For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment
The New York Times
No major party presidential candidate, much less president, in American history has been accused of wrongdoing so many times.
When the history of the 2024 election is written, one of the iconic images illustrating it will surely be the mug shot taken of Donald J. Trump after one of his four indictments, staring into the camera with his signature glare. It is an image not of shame but of defiance, the image of a man who would be a convicted felon before Election Day and yet possibly president of the United States again afterward.
Sometimes lost amid all the shouting of a high-octane campaign heading into its final couple of weeks is that simple if mind-bending fact. America for the first time in its history may send a criminal to the Oval Office and entrust him with the nuclear codes. What would once have been automatically disqualifying barely seems to slow Mr. Trump down in his comeback march for a second term that he says will be devoted to “retribution.”
In all the different ways that Mr. Trump has upended the traditional rules of American politics, that may be one of the most striking. He has survived more scandals than any major party presidential candidate, much less president, in the life of the republic. Not only survived but thrived. He has turned them on their head, making allegations against him into an argument for him by casting himself as a serial victim rather than a serial violator.
His persecution defense, the notion that he gets in so much trouble only because everyone is out to get him, resonates at his rallies where he says “they’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you, and I’m just standing in the way.” But that of course belies a record of scandal stretching across his 78 years starting long before politics. Whether in his personal life or his public life, he has been accused of so many acts of wrongdoing, investigated by so many prosecutors and agencies, sued by so many plaintiffs and claimants that it requires a scorecard just to remember them all.
His businesses went bankrupt repeatedly and multiple others failed. He was taken to court for stiffing his vendors, stiffing his bankers and even stiffing his own family. He avoided the draft during the Vietnam War and avoided paying any income taxes for years. He was forced to shell out tens of millions of dollars to students who accused him of scamming them, found liable for wide-scale business fraud and had his real estate firm convicted in criminal court of tax crimes.
The co-founder of the United Farm Workers talked about her relationship with Cesar Chavez, and the night he raped her.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is creating a Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, a pared-down version of a major campaign pledge with a smaller budget than promised.
An investigation by The New York Times found extensive evidence that the United Farm Workers co-founder groomed and sexually abused girls who worked in the movement.
Lawyers asked a federal judge to move his trial to 2027, to give them time to prepare for a separate state case. Prosecutors are expected to oppose the request.
As a lawsuit by the former staff drags on, the fight highlights President Trump’s upending of traditional peace-building and the lasting effects of his administration’s cost-cutting blitz.
An unusual heat wave is pushing temperatures in San Francisco into the 80s this week, and Los Angeles hit 98 on Tuesday.
Selling marijuana is strictly prohibited in the military. What that means for soldiers who own businesses is unclear.
As a lawsuit by the former staff drags on, the fight highlights President Trump’s upending of traditional peace-building and the lasting effects of his administration’s cost-cutting blitz.
President Trump’s decision not to weigh in before the deadline means both John Cornyn and Ken Paxton remain on the ballot, extending their costly and increasingly personal battle into a May runoff.
The officer, whom police did not identify but who works at Gracie Mansion and City Hall, is now under investigation. The man who was shot, a 30-year-old, is in critical condition.
New York City has been representing former Mayor Eric Adams in a civil lawsuit concerning an alleged sexual assault in the 1990s.
The purported sighting in March 2006, covered by a local TV news station, made a lasting impression on the internet — and on Mobile, Ala.
New York transit officials are seeking nearly $60 million in overdue federal funding to extend the subway line to East Harlem. The administration’s rationale for the freeze has been inconsistent.