MNI POLITICAL RISK - Jury Begins Deliberations In Trump Trial

• A Manhattan jury will begin deliberations today to determine whether former President Donald Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records and subverting the 2016 presidential election by paying hush money to supress a story from Stormy Daniels.
• Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo will deliver a speech in Germany this week on potential secondary sanctions on banks to rein in Russia's military industrial complex and sanctions-busting shadow fleet of oil tankers.
• Senator Roger Wicker (R-MI) has bucked the Republican Party’s growing isolationism and called for a major military buildup which would take defence spending to 5% of GDP.
• Biden administration officials indicated yesterday that an Israeli air strike in Rafah did not cross ‘red lines’ set by President Biden in April and is unlikley to compel a major shift in policy.
• President Biden will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania today for two campaign events designed to regain support among Black voters.
• President Biden will host Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at the White House on May 31. A plan to use Russian soverign assets immobilised in Belgium's Euroclear is likely to be high on the agenda.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Moldova’s pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, in Chisinau today to offer a show of support ahead of a general election where Sandu will face a pro-Russian candidate and potential interference from Moscow.
• Poll of the Day: President Biden’s approval rating and the approval rating of Congress are on a similar downtrend.

Full article: US Daily Brief