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Former President Trump to be arraigned this week

Trump is the first U.S. president to be indicted. He’s expected to be in a New York court this week. FOX 5”s Jessica Formoso has the latest.

NEW YORK – Former President Donald Trump is facing multiple charges of falsifying business records, including at least one felony offense, in the indictment handed down by a Manhattan grand jury, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday.

He will be formally arrested and arraigned Tuesday in his hush money case, setting the scene for the historic, shocking moment when a former president is forced to stand before a judge to hear the criminal charges against him.

The indictment remained sealed and the specific charges were not immediately known, but details were confirmed by people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information that isn't yet public.

Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a 2024 election campaign rally in Waco, Texas, March 25, 2023. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

The streets outside the courthouse where the arraignment will unfold were calm Friday compared with earlier in the week. There were no large-scale demonstrations for or against Trump, though tourists stopped to take selfies and throngs of reporters and police officers remained assembled.

READ MORE: Law enforcement prepares for possible crowds ahead of Trump surrender

When Trump turns himself in, he’ll be booked mostly like anyone else facing charges, mug shot, fingerprinting and all. But he isn’t expected to be put in handcuffs; he’ll have Secret Service protection and will almost certainly be released that same day.

In the meantime, Trump's legal team prepared his defense while the prosecutor's office defended the grand jury investigation that propelled the matter toward trial. Congressional Republicans, as well as Trump himself, contend the whole matter is politically motivated. Law enforcement agencies prepare for Trump’s surrender

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the NYPD, US Secret Service, US Marshals, and New York State Court Officers, are coordinating ahead of former President Donald Trump’s expected surrender next week.

"We urge you to refrain from these inflammatory accusations, withdraw your demand for information, and let the criminal justice process proceed without unlawful political interference," Leslie Dubeck, general counsel in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, wrote in a letter sent Friday to three Republican House committee chairs that was obtained by The Associated Press.

READ MORE: Who is Alvin Bragg? What to know about the Manhattan district attorney

The case is plunging the U.S. into uncharted legal waters, with Trump the first former president ever to face an indictment. And the political implications could be titanic ahead of next year’s presidential election. Trump is in the midst of running for president a third time and has said the case against him could hurt that effort — though his campaign is already furiously raising money by citing it.

READ MORE: 'Rule of law has died': Trump 'ready to fight' indictment, attorney says

The Trump campaign said it raised $4-plus million in the first 24 hours after news of the indictment broke.

Top Republicans also have begun closing ranks around him. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has promised to use congressional oversight to probe Bragg. Reps. James Comer, Jim Jordan and Bryan Steil, the committee chairs whom Bragg addressed in his letter, have asked the district attorney's office for grand jury testimony, documents and copies of any communications with the Justice Department.

Trump's indictment came after a grand jury probe into hush money paid during the 2016 presidential campaign to squelch allegations of an extramarital sexual encounter. The indictment itself has remained sealed, as is standard in New York before an arraignment.

A portable security tower of Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office stands at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on April 1, 2023 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Expand

The investigation dug into six-figure payments made to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both claim to have had sexual encounters with the married Trump years before he got into politics. He denies having sexual liaisons with either woman.

READ MORE: Reporters from across the globe gather in New York City after Trump’s indictment

Trump also has denied any wrongdoing involving payments and has denounced the investigation as a "scam," a "persecution," an injustice. He shouts in all capital letters on his social media platform that the Democrats have "LIED, CHEATED" and more to damage his 2024 presidential run.

Trump lawyer Joseph Tacopina said during TV interviews Friday he would "very aggressively" challenge the legal validity of the Manhattan grand jury indictment. Trump himself, on his social media platform, trained his ire on a new target, complaining that the judge expected to handle the case, Juan Manuel Merchan, "HATES ME."

The former president is expected to fly to New York on Monday and stay at Trump Tower overnight ahead of his planned arraignment Tuesday, according to two people familiar with his plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump's travel.

Trump will be arraigned in the same Manhattan courtroom where his company was tried and convicted of tax fraud in December and where disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial took place. On Friday, officials from the Secret Service and the NYPD toured the courthouse and met about security plans. Trump indictment: What legal lingo you need to know

It can be pretty easy to get lost in the terms and the legalese surrounding the indictment of former President Donald Trump. But ultimately, there are just a few words and phrases that are important. FOX 5 NY’s Chris Welch speaks with legal experts about what you need to know.

Court officers ultimately closed and secured access to the 15th floor, where Merchan was continuing to preside over unrelated matters, until Trump's arraignment.

Lawyers involved in the cases and some employees were permitted to stay, but media were chased away by officers, who were standing sentry in front of a bike-rack barricade set up in the hallway. Officers yelled at reporters who ventured up, "This floor is closed," and ordered them to get back in the elevator and leave.

"Officers have been cautioned to remain vigilant and maintain situational awareness, both inside courthouses and while on perimeter patrols, as evidenced by the incident on Tuesday afternoon outside of Manhattan Supreme Court," the court said in a statement.

Since Trump’s March 18 post claiming his arrest was imminent, authorities have ratcheted up security, deploying additional police officers, lining the streets around the courthouse with barricades and dispatching bomb-sniffing dogs. They’ve had to respond to bomb and death threats, a suspicious powder scare and a pro-Trump protester who was arrested Tuesday after witnesses say she pulled a knife on passersby.

READ MORE: Why was Trump indicted? What to expect in New York hush money case

Since no former president had ever been charged with a crime, there's no rulebook for booking the defendant. He will be fingerprinted and have a mug shot taken, and investigators will complete arrest paperwork and check to see if he has any outstanding criminal charges or warrants, according to a person familiar who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive security operations.

All of that activity takes place away from the public. New York law discourages the release of mug shots in most cases. Less clear is whether Trump would seek to have the picture released himself, for political or other reasons.

Once the booking is complete, the former president would appear befoe a judge for an afternoon arraignment.

Even for defendants who turn themselves in, answering criminal charges in New York generally entails at least several hours of detention while being fingerprinted, photographed, and going through other procedures.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Waco Regional Airport on March 25, 2023 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

As for the allegations, as Trump ran for president in 2016, his allies paid two women to bury their accusations. The publisher of the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer paid McDougal $150,000 for rights to her story and sat on it, in an arrangement brokered by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

After Cohen himself paid Daniels $130,000, Trump’s company reimbursed him, added bonuses and logged the payments as legal expenses.

Federal prosecutors argued — in a 2018 criminal case against Cohen — that the payments equated to illegal aid to Trump’s campaign. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violation charges, but federal prosecutors didn’t go after Trump, who was then in the White House. However, some of their court filings obliquely implicated him as someone who knew about the payment arrangements.

READ MORE: Reports: Fulton County grand jury probe heard unreleased Trump call recording

The New York indictment came as Trump contends with other investigations. In Atlanta, prosecutors are considering whether he committed any crimes when trying to get Georgia officials to overturn his narrow 2020 election loss there to Joe Biden.

And, at the federal level, a Justice Department-appointed special counsel also is investigating Trump’s efforts to unravel the national election results. Additionally, the special counsel is examining how and why Trump held onto a cache of top secret government documents at his Florida club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, and whether the ex-president or his representatives tried to obstruct the probe into those documents.

FOX 5's Jessica Formoso contributed to this report. 

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Politics

Chief rabbi condemns BBC’s ‘mishandled response’ to anti-IDF chanting at Glastonbury – as Bob Vylan issue new statement

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Chief rabbi condemns BBC's 'mishandled response' to anti-IDF chanting at Glastonbury - as Bob Vylan issue new statement

The chief rabbi has described the BBC’s response to anti-IDF chanting at Glastonbury as “belated and mishandled” – as the punk-rap duo involved, Bob Vylan, said the UK government needed to talk about its “criminal inaction”.

Sir Ephraim Mirvis said “vile Jew-hatred” had been aired at the Somerset music festival and it was a “time of national shame”.

Confidence in the BBC’s “ability to treat antisemitism seriously” has been brought to a “new low”, he said in a post on X, adding that “outright incitement to violence and hatred” appeared to be acceptable if it was couched as “edgy political commentary”.

Ordinary people had not only failed to see incitement “for what it is” but had cheered it, chanted it, and celebrated it, he said. “Toxic Jew-hatred is a threat to our entire society,” he added.

Bob Vylan, posting a new statement on Instagram on Tuesday, said they were “not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people”.

Rather, they were for the “dismantling of a violent military machine” – the Israel Defence Forces.

Bob Vylan chanted “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury. As many as 95% of the IDF are thought to be Jewish.

In their statement, the group said they were a “distraction from the story” and that whatever “sanctions” they received would also be a distraction.

Their US visas have been revoked and United Talent Agency, their US representatives, have dropped them.

Bob Vylan with their MOBO award in London in November 2022. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Bob Vylan with their MOBO award in London in November 2022. Pic: Reuters

Referring to the war in Gaza, they claimed the UK government does not want them to ask “why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity”, “why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing” and “feed the starving”.

They added: “The more time they talk about Bob Vylan, the less time they spend answering for their criminal inaction.

“We are being targeted for speaking up. We are not the first, we will not be the last, and if you care for the sanctity of human life and freedom of speech, we urge you to speak up, too.”

It has emerged that Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, was at Glastonbury when the duo led chants of “Death to the IDF” which were broadcast live.

The prime minister’s spokesman, asked if the PM had confidence in Mr Davie, said Sir Keir Starmer had “confidence in the BBC”, adding: “The position of the director-general is a matter for the BBC’s board.”

Speaking in the Commons, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said “accountability” was important and it was something she had “impressed upon the BBC leadership”.

She added: “When you have one editorial failure, it’s something that must be gripped. When you have several, it becomes a problem of leadership.”

The cabinet minister said she’d called Mr Davie after Bob Vylan’s set had been broadcast to find out why it had aired, and why the feed had not been cut.

“I expect answers to these questions without delay,” she said.

Meanwhile Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the culture, media and sport committee, has written to Mr Davie in relation to the corporation’s Glastonbury coverage.

The committee has said the letter asks about editorial and decision-making processes and whether consideration was given to broadcasting with a delay. It also asks about staffing levels at the festival and contingency planning.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport Lisa Nandy arrives in Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting. Picture date: Tuesday May 13, 2025.
Image:
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has claimed there is a ‘problem of leadership’ at the BBC. File pic: PA

Avon and Somerset Police has begun a criminal investigation and is reviewing footage of both Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s performances at Glastonbury.

The force said a senior detective had been appointed – and it had been contacted by people from around the world.

“We… recognise the strength of public feeling,” it said.

During Kneecap’s set, one member suggested starting a “riot” outside his bandmate’s forthcoming court appearance, before clarifying that he meant “support”. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, is charged with a terror offence.

Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap performing at Glastonbury. Pic: Reuters

Bob Vylan had been due to tour the US before their visas were revoked.

US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau said action had been taken “in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants”.

“Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” he added.

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During Bob Vylan’s set, the duo performed in front of a screen that showed several messages, including one that claimed Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to “genocide”.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has led to the deaths of more than 56,500 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Read more from Sky News:
Starmer faces rebellion at key welfare cuts vote
Trump piles more pressure on central bank chief

Media watchdog Ofcom has said the BBC “clearly has questions to answer” over the live stream from Glastonbury.

A BBC spokesperson said: “The director-general was informed of the incident after the performance and at that point he was clear it should not feature in any other Glastonbury coverage.”

The broadcaster respects freedom of expression but “stands firmly against incitement to violence”, they said.

They added: “The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves…

“The team were dealing with a live situation, but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.”

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Technology

Google promotes ‘AI Mode’ on home page ‘Doodle’

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Google promotes ‘AI Mode’ on home page 'Doodle'

Google CEO Sundar Pichai addresses the crowd during Google’s annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California on May 20, 2025.

Camille Cohen | AFP | Getty Images

The Google Doodle is Alphabet’s most valuable piece of real estate, and on Tuesday, the company used that space to promote “AI Mode,” its latest AI search product.

Google’s Chrome browser landing pages and Google’s home page featured an animated image that, when clicked, leads users to AI Mode, the company’s latest search product. The doodle image also includes a share button.

The promotion of AI Mode on the Google Doodle comes as the tech company makes efforts to expose more users to its latest AI features amid pressure from artificial intelligence startups. That includes OpenAI which makes ChatGPT, Anthropic which makes Claude and Perplexity AI, which bills itself as an “AI-powered answer engine.”

Google’s “Doodle” Tuesday directed users to its search chatbot-like experience “AI Mode”

AI Mode is Google’s chatbot-like experience for complex user questions. The company began displaying AI Mode alongside its search results page in March.

“Search whatever’s on your mind and get AI-powered responses,” the product description reads when clicked from the home page.

AI Mode is powered by Google’s flagship AI model Gemini, and the tool has rolled out to more U.S. users since its launch. Users can ask AI Mode questions using text, voice or images. Google says AI Mode makes it easier to find answers to complex questions that might have previously required multiple searches.

In May, Google tested the AI Mode feature directly beneath the Google search bar, replacing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” widget — a place where Google rarely makes changes.

WATCH: Google buyouts highlight tech’s cost-cutting amid AI CapEx boom

Google buyouts highlight tech's cost-cutting amid AI CapEx boom

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Environment

Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready

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Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it's almost ready

Tesla has unveiled its lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cell factory in Nevada and claims that it is nearly ready to start production.

Like several other automakers using LFP cells, Tesla relies heavily on Chinese manufacturers for its battery cell supply.

Tesla’s cheapest electric vehicles all utilize LFP cells, and its entire range of energy storage products, Megapacks and Powerwalls, also employ the more affordable LFP cell chemistry from Chinese manufacturers.

This reliance on Chinese manufacturers is less than ideal and particularly complicated for US automakers and battery pack manufacturers like Tesla, amid an ongoing trade war between the US and virtually the entire world, including China.

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As of last year, a 25% tariff already applied to battery cells from China, but this increased to more than 80% under Trump before he paused some tariffs on China. It remains unclear where they will end up by the time negotiations are complete and the trade war is resolved, but many expect it to be higher.

Prior to Trump taking power, Tesla had already planned to build a small LFP battery factory in the US to avoid the 25% tariffs.

The automaker had secured older manufacturing equipment from one of its battery cell suppliers, CATL, and planned to deploy it in the US for small-scale production.

Tesla has now released new images of the factory in Nevada and claimed that it is “nearing completion”:

Here are a few images from inside the factory (via Tesla):

Previous reporting stated that Tesla aims to produce about 10 GWh of LFP battery cells per year at the new factory.

The cells are expected to be used in Tesla’s Megapack, produced in the US. Tesla currently has a capacity to produce 40 GWh of Megapacks annually at its factory in California. The company is also working on a new Megapack factory in Texas.

Ford is also developing its own LFP battery cell factory in Michigan, but this facility is significantly larger, with a planned production capacity of 35 GWh.

Electrek’s Take

It’s nice to see this in the US. LFP was a US/Canada invention, with Arumugam Manthiram and John B. Goodenough doing much of the early work, and researchers in Quebec making several contributions to help with commercialization.

But China saw the potential early and invested heavily in volume manufacturing of LFP cells and it now dominates the market.

Tesla is now producing most of its vehicles with LFP cells and all its stationary energy storage products.

It makes sense to invest in your own production. However, Tesla is unlikely to catch up to BYD and CATL, which dominate LFP cell production.

The move will help Tesla avoid tariffs on a small percentage of its Megapacks produced in the US. Ford’s effort is more ambitious.

It’s worth noting that both Ford’s and Tesla’s LFP plants were planned before Trump’s tariffs, which have had limited success in bringing manufacturing back to the US.

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