Tiffany Trump finally shows up to support dad as hush money trial comes to a close

Members of the Trump family came out to support the former president as closing arguments began in his hush money trial on Tuesday morning.

Donald Trump Jr, Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump, and Lara Trump were all seen standing behind the former commander-in-chief at Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, before taking their seats directly behind Mr Trump alongside legal adviser Alina Habba. It was a rare sighting of Mr Trump’s younger daughter, Tiffany Trump, and her husband Michael Boulos. Meanwhile, former First Lady Melania Trump, Barron Trump, and Ivanka Trump have been conspicuously absent from the trial.

Mr Trump faces allegations that he falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult actor Stormy Daniels issued just before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about an affair with Mr Trump that took place about a decade previously. Mr Trump has rejected that the affair ever took place and has pleaded not guilty.

The former president has called the case, and the 34 charges against him, a “scam” pushed by his political opponents to keep him away from the campaign trail.

The at-times salacious and provocative testimony in the trial went on for five weeks. The prosecution is now hoping that they will have convinced the 12-strong jury of Manhattan residents that the misdemeanor charges that Mr Trump faces should be converted to felonies because the supposedly unlawful actions were carried out in furtherance of another crime – namely to keep important information about then-candidate Trump from the electorate and thus subverting an election.

Mr Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified during the trial that Tiffany Trump was targeted in an extortion plot in 2016. During cross-examination,