Donald Trump has said he will appeal against his criminal conviction for falsifying business records – insisting he paid a “legal expense” and there was “nothing illegal”.
In a disjointed 40-minute news conference at Trump Tower in New York, Trump started by saying “if they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone” – before going on to criticise his trial and the “highly conflicted judge” who presided over it.
He later attacked Joe Biden, calling him “the dumbest president we’ve ever had”, labelled the gag order imposed during the hush money trial “nasty”, and tested its limits by taking aim at his former lawyer Michael Cohen.
“This [trial] is all done by Biden and his people,” Trump claimed – saying President Joe Biden’s administration worked “in conjunction with” the Department of Justice on his prosecution.
Trump also repeated his allegation that the trial was “rigged” and criticised a decision to refuse his defence’s request for a venue change. “Witnesses on our side were literally crucified,” he continued.
The former president said “we are going to fight”, adding: “We’re going to be appealing this on many different things.”
His son Eric Trump and daughter-in-law Lara Trump were present for the speech but his wife Melania – who has been publicly silent since the verdicts – was not seen.
On Thursday, a unanimous jury in New York found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
The former president covered up a $130,000 (£102,000) payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels as part of a “hush money” scheme to bury stories he thought might hurt his presidential campaign in 2016.
At Trump Tower today, the former president insisted the payment to his former lawyer and fixer Mr Cohen was simply a “legal expense” and “standard stuff” – “there was nothing illegal”, Trump added.
A gag order prevents Trump from publicly criticising witnesses from the hush money trial, including Cohen.
While the former president didn’t name his former lawyer, he labelled him a “sleazebag”, adding: “Everybody knows that.”
He said prosecutors just wanted to find out whether he was “a bad boy here, bad boy there” and said “salacious details” of his alleged encounter with Ms Daniels in a hotel room had “nothing to do with the case”.
In the rambling speech, he also said of his opponents: “These are bad people, these are sick people. They want to stop you from having cars.”
Trump claimed he wanted to take the stand during the trial but said he ultimately decided against it as he feared being prosecuted for perjury if he made a verbal misstep.
“I would have liked to have testified,” he said. “But you would have said something out of whack like, ‘It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was actually raining out.'”
Outside on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, supporters gathered and flew a giant red “Trump or death” flag outside a high-end boutique.
A small group of protesters held signs saying “justice matters” and “guilty”.
Biden responds to Trump’s conviction
Speaking at the White House two hours after Trump’s news conference, President Biden said it was “reckless, dangerous and irresponsible for anyone to say [the trial] is rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.”
“The American principle that no one is above the law is reaffirmed,” he said. “Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. Now he will be given the opportunity to appeal the decision.
“That’s how the American justice system works. We should respect it and never let anyone tear it down. We’re America. That’s who we are and that’s who we’ll always be.”
In his speech, Trump claimed the case has bolstered his campaign fundraising with $39m coming in from “small money donors” in the 10 hours after his conviction.
The Trump campaign has slightly different figures and claimed $34.8m (£27.3m) has been raised to support the Republican’s presidential bid since the verdict.
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They also say an influx of supporters crashed their fundraising platform.
Trump is due to be sentenced on 11 July – just a few days before the Republican Party is expected to confirm him as its nominee for the presidential election against Democrat President Biden in November.
As the two most powerful countries in the world, the relationship between the United States and China is the most consequential of all bilateral ties.
Any change in interactions and behaviour by either side does not just impact security, economic activity and trade in Washington and Beijing, but also affects the rest of the planet.
President Xi Jinping chose to make this point publicly as he said hello – and presumably goodbye – to Joe Biden when the two men met on the sidelines of an economic forum in Peru in what was likely their last face-to-face sit down before the US leader hands the keys to the White House over to Donald Trump.
“As two major countries, China and the United States should bear in mind the interest of the whole world and inject more certainty and positive energy into the turbulent world,” Mr Xi said, speaking through a translator.
“It is my consistent belief that as the world’s most important bilateral relationship, a stable China-US relationship is critical not only to the interests of the Chinese and American peoples but also to the future and destiny of the entire humanity.”
Mr Biden, whose relationship with his opposite number does not just span his four years as president but also when he previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, also focused on the importance of dialogue.
“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank,” he said, sitting at a long table, surrounded by aides, with Mr Xi opposite him.
“I think that’s vital. These conversations prevent miscalculations, and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict. Be competition, not conflict.”
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While clearly directed at him, it is doubtful that Mr Trump will heed the advice.
He has consistently criticised the Biden administration for being too soft on Beijing and has vowed to be much tougher – even saying he would impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports.
The president-elect’s picks for top jobs in the White House, such as with China hawks Senator Marco Rubio as his desired secretary of state, and Representative Mike Walz as national security adviser, also point to a hardening in the US’ position on Beijing – which is on a trajectory to overtake Washington as the world’s number one superpower.
This moment of re-ordering in global dominance – something the UK was once forced to absorb when the sun set on the British Empire – is on course to happen regardless of who is in the White House.
But a more hostile and combative commander-in-chief in the White House makes it an increasingly perilous time for everyone.
It is perhaps why the current leaders in Beijing and Washington are so keen to stress that while their feelings towards one another go up and down, the ability to keep talking is critical.
Joe Biden has met with Xi Jinping for the last time as US president, where the Chinese leader said he is “ready to work” with Donald Trump.
Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, Mr Biden said the US and China’s relationship should be about “competition, not conflict”.
“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank,” he said.
“We’ve never kidded one another. These conversations prevent miscalculations, and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict.
“We’ve been level with one another. I think that’s vital.”
But despite Mr Trump’s proposed measures, Mr Xi said his country’s goal “of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged”.
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“Our commitment to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and… cooperation as principles for handling China-US relations remains unchanged,” he added.
The Chinese president then said the country is “ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a steady transition”.
Neither Mr Xi nor Mr Biden responded to a question about whether there were concerns about Mr Trump’s proposed tariffs.
The president-elect has also named several China hawks to his transition team, such as Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson says the health scare in June, which forced the postponement of his boxing match with Jake Paul, almost cost him his life.
“I almost died in June,” Tyson wrote on X, adding that he “had 8 blood transfusions. Lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital”.
The 58-year-old, who lost to the YouTuber-turned-boxer in a unanimous points decision in Texas, tweeted that the situation was far worse than people had realised.
Following Tyson’s recovery, after reportedly suffering an ulcer flareup, he reflected on the result of the fight.
“This is one of those situations when you lost but still won… no regrets to get in the ring one last time,” he said.
That contrasts with Tyson’s comments after the match in which he refused to confirm whether it would be his last fight.
“It depends on the situation,” Tyson said before suggesting a fight with Paul’s older brother, Logan Paul, who was standing near him in the ring.
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Critics argued that the revised match – which involved fewer and shortened rounds, as well as heavier gloves – fell short of entertaining.
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Paul beats Tyson by unanimous decision
Some claimed it appeared more like a glorified sparring session.
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It was Tyson’s first sanctioned pro bout since 2005, when he lost to Kevin McBride and then went into retirement – only briefly reappearing for an exhibition match in 2020 against Roy Jones Jr.
Paul has plenty to prove
Paul, 27, still has plenty to prove. The social media influencer wants to be a championship fighter and compete for a championship belt within two years. “I think it could happen in the next 24 months,” Paul said.
“I truly, truly believe in my skills and my ability and my power. And the cruiserweight division is seemingly open for the taking on that timeline,” he added.
The only professional match he has lost so far has been to Tommy Fury, the less-accomplished brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
But there are questions about when Paul will fight a contender in his prime, as opposed to former champions or mixed martial artists.
Intriguingly, in the days before his fight with Tyson, Paul mentioned super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, considered one of the best boxers in the world.
According to reports, the Texas bout earned Paul $40m (£31.7m) versus $20m (£15.8m) for Tyson.
Netflix said 60 million households worldwide viewed the contest on its streaming platform, and nearly 50 million tuned in to watch the undercard which saw Ireland’s Katie Taylor beat Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano.
Even so there were some technical glitches. More than 90,000 users reported problems on Netflix at its peak, according to the website Downdetector, which tracks outages.