Trump rally today – live: White powder found in Manhattan prosecutor’s office as Mary Trump sabotages Waco rally

The Office of Court Administration said Friday that it had increased security as a result. It did not name Mr Trump directly, simply stating that the move follows an “increased interest in proceedings.”

Mr Trump, cornered by several investigations and predicting his own arrest in at least one of them, will hold his first 2024 presidential campaign rally in the city of Waco, Texas – in the middle of the 30th anniversary of the deadly 51-day siege that galvanised the far right and set the stage for the modern militia movement.

His doomsday rhetoric previews a 2024 campaign rally near the site of a deadly siege that galvanised the far right, extremism researchers and historians tell Josh Marcus and Alex Woodward

Mr Trump posted an article to his social media platform Truth Social which included a composite picture of himself next to Alvin Bragg, who has accused the one-term president of creating “a false expectation” of being arrested this week.

Graeme Massie has the story.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg is leading probe into hush money payments allegedly made to Stormy Daniels

In a dark late-night Truth Social post attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Mr Trump warned of “potential death and destruction” should charges be brought against him.

If charged such violent rhetoric could be in violation of bond

A federal judge in Washington DC has rejected former president Donald Trump’s attempt to keep his ex-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and a large group of other former top White House and Trump administration officials from having to give evidence before the grand jury investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

District Judge Beryl Howell, who until last week was the chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a sealed ruling last week rejecting Mr Trump’s claim that executive privilege — a legal doctrine that normally shields conversations and deliberations between and among a president and his advisers — should preclude Mr Meadows and other aides from testifying.

Andrew Feinberg filed this report from Washington, DC.

The court ruling represents another significant defeat for Mr Trump’s legal team

Despite what Trump’s MAGA allies say, the Florida governor likely has little authority to stop the former president’s extradition from their mutual home state. Eric Garcia and Andrew Feinberg write

Trump said he expected to be arrested on Tuesday. Now he waits in Mar-a-Lago

Mary Trump, the clinical psychologist and author who is former president Donald Trump’s niece, has called on Americans to flood her uncle’s campaign website with ticket requests for his 25 March rally in Waco, Texas, so tickets will be allocated to people who won’t show up for the event.

Writing on Twitter, Ms Trump wrote that the Waco location is “a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI”.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Mr Trump’s niece is an outspoken critic of the ex-president

A Texas newspaper has lambasted former president Donald Trump’s decision to hold his first 2024 presidential campaign rally not far from the site of the deadly law enforcement siege in Waco, Texas, an event that galvanised far-right conspiracy theories as a symbol of violent government overreach.

As the state of Texas recognises the 30th anniversary of the deadly 51-day siege, The Houston Chronicle’s editorial board writes that “dog ears won’t be the only ones twitching” when Mr Trump lands on 25 March.

“Trump doesn’t do subtle; dog-whistle messages are not his style. The more apt metaphor is the blaring air horn of a Mack 18-wheeler barreling down [Interstate-10],” the newspaper writes.

Trump’s first 2024 campaign rally will be held near the site of a deadly Texas siege on its 30th anniversary