Trump won't testify as trial enters final phase

What happened

Donald Trump's lawyers rested their case Tuesday, ushering the former president's hush-money criminal trial into its final phase. Judge Juan Merchan dismissed the jurors until May 28, when closing arguments will begin.

Who said what

Trump's defense team called "just two witnesses — neither of them the former president," despite Trump's repeated public insistence he wanted to testify, The New York Times said. Prosecutors had called 20 witnesses. "Instead of mounting an effort to demonstrate Trump's innocence," his lawyers "focused on attacking the credibility of the prosecution witnesses," a "routine defense strategy," The Associated Press said. "The burden of proof in a criminal case lies with the prosecution."

What next?

After the jury was sent home, prosecutors and defense attorneys "sparred over what, exactly, jurors should be told before deliberations," especially about the federal law at the heart of the prosecution's felony case, The Washington Post said. "The judge’s determinations of the legal threshold for conviction may have a huge impact on what jurors think of the evidence."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up