Trump news: President mocks 'Sleepy Joe' Biden over 2020 election bid and rages at media over Mueller report

The president's allies worry Joe Biden may be a threat to his re-election

Joe Biden launches his 2020 presidential campaign

Donald Trump has hit out at Joe Biden after the Democratic veteran announced his intention to run against him in 2020, questioning his intelligence and branding him “Sleepy Joe” while lashing out over the Mueller report and attempting to fend off further congressional investigations into his affairs.

Barack Obama‘s former vice-president, a man with almost half a century of experience in US politics, is widely tipped to be Mr Trump’s most serious challenger at the polls, joining a crowded field of 20 Democratic candidates already confirmed for the race.

Privately, Trump allies have warned that Mr Biden might be the biggest re-election threat given the former vice president’s potential appeal among the white working class in the Midwest, the region that gave Mr Trump a path to the presidency.

The former vice president is paying special attention to his native Pennsylvania, a state that swung to Mr Trump in 2016 after voting for Democratic presidential candidates for decades.

While Mr Biden represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years, he was often referred to as Pennsylvania’s third senator.

Despite digging in his heels in Washington, the president meanwhile faces a new threat in his old stomping ground of New York City, where Deutsche Bank is beginning the process of handing over records of its dealings with Mr Trump to the state attorney-general, who is investigating allegations made by his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, that he inflated his assets to secure loans in order to bankroll his hotel business.

Two House committees have also subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and several other financial institutions earlier this month as part of investigations into the president's finances.

It was unclear exactly what the committees asked for. The investigations are among several House Democrats are conducting into aspects of the president’s personal and political life, and top Democrat Adam Schiff has said he is investigating whether foreign actors, including Russia, have sought to hold leverage over Mr Trump or his family and associates.

Deutsche Bank is a German asset management firm that has lent Mr Trump’s real estate organization millions of dollars over time. The two committees have been working with the bank for several weeks, and both chairs have said officials have been cooperative. Mr Schiff said in his statement that the subpoena to Deutsche Bank is a “friendly” subpoena, meaning he expects them to continue working with the committees.

The request comes as a third committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, is sparring with the White House over Mr Trump’s tax returns.

Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

Key Points

• Trump mocks Joe Biden after former veep confirms 2020 presidential run
• President lays into press over correct reporting of Mueller findings
• Trump vows to fight Congress on House investigations
• Deutsche Bank to hand over financial records on president's loans

[25 April 2019 11:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump also tweeted about the mighty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez yesterday (peace be upon her), apparently agreeing with the congresswoman about the rude health of the Department of Veteran Affairs and taking credit on behalf of his administration.

But in arguing that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - as AOC did at a town hall event in New York last week - she was actually warning against Republican interest in privatising it, not praising its existing state.

Here's Chris Riotta's report.

[25 April 2019 11:35 · Joe Sommerlad]

Fox are already seeking to shut down the Biden buzz.

[25 April 2019 11:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

Russian president Vladimir Putin is meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a university campus in Vladivostok and is attempting to succeed where Trump failed in getting Kim to commit to denuclearisation.

Putin says he is "satisfied with the results" of their chat and believes Pyongyang will be willing to abandon its missiles providing it receives international security guarantees.

“There are no secrets,” he said, adding Kim had encouraged him to explain the nuances of Pyongyang’s stance to the US president.

Here's Chris Baynes with more.

[25 April 2019 12:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Whatever else comes of Joe Biden's presidential run, the return of The Onion's stunning spoofs of the candidate as an ageing frat bro would be very welcome indeed.

[25 April 2019 12:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

Biden will appear at a fundraising event in Philadelphia this evening at the home of David Cohen, executive vice-president of NBC parent company Comcast. He will then be on ABC's The View tomorrow and holding his first campaign rally in Pittsburgh on Monday.

After that, he'll be crossing the country to drum up support over the next few weeks, visiting Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada, California, New Hampshire before returning to Philly.

[25 April 2019 12:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Speaking of Iowa, Andy McKean - the state's longest-serving Republican legislator, identified with the party for almost 50 years - has announced he is leaving the GOP in opposition to President Trump.

McKean, 69, said he wants no part of the "new normal" of life under Trump.

“He sets, in my opinion, a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting - often in a crude and juvenile fashion - those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we we are attempting to discourage bullying, his frequent disregard for the truth and his willingness to ridicule or marginalise people for their appearance, ethnicity or disability,” the veteran said.

Here's Chris Stevenson on a heartening act of principle.

[25 April 2019 12:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

The New York Times reported yesterday that ousted Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen wanted to redirect the attention of her department towards the Russian cyber threat ahead of the 2020 election but was discouraged from mentioning it to the president by acting chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney.

The latter reportedly told Nielsen Trump "still equated any public discussion of malign Russian election activity with questions about the legitimacy of his victory".

An unnamed White House official has since corroborated the story, telling CNN getting the Oval Office to listen to concerns on the matter was "like pulling teeth".

[25 April 2019 12:52 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump is up and attacking the media for correctly reporting what the FBI special counsel wrote in the Mueller report.

The FBI special counsel states the president asked adviser Don McGahn to fire him in a phone call of June 2017, a request McGahn refused, potentially saving the Donald's skin from those pesky obstruction of justice charges.

[25 April 2019 13:01 · Joe Sommerlad]

This about sums it up.

[25 April 2019 13:05 · Joe Sommerlad]

Here's the latest Trump pushback against the House Oversight Committee: White House adviser and closed border zealot Stephen Miller will not appear before it to testify, according to CNN.