What Donald Trump is doing during the New York trial.
Former President Donald Trump is required to sit in the courthouse amid jury deliberations in the unprecedented NY v. Trump trial, where he has continued firing off Truth Social posts and holding press conferences.
“Hey guys, I’m here with your favorite president. We’re cranking out a couple of mean tweets at the courthouse,” Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s eldest son, said in a TikTok video posted Wednesday.
The video showed a glimpse behind the scenes of what Trump is up to during jury deliberations, with him seated at a table surrounded by a couple of stacks of papers and some snacks.
Thursday marks day two of jury deliberations, with the 12-member body sitting in a closed-door room to discuss whether Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump is required to be present in the courthouse, not the courtroom itself, in case the jury hands presiding Judge Juan Merchan a note. The jury handed Merchan two notes on Wednesday, including a request to hear his instructions again and another request to hear testimony again from former media publisher David Pecker and ex-Trump attorney and the prosecution team’s star witness, Michael Cohen.
As the jury continues weighing the case, Trump has continued posting to Truth Social.
“Can anybody believe that our Government would be spending Tens of Millions of Taxpayer Dollars on prosecuting this RIDICULOUS Case? I DID NOTHING WRONG! IN FACT, I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT. The testimony in Court was amazing for the Defense!” Trump said in one post from Thursday morning.
“Testimony conclusively showed that I clearly stated, ‘I DON’T BUY STORIES!’ — Not that there would be anything wrong with doing that — NDA’s are PERFECTLY LEGAL AND COMMON!” Trump said in another post.
Throughout the trial, Trump has held brief addresses to the press, including after jury deliberations began this week. He has stressed his claim that the trial is “rigged” against him, and said Wednesday that he is facing charges that Mother Teresa could not beat.
“The judge, who, as you know, is very conflicted and corrupt. Because of the confliction, very, very corrupt. Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged,” Trump said late Wednesday morning as jury deliberations kicked off.
“The whole country is a mess, between the borders and fake elections, and you have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted, he can’t breathe. He’s got to do his job. … it’s a disgrace. And I mean that, Mother Teresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do.”
On Thursday, Trump again argued in public comment that Merchan is “corrupt” and “conflicted,” while arguing that the prosecutors in the case are “proving” his point that the legal system is weaponized against him.
“Mike Davis: ‘The U.S. would sanction a country for doing this.’ I think that’s good. I think that’s good. Steve Hilton: ‘It seems that every single day these proceedings go on, the judge or the prosecutor just go out of their way to prove Trump’s point,'” Trump said while reading excerpts of legal experts’ insight into the case.
Trump added after reading the excerpt, “…They are proving my point when you think. That’s why I write some of these things that are very sad.”
A verdict could be reached as soon as Thursday.
