Why did Trump bother showing up at his New York fraud trial?
There may be more than ego at play in the former president’s appearance


Day one of Donald Trump's New York fraud trial this week offered a scene both familiar and utterly unprecedented in modern memory. While the past year of indictments and arraignments have slowly acclimated the public to scenes of the former president stalking in and out of various judicial buildings around the country, Trump's day-long perch at the defendant's table — caught briefly on camera — inside a courtroom itself was a scene "unlike anything in US history," Bloomberg reported. Trump entered the trial already "effectively branded a fraudster" after presiding Judge Arthur Engoron ruled the former president had regularly inflated his net worth and property values as part of a yearslong effort to defraud various banks and investors.
Trump's voluntary appearance in the Manhattan courtroom this week was a departure from the "last time he was on trial in New York’s civil courts," when a jury found him liable for the sexual assault of journalist E. Jean Carroll. "Trump hinted he might attend those proceedings," The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey said, "but did not actually show up."
Why then did Trump fly to New York to sit at this particular trial, rearranging his schedule and postponing a deposition for a separate court case in order to face Engoron in person? What makes this case different, and what does Trump hope to get out of his appearances?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What the commentators said
Trump's decision to appear in person for this particular trial "underscores how personally aggrieved he feels by the accusations of fraud, as well as his own self-confidence that showing up will help his legal cause," The New York Times reported. While Trump has blurred the lines between his legal battles and his presidential campaign, the New York fraud case "is far more personal than political," the Times added, citing "a person familiar with his thinking." At the same time, he allegedly feels that his other court cases "have gone poorly for him when he hasn’t been present, and he hopes to affect the outcome this time," the Times' source continued.
"Something about this trial seems to have gotten under his skin," Michael Conway, former counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, wrote for MSNBC, speculating that here "it may be harder for Trump to argue he is the victim of a corrupt criminal justice system." Moreover, the fraud trail punctures Trump's "all-important patina of extravagant wealth" upon which he based much of his political career.
But by appearing in person, Trump's gambit to capitalize on his fraud trial could "spectacularly backfire," cautioned Ewan Palmer for Newsweek, noting that the former president's intense attacks on New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Engoron could come back to haunt him.
"Hello Justice Engoron, I know that I called you a 'Deranged, Trump Hating Judge, who RAILROADED this FAKE CASE through a NYS Court at a speed never before seen,'" former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman, pretending to be Trump, quipped on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "I was just joking."
Scene from next Monday, beginning of fraud trial, which Trump says he will attend:"Hello Justice Engoron, I know that I called you a 'Deranged, Trump Hating Judge, who RAILROADED this FAKE CASE through a NYS Court at a speed never before seen,' but I was just joking."September 29, 2023
Risks aside, Trump's attendance at this particular trial virtually guarantees it — and he — will remain in the spotlight. In doing so, Trump "starves" his GOP presidential rivals of much-needed opportunities for attention, Raheem Kassam, editor-in-chief of conservative news site The National Pule, told the Times. "Every step of the way it drags on, it only empowers him" at his fellow candidates' expense as their campaigns approach a make-or-break moment to pose a real threat to Trump's candidacy.
What next?
Speaking outside the courthouse on Monday, Trump insisted his in-person attendance was because he wanted to "watch this witch hunt myself," while complaining that his decision to voluntarily attend the trial "took me off the campaign trail." Trump nevertheless returned to the courthouse on Tuesday and has also been listed as a potential witness for the case, suggesting he may take the stand to testify sometime in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Trump has "used every free moment" to attack both Engoron and his various perceived enemies, Axios reported. Although Engoron "appears to have ignored Trump's incendiary rhetoric so far," the outlet also raised the possibility that federal prosecutors will succeed in landing a gag order against the president ahead of his upcoming Washington, D.C., trial "in light of his threatening statements on social media."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Trump's first 100 days: the reshaping of America
Talking Point The second Trump White House is 'less a new administration', and more a 'vengeful monarchy'
-
Trump moves to gut PBS and NPR in latest salvo against the media
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The president's executive order targeting two of the nation's largest public broadcasters comes as the White House seeks to radically reframe how Americans get their news
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
How could Trump ending a VA mortgage program leave veterans on the streets?
Today's Big Question Vets could face foreclosure as a result of the White House's actions
-
Kamala Harris steps back on center stage
IN THE SPOTLIGHT In her first major speech since Donald Trump took office, the former presidential candidate took solid aim at this administration as speculation grows about her future
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump's crypto 'sea change' upends Washington's finances
In the Spotlight By embracing digital currency, the White House is clearing a path for a new era in dubious self-enrichment