DeSantis news – latest: Florida governor most popular with rich Republicans as he defends move to fly migrants to California

DeSantis on campaign trail hoping to raise national profile as 2024 race hots up

Ron DeSantis snaps at reporter who asked why he wasn’t taking questions from the public

Florida governor Ron DeSantis appears to be the preferred Republican candidate among right-leaning millionaires, according to the latest CNBC Millionaire Survey, although his arch-rival and front-runner Donald Trump is seemingly also picking up support among wealthy Americans.

The poll shows that 32 per cent of Republicans with qualifying millionaire status currently support Mr DeSantis, a drop from 54 per cent at the end of 2022, while Mr Trump now has the backing of 28 per cent, up from 17 per cent last year.

Meanwhile, the governor has met with sheriffs in Arizona and defended his state’s recent decision to fly migrants from the US-Mexico border to Sacramento, California, a move widely derided as a cruel political stunt but which he insisted was above board because the west coast state had essentially invited them with its liberal immigration policies.

“I think the border should be closed. I don’t think we should have any of this,” Mr DeSantis said. “But if there’s a policy to have an open border, then I think the sanctuary jurisdictions should be the ones that have to bear that.”

Key Points

• Inside the bitter rivalry between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom
• Millionaires support Ron DeSantis but Trump support growing, says poll
• California investigating whether DeSantis involved in flying asylum-seekers from Texas to Sacramento
• Showtime documentary on DeSantis’s Guantanamo Bay career mysteriously dropped
• DeSantis wraps up first early states tour with attack on Biden

[9 July 2023 01:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Judge rules Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent

A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday said former president Donald Trump can be made to give evidence in a deposition as part of a lawsuit against the Department of Justice by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.

Andrew Feinberg hasthe details.

[9 July 2023 00:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Christie says Trump took secret documents so he could keep pretending he was president

While Mr Trump’s former secretary of defence Mark Esper said he thought the former president may have kept the documents to further his own financial wellbeing in some way, Mr Christie had his own theory to put forward.

Read more...

[8 July 2023 23:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

ICYMI: Ethics board recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

A disciplinary committee in Washington DC has recommended Rudy Giuliani be disbarred in the nation’s capital for his spurious efforts to overturn the results for the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump.

Mr Giuliani had “no factual basis, and consequently no legitimate legal grounds” to challenge the results of the election in states that Mr Trump lost, while his “frivolous” pursuit to undermine the outcome and disenfranchise voters “seriously undermined the administration of justice,” according to the committee’s report.

Alex Woodward has the details.

[8 July 2023 22:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Comment: What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and conflict in the rest of the world

Mary Dejevsky writes:

Joe Biden’s visit to the UK this weekend, when he will meet the prime minister and the king, could serve as a welcome reminder about where political power – and responsibility – currently resides on both sides of the Atlantic.

I say this, because some of the recent running on arguably the most urgent international issue of the day has been made by someone who has no power whatever, but eyes a return. Step forward (as if he needed any invitation to do so) Donald Trump, who spoke at some length this week about wanting a peaceful outcome in Ukraine, even if this entailed territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.

Read on...

[8 July 2023 21:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Full story: Iowa GOP sets date for 2024 caucus

The official kick-off date for the 2024 presidential nominee selection season has been chosen by the state party.

[8 July 2023 21:17 · Oliver O'Connell]

Who’s ahead nationally in the GOP primary polls?

According to the latest aggregated data from FiveThirtyEight.com the current average polling nationally in the Republican Party primary is as follows:

1. Trump: 52%
2. DeSantis: 23.3%
3. Pence: 6.5%
4. Ramaswamy: 3.9%
5. Haley: 3.9%
6. Scott: 3.7%
7. Christie: 2.6%
8. Hutchinson: 1.3%
9. Burgum: 0.2%
10. Suarez: 0%

[Full methodology]

[8 July 2023 21:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Newsom urges DoJ to investigate Florida over ‘unconscionable’ transportation of migrants

California Gov Gavin Newsom has called on the Department of Justice to investigate Florida’s transportation of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last year.

Mr Newsom, a Democrat and regular antagonist of Gov Ron DeSantis (R-FL), sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on the DOJ to investigate the transportation of migrants that Mr DeSantis touted ahead of his re-election campaign.

Eric Garcia reports.

[8 July 2023 20:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Caitlyn Jenner slams homophobic DeSantis ad

[8 July 2023 20:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump vows to keep ‘communists and markers’ out of the US

Donald Trump fumbled his words while speaking at his largest campaign event in Iowa on Friday.

The former president appeared in Council Bluffs in the western part of the state that hosts the first caucus in approximately just over five months.

Speaking about immigration, Mr Trump was relaying a campaign promise to deny entry to leftist ideologues when he accidentally referred to them as “communists and markers” rather than Marxists.

[8 July 2023 20:10 · Oliver O'Connell]

Biden heads to Europe with a king and a war on his agenda

President Joe Biden leaves on Sunday for Europe, where he will spend four days in three nations tending to alliances that have been tested by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The first stop is London, where Biden will meet with King Charles III for the first time since his ascension to the throne. After that is the centerpiece of the trip, the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Alliance leaders will debate the war and revise plans for dealing with Russian aggression.

The final stop is in Helsinki, where Biden is expected to celebrate the expanding alliance, with Finland as the newest member of NATO.

His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the trip would “showcase the president’s leadership on the world stage.”

A look at Biden’s agenda and the issues he will face: