United States: After a six-week trial that included a “freezing” New York City courtroom, the former president Trump—despite his guilty verdict—is now free to resume his campaign trail appearances. The President Biden team is being cautioned by his campaign to “buckle up.” 

Guilty Verdict and Return to Politics

Trump was found guilty on all the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the very first degree in the New York v. Trump. 

Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the case, said Trump was mandatory to be in the court every day for the trail, except Wednesdays when court was not in the session. 

Courtroom Drama and Trial Details

Every day, the former president berated the judge and Democrats for keeping him confined to the courtroom, telling supporters and media that it was “freezing” and that it felt like he was trapped in a “freezing cold icebox.” 

Joe Biden & Donald Trump | Getty Images

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital, “Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats confined President Trump to a courtroom for more than eight hours a day for more than six weeks, and he’s still winning.” “Now that he is fully back on the campaign trail, Biden and the Democrats better buckle up.”  

Campaign Response and Political Strategy

Leavitt stated to Fox News Online In addition to hosting large rallies and unplanned campaign appearances in New York and abroad, Trump “generated billions of dollars in earned media coverage throughout the trial, increased his lead over crooked Joe Biden in the polls, and raised more money in April than Biden and the Democrats.” He was unfazed by a witch hunt trial, either. Actually, it strengthened him much more.” 

Trump’s Critique of New York and Political Aspirations

The 2024 presumptive Republican nominee took the advantage of the location of the trial and the new York city and highlighted that it has been in the decline since Manhattan District Attorney Alvin vowed to straighten out New York.” 

 Trump was happy to met the crowd which was chanting “ Trump , Trump, Trump, for four more years and we love trump the crowd was singing  it like a national Anthem . 

Trump declared that the trial and the accusations against him are “all politics,” “rigged,” and “coming out of the [Biden] White House.”

Joe Biden | The New York Times

On that particular day, the former president concluded that there might be a “reverse effect” from the criminal prosecution. 

“We intend to enter. First and first, you need to put an end to crime, and we’ll allow the police carry out their duties. Their authority needs to be restored. Their work performance is a must,” stated Trump. “We will also be arriving in New York. We’re going all out for New York and other cities as well. However, I adore this city.” 

New York has “gotten so bad in the last three, four years,” according to Trump.

“And we will make things right in New York. Therefore, we’re making a major impact in New York by running for president – we could win New York,” Trump declared. 

Community Engagement Amid Legal Proceedings

 A week or later the Trump spent the day in the court , but on his way home he stopped to deliver the pizzas to first responders at a midtown Manhattan fire department, the same News York City cire department he visited in 2021 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks of Sept. 11, 2021. 

Trump left pizzas and posed for pictures with each firefighter both individually and collectively. He avoided talking to the media.

The former president travelled the country on Wednesdays, holding campaign stops and rallies, and would be back in New York City early on Thursday morning for his court appearance.  

United States: A California judge decided on Wednesday to allow only the retesting of DNA from duct tape that was stuck to Scott Peterson’s wife Laci Peterson’s pants, rejecting the testing of any additional new or old evidence in the decades-old murder case. This decision came after attorneys argued for additional DNA testing in the murder case against Peterson. 

Scott Peterson’s Attempt for a New Trial

About almost 20 years after the conviction, Scott Peterson has made another attempt to get a fresh murder trial. In 2004, Peterson was found guilty of killing his wife Laci and their own newborn child Conner. His death sentence was subsequently overturned and he was given a new one that was for the life without the possibility of parole. 

Judge Elizabeth Hill of San Mateo County Superior Court stated that she was simply deciding on the evidence, not whether or not Peterson could get a new trial. 

DNA Retesting Limited

About 15 inches of duct tape “was found adhering to Laci’s pants on her right thigh.” The motion states that “human DNA was detected in a section of the duct tape that was folded over onto itself after it was tested for DNA, but no DNA was found.” 

Attorneys for the Los Angeles Innocence Project, who had taken up Peterson’s case in January, presented information on Wednesday during the post-conviction DNA testing hearing that they claimed was either never examined or was just left out of the trial. 

Attorney Mark Geragos Scott Peterson. Credit | Getty Images

Contested Evidence and Rulings

Judge Hill only approved the duct tape that was discovered on Laci Peterson out of the 14 items that were asked to be retested. 

The stains on a mattress that was found in the rear of a burned-out vehicle prompted Peterson’s defense team to ask for DNA testing. One day after Laci vanished, the burned-out car was discovered about a mile from the Petersons’ Modesto home. 

In addition, the attorneys sought to review the evidence from a burglary that took place across the street from the Peterson residence. They speculate that Laci might have encountered the burglars as they were committing their crime, which raises the possibility that she was killed since she saw the burglary take place. The items were refused by the judge. 

The prosecution maintained Scott Peterson’s guilt and reexamined the evidence that supported his conviction for double murder. 

According to Dave Harris of the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s office, “We were right then and we are right now, and… [it] is inappropriate for the defense to continue to try and find the things to drag this case out.” 

Scott Peterson. Credit | Getty Images

Case History and Legal Challenges

According to Harris, “the state of California has a powerful interest in the finality of its judgments.” 

In December 2002, Peterson reported his pregnant woman missing from their Modesto, California, home. The bodies of Laci and Conner were discovered washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay lower than four months latterly. 

Following a nearly six- month trial, Peterson was set up shamefaced in November 2004 of first- degree murder in connection with Laci’s death and alternate- degree murder in connection with Conner’s death. The execution claimed that Peterson killed people in order to avoid marriage and impending parenting. Judge Alfred Delucchi assessed the death penalty as suggested by the jury. 

The California Supreme Court reversed Peterson’s death judgment in 2020, posterior to Governor Newsom’s 2019 ban on prosecutions. A many months latterly, a juror failed to reveal involvement in other legal procedures, including but not limited to” being the victim of a crime,” which led the California Supreme Court to order the San Mateo County Superior Court to readdress Peterson’s murder persuasions. In 2021, he entered a life judgment without the possibility of release. 

” Violations of state and civil indigenous rights and state statutory rights, including. a claim of factual innocence that’s supported by recently discovered substantiation,” according to the writ of habeas corpus solicitation filed by Peterson’s counsel in 2023. The association Los Angeles Innocence Project seeks to clear those who are incorrectly condemned, latterly blazoned it was probing Peterson’s claim of factual innocence.” 

United States: America’s NATO partners intend to increase defense expenditure in anticipation of the possible disruption of a second Donald Trump presidency, with six months until the presidential election. 

Allies Anticipate Trump’s Return, Increase Defense Budgets

According to Oana Lungescu, who served as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s longstanding primary spokesman until last year, the alliance’s 75-year military cooperation is being shielded from any shifting political reality by a funding plan that Stoltenberg is putting together.

Predictability is crucial for both allies and Ukraine, Lungescu told CBS News. “This [plan] relieves the U.S. of some of its organizational burden while still maintaining full oversight,” she stated. 

Stoltenberg’s $107 Billion Aid Package for Ukraine

According to Reuters last month, Stoltenberg has suggested a $107 billion, five-year package of military aid for Ukraine, which would give the larger alliance a more direct involvement in funding. 

The idea called for cutting back on the substantial support from the United States and increasing contributions from European allies to Kyiv’s war effort through the creation of a common Ukraine aid fund. 

Trump’s Stance on NATO Spending

Trump’s first year in office shown that the presumed Republican nominee for president in 2024 is not averse to upending NATO. Calling on friends to increase their defense expenditure is a strategy that a prospective Trump White House would vigorously pursue. Trump stunned America’s allies with his frank criticism of some NATO members’ inability to meet defense payment pledges. 

Donald Trump. Credit | Reuters

Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for the Trump campaign, stated in an email that “President Trump got our allies to increase their NATO spending by demanding they pay up, but Crooked Joe Biden went back to letting them take advantage of the American taxpayer.”

“When President Trump returns to the Oval Office, he will restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage,” Leavitt stated. 

According to Lungescu, Stoltenberg’s plan would allay Trump’s criticism that NATO partners aren’t doing enough to share the financial load. At the same time, Stoltenberg is working to shield Ukraine from the kind of extreme congressional delays that stalled U.S. aid and weapons money for the first half of the year, primarily due to House Republicans. According to Lungescu, NATO members are also raising their respective defense budgets, but she also noted that American presidents going all the way back to Eisenhower have chastised their partners for not doing enough. Lungescu made this point to CBS News. 

NATO’s Financial Commitments and Future Prospects  

As to NATO requirements, member states ought to allocate a minimum of 2% of their GDP towards defense spending in order to sustain the Alliance’s military preparedness. 

NATO admits that the combined GDP of its members “nearly equals that of the U.S.” However, according to NATO’s website, “non-U.S. Allies together spend less than half of what the United States spends on defense.”

With the exception of the United States, only 10 of the 30 other NATO partners had reached the 2% spending promise as of 2023; however, by the end of the year, two-thirds of the allies are predicted to have done so.

“I think by the time we get to the Washington NATO summit in July, we will have updated figures and will be in an even better position in terms of significantly increased defense spending,” predicted Lungescu. 

Donald Trump. Credit | EPA

Trump vows to not protect NATO allies who don’t raise their spending. 

\ At a South Carolina campaign event in February, the former president declared that he would support Russia in “doing whatever the hell they want” to NATO partners who fail to contribute a fair amount to the organization. 

The Existential Threat of a Second Trump Term 

Trump claimed to have stated, “Absolutely not,” in response to a question from an unidentified NATO leader that began, “If we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?”

Following his departure from office in January 2021, John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Trump, has stated that the transatlantic alliance faces an existential threat from another Trump term and that the former president was on the verge of pulling the United States out of NATO at the conclusion of a 2018 summit. 

“We owe many [NATO] countries a huge sum of money. At a July 2018 NATO meeting, President Trump stated, “The United States has paid and stepped up like nobody,” adding that “something has to be done.”