return to sorting out the actual merits of Willis’s case, which was delayed for weeks after defense attorneys alleged she had created a conflict of interest by hiring Wade, a romantic partner. The Georgia case is one of four criminal indictments against Trump , but still has no trial date – a crucial element to sort out, considering that a conviction could upend the 2024 presidential race.

Joe Biden this evening will head to a New York City campaign fundraiser where he is reportedly expecting to rake in a mammoth $25m, thanks to a little help from Barack Obama and Bill Clinton , both of whom will be there.

Chris Christie , the former New Jersey governor who was briefly a presidential candidate, said he would not pursue a third-party presidential bid, leaving No Labels’s much-worried-over ticket empty once again.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will see what reporters want to know, sometime after 11.40am ET.

After a Trump-backed purge of the RNC this month, promoting the 2020 stolen election lie has become a litmus test for loyalty

If you’re seeking employment at the Republican National Committee (RNC), you’re likely to be asked in your job interview if you believe the 2020 election was stolen. And if you say no, well, you might as well seek a job with George Santos.

After a Trump-backed purge of the RNC this month, agreeing to the false claim has become a kind of litmus test for gaining employment – no less than it’s become a litmus test for running for public office as a Republican.

Judge recommends John Eastman, facing 11 disciplinary charges, lose his California law license over efforts to keep Trump in power

A judge has recommended that conservative attorney John Eastman lose his California law license over his efforts to keep Donald Trump in power after the 2020 election.

Eastman, a former law school dean, faces 11 disciplinary charges in the state bar court stemming from his development of a legal strategy to have then vice president Mike Pence interfere with the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

Ex-president makes remarks after backlash prompted McDaniel’s firing four days after hiring

Donald Trump mocked the former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel, for her firing by NBC days after being hired as a political analyst.

“Wow!” the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, who ejected McDaniel from the RNC in favour of his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The rightwing social network’s flotation, supported by fans of the ex-president, make it a part of the ‘meme stock’ phenomenon

• Business live – latest updates

Donald Trump’s social network went public on Tuesday and almost immediately hit a valuation of almost $8bn (£6.3bn). The valuation fell back to a more modest $6.58bn by the time markets closed in New York, but that still represented a gain of more than 15% on its initial public offering (IPO) value. That enormous success has raised questions, and not all of them are easy to answer.

I worry about national security amid Trump’s money ups and downs – they make way for influence-peddling and mischief

Donald Trump has had an encouraging day or two on the money front.

On Monday, a New York appeals panel lowered – to a mere $175m – the amount the former president needs to cough up as he challenges the huge judgment against him in his civil-fraud case. It’s not clear whether Trump can obtain such a bond – he has another week or so to try. He couldn’t raise an earlier, much higher sum, but this seems much more likely.