Tag: Donald Trump

US presidential elections: Joe Biden and Donald Trump secure victories in four state primaries

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President Joe Biden and his Republican rival and predecessor Donald Trump have easily won their presidential primaries in four more states as they are set for a 2020 rematch in November.

On Tuesday, hundreds of delegates were up for grabs in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin.

Multiple names remained on the presidential ballots in the four states, though neither Trump, 77, nor Biden, 81, faced any major challenger.

In all the four states where the primaries were held Tuesday, Trump bagged more than 75 per cent of the votes, while Biden, a Democrat, received more than 80 per cent of the votes.

Trump with four wins now has 1,860 delegates. Biden has so far won 3,030 delegates as against the minimum requirement of 1,968 delegates.

Biden and Trump have already amassed enough delegates to win their respective nominations. But the turnout could provide more clues about the election on November 5.

Their rematch is expected to mirror the 2020 campaign, though Trump will run this time under the spectre of 91 felony charges.

Their nominations will be confirmed at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

Connecticut and Rhode Island allowed voters to vote “uncommitted” in the primary, while Wisconsin offered a similar option of “uninstructed delegation”.

There was an effort in Wisconsin on Tuesday by anti-Biden protesters to encourage people in the Democratic primary to pick the “uninstructed” option in opposition to Biden’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war.

Pressure has been growing on Biden especially, to push harder for a ceasefire in Gaza, with some states, including Michigan, fostering similar campaigns for residents to submit “uncommitted votes” for the president.

These victories offer insights into base voter enthusiasm for the upcoming 2020 rematch, particularly in Wisconsin, a crucial November battleground.

Biden and the Democratic National Committee have outpaced Trump and the Republicans in fundraising. Biden claimed the largest single-event fundraising record last week when he received USD 26 million at a star-studded New York event. Trump hopes to bring in USD 33 million at a Palm Beach, Florida fundraiser.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that Democrats have been growing increasingly anxious about public polls showing Trump making unprecedented inroads among Black and Hispanic voters.

“But there may be reasons for Republicans to feel uneasy about these polls too,” it said, adding that surveys now consistently show Trump leading President Joe Biden nationally and in almost all of the key swing states.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Donald Trump pays $175 million bond to avert asset seizure

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Donald Trump followed through on his vow to pay a $175 million bond to put a massive civil fraud verdict on hold while he appeals it, assuring New York state won’t start seizing the former president’s assets, at least for now.

The bond, posted on Monday with a Manhattan appeals court, prevents enforcement of a $454 million penalty levied by a judge against the real estate mogul in February for lying about his assets for years to get better loan terms. Trump, who is campaigning to return to the White House in the November election, is still on the hook for the full amount — plus millions in interest — if his appeal fails.

Trump initially had struggled to get a bond because he was required to put up 120% of the full penalty, or more than half a billion dollars, in cash. But the appeals court on March 25 granted his request for a smaller bond, which Trump claimed was a sign the appeals court would eventually overturn the verdict.

“As promised, President Trump has posted bond,” his lawyer Alina Habba said in a statement. “He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.”

The bond was arranged and signed by Los Angeles-based Knight Specialty Insurance Co., a relatively small player in the industry whose chairman Don Hankey built a fortune by his expanding his car dealership company into financial services. Trump previously turned to Chubb Ltd.’s Federal Insurance Co. for an appeal bond to cover an $83.3 million verdict against him in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, which he lost in January.

The former president had said a full bond was “unattainable” because 30 insurance companies that arrange such bonds wouldn’t take his real estate as collateral and would only take cash. Trump recently said he had nearly $500 million in cash and vowed to cover the reduced bond with it.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump and won at a non-jury trial, had argued a full bond was necessary because Trump can’t be trusted to pay the fine if he loses the appeal.

Getting the smaller bond helped Trump overcome one the biggest financial obstacles of his career. Without it, the former president claimed he’d be forced to hold a “fire sale” of assets to raise cash, hurting his ability to run his company and contribute to his campaign. His losses from such sales would be irreversible, he argued, even if he won the appeal.

James, a Democrat, had said she would seize his assets to cover the judgment if he didn’t arrange the bond. Her office had already begun laying the ground work to do so in nearby Westchester County, where Trump owns a golf course and a 212-acre estate called Seven Springs.

Trump also faces four criminal prosecutions, including two cases alleging he conspired to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. His first criminal trial, over charges he falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election, is set to go to trial April 15 in Manhattan.

Trump denies wrongdoing in all the cases and claims without evidence that they’re part of a Democratic-led “witch hunt” against him to undermine his campaign.

Also Read: Donald Trump gag order expanded by New York judge before hush-money trial

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Donald Trump gag order expanded by New York judge before hush-money trial

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush-money trial this month expanded a gag order in the case, after the former president attacked the judge and his daughter on social media.

Judge Juan Merchan had already restricted what Trump could say publicly about jurors and potential witnesses in the trial that starts April 15. But Merchan expanded his March 26 gag order Monday to include comments about prosecutors, court employees and their families. However, Trump can still make comments about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the criminal charges.

“The court has an obligation to prevent outside influences, including extrajudicial speech, from disturbing the integrity of the court,” Merchan wrote. “The uncontested record reflecting the defendant’s prior extrajudicial statements establishes a sufficient risk to the administration of justice.”

Bragg had requested more restrictions last week, citing Trump’s false claim that Merchan’s daughter Loren had posted an image of the former president behind bars on her social media account. Court officials said the Twitter account Trump cited was manipulated to look like the one Loren Merchan had deleted about a year ago.

Trump, who is campaigning for a return to the White House, is accused of falsifying business records in 2016 to conceal a sex scandal from voters in the runup to the presidential election that year. He allegedly authorized payments to a porn star who claimed she had an affair with the real estate mogul a decade earlier.

‘Witch Hunt’

The former president, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for president in 2024, has denied wrongdoing in the case, as well as in two other criminal prosecutions tied to election interference and one involving classified documents. He says they’re all part of a political “witch hunt” by Democrats.

Prosecutors asked Merchan on Monday to warn Trump that his access to jurors’ names, which already are being withheld from the public, could be “forfeited by continued harassing or disruptive conduct.” The former president appears to be under the false impression that, as a criminal defendant, he has “a constitutional right to target the family of the court,” the district attorney’s lawyers said.

Bragg’s office also asked the judge to clarify the scope of his gag order, saying Trump’s claim about Merchan’s daughter was a “blatant falsehood” that had already been rejected by the court last year.

Trump’s lawyers argued Monday the judge didn’t need to clarify his order and assailed Merchan for speaking to a reporter and telling her he “wouldn’t talk about the case.” They also hinted at a second request for Merchan to recuse himself based on “newly discovered evidence.” An earlier attempt was rejected in August.

But the judge said Trump’s statements “went far beyond defending himself against ‘attacks’ by ‘public figures.”’ He said the former president’s “statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating,” and targeted court staff and private individuals, “including grand jurors performing their civic duty.”

The judge said his expanded gag order is consistent with the one US District Judge Tanya Chutkan placed upon the former president in his pending federal case in Washington, DC.

Merchan said Trump doesn’t deny making the statements and that prior orders had little impact on limiting his behavior. “Given that the eve of trial is upon us,” the judge said “the risk of harm is now paramount.”

Trump claimed Merchan’s daughter, who works at a political firm that has advised Democrats, was profiting from her father’s rulings.

“Judge’s daughter is allowed to post pictures of her ‘dream’ of putting me in jail,” Trump complained March 27, a day after Merchan imposed the original gag order. “I am not allowed to talk about the attacks against me.”

A day later, Bragg’s office asked Merchan to expand the gag order and direct Trump to “immediately desist from attacks on family members.” They also asked the court to give Trump a “judicial warning of possible contempt” to prevent “further offensive conduct.” Trump’s comments could chill potential prosecution witnesses and make them fear for their safety, according to Bragg.

But Trump’s lawyers doubled down Friday, writing that Merchan’s daughter “is actively supporting adversarial campaign speech by President Trump’s political opponents.” They argued the gag order shouldn’t be expanded and doesn’t currently include court officials or their families. They asked Merchan to hold a hearing if he considers amplifying his order, arguing further restrictions would restrict Trump’s free-speech rights on the campaign trail.

Merchan’s daughter had come up in court last year, when he rejected Trump’s argument that the judge should step aside from the case. At the time, the former president complained about Loren Merchan’s job as well as a $15 donation the judge made to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.

Trump “failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds,” Merchan said in an August 14 ruling.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Joe Biden says most of world leaders told him not to ‘let Trump win’ 2024 Presidential elections

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Making a forceful case for his re-election, US President Joe Biden has claimed that during his meetings with world leaders, including at the G20 summit in India, almost every one of them told him not to let his predecessor Donald Trump win in 2024 as they feel it would put their democracies in danger.

Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also joined Biden on Thursday night in New York at the most lucrative fundraiser of the 2024 campaign, warning fellow Democrats that Trump, a Republican, must be defeated. “Trump says if he loses again again in November, there will be a bloodbath. What the hell is with this guy? No, I’m I’m not no, I’m really serious. It concerns me the most,” Biden said.

“And but whether it’s the G20 meeting in India or whatever the meeting where there are other heads of state, I am not exaggerating when I say and I say it in front of the press without giving the names almost every one of the world leaders finds an excuse to get me alone for a moment, put their hand on my arm, and say, You can’t let him win. My meaning his country or her country my democracy is at stake. My democracy is at stake,” he said.

India hosted the G20 Summit in New Delhi for the first time from September 9-10. Biden, 81, the incumbent, faced no viable competition for the Democratic nomination. His predecessor in office, Trump, 77, on the other hand easily saw off a crowded field in the Republican primary. Now they are set for a rematch of 2020 in the November 5 elections.

Biden also slammed Trump for walking away from NATO. “This is a guy who walked away from NATO…told Putin he could do whatever he wants if they’re not paying their dues,” Biden said.

“Just just look at what he’s done. The rest of the world is wondering what in the hell is happening to us. And they’re relieved, not because I’m so special but that I’m not Trump. I’m serious. I wish it was because they thought Biden was such a wonderful guy, ” Biden said amidst laughter.

“I think they respect me. I think they listen to me. But the point is, it’s because they’re scared to death for their countries if he (Trump) were to win again,” Biden said. All Americans including Democrats, independents, and Republicans should say that there is no place ever for political violence, for physical violence in the country’s political system, he said.

“We’re at a real inflection point in history. Things are changing. This guy denies there is global warming. This guy wants to get rid of not only Roe v. Wade (right to abortion) – by the way which he brags about having done – he wants to get rid of the ability of anyone anywhere in America to have the right to choose. All the things he’s doing are so old,” Biden said.

Clinton said voters should put aside their differences given the stakes of the race. Clinton accused Trump while in office of taking credit for an economy that had started improving under Obama and said Biden later inherited “a mess” left by Trump.

“Joe is absolutely right that we’ve got not just a nominee, but frankly a party and an entire infrastructure that increasingly seems unconcerned with the essence of America,” Obama said of Trump and Republicans. “But we also have a positive story to tell about the future,” he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump Media adds $1.1 billion in value day after debut

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Former president Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group Corp powered higher on Wednesday after a stellar debut, as investors use it as a way to bet on Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign.

Investors flocked back to the parent company of Truth Social, driving shares up 14% after paring an earlier increase, and adding some $1.1 billion to its value. The move higher came after the stock jumped to a roughly two-year peak on Tuesday when the media startup traded for the first time as a public company. The gains bring Trump’s personal stake to more than $5 billion, adding to the former president’s paper wealth.

More than 32 million shares changed hands on Wednesday, making it one of the most actively traded companies in the US. The strong interest comes after the stock saw its busiest day since the company announced a blank-check merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. in October 2021 with nearly 56 million shares traded.

The firm behind Truth Social has stated its mission to fight against big tech companies like Meta Platforms Inc., Netflix Inc., and Elon Musk’s X, has drawn hoards of individual investors that are touting their investments on popular chatrooms like Reddit Inc.’s WallStreetBets forum and StockTwits.

The potential funds come at a critical time for Trump, who is paying millions of dollars a month to fund his ongoing legal troubles, including four criminal prosecutions. His first criminal trial — alleging he falsified business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star before the 2016 election — is set to start April 15.

Trump was also hit last month with a $454 million penalty after the New York attorney general proved at trial that he’d inflated his net wealth by billions of dollars a year in bank transactions. Trump has an April 4 deadline to post a $175 million bond to put that judgment on hold while he appeals.

The stock — which traded under Digital World’s ticker DWAC prior to this week’s debut — soared some 278% this year. The eye-popping rally has also made it the most expensive and riskiest stock for short sellers to bet against.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Donald Trump barred from attacking jurors, lawyers in hush-money trial

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s first criminal trial issued a gag order barring the former president from making comments about jurors, prosecutors and potential witnesses, citing a threat to their safety.

New York Justice Juan Merchan said the order sought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is justified by Trump’s “longstanding history” of using social media to attack individuals involved in the array of civil and criminal cases against him. Crucially, the ruling will prevent comments “targeting jurors and exposing them to an atmosphere of intimidation” at a trial starting April 15. He’s also barred from directing others to make the comments.

“The uncontested record reflecting the defendant’s prior extrajudicial statements establishes a sufficient risk to the administration of justice” to warrant a gag order, Merchan said Tuesday, adding that the order had been “narrowly tailored.”

Trump is accused in the case of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election, part of an alleged scheme to keep voters in the dark about his purported conduct with women. It’s one of four criminal prosecutions against the former president, including two that allege he conspired to overturn the 2020 election after he lost to Joe Biden.

Trump’s behavior has been a constant concern for federal, state and local prosecutors given the influence he has over his supporters and his alleged incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol. Before he was indicted by Bragg last year, Trump warned of “death and destruction” if he was charged, called the district attorney a “degenerate psychopath” and assailed former Trump Organization lawyer Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness.

Merchan’s order won’t prevent Trump from campaigning or denying wrongdoing in the case. But it does mean that Bragg, Cohen and anyone else set to testify are off limits for the stump speeches and social media posts the Republican frontrunner has used to mobilize his supporters.

$15,000 in Fines

It also increases the risk of punishment for Trump should he violate the gag order — something he’s done during earlier trials — particularly in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit over his asset valuations. Last year, the Manhattan judge who presided over that case fined him $15,000 for twice violating a gag order he imposed to protect a law clerk.

James won the trial and Trump was hit a $454 million penalty, which he’s appealing. Trump has until April 4 to post a $175 million bond to put the verdict on hold while he challenges it.

Trump argued he has refrained from making inflammatory remarks about people involved in the hush money case. But Justice Merchan was “unpersuaded,” saying the former president undermined his argument one day earlier at a press conference, when Trump launched a personal attack on a prosecutor by claiming he was part of the “radical left.”.

Other witnesses in the case who’ve drawn Trump’s ire include Stormy Daniels, the porn star who Cohen paid $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim that she’d had an affair with Trump. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of reimbursing Cohen in 2017 by falsely claiming the payments were for legal fees.

In early March, Merchan barred public disclosure of jurors’ names to protect them from any backlash over their role in the politically charged case.

‘Unfettered Responses’

Trump’s lawyers argued a gag order wasn’t necessary, calling the restriction unconstitutional and an unlawful restraint upon his free speech rights. They argued Bragg’s office was trying to muzzle Trump as he campaigns for reelection.

“The voters have the right to listen to President Trump’s unfettered responses to those attacks — not just one side of that debate,” defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles said.

In the hush-money case, Merchan last year warned Trump he could be barred from attending the trial if he “became disruptive.”

“I do have the authority to remove you from the courtroom and continue in your absence,” Merchan said at the time.

During a defamation trial in January in a suit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan threatened to expel Trump after the former president loudly complained in court during Carroll’s testimony.

Manhattan prosecutors said they modeled their gag order on one upheld on appeal in the federal case against Trump over the 2020 election. In that case, Trump was banned from speaking about witnesses expected to testify. But Trump was still allowed to criticize Special Counsel Jack Smith, who indicted him, to describe the prosecution as a political vendetta and to criticize the Biden administration and the Justice Department.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Donald Trump urges Israel to ‘finish up’ Gaza offensive, warns about global support fading

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Former US President Donald Trump said he would have responded the same way as Israel did after the October 7 attack by Hamas but urged the country to “finish up” its offensive in Gaza and “get this over with”, warning about international support fading.

“You have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up. You’ve got to get it done,” he said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. “We’ve got to get to peace. You can’t have this going on, and I will say Israel has to be very careful because you are losing a lot of the world. You are losing a lot of support.” Trump, who earlier this month became the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, brought up global criticism of Israel’s offensive even as he has repeatedly attacked President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflict.

According to the newspaper’s transcript of the interview, Trump said “Israel made a very big mistake” in releasing photos and videos of its offensive in Gaza, commenting the country’s public image is “in ruin”. A video shared of the interview does not show those comments.

“That’s a terrible portrait. It’s a very bad picture for the world,” Trump said. “I think Israel wanted to show that it’s tough, but sometimes you shouldn’t be doing that.” The Israel Hayom is widely seen as a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Soon after the attack in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, Trump denounced Netanyahu for allegedly letting him down while he was in the White House. He also said Netanyahu “was not prepared” for the deadly incursion from Gaza.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

Trump also again suggested that American Jews were wrong to support Democrats, days after being criticised by some Jewish advocates for saying Jewish Democrats were being disloyal to their religion. He alleged that Biden “supports the enemy”.

Also Read: Israel cancels DC trip after US allows Gaza ceasefire resolution at UN

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Donald Trump has hours to cover $454 million judgment or risk property seizure

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New York state seizing some of his marquee properties.

Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net worth and his family real estate company’s property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

On Monday morning, Trump wrote on social media that the number Engoron set was “fraudulent.”

“It should be ZERO, I DID NOTHING WRONG!,” he said.

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The Trump campaign on Friday called for donations from “one million pro-Trump patriots,” saying that the “iconic Trump Tower” was among his properties at risk of seizure.

The case cuts to the core of his public image as a prosperous businessman. Trump rose to fame as a developer of flashy properties like Manhattan’s Trump Tower and often boasts of his financial success – even though his companies have at times struggled.

But Trump, the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, now faces a web of financial worries including campaign fundraising lagging behind his rival.

The judgment in the case was entered in Manhattan, where Trump properties such as Trump Tower or 40 Wall Street may be in the sights of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who brought the civil case in 2022.

James also has notified Westchester County, just north of New York City, of the judgment, a step toward potentially seizing assets there such as a Trump golf course and a 60-room mansion and estate called Seven Springs.

Taking control of Trump’s properties would pose a host of legal and logistical challenges for the attorney general’s office. Placing liens on them to ensure they are not sold or transferred and going after Trump’s liquid assets would be more straightforward.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated. The first former U.S. president ever to face criminal charges, Trump has been indicted in four separate cases, pleading not guilty in each.

In one of those cases, a New York judge on Monday is set to hear arguments on Trump’s bid to postpone a mid-April start date over charges related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 U.S. election.

 ‘FIRE SALE PRICES’

In the civil fraud case, Trump’s lawyers have said 30 surety companies have rejected his requests to post a bond securing the judgment, and have asked that he be allowed to post $100 million instead. They have asked a mid-level state appeals court to delay enforcement of the judgment.

During a 2023 deposition by the attorney general’s office, Trump said his companies had more than $400 million, opens new tab in cash. In a social media post on Friday, he said he had almost $500 million in cash, but intended to use much of it on his campaign.

“I will be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices,” Trump wrote on social media last week.

Trump came a step closer to a windfall on Friday after investors approved a $5.7 billion deal to list the company that owns his Truth Social platform on the stock market. Trump’s majority stake in the company, Trump Media & Technology Group, is worth about $3.3 billion.

But even if the deal gets completed this week, it is unclear if it would help Trump cover the judgment. That is because he previously agreed to terms preventing him from selling his shares for six months or borrowing against them.

Before the three-month, non-jury trial in Manhattan, Engoron found that Trump had engaged in fraud by overvaluing properties including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, and various office buildings and golf courses.

This case is not the only one to drain Trump’s finances. Trump this month posted a $91.6 million bond to cover an $83.3 million defamation verdict for writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals. She sued him after Trump called her a liar for accusing him of raping her decades ago. He has denied wrongdoing.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

To Donald Trump’s ‘Are you better off’ question, Joe Biden’s blunt response | Watch here

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Presumptive nominees for the 2024 United States presidential election, incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are already squaring off as they prepare for the big battle come November. Recently, former president Trump asked his supporters a question on his Truth Social platform, to which Biden responded brutally.

To make a case for his re-election, Trump’s supporters, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and his daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Lara Trump, have posed the rhetorical question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” So earlier this week, Trump attempted to ask the same question in a post.

Biden brought this up in a direct video response to Trump’s query. The 40-second clip, captioned “Donald, I’m glad you asked,” featured some of the year’s worst moments, such as Trump’s suggestion to inject bleach to combat COVID-19, toilet paper shortages and the loading of bodies onto freezer trucks.

The graphic images are paired with remarks from Trump endorsing his actions, denying accountability for his handling of the outbreak, and saying, “It is what it is,” in response to being told of all the fatalities that were happening at the time.

Donald, I’m glad you asked. pic.twitter.com/janV4f4L3p

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 21, 2024

According to an AP-NORC poll conducted in February, only 24% of Americans felt their situation had improved since Biden took office, while 41% felt it had gotten worse and 34% answered neither. The national economy and the nation as a whole, according to majorities, were in worse shape than they were when Biden took office.

The comments section also reflected a similar consensus.

A user wrote, “Prices are now 19% higher than they were under Trump. Wages are 5% lower. Gas and mortgage costs have doubled. The national debt is $7 trillion bigger. 10 million illegals have entered. We’re in 3 new wars. Yeah, I’d say we were way better off under Trump than we are now.”

Another user, “Donald never did much of anything! He did brag a lot though, does that count?”

The origins of the “Are you better off” question may be found in the 1980 presidential contest, when Ronald Reagan used a televised debate to ridicule then-President Jimmy Carter and won the presidency.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Peter Navarro is 1st Trump White House official to serve prison time related to January 6 attack

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Former White House adviser Peter Navarro reported to prison Tuesday for a contempt of Congress conviction, becoming the first senior Trump administration official to be locked up for a crime related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison for defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House committee that investigated the riot by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

Navarro was defiant in remarks to reporters before he headed to the federal prison in Miami, calling his conviction the “partisan weaponization of the judicial system.”

He has maintained that he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. But courts have rejected that argument, finding Navarro couldn’t prove Trump had actually invoked it.

“When I walk in that prison today, the justice system — such as it is — will have done a crippling blow to the constitutional separation of powers and executive privilege,” Navarro told reporters Tuesday.

After voting in Florida on Tuesday, Trump was asked about Navarro.

“He’s a good man. He was treated very unfairly,” Trump said, calling him a “great patriot” and praising his job negotiating trade with China. “The Biden administration treated him very, very badly. It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is.”

Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under Trump, was subpoenaed by the committee over his promotion of false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election in the run-up to the Capitol attack.

Navarro had asked to stay free while he appealed his conviction to give the courts time to consider his challenge. But Washington’s federal appeals court denied his bid to stave off his sentence, finding his appeal wasn’t likely to reverse his conviction.

And Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday also refused to step in, saying in a written order that he has “no basis to disagree” with the appeals court. Roberts said his finding doesn’t affect the eventual outcome of Navarro’s appeal.

Navarro was the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress charges. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon previously received a four-month sentence but a different judge allowed him to stay free pending appeal.

The House committee spent 18 months investigating the insurrection, interviewing over 1,000 witnesses, holding 10 hearings and obtaining more than 1 million pages of documents. In its final report, the panel ultimately concluded that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the election results and failed to act to stop his supporters from storming the Capitol.

Special counsel Jack Smith has separately charged Trump with conspiring to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden. That case is on hold while the Supreme Court weighs Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution. The high court is scheduled to hear arguments on the matter next month.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow