Donald Trump has been indicted. Now what?
Delay. Delay. Delay. Attack. Attack. Attack.
Those tactics have formed Donald Trump’s legal strategy for much of his life, and will likely be how he fights the charges leveled against him. And the attacks have already begun.
Trump has called Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who indicted him, a “degenerate psychopath.” And the former president claims Juan Merchan — the judge in the case, who last year presided over the tax fraud trial of Trump’s family real estate company — “hates” him. That earlier trial ended in a conviction on 17 felonies.
Trump has repeatedly thrown sand in the gears of the legal system. In the early days of the investigation that led to this indictment, the president sued to block a document demand, which held up the inquiry for 18 months while the case went to the Supreme Court — twice.
The indictment is related to a hush-money payment made to a porn star near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign; Trump has denied that he committed a crime and will most likely decline any plea deal.
China’s lessons from Russia’s war
China is carefully studying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to learn from the successes and failures of both sides.
Beijing sees invaluable lessons on weapons, troop power, intelligence and deterrence that can help China prepare for potential wars of its own — particularly a possible clash over Taiwan, the island democracy that China covets and that the U.S. has at times pledged to defend.
The Times examined nearly 100 Chinese research papers and media articles assessing the war. Ukraine has offered “a new understanding of a future possible world war,” a professor at the National Defense University in Beijing wrote.
Takeaways: Chinese analysts have argued that Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats may have deterred Western powers from directly entering the war. They also see the importance of hypersonic missiles and the satellite system Starlink.
Interpretations: Pentagon officials have said that Russia’s troubled invasion could deter China from risking a war over Taiwan. But some experts said that studying Russia’s mistakes could bolster China’s conviction that it would prevail.
Related: Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s president, has gone from being regarded by U.S. diplomats as “a relatively weak leader” to one of the most important in the world.
Russia is scheduled to preside over a Security Council meeting on Monday, for the first time since it began the invasion of Ukraine almost 14 months ago. The council’s largely ceremonial presidency is taken for a month at a time by each of its 15 members.
Zelensky called Russia’s assumption of the role, weeks after the International Criminal Court accused President Vladimir Putin of war crimes, “obviously absurd and destructive.” Western officials have said that there is no legal path for removing Russia from its seat on the council.
Other news from the war:
THE LATEST NEWS
Asia Pacific
Thailand’s unemployed elephants are returning home, and they’re hungry.
Many of the country’s roughly 3,800 captive elephants survived by entertaining tourists, who largely vanished during the coronavirus pandemic. Owners have since struggled to feed the ravenous pachyderms, and some have turned to social media to raise money for food.
Lives Lived
Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of Japan’s most prominent composers, scored films like “The Last Emperor” and “The Revenant.” He died at 71.
ARTS AND IDEAS
China welcomes an ostracized Russian artist
The war in Ukraine has badly damaged Russia’s cultural engine, which once sent soloists, opera singers and conductors like Gergiev into leading concert halls and theaters around the world.
Now, Russia is working to shore up its image and rebuild its soft power, strengthening cultural alliances with friendly nations and neighbors, including China, Kazakhstan and Serbia.
But Russia’s attempts to use culture to soften its image abroad face significant challenges, experts say, because of its continuing attacks on Ukraine.
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to Cook
Start your week with this narrated long read about what soaring homelessness means for a small business in Phoenix, Ariz. And here’s Friday’s edition of “The Daily,” on Trump’s indictment.
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