Trump trial live: Jury to consider verdict after prosecution sets out ‘smoking guns’ hush money evidence

Let’s recap yesterday’s closing arguments, shall we?

First up, here’s Alex Woodward’s account of Todd Blanche’s two-hour summation, in which he called Michael Cohen “the Tom Brady of lying” and listed 10 reasons for the jurors to entertain reasonable doubt about the prosecution’s case against his client.

The Hollywood legend turned up outside Trump’s hush money trial yesterday along with members of Joe Biden’s campaign team and January 6 police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone and got into a heated row with members of the public who had turned out to support the defendant.

Trump, of course, couldn’t resist deriding a celebrity whose support he might otherwise warmly welcome, accusing the great man of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and saying his “movies, artistry, and brand have gone WAY DOWN IN VALUE since he entered the political arena at the request of Crooked Joe Biden”.

Killers of the Flower Moon aside, he may actually have a point there – and certainly sounds like someone who’s just come out of a screening of the extended director’s cut of Dirty Grandpa.

Here’s Gustaf Kilander on Bobby D.

He may not have spoken to reporters when he left Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday but you better believe Trump was fuming about what he had heard – and was never going to go quietly, whatever happened.

Here’s his latest social media raging, in which he complains about Steinglass “filibustering” by speaking for so long (a summation he calls “BORING!”), denies that Cohen was ever a “fixer” but actually once a respectable lawyer and huffs that he had no right to reply because of the gag order (he did – he could have taken the stand, but chickened out).

Donald Trump is being mocked after he launched into a fiery rant about a very simple, common process in a criminal trial.

On the eve of closing arguments in his hush money trial in Manhattan, the former president took to Truth Social to complain that the prosecution is being a “big advantage” in the case.

Martha McHardy reports:

Donald Trump suggested during a fundraising event that he would have bombed Moscow in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and attacked Beijing if China invaded Taiwan on his watch, according to a Washington Post report.

The comments surprised some of the donors at the event.

Gustaf Kilander has the story:

To find him guilty of those charged felonies, jurors must find that prosecutors have proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr Trump not only falsified business records but did so in order to commit or conceal another crime.

Alex Woodward has the details:

John Bowden reports:

Just days after Freedom Caucus chair Bob Good traveled to a Manhattan courtroom to show support for Donald Trump, the former president has endorsed his Republican primary opponent.

The ex-president’s insertion into the Republican primary race playing out in Virginia’s 5th congressional district is a sign of the heightened level of loyalty GOP members of Congress are now expected to show to their party’s presumed nominee for president, despite (or possibly due to) the onslaught of criminal charges Mr Trump now faces.

“Bob Good is BAD FOR VIRGINIA, AND BAD FOR THE USA,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday of the man who had personally journeyed miles to seek his favor just a few days ago.

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Robert De Niro and two January 6 first responders slammed Donald Trump on behalf of the Biden campaign as closing arguments began in the former president’s hush money trial.

The Hollywood star was joined in New York by January 6 first responders, police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone.

Both became outspoken critics of Mr Trump after the Capitol riot. This year, Mr Dunn ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Maryland.

Gustaf Kilander reports:

The Biden campaign mocked Donald Trump’s mumbling and use of an “emotional support paper” to deliver a speech outside his New York hush money trial, repurposing a frequent line of attack on Joe Biden, who sometimes speaks with a stutter.

Josh Marcus reports:

E Jean Carroll’s lawyers have hinted that a new defamation lawsuit could be “on the table” after Donald Trump attacked her yet again in one of his latest Truth Social rants.

On the eve of closing arguments in his hush money trial, the former president took to Truth Social to fire off a “Happy Memorial Day” message to all “the human scum” and then added to his growing list of defamatory statements about Ms Carroll.

Rachel Sharp reports: