The mug shot

It was the fourth time Trump has been processed as a criminal defendant this year [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( “Never Surrender!” That was the message Donald Trump posted on X (formerly Twitter) alongside his photo from Georgia’s Fulton County jail after he, in fact, surrendered himself to authorities in the latest criminal case he faces in the wake of his 2020 US election defeat. Trump glared defiantly at the camera during his brief visit to the jail, where he had already posted a $200,000 bond, before returning to his plane and flying back to New Jersey. Key Reading: [Trump Surrenders in Atlanta on 2020 Election Probe Charges]( [Trump Returns to Musk’s X With Post of Georgia Mug Shot]( [Trump and His 18 Racketeering Co-Defendants: Here’s the Latest]( [Trump Allies Cheer Vivek Ramaswamy in Bid to Derail Ron DeSantis]( In Georgia, he and much of his former legal team, including ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, face racketeering and conspiracy charges for allegedly trying to overturn election results. It was there that Trump infamously told the secretary of state to “find” him enough votes to overcome Joe Biden. At the airport after the booking, Trump decried the “travesty of justice,” adding, “I did nothing wrong. And everybody knows it.” It was the fourth time he’s been processed as a criminal defendant this year, but the cases have done little to dent his support. Polls show he still leads his nearest Republican rival for next year’s presidential campaign by as much as 40 percentage points. The prosecutor in Georgia wants to expedite its case to late October. In New York, he has a court appearance in March, soon after the Super Tuesday primary that historically weeds out also-rans. For now, Trump is using it all as a fundraising opportunity — with the cash largely going to his lawyers — and his base is solidly behind him. But sooner or later, his legal calendar is going to start interfering with his busy campaign schedule. Republicans will then have to decide if the charges and court appearances will persuade them to surrender their votes to someone else. — [Bill Faries]( Trump’s booking photo yesterday. Photographer: Handout/Getty Images Sign up for our twice-weekly [newsletter]( Next Africa, and if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane-crash death in Russia was an [assassination]( that was probably approved by President Vladimir Putin, early US assessments indicate. The aircraft may have been destroyed by a bomb on board, according to US officials. The UK is also working on the assumption that the plane was downed deliberately, an official there said. Putin said yesterday Russian investigators were probing the crash. While Iran and the US make wary diplomatic overtures, a return to their lapsed nuclear agreement remains a distant prospect. But for world oil markets, a pact is [already taking effect](. Months of secretive diplomacy between the two nations have yielded progress on prisoner exchanges, the unblocking of frozen assets and possibly even Iran’s enrichment of uranium. They also seem to have produced an informal arrangement on oil flows. US politicians are keener than ever to [juice the economy]( with government cash, making for an unprecedented outlook for the federal budget: crisis-size deficits going forward, even though the economy appears to be in good health. That prospect is making investors uneasy, as demonstrated by yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries climbing this week to their highest levels since before the 2008 global financial crisis. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [If Prigozhin’s Gone, Long Live Putin and Wagner?: Andreas Kluth]( - [BRICS Is Little More Than a Meaningless Acronym: Pankaj Mishra]( - [Baby-Killing Nurse Highlights Failings of UK NHS: Martin Ivens]( Some top Middle Eastern allies of the US are moving closer into the orbit of China and Russia, further [complicating]( geopolitics upended by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are set to join the BRICS grouping after being invited during a summit in South Africa yesterday. They’re likely to join at the start of next year, along with Iran, Argentina and Ethiopia. - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting, asking officials to work at resolving a border [dispute](. China’s economy is slowing, threatening nations that rely on the world’s second-largest economy as a motor of growth. For Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, that’s [bad news]( as he has put China at the center of his attempt to foster an industrial and economic renaissance in South America’s biggest state. Explainers You Can Use - [Haley-Ramaswamy Debate Feud Lays Bare GOP’s Foreign Policy Split]( - [Pub Closures: What’s Really Killing So Many Historic UK Bars]( - [Public Outrage Mounts in China Over Japan’s Nuclear Wastewater]( The Philippines released videos and images of at least eight incidents involving Chinese ships, stepping up efforts to publicize what it says are [“aggressive” acts]( by the vessels in the South China Sea. The strategy underscores the lengths the Philippines has to go in its persistent confrontation with Beijing, which has the world’s largest navy and claims most of the South China Sea despite the protests of other nations. Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents [Annmarie Hordern]( and [Joe Mathieu](. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here](. News to Note - Biden and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed the training of Ukrainian [fighter pilots]( in a phone call after Norway pledged to join a coalition offering Kyiv F-16 jets. - Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said a swift, peaceful restoration of democratic order in neighboring Niger is crucial and that he is [pushing back]( against pressure to apply military force. - Argentina’s decision to join BRICS is facing a [backlash]( at home, with two leading presidential candidates criticizing members of the grouping, and one of them vowing to pull the country out of the bloc. - Venezuela’s congress approved a new electoral board [dominated]( by senior figures from the socialist regime, including two who are sanctioned by the US Treasury. - A Republican National Committee [lawsuit]( accusing Google of routing donation emails to Gmail users’ spam folders was tossed out by a judge who said the internet giant fairly concluded they were unwanted messages. Pop quiz (no cheating!) Which country became the first to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... A fleet of driverless vehicles recently blocked traffic during a concert at North Beach in San Francisco. Days later, an autonomous car got stuck in wet cement, and a robotaxi crashed into a firetruck. The mishaps are adding to concerns over the vehicles that zip around the city’s streets surrounded by sensors and cameras and promise a world with fewer human interactions. But the [backlash is intensifying]( as self-driving cars begin to gain real traction in the city in which they originated. A Waymo driverless taxi stopped on a street in San Francisco for several minutes because the back door was not completely shut, while traffic backed up behind it. Photographer: Terry Chea/AP Photo More from Bloomberg - [Washington Edition]( for exclusive coverage on how the worlds of money and politics intersect in the US capital - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Supply Lines]( for daily insights into supply chains and globe trade - [Bw Daily]( for unique perspectives, original reporting and insightful analysis from Businessweek’s renowned journalists - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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