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Donald Trump’s First Criminal Trial Begins in New York on Monday

Former US President Donald Trump (AFP)
Former US President Donald Trump (AFP)
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Donald Trump’s First Criminal Trial Begins in New York on Monday

Former US President Donald Trump (AFP)
Former US President Donald Trump (AFP)

Former US President Donald Trump will make history as the first former president to stand trial on Monday in the first of four criminal cases he is facing.
But the presumptive Republican nominee for president will not be the only person standing in trial, which will last up to two months.
A star witness in the case is Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who said there will be 'a few surprises' in his ex boss’ hush-money trial on Monday.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up payments made during his first White House run in 2016 to the adult film star Stormy Daniels in return for her silence about an alleged affair.
A third star in the case is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who refuses to deliver any statements outside the court sessions.
Tight Security Measures
The trial isn't expected to be televised, per New York law. But an unprecedented security operation will descend around the courthouse in Lower Manhattan amid possible rallies, either backing or opposing Trump.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) will create no-go zones from the courthouse to Trump Tower, where the former president will stay during the trial.
The Police increased security cameras and monitored social media to try to detect any threats, according to CNN.
Also, tight security measures will be imposed around Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the former US president's criminal trial.
According to the court schedule, Trump likely will have to be in court for at least four days a week.
At a press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson, at his Florida resort home Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he would testify under oath in his criminal hush money trial.
But Trump won't have to be in court on Wednesdays, so he will likely use those days and weekends for campaign events.
Trump's team also will continue to treat every moment the former President is outside the courtroom as a campaign event.
Trump Rallying Supporters
Only three days away from the beginning of his hush money trial in New York City, Donald Trump posted, “72 hours until all hell breaks loose. If we fail to have a MASSIVE outpouring of peaceful patriotic support – right here, right now – all Hell will break loose.”
Hundreds of prospective jurors are expected to show up at the Manhattan courthouse on Monday, when prosecutors and Trump's attorneys will begin a jury-selection process that could last up to two weeks.
Trump faces 34 felony counts in the case brought by Bragg, who accused the former president of intentionally obscuring business records to cover up a $130,000 payment that Cohen, Trump's lawyer and fixer, made to Stormy Daniels in the months before Trump was elected president in 2016.
Cohen has said he made the payment at Trump's instruction.
Hope Hicks, a former Trump White House aide, also is expected to testify and provide key details on what was happening in the former president's inner circle in the days before the 2016 election.
Political Hunt
The case is viewed as the weakest of Trump's four criminal indictments, but it's looking like the only one likely to wrap up before the Nov. 5 election.
A conviction in New York still could put Trump behind bars — theoretically, anyway.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly has called the case a political witch hunt.
Most voters think the charges in the hush-money case are serious, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.
Several polls have indicated that if Trump is convicted, he'll lose support among some voters in what's expected to be a tight race for the White House.
Meanwhile, Trump and President Joe Biden remain locked in a close race for the presidency, according to a new poll from the New York Times and Siena College, which finds registered voters nationwide splitting 46% for Trump to 45% for Biden with no clear leader in the contest.

 

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Canada’s Liberals Win Minority Government; Carney Says Old Relationship with US ‘Is Over’ 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Canada’s Liberals Win Minority Government; Carney Says Old Relationship with US ‘Is Over’ 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals retained power in the country's election on Monday, but fell short of the majority government he had wanted to help him negotiate tariffs with US President Donald Trump.

The Liberals were leading or elected in 167 electoral districts, known as seats, followed by the Conservatives with 145, with votes still being counted.

The Liberals had needed to win 172 of the House of Commons' 343 seats for a majority that would allow them to govern without support from a smaller party.

"Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over," Carney said in a victory speech in Ottawa.

"The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that, while not perfect, has helped deliver prosperity for our country for decades, is over," he added. "These are tragedies, but it's also our new reality."

Carney said the coming months would be challenging and require sacrifices.

Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, a polling firm, told Reuters the Liberal win hinged on three factors.

"It was the 'anybody-but-Conservative' factor, it was the Trump tariff factor, and then it was the Trudeau departure ... which enabled a lot of left-of-center voters and traditional Liberal voters to come back to the party," Kurl said, referring to the resignation of unpopular former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Carney had promised a tough approach with Washington over its import tariffs and said Canada would need to spend billions to reduce its reliance on the US. But the right-of-center Conservatives, who called for change after more than nine years of Liberal rule, showed unexpected strength.

Minority governments in Canada rarely last longer than 2-1/2 years.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre conceded defeat to Carney's Liberals and said his party would hold the government to account.

The result capped a notable comeback for the Liberals, who had been 20 percentage points behind in the polls in January before Trudeau announced he was quitting and Trump started threatening tariffs and annexation.

"America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country," Carney said. "These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never ever happen."

WAVE OF PATRIOTISM

Trump's threats ignited a wave of patriotism that swelled support for Carney, a political newcomer who previously led two G7 central banks.

Trump re-emerged as a campaign factor last week, declaring that he might raise a 25% tariff on Canadian-made cars because the US does not want them. He said earlier he might use "economic force" to make Canada the 51st state.

Carney has emphasized that his experience handling economic issues makes him the best leader to deal with Trump, while Poilievre tapped into concerns about the cost of living, crime and a housing crisis.

Trump, in a social media post on Monday, reiterated his call for Canada to become the 51st state.

"Good luck to the Great people of Canada," he said. "Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st State of the United States of America. No more artificially drawn line from many years ago."

Tensions with the US have caused supporters of two smaller parties, the left-leaning New Democratic Party and the separatist Bloc Quebecois, to shift to the Liberals. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh conceded defeat in his own district and said he planned to quit as party leader.

The Conservatives appeared on track to make gains in the seat-rich Toronto area to prevent a Liberal majority government, but Poilievre was trailing in his own Ottawa-area district, with votes still being counted.

"We didn't quite get over the finish line yet," Poilievre told his supporters in Ottawa. "We know that change is needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time."

The Liberals are the last party to win four consecutive elections in Canada, accomplishing the feat in 2004.

Poilievre focused his campaign on domestic issues and the need to fix a country that he said the Liberals had "broken."