Trump trial live updates: Week four of hush money case starts as Trump labels Biden administration ‘Gestapo’

Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial will resume at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday morning for a fourth week, with prosecutors inching closer to introducing their star witness, the defendant’s former personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen.

Last week’s session ended with emotional testimony from the former president’s one-time White House communication director Hope Hicks, who recounted her experiences of serving his presidential campaign in October 2016 when the notorious Access Hollywood tape emerged, requiring damage limitation efforts from Mr Trump’s inner circle.

Over the weekend, the GOP 2024 contender returned to Florida to attend the Republican National Committee’s Spring Donor Retreat at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palm Beach, where he hobnobbed with influential conservatives, including many in contention to be his running mate, and delivered a scathing speech in which he said of Joe Biden’s Cabinet: “These people are running a Gestapo administration.”

The White House responded to his remarks by by accusing Mr Trump of “echoing the appalling rhetoric of fascists, lunching with neo-Nazis, and fanning debunked conspiracy theories”.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward is covering the trial at Manhattan Criminal Court.

Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial will resume at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday morning for a fourth week, with prosecutors inching closer to introducing their star witness, the defendant’s former personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen.

Last week’s session ended with emotional testimony from the former president’s one-time White House communication director Hope Hicks, who recounted her experiences of serving his presidential campaign in October 2016 when the notorious Access