The interview — which ahead of broadcast received much criticism for giving the former president a platform from which he could repeat known falsehoods — was pre-recorded on Thursday and aired on Sunday morning on Welker’s first show as the new moderator.

The wide-ranging questioning turned to Mr Trump’s movements and actions on January 6, with Welker asking why he did not do more to stop the violence as his supporters battled with police and stormed Congress.

“Tell me how you watched this all unfold. Were you in the dining room watching TV?” Welker asked, referring to accounts of the day from people at the White House.

“I’m not going to tell you,” Mr Trump responded. “I’ll tell people later at an appropriate time.”

Molly Michael, a former assistant to Mr Trump, said on multiple occasions she was given lists of tasks on documents she later realised had markings as classified material, ABC reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with her testimony to federal investigators.

A Trump spokesperson told the network that the claims were “illegal leaks” that lacked “proper context and relevant information.”

“President Trump did nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted in a proper manner, according to the law,” the spokesperson said.

More details in our full story.

Donald Trump took credit on Truth Social on Monday for the acquittal of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment proceedings.

“Yes, it is true that my intervention through TRUTH SOCIAL saved Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from going down at the hands of Democrats and some Republicans, headed by PAUL RINO (Ryan), Karl Rove, and others, almost all of whom came back to reason when confronted with the facts. Ken has been a great A.G., and now he can go back to work for the wonderful people of Texas. It was my honor to have helped correct this injustice!” Mr Trump wrote.

Donald Trump is facing new blowback from anti-abortion activists for refusing to commit to national abortion restrictions and for calling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ signing of a six-week ban on the procedure a “terrible mistake.”

Speaking Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump repeatedly declined to say whether he would support a federal ban on abortion. He said he could “live with” the procedure being banned by individual states or nationwide through federal action, though he said “from a legal standpoint, I think it’s probably better” to be handled at the state level.

Regarding the bill signed by DeSantis, which bans abortions before many women know they are pregnant, Trump said, “I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.”

So far, the former president has dominated the 2024 field while at times spurning the anti-abortion groups that traditionally have huge influence in Republican primaries. But Trump’s direct attack on DeSantis, whom he’s long treated as his chief rival, could give the Florida governor new fodder as he tries to regain momentum in his campaign and solidify his second-place standing.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, DeSantis campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin wrote of Trump: “If you want to appease Democrats, here’s your guy. If you want to defeat the Democrats in 2024, (DeSantis) is the only choice.”

Mr Trump argued that Republicans should push for the 25th Amendment to be used to remove President Joe Biden.

“After seeing what has happened to our beautiful USA in such a short period of time, including Afghanistan, Self Imposed Inflation, Energy Independence, the Horrors of the Open Border, NO VOTER I.D., & now, 6 Billion Dollars for 5 Hostages from Iran, I ASK, WHY HASN’T THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BEGUN THE PROCESS OF INVOKING THE 25th AMENDMENT AGAINST THE WORST & MOST INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, CROOKED JOE BIDEN? With these facts, they would have done it to us long ago!” he wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

Unlike what Mr Trump appeared to be suggesting, the 25th Amendment can only be invoked by the vice president and a majority of the cabinet.

Donald Trump decided to mark the Jewish New Year by sharing an antisemitic message stating that “liberal Jews” voted to “destroy America and Israel” by supporting President Joe Biden.

“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!” the image said. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”

The image posted by Mr Trump also included a flyer from JEXIT, a group based in Florida working to push the message to Jewish Americans “that the Democratic Party has abandoned them and Israel,” The Times of Israel has reported.

“Wake Up Sheep. What Natzi /Anti Semite ever did this for the Jewish people or Israel?” the flyer states.

On Monday, Mr Trump argued that he brought 58 hostages “home from many different countries, including North Korea, and I never paid anything”.

This comes after five Americans detained in Iran were released in exchange for several Iranians released from the US and $6bn of Iranian funds unfrozen for humanitarian spending.

“They all understood they MUST LET THESE PEOPLE COME HOME! Toward the end, it got so that countries didn’t even start the conversation asking for money, because they knew they would not get it,” Mr Trump claimed on Truth Social. “Once you pay, you always pay, & MANY MORE HOSTAGES WILL BE TAKEN. Our grossly incompetent ‘leader,’ Crooked Joe Biden, gave 6 BILLION DOLLARS for 5 people. Iran gave ZERO for 5. He’s Dumb as a ROCK!”

Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert has come under fire from her own party after she and her date were caught on video fondling each other in a crowded theater last weekend before being kicked out.

Footage captured the Colorado congresswoman’s heavy petting with her rumoured boyfriend as they attend a showing of “Beetlejuice” in Denver on 10 September. The pair were ejected for “causing a disturbance”.

Several within her own party criticised the lawmaker’s behaviour as hypocritical, given her opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, like furthering claims that drag performances will expose children to lewd sexual acts. She wrote last June, “Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars.”

“She lectures everyone about the LGBT community being a threat to children while getting caught performing a lewd sex act in a public theatre where children possibly were,” Meghan McCain wrote on X. “This is ‘family values’? This is why people think the GOP are all hypocrites.”

Ann Coulter reacted to the footage, writing: “Totally embarrassing bimbo.” She added, “Can’t Colorado find SOME Republican not trashy and stupid to represent them in the 3rd congressional district?”