Tag: News

• Morocco has spent the last two decades transforming into Africa's auto-manufacturing hub.
• The country produced 535,825 vehicles in 2023, per data company CEIC.
• The kingdom is now looking to make the transition to electric vehicles.

In the labyrinthine streets of Marrakech's bustling medina, it is hard to imagine that you are standing in one of the world's biggest car-producing countries.

The sun-baked Kingdom of Morocco is renowned as a tourist destination, with its vibrant souks, iconic Moorish architecture, and surreal Saharan desert dunes.

But the country is now also making a name for itself in the automotive industry, having spent roughly the last two decades transforming into Africa's auto-manufacturing hub.

According to data company CEIC, Morocco produced 535,825 motor vehicles in 2023, up from 464,864 in 2022, and it has the capacity to see that number jump to 700,000, the Associated Press reported.

The country has even overtaken China, India, and Japan, as the main automotive supplier to the European Union (EU), according to the Spanish outlet Atalayar.

Morocco is now looking to consolidate its position as a major player in the industry and stay ahead of major regulatory changes — such as the EU's plan to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2035 — by preparing to transition to electric vehicles.

Morocco's minister of industry and trade, Ryad Mezzour, told Reuters that by 2030, the Moroccan government hopes that up to 60% of its exported cars will be domestically produced EVs.

And the kingdom seems to be in a good position to make the transition, according to Rafiq Raji, a non-resident senior associate with the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

"Quite literally in Europe's backyard, Morocco's tariff-free trade access to the United States and European Union, relatively better infrastructure, battery minerals endowment, a relatively robust automotive industrial base, as well as currently being the only African country eligible under America's Inflation Reduction Act, has made it quite attractive for EV-related investment, especially from China," Raji told Business Insider.

Morocco has also spent on infrastructure and training skilled workers, which means it could be in a favorable position to attract investment from car makers looking to expand their electric vehicle supply chains, Abdelmonim Amachraa, a Moroccan supply chain expert, told AP.

And it appears the kingdom is already making moves in the EV space.

This week, Moroccan officials revealed that Chinese auto battery manufacturers Hailiang and Shinzoom would build two separate battery plants in the country's Tanger Tech industrial zone.

Another Chinese battery maker, BTR New Material Group, will also build a factory near Tangier — a coastal city with strong links to a host of American writers — to produce key component cathodes, it was announced in April.

CNGR Advanced Material is also expected to set up a cathode plant in the country.

"BTR and CNGR or other plants will be able to supply gigafactories in Morocco and abroad," Mezzour told Reuters.

• After decades of decline, Detroit registered its first population increase since 1957.
• From July 2022 to July 2023, the Census estimated that Detroit's population grew by 1,852 residents.
• Since taking office in 2014, Mayor Mike Duggan has taken on Detroit's long-standing blight problem.

For decades, Detroit was an international symbol of urban decay: abandoned neighborhoods, decrepit former factories, and a population exodus.

But in recent years, Detroit has turned a corner. There's been a stream of investment across the city, but especially in the city's downtown, where Art Deco buildings have been given new life as residences and modern office spaces. Detroit's restaurant scene is also now one of the most vibrant in the country. And core city services, many of which were deemed unreliable when Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in July 2013, have improved.

The result? From July 2022 to July 2023, the US Census Bureau says Detroit's population grew by close to 2,000 residents, bumping the city's population to 633,218.

The 2023 estimate means that for the first time since 1957, the city grew, a monumental achievement for Detroit — which in the 1940s was one of the country's most prosperous and influential cities.

With Detroit's latest population numbers, the city also jumped from the 29th-largest to the 26th-largest city in the United States, overtaking Memphis, Louisville, and Portland.

Detroit's numbers are still far from 1950, when the city's population peaked at about 1.85 million. Back then, it was the fifth-largest city in the United States, behind only New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

Detroit was heavily impacted by rapid suburbanization in the 1950s and 1960s and lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs. The 1967 Detroit riot led to an unimaginable loss of life and the destruction of hundreds of buildings, reshaping the city's destiny for generations.

White flight then fueled many of Detroit's businesses to flee the city, and later, much of the city's Black middle-class population also began to decamp for the suburbs, frustrated by the decline in services and the state of the public school system.

That Detroit would register such a population increase years after enduring some of its biggest challenges is a culmination of decades of both public and private investment in Michigan's largest city — one that continues to serve as the nexus of the American automobile industry. And it's also a reflection of the relative affordability of Detroit — which has a lower cost of living compared to the coasts — while offering a climate with less extreme weather than many of its more populous Sun Belt counterparts.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, in office since 2014, has focused on reigning in the city's blight. Abandoned homes had become the source of crime in many outer neighborhoods.

Duggan last year said that under his tenure the city had removed roughly 25,000 abandoned homes. And thousands of homes have been renovated or are slated for renovations.

"As we remove blight, more and more people are moving into the good houses," Duggan told the Associated Press. "Right now, it doesn't seem like we can build apartments fast enough."

• My parents gave me good financial advice while I was growing up.
• They helped shape how I think about and spend — or save — money today. 
• As baby boomers they had a different perspective than the parents of many of my other Gen Z friends.

As a Gen Zer in my early 20s, I'm starting my career and thinking about my future, and money is an important part of that. Many factors have influenced how I view and handle money, like my education, socioeconomic status, and being raised by baby boomers who are first- and second-generation immigrants. I've also realized that being raised by older parents has given me a different perspective than that of many of my peers.

There's so much personal finance advice out there, but as I settle into adult life, I rely more and more on the fundamentals my parents taught me. Though the economy has changed since they were young, my baby boomer parents' lessons of hard work and the importance of saving still ring true for me today living as an independent young adult.

They encouraged me to work hard

One of the most critical values my parents encouraged — and still do today — is to work hard. I started babysitting as my first job as soon as I could, went on to work part-time jobs in high school, and eventually got full-time jobs during my summer breaks.

Aside from birthday and holiday gifts, the money I saved or spent was money that I worked for. When I went to university, my parents had saved for my tuition (which lasted me a while, thanks to being an only child) and I also applied for scholarships at my school.

When I first started living on my own at 18, my parents would help me if I was ever in a pinch, but most of the money to pay rent and bills was that which I saved. Nothing was ever handed to me. This encouragement to learn how to manage what I earn and work hard is a value that extends not just to the number in my bank account but to my work ethic and career.

They taught me to save what I earned

It's undisputed that saving money is smart, and it's true that you can find this particular financial advice anywhere. But this is another one of the key money lessons my baby boomer parents taught me. It can't be overstated how easy it is to spend these days any time you walk out your door, and this is a fundamental practice, regardless of how obvious it may be.

Ever since I can remember, when I received money as a kid, my parents would encourage me to save it. I even saved up enough and bought our family dog with my own money when I was eight. This practice of saving and reflecting before spending shaped my perception of money as something valuable, finite, and worth safeguarding.

I learned from watching their relationship with money

Observing my parents' relationship with money and their reflectiveness when it came to spending throughout my childhood has also shaped my consumption patterns. For example, eating out at restaurants was a rarity growing up, an added expense saved for special occasions or travel — including fast food (though that may not have been entirely about money). It wasn't until I moved out that I realized how normalized dining out or picking up food is. But often, for my parents, it came down to the good old excuse, "We have this at home."

I also began formally managing my personal finances at a young age. I opened my first checking account when I was 13. I distinctly remember going to the branch with my mom and getting my first debit card. Going through this banking process at a young age gave me the independence to monitor how I was handling my money and learn how to navigate the basics of financial literacy as a teen.

Being economical often gets a bad rap, but I think it's one of the most valuable money habits my baby boomer parents instilled in me, especially given the cost of living today. Now that I'm older and have more expenses, my experience and relationship with money influenced by my baby boomer parents have hopefully set me up for success.

• Some gig workers use third-party apps to claim high-paying orders on Instacart and other apps.
• Using so-called "bots" goes against the delivery apps' policies.
• Still, they can be essential to making money, one worker who has used them told Business Insider.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ted Rosner, a gig delivery worker in the Washington, DC metro area. Business Insider has verified his identity and his use of two bots designed for gig delivery apps. The story has been edited for length and clarity.

I acquired my first bot back in February 2023.

I found this guy who writes some articles on gig work, and he talked about having access to bots for Instacart. I reached out to the guy's WhatsApp since I had seen multiple postings about it.

The cost for the bot, called ShopperX, was $400 up front, plus $150 per every $1,200 worth of orders that you shopped. Once you had shopped that much, you had to buy another code to keep using the bot.

The biggest reason I purchased it was because you just have to keep refreshing the screen to get orders on Instacart. That's not great while you're driving. I also have neuropathy in my hands, and it hurts to keep refreshing the screen. This Android bot would just do it for me.

There were other features I used a lot. One was spoofing my GPS location. I had Diamond Cart status on Instacart, so I had to be near stores to see orders that I could claim.

But with the bot, I could spoof my location so that it appeared I was back at the store in order to claim another order. That way, I knew I had one and didn't have to waste time waiting in the parking lot to claim an order.

I could set the criteria for the batches: how much I'd earn, the number of customers I'd have to deliver for, the miles I'd have to drive, the number of items in each order, and how far from the store I was. I could say "I want to take a $50 batch that's only one customer that's up to three miles from the store, but an unlimited amount of items," and it would only serve me those orders.

Eventually, Instacart caught on to ShopperX. We got a message from the developer saying, effectively: "If you log out, you will not be able to log back in."

After that, I started asking around about other bots, including for other apps. That's how I found Lucky. I got access from someone who used the bot — apparently, some of these bots are pyramid schemes where users get rewarded for selling other gig workers codes for it.

You can use this bot for a variety of apps, from Instacart to Spark to Shipt. The user interface is different, but it pretty much works the same as ShopperX. You also got to shop $200 worth of orders for free to start, so you can try it and know that you're not being scammed.

My thinking is: If you can't beat them, join them. Normally, I would never see the notifications for the huge, high-paying batches. The only way to get them was with the bot, because the bot was quick enough to catch them. So, the fees are a lot, but if I'm grabbing $200 batches, it's worth it.

As far as I'm concerned, Instacart is only concerned about getting the orders filled. They don't care about anything else. They can figure out we're using bots; they just don't want to. How did I get from DC to Tysons Corner in three seconds? Why can't Instacart detect that we're spoofing back and forth between locations so quickly?

There are so many people out there who are anti-bot, or they think that they're fake. There are a lot of people out there that are attempting to sell fake bots. But I've never heard of anybody being deactivated for bot use. I was recently deactivated from Instacart, but it was because I emailed an Instacart executive about some of the bugs I ran into on the app — their justification never brought up bots.

If Instacart went after bot use aggressively, it would become a fair platform. But right now, it's not fair.

Are bots a good option? You don't have a choice.

An Instacart spokesperson told BI: "This shopper was deactivated from our platform for blatant and abusive violations of our terms of service."

Instacart makes sure that its app "stays secure by removing and banning bad actors from the platform, taking legal action where necessary, and deactivating shoppers found to be misusing the platform," the spokesperson added.

"We have been successful in shutting down these services through both technical and legal interventions, and we will continue to be vigilant in enforcing security measures to ensure the safety, reliability, and fairness of our platform."

Do you work for Instacart, DoorDash, Walmart Spark, or another gig delivery service and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Welcome back to our Sunday edition, a roundup of some of our top stories. If you're interviewing for a job in the coming weeks, check out these five questions to ask at the end. They could help you seal the deal.

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On the agenda:

• WiFi Money promised the easy life. Investors wound up ruined.
• Blue-collar jobs are booming right now.
• The man leading the fight to legalize MDMA therapy.
• Inside Google CEO Sundar Pichai's big leadership shakeup.

But first: Markets are throwing off déjà vu vibes.

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If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.

---

This week's dispatch

Investors go back to the future

Stocks hit record highs. Roaring Kitty is moving markets. Crypto adverts are on TV. It's like the past two years never happened.

The Dow closed above 40,000 for the first time on Friday, driven by signs of slowing inflation.

Keith Gill, the retail trading personality known as Roaring Kitty, tweeted for the first time in three years. The tweet didn't say much, but it was enough to send GameStop's shares spiking.

And with bitcoin hovering near record highs and the crypto winter seemingly behind us, crypto companies are on the front foot once more.

The market euphoria stands in stark contrast to what's going on away from Wall Street.

War rages on in Ukraine and the Middle East. Consumers still feel downbeat about the economy. We're headed for what's likely to be a deeply contentious US election.

For now, investors are shrugging off those concerns.

---

WiFi Money's risky allure

WiFi Money promises its followers "the ability to make money anywhere in the world, by doing one simple action…. connecting to WiFi." It sold Americans the idea that with a bit of hustle, they could soon live the easy life.

But since its founding in 2020, the company has left a trail of lawsuits alleging fraud, bankruptcies, mental breakdowns, and financial devastation.

Meet the ultimate Instagram hustlers.

---

The hottest jobs right now are blue

Want a six-figure salary? You don't need to go to Wall Street or Silicon Valley to land one. Instead, blue-collar jobs are booming right now.

Jobs that don't require sitting in front of a computer are in high demand. Demand is high, opportunities abound, and companies like Walmart and UPS offer six-figure salaries and lucrative benefits.

It's getting hot under the blue collar.

Also read:

• Meet the HIFIs: High-income earners who feel financially insecure but can't quit their luxury spending
• AI analyst says plumbers' and electricians' jobs are safe but AI models like GPT-4o 'will impact any job that has data'
• In a white-collar recession where $100,000 jobs are hard to find, women are winning out

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One man's mission to legalize MDMA

For decades, Rick Doblin and MAPS, the nonprofit he founded, have been pushing to legalize medical MDMA. Now, the FDA could issue its approval as soon as this summer.

However, insiders have begun voicing concerns about possible ethical lapses in clinical trials and questioning whether MAPS can effectively lead the movement into the future.

Why some advocates are sounding the alarm.

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Google's leadership shakeup

In April, Google CEO Sundar Pichai executed one of the most dramatic executive shakeups in the company's 25-year history.

Pichai combined two of the company's major units — platforms and devices — into a supergroup focusing on Android, Chrome, and gadgets, like the Pixel phone.

How Pichai redesigned his leadership team.

Also read:

• Google just gave us a tantalizing glimpse into the future of AI agents
• Google's Android chief says AI will reset the battle with Apple for mobile supremacy

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This week's quote:

"They're just three years late giving the right person the job honestly."

• A former Amazon executive on AWS boss Adam Selipsky's successor.

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More of this week's top reads:

• High prices have risen from the dead — and some economists are scared witless.
• I left JPMorgan and escaped the "golden handcuffs." I have no regrets.
• Apple needs a revolutionary new product. Is Tim Cook up to the job?
• A millennial investor feels happier after ditching most of her Zoom meetings.
• AI bots are battling it out over job searches. It's total chaos.
• Peloton's demise is another in a long line of failed fitness fad.
• Adam Neumann is now in the publishing business.
• A Trump voter proved Mike Lindell wrong. Now he wants his $5 million.

• Heads-up, Apple and the rest of Big Tech: Disney wants better app store deals.

  ---

  The Insider Today team: Matt Turner, deputy editor-in-chief, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

• After graduating college, I couldn't get a full-time job, so I am working several part-time gigs.
• I am frustrated because I didn't know it would be this hard to make ends meet after college.
• I am trying to look on the bright side and understand that I am learning financial lessons.

After the initial thrill and excitement of graduation wore off, the first few months as a recent college graduate were quickly followed by a blur of job applications, rejections, and figuring out budgeting basics.

I quickly realized that the financial independence I longed for now seemed like a far-off dream.

On the one hand, I gained my independence, but on the other, I now had to navigate issues like rent, groceries, and basic utilities. But since I couldn't land a full-time job in my desired field — as a biotechnologist — I struggled to make ends meet.

I realized I had a lot to learn.

I couldn't get a full-time job, so I struggled to make ends meet

I rarely considered the comfort and stability that being in college had provided. While in school, I could always rely on my family — and even friends — to quickly jump in to support me if I needed financial help. But soon after graduation, I realized I was on my own. I had to quickly understand that the support I once enjoyed had finally dwindled.

The possibility of getting a full-time job seemed almost impossible, so I had to take what was available. I took any odd job: I waited tables, babysat, and even became a part-time receptionist at a hotel.

With the measly paychecks I got, I then had to figure out how to negotiate between my needs and wants. I had to plan every single bit of my income and spending.

I remember sitting in bed, surrounded by bills and a spreadsheet that refused to balance. The uncorrelated numbers on my spreadsheet were a stark reminder that my survival jobs weren't cutting it. My pay barely covered what I needed monthly.

That's when I decided I needed at least two part-time jobs to cover my basic needs.

I don't understand how I got here

In the midst of all that was happening, I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that I couldn't secure a future or land a job. I went to college and followed every step I needed to; my future felt like a guarantee. But I'm realizing I was wrong.

I felt like a failure for not being able to get a job, and I also felt let down by the system.

But I am trying to look on the bright side. Learning to manage my finances at such a young age has taught me invaluable lessons. The challenge of having every penny already spent before receiving the paycheck makes saving an impossible but interesting task. I am learning how to save money and how far a dollar can truly go. I am becoming stronger and wiser through this process.

I am still looking to the future

It's been a year since I graduated. Though I am still looking for a full-time job and struggling to make ends meet, I try to remind myself that this is just a phase in a tough labor market. It will just take some patience and practice.

But while I wait for that to happen, I am quickly learning to adapt to my reality and figure it out one day at a time.

I hope that one day, I will look back at these struggles as the foundation of my financial wisdom. The lessons taught me not just how to survive but how to thrive.

• Rudy Giuliani was served an indictment notice at his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida.
• The notice relates to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona.
• Giuliani had tweeted that the notice servers wouldn't find him.

Rudy Giuliani was served an indictment notice during his 80th birthday party after bragging on social media that he would avoid the law officials.

The notice related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona.

Giuliani was served at a party on Friday night hosted by GOP operative Caroline Wren in Palm Beach, Florida, with guests taken aback by the intrusion, reports said.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes confirmed the indictment service via social media with a tweet, "Nobody is above the law."

Giuliani had tweeted, "If Arizona authorities can't find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can't count votes."

Mayes shared a screenshot of the former mayor of New York's post, with Giuliani smiling and surrounded by a group of women, that had been deleted.

Prosecutors charged Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and a slate of Arizona Republicans with multiple felonies in a 58-page indictment made public in April.

The indictment notice requires Giuliani to appear before a judge, marking a significant step in a case that has been developing for weeks.

Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for Mayes, indicated that tracking down Giuliani had been challenging, but the attorney general's office remained persistent.

This indictment is part of a broader legal struggle for Giuliani and other Trump allies involved in the alleged election subversion activities. The charges outline Giuliani's role in spreading false claims of voter fraud and urging fake GOP electors to cast votes for Trump-Pence in several contested states, including Arizona.

John Eastman, another figure implicated in the scheme, has already pleaded not guilty in Phoenix. Giuliani and other defendants will appear in court over the coming weeks.

Giuliani was mayor of New York from 1994 until 2001 and more recently was part of Donald Trump's inner circle and worked as the former president's lawyer after the 2020 election.

As a result of his attempts to prove Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was rigged, Giuliani's legal troubles have been mounting.

He faces multiple lawsuits and charges, including defamation claims from Dominion and Smartmatic, and significant financial penalties from previous defamation cases involving Georgia election workers.

Additionally, he remains an unindicted co-conspirator in Trump's federal election subversion case and faces numerous charges in Georgia.

A source told the Daily Mail that guests at the party Giuliani was served the notice were "visibly angry as they shouted at the individuals that served the former mayor."

Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Giuliani, said he was unfazed by the episode "and enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people," ABC News reported.

Giuliani, who led Trump's legal challenge to the 2020 election outcome in Pennsylvania, had his law license suspended in both Washington, DC and New York in 2021.

Business Insider contacted Rudy Giuliani for comment.

• Nico Murillo, a former Tesla production supervisor, was laid off after five years at the company.
• Murillo lived in his car in the factory's parking lot for a year to save commuting time.
• Murillo said the layoffs came as a surprise, but he's trying to be optimistic. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Nico Murillo, a former production supervisor at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I started at Tesla in 2019 as an entry-level production associate.

I worked my way up at the company for over five years, eventually becoming a production supervisor.

Half a decade felt like a long time to work at one place, so when the layoffs came in April, they were a total shock.

When I received the email stating that my position had been eliminated, I was already on my way to work.

I decided to try my badge on the turnstile in case it was a scam or a mistake, but a security guard confiscated it and told me I'd be affected by the job cuts.

I just walked back to my car in shock. It felt like a nightmare.

Camping in the car park

I worked really hard while I was at Tesla and wanted to be as efficient and productive as possible.

My shifts at Tesla were long, normally lasting around 12 hours. As I was working a salaried job, I sometimes needed to stay even longer to get things done.

In 2021, I started sleeping in my car and showering in the factory to avoid my lengthy commute.

I just felt like I needed more time to sleep — the job felt like being an industrial athlete because we were constantly moving. I needed more rest to be productive, efficient, and friendly at work. I decided it would be easier to stay at the factory and cut out my hour-and-a-half commute.

My coworkers were surprised when I told them I was sleeping in my car — it definitely turned heads as it wasn't normalized in the culture.

I was camping in the car between my work shifts for a whole year. My shift patterns alternated between three and four days a week, so it felt doable and put me in a better headspace.

I did a lot of research on how to design my Model Y Tesla to be in "camp mode." I realized I could live at the factory between my shifts as there were showers and a bathroom.

It was pretty comfortable and fun to create. In camp mode, the Model Y can stay at 70 degrees Fahrenheit the whole night, so you don't have to worry about it being too cold or hot.

Being awake and efficient at work was a priority for me. I needed more rest to achieve this, so cutting out my commute really helped.

When the weather got worse around December, I stopped sleeping in my car because it made it a lot more difficult. To get to the bathroom, I had to get out of my car and walk into the facility and back without getting everything wet.

'Grief moment'

Working at Tesla taught me that you have to pivot quickly in life.

You can't dwell on things or complain because that doesn't get you anywhere. When I found out I'd been laid off, it felt like a grief moment. I was in disbelief.

As I sat in my car outside the factory, it began to settle in. It hit me that I'd spent five years here, bonding with coworkers and camping in this parking lot.

In any negative situation, like a layoff, you can't control the outside events or your initial response. I've been trying to take a half-glass-full approach and think about everything I have time to do now I'm no longer working so hard at Tesla.

It's been about a month since I was laid off, and I've been seeing a lot of people in the EV industry being impacted by layoffs. It feels like it's happening to a lot of people.

Being laid off didn't change my opinion of Tesla. I still really resonate with its mission and what the company is trying to do. I worked hard for them, but that does not mean I plan to give up being a hard worker.

Right now, I'm a store manager at GNC, but going forward, I'm planning to grow my YouTube channel and I'm planning to move into my car full-time.

• Trump's been closing his eyes in court. Could his sleepy demeanor sway the verdict?
• Legal experts said jurors take their jobs very seriously and this trial is unprecedented.
• "That is a proverbial middle finger to the jury," one defense attorney told BI.

There's been a lot of talk about former President Donald Trump appearing to doze off during his hush-money trial.

But could his naps sway the jury?

Jurors will likely feel slighted by Trump's snoozing, legal experts told Business Insider.

And while closing your eyes during a criminal trial wouldn't result in a conviction in itself, Trump's naps aren't going to help if any of the jurors are on the fence.

In the opening days of his hush-money trial, Trump closed his eyes for minutes at a time before jolting back up.

Since then, it's been the same story: Trump's been spotted with his eyes closed, his head tilted, appearing to nod off during the trial.

Even during the testimony of prosecutors' key witness, Michael Cohen, Trump appeared to be napping in court.

The former President has denied falling asleep in the courtroom.

"I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!!" he explained on Truth Social earlier this month.

But he might be wise to keep them open in the future, legal experts told BI.

'They will hold that against him'

Gene Rossi, a former litigator with the Department of Justice, told Business Insider that in the 110 cases he's tried, all the jurors took their jobs very seriously.

"If they sense that the defendant is essentially blowing it off and not taking it seriously like an eighth grader, they will hold that against him," Rossi said. "End of story."

"That is a proverbial middle finger to the jury," agreed Jeremy Saland, a former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney and current defense lawyer, who said dozing off would be a "foolish, dangerous way to handle yourself in that courtroom."

For his part, Rossi said he advises clients to be engaged and respectful "like they are in church listening to a sermon by the Pope."

Jurors had to go through a rigorous selection process and are giving up weeks of their lives to hear testimony.

But these proceedings carry unprecedented weight, Saland said.

There's all the news coverage, not to mention the sheer magnitude of deciding the first criminal trial of a former US president — who could still become the next President if he wins this year.

Saland said Trump's demeanor shouldn't impact his verdict — which will ultimately boil down to the evidence. But it could be risky if deliberations get close, he said.

"You should think that the system is there and has enough accountability and integrity that they won't hold it against him," he said, "but it certainly will not favor him."

Lawyers for Trump and members of his campaign didn't respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Ford's F-150 Lightning was the most popular EV pickup in March, per S&P Global Mobility data. 
• Over 1,100 new Cybertrucks were registered in the month, according to the data.
• Tesla began deliveries of the Cybertruck in November.

Tesla's Cybertruck was the second-best-selling electric pickup truck in March, according to one key sales indicator.

The edgy pickup was second only to Ford's F-150 Lightning, according to new vehicle registration data from S&P Global Mobility that was first reported by the Automotive News. During the month of March, the Cybertruck had 1,158 new registrations, while the Lightning had 2,893. Rivian's R1T, on the other hand, had only 548 new vehicle registrations.

Spokespeople for Tesla, Ford, and Rivian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla began deliveries of the Cybertruck to its first dozen owners on November 30. Ford's electric pickup hit the market in 2022 and Rivian's in 2021.

Tesla has yet to disclose how many Cybertruck's its delivered. But, there was one clue earlier this year when the company recalled around 3,878 Cybertrucks produced between November 13 and April 4, which was basically all of the models Tesla had produced during that period.

Ahead of the Cybertruck's delivery event, it had as many as 2 million reservations, according to one online tally, and the vehicle quickly became one of the hottest status symbols for celebrities.

Some reservation-holders told Business Insider after the vehicle's debut in 2023 — when the truck was presented over budget and with a lower range than initially advertised — that they were reconsidering the purchase.

Meanwhile, Ford and Tesla alike have been dealing with an industry-wide EV sales slowdown. In April, Tesla posted its first year-over-year quarterly decline since 2020. And in March, Ford announced plans to slim down its workforce at the factory that builds the F-150 Lightning.

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