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What it’s like to watch Trump’s “hush money” trial from inside the courtroom
Everyone but the judge and jurors are seated before Donald Trump and his team enter the courtroom each day in his New York criminal trial.
Reporters, other members of the public, prosecutors and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg himself, must all pass through security screening and be in place, and quiet, as Trump approaches the room.
The group is sometimes settled in before Trump’s motorcade has even pulled up to the 17-story Art Deco-style building. The court officers’ radios suddenly crackle, echoing off the high, 83-year-old ceilings, announcing the arrival of a former president.
Curtis Means-Pool / Getty Images
Reporters are reminded that they will be removed from the room if a court officer sees their phones. They continue to clatter away on their laptops, a glowing sea of screens showing notes, Gmail, Slack and Twitter.
Sometimes, Trump can be heard before he enters the room. A ring announcer ready to rumble in his own prize fight. He’s addressing cameras and a few reporters stationed in a small pen about 50 feet from the courtroom. The unmistakable voice of one of the world’s most famous people, muffled through two sets of doors, reverberates.
Outside the room, Trump rages about Bragg, Judge Juan Merchan and the case. The former president is being tried on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to an alleged “hush money” payment before the 2016 presidential election. He denies the allegations and has entered a not guilty plea.
Once Trump walks through the thick wooden double doors — sometimes setting a brisk pace, sometimes lumbering, always stone-faced — his demeanor changes. He’s accompanied by a team of lawyers, usually campaign staff, too, and of course Secret Service agents, who move to the perimeter after Trump takes a seat at the defense table.
Inside the room, he’s reserved, quiet. Sometimes he appears to briefly nod off. He occasionally whispers with attorneys Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles and Emil Bove.
He stands at attention when Merchan enters the room, and like everyone else, sits only when told he may.
During jury selection, he sometimes craned his neck to the right to watch New Yorkers in the jury pool as they were questioned about their social media habits and their feelings about Trump. He afforded Blanche the same attention during his opening statement Tuesday.
Mostly, Trump stares straight ahead. At what, exactly? The computer monitor he shares with the attorney next to him? Certainly, sometimes. But mostly he seems to be looking above that, beyond it, past the bustling judge’s clerk, whose desk gives him a front row seat second only to Merchan’s. Is he staring at the wall? The bottom third of the wall is wood-paneled, the rest painted solid white. Also, mounted on the wall across from Trump is a flat-screen television, one of four in the room. At all times, it shows Merchan, the lawyers, and Trump himself.
This has been Trump’s posture through most of the proceedings — not just the first six trial days, but also pretrial hearings dating back to his arraignment on April 4, 2023. He’s been warned once, last week, about juror intimidation, after gesturing and shaking his head amid questioning of one former potential juror, but has otherwise been stoic.
Contrast Trump’s behavior in this courtroom with his visible and audible displays of disgust that interrupted proceedings in two recent trials.
After repeated outbursts during a January defamation trial in the civil case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge threatened to kick Trump out of the courtroom.
In that case, Trump could be heard from the gallery groaning at times during testimony, and an opposing lawyer said he frequently made comments such as, “It is a witch hunt,” and, “it really is a con job.”
The judge said: “Mr. Trump has a right to be present here. That right can be forfeited if he is disruptive and if he disregards court orders.”
During another recent civil trial, a New York case in which he and others from his company were found liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent profits, Trump often seemed uncontrollable. Lawyers in the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James accused him of witness intimidation one day as his whispers during a real estate executive’s testimony turned toward loud rasps — his head bobbing from side to side, shaking in apparent disparagement.
The circumstances of those civil trials were different. Trump was not required to be present, and could come and go as he pleased — occasionally standing and leaving without warning, his Secret Service entourage scrambling to keep up. The judge in the defamation trial interrupted Carroll’s closing argument to note that Trump had gotten up and walked out. He returned for his lawyer’s closing, and then later exited the courthouse for good about 30 minutes before the jury announced its $83.3 million judgment against him.
Now, Trump is a criminal defendant. He’s required to attend the whole trial, and to sit quietly unless expressly granted permission to do otherwise.
He sought permission to spend Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., watching arguments before the Supreme Court in a matter related to another of his criminal cases. Merchan denied that request.
He asked to adjourn the trial for one day in May to attend his son’s graduation. One of his lawyers made a similar request for a day in June. Merchan said maybe, tacitly hitting at the many attempts Trump’s team has made to delay the trial.
“If everything is going according to schedule without unnecessary delays, then I am sure we will be able to adjourn for one or both of those days, but if we are running behind schedule, we will not be able to,” Merchan said.
Trump complained to reporters outside the courtroom when it was cold on April 18. Inside, Blanche had to lodge the complaint for him.
Merchan’s response included an observation that court staff, lawyers, reporters and others who’ve spent much time in Room 1530 have long acknowledged: The room has two temperatures, cold and hot.
“I would rather be real cold than sweating,” Merchan said.
Trump must rise when Merchan or the jury enters and exits, like thousands of other defendants who have sat in the same seat.
Once, as proceedings were wrapping up on Friday, April 19, Trump rose just a bit too early.
“Sir, can you please have a seat,” Merchan told him. The judge decides when the defendant can leave his courtroom.
But if Merchan is top dog in his courtroom, there’s no mistaking who’s next in the hierarchy. Trump gets up and walks out with his crew in tow. He hands his phone to an aide. The heavy wooden doors close again. He’s back in the hallway defending himself in front of the waiting cameras.
Everyone inside the room waits for the radio crackles, this time to signal that the area is clear. Until then, no one is allowed to stand up. Reporters are admonished to not speak loudly.
As the minutes dragged on Monday, during and after Trump’s hallway speech, Bragg and his team of prosecutors tried to escape through a side door typically used by courtroom staff. They returned a minute later, appearing frustrated and annoyed, unable to depart.
Finally, the radio chorus. Bragg, his head down, quickly heads out through that same side door. The rest of the room is then allowed to file out.
Trump has left the building.
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Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, responded Sunday to Eric Trump’s implication that his father’s Democratic opponents were responsible for the attempts on former President Trump’s life, saying the innuendo was “of course” inaccurate but political candidates on both sides of the aisle “need to deescalate” their rhetoric.
“No, of course not,” Turner said in his latest appearance on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” after being asked whether he believes there was truth to claims made by the former president, his son Eric, and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, at a rally where each either implied or suggested Democrats tried to kill him.
Trump returned Saturday to Butler, Pennsylvania, to speak to supporters gathered at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, the site of the July 13 assassination attempt against him. A gunman facing Trump on the podium at that rally opened fire into the crowd, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one attendee and injuring two others, according to authorities. The gunman was killed by a Secret Service sniper, officials said.
Another apparent assassination attempt happened in September when a suspect pointed a gun in Trump’s direction on the Florida course where he was playing golf. The FBI has opened probes into both incidents.
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Trump, his son and Vance all acknowledged the assassination attempt in Butler at Saturday’s campaign event.
“Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me impeached me indicted me tried to throw me off the ballot and, who knows, maybe even tried to kill me,” said the former president, while Eric Trump claimed his father’s political opponents “tried to kill him, and it’s because the Democratic party, they can’t do anything right.”
Vance, in his remarks, addressed Trump’s Democratic challenger in the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris, and suggested that the Republican nominee “took a bullet for democracy.”
Brennan asked Turner: “You don’t mean to imply here anything that would suggest Eric Trump’s allegations that Democrats are trying to kill him?”
“No, of course not,” Turner responded. “But I do think that Vice President Harris needs to actively state and acknowledge that her administration is saying a foreign power, which would be an act of war, is actively trying to kill her opponent.”
The attempts on Trump’s life came after a citizen of Pakistan with ties to Iran was arrested and charged with allegedly planning a murder-for-hire scheme targeting Trump, among others. Although the timing of the charges coincided with the first attempt, there was no indication that the two incidents were related.
Turner criticized Harris for what he viewed as a failure to openly condemn the alleged plot.
“I think there’s certainly a role for her to play and for the president to play in this, in both identifying that there are threats against Donald Trump that need to be acknowledged and responded to, to deter,” he said. “I think all the candidates need to de-escalate, certainly in their language.”
But the congressman did acknowledge that a Biden-Harris Justice Department official, Matthew Olsen, the head of the national security division, said the U.S. government has been “intensely tracking Iranian lethal plotting efforts targeting former and current U.S. government officials — and that includes the former president.”
“I would say that we are very concerned — gravely concerned — about Iranian plotting,” Olsen told CBS News in a recent interview.
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 1 storm on Sunday, and it has set its path on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Forecasters predict Milton will make landfall around the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, bringing with it upwards of 120 mph winds and drenching an area still reeling from Hurricane Helene.
As of 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Milton was centered about 290 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and about 815 miles west-southwest of Tampa. It had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph and was inching north-northeast at 6 mph.
Path of Hurricane Milton
A map from the National Hurricane Center shows Milton continuing to strengthen into a major hurricane as it approaches Florida’s western coast.
“Milton is forecast to rapidly intensify during the next couple of days and become a major hurricane on Monday,” forecasters said.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The storm is expected to remain north of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, with heavy rainfall expected as Milton makes its way northeast toward Florida. Tropical storm watches are currently in effect from Celestun to Cancún, Mexico.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The hurricane center said hurricane and storm surge watches could be issued for parts of Florida later Sunday.
Florida officials prepare for more impact
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen just where Milton will strike, it’s clear that Florida is going to be hit hard. “I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point,” he said.
“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” the governor said. “If you’re on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
NOAA via AP
DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruptions, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, coordinated with the governor and briefed President Biden Sunday on how it has staged lifesaving resources.
“I highly encourage you to evacuate” if you’re in an evacuation zone, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “We are preparing … for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma. “
As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews to remove debris, DeSantis said.
“All available state assets … are being marshaled to help remove debris,” DeSantis said. “We’re going 24-7 … it’s all hands on deck.”
An American climber was rescued after she and another alpinist from the U.K. were stranded for two days at more than 20,000 feet in the Himalayan mountains.
Michelle Dvorak, 31, and Fay Manners, 37, went missing on Thursday after their equipment and food tumbled down a ravine while trekking up India’s Chaukhamba mountain, CBS News partner BBC reported.
The pair sent an emergency message but search and rescue teams were unable to find them.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
Manners told the BBC they were “terrified” as they tried to make part of the descent down the treacherous mountains without supplies.
“I watched the bag tumble down the mountain and I immediately knew the consequence of what was to come,” she said. “We had none of our safety equipment left. No tent. No stove to melt snow for water. No warm clothes for the evening.”
The terrifying ordeal intensified when it started to snow. They took cover on a ledge while waiting for rescuers.
“I felt hypothermic, constantly shaking and with the lack of food my body was running out of energy to keep warm,” Manners said.
The rescue was made difficult because of the conditions, including bad weather, fog and high altitude.
“The helicopter flew passed again, couldn’t see us. We were destroyed,” Manners told the BBC.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
On the second day, the pair began to cautiously abseil down the mountain. They spotted a team of French climbers coming toward them. Manners said they shared their equipment and food and contacted the helicopter company with an exact location.
“I cried with relief knowing we might survive,” she said.
The Indian Air Force said in a post on the X social media platform that their helicopter airlifted the climbers from 17,400 feet after “battling two days of bad weather.”
Chaukhamba is a mountain massif in the Garhwal Himalaya in northern India.
