Donald Trump appeared to nod off just hours into the first day of his trial for the hush money payments he allegedly made — including to pornstar Stormy Daniels — ahead of his first run for president, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuse Trump, 77, of trying to suppress stories that cast him in a negative light before Election Day. He allegedly falsified business records to make the hush money payments.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Trump seemed to find it difficult to stay awake during a defense motion to delay the trial.
"Trump appears to be sleeping," New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote in an update shortly after noon Eastern Time.
"His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack," Haberman said.
Minutes later, she wrote in another newsflash that the former president had "apparently jolted back awake, noticing the notes his lawyer passed him several minutes ago."
Trump's apparent struggle with consciousness came during what NYT reporter Jonah Bromwich called a "somewhat dull discussion about an important issue."
After the defense team made a series of motions aimed at delaying the trial, the judge asked Trump's lawyers to notify the court when it planned to seek new arguments.
"Ever since, the defense has sought to turn that very order, meant to combat delays, into a delay tactic," Bromwich reported. "That includes right now."
The topic of discussion then pivoted as Justice Juan Merchan revealed Trump would be allowed to participate in proceedings. However, Merchan said he could lose this right and even be sent to jail if he failed to conduct himself properly.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass went on to ask the court to hold Trump in contempt for his continued social media attacks on witnesses.
Among the allegations against Trump, the presumed 2024 Republican presidential candidate, is that he paid Stormy Daniels to stay silent about a sexual encounter that is said to have taken place in 2006, about a year and a half after Trump's marriage to Melania.
Daniels has claimed that Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 in October 2016 in exchange for her silence about the affair.
Trump has made several posts via his online platform Truth Social aimed at discrediting Daniels and Cohen.
Prosecutors said on Monday that these posts were related to the witnesses' participation in the trial and argued that they violated a gag order imposed by Merchan.
Ahead of the proceedings on Monday morning, Trump posted to Truth Social: "I want my VOICE back. This Crooked Judge has GAGGED me. Unconstitutional! The other side can talk about me, but I am not allowed to talk about them! Rigged Trial!"
When he arrived at the courthouse, he greeted reporters with the message: "This is political persecution, this is a persecution like never before, nobody has ever seen anything like it… It’s an assault on America."