Stone-faced, squinted-eyed Trump leans back in his chair as his lawyers battle over evidence that could be VERY embarrassing: How the ex-president reacted to the explosive first morning of the hush money trial

Trump’s campaign arrived at the New York Supreme Court on Monday morning.

Donald Trump delivered remarks in the court hallway while one of his most loyal hucksters worked the crowd outside and the C-list talking heads took their seats in an overflow room to watch the proceedings.

This is what the first day of the first criminal trial against Trump looked like.

The history books will record that the first-ever trial of a former commander-in-chief, a momentous day for the nation and the world, began with the discussion of whether the evidence could include unproven allegations of sexual abuse against him (no, said Judge Juan Merchan) or headlines that 2016 rival Ted Cruz’s father was somehow involved in JFK’s assassination (yes, the judge ruled).

Despite all this, in courtroom 1530 in downtown New York, the defendant made his displeasure clear.

Donald Trump sat stony-faced, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed as his lawyers battled with prosecutors over how many salacious (and untrue) headlines from the National Enquirer could be shown to jurors and whether they could hear him say: ‘grab them by the p*****s’ or that they could only read transcripts of the famous Access Hollywood tape.

The Manhattan district attorney’s team sat shoulder to shoulder at their desks.

In contrast, Trump dominated the space among his legal team. He leaned back in his chair or moved forward to watch a video screen, like a silverback gorilla reminding the courtroom who was boss.

When a decision went against him – as when Judge Juan Merchan ruled that he would not blame himself – he briefly showed his frustration and nodded angrily.

But at other times he gave the impression of a legal scholar: his eyebrows furrowed and his head tilted, as if he were considering the judge’s ruling on the admission of Molineux evidence.

On the face of it, the charges are prosaic: 34 counts of tampering with company data.

But underneath, prosecutors allege, lay a plot to pay off two women, including a porn star, Stormy Daniels, and hide their affair from voters ahead of the 2016 election.

The charges may be the least serious of the 88 he faces in four different criminal cases — including allegations that he endangered national security by maintaining secret intelligence files or trying to overturn the 2020 election — but they could be the most consequential.

It appears the New York case will likely be the only one concluded ahead of the November election.

And it will provide a slew of lines of attack for President Joe Biden’s campaign and doubts for swing voters.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday, but first the two legal teams had to go through a series of arguments about what evidence was and was not admissible.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked for evidence about the Trump 2016 campaign’s coordination with The National Enquirer.

Stories include hit pieces about his rivals from 2016, including that Sen. Marco Rubio was addicted to drugs and embroiled in a sex scandal.

He said they were part of a deal struck in Trump Tower between the campaign and National Enquire owner American Media Inc to cover up damaging stories in a practice known as “catch and kill.”

“This evidence will do nothing other than confuse the jury as to the actual crime charged,” Todd Blanche said on behalf of the defense, saying the stories were cherry-picked.

But he also said there was nothing “illegal” or “inappropriate” about a publisher and a campaign meeting to discuss stories.

Merchan ruled that prosecutors could introduce them.

As always, Trump had to use his actions to cast doubt on the proceedings as a form of election interference, and to do what he could to keep his campaign going.

“This is an attack on America,” he told reporters in the hallway outside courtroom 1530.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before, there’s never been anything like this before.

‘Every legal scholar says this is nonsense, it should never have been brought forward. It doesn’t deserve something like that. There is no case.’

His appearance brought out a well-known group of people who became famous for his coattails (on both sides).

George Conway, who split from Trump pollster Kellyanne Conway after becoming increasingly vocal in his opposition to the then-president, sat with reporters watching the hearing in courtroom 1523, an overflow room.

Outside his close ally Laura Loomer, known for promoting conspiracy theories, a crowd of Trump supporters worked, pausing occasionally for media hits.

A maze of barricades led pedestrians away from Trump’s criminal trial.

Harried guards directed journalists this way and that.

Protesters held up signs reading “Loser” and “Condemn Trump Already.”

Reporters were screened twice with magnetometers. Bags checked and then searched again.

A makeshift pen had been built on the 15th floor for a handful of photographers and reporters to document the former president’s arrival in courtroom 1530.

Trump cut a defiant figure as he left his Trump Tower home around 8:30 a.m., waving to onlookers.

And he kept up a steady stream of social media posts and fundraising emails in the 24 hours before his appearance, accusing his opponents of using the courts to keep him off the campaign trail.

“The radical left Democrats are already cheating on the 2024 presidential election by filing or helping to create all these bogus lawsuits against me, forcing me to sit in courthouses and spend money that could be used on campaigns, instead of on the field and defeated Crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of the United States,” he posted on his Truth Social website.

‘Election interference!’