According to MSNBC, Donald Trump actually seemed to be in a good mood when he entered the courtroom with his lawyer, Todd Blanche. “[They were] whispering conspiratorially like they had some extensive inside joke between them that they couldn’t wait to stop talking about,” said legal correspondent Lisa Rubin. Trump’s former special assistant, Andrew Giuliani, told CBC (via Yahoo! News) his former boss had been feeling pretty good about the direction the case was going. “He is as optimistic and positive as ever,” he said, adding that the best Trump could hope for would likely be a hung jury. He also thought Trump had a solid chance of avoiding a conviction because so much of his case rested on a single man: Michael Cohen. Giuliani revealed that he had been in contact with members of Trump’s team, so if Trump was hearing similar things from them, this could explain why he was in a joking mood.
According to CNN reporter Kara Scannell, Trump likely believed he was going to go home without the jury announcing they had reached a verdict. The longer they deliberated, the better his outlook was, so apparently he was feeling some relief as the end of the day approached. Scannell said the first time she got to see Trump’s face after the verdict, it was his favorite color: MAGA hat red. “He looked upset. He had a frown on his face,” she said.
