Republicans are waking up to the reality that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could sink their standard-bearer just as easily as he could hurt President Joe Biden, after a pair of new polls showed the presence of third-party candidates on the ballot might not necessarily benefit former President Donald Trump. Even Trump is acknowledging his potential problem. “They say he hurts Biden. I'm not sure that that's true, and I think he probably hurts [us] both,” Trump said of Kennedy in a radio interview Monday night. “But he might hurt Biden a little bit more, you don't know." For months, Democrats have bee ..read more

Lawmakers in California want to double the penalty for protesters who block highways, a sign of increased frustration among both Republicans and Democrats with demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war such as the one that recently snarled traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Legislation authored by a Republican cleared a key committee vote Monday at the Capitol with crucial support from four Democrats, who defied the committee chair to advance the bill. The measure still has to pass the full Assembly and Senate and win the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, but the vote signals a split among Demo ..read more

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state lawyers and an attorney for former President Donald Trump settled their differences Monday over a $175 million bond that Trump posted to block a large civil fraud judgment while he pursues appeals. The agreement cut short a potential day-long court hearing in Manhattan that was to feature witnesses. As part of a deal struck during a 20-minute recess, lawyers for Trump and Knight Specialty Insurance Company agreed to keep the $175 million in a cash account that will gain interest but faces no downside risk. The account so far has grown by over $700,000. The bond ..read more

Donald Trump defended embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson, declined to criticize House Republicans over their vote on Ukraine funding and railed against prosecutors trying him in a wide-ranging post-court interview on Monday. The former president, who had spent the day holed up in hostile territory in the Manhattan courtroom where he is being tried, took to conservative airwaves that evening in an effort to reset the conversation. “This is all Biden,” Trump told radio host John Fredericks. “It’s all political persecution and interference of this election at a level we have never seen before ..read more

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is pulling his support for Columbia University over the treatment of Jewish students and faculty during pro-Palestinian protests at the campus in New York City. The announcement by Kraft, a former Columbia student and major donor, adds to pressure on the university, whose president is facing calls by members of Congress to resign. "I am deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country," Kraft said in a statement through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. "I am no longer confident that Columbia can prot ..read more

On Monday, Manhattan prosecutors began trying to persuade a jury that Donald Trump is guilty of 34 felonies in his hush money case. On Tuesday, they’ll try to persuade the judge that he deserves a more immediate penalty: They want him held in contempt. The prosecutors say Trump has repeatedly violated a gag order that prohibits him from attacking witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case. Justice Juan Merchan has scheduled a Tuesday morning hearing, outside the presence of the jury, to consider the prosecutors’ arguments. If Merchan agrees that Trump has defied the gag order, he’ll th ..read more

U.S. officials are starting to accept that their strategy of pressing Niger and other war-battered African countries to break off ties with Moscow and embrace democratic norms is no longer working. The recent breakdown in relations with Niger, where American troops are set to withdraw as Russian fighters arrive, has forced a reckoning inside the Biden administration over its approach to maintaining its allies in volatile parts of Africa, according to two officials familiar with the matter. Both officials were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive diplomatic negotiations. Countries across ..read more

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s criminal trial got underway in earnest Monday as lawyers for the prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements, followed by about 20 minutes of testimony from the first prosecution witness: David Pecker, the former CEO of the National Enquirer’s publisher. In his opening, Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Colangelo urged jurors to focus on the alleged overall scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election, starting with a 2015 Trump Tower meeting at which Trump, Pecker and Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen agreed to execute a “catch and kill” arrangement ..read more

NEW YORK — People of divergent political beliefs found a common voice in one thing at Columbia University Monday: Criticizing the school president over her handling of escalating campus tensions. Republicans accused the school of being soft on incidents of antisemitism. Pro-Palestinian student protesters argued the university inappropriately called in the New York Police Department to squash free speech. Faculty staged a mass walkout. Amid the unrest, as the Jewish holiday of Passover approached, university President Minouche Shafik made classes virtual and urged students living off campus no ..read more

President Joe Biden on Monday gave his first public remarks on anti-Israel protests roiling college campuses. But in condemning the actions of demonstrators who he deemed “antisemitic,” Biden also chastised those who didn’t empathize with the suffering of those in Gaza. “I condemn the antisemitic protests,” the president told reporters en route back from a speech he had delivered to commemorate Earth Day. “That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” Asked a second question about whether Columbia Univer ..read more