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    Trump Can Attend Son’s High School Graduation in Florida

    The judge in Donald J. Trump’s hush-money trial said Tuesday that the former president can attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron, in Florida next month.For weeks, Mr. Trump had loudly complained outside the courtroom about the prospect of missing the ceremony on Friday, May 17, and had criticized the judge, Juan M. Merchan, for not immediately giving him permission to attend.But on Monday, before testimony restarted in Mr. Trump’s criminal trial in Lower Manhattan, Judge Merchan announced that he could have the day off from court.“I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem,” Judge Merchan said. It was not immediately clear whether the trial would pause for the day, or if Mr. Trump would be excused from attending the proceedings.Barron Trump, 18, attends a private high school near Mar-a-Lago, his father’s residence.Mr. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a hush-money payment to a porn star who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with him. He has denied the encounter and pleaded not guilty. More

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    Melania Trump Avoids Hush-Money Trial but Shares Her Husband’s Anger

    Melania Trump has long referred to the hush-money case involving Stormy Daniels as her husband’s problem, not hers. But she has privately called the trial a “disgrace” that could threaten his campaign.In January 2018, when she first saw reports that her husband had paid off a porn star, Melania Trump was furious. She jetted off to Palm Beach, leaving the president to languish in Washington. She eventually returned, only to take a separate car to Donald J. Trump’s first State of the Union address.As a criminal trial against Mr. Trump opened on Monday, on charges that he had falsified records to cover up that sex scandal involving Stormy Daniels, Mrs. Trump did not appear. She has long privately referred to the case involving Ms. Daniels as “his problem” and not hers.But Mrs. Trump, the former first lady, shares his view that the trial itself is unfair, according to several people familiar with her thinking.In private, she has called the proceedings “a disgrace” tantamount to election interference, according to a person with direct knowledge of her comments who could not speak publicly out of fear of jeopardizing a personal relationship with the Trumps.She may support her husband, but Mrs. Trump, whose daily news habit involves scouring headlines for coverage of herself, is bound to see headlines involving Mr. Trump and Ms. Daniels that could reopen old wounds. On Monday, Justice Juan M. Merchan, the judge presiding over the case, also said that Mrs. Trump could be among the potential witnesses as the trial gets underway.All of this could put Mr. Trump on shaky ground with his wife, who has defended him in some critical moments — including when he bragged on tape about grabbing women by their genitals — and withheld her public support in others, like when she did not appear alongside him as he locked up victories on Super Tuesday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More