Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday was joined by some new faces at Manhattan Criminal Court.
The day marked the start to another week of Trump’s criminal trial, as he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump added some new members to his court entourage amid unrelenting questions about his family’s whereabouts throughout the proceedings. Trump has been mainly surrounded by his attorneys and staffers, but that changed Tuesday when his middle son, Eric Trump, appeared by his side.
Up until this week, no one from the Trump family, including his wife and former first lady Melania Trump, had attended the trial in support of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. Reporters outside the courtroom have barraged Trump with questions like, “Where’s Melania?”
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Dressed in a blue suit and blue tie, Eric walked into the courtroom on Tuesday morning, following his father, Trump attorney Todd Blanche and a Secret Service agent.
As he got to the front row of the courtroom, he turned around and scanned the room’s faces, smiling sometimes at reporters who had already taken their seats. Before the court was called into session, Eric was approached by his father, whom he clapped on the arm and spoke with briefly. After the lunch break, Eric was seen again looking through the audience of the courtroom.
When witness Keith Davidson resumed his testimony in the afternoon, he walked in front of Eric to get to the stand. The two were seen giving slight nods to one another.
In the afternoon, Eric took to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize the trial, writing, “There are hundreds of law enforcement officers, the streets are closed down for blocks around the courthouse and the entire district attorneys office is in attendance—their top prosecutors—all for $130,000 payment by a lawyer in 2016?”
“No one believes this production is serious,” he tweeted. “No one believes this isn’t 1000% politically motivated.”
Also at the courthouse with Trump was ally and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said in a post on X, “This trial is a travesty of justice. I stand with Trump.” Paxton didn’t enter the courtroom until after the lunch break. Eric was behind him when he walked into the room, as Paxton was dressed in a red tie and blue suit.
Up until Tuesday, the most recognizable faces among Trump’s courtroom posse, aside from his legal team, have been campaign advisers Jason Miller and Susie Wiles, as well as communications director Margo Martin and national press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Miller is often seen in the back row of the courtroom.
Several Trump lawyers not working on the criminal case have also been spotted at the courthouse, including Alina Habba and Chris Kise, who have represented Trump in various civil suits.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.