What the world makes of Trump going on trial

Pictures of Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom have accompanied countless front-page stories about the first-ever criminal trial of a serving or former US president.

That coverage has not been limited to the US. The world’s media have carried the story – remarking on the man who wants to return to the White House and the case against him.

Mr Trump denies 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to a $130,000 payment made by his lawyer to buy the silence of an adult film star just before the 2016 election. She alleges they had an affair; he denies the story.

So how is the historic trial being covered, from Beijing to Rome? We asked our colleagues at BBC Monitoring, which tracks and analyses media around the world.

Chinese media have covered Mr Trump’s trial but it hasn’t featured as prominently on the news agenda as one might expect. Still, it offered the media another opportunity to show what’s seen as the chaos and polarisation of US politics.

English-language reporting focused on facts of the case. State news agency Xinhua’s English-language edition highlighted that Donald Trump was the first former president to stand a criminal trial. It also quoted the accused as describing the trial as “political persecution” and saying the country was “failing”. China Daily, the state-run English-language newspaper, focused on jury selection, during which more than 50 of the 96 first potential jurors were excused after saying that they could not be fair.

Domestic-facing state-affiliated outlet The Paper provided infographics and timelines of the trial, and cited US surveys as showing polarised views on it among US voters. It also zoomed in on conflicting reports about the possible impact on the general election in November.

State-owned China News Service (CNS) talked about “unprecedented problems” facing the US judicial system if Mr Trump were to win in November but also be convicted.

Nationalist daily Global Times cited high interest rates, inflation and the crisis in the Middle East as showcasing Mr Trump’s notion that the world had spun out of control under the Biden administration.

Source: BBC