'Easily baited': Insiders tell of pleading sessions with Trump to stop him taking stand

Donald Trump ended up declining an opportunity to take the stand in his own defense, which his allies had been begging him not to do.

The former president had falsely claimed the gag order imposed by New York Justice Juan Merchan was keeping him from testifying, which he insisted throughout the trial that he would do, but sources told Rolling Stone that his allies thought that would be a terrible idea and told him so.

"The jury would hate him, if they don’t all already, and would kill whatever chances he has left of a not-guilty verdict,” said one Republican lawmaker.

The sources stressed that Trump taking the stand would be a gift to prosecutors because, as the magazine reported, he could be "easily baited" into lying under oath.

Some of the sources said the quadruple-indicted ex-president had been repeatedly asking his confidants if they believed that taking the stand in his hush money case would be a good idea, but the sources each said they told Trump in no uncertain terms that he should not testify.

“Hell, no,” said one lawyer close to Trump who’s known him for years. “Why? Did someone say that’d be a good idea?”

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One person close to Trump said he wanted his supporters to believe he was unafraid of testifying, even if he didn't actually want to, and that source said he has privately complained about "idiots" who say he's fearful of taking the stand in this case or the others against him.

In the end, his defense team rested after calling only two witnesses, and Trump appeared to respond to jabs from late-night comedians who joked about his apparently frequent courtroom naps.

“We’ll be resting pretty quickly, meaning resting the case,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning. “I won’t be resting. I don’t rest. I’d like to rest sometimes, but I don’t get to rest.”