The Message: News And Views: May 2024

Friday, May 31, 2024

Hungary warns of ‘world war’ as NATO pushes Ukraine to strike

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that the role NATO plays in the Ukrainian conflict risks dragging the US-led military alliance into “a world war.”

NATO was "getting closer to war" every week, Orban said on Friday as alliance foreign ministers were meeting in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, to discuss military aid to Ukraine.

His remarks came as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged member states of the alliance to reconsider some of the restrictions attached to Ukraine’s use of Western arms to strike targets in Russia.

Orban said that negotiations about dispatching French military trainers to Ukraine and to allow Kiev to use Western weapons to attack Russian targets were ideas that were "worrying" and risk world war.

"It is absurd that NATO, instead of defending us, is dragging us, a member state, into a world war. This is as absurd as a firefighter deciding to come and put out a fire with a flamethrower," he said on Hungarian state radio.

"Due to the debate, I revisited the written records of the negotiations between Hitler" and the Hungarian WWII-era leader Miklos Horthy, Orban said.

Horthy, an autocrat who ruled Hungary from 1920 to 1944, passed anti-Jewish laws and oversaw the deportations of several hundred thousand Hungarian Jews to Nazi death camps.

Orban said, "It is entirely clear from these documents that Hungary (was) under tremendous pressure to send more soldiers to the front as quickly as possible and... to deport more Jews from Hungary." .

He said that Hungary "didn't want to participate in either World War I or World War II", but instead "was forced into war".

Orban has been at odds with western nations over support for Ukraine since Russia's “special military operation” started more than two years ago.

On Thursday, media reports cited American officials as saying that US President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use American munitions to strike inside Russian territory, but only near the border region of Kharkiv, where Russia is making territorial gains.

Following US policy change, Germany also gave Ukraine a green light to use German-supplied weapons against Russian targets.

"Together we are convinced that Ukraine has the right under international law to defend itself against these attacks," a German government statement said, adding "For this, it can also use the weapons delivered for that purpose in accordance with its international legal commitments, including the ones delivered by us."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces launched a major operation against the Kharkiv region, which sits across the border from Belgorod, earlier this month in order to create a buffer zone to protect Russian frontier villages from Ukraine’s fatal attacks.

In February 2022, Russia launched what it called a special military operation in Ukraine partly to prevent NATO’s eastward expansion after warning that the military alliance was following an “aggressive line” against Moscow.

"Israel knows no boundaries for its criminal actions"

Saudi FM

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Referring to the tragic events in Gaza and the Rafah region, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia said, "Israel knows no boundaries for its criminal actions."

The acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani held a telephone talk with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Faisal bin Farhan on Friday.

In this telephone call, Bagheri Kani emphasized the full readiness of the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to hold this year's Hajj rituals as successfully as possible.

Referring to the crimes committed by the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip, especially in Rafah, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs added, "In recent days, we have witnessed tragic events against the Palestinian refugees in the Rafah region, during which dozens of innocent, defenseless and oppressed women and children were martyred."

The occupying regime of Israel has suffered unprecedented failures in all international arenas, including the political, international legal, and public diplomacy arenas, and at the same time, it is trying to make up for it through crimes in Rafah," Bagheri Kani noted.

Today, supporting the oppressed Palestinian people in Gaza and specifically in Rafah is the religious and Islamic duty of all of us, and it is necessary for Islamic countries and the region to work together to take practical measures in this regard, he added.

Referring to the tragic events in Gaza and the Rafah region, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia said, "Israel knows no boundaries for its criminal actions."

At the end of the conversation, the parties emphasized the continuation of consultations between the two countries.

Iranians rally in Tehran, major cities against Israeli crimes in Rafah

TEHRAN - After the Friday prayers, people in Tehran held a rally to condemn the crimes of the Zionist regime in Rafah, and to voice their outrage over Zionist atrocities.

Participants in Friday prayers marched from Tehran University to Enghelab Square, expressing their support for the Palestinian people.

Following this week's Friday prayers, the demonstrators in Tehran declared their solidarity with the Palestinians, called for an immediate end to the war and a complete ceasefire, demanded the punishment of those responsible for these blatant crimes, and chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

Similar rallies were also held in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Bushehr, and Kermanshah, protesting Zionist crimes.

Israel’s weekend brutal attack on a tent camp in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah has sparked global outrage and anti-war protests across the world.

Dozens of civilians, most of them women and children, lost their lives after an Israeli airstrike hit the camp on Sunday.

Trump’s future hanging in the balance

A New York jury's historic conviction of Donald Trump on felony charges means his fate is now in the hands of the judge he has repeatedly ripped as "corrupt" and "incompetent."

Two experts told NBC News that it's unlikely Trump will be imprisoned based on his age, lack of a criminal record and other factors — and an analysis of thousands of cases found that very few people charged with the same crime receive jail time. But a third expert told NBC News he believes it is "substantially" likely Trump could end up behind bars.

Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, a class E felony that is punishable by a fine, probation or up to four years in prison per count. During the trial, Judge Juan Merchan threatened to put Trump behind bars for violating his gag order, but it’s unclear whether the former president will face similar consequences now. It's expected that any sentence would be imposed concurrently, instead of consecutively.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter to American students draws ire in Zionist camp

By Soheila Zarfam

TEHRAN – Several Israeli and American figures have reacted angrily to a letter by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution which praised students in U.S. universities for standing up for Palestinians subject to an ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“When you’ve won the Ayatollah, you’ve lost America,” wrote U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on X. Johnson was met with boos when he visited Columbia University’s campus last month to speak with protesting students asking for divestment from Israeli institutions.

In a later interview, the Republican called the students “aspiring terrorists,” saying he would make sure that college professors and pupils involved in the protests would be hauled in front of Congress.

Johnson’s largest donor is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is a pro-Israel lobbying organization that calls for unconditional U.S. support for Israel and pushes back against any criticism of the regime.

Another furious reaction came from Ritchie John Torres, a U.S. representative for New York's 15th congressional district. Torres said that Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s praising of American students means that they are “useful idiots on the wrong side of history.” The Democratic politician’s biggest donor is also AIPAC.

Some Israeli officials were also fuming after the release of the letter. “Bravo students, you are now the beloved children of Mahsa Amini’s killer,” said Israel’s envoy to Belgium and Luxembourg on her social media account.

Idit Rosenzweig-Abu was referring to the passing of an Iranian woman who lost her life in September of 2022 days after collapsing in a police station. Western and Israeli media outlets claimed Amini had passed away due to a brain injury she sustained during a confrontation with police forces.

However, her hospital records, brain scans, and a video of Amini’s father confirming to a judiciary worker that her daughter had not been injured in any form proved her demise was not the result of a police confrontation. Further investigations revealed that Amini died due to a pre-existing brain condition for which she had undergone surgery as a child.

Nonetheless, Israel and Western nations used Amini’s death to spur unprecedented riots in Iran in the fall of 2022, during which over 300 people including more than 70 security forces lost their lives.

More Israelis tried to use the false narrative regarding Amini’s death to demotivate American students. A lawyer working for the Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy wrote on X: “When Ayatollah Khamenei is applauding you, you are on the WRONG side of history!”

The lawyer has backed Israel’s massacre of women and children under different pretexts for the past 8 months.

American students, however, seem to have received encouragement from Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter. They hailed the message as a sign that their efforts have not gone unnoticed and vowed that they would continue to stand up for human rights despite the mounting pressure.

For the past two months, students have been setting up encampments in universities across the United States, asking their institutions to cut ties with Israeli entities. Their peaceful protests have been met with extremely violent crackdowns, suspensions, and threats of various forms.

EU sanctions Iran's defense minister

TEHRAN, (MNA) – The European Union has imposed new sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and entities for their alleged role in the "transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia."

In its press release on Friday, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said it has adopted restrictive measures against six Iranian individuals and three entities claiming that their role in transferring drones or missiles to armed groups and entities undermines peace and security in the West Asia and the Red Sea region.

Furthermore, the bloc decided to list Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani and Afshin Khajeh Fard, head of Iran's Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO)

Those targeted will be subject to an asset freeze and travel ban to the European Union. Additionally, the provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed is prohibited.

On May 14, the European Union expanded its sanctions regime to target Iran’s missile capabilities.

In a statement, the European Council alleged that the sanctions had been imposed on Iran in response to the country’s support for Russia’s war on Ukraine and its supply of missiles and drones to non-state groups in the West Asia region.

Iran has repeatedly rejected accusations that it has supplied weapons to Russia for direct use in the war in Ukraine.

It has also discarded allegations of supplying weapons to anti-Israeli and anti-US groups in the region.

Treasury targets IAIO

Meanwhile, The US on Friday issued sanctions targeting entities it accused of enabling Iran's drone program.

“Treasury will continue to impose costs on those who seek to procure the components Iran needs for its UAV programs and enable the shipment of these weapons to destabilizing actors around the world,” US Treasury Department Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement

The Treasury said it imposed sanctions on four entities that have procured critical parts for Iran's drone program as well as an executive of Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO), a subsidiary of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

Iranian officials have declared that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile and drone power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran’s defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations.

Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly warned that a flow of Western weapons to Ukraine will only prolong the conflict.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the US, alone, has pledged more than $44 billion in military aid to Ukraine.

Protests as French channel hosts Netanyahu

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the offices of private broadcaster TF1 in the western Paris suburbs on Thursday to protest the broadcast of an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Gaza war, according to Middle East Monitor.

Wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, protesters gathered at a distance from the channel’s building due to a heavy police presence, and chanted: “Gaza, Paris is with you,” “immediate ceasefire!” and “Israel, murderer”.
Members of parliament from French far-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, LFI) had called for the demonstration soon after the channel announced the interview would be aired.

Rima Hassan, a candidate for the upcoming European elections for France Unbowed, said on X: “This evening TF1 gives the floor to the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu to broadcast his propaganda for genocide! Let’s spread #boycottTF1 as widely as possible.”

Antoine Leaument, another LFI lawmaker, highlighted the irony of a lawmaker being recently sanctioned in the National Assembly for displaying a Palestinian flag while Netanyahu, the person directing the “bombing and killing” of these people, was invited to speak on a major television channel.

Bolivia condemns Israel’s ‘war crimes’ in Rafah

Israeli raids on Gaza’s southern city of Rafah are heinous war crimes, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce said, calling on the international community to take action to stop the fighting, Middle East Monitor reported.

Arce said in a post on X: “We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli bombings in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, which have left dozens of Palestinian civilians dead. This new war crime perpetrated by the Israeli army is sinister and inconceivable.”

“We call on the international community to take de facto measures against Israel. Together we can stop the genocide,” added the president.

Last Friday, the International Court of Justice, the highest UN judicial body, issued an order calling on Israel to immediately stop its military attack and any other action in Rafah.

Israel responded to the decision by targeting a crowded area where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians had taken shelter. Dozens of civilians were killed, including those who burned alive when their tent camp was hit.

Yemen targets US aircraft carrier

Yemen's military spokesman says the country's armed forces have targeted US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea in response to deadly overnight attacks by America on the Arab country.

“The missile force and the naval force of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a joint military operation targeting the American aircraft carrier ‘Eisenhower’ in the Red Sea,” said Yahya Saree in a televised statement, Press TV reported.

“The operation was carried out with a number of winged and ballistic missiles, the hit was accurate and direct, thanks to Allah,” he added.

Saree said this was a response to aerial strikes by the US and UK on several targets across the Arab country, which he said targeted civilians in a “blatant violation of all international laws and a full-fledged war crime."

The American and British warplanes attacked the Yemeni capital Sana’a as well as the governorates of Hodeidah and Taiz.

Yemeni officials say the attacks on Hodeidah targeted the Radio building and the Coast Guard facility and several commercial ships, killing at least 16 people and injuring 41 others.

Israel deployed hundreds of warplanes to counter Iran's retaliatory operation: commander

TEHRAN - Israel placed hundreds of warplanes on high alert in anticipation of Iran's retaliatory attack which struck the occupied territories last month, according to a senior Iranian military commander.

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Division, disclosed that approximately 221 Israeli warplanes were mobilized to counter Iran's Operation True Promise.

“Foreign countries have admitted that Operation True Promise was the largest missile and drone operation in the world. A large number of missiles and drones were needed to pass through Israel's Iron Dome; The operation was punitive, limited, and extensive, and two intelligence bases and operations that played a role in the martyrdom of Iranian military commanders in Syria were destroyed,” the general explained during a gathering on Thursday.

Operation True Promise, launched on April 13, involved the Iranian Armed Forces firing dozens of drones and missiles at Israeli military bases in the occupied territories. It was a direct response to Israel's aggression against the Iranian diplomatic premises in Damascus on April 1, which resulted in the martyrdom of two IRGC generals and five accompanying officers.

Hajizadeh emphasized that Israel's decision to attack the Iranian diplomatic mission was a grave miscalculation.

"They assumed that Iran would not retaliate and that regional resistance forces would take action instead," he said.

The commander noted that Iran deployed only "20 percent" of its military might during Operation True Promise. “Israel's missile defense systems were not attacked; Because they are located near big cities. But had war with Israel continued, it wouldn’t have taken long to take down the whole regime,” he noted.

Reports show that during Iran’s retaliatory attack against Israeli positions in the occupied territories, several countries including the U.S., UK, France, and Jordan worked in tandem with Israel to intercept Iranian weapons. "The Israeli regime and the United States worked together to equip regional countries with the means to defend Zionists against our response," Hajizadeh said.

Hajizadeh added that Operation True Promise has had a profound impact on the region, marking a clear dividing line between the past and the present. The operation has also bolstered the morale and resolve of the Axis of Resistance in its struggle against the Israeli occupation, he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the senior Iranian commander hailed the resistance of Palestinian people against the Israeli regime in the past months, adding that Gaza will emerge victorious against the regime sooner or later.

Israel crimes are awakening the world: Nasrallah

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Netanyahu and his lunatics continue their war of extermination, met with the silence of nations and rulers. However, these crimes are awakening the world, the secretary general of Lebanese Hezbollah said.

Sayyed Nasrallah said in a speech on Friday, "The battle in Gaza is still ongoing, with the world standing helpless due to American protection; some continue to place their hopes on the international community for deterrence and protection."

This battle signifies the future of Lebanon, its wealth, and its sovereignty, Nasrallah said and added, "This is a battle of destiny for all of us, and we are fully committed to it, especially in southern Lebanon."

" If we were in America, distant Asia, or other regions, financial and humanitarian support might suffice; however, here the situation is different, and moral and humanitarian solidarity alone is insufficient, he said," he continued.

"We believe that we constitute the largest popular base and political party in Lebanon, yet we have not approached the issue with such a mindset; conversely, there are those who claim that the majority of the Lebanese people," he said.

Sayyed Nasrallah noted, "Today, the resistance front is broader, more comprehensive, and larger than ever before, surpassing the enemy’s front; Zionist officials themselves admit to this, stating, “We are experiencing a dire situation unlike any in the past 79 years.”

The outcomes of the southern battle transcend mere internal and political gains, akin to the significance of the liberation in 2000 and the victory in 2006, Sayyed Nasrallah said.

Goals of Blinken’s Recent Trip to Saudi Arabia

Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of Saudi affairs said that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Riyadh recently during a regional trip and had consultations with the Riyadh officials. It seems that one of the items on the agenda between Saudi Arabia and America, in addition to the Gaza war, is the process of normalizing relations between the Israeli regime and the Arab kingdom.

Kamran Karami, in an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, stated: As long as the aggressive approach dominates the current government of the Israeli regime, there is no room for normalization.

What comes below is the full text of the interview:

Question: What was Blinken looking for in his recent trip to Saudi Arabia?

Blinken’s trip is considered part of the regional tour of the US Secretary of State to the Middle East region, which is trying to bring together the sometimes different views of the leading Arab actors around the main axis of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza to lay the groundwork for the other sides of the agenda of Blinken’s trip, which is the agreement. The normalization of Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime and the future of the administration of Gaza under the formation of an independent Palestinian state should be provided. The several trips of the US Secretary of State to Arab capitals, including Riyadh, are part of this back-and-forth framework to advance the main elements of the Biden administration’s strategy for West Asia.

Question: In your opinion, what are the differences between the normalization process before and after October 7?

The 7th of October should be considered a new factor in explaining what is happening in the West Asia region. In other words, if before the 7th of October, the ground was apparently being prepared for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime within the framework of a security agreement between Riyadh and Washington without the urgency of forming an independent Palestinian state, after the 7th of October such a process of transformation has become a puzzle where each piece is meaningless and sterile without other pieces. The recent interview of Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor, stating that there is no possibility of a bilateral agreement with Riyadh without normalization and the formation of an independent Palestinian state, shows the validity of October 7 as a decisive event in the calculations of regional and transregional actors. In Riyadh’s foreign policy calculations, the formation of an independent Palestinian state while re-validating Saudi Arabia’s political position in the Arab world is seen as a strong negotiation lever to put pressure on America and the Israeli regime.

Question: Does the Israeli regime accept the Saudi condition?

The political, military, and security realities governing the current climate of the Israeli regime have put the prospect of normalizing relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv further away than at any other time in recent months. As long as the aggressive approach dominates the current cabinet of the Israeli regime, there is no room for normalization, even if the Western media highlight the Saudi-American security agreement as a precondition for entering this process and talk about its progress. This precondition itself is also associated with many complications, especially in the US Senate and the strategic issue of unconditional support for Saudi Arabia, which has brought the frequent story of the costs of intervention in the Middle East to the arena of theoretical discussions in the United States. The critical issue for America is that saying yes to one Middle Eastern ally makes it harder to say no to others.

Question: America is looking for a tripartite agreement. What are the elements of this agreement, and how likely is it to be implemented, according to Sullivan?

The elements of this tripartite agreement are the creation of an umbrella of support by the US for Saudi Arabia in the form of a security treaty, which itself includes three sides of a bilateral security agreement, advanced weapons purchases, and a peaceful enrichment program. The second element of this equation is the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime within the framework of the Abraham Accords, which was signed earlier in September 2020 between the UAE and Bahrain with the Israeli regime. The third element of this equation is how to manage the future of Gaza within the framework of the formation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Is.

In the period after October 7, with the added value of forming an independent Palestinian state and Riyadh’s maneuver on it, other elements cannot create the desired framework without this variable. Jake Sullivan’s words that without normalizing relationships, the different pieces of the puzzle don’t make sense also point to other complexities that have made it more complex than ever to reconcile viewpoints. The fact is that without a significant change in the military and security policy of the Israeli regime, the tripartite agreement will remain just an idea.

Claims of a US Arms Embargo against Zionist Regime Reveal America’s Deception

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international issues said that the US claims to have suspended sending weapons to the Zionist regime is a political deception to silence public opinion because this would make no difference in the nature of Washington’s support for the Zionist army and the existence of this regime.

In an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Amir Ali Abolfatah said about the recent positions of the American authorities regarding the cessation of the sale and shipment of military weapons to the Israeli regime in the event of a large-scale military attack on Rafah.

It is a deceptive political rather than a military decision because America has not said that it will no longer provide weapons to the Israeli regime but has claimed that it will stop selling and sending any weapons that are used in the attack on Rafah.

He further said: It should be seen to what extent the Biden administration is firm and consistent in its statements and positions towards the Israeli regime, and on the other hand, to what extent the officials of this regime pay attention to the positions of the Biden administration.

Referring to the statements of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of the Zionist regime, that Israel will stand alone and “fight with our fingernails” in defiance of US threats to further restrict arms deliveries if Israeli forces proceed with an offensive on Rafah.

Such statements show that either America is unable to implement its positions and policies or that the Israeli regime has prepared itself for anything.

Pointing to the fact that the Biden administration is under pressure for the actions of the Israeli regime in Gaza and Rafah on the domestic and global public opinion level, Abolfatah said: America’s image concerning its claim of respect for democracy and human rights and respect for human dignity has been severely destroyed and called into question by public and international opinion. Meanwhile, Biden is trying to take care of this space due to the proximity of the 2024 US presidential election, so he needs to adopt such stances. This is even though the military and political structure of the United States is not such that it can cut off the military and political support of the Israeli regime.

He continued: There should be a difference between the US administration’s support for the government and the Israeli regime. America’s support for the Israeli government and Netanyahu or any other person in the position of prime minister can be changed or adjusted, but what the American administration will not back down from is support for this regime’s army. Because the existence of the Israeli regime depends on the strength of its army, and the only condition for the protection of the Jewish state of Israel is its army and of course its economy. On the other hand, it cannot fail to support the Israeli army and will provide everything it needs, and even if it wants to, it cannot limit the Israeli army.

Noting that the American government has announced that it will impose sanctions against four battalions of the Israeli army or the weapons that will be used in the attack on Rafah, this expert on international affairs said: Is the American government directly selling weapons to the Israeli army battalions that it is now raising the issue of sanctions?

The weapons and the management of their use are at the disposal of the army of this regime, and they determine which battalion will carry out which operation. These announced sanctions and US actions are just a showoff and have no practical effect. Of course, the American authorities later retracted the same claim because, as mentioned, the Israeli army should not be harmed.

Medvedev: Russia’s nuclear threats over Ukraine are no bluff

NATO countries that have approved strikes with their weapons on Russian territory should be aware that their equipment and specialists will be destroyed not only in Ukraine, but also at any point from where Russian territory is attacked, Russia’s Security Council’s Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on his Telegram channel, noting that the participation of NATO specialists could be seen as a casus belli.

"All their military equipment and specialists fighting against us will be destroyed both on the territory of former Ukraine and on the territory of other countries, should strikes be carried out from there against Russian territory," Medvedev warned, Tass reported.

He added that Moscow proceeded from the fact that all long-range weapons supplied to Ukraine were already "directly operated by servicemen from NATO countries", which is tantamount to participation in the war against Russia and a reason to start combat operations.

Medvedev added Russia was not bluffing when it spoke of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine and warned Moscow's conflict with the West could escalate into all-out war.

Trump guilty on all 34 counts, New York jury finds

Crescent International

Donald Trump, the former US president, has been found guilty by a 12-member jury that heard the case in a New York courtroom.

He was charged with falsifying financial documents relating to hush money he paid to a porn star, Stormy Daniels with whom he had had illicit sex.

The hush money was paid prior to the 2016 presidential elections that Trump won, beating his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

The first woman to run for president, she was the presumptive favourite.

Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents.

It is interesting to note that he was not charged with having sex with a prostitute; only that he had falsified his financial records.

He has made history. Trump is the first US president to be charged and convicted of a crime.

He would wear that as a badge of honour.

The trial lasted seven weeks and the prosecution brought nearly two dozen witnesses to testify.

The most important prosecution witness was Michael Cohen, who had previously served as Trump’s lawyer.

He was the person who gave hush money to Daniels.

In return for immunity from prosecution, Cohen agreed to testify against his former boss.

After closing arguments concluded on May 28, the jury took two days to deliver its verdict.

Before reaching the verdict, jurors asked to recall Cohen and the editor of National Inquirer, an American tabloid specializing in sleaze, to hear their testimony again.

Sentencing is set for July 11.

Trump could face a prison term of four years although legal experts say it is unlikely that he will be sent to prison.

The most likely sentence would be probation or community service.

As part of his “community service”, would Trump be called upon to flip hamburgers in a school cafeteria that serve lunch to students?

How about donning a cleaning dress to sweep the garbage-strewn streets of New York?

Perhaps, he could be asked to clean the mess that homeless people make in New York.

Trump could even lecture them on stop being bums and get a job like he did even if he falsified financial records.

The trouble with this is that homeless people do not have money, so they cannot falsify their financial records.

In any case, it is certain that he will appeal the verdict.

He has already said it was a “rigged trial” and that he is “a very innocent man”!

Interestingly, he will not be barred from contesting the November presidential election to face off against #genocideJoe Biden.

Trump would insist, he should be called #genocideDonald Trump.

He has already called upon Israel to “finish the job in Gaza”.

His real estate zionist Jewish tycoon son-in-law Jared Kushner would no doubt approve.

He has talked about building luxury towers along Gaza’s waterfront once the Palestinians have been ethnically cleansed from their ancestral land.

American politics are getting interesting, and definitely will become a lot nastier.

Trump is nothing if not a foul-mouthed vagabond.

Biden is little better. The old man is hardly coherent when he speaks.

Donald Trump New York financial fraud Trump guilty