Donald Trump Is Angry at His Sketch Artist, Doesn't Seem to Handle The Joke Well

According to statements made by the former President, Donald Trump himself, he appears to be embracing the opportunity to stand trial on criminal charges related to a hush-money payment to a porn star. However, behind the scenes, sources tell Rolling Stone a different story. Privately, Trump has been seething with anger over various aspects of the trial process.

This includes reports about him dozing off, the portrayal of him by the court sketch artist, and jokes made by late-night talk show hosts about his legal troubles. According to one source familiar with the situation, Trump's frustration with the judicial process has reached levels of fury that are "maxed out, even for him." Rolling Stone reporter Asawin Suebsaeng reports that Trump believes the courtroom sketch artist is targeting him, expressing concern that some of the images created "were likely drawn to mock him." 

"One such sketch captured Trump snoozing, with his eyes closed and head tilted," Suebsaeng wrote. In an exclusive word with CNN Maggie Haberman said, "He appeared to be asleep. He didn’t pay attention to a note his lawyer passed him. His jaw kept falling on his chest, and his mouth kept going slack." 

Suebsaeng's report also mentioned that Haberman's article prompted an angry denial from Trump's campaign, reigniting his animosity towards Haberman. Suebsaeng wrote, "The resentment lasted the entire week, the sources added. It did not help Trump’s denial that he continued to doze off while seated in the Manhattan courtroom throughout the rest of the week. Despite his dozing being widely reported, the former president has laid much of the blame for the detail going viral at Haberman’s feet. He was even observed glaring at her on Monday as he exited the courtroom following her CNN appearance."

On the other hand, the Trump camp continues to deny the businessman-turned-politician's dismay at his courtroom coverage. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung stated to Rolling Stone that Suebsaeng's sources are providing false information. "None of these sources know what the hell they’re talking about and clearly have no access to any type of factual information. These are the types of losers who will try to peddle fantasy as fact because they live miserable existences," Cheung said. 

Trump is also speculated to be upset with Jimmy Kimmel for mocking him in recent episodes of the show. Trump criticized Kimmel on his Truth Social platform, specifically mentioning Kimmel's role as host of this year's Academy Awards. "Stupid Jimmy Kimmel, who still hasn’t recovered from his horrendous performance and big ratings drop as Host of The Academy Awards, especially when he showed he suffered from TDS, commonly known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, to the entire World by reading on air my TRUTH about how bad a job he was doing that night," Trump stated per Vanity Fair.