Former President Donald Trump appeared to be "sleeping" during the first day of his criminal trial for charges of falsifying business documents, according to a report from The New York Times.
Jury selection in the trial surrounding whether Trump falsified business documents by allegedly making a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels began on Monday. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last year charged Trump on a 34-count indictment related to the payment, which his office alleged was intended to prevent Daniels from speaking publicly about her claims of having an affair with the former president.
Trump, however, has denied having an affair with Daniels and pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges. He has accused Bragg of targeting him for political purposes, describing the trial as a form of election interference.
During the first day of the trial, Trump appeared to be sleeping during proceedings, Maggie Haberman, a journalist for the Times, wrote in the publication's live blog of the trial.
"Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack," she wrote.
During an interview on CNN, Haberman said there were other moments in previous trials, including the civil defamation trial involving E. Jean Carroll where Trump "appeared very still and seemed as if he might be sleeping but then he would move." But his conduct appeared different on Monday, she said.
"This time, he didn't pay attention to a note that his lawyer Todd Blanche passed him. His jaw kept falling on his chest, and his mouth kept going slack. Now, sometimes people do fall asleep during court proceedings, but it's notable given the intensity of this morning," she said.
On MSNBC, Susanne Craig, an investigative reporter for the Times, added that Trump seemed alert during the morning but that "everything changed" around noon."
"He looked like he was nodding off," she said. "At one point, a pretty true tell that he was falling asleep, his head nodded down. He sort of jolted back up at one point."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign and attorney Todd Blanche for comment via email.
The report drew a quick reaction from social media, where some ridiculed the former president. Others, however, raised concerns about whether the report should be something of a warning sign about his state of mind ahead of the presidential election in November.
Both Trump and President Joe Biden, the presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees respectively, have fielded questions about their age and cognitive ability as they campaign for president.
"Breaking: Trump has fallen asleep at his own trial per @nytimes. OTOH can you blame him? They were reading his tweets and posts," wrote journalist and commentator Keith Olbermann.
"Where's Mike Lindell when you need him #SleepyDon," posted The Lincoln Project, an organization founded by anti-Trump conservatives.
"If Trump is too old and weak to stay awake at his own criminal trial, what do you think will happen in the Situation Room?" posted Dan Pfeiffer, a co-host of Pod Save America.
Joyce White Vance, a former federal prosecutor, wrote, "If he can't keep his eyes open when his own liberty is at stake, why would Americans have confidence he's capable of focus when our country's interests require sound presidential leadership?"
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
