Reuters World News - What’s next for Trump?

Episode Date: April 5, 2023

Manhattan prosecutors lay out their case against Donald Trump. What lies ahead for the former president? China’s more assertive foreign policy in focus as Macron heads to Beijing and Kevin McCarthy meets Taiwan’s president. We look at why Beijing is renaming places along its disputed border with India. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A former U.S. President pleads not guilty to 34 felony charges. And I never thought anything like this could happen in America. Never thought it could happen. And vows to fight back in the case of the people of New York versus Donald J. Trump. What's next for the 45th president? Our legal report is inside the courtroom will break it down. It's Wednesday, April 5th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know.

from the front lines in 10 minutes. I'm Kim Vinal in London. And I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. That's Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, laying out the charges in an extraordinary day in American history. These are felony crimes in New York State, no matter who you are.

We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct. Donald Trump was surprisingly quiet as he walked through the halls of the Manhattan criminal courthouse to face charges of falsifying business records. He looked glum, I'd say, and then throughout the proceeding he was quiet and quite subdued. Karen Freifeld was in the courtroom. Prosecutors raised concerned about Trump's social media posts, right, including his warning of potential death and destruction if the charges were brought in a photograph of Trump holding a baseball bat next to a photograph of Bragg. Trump's lawyer tried to downplay the posts, saying that Trump had responded forcefully to what he thought was an injustice and said that the former president was frustrated.

The judge said, I don't share your view that certain language and rhetoric is justified by frustration. And he then ordered both sides to refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest or jeopardize the rule of law. Luke Cohen is our New York court's reporter and is here to break down the indictment for us. So what is this case about? Essentially, this case is centered on payments that Trump made or directed others to make to women who said they had affairs with him to essentially buy their silence ahead of the 2016 election. The alleged crime comes from when Trump was recording those payments in his business's records. He said they were for a legal retainer. Now, what prosecutors were saying is that wasn't a legal retainer.

that was you reimbursing him for the hush money payment. And so what they've done is charge Trump with making false business records, but as part of this whole scheme to keep these two women quiet. So heading into Tuesday, we had anticipated hearing about Michael Cohen and the payment to Stormy Daniels, but it was a little surprising to hear the prosecutors include Karen McDougal and the National Enquirer. Can you talk us through the details? Sure. Yeah. So in addition to the payment to Stormy Daniels, prosecutors did also mention two other somewhat similar schemes. The biggest by far was the one involving Karen McDougal, who is a former playboy model who similarly says she also had an affair with Trump, which Trump denies.

This one was a little different because she essentially sold her story to the publisher of the National Enquirer, the tabloid. They paid her $150,000 for, you know, the exclusive rights to the story, but then did not publish her. which is a practice called catch and kill. Falsifying business records on its own is just a misdemeanor offense. Prosecutors charged a felony here because they say that the records were falsified for the purposes of advancing or concealing another crime. And so to do that, they need to show that Trump knew that his lawyer, Michael Cohen was violating election laws through these payments. And so that's going to be a little bit of a bigger challenge. So what happens next? So Trump's lawyers will try to get the charges thrown out before it even goes to trial.

And if those motions are not successful, the case would go to trial. But that could be several months, if not, years ahead. And Trump would be totally free to run for office and even assume office should he win in the meantime. On his way to court, Trump, the current frontrunner for the 2024 presidential race, posted on social media that the day was, quote, so surreal. He ended it with a primetime address at Mar-a-Lago. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. Now for the other stories making headlines around the world.

Israeli police clashed with worshippers inside Jerusalem's Alaksa Mosque before dawn on Wednesday, sparking furious protests and cross-border strikes in Gaza. Israeli police said they were forced to enter the mosque, after masked agitators locked themselves inside with fireworks, sticks and stones. They released a video of police entering and fireworks exploding. The incident during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover has raised fears that this could go further. In 2021, clashes at Alaksa led to a 10-day war with Gaza.

Female Afghan employees of the United Nations have been banned from war. working by the Taliban. The organization has told all its Afghan staff, men and women, to stay away from work for 48 hours while it meets with officials in Kabul. Elsewhere in the U.S., there was big political news that wasn't about Trump. In Wisconsin, voters elected a liberal state Supreme Court justice. Janet Proto Sayewicz beat conservative Daniel Kelly in what's been called the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history. The highest court in Wisconsin now has a four to three liberal majority for the first time in 15 years. And that means it could overturn a civil

war era ban on abortion and address political gerrymandering. And here in Chicago, we have a new mayor. Former teacher and county commissioner Brandon Johnson beat out frontrunner Paul Valis in Tuesday's runoff election. On the business and markets front, Johnson and Johnson has agreed to pay $8.9 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits, alleging that town, How can its baby powder caused cancer? In Switzerland, UBS is going to try and reassure its shareholders today that its takeover of Credit Suisse will all work out. Investors generally could do with a bit of reassurance.

Signs of a slowing US labour market have them nervous about the economic outlook. Job openings drop to their lowest level in nearly two years in February. Let's head west now to California, where House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set to meet today with Taiwan's president, Saing Wen. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mal Ning there, warning against the meeting. Taiwanese and U.S. officials are hoping that holding it outside of Taiwan may help tone down the tension. China has threatened unspecified retaliation if it goes ahead.

Taiwan has always been a hugely sensitive issue for China. But since emerging from COVID isolation, Beijing has adopted a more assertive foreign policy. Last week, Beijing said it was renaming places, including five mountains along its disputed border with India. India slammed the move. Our South Asia regional editor, Sanjeev Maglani, explains what's going on. India and China have been at Loggerheads for now. About now, three years, there has been a standoff at the border,

and it led to one of the most deadly clashes in their history. And think then it's been an unsettled situation. This particular issue, why did the Chinese sort of start to again, you know, rename areas which India considers its own? It is a provocative thing. These are two large countries who do not have a clear fence. So India's response at this time would be from what we can see is to try and de-escalate. The most important thing for them is not to let the border where the troops are eyeball to eyeball. That does not sort of spin out of control.

And as China-India relations fray, European leaders are heading to Beijing to strengthen them. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French president, Emmanuel Macron, want to get China's help in trying to end the war in Ukraine. Royce's senior correspondent based in Paris, John Irish, breaks it down for us. I think this is a trip that in the sort of global geopolitical sense is all about one thing and that's Russia. and how the Europeans, and in this case Macron and von der Leyen, can show a united front and try and stress again to the Chinese that they have a role to play in convincing Putin to pull back on Ukraine.

And finally, for anyone thinking about a career in politics, New Zealand's Jacinda Ardennes has some advice. Having stepped down as Prime Minister in January, Arden gave an emotional farewell in Parliament. In her final address to in a Māori cloak known as a Kodewai. She thanked her family, her political party and her supporters. And she said leadership can look like many different things.

You can be a nerd, a crier, a hugger. You can be all of these things. And not only can you be here, you can lead. just like me. And that's it for today's edition of Reuters World News. Don't forget, you can follow us on your favorite podcast platform and download the Reuters app.