Unseen and reluctant character witnesses—his family—are Donald Trump’s only hope for survival in the most heinous of the court proceedings against him.
Amidst a deluge of sexually explicit testimony, former president Trump has sought to flaunt his family man credentials in the early weeks of his criminal hush money trial.
The first thing he did was beg Justice Juan Merchan to let him attend his son Barron’s high school graduation later this month. Justice Merchan ultimately gave in last week (“Forced to miss my son’s graduation,” said the accompanying fundraising email). He went on to express his disappointment at being unable to spend Melania’s birthday with her, ignoring the possibility that she might have travelled to see him. (“I wish I could be with my lovely wife on her birthday, but instead, a CROOKED prosecutor has me stuck in a courtroom!” the solicitation said.) Next, Trump, ever the loving grandpa, shared a photo of himself with a golf cart adorned with his white-clad grandchildren on Truth Social.
According to Trump biographer and investigative journalist David Cay Johnston, “With Donald, everything is transactional,” even his family relationships. Spouses who are aware they will be embarrassed have shown up in court for many persons. Except for Donald.
Family members have always been utilized as political props by presidential candidates and their advisors when it suits them. Considering the former president’s wife, daughter Ivanka, and other close relatives have avoided attending his New York trial, none have tried to do so within the backdrop of a pornstar hush money case.
Former Melania Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham stated, “If there’s anything that the whole Trump family understands, it’s optics” (Grisham, 2021, p. 6). Eric showed up at the final court date the second it became apparent that no one from his family was present. This is just for show.
Despite the lack of support from his family, Trump’s son made history by becoming the first member of the Trump family to attend the trial and listen to the testimony firsthand throughout the day. A wooden barrier stood between the father and son while they spoke.
Attorney Keith Davidson testified on behalf of Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, detailing how Davidson brokered deals for the ladies to sell their stories.
Trump and his family ties were painted in a far more favorable light by one prosecution witness, though. Hope Hicks, a longtime confidante of the former president, spoke under oath for approximately three hours on Friday.
Hicks, in her moving evidence, detailed how Trump went to extreme lengths to shield Melania from news of his alleged affairs, including blocking newspaper delivery to their home on the day the Wall Street Journal broke the article on the hush money payment to McDougal in 2016.
Despite the fact that Mrs. Trump doesn’t speak out very often, her opinions hold great significance for President Trump, according to Hicks. Furthermore, he pays utmost heed to her opinions. His only worry, I believe, was how she would interpret it.
“I don’t think he wanted anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed by anything that was happening on the campaign,” she continued later.
Trump’s campaign has claimed that he has regular conversations with members of the former president’s family who are assisting him with campaign and business matters.
“This report is another terrible attempt to present a wholly false picture of President Trump’s family,” stated Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign spokesperson. “As President Trump battles Crooked Joe Biden’s sham trial in court, his brave family stands by him, having bravely endured years of outrageous attacks, biased investigations, and flat-out falsehoods.”
An already contentious marital issue has arisen in Melania’s trial: rumors surfaced in 2018 that her husband had allegedly paid off a pornstar. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, the prosecution’s first witness, was present at the wedding of Trump and Melania in 2006, the same year in which the affair allegedly occurred.
According to Grisham, “that’s just not her scene,” so it’s not surprising that she won’t be attending the trial.
Even though she has been out of the public eye for most of the trial, she did make an appearance at a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans on April 20 at Mar-a-Lago, the family’s Palm Beach, Florida, club, five days into the trial.
The former president’s biographer claimed that Trump has not always been skilled at making direct appeals to his family.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wants viewers of his trial to think he’s a devoted family man and father, but his past and the evidence in this case disprove both of those assertions, according to Trump biographer and critic Tim O’Brien. He was previously willing to inflict humiliations onto his family, so it’s comical that he now complains about missing his son’s graduation and his wife’s birthday celebrations.
Even outside of the courthouse, anyone with cable TV within range can’t help but hear about the trial. “I think everybody has made their own assessment of President Trump’s character, and so far as I know, you don’t pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told CNN.
As Trump continues the trial, it is unknown whether any other family members will appear.
This legally precarious era is especially important for Trump’s family, and he seems to be acutely aware of this.
“He thinks it’s helpful to use his family as props,” Johnston added.