Friday Briefing: A judge weighs a monumental Trump decision

September 6, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering a judge’s upcoming decision on Donald Trump’s sentencing and France’s new prime minister.

Plus, New Zealand’s new Maori queen.

🇺🇸 U.S. ELECTION

The presidential election is less than two months away. This is what we’re watching.

Juan Merchan on a courthouse bench in a hallway.

Justice Juan Merchan outside his office. Ahmed Gaber for The New York Times

A judge weighs a monumental Trump decision

It’s been more than three months since a Manhattan jury convicted Donald Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal. But after a Supreme Court ruling in July granted the former president some immunities, he has yet to be sentenced.

Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, already delayed Trump’s sentencing once, shortly after the ruling. He now faces a decision that could alter American politics for years to come: whether to sentence Trump as planned on Sept. 18 or wait until after Election Day on Nov. 5, as Trump requested.

If Justice Merchan postpones the sentencing, the American people will vote without knowing whether Trump will spend time behind bars. If not, Trump will undoubtedly accuse him of trying to tip the election toward his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Here’s what else to know:

A federal judge said she would not let Trump’s campaign affect the schedule of the criminal case in which he stands accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump called for the creation of an efficiency commission to audit the government. He said Elon Musk would lead it. Later, he claimed that Israel “would no longer exist” if Harris won.
From Opinion: The historian Allan Lichtman has a near-perfect track record of predicting who will win presidential elections. Watch the video.

Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us and we’ll find the answers.

Stay up-to-date: Live coverage | Poll tracker | “The Run-Up” podcast | On Politics newsletter

A man with gray hair in a navy blue suit.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier in Paris yesterday. Sarah Meyssonnier

France named a new prime minister

President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier, a veteran right-wing politician, as prime minister yesterday. Macron is aiming to break the political deadlock that left France without an active government for more than 50 days.

Barnier, 73, is a member of The Republicans, the country’s main conservative party, who has served in several ministerial roles. An adept negotiator, he led the E.U.’s Brexit talks and organized the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.

France has been in political limbo since inconclusive snap parliamentary elections in July. Left, center and right political groups came out of the elections with large shares of the vote, but no absolute majority. Few parties are inclined to work together.

What’s next: The appointment of Barnier has already angered the New Popular Front, the alliance of left-wing parties, which won the most seats in the election. It has vowed to reject Barnier’s government. The left has called for a large demonstration against Macron in Paris tomorrow.

Four trans women in long dresses and feathers walking in an alley.

A group of trans women in South Jakarta. Ulet Ifansasti for The New York Times

Pope Francis is warmly welcomed by Indonesia’s transgender community

For many trans women on the fringes of Indonesia’s society, the Catholic Church is a safe haven, and Pope Francis, with his messages of tolerance and openness toward the L.G.B.T.Q. community, is a hero. Many were excited by his four-day visit, eager to catch a glimpse as he held a Mass in Jakarta yesterday.

“When we got Francis as the pope, I realized that God was really listening,” said Mami Yuli, the leader of the community and a devout Catholic. “This is not the pope but God himself visiting us.”

MORE TOP NEWS

A man sits among the rubble of a shelter in Gaza that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.

Shelters destroyed by an Israeli strike near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza yesterday. Mohammed Saber/EPA, via Shutterstock

Gaza: Hours after the first phase of a polio vaccination campaign wrapped up, Israel struck the courtyard of a hospital in central Gaza.
U.S.: Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, exposing him to the possibility of significant jail time.
Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky released a slate of nine candidates for top cabinet positions, pushing ahead with his sweeping overhaul of the government.
Storms: Typhoon Yagi is moving toward southern China. It’s expected to be the heaviest storm to hit the Hainan Province in a decade.
Russia: The Justice Department indicted an American commentator for Russian television as part of an effort to crack down on Russia’s attempts to influence American politics.
Kenya: Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan Olympic runner, died yesterday after she was set on fire on Sunday by a man she was in a relationship with.
Iraq: A U.N. team is racing against the clock to document the genocide of the Yazidi people by the Islamic State. The Iraqi government has ordered the team to leave.
Germany: Police officers in Munich shot and killed a gunman near the Israeli consulate and a museum about the city’s Nazi-era history.
Nicaragua: The country released 135 political prisoners — including 13 people affiliated with an American evangelical church — in a deal brokered by the U.S.
Indonesia: A fugitive ex-mayor of a small town in the Philippines, who is accused of working with organized crime, was arrested in Indonesia.
U.K.: British prosecutors have dropped the indecent assault case against Harvey Weinstein because there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”

Sports

Alex Morgan with her daughter in March. Harry How/Getty Images

Women’s soccer: The American soccer star Alex Morgan announced she was retiring from the sport and expecting her second child.
U.S. Open: The tournament heads into the semifinals and finals this weekend. Follow our coverage here.
F1: Four races into the 2024 season, it looked as if Max Verstappen was the inevitable champion. With eight races left, this season could be a classic.

MORNING READ

Nga Wai Hono i te Po. Dj Mills/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Maori of New Zealand have crowned a new queen, Nga Wai Hono i te Po, 27, who becomes the second woman to lead the Indigenous group. She has not shied away from talking about New Zealand’s colonization and will take on the symbolic but weighty role as its government pushes to roll back the Maori’s rights.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Family business: Barron Trump, the youngest child of Donald Trump, enrolled as a freshman at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Bender on the Baltic: The 16-hour ferry ride between Stockholm and Helsinki, Finland, is a festive summer ritual, known (infamous, some might say) for its party atmosphere.
She sells seashells: Seashells in art and décor have been largely considered kitschy. But some artists are embracing oysters and mussels as a raw material and muse.

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

ARTS AND IDEAS

A photo collage shows designs that have changed men’s fashion since the end of World War II.

From left: Firstview; Richard Young/Shutterstock; Firstview

The clothes that changed men’s fashion

Earlier this year, The New York Times Style Magazine gathered a group of fashion designers, editors and a photographer for a hefty task: identifying the 25 most influential men’s wear collections since the end of World War II.

There were some clear favorites (Giorgio Armani and Comme des Garçons) and some upsets (Helmut Lang over Calvin Klein and Jil Sander). All changed the world of men’s fashion in some way, whether that was by reinventing the shape of the suit or challenging what it means to “dress like a man” in the first place. Review their list here.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Mark Weinberg for The New York Times

Cook: Can’t decide between brownies or cookies? With this dessert, you can have both.

Watch: Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” is a fun but less edgy sequel to the 1988 cult classic, Manohla Dargis writes.

Run: Experts and coaches share their best advice for avoiding six common mistakes that new runners make.

Connect: Standing appointments are a simple way to deepen your friendships.

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

That’s it for today. See you Monday. — Gaya

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