Donald Trump is pictured in his trademark “Make America great again” cap giving a thumbs up – but the headline is anything but positive for the former President. A jury in a civil court in Manhattan has ruled that he sexually assaulted and defamed E Jean Carroll, a journalist who accused Mr Trump of attacking her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.
Metro’s front page is dominated by the direct headline “Trump is a sex abuser”. The paper’s US editor notes that he is now facing having to pay out damages of around $5 million (£3.96 million). Because the news from the US came in late, the first edition of the Metro will instead lead on Russia’s Victory Day parade, with the headline “Stark raving Vlad”.
The jury found that Mr Trump assaulted and defamed Ms Carroll by calling her a liar, the Telegraph notes, but not that he raped her. Its version of the story also features his continued insistence that he has “absolutely no idea who this woman is”. It quotes a social media post he wrote after the verdict was announced denouncing the finding as “the greatest witch hunt of all time”. He is expected to appeal.
Rather than a picture of Mr Trump, it’s Ms Carroll who dominates the Guardian’s front page. She emerged from the court smiling, making her way through a crowd of photographers, reporters and demonstrators. The writer first went public with her allegations in 2019 and there has been much complex litigation since. It took the jury less than three hours to rule in her favour.
The Daily Mail asks if the finding is the end of Mr Trump’s re-election bid. Despite losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden, he has made it clear he intends to stand again in 2024, with polls in the US repeatedly showing he has a very strong chance of winning the Republican nomination. But this is one of several legal problems looming over him and it remains to be seen what the political implications will be.
The Times leads on a different story altogether, a striking exclusive claiming the government could soon proscribe the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation. The Russian mercenary outfit is heavily involved in the invasion of Ukraine, particularly the grinding battle for the city of Bakhmut. The Times quotes a government source as saying the group could be given the same legal status as so-called Islamic State and Al-Qaeda within weeks.
The i also leads with a non-Trump story, detailing a supposed clash between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Downing Street. Justin Welby – who this weekend crowned King Charles – is expected to condemn the government’s rhetoric on migration, the i reports. It also says some Tory MPs expect the Illegal Migration Bill to be heavily amended in the Lords before it can face another Commons vote.
New analysis shows that 7,000 people in the UK die needlessly every year with diabetes, the front page of the Daily Express reports. It says that deaths caused by the chronic condition increased by 13% last year, with the paper describing it as the country’s “fastest growing health emergency”. The Express’s front page also carries a picture of a beaming King on his return to royal duties following the Coronation weekend.
The main story on Wednesday’s edition of the Financial Times concerns the long-running NHS blood contamination scandal. The compensation bill for those affected could reach £10bn, anonymous officials have told the FT. The main picture on the front is from the Victory Day parade in Moscow – usually a lavish affair, but scaled back this year due to the demands of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
And now for something completely different. The Daily Star leads on comments from the head of Russia’s space agency saying he believes the American moon landing in 1969 was a hoax. The story – which runs under the headline “Moon faker” – notes that the intervention will make “conspiracy theorists delirious”.
