Trump cuts a lonely figure at trial as family and supporters stay home

Despite being surrounded by a cadre of lawyers and Secret Service agents, Donald Trump cuts something of a lonely figure sitting in court listening to testimony at his first trial on criminal charges.

When he arrives, behind the pair of agents and leading a pack of attorneys and others in his entourage, he is the first to sit at the defence table. He is briefly alone, staring at nothing in particular, with his hands clasped and his shoulders tight as he leans on the wide table in front of him.

When his attorneys speak privately with the judge or the prosecution, he’s left by himself. The screens that capture the courtroom around him — which are also broadcast in an adjoining room for other assembled press — make the room appear massive.

He looks small against the empty space where his attorneys would sit and the reserved but unoccupied seats behind him.

Mr Trump sinks deeper into his red cushioned chair in the courtroom over the course of the day. The shoulders of his suit jacket crumple around him.

His eyes are closed for most of the proceedings, though it’s unclear whether he’s asleep, checked out completely, or trying to focus on the testimony just a few feet away from him. He will frequently tilt his head to the side as if he’s turning his ears to hear better.

By the afternoons, his pale-skinned face will often sink towards the table in front of him. He’s livelier In the morning, chatting with his attorneys or whispering notes to them during testimony. In recent days, he has popped mints from white tins in front of him or pulled them from his right suit jacket pocket.

When the judge adjourns for the day, the former president slowly rises from the defence table, taking in a breath and looking completely spent.

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