But by 9:30 a.m., Trump was stuck in court, no longer speaking about the legal issues surrounding his presidential bid. On Thursday, he sat quietly for hours at a time, expressing Trump’s upset when his longtime friend and former tabloid publisher failed to quash a story about his alleged affair with a Playboy model in 2016 with a hush-money scheme. I watched him speak with a determined look on my face. His recourse is short breaks in the dingy courthouse hallways in front of television cameras. There, he gushed about the judge, the “subzero” temperature in the courtroom, and how he “sits as straight as he can all day.”
Two weeks on, the first criminal trial against a former president has taken a personal toll on Trump and created turmoil for his campaign. Despite his efforts to schedule People close to Trump say Trump will be in an even worse mood on trial day, rather than at a dinner party with donors, friends and world leaders. The former president plays a round of golf almost every day, is used to “constant stimulation,” and cheers as he enters and exits his Mar-a-Lago rooms, he said. Instead, he now reports four days a week for routine court arguments and long stretches without permission to check his cell phone.
“The phrase around this is, ‘The process is the punishment,'” said one person close to Trump, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Trump has tried his best to make the case an extension of his 2024 campaign, calling the case politically motivated and drawing enthusiastic crowds even in heavily Democratic Manhattan. I was proud that I could do it. He has told his advisers that he receives more media attention outside the courtroom than on the campaign trail and is surprised that his comments are sometimes broadcast live. But the indictment, which once helped prevent Trump from clinching the Republican nomination by strengthening his support base, has become a serious constraint on the general election, forcing the domineering candidate into an unusually humble position. There is.
The case is taking up time and resources at a time when his campaign is rushing to build infrastructure for the general election and trying to close the fundraising gap with President Biden. The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks and limits the would-be Republican nominee’s schedule at a critical time, when Biden is ahead in airwaves and polls are showing some improvement. However, the Trump campaign still points to the former president with an advantage in many polls of what was a very close race.
During the Republican primary, Mr. Trump may have more flexibility in moving in and out of the courtroom and campaigning from the sidelines. Currently, former presidents are required to attend.Adding insult to injury, his first trial meeting was canceled last weekend. Due to bad weather. President Trump plans to squeeze two rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin into holidays next week. His team was furious at the judge’s choice of Wednesday as a holiday, believing it was intended to hurt him politically. Instead of hitting the trails on his days off, he treks to his club in Westchester to play golf.
Trump has consistently weathered major scandals, but the New York incident is drawing new attention to sordid allegations that may give some voters pause. Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to an adult film actress, and allegations of an affair with her threatened to hurt his 2016 campaign. . He pleaded not guilty.
Jason Miller, a senior Trump campaign adviser who is appearing in court with the former president, called the incident “righteous anger,” but said the trial did not dampen President Trump’s mood or derail his campaign. He denied the idea that he had interfered with it. He said President Trump “keeps telling us to schedule” events.
“Obviously, Trump would rather be in the battleground states,” Miller said. “But we have a great candidate. We have a phenomenal airplane. … We’re going to get us on the campaign trail.”
President Trump appears to be approaching the trial with an unrealistic but predictable rhythm, with court appearances punctuated by all-caps social media posts and brief combative remarks in front of the press. became. He occasionally answered questions, sometimes ignoring reporters’ yelling questions.
“I want to say everything that’s on my mind,” President Trump lamented to reporters last week, angered by a gag order that forbids him from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case.
Prosecutors told the judge that Trump remains out of custody.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy said he violated the gag order “right outside.”
The outcome of the trial could sway some voters, pollsters and Trump face three other criminal cases, but it’s unclear whether there will be any other trials before the election. is. A CNN poll conducted April 18-23 found that nearly a quarter of registered voters who support Mr. Trump have changed their support for Mr. Trump because of the conviction in his case. He says he may reconsider.
Americans are evenly divided on whether Mr. Trump has been treated harshly or leniently compared to other defendants, with voters of different political persuasions and backgrounds finding It became clear that they were approaching the problem in completely different ways.
Trump’s lawyers insisted there was no wrongdoing and attacked the credibility of a key witness, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen. On his first court appearance Monday, Trump appeared in his trademark red tie and slightly hunched shoulders, calling the trial “political persecution,” “an attack on our country,” and “actually an attack on his political opponents.” ” he criticized. (Despite President Trump’s claims, there is no evidence that local prosecutors cooperated with Biden or his administration.)
President Trump concluded by saying, “It’s a great honor to be here.”
“He’s unbelievable.”
The trial is rarely forced into silence and often spends its time around the people it pays to visit, making phone calls, holding meetings, reading newspapers and tending to its property. The trial was a shocking change for a man who was used to spending his days doing things, taking videos, and peacocking. Around Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. Mr. Trump has also long valued control over many details of his daily life. A person familiar with the matter said.
He mostly avoids restaurants off his property because he wants to control how his food is prepared, especially his steaks. He told his advisor that he avoids certain hotels when he travels and prefers Holiday Inn Express because the bathroom floors are light-colored and you can see if there are any stains. At his property, he controls the music, both song selection and volume. He is personally involved in the refurbishment of his own planes, always wants updates, and is frustrated by having to use someone else’s private plane while he has been in his shop for over a year. I was there.
Last year, a group of President Trump’s advisers and lawyers spoke with him about the merits of his criminal case.His small fundraising numbers soared and he dominated the Republican nomination race. In battle, his camp was rallying to his defense. But Trump stopped the conversation and reminded the group of the issue. He had been charged four times and was due to spend the next year in court.
“It just seems unbelievable,” said a source close to President Trump. “When I talked to him, he said, ‘Can you believe it? “There’s a sense of, “They indicted me.”
Mr. Trump is now tied up in court for much of his day, trying to exert as much influence as possible, often serving as his own press secretary in between court sessions. On the first Thursday of the trial, the former president appeared in court brandishing a stack of thick news clippings, claiming that every article proved he was right. But his loss of power was obvious. At one point, when he stood up, the judge quickly told him to sit down, and he did. When he tweeted in court, the judge reprimanded him.
In private, he sometimes complained to lawyers, made suggestions about what arguments they should make, and sometimes reconsidered their arguments in court. However, people close to him say he is generally satisfied with the new group of lawyers.
On Friday, he opened his morning media remarks by wishing his wife, Melania Trump, a happy birthday.
President Trump: “I’d be happy to be with her, but I’m in court fighting a fraudulent trial.” Said.
He slammed the lack of large demonstrations outside and falsely claimed police were keeping large crowds of supporters away. On Monday, he declared on social media that the area outside the courthouse was “totally shut down” even though some protesters were chanting chants and walking on the sidewalk. By Tuesday, he said, “thousands of people had been turned away from the lower Manhattan courthouse by steel poles and police.”
Smaller demonstrations have also been held, including appearances by far-right activist Laura Loomer and conservative commentator Andrew Giuliani. But on Thursday afternoon, Gary Phaneuf, 68, was the only Trump supporter visibly protesting in the park outside the courthouse.
“Fight for Trump!” shouted the Staten Island resident while other New Yorkers in the park went about their day.
Phaneuf, who was arrested in Washington for violating a curfew after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said he was disappointed with the turnout in the trial. He speculated that Trump supporters may have lost the appetite for mass mobilization after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“There’s nothing here right now, let’s be real,” Phaneuf lamented. “I don’t see any prominent Republicans here today, do I?”
Trump in court: quiet and combative
President Trump was mostly expressionless during the court session, flanked by his lawyers at the defense table as reporters scrutinized his every move. On some days, his most noticeable reaction may be to yawn.
When former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker discussed the Trump Tower doorman who claimed Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock – false, according to Pecker, he I frowned.When Pecker turned around, he folded his arms lightly in front of his chest. Let’s talk about Karen McDougal, the Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump.
Meanwhile, during brief appearances outside the courtroom, his tone at times turned into outright abuse. “I’ve been sitting in that freezing room from dawn to dusk for days now,” he groaned. “Freezing! Everyone was freezing there, and everything was for this.”
He is dissatisfied with the court-imposed gag order and claims he was unfairly silenced. And he says he should go on the campaign trail. “I’m supposed to be campaigning in Pennsylvania and Florida and a lot of other states (North Carolina, Georgia) right now,” President Trump said last week.
Trump’s anger in some quarters has created an opening for the Biden campaign, which gleefully uses Trump’s daily statements to portray him as weak and frail. “Mr. Trump has said he has difficulty sitting or staying awake for long periods of time,” the Biden campaign wrote to X.
At the end of the day, President Trump returns to Trump Tower, his famous Manhattan property. Trump seems happiest in his gilded triplex room there, which still has his furniture from his time in New York, people close to him said. During dinner in the evening, the conversation often returns to the incident.
Late Thursday afternoon, a small crowd began to gather outside the tower at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and East 56th Street. By just after 5 p.m., about 100 people were waiting to catch a glimpse of Trump, even though police claimed they could see nothing but a black car.
Among those waiting were some of Trump’s most loyal fans, whom Trump’s aides always highlight in videos from New York. “I love him!” declared Lucy Cooper, 16, who was visiting from Boston.
Others passing by were hostile. One man stopped under the thick gold letters that read “TRUMP TOWER” and took a selfie with his hands in the shape of an L, meaning “loser.”
Dorsey and Parker reported from Washington.
