Donald Trump Stares Directly at Court Photographer in Multiple Photos

As Donald Trump becomes the first former president to sit in a criminal trial, a striking photo of his court debut looks set to become an iconic image.

A defiant-looking Trump stares down the lens of a press photographer apparently crouched at his feet, capturing the politician glowering into the camera. The former president holds his gaze and continues to glare as the snapper moves around to take shots from different angles during the start of the historic trial.

Trump is accused of hiding a $130,000 “hush money” payment to porn star Stormy Daniels—whose given name is Stephanie Clifford— to allegedly buy her silence about an affair she claimed they had. The pay-out allegedly took place during the 2016 presidential campaign and Trump, who is currently the presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s presidential race, faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has also denied having an affair with Daniels.

The 77-year-old arrived for the first day of his trial on Monday, walking through a scrum of photographers as he made his way into Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. Once seated inside with his lawyers, the cameras continued to capture his every move.

The image above, in particular, appeared to capture Trump’s mood.

His mouth was set in a thin line, he clasped his hands on the desk in front of him and his eyes were narrowed as he stared directly into the camera lens.

Trump maintains his death stare in a similar image; a wider shot that captures more of the courtroom and appears to have been taken within moments of the other photograph.

A third picture, apparently taken with the photographer now standing in front of a seated Trump, shows the former president maintaining eye contact.

His eyebrows are raised as he looks straight into the camera.

The three photographs above were all taken by Jabin Botsford, a staff photographer at The Washington Post, although he was working as a “pool” photographer, meaning his shots of Trump were also shared with other news organizations via Getty Images.

According to a profile piece on The Washington Post‘s website, Botsford studied photojournalism and sociology at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Other photos taken by Botsford and used by the newspaper recently include shots of the April 8 eclipse taken from a plane, and events in New Hampshire on the presidential campaign trail.

Newsweek reached out to Botsford via his Instagram account, outside normal working hours on Tuesday, seeking comment about his experiences photographing Trump.

However, he was not the only photographer in the courtroom to be on the receiving end of Trump’s gaze.

The former president also treated Michael Nagle—working for the “pool” with press agency AFP—to some steely glares. His shots were also shared by Getty Images, including the one below.

Trump is also said to have “glared” at reporter Maggie Haberman of The New York Times after she wrote that he appeared to be “sleeping” in court.

The trial comes as President Joe Biden and the former president are both seeking a second shot at the White House. Presidential elections are due to take place in November, but the pair are already on the campaign trail in what is proving to be a bitterly contested battle.

Both men are elderly (Biden is 81 and Trump is 77) with each accusing the other of not being fit to stand.

Trump is also facing a string of legal woes. Besides the alleged “hush money” case, he is also facing 40 felony counts that accuse him of retaining dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after he left the White House and obstructing government efforts to get them back. He has also pleaded not guilty to those charges and denied any wrongdoing.

His current trial continues this week, as the court attempts to put together a jury.