Donald Trump complains Manhattan court on 'complete lockdown' to 'keep thousands of supporters' away

Donald Trump has bemoaned Manhattan court is on "complete lockdown" to "keep thousands of MAGA supporters away" following a "big day" in his hush money trial.

Trump took to his social media channel to complain his supporters were unable to protest outside the court - despite many of them greeting him as he made his way to the trial. He moaned on Truth Social: "The Courthouse area in Lower Manhattan is in a COMPLETE LOCKDOWN mode, not for reasons of safety, but because they don’t want any of the thousands of MAGA supporters to be present.

"If they did the same thing at Columbia, and other locations, there would be no problem with the protesters!" His complaint comes following a "big day in court" as David Pecker described how he and the tabloid parlayed rumor-mongering into splashy stories that smeared Trump’s opponents and, just as crucially, leveraged his connections to suppress seamy stories about Trump.

Trump greeted supporters on the way to court
(Image: Sky News)

While Trump was in Manhattan for his hush money trial, the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. were hearing arguments over whether he can claim presidential immunity. Meanwhile, a New York judge also announced he was upholding the $83millioon E Jean Carroll defamation verdict against Trump.

Reflecting on the day, Trump took to Truth Social again to dub his criminal trial a "hoax". He wrote: "BIG DAY IN COURT(S) TODAY. The Soros backed Alvin Bragg case, presided over by a highly conflicted Judge, has completely fallen apart. Virtually every Legal Scholar and Expert has stated that there is no Crime, there never was. It is a complete HOAX, but the other side has a Judge who is fighting for them all the way! MAGA2024!"

During the cross-examination that began Thursday, defence lawyer Emil Bove grilled Pecker on his recollection of specific dates and meanings. He appeared to be laying further groundwork for the defence’s argument that any dealings Trump had Pecker were intended to protect himself, his reputation and his family — not his campaign.

A supporter of former US President Donald Trump waves a Trump-themed flag outside of Manhattan Criminal Court
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The charges centre on $130,000 in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to keep porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the encounter ever happened.

Pecker recalled how an editor told him that Daniels’ representative was trying to sell her story and that the tabloid could acquire it for $120,000. Pecker said he put his foot down, noting that the tabloid was already $180,000 in the hole for Trump-related catch-and-kill transactions. But, Pecker said, he told Cohen to buy the story himself to prevent Daniels from going public with her claim.

Anti-Trump protesters demonstrate outside the US Supreme Court
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

“I said to Michael, ‘My suggestion to you is that you should buy the story, and you should take it off the market because if you don’t and it gets out, I believe the boss will be very angry with you.’”

David Pecker will return to the witness stand for the fourth day as defence lawyers try to poke holes in the testimony of the former National Enquirer publisher, who has described helping bury embarrassing stories Trump feared could hurt his campaign.