On 30 May, a jury in New York found former US President Donald Trump guilty of all 34 counts in a criminal case of falsification of documents in the payment of porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump thus became the first convicted US president in American history.
During the 2016 presidential election, Trump, with help from a lawyer, committed financial fraud and incorrectly filed 130 thousand dollars in tax returns. The money was paid to porn actress S. Daniels for her silence about their affair a decade earlier, due to fears that the information could interfere with the campaign.
The verdict of the court will be announced on 11 July and four days later the Republican Party convention will be held, which will certainly nominate Trump for President of the United States.
Polls show that this verdict caused a wave of new sympathy for D. Trump. Only a few answered that they would not vote for a ‘convicted felon’. It is noteworthy that in the three days after the jury’s decision, Trump’s headquarters received more than $200 million in donations to his presidential campaign. Such a large sum in such a short period of time is unprecedented in the history of the US.
Trump’s rating soared over 50, while Joe Biden’s rating remained at 36%.
The US is increasingly divided
All these events have further ‘electrified’ and polarised the US. During a campaign speech in Dayton, Ohio, on 1 June, Trump declared: “If I am not elected now, it will be a bloodbath for the whole country”. At the same time, he repeatedly attacked Biden, calling him “stupid” and calling him a “stupid son of a bitch”, stressing that the current president is a great threat to democracy.
In the US media, there is an increasingly popular thesis about the possibility of a civil conflict; during the elections on 5 November, a situation may arise in which one of the parties does not recognise the results of the vote.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump announced that he was ready to declassify information pertaining to the assassination of President Kennedy, the terrorist attack of 11 September 2001, as well as the trial of billionaire paedophile D. Epstein. The publication of this information could be like a bomb exploding in America.
Well-known American journalist Tucker Carlson stated that, in his opinion, Trump will definitely win the election “if he is not killed”.
In the coming days, the attention of the American press will increasingly be focused on the upcoming debate between Trump and Biden on 27 June, although the formalities have not yet been finalised.
Meanwhile, the Western press is dominated by reports that ‘clouds of financial crisis’ are gathering on the horizon in the US. According to the newspaper Le Monde, on 1 June, financial bubbles, hidden capital losses, opaque finances, terrible deficits growing are all warning signs of a financial shock to the American economy, which is unable to get rid of the slow poisons of high inflation and interest rates. The Washington Post noted that skyrocketing rent and housing prices could play a decisive role in the 2024 elections.
The Turkish press warns that if President Biden does not try to lower gas prices, then his rating will fall even further; a gallon of gasoline currently costs an average of $3.6 and its rise to $4 could ruin Biden’s chances of success.
In addition, the two trials that are due to begin in the coming days (the first of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, as well as the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez) are unlikely to be advantageous for the Democrats.
The US is divided on immigration, as well as on support for Ukraine and the war in Gaza. A number of US political scientists concluded that “the political dysfunction of the United States is the number one global threat”.
Several Russian scientists believe that the US is in for a very “hot” summer, and there may be an even hotter autumn.
Vladimir MASHIN, PhD in History, political observer, especially for “New Eastern Outlook”