The New York Times - Tuesday Briefing: The Trump trial opens

April 23, 2024

	By Amelia Nierenberg

Good morning. We’re covering opening statements in Donald Trump’s criminal trial and the resignation of Israel’s military intelligence chief.

Plus, is online shopping bad for the planet?

Donald Trump seated in a courtroom, wearing a blue jacket, white shirt and blue tie.

Donald Trump in the courtroom yesterday. Pool photo by Victor J. Blue

Prosecutors began laying out their case against Trump

In an opening statement, the prosecution gave a sweeping synopsis of the case against Donald Trump — a pivotal moment in the first criminal prosecution of a former American president.

A Manhattan prosecutor told the 12 jurors that the case was about “a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up” of sex scandals that threatened his 2016 election win. He described how Trump, his counsel Michael Cohen, and David Pecker, the publisher of The National Enquirer tabloid, engaged in a strategy to “catch and kill” negative stories.

Trump, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, watched from the defense table. Occasionally, he shook his head.

In his opening statement, Trump’s lawyer insisted that his client had done nothing wrong. “President Trump is innocent,” he told the jury.

Then, Pecker was called to the stand as the first witness in the trial. In his testimony, Pecker explained how The National Enquirer paid for stories, a practice he called “checkbook journalism.” He is expected to return to the stand today.

Background: The case centers on a $130,000 payment that Cohen made to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence as the 2016 campaign was winding down. Prosecutors say he was reimbursed by Trump, who falsified business records to conceal his conduct.

For more: Sign up for Trump on Trial, our newsletter that tracks the various cases.

General Aharon Haliva shown speaking on a phone.

Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the director of military intelligence, resigned. Dan Balilty for The New York Times

The head of Israeli intelligence resigned

Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva yesterday became the highest-ranking Israeli official to step down since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Haliva, the head of military intelligence, had emerged as a symbol of the Israeli establishment’s failure to prevent the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

His resignation suggests that a bitter reckoning about the failures is gaining momentum in Israel, now that the pace of the war in Gaza has ebbed.

Although Haliva’s resignation was long expected, it is still expected to heighten pressure on other senior figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to take greater responsibility for their role in the October failure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to supporters during a campaign event.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at a rally in Bengaluru over the weekend. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

Modi insulted India’s Muslims

During a campaign event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Muslims “infiltrators” who would take India’s wealth if his opponents were to gain power. His statement was unusually divisive and direct.

Modi was referring to a remark once made by Manmohan Singh, his predecessor from the opposition Indian National Congress Party. Singh, Modi claimed, had “said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators.”

Modi’s use of such language as he campaigns for a third term raised alarms that it could inflame right-wing vigilantes who target Muslims.

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MORE TOP NEWS

The Middle East

A group of students gathered in front of a university building. They are making signs. Many are wearing masks.

Students protested at Yale yesterday. Adrian Martinez Chavez for The New York Times

U.S.: Police arrested dozens of students taking part in pro-Palestinian protests at Yale University, days after the arrests of more than 100 Columbia and Barnard students. Students at New York University also appeared to be on the verge of a standoff with the police.
UNRWA: Israel offered no evidence to support its claims that many U.N. workers were part of terrorist organizations, an independent review said.
Retaliation: Israeli officials said Israel abandoned plans for a much more extensive counterstrike on Iran after diplomatic pressure from the U.S. and other allies.
Analysis: Israel has failed to achieve its two primary goals of the war, while the suffering of Palestinians erodes support even among its allies.

International News

A girl dressed in an orange sari lies in water with her arms outstretched.

A girl cooled off in Bangladesh yesterday. Monirul Alam/EPA, via Shutterstock

Heat: Unusually high temperatures in South and Southeast Asia have forced schools to close, disrupted agriculture and raised the risk of heat strokes.
U.S. election: Papua New Guinea’s prime minister hit back at President Biden’s suggestion that his uncle, a World War II serviceman whose plane went down in the Pacific, had been eaten by cannibals there.
Justice: The Supreme Court heard a case on how far cities and states can go to police homelessness.

Ecuador: Voters gave the president more powers to combat drug-related gang violence.
Spying: Three Germans were arrested on suspicion of passing secrets to China.
Health: A bird flu virus has killed tens of thousands of marine mammals and, for the first time, infiltrated U.S. livestock.
Ukraine: See how troops are fighting to hold their defensive lines.

Business

TikTok: E.U. regulators threatened to fine the app over potentially addictive features, and force it to remove them.
Sports: FIFA is close to an agreement with Apple that would give the tech company worldwide television rights for a major new soccer tournament.
E-commerce: In a down economy, the Chinese discount online retailer Pinduoduo has thrived.

MORNING READ

A row of houses on a quiet street in the Danish town of Kalundborg.

Kalundborg, Denmark. Charlotte de la Fuente for The New York Times

The pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk produces nearly all of the key ingredient for its wildly popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy at a factory in the Danish town of Kalundborg. Now, the company is planning to invest about $8.6 billion into expanding the facilities there.

It’s the largest manufacturing investment in Denmark by a company, and it’s happening in a town of fewer than 17,000 people.

Lives lived: Terry Anderson was the Beirut bureau chief for The Associated Press when he was kidnapped in 1985 by militants, and then spent six years as a hostage. He died at 76.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Top prize: Archie Moore, an Indigenous Australian artist who made an installation at the Venice Biennale that included a monumental family tree, won the Golden Lion.
Swift fatigue? Taylor Swift’s ubiquity may finally be taking a toll on her fans.
Car key conversations: Asking older people to stop driving can be hard. Here are a few ways to do so with empathy.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

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ASK CLIMATE

An illustration of a shopping cart on top of a laptop with the words “Add to cart?”

Naomi Anderson-Subryan

Is online shopping bad for the planet?

It’s complicated. From a transit emissions perspective, getting deliveries could be more efficient — compare the route of a single truck to multiple cars, making multiple trips to stores.

But three billion trees are cut down every year to produce packaging, according to some estimates. The convenience of online shopping may also encourage overconsumption. One 2015 study found that the production and use of household goods and services are responsible for 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

So try buying in bulk and bundling your orders. “It’s easy to get a rush from buying something new,” my colleague Dionne Searcey writes, “but environmentalists suggest getting your dopamine fix from something entirely different: Try taking a walk instead.”

Have a question for reporters covering climate and the environment? Ask our Climate desk.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A bowl of pasta with tomatoes and shrimp.

Spicy Gochujang Shrimp Pasta. Julia Gartland for The New York Times

Cook: Gochujang spices up this shrimp pasta.

Read: The Romantic poetry of Lord Byron, who died 200 years ago, is worth revisiting.

Travel: Munich is emerging as a young, laid-back German city.

Scrub: Baking sheets can pick up grease. Here’s how to clean them.

Play Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Amelia

P.S. The Times is introducing “The Interview,” a new podcast featuring in-depth conversations with fascinating people.

Email us at briefing@nytimes.com.

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