The Daily Fuckup

On April 11, 2024, Donald Trump was staring down the last stretch before the Manhattan hush-money trial. Jury selection was still set to begin Monday, April 15, and the court schedule had not moved despite Trump’s repeated efforts to slow the case or change its course. For now, the trial was still on track to start on the date the court had set.

The other live fight was the gag order. Judge Juan Merchan imposed it on March 26 and expanded it on April 1 after Trump attacked people tied to the case, including the judge’s family. The order limits what Trump can say about witnesses, court staff, prosecutors’ family members and other people connected to the proceeding. Trump’s lawyers argued that the restriction goes too far and kept pressing for relief, including an effort to pause the trial while they challenged the order. That did not change the calendar.

The dispute is less about abstract legal theory than about control of the trial itself. Prosecutors have said the restrictions are needed to protect the integrity of the proceedings. Trump’s team says the order violates his speech rights, especially with the campaign in full swing. But on April 11, the practical question was narrower: whether any pending court action would alter the April 15 start date.

As of that day, the answer was no. The trial had not yet begun, but the schedule was still standing, and the case was heading toward jury selection with the same tension that has defined the pretrial phase: a defendant determined to fight in public, and a judge trying to keep the case inside the courtroom.