Trump shares April Fool’s Day prank about campaign suspension: Live

Republicans, led by Donald Trump, are sounding off on Joe Biden after he issued a statement recognising Trans Visibility Day becasue it happened to coincide with Easter Sunday this year.

Created by a Michigan-based transgender activist, Rachel Crandall, in 2009, International Transgender Day of Visibility (often shortened to Trans Visibility Day) falls on March 31 every year. In 2024, that date coincidentally falls on Easter Sunday, which is determined annually by marking the first Sunday after the full moon occurring on or after the Spring Equinox.

President Joe Biden marked the push for transgender rights with a statement recognising Trans Visibility Day on Friday that immediately set off alarm bells on the far right.

Donald Trump has been branded “feeble and confused” after he posted an angry Easter message lashing out at “PEOPLE I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE”, including DOJ special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia attorney Fani Willis

The former president posted an unhinged all-caps rant on Truth Social: “HAPPY EASTER TO ALL… INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA.”

The Biden campaign seized on Mr Trump’s message, branding him “feeble and confused” for “spewing an unhinged all-caps tirade attacking America and talking about himself”.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, has posted new financial statements in a filing to the Securities & Exchange Commission today that give deep insight into the financial health of the company that went public last week.

In 2023, the firm generated just $4.1m in revenue, while racking up $58m in losses. In line with the “meme stock” craze the company’s dollar valuation at somewhere north of $6bn therefore defies logic.

As of 12.15pm the stock price was down 18 per cent on the opening at around $50/share. When it first listed last week, the company’s stock price peaked at $79/share.

On Monday, thousands of children and their families will gather on the White House South Lawn for the annual Egg Roll, an Easter tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century.

But this year’s celebrations have been marred as Republican politicians and commentators falsely accused President Joe Biden’s administration of banning religious themes and symbols from the celebration’s art contest — failing to note that the policy has been in place during every administration for almost 50 years.

Since Tuesday night when a cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people, all immigrants, the former president has only posted one clip of Sean Hannity criticising President Joe Biden for making only a brief remark and “making it all about himself by mentioning his personal connection”.

Mr Trump, who is usually known for his consistent and repeated posts on social media on any topic in the national news, is being criticised for remaining largely silent.

Republican strategist Scott Reed said this silence from Mr Trump is “a little weird,” journalist Mike Sington shared on Twitter.

“It was a national tragedy, it’s going to cost $2 billion, it’s going to screw up a lot of people’s lives and impact goods travelling around the world,” Mr Reed said, according to Mr Sington’s post on X.

“At a minimum, express sympathy toward the poor six men that died that were doing their jobs on the midnight shift, keeping commerce flowing.”