The Slatest for Jan. 26: A Preview of How Trump Will Act on Trial

Last year’s E. Jean Carroll defamation trial settled several questions: that Trump did sexually abuse Carroll, and that he defamed her when he repeatedly denied it. This second trial, in which closing arguments concluded Friday, is not a chance to relitigate that decision, it’s just to determine how much money Trump is liable for.

So why did Trump take the stand to deny that the assault happened—”pitching tantrums,” as Dahlia Lithwick puts it, “about issues that were not open to debate”? She considers the bigger strategy behind Trump’s “pointless, brutish, and short” testimony.

Plus:

• Mary Harris examines how Trump turned what could have been a campaign liability into his superpower.

• Shirin Ali has a rundown of the key players in the Carroll defamation trials.

• And the Political Gabfest discusses what they expect the coming Trump vs. Biden rematch will be like.

There’s a new disturbing twist in the ongoing conflict at the border, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott set the stage for an armed standoff between the state National Guard and the feds.

Now Abbott, joined by 25 other Republican governors, is “invoking the same legal theory that slave states wielded to justify secession before the Civil War,” Mark Joseph Stern writes. He takes a look at what might happen next.

Behold, a woman who wanted to be the president’s wife more than her husband wanted to be president. Heather Schwedel bids farewell to America’s premier wannabe first lady.

This Advice Week, we took a look back into the archives, pulled some choice questions from the past, and responded with new advice with more present-day sensibilities.

Our last time capsule includes such dilemmas as:

• Help! I Entrusted My Best Friend With My Most Cherished Recipe. It Was a Grave Mistake.

• Help! My Regular Plastic Surgeon Is Going to Notice My Mysterious Facelift.

• My Friend and I Made a Terrible Decision Last Night. Her Boyfriend Has No Idea.

You can read all of the stories here.

“It is with a heavy heart that I come to you asking you to care about something happening at Harvard,” Emily Tamkin writes. She explains how the latest controversy involving a Jewish studies professor embodies everything that’s wrong with today’s debates.

Conservatives had to get weirdly racist even when it comes to the airplane freakout, huh? Alex Kirshner examines how this outrage cycle is different from the others.

Heather Schwedel spent a week parading her Stanley cup around New York City to see if she could gain insight into its cultish following—and it did not go as planned. She takes us along for the ride.

Did you know that you can actually watch most of the movies on the Sundance Film Festival’s lineup at home? Sam Adams presents the best of the bunch—including zombies, hummingbirds, and a delightfully inappropriate performance from Kieran Culkin—and how exactly you can stream them.

We hope you have a weekend that’s every bit as memorable as Ryan Gosling’s Ken.

Thanks so much for reading, and we’ll see you on Monday!