‘I was testing people’: Trump chides Nato allies on Iran war response ahead of summit – US politics live

Maine’s Democratic party leadership has called for US Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race, as the scandal-hit Marine veteran loses support from his previously most vocal backers.

It comes as Politico reported that Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident who previously dated Platner – whose insurgent rise has drawn comparisons to president Donald Trump – accused him of forcing her to have sex in late 2021.

Platner rejected the allegation and, in a video message posted to X after the report was published, called the allegations “troubling, serious and false.”

However, many top Democratic figures have called on the beleaguered nominee to step down. In a joint statement, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Kirsten Gillibrand said Platner should “immediately withdraw”.

Ro Khanna, the California representative who has been one of Platner’s most vocal supporters, also said he should drop out. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” he wrote on X. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator who endorsed Platner in March, said in a statement “there can be no tolerance for sexual assault”. She said: “With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.”

The allegation lands at a perilous moment for Democrats, who view Maine as a central battleground in their effort to regain control of the Senate in November’s midterm elections.

Trump’s latest attempt to delay payment of a $5.8m judgment for defaming a magazine columnist whom a jury determined he sexually abused has been emphatically rejected by a federal court judge. More here.

Trump rang the bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from the White House to mark the first trading day for Trump accounts, a government initiative that provides children with a $1,000 investment account. It is the first joint opening of the exchanges, and the first time the bell had been rung at the White House. More here.

National guard soldiers on patrol in Memphis shot and killed a man that authorities in the Tennessee city said turned and pulled a gun on the troops during a chase. The shooting took place at about 4am on Sunday as the soldiers responded to a report of gunfire. The Tennessee national guard was deployed controversially by the state’s governor