Trump news latest: Trump under fire for ‘lack of judgment’ after dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes

Donald Trump is fending off critics on all sides after a deeply controversial meeting with rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye.

The former president is taking fire from all sides over the meeting, partly over Mr West’s recent anti-Jewish rhetoric but mostly due to the attendace of Nick Fuentes, a leader of America’s white nationalist “groyper” movement. Mr Fuentes is an avowed racist who has, among other caustic beliefs, expressed doubt about the Holocaust and supported the concept of segregation in the south, calling the civil rights movement a mistake.

The meeting took place at Mr Trump’s residence in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, where he now spends much of his time. The residence was recently the site of his 2024 campaign launch, a muted affair that was avoided by his own daughter and former White House adviser, Ivanka Trump.

Mr Trump announced his campaign for president earlier this month, days after the bulk of the midterm elections concluded, and it was clear that a fixation on the 2020 election conspiracies that he espouses hurt GOP candidates in key elections around the country.

Donald Trump sharply criticised rapper Kanye West and ramped up his efforts to distance himself from a recent meeting between the two as the fallout over Mr Trump’s association with Mr West’s campaign advisers continues.

Mr Trump issued a statement via Truth Social calling the rapper a “seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black” and once again denied knowing Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist and racist who latched on to Mr West amid his increasingly erratic spiral into hate speech and the utter destruction of his musical career.

“So I help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black, Ye (Kanye West), who has been decimated in his business and virtually everything else, and who has always been good to me, by allowing his request for a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, alone, so that I can give him very much needed “advice.” He shows up with 3 people, two of which I didn’t know, the other a political person who I haven’t seen in years,” claimed the former president.

David M Friedman, ambassador to Israel in the Trump administration, has urged the former president to “throw those bums out”, with regard to Mr Trump’s dinner with Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

Mr Trump has attempted to distance himself from Mr Fuentes after the controversial dinner was first reported by Axios, claiming he had no idea who the Holocaust-denying far-right extremist was.

In several posts to Truth Social describing the Tuesday night dinner, Mr Trump said West showed up with three friends “whom I knew nothing about”.

Asked whether he would support Republican Ron DeSantis for president in 2024, Elon Musk replied: “Yes”.

Mr Musk’s tweet reiterates the tech mogul’s support for the Florida governor, after Mr Musk said back in June that he would support Mr DeSantis if the Republican does run for president in the next cycle.

California governor Gavin Newsom, a potential 2024 Democratic contender, has told the White House that he would not challenge Joe Biden for the presidency if the sitting president runs for reelection.

“I’ve told everyone in the White House, from the chief of staff to the first lady,” Mr Newsom told Politico of his signalling to the current administration.

Arizona’s outgoing Republican Governor Doug Ducey congratulated Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs on her victory despite the fact that Republican nominee Kari Lake refused to concede.

Mr Ducey, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, had endorsed Ms Lake’s opponent Karrin Taylor Robson in the gubernatorial primary, before later endorsing Ms Lake in the general election.

But he congratulated Ms Hobbs, the current secretary of state, on her victory.

“All of us have waited patiently for the democratic process to play out,” he said. “The people of Arizona have spoken, their votes have been counted and we respect their decision.”

Eric Garcia has the details.