Trump news today: Mitch McConnell explains support for ex-president despite past criticism over Capitol riot

The State Department says it is unable to compile a complete and accurate accounting of gifts presented to former President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials by foreign governments during Trump’s final year in office, citing missing data from the White House.

In a report to be published in the Federal Register next week, the department says the Executive Office of the President did not submit information about gifts received by Trump and his family from foreign leaders in 2020. It also says the General Services Administration didn’t submit information about gifts given to former Vice President Mike Pence and White House staffers that year.

The granddaughter of Disney co-founder Roy E Disney has called on her family’s company to “muster the courage” when it comes to taking a stance on important issues.

In opinion piece for The Washington Post published on Friday, Abigail Disney pointed to outrage over Disney’s response to Florida’s so-called “Dont Say Gay” bill as a reason why bosses should speak out on issues including LGBT+ rights.

Donald Trump Jr has been slammed for claiming a years-old image of Mickey and Minnie Mouse is sexually explicit.

Mr Trump shared the Disney image to his Instagram of the two cartoon characters embracing, which some have interpreted as displaying a hidden penis.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill that could imprison doctors for up to to a decade for prescribing medical treatments to transgender youth.

The bill criminalising gender-affirming care for transgender people younger than 19 years old is the first in the US to make healthcare for young transgender patients punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Senate Bill 184 prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries for transgender youth, though Alabama health care providers have repeatedly told legislators that such surgeries were not performed on minors in the state.

Alex Woodward and Megan Sheets report.

A North Carolina man on Friday became the second member of the extremist group Proud Boys to plead guilty to conspiring with other group members to stop Congress from formally certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Charles Donohoe, 34, pleaded guilty during an appearance in federal court in Washington to charges of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting or impeding federal officers. His plea agreement includes a provision to cooperate in the ongoing Justice Department cases against other Proud Boys members.

Federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term of about six to seven years, although terms of his sentence will be up to a federal judge.

CNN reports that two days after the 2020 presidential election, while votes were still being counted, Donald Trump Jr texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows saying “we have operational control” to ensure his father would get a second term.

The text appears to refer to the Republican majorities in the US Senate and in swing state legislatures and the possibility of subverting the Electoral College process, the network reports, having reviewed the text — which is among records obtained by the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot.

“We have multiple paths We control them all,” the text reads, outlining a strategy of filing lawsuits in swing states calling for recounts and preventing the certification of results. It then says that GOP lawmakers in Congress could vote to reinstall Donald Trump as president on January 6, 2021.

The text is part of a growing body of evidence showing Trump insiders discussing how to challenge or overturn the results of the election.

Responding to the report, Mr Trump’s lawyer Alan S Futerfas told CNN: “After the election, Don received numerous messages from supporters and others. Given the date, this message likely originated from someone else and was forwarded.”

Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump are all but sworn enemies. Their mutual antipathy dates back years, and deepened even further when Mr McConnell first refused to say the 2020 election was stolen and then condemned the president for his role in inciting the 6 January insurrection (though he voted to acquit him at his impeachment trial).

And yet, Mr McConnell has said he will be voting for Mr Trump in 2024 if the former president runs for another term, as is widely expected.

“Well as the Republican leader of the Senate, it should not be a front-page headline that I’ll support the Republican nominee for president,” he said in an interview with Axios’s Jonathan Swan. “I think I have an obligation to support the nominee of my party.”

The jury is still deadlocked on two of the “ringleaders” of the plot, according to The Associated Press.

When it became clear that Donald Trump’s wall on the Mexican border was not going to be fully funded, much less completed, certain right-wing activists began raising money for what they claimed were serious private initiatives to get the barrier erected. Now, one of those involved has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges.

Brian Kolfage, an Iraq War veteran, helped launch We Build the Wall, which received more than $25m via GoFundMe. Also involved was Steve Bannon, who was indicted for personally pocketing $1m from the nonprofit. He received a presidential at the very end of Mr Trump’s tenure.

Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz laid into Senator Josh Hawley for “punishing” American service members and US allies by blocking President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Pentagon’s top civilian logistics post, suggesting the Missouri Republican had no right to do so because of his support for rioters who attacked the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.