Trump to be sentenced over hush money conviction today as inauguration looms after Supreme Court verdict: Live – UK Times

The president-elect said yesterday a meeting is being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but typically offered no precise timeline for talks between the two leaders.

“He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Trump said in remarks before a meeting with Republican governors following his return to Mar-a-Lago after Jimmy Carter’s funeral in DC.

“President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess.”

Trump’s return to the White House on January 20 has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to end Moscow’s invasion, which began in February 2022, but it has also led to fears in Kyiv that a quick peace deal could come at a high price for Ukraine.

At the same press conference, Trump called his sentencing today a “disgrace”, reiterated his desire to incorporate Canada and Greenland into the United States and reflected on his newfound “friendship” with Barack Obama.

Also on the president-elect’s social media feed today, we have an ominous “see you again – SOON” message to Greenlanders, his thoughts on events in Caracas and more taunting of poor Gavin Newsom with a cartoonishly simplistic idea for solving the Los Angeles wildfires.

Speaking of Greenland, the Danish press has alleged that the locals only turned out to greet Donald Trump Jr in Nuuk earlier this week because they were promised a free lunch!

Here’s more from Katie Hawkinson.

The US Supreme Court has ruled against blocking the president-elect’s sentencing in his criminal hush money trial, leaving Donald Trump without any remaining options to block his imminent return to Manhattan Criminal Court.

Trump is therefore scheduled to face New York Justice Juan Merchan at 9am on Friday – just10 days before his second inauguration to the presidency.

Judge Merchan has signalled he will issue an “unconditional discharge” sentence that will not include jail time or fines.

The president-elect will appear virtually, no doubt ashen-faced.

Here’s what Trump had to say about it on Truth Social last night…

…and here he is calling it “fair” but saying he still plans to appeal.

And, lastly, here’s Alex Woodward’s report on the stage being set for another momentous day.

A key immigration enforcement measure could be on track for passage thanks to Democrats crossing party lines to support it.

The failure of the Democratic Party’s leadership and standard-bearers to present a winning message on immigration reform in 2024 is coming back to bite outgoing President Joe Biden.

With days left of his presidency and the fight to define his legacy begun, his allies in Congress are seemingly prepared to compromise with the GOP on a bill that would direct immigration authorities to detain any undocumented person charged with theft.

John Bowden, Eric Garcia, and Andrew Feinberg report from Washington, D.C.

The idea of buying Greenland initially came to Trump from cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder, according to the 2022 book The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 by Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker. Trump and Lauder have known each other since their college days.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency in order to create the legal grounds for introducing his program of steep tariffs against rival nations, according to CNN.

Even before taking office, the president-elect has threatened tariffs of as much as 10 percent on global imports and 60 percent on Chinese goods, plus a 25 percent import surcharge on Canadian and Mexican products.

Such duties are intended to provide a boost to American manufacturing but experts have warned that, in practice, they could backfire by upending trade flows, raising costs and inviting harmful retaliatory measures.

Joe Sommerlad has the story.

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary said he wants to buy TikTok but he needs President-elect Donald Trump’s help to pull off the deal.