Trump news – live: Ex-president’s own national security adviser turns on him over Putin ‘genius’ comment

Bernie Sanders has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “an act of premeditated aggression” and called for a global response to defend the country from attack.

“This aggression is unacceptable and the nations of the world must respond vigorously to defend democracy and the rule of law,” Mr Sanders said in a video message on Thursday.

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Rick Perry, former energy secretary in Donald Trump’s administration, criticized Joe Biden for providing the Russian president “leverage” by “rubber-stamping” the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Europe.

Mr Perry said on Twitter: “Putin got an assist from incompetent world leaders who propped up Russia while risking their own energy security.”

He added: “By killing the KeystoneXL pipeline and rubber stamping NS2, the Administration increased Russia’s leverage over global energy markets, which got us here.”

In another tweet, he said: “It didn’t have to be this way. The United States can rescue Europe from a looming energy crisis by opening the Keystone XL pipeline and exporting US LNG to provide Europe with a reliable energy supply so they do not have to rely on Russia. ”

The last press secretary of the Trump White House was mocked after claiming that her former boss would have done a better job of standing up to Vladimir Putin and Russian aggression in Ukraine on Tuesday.

Kayleigh McEnanynow a co-host of the Fox News show Outnumbered, made the eyebrow-raising remarks on Tuesday’s broadcast while a discussion of Russia‘s decision to move troops into the Donbas was underway.

Representative Ilhan Omar warned against broad-based sanctions against Russia and said that they could in fact harm Russian citizens.

A day before, former president Donald Trump had called Vladimir Putin a “savvy” man and a genius for taking the decision to invade Ukraine.

Ms Omar said in a statement: “I support sanctions that are targeted at Putin, his oligarchs, and the Russian military, including and especially targeted at their offshore assets.”

But she said that: “I will continue to oppose broad-based sanctions that would amount to collective punishment of a Russian population that did not choose this.”

She added: “I am heartened that the Biden Administration has included humanitarian exemptions and general licenses to the first tranche of sanctions, but I am also aware that exemptions and licenses have never been sufficient to prevent indiscriminate human suffering.”

Texas senator Ted Cruz did not react well to being challenged on the timeline he was citing to assign blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to President Joe Biden.

Mr Cruz, who serves on the Senate’s foreign relations committee, spoke to The Independent on Thursday as he arrived to speak at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando.

Florida‘s Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed a pair of bills that opponents argue will chill classroom instruction on racism and injustice and stigmatise LGBT+ children and families by banning discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Alex Woodward has the story.

The former US president’s eldest son immediately earned condemnation for the tweet on Thursday, with many arguing it was both alarmist and transphobic.

He tweeted: “Maybe it’s time we start worrying about real s *** instead of our pronouns?”

President Joe Biden has insisted he never underestimated Vladimir Putin amid uncertainty over how his response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will affect his approval rating.

Mr Biden’s old remarks about Mr Putin were dredged up during a heated Q&A following his remarks on the invasion on Thursday – where he announced harsh new sanctions against the Russian leader and his allies.

The president was asked by Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy: “Did you underestimate Putin, and would you still describe him the way you did in the summer as a ‘worthy adversary?'”

The speech given by DeSantis was at times ridiculous, yet also clearly a pitch for a presidential run in 2024 – and he delivered it convincingly, writes Holly Baxter.

President Joe Biden acknowledged a wave of incoming turbulence for the US gas prices and potentially other areas of the economy on Thursday but vowed that his administration would do “everything” it could to minimize the effects felt by Americans.

He made the remarks during a short national address and subsequent q & a session with reporters at the White House, his first address of the type since Russian forces invaded Ukraine late on Wednesday night.