'An ego thing': Ex-Trump aide claims former president desperate not to show fury to Cohen

Donald Trump's once-trusted fixer and attorney ratted on him in court on Monday — and somehow there wasn't a blowup.

Michael Cohen's taking to the stand in the criminal hush money trial was the kind of showdown in which the former president might not be able to keep his cool. The two men have openly expressed contempt for each other for years.

But Stephanie Grisham, Trump's former White House Communications Director, said during an appearance on CNN's "Out Front" that her former boss who has had trouble staying awake or keeping from cursing in court managed to keep calm for the sake of his image.

"I think that he probably saw the news coverage after Stormy Daniels was up on the stand and his reaction was covered pretty widely, and it wasn't favorable," she said. "I'm sure his lawyers talked to him. I'm sure his family members talked to him and said, 'You cannot be acting out when Michael Cohen is there.'"

“What I was doing was at the direction of and benefit of Mr. Trump,” Cohen testified. He later fingered the ex-president for being complicit in the alleged crimes. Trump is accused of business fraud involving hush money payments allegedly given to adult movie star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about a sexual relationship.

Cohen has already served a prison sentence for his part in the payments.

ALSO READ: My Mother’s Day gift to my mom: honesty

Cohen stated Monday, “Everything required Mr. Trump’s sign-off.”

Most of all, Trump kept his behavior in check because of his image, Grisham said.

"I think probably it was an ego thing," said Grisham. "I doubt he wanted to show Michael any kind of a reaction."

Still, when Trump exited Monday's hearing, he didn't hide his displeasure.

"I imagine that right when he got out of that courtroom he wanted to burst and couldn't wait until he got to the Suburban," she noted.

Former President Donald Trump delivered one of his angriest post-trial day rants yet, thundering at an impromptu press conference outside the courtroom, "The whole world is laughing now at New York's weaponized legal system, watching this unfold."

Watch the video below or at this link.