During former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Friday, a witness who took the stand shared that Trump was very worried about how his wife, Melania Trump, would take the news of his alleged affair.
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, all connected to an alleged hush money payment that he had his lawyer, Michael Cohen, pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair.
Trump’s former campaign press secretary, Hope Hicks, took the stand on Friday, claiming that her former boss was not only worried about how the story would impact his business and presidential campaign but also how the former first lady would take it.
“He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife and he wanted me to make sure the newspapers weren’t delivered to the residence that morning,” Hick said in court, The Guardian reported.
Hicks was asked why Trump was worried about how the news of his alleged relationship with Daniels would impact Melania, to which she said that he “really values” her opinion and was worried it would push her away.
“He really values Mrs. Trump’s opinion,” Hicks said, adding that she is “very meaningful to him, he really respects what she has to say.”
Hicks went on to say that part of what Trump was doing was trying to prevent his family from suffering “hurt or embarrassment” from what was happening with his campaign, The Guardian reported.
Later in her testimony, Hicks said that Trump had informed her that Cohen made the hush money payment to Daniels out of kindness.
However, she also said that she felt at the time that Cohen making the payment on his own accord was uncharacteristic of him.
While many expected Trump to testify on his own behalf, he shared last Thursday with reporters that he wouldn’t because of Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order.
“I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order. I guess, right? I’m not allowed to testify because this judge, who’s totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order,” Trump said.
However, Merchan said on Friday that Trump was allowed to testify, noting that the gag order did not apply to him being on the stand.
“I want to stress, Mr. Trump, that you have an absolute right to testify at trial,” Merchan told the court. “That is a constitutional right that will not be denied or abnegated in any way ... It is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed upon ... the order prohibiting extra-judicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way.”