Europe Plots a Diplomatic and Business Reset on China

What’s next for Trump?

Former President Donald Trump has survived impeachment hearings and years of investigations into his business dealings. But the list of charges leveled against him on Tuesday in a New York court poses one of his greatest challenges yet, and will hang over U.S. politics well into next year’s presidential election.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of masterminding a hush money scheme in 2016 to pay off the porn star Stormy Daniels, helping to clear his path to the White House.

For all the tabloid-esque figures that make an appearance in the criminal complaint — a paid-off doorman, a Playboy model, a fixer turncoat who delivered the hush money — the case brought by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, centers on falsified business records. Prosecutors say Trump planned to deceive New York tax authorities. (He also faces three other investigations involving far meatier allegations, like election interference and the unlawful removal of documents from the White House after his presidency.)

Zeroing in on the state tax crimes is “a much simpler charge that avoids the potential pitfalls,” Rebecca Roiphe, a New York Law School professor and former state prosecutor, told The Times. Even still, some of Trump’s biggest critics are calling Bragg’s case a stretch and weak.

In a fiery speech to supporters at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, the former president railed against the case, the judge presiding over it, Bragg and … the two men’s wives.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/05/business/dealbook/europe-vonderleyen-macron-xi-china.html