DOnald Trump was not happy. As porn star Stormy Daniels took the stand at Trump’s trial on Tuesday, the former president was “cursing out loud” as he described the lurid details of their alleged sexual dalliance from 2006, when Trump was 60 and she 27. At one point, Daniels claimed that Trump told her, “You remind me of my daughter.”
Trump, who denies the affair, has a history of becoming enraged over far less personal attacks. But in the hours that followed, he held his tongue. Although Trump has repeatedly violated a gag order that prohibits him from attacking witnesses or jurors, this time the stakes are higher. On Monday, judge Juan Merchan warned Trump that another infraction could land him in a prison cell.
Now Merchan, Trump’s lawyers and the rest of the nation will be waiting minute by minute to see whether Trump continues to hold back or stay true to the Trumpian credo of always fighting back.
For someone who appreciates theater, Trump might enjoy keeping everyone in suspense. “President Trump is very strategic in what he does,” says Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, a close Trump ally. “Chaos for us is not chaos for him.”
Some in Trump’s orbit cheer for chaos, encouraging him to engineer a standoff with the American judicial system. They argue that the image of a former president sitting in a prison cell for speaking his mind would turn public opinion against the process. Trump “should fight it even if it means jail,” says Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist.
Even those closest to Trump don’t know what he will do next. “The lawyers are quite adamant that they would prefer he not make any comments that might even touch the gag order restrictions,” said a source close to Trump. But his lawyers recognize the futility of trying to keep him quiet. “They understand that he has a campaign to run. They realize this is a unique situation.”
Trump’s comments on Daniels or the trial will carry more weight after Merchan ruled on Monday that he violated his gag order 10 times, fining him $1,000 per violation. The next step, he told the former president, would be “punishable by imprisonment.”
There are signs that Trump is still tempted to attack. On Tuesday morning, Trump fumed on Truth Social that he had just learned who prosecutors were calling to testify that day. “This is unprecedented, there is no time for lawyers to prepare,” he wrote. “No judge has ever conducted a trial in such a biased and partisan manner.” Within half an hour, the post was deleted.
Trump will have to endure the ordeal again on Thursday when Daniels returns to Manhattan court. His testimony is at the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case that Trump falsified business records to hide payments to Daniels during the 2016 campaign. The money, Bragg argues, was to buy his silence and influence the outcome of the election. election.
For Trump’s allies, his political position in the midst of profound legal danger has been a testament to his combative style. After facing indictments on a range of charges, including election interference and willful withholding of US national security secrets, Trump stormed the Republican primaries and is currently ahead in most polls.
“They’re trying to convict him in the court of public opinion on every major network and they’re not succeeding,” says Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump family friend and Republican Party consultant who was with Trump over the weekend. “I think it gives Trump a sense of peace.”
Republican officials are also rallying around him. Many traveled to Mar-a-Lago over the weekend, including Hunt, who proposed a bill last week that would ensure Trump maintains Secret Service protection regardless of the outcome of his prosecutions; it was in response to another measure, proposed by a Democrat, that would strip former presidents of their secret services if they were convicted of a crime. At Mar-a-Lago, Hunt says, Trump campaign officials held a briefing showing how Trump is doing better now compared to this phase of the last election.
Within Trump’s inner circle, there is a debate over whether he should testify in his own defense. “He shouldn’t testify because [the prosecutors] They haven’t presented their case yet,” says a Trump confidant. “That’s when defendants shouldn’t testify — when other people just haven’t presented their case.”
Some Trump allies argue that the risk of him being accused of perjury is too great, given his propensity to make false statements. Trump he said he will “probably” testify, although his lawyers are waiting to see how the case plays out, sources familiar with the matter tell TIME. “Lawyers support your right to testify. Based on how this trial goes, they will have stronger opinions one way or the other.”
Judge Merchan apparently wants to avoid a confrontation with Trump. At Monday’s court session, he counted Trump that “incarceration is really a last resort for me.” But at some point, he stressed, he will have to uphold the judicial system’s standards of protecting witnesses and juries from threats and intimidation. In other words: He would actually send Trump to prison.
For now, Trump isn’t calling Merchan’s bluff. “Great day in court,” he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday night. “I can’t believe I’m gagged, as a Republican candidate for president, for talking about this.” But only Trump knows whether his self-control will last.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
