Topline
As former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush money trial pushed forward Tuesday, the former president once again appeared to doze off, according to multiple reporters in the New York courtroom, the latest time Trump has reportedly struggled to keep his eyes open as the trial enters its third week.
Former President Donald Trump appeared to nod off during his hush money trial, according to ... [+]
Key Facts
Trump sat for “significant portions” of Tuesday’s witness testimony with his eyes shut, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, an observation corroborated by Times reporter Jesse McKinley.
CNN also reported Trump kept his eyes shut as he leaned back in his chair during testimony, including during his own legal team’s cross-examination of Gary Farro, the banker who worked for Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, the man at the center of the hush money allegations.
According to NBC News reporters Lisa Rubin and Allan Smith, Trump, 77, appeared to “stir” before dozing off again, and at times “jerked” his head “in a way consistent with sleeping.”
Trump has come under increasing scrutiny for appearing to nod off during his trial over the past three weeks, where he faces 34 felony charges for allegedly falsifying business records stemming from a hush money payment to former adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Trump appeared to sleep in just the first day of jury selection, prompting his critics to mock him as “Sleepy Don,” a jab at Trump’s repeated nickname for President Joe Biden, as Trump continues to lay into Biden’s age and physical capabilities ahead of their November rematch.
Reporters in the courtroom said the former president seemed to doze off again just days later as jury selection neared an end, with the Times reporting Trump’s eyes remained “closed for extended periods.”
Big Number
$9,000. That’s how much Trump was fined Tuesday morning for violating his gag order in the hush money case, an order that prohibits Trump from publicly commenting on potential witnesses, jurors, attorneys and court staff. New York Judge Juan Merchan argued in a ruling Tuesday that Trump violated that order “beyond a reasonable doubt,” fining the 2024 GOP presidential nominee $1,000 for nine violations stemming from posts he made on his social media platform Truth Social.
News Peg
While Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and blasted the case itself as a “witch hunt,” he scored a small victory Tuesday, with Merchan saying he will allow him to skip proceedings on May 17 to attend his youngest son Barron’s high school graduation. Trump had previously argued Merchan “prohibited” him from attending the ceremony after he made his initial request to have the day off, and while Merchan did not immediately grant Trump’s request, he never rejected it, arguing earlier this month that the request depended on the status of the trial.
