Trump declines to call for Max Miller’s resignation amid abuse allegations
Trump stopped short of calling on Rep Max Miller to resign Monday, saying he would “let the families figure that out”.
Asked whether the Ohio Republican should step down following allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, Trump said he has always known Miller as “a good person” and called the situation “a very sad thing.”
The abuse allegations, which include physical abuse of Moreno and their two-year-old daughter, alleging in police reports that he threw her against a wall, previously held a gun to her head, and threw hot water on her. Miller denies all the claims and is suing his ex-wife for defamation.
The accusations have drawn calls for resignation from Emily Moreno’s father, Republican senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, as well as several Democratic lawmakers, amid a bitter custody dispute over the couple’s young daughter.
Trump said the matter comes down to “accusations” that the families involved should resolve themselves.
Updated at 14.49 EDT
Key events
On Sunday, Max Miller’s ex father-in-law and Ohio senator Bernie Moreno issued a public statement against Miller, calling for his resignation.
In his statement, Moreno said that the “last two years have been pure hell for my wife Bridget, our daughter Emily, me, and our entire family in the aftermath of Emily’s divorce.”
Addressing reports of the abuse allegations as well as the public scrunity, Moreno said: “It has been horrific to watch this play out in full public view, all while knowing an innocent two-year-old girl is caught in the middle… Out of concern for the safety of my family, I hoped to keep this matter private but Max Miller’s increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior has made that impossible.”
He went on to join calls of resignation against Miller, saying: “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them. He should not serve in the House of Representatives. I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.”
Trump’s refusal to call for Max Miller’s resignation comes amid heightened scrutiny into the Ohio representative’s abuse allegations.
The Republican congressman, 37, who represents Ohio’s seventh congressional district, has denied accusations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and former girlfriend Stephanie Grisham, as he campaigns for re-election. On Sunday, Miller doubled down on his denial, saying: “I’m not getting out of this race, and I’m winning in November.”
Moreno, a conservative policy adviser, shares a two-year-old daughter with Miller. The pair have been engaged in a legal battle over custody of their child since 2024.
In one alleged incident, Miller “took hot water from a pan he had just cooked eggs in and threw it at me”, Moreno testified earlier this year amid a defamation lawsuit Miller filed against her. Moreno has also accused Miller of holding a gun to her head, the New York Times reported. The pair married in 2022.
Separately, Miller’s former girlfriend Grisham, who served as White House press secretary during Donald Trump’s first administration, has also accused him of abuse, an allegation he has denied. Grisham and Miller dated from 2019 to 2020.
In a 2021 Washington Post op-ed, Grisham – without naming Miller – wrote about a relationship that “turned abusive”, and of a former partner who was “physical” with her. Although she did not identify Miller in the article, he said it was widely understood that the op-ed referred to him. She later confirmed she was talking about Miller, according to the Times.
ShareTrump attacks Jeanine Pirro over dropped Reflecting Pool vandalism case
In the most contentious part of the press conference, Trump lashed out at US Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dropping charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was accused of vandalizing the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella, and people get away with things. It’s a disgrace,” Trump said.
Pirro’s office had determined the damage stemmed from a “botched installation” rather than vandalism. Trump also blamed the judge overseeing the case for being “extremely unfriendly” to Pirro.
When a reporter asked if she was on the chopping block, Trump said: “you’re fake news. Don’t ever talk again.”
Updated at 14.53 EDT
‘Leakers should be put in jail,’ Trump says
Trump said leaks detailing the severity of a planned US attack on Iran ended up helping the Iranian government.
“Leakers should be put in jail,” Trump said, adding officials should “strengthen up the laws” against them. “Leakers helped [Iran] because they said the severity of the attack, and Iran knew it.”
Trump claimed the strike “was going to come last night” and would have continued “for a long time”, warning there would have been “essentially very little left” of Iran’s capabilities, adding, “there’d be nothing left.”
Updated at 14.39 EDT
Asked how soon Haitians who lose temporary protected status should face deportation, Trump pointed to the supreme court’s June ruling allowing the administration to end TPS for Haitians and Syrians, calling it “a big victory in court”. He said he largely defers to his team on timing, but acknowledged many TPS holders have lived in the US “12 years, 14 years” after fleeing disasters like hurricanes, adding, “something’s got to be done.”
A date to remember: TPS work permits for Ethiopia and South Sudan are set to expire on 6 August, one of the next deadlines in the wider rollback following the supreme court’s ruling.
Updated at 14.40 EDT
Trump says he spoke about drilling for oil to UK prime minister Andy Burnham, who ‘sounded terrific on this subject’
Trump used the same exchange to press the UK to expand North Sea drilling, telling reporters, “You’re sitting on top of gold, better than gold, and you don’t do anything with it.” He said the UK “could give away free energy” if it reopened the fields, calling them “good for another 500 years, maybe more, probably 1,000 years.”
Trump said he had personally spoken with prime minister Andy Burnham (whom he didn’t actually name, aside from “your new prime minister”) about the issue, telling reporters “I spoke to him, and he sounded terrific on this subject,” and that the leader “sort of indicated to me” support for opening up drilling.
Trump argued Britain faces a stark choice, “you can be a wealthy country or a bankrupt country.” He also blamed past governments for scaling back Aberdeen’s oil industry, saying “then one day the liberals got in and they closed it,” which he linked to the UK’s reliance on Norwegian gas imports and prices that have “quadrupled”.
North Sea production has actually been running continuously since the 1970s and has never been shut down, though output has fallen well past its 1990s peak.
Updated at 14.29 EDT
Trump says Europe ‘has to stop’ illegal immigration when asked about Nigel Farage’s Royal Navy proposal
Asked whether European nations writ large should use their militaries to stop migrant crossings over waterways, following Nigel Farage’s proposal to deploy the Royal Navy against migrant boats, Trump said bluntly: “You have to stop illegal immigration in Europe.” He added, “I know Europe better than anybody, better than the people that run it, and have great relationships.”
Trump went on to argue that immigration and energy are the two forces “killing” the continent, saying: “Your two things are killing Europe. Number one is immigration. Number two is energy.”
Updated at 14.24 EDT
Trump declines to call for Max Miller’s resignation amid abuse allegations
Trump stopped short of calling on Rep Max Miller to resign Monday, saying he would “let the families figure that out”.
Asked whether the Ohio Republican should step down following allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, Trump said he has always known Miller as “a good person” and called the situation “a very sad thing.”
The abuse allegations, which include physical abuse of Moreno and their two-year-old daughter, alleging in police reports that he threw her against a wall, previously held a gun to her head, and threw hot water on her. Miller denies all the claims and is suing his ex-wife for defamation.
The accusations have drawn calls for resignation from Emily Moreno’s father, Republican senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, as well as several Democratic lawmakers, amid a bitter custody dispute over the couple’s young daughter.
Trump said the matter comes down to “accusations” that the families involved should resolve themselves.
Updated at 14.49 EDT
On immigration, Trump said “we had an open border a year and a half ago. We had the worst border in the history of our country. Now we have the best border.”
He also went so far as to say “not one person has come in through our southern border illegally,” saying he’s seen charts about it. “Now that’s pretty amazing,” he quipped.
Trump said Monday that talks with Iran are “going on right now,” despite earlier denials from Tehran (and US officials, according to CBS) that any negotiations were taking place.
Trump said the US had been “set to go” on a strike “harder than any attack” since World War Two, but held off after Iran, along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, requested talks. “This is a last chance,” Trump said, adding the negotiations center on “the denuclearization of Iran,” a goal he argued previous administrations failed to pursue for “50 years”.
Updated at 14.04 EDT
Trump riffed that “as you know, we had a conflict with Venezuela, worked out very well, and we have a conflict with Iran, and that’s working out very well, very, very well.”
After some testimony by committee members, along with secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump signed the executive order to applause.
Updated at 14.02 EDT
Before Trump signed an executive order on Monday establishing what he called “the first ever presidential military spouse commission”, he said support for military families was something “we’ve been working on for a long time”.
The commission will be chaired by Jennifer Hegseth, wife of Pentagon secretary Pete Hegseth, with Desiree Thompson Sayle as executive director and Christy Mullin, wife of homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin, among its members.
Trump said the panel would “provide recommendations for improving the quality of life for military spouses”, covering “housing, employment, healthcare, education, child care, and just about everything else”. He argued military strength depended on families, saying “we cannot have the strongest military in the world without the love and devotion of our remarkable military spouses.”
Updated at 14.03 EDT