Press Review of the Americas

In the News: Donald Trump indicted by the federal justice

Donald Trump, who is scheduled to appear next Tuesday in federal court in Miami, posted a video on his social network minutes after the confirmation of his indictment by the federal court. © REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Text by: Christophe Paget Follow

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A first for an ex-president: Donald Trump was indicted this Thursday, June 8 by the federal justice, for his management of the archives of the White House. The last time was by the New York State courts, in the case of bribes he allegedly paid to a former pornographic actress.

The New York Times has chosen, for its front page, a striking photo of the former president: the foreground, black, seems to close on him, like a prison, in any case, it gives the impression that his future is narrowing singularly ... Donald Trump learned the news around 19 p.m. As early as 19:21 p.m., writes the daily, "he did what he did so often when he was president: he personally programmed the news banners of all the channels in the country, announcing the news on his social network Truth Network." But this indictment is unlike any other, judges the Washington Post, even if in the past, we have not been far from it: "Richard Nixon avoided prosecution thanks to the pardon of his successor (...), Bill Clinton agreed to make a deal."

But the two men were leaving the public scene, the newspaper points out: here, "we face an uncomfortable reality – Donald Trump is both indicted by federal justice and the leading candidate for the Republican nomination in the next presidential election." This raises in the editorialist a certain "apprehension in the face of the even greater discord that this development will cause in the country".

The Republican camp is united behind Donald Trump

Just minutes after the news was made public, on the Twitter account of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives with a Republican majority, one could read "WITCH HUNT", reports the New York Times: witch hunt, in capital letters, as Donald Trump likes them. House Republicans then vowed to use their majority in Congress to fight the Justice Department. But, says the newspaper, "given what we know, not indicting Donald Trump would have been even more scandalous." So "can Trump campaign for the presidential election from prison? Yes, and it has happened before," Politico recalls: "He can follow the example of socialist provocateur Eugene V. Debs, who in 1920 received nearly a million votes while behind bars." That's 3% of the vote, a "respectable" score writes the news site, but not enough for the nation to be forced to ask the improbable constitutional question: "What happens if an imprisoned candidate wins the election?

Progress or status quo?

Also in the United States, the Supreme Court invalidated a map of electoral districts adopted in Alabama by Republican elected officials. In 1965, a major civil rights law was passed to prevent the former segregationist states of the South from disenfranchising African Americans. But from 2013, this "Voting Rights Act" had been emptied of its substance by the High Court, recalls the New York Times. Yesterday, the Court instead "reaffirmed the authority of the law on racially biased electoral maps" – where it is most often a matter of diluting the black vote. A decision that, according to the newspaper, "could have repercussions throughout the south of the country, as it could force several states to redraw their own electoral maps". For Politico, the conservative Supreme Court may even "have paved the way for Democrats to take the House of Representatives." But in the Washington Post, two law professors don't see it as a victory: "The decision does not strengthen the text. At most, it preserves the status quo. And the status quo is that the Court, over the past decade, has severely obstructed the law and its protection of minority voters."

Haiti: Ariel Henry in the Bahamas

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry flew this Thursday to the Bahamas, where he must participate, recalls Gazette Haiti, in a meeting of heads of state and government of Caricom, the Caribbean Community, during which "special attention will be given to Haiti". And "although Caribbean leaders in February rejected the call to support the deployment of a multinational force to assist Haiti's besieged national police," U.S. Vice President Kamal Harris, who is attending the meeting, "will reiterate U.S. support for such a force," writes Gazette Haiti.

Meanwhile, Haiti is trying to recover from last weekend's floods and landslides it suffered this week, "leaving many areas in a state of desolation," Le National said. The newspaper stresses that while "the government, which says it is aware of the urgency of the situation, claims to have put in place important measures to help the affected populations, the victims, especially in some cities such as Léogâne, have not received any assistance from the government in place".

Fires: Quebec "must adapt"

In Quebec, fires are still raging, and the Canadian province is not prepared for forest fires. This is in any case what headlines Le Devoir, for whom it will have "a lot to do to adapt to the probable increase in the number and intensity of forest fires in the years to come. It will be necessary not only to think about the development of territories vulnerable to fires," writes the French-language daily, but also "to better assess the risks they represent for the physical and mental health of Quebecers": "depressions, shocks (...), it can take at least ten years to recover," explains one of the experts interviewed by Le Devoir.

At the national level, the scale of forest fires is reviving the debate on climate change, according to the daily La Presse, which reports that the leader of the Bloc Quebecois has tabled a motion for "the federal government to stop investing in fossil fuels" and "develop incentives to stimulate the use of renewable energies". ». Three other parties plan to support it in Monday's vote. Meanwhile, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change recalled that his government had already eliminated international fossil fuel subsidies last year.

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