Trump criticises prosecutors during first election rally

Donald Trump has used his first election rally to cast the 2024 presidential vote to criticise his leading Republican rival Ron DeSantis and rail against prosecutors pursuing him with criminal investigations.

Speaking to several thousand supporters in Waco, Texas, Mr Trump spent much of his nearly two-hour speech attacking the various investigations that have put him in legal peril.

Without offering evidence, the leading candidate for the Republican Party nomination accused the administration of President Joe Biden of orchestrating a criminal prosecution to undermine his bid to return to the White House.

“The Biden regime’s weaponisation of law enforcement against their political opponents is something straight out of the Stalinist Russia horror show,” Mr Trump said. “From the beginning it’s been one witch hunt and phoney investigation after another.”

Mr Trump is being investigated by prosecutors in Manhattan for campaign finance breaches stemming from his alleged payment of hush money to an adult film actress before the 2016 election.

A special counsel appointed by the Department of Justice is investigating allegations that he hoarded top-secret documents and led a plot seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

A parallel effort by prosecutors in Georgia is also examining Mr Trump’s actions during the 2020 election.

Mr Trump held his rally in Waco as the city marked the 30th anniversary of a raid by federal agents on the Branch Davidians religious sect that resulted in 86 deaths, including four members of law enforcement.

Many right-wing extremists have claimed the raid was a seminal moment of government overreach.

Critics have said the timing of the political rally was a nod to Mr Trump’s far-right supporters.