Haberman Says Trump Made a Pretty Specific Stare at Her After She Reported He Dozed off During Trial

Former President Donald Trump reportedly gave New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman a 'pretty specific stare' in court after she reported that he had fallen asleep for a short while on the first day of his criminal trial. Trump “appeared to nod off a few times” during his court appearance, Haberman claimed on April 15, adding that she observed “his mouth going slack and his head drooping onto his chest.”

“At one point, the pool said that he was glaring at you for several seconds,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Haberman as she appeared on CNN's Monday broadcast of The Source, according to HuffPost. “You had reported shortly before that, during a break, that he appeared to be falling asleep at one point as the proceedings were getting kind of tedious. Did you notice that?” inquired Collins.

“Yes, I noticed. He made a pretty specific stare at me and walked out of the room,” Haberman responded. “I want to be clear that I’ve seen lots of people fall asleep in courtrooms,” Haberman continued. “I’ve seen jurors fall asleep. I’ve seen judges fall asleep. If anyone falls asleep who’s a criminal defendant in a case, we’re going to report on it.” She added, “But he doesn’t like when such things are reported, and I’m guessing — I don’t know — that that’s what this was about.”

“I think that having to sit there and be captive while we all report on him is going to be deeply uncomfortable for him because he is someone who likes to control things,” Haberman added. Subsequently, as the interview with Collins progressed, Haberman described Trump as 'bored and fidgety' in court but also claimed that he was “actually on fairly good behavior” in comparison to his tantrums during his previous cases.

Trump allegedly fell asleep during the jury selection phase of his hush money trial, which is the first criminal prosecution of a sitting or past president, which got underway in Manhattan on Monday, as per The Hill. There was a break, and sources from within the room state that Trump, returning from the break, glared down at Haberman, unhappily.

“After the thirty-some jurors remaining file out of the room for a brief afternoon break, Trump rises,” Law360 reporter Frank Runyeon wrote in the press pool report. “After the jurors leave the courtroom, he stares over at DA Alvin Bragg. Then Trump turns his eyes to the press pool. As he exits, he glares at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for several seconds as he walks out,” the pool note reads. After obtaining consensus from other reporters in the pool, Runyeon later confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that the “Pool consensus was Trump definitely glared at Maggie.”