Prosecutors push salacious portrait of Trump, winning some but not all battles

Donald Trump wants as much media coverage as possible of his first criminal trial.

How surprising is that, given that his campaign says he raised $1.5 million after the trial’s first day?

CNN reports that Trump wants his surrogates "blanketing the airwaves," and that at least four VP contenders have argued his case on air or on social media: Elise Stefanik, J.D. Vance, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum – making this a tryout of sorts.

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But the most important takeaway from the trial’s first two days is that prosecutors want to portray him as a playboy and a womanizer.

News flash: Is there anyone on the planet that doesn’t already know that? Isn’t that baked into the judicial cake?

Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, who’s already been criticized for bringing a thin and highly partisan case, argues that his approach will illuminate Trump’s motives in steering hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.

Each day, news outlets from around the world camp out early outside the dingy Lower Manhattan courthouse and, with only sketches from inside the courtroom, report on what’s happening through their filter. It is, after all, the first criminal proceeding against a former president, and a conviction, in a borough very unfriendly to Trump, could mean a jail sentence.

But the need for something catchy caught fire when Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported that Trump briefly nodded off, his chin hitting his chest. Trump denounced the story as fake news and Haberman says he later glared at her for several long seconds.

As he has done with previous civil cases, Trump denounced the trial, and Judge Juan Merchan, as a travesty and election interference. One thing is true: