Trump finally breaks silence on Navalny’s death – to claim himself a victim of America’s ‘path to destruction’

Donald Trump has finally commented on the death of Russian opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny – to draw a self-serving and unlikely comparison with his own legal plight.

Rather than blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for the highly suspicious death of Navalny in an Arctic prison camp on Friday, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination wrote on Truth Social: “The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country.

“It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction.

“Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions are DESTROYING AMERICA. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024.”

The former American president is vying for a return to the White House with four criminal indictments and 91 felony charges hanging over his head.

On the same day as Navalny’s death, he was also ordered by a judge in New York to pay more than $350m in damages in a civil fraud trial.

Mr Trump has denied wrongdoing on every count and has persistently and angrily insisted on social media and at his rallies that the cases against him are part of a giant conspiracy being orchestrated by President Joe Biden and his many enemies to stop him securing a belated second term in the Oval Office come November.

The candidate has failed to produce any evidence to substantiate his baseless claims of endemic corruption, but that has not stopped him using his court dates as opportunities for grandstanding, self-promotion and lucrative campaign fundraising.

Mr Trump appears to have succeeded, so far, in convincing his army of loyal supporters that he is genuinely being