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☆ Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Charles Homans | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The man himself appeared at 10:14 p.m., strolling into the ballroom from somewhere in the private depths of the club. For a strange moment he stood there, alone and mostly unnoticed in the doorway, a ghost at his own party, before the music kicked in and he made his way to the stage. He began with some thank-yous and superlatives, some reminiscences about his presidency and denunciations of the one that followed. “We’re going to win this election, because we have no choice,” Donald J. Trump told us. “If we lose this election, we’re not going to have a country left.” He said it in a tone he might have used to complain about the rain that had doused Palm Beach that weekend.

Persons: “ We’re, ” Donald J, Trump, we’re, ”

☆ Biden Warms Up for a Media Roast on Saturday
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | More About Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden has been sharpening his jokes as of late, mostly to target his opponent, former President Donald J. Trump. On Saturday, he is expected to extend the roast to members of the press during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Mr. Biden will deliver his third attempt at a humorous speech for the gathered crowd and most likely continue his bit of roasting news outlets and his Republican rivals. During an interview on Friday with the Sirius XM radio host Howard Stern, Mr. Biden said he would emphasize the importance of a free press. But Mr. Biden, who has held fewer news conferences than his predecessors, also hinted that could come with some criticism.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, Howard Stern Organizations: White, ’ Association, Washington Hilton, Republican, Sirius XM

Donald J. Trump is a thrice-married man accused of covering up a sex scandal with a porn star after the world heard him brag about grabbing women by their genitals. But when Mr. Trump’s lawyers introduced him to a jury at his Manhattan criminal trial this week, they dwelt on a different dimension: “He’s a husband. And he’s a person, just like you and just like me.”That half-hour opening statement encapsulated the former president’s influence over his lawyers and their strategy. It reflected specific input from Mr. Trump, people with knowledge of the matter said, and it echoed his absolutist approach to his first criminal trial. And while defendants often offer feedback to their lawyers, this particular hands-on client could hamstring them.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, He’s Organizations: Manhattan

☆ A Match Made in MAGA: How a Friendship Helped J.D. Vance Land on Trump’s V.P. List
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Sharon Lafraniere | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He had publicly called Mr. Trump “loathsome” and an “idiot.” Once, he described him as “cultural heroin.”Then came an unexpected lifeline. “Enough with the lies being told about this guy,” Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, wrote on Twitter, assuring his followers that Mr. Vance had become a fan of his father. A month later, encouraged by his son, the elder Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Vance. Today, Mr. Vance is one of the former president’s most reliable allies and a leader of a band of Republicans pushing Senate Republicans to the right. And his star has only continued to rise: Mr. Vance is on the list of Mr. Trump’s possible running mates, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, J.D, Vance, ” Donald Trump Jr Organizations: Republican, Twitter, Republicans Locations: Ohio

☆ Who is Rhona Graff, Trump’s Former Assistant Who Is Testifying Against Him?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Matthew Haag | More About Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Now, Ms. Graff, his former personal assistant at the Trump Organization, has become the second person to testify against Mr. Trump in his criminal trial in Lower Manhattan. At Trump Tower, Ms. Graff served as Mr. Trump’s gatekeeper. The Queens native had an office right outside his door, placing her within earshot of Mr. Trump’s requests to get someone on the phone. And when someone wanted to reach Mr. Trump, they first had to go through Ms. Graff, often requiring a secret code to be put through. She acted as Mr. Trump’s media liaison, scheduler, sometimes spokeswoman, fund-raising planner, co-star on his realty show “The Apprentice” and as a Miss Teen USA judge.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Rhona Graff, Graff, ”, “, Ms, Lucius Joseph Riccio, David N, Dinkins Organizations: Trump Organization, Mr, Trump Tower, Queens, The New York Times, Miss Teen USA Locations: Lower Manhattan, The

☆ On Stand, Pecker Fires Back After Trump Lawyer Implies He Was Untruthful
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Matthew Haag | More About Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The lawyer for Donald J. Trump who on Friday led the cross-examination of David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer and first witness in the trial, used confrontational questioning to try to catch Mr. Pecker in contradictions. But that strategy, which led to a tense exchange in the Lower Manhattan courtroom, did not seem to pay off. Mr. Pecker repeatedly rejected characterizations and questions posed by the lawyer, Emil Bove, and resisted the suggestion that he had not been forthright in earlier testimony. For most of Friday, Mr. Bove had struck a polite tone with Mr. Pecker, spending most of the second day of cross-examination focusing on arcane questions about deals to suppress stories, including one with Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. But as Mr. Bove wrapped up his cross-examination, he asked Mr. Pecker about his obligations in cooperating with the prosecution in the hush-money trial.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, David Pecker, Pecker, Emil Bove, Bove, Karen McDougal Organizations: National Enquirer, Playboy Locations: Lower Manhattan

covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: The Times, Capitol

☆ Tabloid Publisher Defiant as Trump Lawyer Tries to Shake His Confidence
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Jesse Mckinley | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Lawyers for Donald J. Trump on Friday grilled the former publisher of The National Enquirer, casting doubt on his explanation for why he suppressed salacious stories about the Republican presidential candidate before the 2016 election. The witness, David Pecker, who has known Mr. Trump for decades, faced a stern cross-examination from one of the former president’s defense lawyers, Emil Bove, who pressed Mr. Pecker about two deals he had reached in 2015 and 2016 with people who were seeking to sell stories about Mr. Trump. Mr. Bove sought to convince the jury of two fundamental points about the stories, which Mr. Pecker bought and then buried: Such arrangements, characterized by prosecutors as “catch and kill,” were standard for the publisher, and that Mr. Pecker had previously misled jurors about the details of the transactions.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, David Pecker, Emil Bove, Pecker, Bove Organizations: National Enquirer, Republican

The criminal trial of Donald J. Trump on Friday will feature the continued cross-examination of the prosecution’s first witness, David Pecker, as defense lawyers try to discredit the idea that there had been a plot to protect Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. On Thursday, Mr. Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, described his own involvement in the suppression of the stories of two women who claimed to have had sex with Mr. Trump: Karen McDougal, a Playboy model, and Stormy Daniels, the porn star whose 2016 hush-money payoff is at the root of the prosecution’s case. Mr. Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying 34 business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to Ms. Daniels, who has said they had a sexual encounter in 2006 and was shopping that story in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Trump, the first American president to face criminal trial, has denied the accusations and the sexual encounter with Ms. Daniels.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, David Pecker, Trump’s, Pecker, Karen McDougal, Stormy Daniels, Daniels Organizations: National Enquirer

☆ How a Supreme Court Immunity Ruling Could Affect Trump’s Election Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Alan Feuer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If the Supreme Court’s hearing on Thursday about former President Donald J. Trump’s claims of executive immunity is any indication of how the court might ultimately rule, the justices could end up helping Mr. Trump in two ways. The justices signaled that their ruling, when it comes, could lead to some allegations being stripped from the federal indictment charging Mr. Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election. And because the process of determining which accusations to keep and which to throw away could take several months, it would all but kill the chance of Mr. Trump standing trial on charges that he tried to subvert the last election before voters get to decide whether to choose him again in this one. Near the end of the arguments, however, Justice Amy Coney Barrett abruptly floated a way that prosecutors could maneuver around that time-consuming morass. If the special counsel, Jack Smith, wanted to move more quickly, she said, and avoid the ordeal of lower courts reviewing his indictment line by line, deciding what should stay and what should go, he could always do the job himself.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, Jack Smith

☆ Perry, a Far-Right Incumbent, Faces Shifting Political Ground in Pennsylvania
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Robert Draper | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Like other Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus, Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the group’s former leader, carries a pungently far-right portfolio. He has been an unswerving loyalist of former President Donald J. Trump. He has voted against aid to Ukraine and against keeping the government open. Such stances are not especially controversial to Republican primary voters. But among archconservative House members, only Mr. Perry must sell those same views to voters in a politically competitive district this November.

Persons: Scott Perry, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Donald J, Trump, archconservative, Perry, Janelle Stelson Organizations: Caucus, Republican, Democratic, Congressional District Locations: Scott Perry of, Ukraine, Pennsylvania’s

☆ Election Updates: Biden appears for live interview with Howard Stern.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

President Biden will depart New York today and return to Washington, D.C., concluding a campaign trip promoting his economic policies. Mr. Trump stands accused of covering up a sex scandal surrounding the 2016 presidential campaign. “It was breathtaking,” Mr. Trump said in brief remarks to the press. “We have an Infrastructure Decade coming,” Mr. Biden said at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology, adding, in reference to Mr. Trump, “The last guy had Infrastructure Week and never showed up.”He continued: “American manufacturing is back. He also continued to compare campus protests against the war in Gaza with the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, David Pecker, Mr, ” Mr, Milton J, “, ”, supremacists Organizations: Washington , D.C, Republican, National Enquirer, Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology, Commerce Department, Nazi Locations: New York, Washington ,, Manhattan, Syracuse, American, Gaza, Charlottesville, Va, ” “ Charlottesville

☆ Noem defends book excerpt where she describes killing dog and goat
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Kit Maher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Kristi Noem defended actions described in her upcoming book in which she killed a dog and goat on her family farm. According to an excerpt, which was obtained by The Guardian, Noem killed her dog Cricket because the dog was “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.”“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, according to the Guardian. “It was not a pleasant job,” Noem writes, according to The Guardian, “but it had to be done. Noem describes the goat as “nasty and mean” and having a “disgusting, musky, rancid” smell. Amid the speculation over her potential as Trump’s vice president continues, Noem would not say whether she would have certified the 2020 election if she were in the same position as former Vice President Mike Pence.

Persons: Kristi Noem, Noem, ” “, ” Noem, “, preorder, Trump, CNN’s Dana Bash, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, ”, Donald J, CNN’s Shania Shelton Organizations: CNN, South Dakota Gov, The Guardian, Cricket, Guardian, Trump, Conservative Political, Conference, South, Republican Locations: New York, South Dakota

☆ Five Major Climate Policies Trump Would Probably Reverse if Elected
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Lisa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump has vowed to “cancel” President Biden’s policies for cutting pollution from fossil-fuel-burning power plants, “terminate” efforts to encourage electric vehicles, and “develop the liquid gold that is right under our feet” by promoting oil and gas. Those changes and others that Mr. Trump has promised, if he were to win the presidency again, represent a 180-degree shift from Mr. Biden’s climate agenda. When he was president, Mr. Trump reversed more than 100 environmental protections put in place by the Obama administration. Mr. Biden has in turn reversed much of Mr. Trump’s agenda. But climate advocates argue a second Trump term would be far more damaging than his first, because the window to keep rising global temperatures to relatively safe levels is rapidly closing.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “, Obama, Biden Organizations: Trump

☆ ‘Where’s Cricket?’ Don’t Ask. Kristi Noem Defends Killing Her Dog.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kristi Noem of South Dakota on Friday defended a story included in her forthcoming biography in which she describes killing a family dog on their farm, to her daughter’s distress — a grisly anecdote that instantly drew criticism from a number of political opponents. Ms. Noem, a Republican who is widely seen as a contender to be former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, shared details about shooting the 14-month-old dog, a female wirehaired pointer named Cricket, and an unnamed goat, according to excerpts first reported by The Guardian. An avid hunter, Ms. Noem wrote that she had hoped to train Cricket to hunt pheasant, but that she proved “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless” as a hunting dog. “I hated that dog,” Ms. Noem wrote, according to The Guardian. It was after Cricket ruined a hunting trip, killed another family’s chickens and bit the governor that Ms. Noem recalled deciding to kill the dog; she shot Cricket in a gravel pit.

Persons: Kristi Noem, Noem, Donald J, “, Ms Organizations: Republican, The Guardian, Cricket, Guardian Locations: South Dakota

☆ 5 Takeaways From the Second Week of Donald J. Trump’s Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Kate Christobek | Jesse Mckinley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The second week of Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial was dominated by four days of testimony by David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, who detailed his efforts to safeguard Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Pecker, a longtime associate of the former president, talked at length about a “catch and kill” scheme that he said he had entered into with Mr. Trump and his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, during a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower. The publisher said he would purchase the rights to unsavory stories he had no intention of running. Mr. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an effort to conceal the payment. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied that he had sex with Ms. Daniels.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, David Pecker, Trump’s, Pecker, Trump, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Daniels Organizations: National Enquirer, Mr, Trump Tower Locations: Donald Trump’s Manhattan

☆ Conservative Justices Take Argument Over Trump’s Immunity in Unexpected Direction
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before the Supreme Court heard arguments on Thursday on former President Donald J. Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution, his stance was widely seen as a brazen and cynical bid to delay his trial. The practical question in the case, it was thought, was not whether the court would rule against him but whether it would act quickly enough to allow the trial to go forward before the 2024 election. Instead, members of the court’s conservative majority treated Mr. Trump’s assertion that he could not face charges that he tried to subvert the 2020 election as a weighty and difficult question. They did so, said Pamela Karlan, a law professor at Stanford, by averting their eyes from Mr. Trump’s conduct. “What struck me most about the case was the relentless efforts by several of the justices on the conservative side not to focus on, consider or even acknowledge the facts of the actual case in front of them,” she said.

Persons: Donald J, Pamela Karlan, Trump’s, ”, “ I’m, Samuel A, Alito Jr Organizations: Stanford

☆ How Abrupt U-Turns Are Defining U.S. Environmental Regulations
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Coral Davenport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration’s move on Thursday to strictly limit pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major policy shift. But in many ways it’s one more hairpin turn in a zigzag approach to environmental regulation in the United States, a pattern that has grown more extreme as the political landscape has become more polarized. Now President Biden is trying once more to put an end to carbon emissions from coal plants. But Mr. Trump, who is running to replace Mr. Biden, has promised that he will again delete those plans if he wins in November. If Mr. Trump wins the presidency, he is likely to exit the accord.

Persons: Barack Obama, Donald J, Trump, Biden, Obama Organizations: Biden, Republican, United States, Mr, Democratic, White Locations: United States, Paris

☆ Biden Taunts Trump, Calling Him a ‘Loser,’ Trying to Get Under His Skin
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Katie Rogers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This week, one presidential candidate has called the other a loser, made fun of him for selling Bibles, and even poked fun at his hair. That kind of taunting is generally more within the purview of former President Donald J. Trump, whose insults are so voluminous and so often absurd that they have been cataloged by the hundreds. But lately, the barbs have been coming from President Biden, who once would only refer to Mr. Trump as “the former guy.”Gone are the days of calling Mr. Trump “my predecessor.”“We’ll never forget lying about Covid and telling the American people to inject bleach in their arms,” Mr. Biden said at a fund-raiser on Thursday evening, referring to Mr. Trump’s suggestion as president that Americans should try using disinfectant internally to combat the coronavirus. “He injected it in his hair,” Mr. Biden said. He is coming up with those lines himself: “This isn’t ‘S.N.L.,’” said James Singer, a spokesman and rapid response adviser for the Biden campaign, referring to “Saturday Night Live.” “We’re not writing jokes for him.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, ” “ We’ll, ” Mr, Mr, ’ ”, James Singer, “ We’re, ” Organizations: Mr

☆ Number of Trump Allies Facing Election Interference Charges Keeps Growing
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Danny Hakim | Richard Fausset | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fifty-three people who tried to keep former President Donald J. Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election have now been criminally charged. Mr. Trump’s own legal complications are also growing. On Wednesday, he was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in election interference investigations in both Arizona and Michigan. He has already been charged in Georgia while facing two federal prosecutions and a criminal trial in Manhattan related to hush money payments made to a porn star. What’s more, Mr. Trump’s top legal strategist, Boris Epshteyn, was indicted in Arizona on Wednesday.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Kris Mayes, Trump’s, Boris Epshteyn Organizations: Democratic Locations: Arizona, American, Michigan, Georgia, Manhattan

Mr. Pecker was also asked whether he believed Mr. Trump was concerned that his wife or family would find out about the affairs. director, and Reince Priebus, who was chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mr. Pecker reassured Mr. Trump that everything was fine. Mr. Trump then told the group that Mr. Pecker probably “knows more than anyone else in this room.”“It was a joke,” Mr. Pecker testified, adding, “They didn’t laugh.”Pecker did a lot for Trump, who could be hard to please. Mr. Pecker variously described Mr. Trump as becoming “very angry” and “very aggravated.”Still, Mr. Pecker said he felt no ill will. Mr. Pecker described a 2002 meeting in which Mr. Schwarzenegger asked Mr. Pecker not to run negative stories about him before his run for governor of California.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump, David Pecker, Pecker, Karen McDougal, Daniels, McDougal, Trump’s, Michael D, Cohen, Marion Curtis, “, Mr, McDougal —, —, ” Mr, ”, Ahmed Gaber, James Comey, Reince Priebus, ” Pecker, Emil Bove, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Schwarzenegger Organizations: National Enquirer, AMI, ., Associated, Prosecutors, Trump, White, The New York Times, Republican National Committee, Mr, Republican Locations: Trump’s, California

covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: The Times, Capitol

☆ How a Pirate-Clad Pastor Helped Ignite Trump Media’s Market Frenzy
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( David Yaffe-Bellany | Matthew Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

One afternoon last month, Chad Nedohin, a part-time pastor and die-hard supporter of Donald J. Trump, put on a pirate costume, set up his microphone and recited a prayer. Mr. Nedohin was opening his latest livestream on the right-wing video site Rumble, where he has about 1,400 followers who share a devotion to Trump Media & Technology Group, the former president’s social media company. “Faith comes from hearing — that is, hearing the good news about Christ,” said Mr. Nedohin, 40, his face framed by fake dreadlocks under a pirate-style hat. Mr. Nedohin and his viewers were waiting for the results of a merger vote that would determine whether Mr. Trump’s company could start selling stock on Wall Street. Soon the news about Trump Media arrived via an audio feed: It was going public.

Persons: Chad Nedohin, Donald J, Trump, Nedohin, Faith, ” Organizations: Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump Media

☆ Stormy Daniels’s Attempt to Sell Her Story Began the Road to Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Michael Rothfeld | More About Michael Rothfeld | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Stormy Daniels tried to benefit from Donald J. Trump’s political momentum in early 2016, setting off the saga that ultimately resulted in his criminal trial. Mr. Howard thought her story had little value because it had already been written about on a gossip site in 2011. At the time, she had publicly denied the encounter. A month before the presidential election, her story’s value suddenly increased. On Oct. 7, 2016, The Washington Post published a recording of Mr. Trump on the set of “Access Hollywood” talking about groping women.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Donald J, Dylan Howard, Trump, Daniels, Howard Organizations: National Enquirer, Washington Post Locations: Lake Tahoe, Nev

Washington CNN —Kim Kardashian will join Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Thursday for a roundtable to discuss pardons issued by President Joe Biden earlier this month, a White House official said Thursday. Kardashian previously met with former President Donald Trump at the White House as part of her advocacy for criminal justice reform. In 2019, she delivered remarks from the White House East Room on a new initiative aimed at helping former inmates get jobs out of prison. She met with Trump at the White House again in 2020. Axios first reported Kardashian’s visit to the White House.

Persons: Washington CNN — Kim Kardashian, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Kardashian, Donald Trump, Alice Marie Johnson, Axios, Biden, Rolling Stone, “, ” Biden, Harris, Steve Benjamin Organizations: Washington CNN, White, Trump, Rolling, Administration Locations: Ottoman Empire, Armenia, Azerbaijan

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