Skulking and Winking, Donald Trump Is Told His Criminal Trial Will Start Next Month

Donald Trump skulked into a wood-paneled courtroom on Monday morning that was packed with reporters and onlookers waiting to see when his Manhattan hush-money trial might finally begin. It was an unceremonious setting and atmosphere for a procedural affair. The prospect of some resolution in one of the four criminal indictments the former president faces has loomed over his campaign to return to the White House, but Trump has largely succeeded in delaying each trial, which include a state case in Georgia and two federal cases. (He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces.)

Earlier this month, that streak of extensions and deferments looked like it might continue. The judge presiding over the Manhattan proceedings, Juan Merchan, granted a 30-day adjournment on March 15 following federal prosecutors turning over new documents related to the case. On Monday, the day the trial had originally been scheduled to begin, Merchan instead found himself listening to arguments about whether it should take place at all.

“The reality is every document is important,” Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, pleaded with the judge. His client remained mostly stone-faced and motionless, with Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, whom Trump has often described as pursuing a racist vendetta against him, sitting in the second row of the gallery.

Merchan sounded upset by the defense’s argument, which, as far as he understood it, was that the prosecution had committed serious misconduct in obscuring documents that the judge himself was complicit in. “It’s odd that we’re even here,” he told Blanche during one of several displays of exasperation.

About an hour into the back-and-forth over the novelty and relevance of the new materials, Trump started to fidget in his seat, shifting his weight from one side to the other. During a break, he walked out of the courtroom scowling before turning to wink at the crowd.

In the lead-up to the presidential election, Trump has often capitalized on his various legal entanglements to fundraise and portray himself as a persecuted figure. Despite his otherwise dour manner in the courthouse, his mood shift in the hallway came as news arrived that the nearly half-billion bond in his civil fraud case, which he was due to secure by that same day, had been reduced by an appeals court to $175 million.

“I thank the appellate division for acting quickly,” he said, “but Judge [Arthur] Engoron is a disgrace to this country and this should not be allowed to happen.” 

From the outset, the tenor of the hearing suggested that Merchan would rule in the way he ultimately did. The district attorney’s office, he said, was not at fault for the late production of the new materials and had met its discovery obligations. The trial would begin in April, as soon as this most recent 30-day delay ended. “See you all on the 15th,” Merchan said. 

Trump walked back out of the courtroom, slightly pumping his fist, giving a few thumbs up, and mouthing “thank you” to seemingly no one in particular.