Posted by Trump says he would testify at hush-money trial
Asked if he would testify in his defense at the hush-money trial, Donald Trump said yes.
“I would have no problem testifying. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said.
He was then asked if he was worried that a conviction would hurt his presidential campaign.
It could “make me more popular because the people know it’s a scam”, Trump replied. “It’s a Biden trial.”
The former president has inhabited the witness stand before, including in author E Jean Carroll’s second defamation trial earlier this year:
Key events
Joanna Walters
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington, meeting with national security adviser Jake Sullivan today and will meet with US defense secretary Lloyd Austin tomorrow.
My colleague Julian Borger wrote earlier that after the vote at the UN [this morning], the office of Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a planned visit to Washington by two of his ministers, intended to discuss a planned Israeli offensive on the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, which the US opposes. The White House said it was “very disappointed” by the decision. However, a previously arranged visit by the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, went ahead.
US national security spokesperson John Kirby said just now at the White House press briefing underway that Israel was still “a friend and ally” and that the US was still supplying Israel with aid and weapons.
But the US is adamant that Israel should not only agree to a ceasefire tied to a hostage deal but should not invade Rafah, the city closest to Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, which is packed with more than 1.5 million desperate Palestinians who fled the military operation that has decimated a lot of Gaza further north.
“We have the same concerns about a ground offensive in Rafah that we had yesterday and the day before,” Kirby said.
The Israeli military bombed parts of Rafah overnight.
Joanna Walters
National security spokesperson John Kirby just spoke to the press about the US abstaining on the vote at the UN security council in New York earlier today calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Our vote does not represent, repeat, does not represent, a shift in our policy,” he said.
Kirby added: “We wanted to get to a place where we could support this resolution.”
The US did not support it because it did not contain language condemning Hamas, he said.
He was just asked about Israel then cancelling the high-level diplomatic delegation visit to the White House tomorrow.
“We are kind of perplexed by this,” he said. He said it was a non-binding resolution at the UN so does not hamper “Israel’s ability to go after Hamas”.
He emphasized that the US has not changed its policy, no matter what the Israeli government is implying.
The White House press briefing is running later than originally scheduled today.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is due to be joined in the west wing briefing room by national security spokesperson John Kirby.
Jean-Pierre usually deals with most of the domestic issues while Kirby deals with foreign policy issues.
The situation in Russia after the probable-Islamic State attack last Friday night at a concert hall and the latest on Israel-Gaza will be prominent on the agenda.
The US abstained on a UN security council vote on an immediate ceasefire and hostage release earlier today, following which Israel cancelled its diplomatic government visit to Washington to discuss Rafah.
The briefing is getting underway now.
The day so far
Donald Trump will go to trial on 15 April in New York City on charges related to making hush-money payments, after a judge rejected his attorney’s arguments that prosecutors had committed misconduct and the trial should be delayed, or canceled outright. The decision raises the possibility that the former president could be convicted or exonerated of one the four sets of criminal charges he faces before the November presidential election – which could upend the campaign. However, things could still change. Trump says he’ll appeal the ruling, and scored a win at an appeals court in a separate matter earlier today, when his attorneys managed to get the bond he must produce in his civil fraud judgment reduced, and his payment date delayed.
Here’s what else is going on:
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Before the appeals court ruling, Trump came close to blowing his deadline to produce at $454m bond, which he said he was struggling to find backers for.
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The UN security council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after the United States abstained.
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Trump gave himself an award at his own golf club, drawing mockery from Joe Biden.
Trump says he would testify at hush-money trial
Asked if he would testify in his defense at the hush-money trial, Donald Trump said yes.
“I would have no problem testifying. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said.
He was then asked if he was worried that a conviction would hurt his presidential campaign.
It could “make me more popular because the people know it’s a scam”, Trump replied. “It’s a Biden trial.”
The former president has inhabited the witness stand before, including in author E Jean Carroll’s second defamation trial earlier this year:
Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s attorney, then took over to more concisely outline his objections with the former president going to trial on 15 April.
“We very much believe that starting this trial in April, or even starting this trial at any point before the election, is completely unfair to President Trump. It’s completely unfair to the American people who are evaluating who they want to be the next president,” Blanche said.
He referred to 15 April as “not a day we should go to trial, and we’re going to continue to fight”.
Donald Trump has kicked off his press conference with familiar allegations that the criminal prosecutions against him amount to “election interference”.
“They’re dying to get this thing started. The judge cannot go faster. He wants to get it started so badly,” Trump said, after New York judge Juan Merchan ruled not long ago that his hush-money trial could begin on 15 April.
Trump then appears to mix his words, and implies that elections should not be held because of all his legal troubles.
“It’s illegal, what they’re doing. It’s criminal what they’re doing, and it’s never been done before in this country. You can’t have an election in the middle of a political season,” Trump said. Perhaps he meant to say “trial”.
Trump to hold press conference after New York judge allows hush-money case to proceed
Donald Trump says he will hold a press conference at 1pm, following New York judge Juan Merchan’s ruling allowing his trial on charges related to making hush-money payments to begin on 15 April.
Trump says he will appeal judge’s ruling beginning hush-money trial on 15 April
Victoria Bekiempis
As he departed the Manhattan courthouse where Judge Juan Merchan ruled that his trial on charges related to making hush-money payments can begin on 15 April, Donald Trump announced that he would appeal the decision.
The ruling setting 15 April as the start of Donald Trump’s trial on charges related to paying hush money raises the prospect that the former president will receive a verdict on one of his four criminal matters before the November election.
The other three cases – two of which concern his attempts to block Joe Biden’s election win in 2020, and the third regarding his possession of classified documents after leaving the White House – remain tied up in pre-trial motions and appeals. Here’s a rundown of all the cases’ status:
New York judge rules Trump hush money case can start on 15 April
Victoria Bekiempis
Judge Juan Merchan has ruled that Donald Trump’s trial on charges related to making hush-money payments will begin on 15 April.
The former president’s attorneys had alleged misconduct by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in sharing evidence, and asked for the charges to be dismissed, or the proceedings to be delayed at least 90 days.
“The district attorney of NY County is not at fault for the late production of documents from the US attorney’s office,” Merchan said.
He added that “defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time to prepare,” and “Jury selection in this matter will commence in 21 days, on April 15.”
Trump says he will ‘abide’ by ruling to put up reduced bond
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said he would put up the $175m bond required to satisfy the judgment in his New York civil fraud case, while attacking Arthur Engoron, the judge who presided over the trial, and the state attorney general Letitia James.
“We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash. This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron’s original decision was at $450 Million,” Trump wrote.
He also let fly at Engoron, saying, “His credibility, and that of Letitia James, has been shattered.”
New York attorney general’s office says Trump ‘still facing accountability’ despite reduced bond
In a statement, a spokesperson for New York attorney general Letitia James said Donald Trump is still liable for paying the full amount of his judgment, even though an appeals court reduced how much he must put up as a bond:
Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud. The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization. The $464 million judgment – plus interest – against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.
The former president is responsible for $454m of the total judgment in the case, with the rest to be paid by his co-defendants.
Donald Trump has narrowly avoided defaulting on his obligation to put up a bond after being found liable for civil fraud in New York. But even if he had blown his deadline, the Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports that it may have taken a long time for New York authorities to seize his assets to satisfy the judgment:
The face-off between Donald Trump and Letitia James, the New York attorney general, could reach a denouement as soon as Tuesday when James assumes the legal right to begin seizing the former US president’s assets in lieu of a $454m fine Trump says he can’t meet.
But anyone expecting Anthony Miranda, sheriff of the city of New York, to show up at Trump’s premiere property and home on 5th Avenue to cart off the faux-Louis XIV furniture, the golden cherubs, crystal chandeliers or chisel the 24-karat gold from the architraves and cornices, may be disappointed.
Collecting a financial judgment is a slow and arduous process, according to New York real estate attorneys, especially when the assets that could be seized to satisfy that judgement are properties withheld in a complex web of ownership and titles, subject to mortgages and co-ownership claims.
The same problem that Trump says he faces raising a bond against his properties is the same problem that James could find in liquefying his assets to satisfy the punishment brought in after she won a fraud trial against Trump’s real estate empire.
“Bonds people do not like to use property as collateral because it’s hard to liquify the asset if there’s a default,” said Adam Leitman Bailey, a real estate attorney, “and for the attorney general this isn’t so easy either. It’s going to be very difficult to seize his properties. It takes a lot of work.”
Appeals court reduces Trump bond to $175m, extends deadline
A state appeals court has reduced the bond Donald Trump must put up in response to his civil fraud judgment in New York to $175m, and given him 10 more days to get the money together, Reuters reports.
Previously, the former president had until today to produce a $454m bond in response to a judge’s finding that he fraudulently manipulated the value of his assets, an amount Trump said he was not able to secure.
Due to an error by Reuters, this post was corrected to note the decision was made by a New York appeals court, not a federal court.