Comment on Donald Trump tries to court minorities at Florida rally

As the jury began deliberation in his criminal trial, Donald Trump told reporters that, after listening to Judge Juan Merchan’s instructions to the jury, he believes “Mother Teresa could not beat the charges,” the New York Times reports. He again called the judge “corrupt” and “conflicted” and complained that he cannot fully back up his accusations about him because of the gag order that has been imposed on him. He also railed against actor Robert De Niro, calling him “a broken-down fool.”

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, is pushing an aggressive plan to build up the Pentagon budget, a blueprint he says is the “generational investment” needed to keep pace with worldwide threats, Politico reports.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have discussed a possible advisory role for the Tesla leader should the presumptive Republican nominee reclaim the White House, the latest sign that the once-frosty relationship between the two men has thawed,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The role hasn’t been fully hammered out and might not happen, people familiar with the talks said, but the two men discussed ways to give Musk formal input and influence over policies related to border security and the economy, both issues on which Musk has grown more vocal.” “Musk, along with the billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, has also briefed Trump on a plan they’ve developed to invest in a data-driven project to prevent voter fraud… Peltz and Musk also told Trump of an influence campaign in elite circles that is already under way, in which Musk and his political allies host gatherings of powerful business leaders across the country and try to convince them not to support President Biden’s re-election campaign.”

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo revealed this morning that giant pandas will return to Washington later this year.

“These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

“For the past five weeks, the 12 unidentified jurors in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial have listened to opening statements, witness testimony, closing arguments and the judge’s final instructions,” the New York Times reports. “Now is the time for their deliberations to begin. The jurors will retreat behind closed doors on Wednesday and start to debate whether the first president to be criminally prosecuted has committed felony crimes.” ABC News: Judge tells jury they can’t convict based on Michael Cohen alone.