Trump center stage at RNC in midterms gamble – US politics live

Donald Trump gave sizable holiday gifts to four White House aides, according to new financial disclosures released by the administration, including $۴۵,۰۰۰ to executive assistant Natalie Harp.

Communications adviser Margo Martin and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris also received $۴۵,۰۰۰, while director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta received a $۲۰,۰۰۰ gift.

The gifts were noted in the staffers’ annual financial disclosure forms that were published by the administration last week. Harp, Martin and Harris make $۱۵۰,۰۰۰ annually and Nauta is paid $۱۷۵,۰۰۰ a year, according to the White House’s salary disclosure report to Congress.

A White House official told the Associated Press that Trump “has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, including at times employees and aides, both in government and in his time in the private sector.”

The official did not say if any other staffers were given similar gifts from the president, but added that the cash gifts were not related to the “individuals’ official government duties, and therefore are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards.”

The disclosures of the gifts were first reported earlier on Tuesday by The Washington Post.

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Donald Trump is due to address Republicans tonight at the party’s first ever national convention ahead of the crucial midterm elections, with the GOP hoping to energize voters as it fights to hold its narrow congressional majorities.

The two-day gathering takes place in Dallas, marking a break from the longstanding tradition of holding national conventions only during presidential election years.

“It has never been done before, and will be a truly Historic Event,” Trump said in July while announcing the convention, promising the convention would feature “Great Entertainment”.

Trump first floated the idea for a convention last year, arguing that it would provide an opportunity to showcase his administration’s achievements since he returned to the White House in ۲۰۲۴.

More than ۱۰۰ House members and candidates are expected, with over ۵۰ speakers or presentations scheduled each night.

Trump delivers this evening’s keynote speech and returns for Thursday’s finale after vice-president JD Vance speaks. Cabinet members, congressional leaders and candidates in closely watched House and Senate races are also on the program.

Republicans plan to highlight tax cuts, immigration enforcement, manufacturing and prescription drug prices, while depicting Democrats as dangerously far to the left.

In other developments:

• Clashing court rulings plunged Missouri’s congressional elections into uncertainty. The US Supreme Court decided not to intervene to reinstate a Donald Trump-backed US House map, upholding a a ruling from the state’s highest state court that prevented the use of the map in the November elections. But shortly after a federal judge temporarily barred the state from using its old congressional maps in November.

• The US military destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after a US navy warship was targeted with ballistic missiles. Iran had targeted the warship twice over two days, the US Central Command said.

• The US will ban Canadian dairy products, motorcycles and most alcoholic beverages. The move marked an escalation in the ongoing trade war between the North American countries, and comes just after Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on $۲۰bn in US goods.

• Congressman Chris Pappas beat back progressive challenger Karishma Manzur in the New Hampshire Democratic primary for US Senate. Former senator John E Sununu, who is backed by Trump, won the state’s Republican Senate primary.

• Lonnie G Bunch III announced he is stepping down as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution after seven years in the role amid Donald Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on the world’s largest museum’s autonomy.