KEPT APART Donald Trump says it would ‘be nice to be with’ Melania on 54th birthday as he’s forced to spend day at hush money trial
KEPT APART Donald Trump says it would ‘be nice to be with’ Melania on 54th birthday as he’s forced to spend day at hush money trial
FORMER President Donald Trump has sent a message to his wife on her birthday from the courthouse as his criminal hush money trial carries on.
Trump paused before the trial’s ninth day could start to send a birthday surprise to Melania Trump, who has not made an appearance since it started.
“I want to start by wishing my wife, Melania, a very happy birthday,” Trump said outside the lower Manhattan courthouse where jurors are deciding whether he falsified documents to secretly pay off his alleged mistress, Stormy Daniels.
Melania turned 54 on Friday.
“But I’m in a courthouse for a rigged trial. It’s a rigged trial — terrible,” he added, as reported by Business Insider.
“It would be nice to be with her.”
Trump has repeatedly denied having an affair with Daniels or directing a one-time payment of $130,000 through his lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, to keep quiet about the affair.
Prosecutors claim that by making payments and covering them up, Trump had “orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election”.
The alleged affair between Trump and Daniels occurred in 2006, just one year after Melania and Trump married and while Melania was pregnant with their son, Barron.
The former president faces 34 felony charges in this case — and is the first current or past president to ever be criminally charged.
The hush money trial began in New York on April 15, but Melania has yet to step foot in the courtroom despite some experts’ belief that it could help Trump’s case.
And Melania did not change her habit on her birthday.
She was in warmer climates on Friday, her husband said.
“She’s in Florida. I’ll be going there this evening after this case finishes up,” Trump said outside the courthouse.
He added, “This horrible, unconstitutional case.”
FOUR TRIALS
Former president Trump has been indicted in four different criminal cases and charged with at least 88 crimes in several states.
The hush money trial in New York City is happening at the same time as the Mar-A-Lago classified documents, 2020 Georgia election fraud, and 2020 federal election fraud cases move through processing.
The trial looking into whether Trump tried to meddle in the Georgia electoral count has been derailed by an investigation into the lead prosecutor’s relationship with a colleague.
And the Mar-A-Lago case has been held up due to several odd motions by the judge that have included providing specific jury instructions (before there is a jury) and long delays.
Trump has denied all of the criminal charges and allegations against him.
Day 8 of Trump’s Hush Money Trial
The testimony of David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquierer, dominated Trump’s trial on Thursday.
- Pecker told the jury about how Karen McDougal was paid, another woman who was allegedly given $150,000 to keep quiet about an affair with Trump
- He also explained that it was “standard operating procedure” to bury a story that might be unfavorable, such as McDougal’s
- The judge did not rule on Trump’s alleged violation of his gag order, which the judge placed on him to prevent him from discussing the trial
Arguments and testimonies during the first week of the trial established the opposing strategies of the prosecution and defense. Prosecutors argue that Trump sought to suppress negative stories so that he could win the White House, while the defendant’s team claims that they did nothing out of the ordinary.
ELECTION TIME
After winning enough delegate votes in the presidential primaries earlier this year, Trump is the presumptive Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
He has already received 1,977 party delegates, miles ahead of his next closest competitor Nikki Haley with just 97 delegates.
Although a handful of state primaries have yet to be completed, Trump is expected to be named the candidate at the Republication National Convention that will be held in July.
His nomination as the party representative is controversial given his tumultuous four years in the White House when he was first elected.
Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president during office, made headlines in March when he publically stated that he would not support the former president for another term in office.
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence told Fox News last month.
He added that he could not endorse President Joe Biden, either.
