DDonald Trump was not happy. As porn star Stormy Daniels took the stand at Trump’s secret trial Tuesday, the former president “cursed audibly” as he described lurid details of their alleged 2006 sexual dalliance, when Trump was 60 and she was When he was 27, Daniels claimed Trump told him, “You remind me of my daughter. »
Trump, who denies the affair, has a history of going crazy over much less personal attacks. But in the hours that followed, he held his tongue. While Trump has repeatedly violated the silence that prohibits him from attacking witnesses or jurors, the stakes are higher this time. On Monday, Judge Juan Merchan warned Trump that another offense could land him in a jail cell.
Now, Merchan, Trump’s lawyers and the rest of the nation will wait minute by minute to see whether Trump continues to hold back or whether he will remain true to the Trumpian credo of always fighting back.
For someone who loves drama, Trump might enjoy keeping everyone in suspense. “President Trump is very strategic in what he does,” says Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt, a close Trump ally. “Chaos for us is not chaos for him.”
Some in Trump’s orbit are advocating chaos, encouraging him to stage a showdown with the US justice system. They argue that the image of a former president sitting in a jail cell for expressing his opinion would turn public opinion against the procedure. “He should fight it even if it means prison,” says Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist.
Even those closest to Trump don’t know what he will do next. “The lawyers are adamant that they would prefer that he not make any comments that would even go so far as to sniff at the restrictions imposed by the hush order,” a source close to Trump said. But his lawyers recognize the futility of trying to silence him. “They understand that he has a campaign to run. They realize this is a unique situation.
Trump’s comments on Daniels or the trial will carry more weight after Merchan ruled On Monday, he violated his order of silence for the tenth time, fining him $1,000 per violation. The next step, he told the former president, would be “punishable by incarceration.”
There are signs that Trump is still tempted to lash out. Early Tuesday morning, Trump fumed on Truth Social that he had just learned who prosecutors were calling to testify that day. “This is unprecedented, lawyers have no time to prepare,” he wrote. “No judge has ever conducted a trial in such a biased and partisan manner. » In half an hour, the message was deleted.
Trump will face the ordeal again Thursday when Daniels returns to the Manhattan courtroom. His testimony is at the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case that Trump falsified business records to conceal payments to Daniels during the 2016 campaign. The money, Bragg claims, was intended to buy his silence and to influence the outcome of the elections.
To Trump’s allies, to his political leaders…
