‘Sleepy Don’: Trump Falls Asleep (Three Times!) During Hush-Money Trial

“Sleepy Joe” was always a low-energy Trump nickname. Donald Trump’s derisive name for Joe Biden never had the zing of “Crooked Hillary” or “Liddle Marco,” and it was too similar to other Trump nicknames like “Sleepin’ Bob” Casey and “Sleepy Eyes” Chuck Todd. Now there’s a new problem with it that no one anticipated: It’s easy to turn it back on “Sleepy Don” when he nods off — repeatedly! — during a criminal trial over hush-money payments he allegedly made to cover up an affair with a porn star.

During day one of Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan — which will determine whether he broke the law by paying off Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election, then disguising the payments — the former president reportedly fell asleep in the courtroom. Maggie Haberman wrote on the New York Times’ trial liveblog on April 16:

Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack.

Haberman said Trump was roused a short time later:

Trump has apparently jolted back awake, noticing the notes his lawyer passed him several minutes ago.

Stewart Bishop, a reporter for Law360 who was in the courtroom, made the same observation:

Courthouse News reporter Erik Uebelacker, who was watching from the overflow room, agreed:

In an interview during a break, Haberman told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Trump looked sleepy during previous court appearances but this incident was worse:

As he was exiting court on Monday, Trump reported glared at Haberman, who broke the news about his courtroom nap.

On Monday evening, Haberman confirmed on CNN that Trump gave her a “pretty specific stare” as he walked out:

So perhaps Trump was embarrassed — but incredibly, it wasn’t enough to keep him from dozing off again during the proceedings on Tuesday morning.

Or on Friday morning. Maggie Haberman spotted Trump’s third courtroom nap:

Trump appears to have fallen asleep in court again. It happened several times just now. His eyes were closed for extended periods and his head dropped down twice.

While there are sketch artists present and there were some photos taken of Trump at the beginning of each day’s proceedings, there is no audio or video broadcast of the trial. So we may never see photographic evidence of Trump’s inability to keep his eyes open in court (which, in addition to being funny, is notable since he keeps insisting he’s far more spry than Biden, though they’re about the same age). It’s probably just as well; knowing Trump, he’d frame the “Sleepy Don” shot as a defiant statement against “political persecution” and start selling it on T-shirts.

This post was updated after Trump fell asleep again on Tuesday.