Trump trial live: Opening statements set to begin Monday in historic criminal case

Here’s more on the man expected to be the first witness called at trial this week, courtesy of Martha McHardy.

The tabloid has gone after Marjorie Taylor Greene over her opposition to aid for Ukraine to help defend itself against Russia.

Using a quote from former Republican congressman Ken Buck, the News Corp-owned paper — infamous for its front pages — refers to the Georgia Republican populist as “Moscow Marjorie”.

Here’s Buck on CNN on Friday explaining that Greene is “just mouthing the Russian propaganda”:

The Georgia lawmaker has fought vociferously against aiding the US ally in its fight against Vladimir Putin’s war, now in its second year.

On Saturday, she was furious after the House of Representatives passed the $60bn aid package for Ukraine, which heads to the Senate on Tuesday.

Here’s John Bowden on the passage of that package, which was very much the right thing to do but could nevertheless cost House speaker Mike Johnson his job if Greene has her way.

Here’s more from Alex Woodward outside the courthouse:

“Trump has a pretty big week coming up: His trial starts in earnest at the same time that Judge Arthur Engoron holds a hearing down the street on his fraud appeal bond.

“And his attorneys will be at the Supreme Court on Thursday for oral arguments in his ‘immunity’ defence, one of the most important cases before the court in our lifetimes.

“Trump’s team unsuccessfully tried to get him excused from his criminal trial so that he could attend the Supreme Court hearing. No dice.

“Instead, he’ll be surrounded by journalists in a crowded courtroom with a jury seated across the room from him.

“Last week’s jury selection was largely closed to the press and public, except for a pool of six reporters and a sketch artist. Now that the jury is seated, the full court will be open to reporters, as well as the adjoining overflow room.

“The courthouse doors don’t open for another hour but the line here is much longer than last week. Lots of international journalists here to capture the trial’s first ‘real’ week, with some larger US outlets sending several reporters into the court.

“But first up today Judge Merchan is expected to issue some pretrial rulings about what exactly prosecutors can bring up about Trump’s legal problems if he decides to testify.”

On that note, here’s what his defence team told the judge on Friday.

Here’s a look at the very real possibility of incarceration the former president is facing should matters go against him in Manhattan over the next few weeks.

Michael Avenatti, the porn star’s disgraced former lawyer, has said that he is in touch with Trump’s legal defence team and is willing to testify on behalf of the former president at his trial.

“The defence has contacted me,” Avenatti told The New York Post from prison.

“I’d be more than happy to testify, I don’t know that I will be called to testify, but I have been in touch with Trump’s defence for the better part of a year.”

Avenatti is currently serving a 19-year sentence for extortion, tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement and other federal crimes at Terminal Island, a minimum-security federal prison in Los Angeles.

You can catch all the latest from Manhattan via the livestream below.

Golden sneakers, Lee Greenwood Bibles and now a customisable “Love & Gratitude” necklace for Mother’s Day – is this a presidential campaign or a home shopping channel?

Here’s Oliver O’Connell on Melania’s return to the campaign trail (well, sort of) on Saturday, which saw her help a conservative LGBT+ group, the Log Cabin Republicans, raise $1m at a Mar-a-Lago dinner.

The defendant complained bitterly last week that Judge Merchan’s requirement that he attend court four days a week was stopping him from travelling to key swing states to campaign for the presidency.

When he finally did get away over the weekend, his rally had to be cancelled because of the weather, which might just count as divine intervention (revenge for trying to cash-in on the Bible?)

This is what Trump had to say to his supporters on Truth Social.

Alex Woodward is back outside the court in Lower Manhattan for us once again this morning and reports:

“The gates for the staging area for press are still locked but there’s a line wrapping around the park in the meantime.

“There wasn’t an acknowledgement in court on Friday (probably for the best) of the man who self-immolated a few literal steps from where I’m standing now, and the security and police presence don’t seemed to have changed.

“We’re anticipating opening arguments from the prosecution and potentially a first witness, with speculation that it’s David Pecker.

“Justice Merchan will also likely handle any Sandoval business in the morning.”

Alex Woodward reported for The Independent from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan all of last week.

Here’s his look back at exactly what went down.