Former President Trump has spent an unusual three days camped out at the civil fraud trial against him and his business empire, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.

• Why it matters: He's rarely in one place, focused on one topic, for multiple days.

Trump's made his mountain of legal woes central to his 2024 presidential campaign.

• He's seized on the ongoing fraud trial, and his voluntary appearances at the Manhattan courthouse have become an extension of the campaign trail.

What's happening: Trump has repeatedly turned up before TV cameras stationed outside the courtroom to deride the trial — in sometimes violent terms — as a "witch hunt" from politically motivated prosecutors.

• The judge overseeing the trial imposed a gag order after Trump attacked a law clerk on social media.
• "I'd rather be right now in Iowa. I'd rather be in New Hampshire or South Carolina or Ohio or a lot of other places," Trump said today.

🔎 Between the lines: The New York civil fraud trial is an anomaly for the former president, who's notorious for veering off on tangents.

• Trump, who faces 91 criminal counts across four jurisdictions, has largely limited his in-person court appearances to ones that are required.

👀 What we're watching: When Trump will show up at the courthouse again.

• He left the trial during a lunch break today to return to Mar-a-Lago, according to CNN. He didn't indicate when he'd be back in New York.

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There are signs of a slight late-pandemic birth rate bump after declining almost every year since 2007, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj write from CDC data.

• The nationwide birth rate — down 23% between 2007 and 2022 — ticked up last year. It was flat in 2021.

Why it matters: The birth rate is a closely watched figure for myriad reasons.

• It tends to fall as income rises, meaning lower birth rates can be a reflection of prosperity at both the national and individual levels.
• Some fear that if the birth rate dips too low, it will bring about a crisis where there are too few young people to care for an aging populace.

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1. 🇻🇦Above: Pope Francis opened a big Vatican meeting on the Catholic Church's future today. He said the church needed to be rebuilt to make it a place that welcomes "everyone, everyone, everyone." Go deeper.
2. 🐘 The race to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker has begun: Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) became the first candidates to jump in the race, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke writes.
3. ⚠️ Don't panic: The blaring alarm on your cellphone around 2:20 p.m. ET was a test of the national wireless emergency alert system, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.
4. 🏥 Kaiser Permanente workers around the country began a strike this morning, covering 75,000 employees at the nation's biggest nonprofit health care system, Axios' April Rubin writes.

The 2030 men's soccer World Cup will be played in six countries across three continents: Europe, Africa and South America, Axios' Shauneen Miranda writes.

• Why it matters: No other World Cup has been staged on multiple continents.

🗺️ Spain, Morocco and Portugal will co-host the event, FIFA announced today.

• Opening matches will also be played in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first tournament, which took place in South America.

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