Trump news – live: President responds to accusations in John Bolton's new book as he dismisses rise in US coronavirus cases

Trump’s handling of coronavirus outbreak ‘almost criminal’, says Joe Biden

Here's the latest word from the president's Democratic challenger, upping his rhetoric on Covid-19 and the lives lost because of the US government's slow and dismissive initial response to the crisis.

Hellboy actor in spectacular row with Republicans Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan and Ted Cruz

Ron Perlman is one of Hollywood’s most outspoken and interesting character actors, best known for his turn as the demon put to work as a paranormal investigator by the CIA in two fantasy films for Guillermo del Toro.

He’s an equally fearless slayer of evil on Twitter, putting the sword to Florida congressman and overgrown frat boy Matt Gaetz in response to this tweet:

A heated, multiple-tweet row ensued, exacerbated by Texas senator Ted Cruz intervening, challenging Perlman to a charity wrestling bout with Ohio congressman Jim Jordan - a former university wrestling coach with a past.

This was the actor’s scorching response to Cruz, digging up a bitter dispute between the senator and the president he now apologises for when they were both rivals for the Republican nomination in 2016.

Face masks are symbol of freedom, says US surgeon general

Jerome Adams has told Americans that wearing a face mask should be thought of as a means to secure everyone’s freedom, in contrast to many on the right who view instructions to wear them as an attack on individual liberty.

This - taken with Larry Kudlow's comments yesterday - appears to betray concerns about the spread of coronavirus at Trump's rallies, despite the president still refusing to wear a mask himself in defiance of his own administration's guidelines.

Andrew Naughtie has this report.

Fox News falls for Monty Python joke in report criticising Seattle protesters

Danielle Zoellner has this on an embarrassing gaffe that crept into Martha MacCullum's show.

'Some day, you're going to regret this': CNN anchor hits back at Trump lawyer over 'fake news'

Griffin Connolly has this on a superb, heated exchange between Brian Stelter and Jenna Ellis yesterday, in which the man representing the media organisation most hated by the president pushed back in defence of traditional newsgathering against incessant White House attacks.

Trump begins week by insulting Joe Biden with vague accusations

The president starts his Monday by accusing Biden of being "a part of every failed decision for decades", citing "Bad Trade Deals, Endless Wars" without elaborating.

This from a man who has ratched up trade tensions with China despite not entirely understanding how tarrifs work, who has almost plunged the US into war with Iran twice in the last year and who has since presided over 117,000 Covid-19 deaths having not taken the pandemic seriously at the crucial moment.

From there, he brags about the number of ticket requests his Tulsa rally has attracted, his supporters apparently no more concerned about their own welfare than he is.

That is reportedly 2.5 times larger than the population of Tulsa, which would mean an awful lof of out-of-towners in contention for the 19,000 or so seats available.

Ivanka Trump tried to 'rename' the First Lady's Office but Melania was not having it

A new book on Melania Trump, The Art of Her Deal by Mary Jordan, is attempting to shine some light on the president's evasive wife, an individual never entirely comfortable in her role.

Here's Moya Lothian-Mclean on one particularly choice extract, exposing her tense relationship with the apple of Donald's eye, for Indy100.

Trump's 'turncoat niece' set to release daming insider account of family business

Jordan's book is by no means the only tell-all insider account hitting shelves soon.

Ex-national security adviser John Bolton's long-awaited memoir The Room Where It Happened is due soon, promising dirt on Trump's attempt to extort Ukraine into launching a spurious investigation into Joe Biden and his son and other possible foreign relations infractions, as is this intriguiging little number: Two Much and Never Enough by one Mary Trump.

The author is the president's 55-year-old "turncoat niece" - as The Sun describes her today - and her book, due out ahead of the Republican convention, sees her spilling the beans on family squabbles over the president's late father's will, Donald's tax returns and the death of his brother Fred.

It's being described as "harrowing and salacious".

Here's Chris Riotta with more.

Trump complains he's being 'Covid Shamed'

Well, that's a new one.

From there, he brags about US testing capabilities and says diagnosis is a "a double edged sword - Makes us look bad, but good to have!!!" 

US employers cannot fire people for being gay or transgender, Supreme Court rules

Here's Griffin Connolly with some positive news regarding anti-discrimination legislation, after the nation's top judges voted six-three in favour of blocking employers from being able to fire people on the basis of their sexual orientation.

In a landmark ruling, the judges found that the protections outlined in a 1964 civil rights law should also be applied to gay, lesbian and transgender people.