Trump indictment, US journalist detained by Russia, oil production cuts: This week in politics
Washington will focus its attention on the Manhattan District Court this week, but that's not all that's happening.
Here are three stories to watch this week in business and politics:
Trump arraignment
Former President Trump will be arraigned on Tuesday in Manhattan for alleged crimes committed connected to hush money payments for adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump, who is the early frontrunner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, is the first sitting or former president to be indicted. His 2024 political campaign has argued that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is acting politically.
The indictment hasn't appeared to hurt Trump's lead over GOP primary challengers. A Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted after the indictment shows that Trump is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination, with 52% of the vote, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 21%.
Trump has been contacting his allies in Congress, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), as his support from conservatives remains strong.
U.S. journalist detained by Russia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, whom the Kremlin arrested on espionage charges, an allegation the Wall Street Journal has vehemently denied.
The State Department said in a statement that Blinken "spoke [Sunday] with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Secretary Blinken conveyed the United States’ grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a U.S. citizen journalist. The Secretary called for his immediate release."
“Evan is a very talented, experienced reporter,” Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said. “He’s accredited to report from Russia and he was on an assignment doing what he always does — he was gathering information, he was reporting from the ground to provide our readers with eye-witness accounts of what it’s like to be in Russia at the moment. It’s a complete outrage that he was arrested like this and what the Russian authorities are saying is utter nonsense.”
OPEC oil production cuts
OPEC's decision to cut oil production means Americans might face higher gas prices — and that could lead to political tumult for the Biden administration.
OPEC+ announced that they will slash oil starting in May by 1.6 million barrels per day. CNN reported that the national average gas price was $3.51 per gallon on Monday but that it could soon increase to $3.90 per gallon.
Republicans will likely continue to press Biden to tap into the strategic reserve. And Biden hasn't yet said whether he backs bipartisan legislation that would allow the U.S. to sue OPEC+ nations for cutting oil.
But the reality is that the Biden administration will likely continue to criticize domestic oil companies for collecting record-breaking profits instead of using the profits to keep oil prices low, though that rhetoric will likely have little impact on the administration's policies.
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Kevin Cirilli is a Yahoo Finance contributor and a visiting media fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.
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