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Donald Trump is back on the 2024 campaign trail having attended his son Barron’s high school graduation, for which Judge Juan Merchan scheduled a day off for the court as the prosecution in Mr Trump’s criminal trial nears the close of its case.
The former president attended a fundraiser in Minnesota on Friday at which he said he wants Joe Biden to take a drug test before they debate on 27 June. He then travelled to Dallas to address the National Rifle Association convention, where he kept the crowd waiting for over two hours.
Mr Trump will hold his first rally in New York since 2016 with an event planned in the South Bronx next week as his hush money trial enters its final stages.
The Trump campaign has filed a permit for an event in Crotona Park at 6pm on 23 May and 3,500 people can attend.
The former president last held a rally in his native state in Buffalo in 2016 but has not attempted anything since given the Democratic Party’s dominance in the region. Enthusiastic supporters of Mr Trump have organised a “MAGA Cruise” around Manhattan the evening before the rally.
Trump
Trump finally took to the stage close to two hours and twenty minutes late.
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 22:32
Sketchy characters
But with no cameras permitted inside Manhattan Criminal Court, it has been left up to the courtroom sketch artists to give life to the proceedings, with the drawings of professionals Jane Rosenberg, Elizabeth Williams and Christine Cornell capturing the key moments and helping to illustrate the many twists and turns.
Joe Sommerlad takes a look at some of the best of their work:
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 22:00
Boebert says Trump looks ‘pretty’ when he sleeps
The former president wasn’t sleeping, he was praying, the Colorado representative claimed during a House hearing on Thursday night. But she added if he was indeed sleeping, as has been widely reported, at least he looked “pretty.”
No, really — she said that, as Gustaf Kilander reports:
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 21:30
MAGA broadcasting mainstay leaving RSBN
In a surprise on-air move today, Brian Glenn announced he is leaving Right Side Broadcasting Network with immediate effect.
Glenn has been the face of the network for the past four years, attending every Trump event over that time. Such close engagement with Trumpworld also led to a relationship with Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene.
RSBN is one of the main outlets for MAGA fans to watch Trump rallies now that they are no longer covered as closely by news networks.
Glenn has not revealed what his next move is, only saying: “I’m not at the liberty yet to tell you where I’m going, but just know that the American people, Trump, and speaking the truth is still going to be at the forefront of what I do.”
He made the announcement while broadcasting live from the NRA convention at which Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at 4.15pm.
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 21:00
Biden: ‘My opponent is not a good loser — but he is a loser’
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 20:45
Trump to hold first New York rally in eight years
He’s now planning a rally after court adjourns on Thursday…
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 20:30
Trump fans arranging MAGA New York cruise ahead of Trump rally
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 20:25
Trump on trial: Did a 14-year-old prank caller just blow up Michael Cohen’s testimony?
Alex Woodward filed this report from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan:
On October 24, 2016, the prank caller forgot to hide their number, and Cohen sent them a message: “This number has just been sent to Secret Service for your ongoing and continuous harassment to both my cell as well as the organization’s main line.”
“I DIDNT DO IT,” the prankster replied.
“Im 14,” another text read. “Please don’t do this.”
That night, Donald Trump’s fixer called his boss’s bodyguard, and then texted him the alleged 14-year-old prankster’s phone number to deal with it.
Oliver O’Connell18 May 2024 20:00
