Donald Trump brings his campaign to the courthouse as his criminal hush money trial begins

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump began his day as a criminal defendant who lashed out at the judge and prosecutors, cast himself as a victim and posted angrily on social media.

In other words: a familiar routine.

But in the courtroom, closed off from TV cameras, Trump was a different man — reserved and subdued, in a stark departure from his feisty approach to other legal issues.

The contrast spoke to the seriousness of his situation. Trump is now the first former president ever to stand trial on criminal charges and faces the prospect that, if he loses, he would become the first major US presidential candidate in history to run as a convicted felon.

Trump is accused of falsifying company records to conceal alleged hush money payments to a porn star to prevent her from going public with allegations of an affair during his 2016 campaign.

The trial is expected to last at least six weeks and Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, must attend court every day — a schedule that will dramatically change his daily life and his ability to campaign in battleground states.

So Trump instead brought his campaign to the courthouse, making statements before and after the day’s proceedings, which he again portrayed as nothing more than a politically motivated attempt by his rivals to hamper his campaign.

“This is political persecution,” he muttered after arriving with a phalanx of lawyers and several senior aides, but without his wife or other family members. “This is an attack on our country,” he continued.

Trump is already well practiced in the art of campaigning from the courtroom. In addition to appearances related to his four criminal trials, Trump voluntarily attended most days of his civil fraud trial this year, as well as a defamation lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who had accused Trump of rape.

Those two lawsuits did not end well for Trump: the former president was found liable in both cases and now owes more than half a billion dollars, including interest.

During those hearings, Trump was often admonished by the judges, who ordered him to be quiet or answer questions more succinctly. At one point, the judge in the Carroll trial threatened to kick Trump out of the courtroom for speaking loudly. Another day he stormed out. Trump also openly sparred with the judge in his civil fraud case, including from the witness stand.

Such behavior would not be tolerated in a criminal courtroom and Judge Juan Merchan made it clear that Trump could be sent to jail and prosecuted separately if he engaged in such disruptive behavior.

On Monday, Trump did not.

Sometimes he was seen whispering and passing notes to Todd Blanche, his lead attorney. But during other stretches, Trump slumped forward and turned his gaze to the ceiling, or leaned back in his chair with his arms folded and his eyes closed.

Every move was commemorated by a small group of reporters inside. As he entered the courtroom, Trump “paused for a split second” and “licked his lips” before walking down the center aisle of the courtroom. When he was introduced as the defendant, Trump turned and gave the potential jurors “a little smile on the lips.” Later, as he left the courtroom for a break, Trump glared at a New York Times reporter who had earlier reported that Trump had fallen asleep in his chair.

While his body language was carefully dissected, he was more seen than heard.

During the first day of his trial, Trump said just five words — once “Yes” and twice “Yes sir” — as he was read his so-called “Parker warnings” informing him that his right to be present during the lawsuit could be dropped if he acted, and that he could be sent to jail for disruptive behavior.

It remains unclear how long Trump’s restraint will last as the trial continues.

The sterile, fluorescent courtroom is a world away from the gilded Mar-a-Lago club where he has made his residence in his post-presidential life. There he is surrounded by dedicated staff and fervent supporters who give standing ovations every night when he enters the dining room.

In the courtroom, Trump was introduced to the jurors not as president – ​​as his aides still call him – but as “Mr. Donald J. Trump” – and faced restrictions, including the prospect that he might not be allowed to attend his youngest son’s graduation ceremony.

The judge has not yet ruled on the case, but has banned Trump from traveling to Washington next Thursday, where the Supreme Court will take up his argument that as a former president he is immune from prosecution.

“We believe it is important for the court to remind Mr. Trump that he is a criminal defendant and that he is under the supervision of the court,” said a prosecutor, Christopher Conroy.

With Trump stuck in New York for the foreseeable future, aides are planning rallies and other political events over the weekend and Wednesday, when the court is not supposed to be in session. Merchan said Monday that Wednesdays could be added if his trial is behind schedule.

Aides are also considering possible events in New York after court ends that day. Trump has often talked about wanting to campaign in his home state, even though New York remains overwhelmingly Democratic.

He is also expected to continue speaking from the courthouse and holding press conferences to discuss the day’s proceedings, as he has done in his other trials.

Although Trump has complained about being taken off the campaign trail, he has kept a relatively light schedule of public events since locking up the Republican nomination last month, with most of his rallies scheduled on weekends anyway. Instead, he has focused on fundraising as he tries to close the gap with his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden.

He is also expected to rely more on surrogates. On Monday, allies including North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds – all potential vice presidential or cabinet picks – turned to cable networks to address the matter.

Trump’s charges proved useful during the primaries, allowing him to rake in tens of millions of dollars from angry supporters and denying his Republican rivals media attention as they tried to gain traction.

However, it is unclear how a criminal trial and possible conviction will resonate with the broader election audience, which includes more moderate and independent voters who could decide the race.

Nearly half of registered voters, 46%, said in a recent NYT/Siena College poll that Trump “should be found guilty” in the New York trial. And about 6 in 10 said the allegations were “very” or “somewhat” serious.

The details of the case are scandalous – involving a porn star, tabloids and hush money payments. But the case is widely considered to pose less legal risk to Trump than his other cases, in which he is accused of conspiring to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election and of charges under the Espionage Act for hoarding classified documents which could lead to serious imprisonment.

But the hush money case could be the only one that goes to trial before the November vote.

Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, ignored Monday’s proceedings as his aides tried to avoid the appearance of judicial interference.

Campaign officials said Monday they will focus instead on continuing to present a political split-screen between the two men, with the president focusing on governing and Trump focusing on himself.

That contrast was especially striking this weekend, as Iran launched an attack on Israel and Biden tried to prevent a broader escalation in the Middle East, speaking by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

He will campaign in battleground Pennsylvania all week, with events planned in Scranton, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, while Trump remains in court.

___ Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Liset Cruz in New York contributed to this report.