Trump praises NY police amid contrasting scene at Biden's fancy fundraiser

Joe Biden and Donald Trump have been on the campaign trail in New York as the Democratic president prepared to host a star-studded fundraiser and his Republican predecessor and 2024 rival paid tribute to a fallen police officer.

Trump made a short statement on Thursday after attending the wake of police officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed on Monday during a traffic stop.

"The police are the greatest people we have. There's nothing, and there's nobody like them. And this should never happen," Trump said.

"We have to get back to law and order. We have to do a lot of things differently. This is not working. This is happening too often," said the 77-year-old billionaire, who refrained from criticising his 81-year-old rival directly.

Trump's entourage contrasted his solemn trip with a lavish fundraiser Biden will headline later alongside former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, which organisers say has reaped an eye-watering $25 million.

"President Trump will be honouring the legacy of Officer Diller and paying respects to his family, friends, and the NYPD," said the Republican's spokesperson, Steven Cheung.

"Meanwhile, the Three Stooges — Biden, Obama, and Clinton — will be at a glitzy fundraiser in the city with their elitist, out-of-touch celebrity benefactors."

The White House said Biden had called New York Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday to offer his condolences over Diller's killing.

The Democrat has not been in contact with the officer's family but "grieves" with them, his spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said, adding that the president "has stood with law enforcement his entire career and continues to stand with them."

One of a kind event

Biden's fundraiser will feature a debate between the three Democratic leaders, hosted by late-night TV comic Stephen Colbert.

Singers Lizzo and Queen Latifah, among others, will perform at the event, to be held at Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan in front of 5,000 people.

Pro-Palestine protesters meanwhile rallied outside the hall and called for a ceasefire in besieged Gaza as Israel continues its brutal war on the blockaded enclave, with Biden's support.

The star-studded fundraiser is the first event of its kind to feature the three Democratic presidents.

According to NBC News, guests can pay $100,000 for a photo with the trio.

"The numbers don't lie: today's event is a massive show of force and a true reflection of the momentum to reelect the Biden-Harris ticket," Jeffrey Katzenberg, the campaign's chief fundraiser, said in a statement, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris.

He contends that Biden will raise more money in one evening than Trump did in the entire month of February.

Biden has better-stocked campaign coffers than his Republican opponent, who is using some of the funds raised from his supporters for legal expenses in the multiple lawsuits he is facing.

Trump's trial for allegedly covering up 2016 hush money payments to an adult actress when he was running for his first term in office begins in New York on April 15.

He devotes much of his campaign rhetoric to attacking illegal immigration and criticising his Democratic rival for being lax on policing.

But the Republican, who faces 88 felony counts for a wide variety of alleged criminality, is also a harsh critic of law enforcement, regularly accusing the FBI of pursuing a politically motivated "witch hunt" against him.