Judge Hears Arguments in Trump Gag Order Hearing; Senate to Take Up $95 Billion Foreign Aid Package

The judge and defense attorneys in former President Donald Trump’s so-called hush money trial engaged in a heated debate Tuesday over whether the defendant violated a gag order with his social media posts. However, the judge did not issue a ruling on whether President Trump had violated the order, as prosecutors had sought.

The Senate on April 23 is expected to advance a $95-billion national security package that includes foreign aid for the war-torn nations of Ukraine and Israel, as well as for the Indo-Pacific region. The bills also include a measure to force TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company in order to address national security concerns. It comes three days after the House passed the bills with bipartisan support over the objections of those in the GOP’s right flank.

Pro-Palestinian protests are entering their seventh day at Columbia University, as encampments spread to other campuses across the country. Columbia canceled in-person classes, dozens of protesters were arrested at New York University and Yale, and the gates to Harvard Yard were closed to the public as top U.S. universities sought to defuse tensions over the Israel–Hamas war. The protests have sparked safety concerns for Jewish students who, in some cases, have been blocked from attending classes or bombarded with anti-Semitic abuse.