TRUMP IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. New York — Former President Donald Trump‘s six-week trial here in April and May meant that he spent more time in New York, more consecutive days, than he had in a very long time. He worked out ways to campaign while having to appear in court. He created an event in a bodega. He delivered pizzas at a firehouse. He stopped by a construction site. Each got a lot of coverage.

Then, on May 23, a week before his conviction, he held a rally in the South Bronx. It was big — estimates ranged from 8,000 to 10,000 people, while Trump said it was 25,000. “We had 25,000 people in the South Bronx,” Trump told me during a talk in June. “That crowd was incredible.” Then he added: “I’m going to Madison Square Garden, too.”