US election campaign live: Record GDP growth number boosts Donald Trump in closing days

President Trump went to town on one of his administration's former officials today, as he and First Lady Melania Trump made a joint appearance.

Welcome to our live coverage of the US presidential election campaign.

The election is just five days away now, and more than 79 million Americans have already voted.

President Donald Trump has received a late boost in the form of some record economic numbers.

According to the Commerce Department, America's gross domestic product grew by 7.4 per cent in the third quarter, by the far the biggest number since reliable records started to be taken in the aftermath of World War II.

It's not all good news. The economy remains 3.5 per cent smaller than it was at the end of last year, before the pandemic wrecked it. But after a 9 per cent fall in GDP in the second quarter, today's figures represent a welcome sign that businesses are rebounding.

Mr Trump hailed it as the "biggest and best" result in US history, and promised Americans next year would be "fantastic".

"So glad this great GDP number came out before November 3," he said, adding that Joe Biden would "kill it all" with tax increases.

The two candidates were both heading to the crucial swing state Florida today.

"Right here in Florida, it's up to you. You hold the key. If Florida goes blue, it's over. It's over," Mr Biden told Floridians.

The President spent a chunk of his rally in Tampa going after Miles Taylor, the former administration official who yesterday outed himself as Anonymous.

"This is a disgrace to our country. It shouldn't have happened. And he should be prosecuted. Are you listening to me back in Washington? He should be prosecuted, along with The New York Times, because it was a story made up, it was fake news," Mr Trump said.

The Times' offence here is to have published an opinion piece by Mr Taylor in 2018, granting him anonymity and describing him (dubiously) as a senior Trump administration official.

"Bad things are going to happen to him," Mr Trump said of Mr Taylor.

"Think of what he does to our government. It's like a horrible, treasonous, horrible thing that you can do this and you can get away with it."

Read on for all the latest news from the campaign.