International
The phase of initial allegations in the criminal trial of Trump in New York begins on Monday
The trial in New York against former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), accused of falsifying documents to buy the silence of a porn actress and thus protect her career at the White House in 2016, enters this Monday the phase of filing initial allegations.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Trump, 77, who seeks to return to the White House in the November elections, participated in a plan with his then lawyer Michael Cohen and others to influence the 2016 elections by suppressing negative information for his image.
This plan included an alleged payment of $130,000 to silence the porn actress Stormy Daniels and not air a Trump relationship with her at the time his wife Melania was pregnant.
On Monday of last week, the process began and Trump thus became the first former president of the United States to be subject to a criminal trial.
The jury selection process concluded last Friday after the six alternate members were appointed, who were chosen from a total of twenty-two candidates and thus join the twelve holders, seven men and five women, already selected.
Among the elected members is a woman of Spanish origin who passed the suitability filters applied by Judge Juan Merchán, in charge of the case, the prosecutor’s office and the defense lawyers of the former governor.
However, multiple candidates were discarded after assuring that they suffered from anxiety or “douts” at the prospect of having to be part of the jury.
On Friday, a hearing was also held in which prosecutors confirmed that, if Trump gets on the rune in this criminal trial, they will also ask him about his other legal battles, including two high-profile civil sentences for which he has been convicted in New York.
They also asked Judge Merchán for permission to interrogate the former president about alleged sexual attacks committed against other women, a matter on which the magistrate could rule on Monday.
Trump appeared on April 4, 2023 before the judge of the New York court in Manhattan, heard the notification of the charges against him and pleaded not guilty.
He is accused of 34 serious crimes related to his attempt to silence Daniels, who in 2016 sought to sell his story about the sexual relations he allegedly had with the former president a decade earlier.
Each of the crimes could result in Trump a prison sentence of up to 4 years.
The defense is expected to harshly attack the credibility of the Prosecutor’s Office’s Witnesses, in particular Michael Cohen, Trump’s then right-hand man, who made the payment to Daniels and pleaded guilty in 2018 of violating campaign funding and other federal laws.
Judge Merchán expressed his concern about the safety of the jury this week and said that he would prohibit journalists from revealing any information about the current and past work histories of the jury members, as well as exposing physical characteristics that make them identifiable.
The Manhattan case is the first to go to trial of the four criminal cases that Trump faces, it is also the sharpest personally and may be the only one to be held before the presidential elections next November.
In addition to this process in New York, Trump will also have to answer in the courts of Georgia and Washington DC for his alleged attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential elections that he lost against the current Democratic president, Joe Biden.
And in Florida, for the accusation of illegally stealing and keeping in his Mar-a-Lago mansion classified documents that he took from the White House after leaving power.
International
Trump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it will begin construction in September on a new 8,000-square-meter ballroom at the White House.
The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
International
Three salvadorans in Florida sentenced in $146 million construction tax fraud scheme
Three Salvadoran residents living in Orlando, Florida, were sentenced for conspiracy to commit tax fraud and wire fraud involving a scheme exceeding $146 million in the construction industry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. The sentence was handed down by federal judge Timothy J. Corrigan on Tuesday, July 29.
Eduardo Aníbal Escobar (45) was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison, Carlos Alberto Rodríguez (36) to 3 years and 4 months, and Adelmy Tejada (57) to 18 months in prison, followed by 6 months of house arrest. All three pled guilty on April 3, 2025.
In addition to the prison terms, the court ordered restitution payments totaling $36,957,616 to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes, and $397,895 to two insurers for workers’ compensation claims related to the scheme.
Escobar and Rodríguez are permanent legal residents originally from El Salvador, while Tejada is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Salvadoran origin.
International
Kremlin hails preparedness after Kamchatka quakes leave no casualties
The Kremlin expressed relief that the earthquakes that struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula today —the first being the strongest since 1952— resulted in no casualties, and emphasized that the region is well prepared to face such natural disasters.
“Thank God, there were no victims,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during his daily press briefing.
The presidential representative stated that “all alert systems were activated in time, and evacuations were organized for residents in areas requiring it in response to tsunami threats.”
“Overall, the seismic resilience of the buildings proved effective (…) Therefore, we can say that the technological preparedness demonstrated a high level,” Peskov added.
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