US Capitol building in Washington DC.
LIVE – Updated at 13:59
Party believes Trump has lock on nomination and he wants to accuse Biden of being weak on immigration – meaning deal that linked aid to border security appears doomed.
Seeing Trump as presumptive nominee, Republicans reportedly turning against deal to help Ukraine and Israel
13:59
Good morning, US politics blog readers. The fallout from Donald Trump’s win in the New Hampshire primary has reached the US Capitol, where reports have emerged that the top Senate Republican is ready to walk away from a deal to send military assistance to Ukraine and Israel. The reason? Republicans now believe Trump has a lock on the party’s presidential nomination, and, on the campaign trail, the former president wants to be able to accuse Joe Biden of failing to stop a surge of migrants crossing the southern border. The agreement under discussion in Congress would have changed immigration policy to discourage migrants, while also unlocking GOP support for military assistance to Israel and Ukraine, a country whose cause the party’s far right has turned against.
It was a delicate bargain with global implications that senators had been hammering out for months, and it all now appears to be falling apart because of Trump. “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him,” top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said of the former president in a behind-closed-doors meeting with his colleagues, which Punchbowl News first reported. The deal isn’t quite dead yet, but if it indeed unravels, it’s unclear what it will mean for Ukraine’s beleaguered defense against Russia, or Joe Biden’s controversial effort to arm Israel.
Here’s what else is going on today:
Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House aide who was convicted of contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena from the January 6 committee, will be sentenced in federal court.
Biden is heading to Wisconsin, a state he really needs to win in November, to announce $5bn in transportation investments from the 2021 infrastructure overhaul he championed.
Trump may or may not testify today, when the trial of author E Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit resumes against him in New York City.
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