How Donald Trump's 'Melania Defense' Weakened After Hope Hicks' Tearful Testimony

Donald Trump's strategy to use his wife, Melania, in his hush money trial defense has reportedly been disrupted by his former aide, Hope Hicks' testimony.

Experts following the former president's trial have claimed that the prosecution would use her testimony to weaken the strategy and sway the jury in their favor.

A former top aide for Trump, Hicks, has been the latest witness to take to the stands to testify in the billionaire mogul's hush money trial.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to payments paid to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from telling the story of their alleged affair.

During Hicks' testimony, the ex-campaign press secretary disclosed details about her interactions with Trump following the revelation of the alleged affair. She also provided testimony regarding Michael Cohen's role in the matter.

After Hicks' testimony, experts have claimed that the prosecution will leverage it to undermine Trump's purported defense strategy of suggesting that concealing the payments was to shield his wife, Melania, from knowing about the alleged affair.

"For the jury, the optics of the campaign press secretary being involved at all makes it harder to claim the payoff was related to some personal matter," said civil rights lawyer and activist Janos Marton, per Newsweek.

He added, "[The Prosecution] will use Hope Hicks' testimony as further evidence that the Stormy Daniels payment was done to head off what would have been a devastating political scandal days before the 2016 election, complete with emails and texts as evidence."

Before Hicks testified, David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, had already taken the stand. However, an expert observing the case argued that Hicks's testimony carried more credibility than Pecker's, citing Hicks's direct relationship with Trump as his campaign press secretary during the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.

"On one hand, Hicks' testimony duplicates Pecker's, adding only marginal information. However, she is a more powerful witness for the prosecution because, unlike Pecker, she was a senior person in the administration and the 2016 campaign and worked for the Trump Organization," said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University.

According to Gillers, Hicks having once borne the tag of a Trump loyalist gives the jury "good reason" to "trust her testimony."

He also stated  that the former  aide might not be happily taken to the stand, but she is doing so because she has no interest in taking "a bullet for her former boss."

During Hick's testimony, she claimed that beyond the impact his alleged affair could have had on the billionaire mogul's presidential bid at the time, Trump was even more worried about his wife, Melania, getting to read about the story.

"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," the former campaign press secretary told the court.

Since the start of the hush money trial, Melania has not made an appearance alongside Trump in court. However, reports have claimed that the former first lady thinks the trial is a "disgrace" and supports her husband privately.

"She's not going anywhere. She's there for him," a source told the DailyMail. "They're going through it together. She's been the rock of the family."

During her testimony, Hicks gave some insight into Trump and Melania's relationship dynamics, noting that the billionaire mogul "values" his wife's opinion.

When asked why Trump was worried about the impact the news of his alleged affairs could have on Melania, Hicks said, "[Donald] really values Mrs. Trump's opinion," adding that it's "very meaningful to him, he really respects what she has to say."

She also alleged that, at the time, part of the former president's priority was to prevent his family from experiencing "hurt or embarrassment" due to his campaign.

Elsewhere, in her testimony, Hicks claimed that Trump informed her that Cohen made the hush payment to Daniels out of kindness. However, she found this to be uncharacteristic of Cohen at the time.

More recently, Trump was found in contempt of his gag order, making the second time this has happened during his hush money trial.

As a result of the violation, Trump was fined $1000, which must be paid before the close of business on May 10, 2024. He has also been ordered to take down the offending post that warranted the prosecution filing a motion claiming he violated the gag order.

In his ruling, the presiding judge also warned Trump that further violations of the gag order might lead to his incarceration.

It read, "It is apparent that monetary fines have not, and will not, suffice to deter Defendant from violating this Court's lawful orders…..THEREFORE, Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration."