A CNN Reporter Recounts How This Moment in Court ‘Got a Laugh' from Donald Trump

According to a CNN reporter, during a certain segment of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's testimony on Thursday, Donald Trump seemed briefly amused in court. Brynn Gingras reported that the former President seemed uninterested in many aspects of the court proceedings. She stated he was closing his eyes and reclined in his chair, sometimes speaking with his lawyer. But as it so turned out, there was one moment when Trump reacted to Pecker's statement regarding a meeting that took place at Trump Tower in January 2017. 

Pecker told the court he met with Trump and four individuals who had important positions in the government during his administration, according to The New York Times, which included James Comey, the director of the FBI, Mike Pompeo, the director of the CIA, and press secretary Sean Spicer. As an introduction, Trump told his aides that Pecker 'knows more than anyone else in this room.' Pecker testified, 'It was a joke,' as per the outlet, but no one laughed back then. However, when Pecker revisited this interaction in the courtroom, Gingras said that Trump 'actually did give a smirk,' as did some of the other jurors. 

Pecker testified as the first witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against Trump, who entered a not-guilty plea to 34 charges of making false statements about his company in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. According to Bragg, Pecker helped Trump to 'catch and kill' scandalous articles that he thought would harm his prospects of winning the presidency. The issue revolves around a hush money payment made by Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, to porn actress Stormy Daniels as well.

In related news, on Thursday, April 25, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN journalist Wolf Blitzer that Trump seemed to be okay with Pecker disclosing their previous agreement. She said, "So, Wolf, he shook his head several times as David Pecker was testifying. It’s actually among the most animated we have seen him… But this was uncomfortable testimony from David Pecker, walking the jury through a narrative about engaging with Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen about killing stories about Trump’s involvement with two women. And in particular, Pecker told stories about engaging with Trump while Trump was president and having a conversation that related to one of these women," as per Mediaite.

Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal claimed that Trump bought their silence on their supposed trysts with him before the 2016 election. Trump, however, has denied any misconduct. Blitzer said that a picture of Pecker meeting Trump at the White House may be relevant to the case. Haberman added, "There’s documentation that backs up what — the story that Pecker was telling. There were a lot of references to text messages, to emails… And those are supposed to speak to Pecker’s credibility. The fact that Pecker is saying that he had this conversation with Trump where Trump was knowledgeable enough about Karen McDougal to ask, ‘How is she doing?’ I think could end up being significant."