The Irishman had said Trump was ‘quite possibly’ the greatest US president.
Donald Trump congratulated Conor McGregor on his winning UFC return after the fighter described him as a “phenomenal president”.
McGregor, fresh from a comeback win over veteran American Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas, had earlier responded in detail to a tweet from the US president regarding Martin Luther King Jr Day.
“Phenomenal President,” McGregor tweeted, before adding he was “quite possibly” the USA’s greatest ever.
He went on: “Most certainly one of them anyway, as he sits atop the shoulders of many amazing giants that came before him. No easy feet. Early stages of term also. Incredible.
“Congrats and Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day America”.
Trump had been tweeting about the USA’s unemployment numbers when McGregor sent his message and he responded: “Congratulations on your big @UFC WIN!”
The former two-weight UFC champion had been out of action since losing to bitter rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018, while his win was his first inside the octagon in more than three years.
NEW YORK (AP) — The final jurors were seated Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, and an appellate judge rejected the former president’s latest bid to halt the case as a hectic day in court set the stage for opening statements to begin Monday.
The panel of New Yorkers who will decide the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president took final shape after lawyers spent days quizzing dozens of potential jurors on whether they can impartially judge Trump in the city where he built his real estate empire before being elected in 2016.
The trial thrusts Trump's legal problems into the heart of his hotly contested race against President Joe Biden, with Trump's opponent likely to seize on unflattering and salacious testimony to make the case that the presumptive Republican nominee is unfit to return as commander in chief.
Trump, meanwhile, is using the prosecution as a political rallying cry, casting himself as a victim while juggling his dual role as criminal defendant and presidential candidate.
Judge Juan Merchan said lawyers will present opening statements Monday morning before prosecutors begin laying out their case alleging a scheme to cover up negative stories Trump feared would hurt his 2016 campaign. He has pleaded not guilty and says the stories were false.
Despite the failure of repeated previous attempts to delay the trial, a Trump attorney was in an appeals court hours after the jury was seated, arguing that Merchan rushed through jury selection and that Trump cannot get a fair trial in Manhattan.
“To think an impartial jury could be found in that period of time, I would respectfully submit, is untenable,” attorney Clifford Robert said.
Justice Marsha Michael denied the request just minutes after a brief hearing.
Back in the trial court, Merchan expressed frustration as Trump's lawyers pressed to revisit a litany of pretrial rulings.
“At some point, you need to accept the court's rulings,” Merchan said. "There’s nothing else to clarify. There’s nothing else to reargue. We’re going to have opening statements on Monday morning. This trial is starting.”
Just after the jury was seated, emergency crews responded to a park outside the courthouse, where a man had set himself on fire. The man took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories and spread them around the park before dousing himself in a flammable substance and setting himself aflame, officials said. He was in critical condition Friday afternoon.
Trump has spent the week sitting quietly in the courtroom as lawyers pressed potential jurors on their views about him in a search for any bias that would preclude them from hearing the case. During breaks in the proceedings, he has railed against the case on social media or to TV cameras in the hallway, calling it a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
"This Trial is a Long, Rigged, Endurance Contest, dealing with Nasty, Crooked People, who want to DESTROY OUR COUNTRY,” he wrote Friday on social media.
Over five days of jury selection, dozens of people were dismissed from the jury pool after saying they didn't believe they could be fair. Others expressed anxiety about having to decide such a consequential case with outsized media attention, even though the judge has ruled that jurors' names will be known only to prosecutors, Trump and their legal teams.
One woman who had been chosen to serve on the jury was dismissed Thursday after she raised concerns over messages she said she got from friends and family when aspects of her identity became public. On Friday, another woman broke down in tears while being questioned by a prosecutor about her ability to decide the case based only on evidence presented in court.
“I feel so nervous and anxious right now,” the woman said. “I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t want someone who feels like this to judge my case either. I don’t want to waste the court’s time.”
As more potential jurors were questioned Friday, Trump appeared to lean over at the defense table, scribbling on some papers and exchanging notes with one of his lawyers. He occasionally perked up and gazed at the jury box, including when one would-be juror said he had volunteered in a “get out the vote” effort for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. That man was later excused.
Trump spoke to reporters before Friday's proceedings got underway, lambasting a gag order that prosecutors have accused him of violating. Merchan has scheduled arguments for next week on prosecutors' request to hold Trump in contempt of court and fine him for social media posts they say defy limits on what he can say about potential witnesses.
“The gag order has to come off. People are allowed to speak about me, and I have a gag order,” Trump said.
Merchan also heard arguments Friday on prosecutors' request to bring up Trump’s prior legal entanglements if he takes the witness stand in the hush money case. Trump has said he wants to testify, but he is not required to and can always change his mind.
Manhattan prosecutors have said they want to question Trump about, among other cases, his recent civil fraud trial that resulted in a $454 million judgment after a judge found Trump had lied about his wealth for years. He is appealing that verdict. Merchan said he would rule on the matter in the coming days.
The trial centers on a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.
Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.
Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.
Trump is involved in four criminal cases, but it’s not clear that any others will reach trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents.
Follow the AP’s coverage of former President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.
Former President Donald Trump's attorneys Emil Bove and Susan Necheles enter Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
Judge Juan Merchan presides as prosecutor Susan Hoffinger stands at the podium as former U.S. President Donald Trump sits beside his lawyer Emil Bove during jury selection of his criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, Friday, April 19, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. (Jane Rosenberg via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump gestures as he returns to the courtroom following a break in his trial, Friday, April 19, 2024, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)
New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan listens as Emil Bove, a member of former President Donald Trump's legal team, argues for his client during Sandoval's hearing, amid his criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. (Jane Rosenberg via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump sits as final jurors are sworn in during his criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. (Jane Rosenberg via AP, Pool)
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump speaks to the media with his lawyer Todd Blanche, right, after session at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump gestures as he returns to the courtroom following a lunch break in his trial, Friday, April 19, 2024, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024.. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024.( Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024.( Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks with the media while holding news clippings following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former president Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York. Jury selection in the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump is set to resume after a frenetic day that eventually saw all 12 jurors sworn in along with one alternate juror. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former president Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York. Jury selection in the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump is set to resume after a frenetic day that eventually saw all 12 jurors sworn in along with one alternate juror. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York.Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
Former President Donald Trump returns from a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP)
