Donald Trump and his eldest son, Don Jr., posted a TikTok Wednesday night in which the duo was seen sitting together in a back room of Manhattan Criminal Court making up their next evil tweet.
Judge Juan Merchán concluded his instructions to the jury on Wednesday as they retired to consider their verdict, but he had one last order for the former president, his legal team and prosecutors.
“I ask everyone to be here, please,” he instructed. You can’t leave the building.
This means that, for the first time in weeks, Trump has free time.
Sitting with their son in one of the courthouse’s white-walled meeting rooms, accompanied by a bottle of Diet Coke and several boxes of chocolates, the couple turned the camera on themselves to create a short clip.
Donald Trump and his son, Don Jr., posted a TikTok from a backroom of the courthouse on Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump returned to the courtroom as jurors began deliberations in his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York.
‘Hey guys, I’m with your favorite president,’ Don Jr. begins the 14-second TikTok.
“We’re posting a couple of nasty tweets in court,” he says with a smile. ‘Why don’t you read that last one?’ he asks his father.
“No, I think I’ll post it instead of read it,” Trump says, taking charge.
‘I know my son is doing very well on social media. “I’m proud of him,” says the former president, praising the 46-year-old.
“Stay tuned, it’s going to be fantastic,” Don Jr. joked to his 45,000 TikTok followers.
Around the same time the video was released, Trump took to Truth Social to share his thoughts on an interview between Fox News host Shannon Bream and Alina Habba.
‘I never knew Shannon Bream was so “naive.” In her interview with my manager, Alina Habba, Shannon just suggested that corrupt Joe Biden was not involved in my show trial. HOW STUPID!
‘He is not only involved, but practically directs it, and all the other trials as well; that is, his people, because he is not mentally sharp enough to lead anything!
‘Just look at the Justice Department and White House thugs involved, and everything else. Biden is incompetent and feels militarization is the only way to win. He’s counting on Shannon Breams of the World to get him there. Bad day for Shannon!’
Don Jr.’s TikTok video was the third the former first son posted on the platform, but it created a brief light-hearted distraction while the seven men and five women The jury continues its deliberations.
The duo filmed a 14-second video where Don Jr. joked about making mean tweets.
Trump struck a downbeat tone after leaving the courtroom following the reading of jury instructions, repeating his claims of a “very unfair trial.”
Trump is trapped every day on the 15th floor of the courthouse, where his aides have complained about the state of the bathrooms and where an “asbestos abatement” warning is posted next to the elevators.
It’s an all-too-common scenario for a real estate mogul who made his money in gleaming Manhattan towers and whose last name became synonymous with luxury.
Trump remained inside the courthouse during deliberations, where he posted his Truth Social complaints about the trial and cited legal and political commentators who see the case in his favor.
In a post written exclusively in capital letters, he proclaimed that he didn’t even “know what the charges are in this rigged case,” even though he was present in the courtroom as the judge detailed them to jurors.
The jury deliberated for four and a half hours Wednesday before Judge Juan Merchán sent him home for the night at 4 p.m.
‘It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It’s yours,’ Judge Juan M. Merchán told jurors that same day, reminding them of his promise during the selection process to judge the case fairly and impartially.
Jurors in Trump’s hush money trial began deliberating Wednesday on whether to return the first criminal conviction of a former president, a momentous decision that could upend November’s presidential election.
Don Jr joined his father in the courtroom on Wednesday as deliberations began.
The jury asked to rehear a series of testimony from a key meeting at Trump Tower, where prosecutors allege a ‘catch-and-kill’ plot was hatched to bury negative stories, and from tabloid king David Pecker, the then- editor of the National Enquirer.
It is unclear how long the deliberations will last. A guilty verdict would mark a stunning legal reckoning for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee as he seeks to reclaim the White House, while an acquittal would represent a major victory for Trump and embolden him on the campaign trail.
Since verdicts must be unanimous, it is also possible for the case to end in a mistrial if the jury cannot reach a consensus after days of deliberations.
Trump denies 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse on Wednesday.
Twelve jurors will decide Donald Trump’s fate after six weeks of testimony
Prosecutors allege he led a plot to buy negative stories, using his fixer Michael Cohen and former National Enquirer editor David Pecker to seek out and hire women to prevent them from becoming public.
In contrast, the defense has argued that Trump simply wanted to protect his family and was not planning to hide damaging information from voters.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and maintains that the payments to Cohen were for legitimate legal services. He has also denied the alleged extramarital sexual encounter with Daniels.
Trump struck a downbeat tone after leaving the courtroom following the reading of jury instructions, repeating his claims of a “very unfair trial” and saying, “Mother Teresa couldn’t defeat those charges, but we’ll see.” We’ll see how we do.’
‘These charges are rigged. “The whole country is a mess, between borders and fake elections, and in a trial like this the judge is so conflicted that he can’t breathe,” he said Wednesday at lunchtime.
