Former President Trump is facing a very important moment. He’s trying hard to delay the start of his first trial in New York. His chances to delay the trial are getting fewer and fewer as the days go by.

Trump really wants to postpone his trials until after the next election. If he can do that, and if he wins the election, it could mean his legal cases would be put on hold.

But things aren’t looking good for him. Judges have said no to some of his last-minute attempts to delay the trial this week. That’s a strong sign that his trial over a payment made to a woman named Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election will start on Monday.

Law professor Jessica Levinson says Trump’s strategy has always been to delay things for as long as possible. But now, time is running out for him.

Trump’s lawyers have been trying hard in court for the past few days to delay the trial. First, they wanted the trial moved to a different place, saying Manhattan wasn’t fair to Trump. They suggested Staten Island instead. But a judge said no to that on Monday.

Then, they tried to stop the trial by suing the judge who is overseeing the case. They didn’t like that the judge had told Trump to stop talking about certain things. But another judge said no to that on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers tried again to delay the trial by arguing against some of the judge’s decisions. But they got another no from the court.

Now, a group of five judges will look at these requests. If they say yes, the trial could be stopped. But that might not happen before it starts on Monday.

Even though Trump has been saying he didn’t think the trial would start on time, he now seems to accept that it will.

Trump is still trying other things too. He’s asked the judge to step aside from the case because the judge’s daughter works for a political group that Trump doesn’t like. But the chances of this working are very low, according to Levinson.

No matter what happens, it looks like Trump will have to face the trial soon. And that could have big implications for him, especially with the next election coming up.

A recent study found that fewer Black voters in seven important states want to support President Biden compared to the last time people voted.

The Wall Street Journal compared the results of its survey from last week to a similar survey done by AP VoteCast in 2020. The survey looked at a lot of people who were going to vote. The Journal’s study in these key states discovered that 57 percent of Black men were planning to vote for Biden, while 30 percent said they might vote for former President Trump.

In 2020, a different survey found that across the whole country, 87 percent of Black men supported Biden and 12 percent supported Trump.

The Wall Street Journal also found that 77 percent of Black women in these states were planning to vote for Biden, while 11 percent said they would vote for Trump. In comparison, in 2020, 93 percent of Black women across the country supported Biden and 6 percent supported Trump.

The survey by The Wall Street Journal talked to 218 to 354 registered voters from March 17 to 24. The mistakes in the survey could be around 5.2 to 6.6 percentage points.

Biden’s team has been trying harder to get support from voters of color lately. In 2020, most Black voters supported Biden, with 92 percent voting for him, according to Pew Research Center.

Recently, Biden’s team started showing ads directly to Black voters in states where the competition is close. The ads said that if Trump became president again, it would be very bad for Black people. This happened after other surveys showed that Biden was losing support from Black voters. For example, a poll by The New York Times and Siena College found that 22 percent of Black voters in six close states said they would vote for Trump.

Senate Democrats are saying no to requests for Justice Sonia Sotomayor to leave the Supreme Court. Some people on the left have been saying she should step down to prevent a situation like what happened when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died four years ago.

Sotomayor, who is 69, is the oldest of the liberal justices. Some progressive voices want her to resign while the Democrats control the White House and the Senate. They compare it to when Ginsburg didn’t step down in 2014, even though then-President Obama could have picked a successor. When Ginsburg passed away in 2020, it gave former President Trump a chance to appoint a new justice and make the court more conservative.

Some folks who want Sotomayor to resign are worried about her health because she has Type-1 diabetes. But Democrats don’t think she should leave the court just yet.

“She’s not 70. I might remind some of my colleagues to look around, check their birth certificate[s],” said Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat. “She’s going full speed ahead. I’m not aware of significant issues, and I am aware of extraordinary competence.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin also said he wants her to stay on the court.

Many Democrats are surprised that people are even talking about this. Sotomayor hasn’t shown any signs that she’s thinking about leaving or that her health has changed recently.

“I think she’s doing a great job, and I think she should stay. I’m a little baffled by [the chatter],” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the talk “nonsense” and said she didn’t know where it came from. “I don’t want to add any fuel to the fire on this. I think she’s doing a great job, and I am grateful for her public service,” Warren said.

The idea of Sotomayor stepping down got more attention after Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Democrats should learn from what happened with Ginsburg. Ginsburg was replaced by Justice Amy Coney Barrett shortly before the 2020 election.

Republicans are watching closely. If they win big in the elections next year, they could have more power to influence the Supreme Court.

Democrats understand the concern but don’t think it’s time for Sotomayor to go. “The reality is if we do get a Trump presidency, we’re going to get another outrageous Supreme Court pick, so it’s not [an unfounded concern]. But I don’t think it’s necessary in the case of Sotomayor,” Welch said.

There are differences between Sotomayor’s situation now and Ginsburg’s a decade ago. Ginsburg was 82 in 2014 — 13 years older than Sotomayor is now.

Sotomayor has said that the workload has gotten heavier over time and that she feels “tired” because of the big cases. “And to be almost 70 years old, this isn’t what I expected,” Sotomayor said. “But it is still work that is all-consuming, and I understand the impact the court has on people and on the country, and sometimes the world. And so it is what keeps me going.”

The idea of Sotomayor resigning also upset groups who want her to stay. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said she has been a “brilliant jurist” and they want her to keep serving on the Court.

Thursday’s three-way summit between President Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidan, and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is showing China that it’s not part of the group. This meeting is the first time these three leaders have met together. It’s a strong move by the United States and its friends to keep China isolated as China tries to scare its neighbors in the South China Sea and other places.

This summit also supports one of President Biden’s main goals — making stronger connections with allies to stand against China’s increasing boldness in the Indo-Pacific area. A senior official from the Biden administration told reporters on Wednesday that this is like a network of partnerships in the region that support each other.

The official mentioned that President Marcos is feeling pressure because of China’s aggressive behavior in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone. This is the area around the Philippines that touches the South China Sea, which China claims as its own. The official said that both President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida will show support and determination to help the Philippines.

They also said that during the summit, there will be announcements about more cooperation between the countries in the military, Coast Guard, and disaster relief.

A person named Nick Szechenyi, who works at a think tank, said that this meeting is like starting a new chapter for these three countries. They want to focus on making sure China doesn’t bully them, especially in maritime security.

Both Japan and the Philippines are allies with the United States, which means they look to the U.S. for protection when China tries to start trouble. This means that the U.S. has military bases in Japan and rights to bases in the Philippines.

Japan and the Philippines also have their problems with China. Japan has a dispute over some islands in the East China Sea, and the Philippines has issues in the South China Sea.

There’s been tension in the South China Sea because of China’s actions. Chinese ships have been harassing Filipino boats, and there have been clashes between them. The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. John Aquilino, said he’s worried about China’s behavior in the region.

But despite the tension, the leaders of the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines are working closely together. They recently had a joint military exercise, and they plan to do more in the future. They’re also working on infrastructure projects together to improve connectivity in the region.

This summit shows that these countries are standing together against China’s aggressive actions. They want to work together to keep peace and stability in the region.

National civil rights attorney Ben Crump has signed a big deal with Bantam Books to write a bunch of crime novels. These books will be all about a Black civil rights lawyer, kind of like Crump himself.

The main character in the series will be Beau Lee Cooper, who’s also a Black civil rights attorney. He’ll be taking on cases involving corruption and unfairness while also celebrating Black love and strength.

Crump shared his thoughts with Variety, a big entertainment news source, saying he wants to introduce a character who reflects the real struggles of the legal system, especially for those who are often ignored or silenced.

He hopes readers will get to see a world they might not usually notice and maybe even feel inspired to make things better for everyone.

Bantam Books, a well-known publisher that’s part of Random House, will be putting out the first two books in Crump’s series. Crump himself is super pumped to share these stories, drawing from his years of experience in court and his personal journey.

He’s known for representing families like Trayvon Martin’s, Michael Brown’s, and George Floyd’s, fighting for justice in high-profile cases. Some even call him “Black America’s attorney general.”

Crump wants to shake things up with his novels. He thinks a lot of legal thrillers focus too much on who committed the crime, not why it happened. He wants his books to explore the reasons behind injustice and how we can overcome it.

It sounds like Crump is bringing a fresh perspective to the world of crime fiction, and readers are eager to see what he’ll uncover in his stories.

A legal expert on CNN said on Wednesday that he would “plead” with former President Trump not to testify in his trial about hush money in New York, which is set to start next week.

Elie Honig, speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN’s “The Lead,” said that Trump’s lawyers should prevent him from testifying during the hush money case. Trump’s lawyers have been trying to delay the case from starting on Monday, but their efforts haven’t worked yet.

“So on that second point, first, I would beg him not to take this stand. You never quite know what Donald Trump will do. I think it’s unlikely he takes the stand, Jake, even though in movies and TV, the defendant seems to always take the stand, it’s quite rare in a criminal case,” Honig said.

Honig noted that Trump testified in the New York civil fraud case last year, but that it went “dreadfully” for the former president.

“So it’s always the defendant’s prerogative. He always has the right to testify, he has the right not to testify. I do expect him, if any sort of reason and sanity prevails here, not to take the stand,” Honig said.

Tapper also asked Honig about how Trump’s lawyers should prepare him to sit through this trial, noting that Trump has had “some difficulties with his courtroom behavior.” Honig said that he would “implore” Trump to “behave himself.”

“The jury is sitting just a couple feet away from you. They’re watching and evaluating everything you do. And if you’re hanging your head and grumbling and having a temper tantrum, they will see that they will hold that against you,” Honig said.

Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records over reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. The former president has denied the affair and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At a special dinner at the White House, there were beautiful glass butterflies and colorful spring flowers. They were there to honor Japan, a country that is a friend of the United States. But today, President Biden will talk with Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, about serious things like defense agreements. Both leaders are thinking about China’s actions in the South China Sea, which have been aggressive.

Today, there will be a meeting at the White House. President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from the Philippines will be there. This meeting is important because it’s the first time they are meeting together.

It’s also meant to show that the United States wants to support its friends in the Indo-Pacific region. The people who help the president make decisions say that making the military bond stronger is a big improvement to the agreement between the United States and Japan, which was made in 1960.

President Biden knows that some countries, like Japan, are not sure what will happen with U.S. policies if Donald Trump becomes president again. So, he wants to make sure that the friendship between the United States and Japan stays strong. He wants this before the election in November. This is what The New York Times says.

President Biden says that the relationship between the United States and Japan is very important. He calls it a “cornerstone of peace, security, prosperity.”

The Republican Party wants to make it really hard, maybe even impossible, for people to get abortions in Florida and Arizona. But it’s not just about those two states — they’re just the beginning. They’re trying out their plan there first before they try it everywhere else.

They say they’re doing it because of “states’ rights,” but that’s just a fancy way of hiding what they really want. They actually want to ban abortion everywhere, not just in a few states. They’re hoping that by making it really tough to get abortions in some places, they can make it hard for women all over the country.

We can’t let them trick us with fancy words. They’ve used this “states’ rights” stuff before to justify treating people unfairly. Now, they’re using it to take away women’s rights.

If they get their way, it would be terrible for women everywhere. They wouldn’t be able to make choices about their own bodies anymore. And it seems like they don’t care about the consequences, even though it would hurt a lot of people.

It’s like they’re saying one thing and doing another. They talk about being responsible with money, but then they push for policies that would hurt the economy. They’re being really inconsistent, but they don’t seem to care as long as they get what they want.

We have to fight against these unfair policies. It doesn’t matter if we usually agree with the Republicans or not — we have to stand together against this. It’s not just about abortion; it’s about what kind of country we want to live in. Do we want one where everyone’s rights are respected, or one where some people get to decide for everyone else?

We’ve seen what happens when abortion is restricted. It doesn’t stop it — it just makes it more dangerous. It’s especially bad for people who don’t have a lot of money, young people, and people who have been hurt in the past.

We can’t let the Republicans get away with pretending they’re just looking out for states’ rights. We can’t let them make us think everything is okay. They might think they can get away with it in Florida and Arizona, but they’re underestimating us.

We’re going to stick together and fight for women’s rights. We won’t stop until every woman in this country can make her own choices about her body and her future.

Former national security adviser John Bolton recently shared his voting plans for the upcoming presidential election. He stated that he will write in former Vice President Dick Cheney for president, marking the second time he’s done so.

During an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source,” Bolton admitted his support for Cheney in the 2020 election and reiterated his intention to do so again this November. He explained that he sees Cheney as a principled conservative who would do a better job than both President Biden and former President Trump.

Cheney, who is 83 years old, served as vice president under former President George W. Bush and represented Wyoming in Congress before that.

Bolton also expressed admiration for Cheney’s daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, who has been critical of Trump, particularly after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. When asked if he would support Liz Cheney for president, Bolton didn’t rule out the possibility but emphasized his current preference for her father.

Since leaving the Trump administration, Bolton has been vocal in his criticism of the former president. He has raised concerns about the potential consequences of another Trump term, including possible celebrations by the Russian government and the United States leaving NATO.