Trump may miss his son Barron's high school graduation because he'll be on trial over hush money payments to a porn star
- Donald Trump's criminal trial may prevent him from attending son Barron's high school graduation.
- The historic trial began with jury selection in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday.
Donald Trump may have to miss out on his son Barron's high school graduation ceremony next month due to the timing of the former president's first historic criminal trial.
Trump's hush-money trial kicked off with jury selection on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom.
As the court prepared for the first day of voir dire, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said he received requests from Trump's attorneys for the former president to skip out on the trial on May 17 so that he could attend Barron Trump's high school graduation in Florida.
Merchan said that he would not yet rule on Donald Trump's request to not have the trial held that day.
"It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial," Merchan explained.
Jury selection is expected to last up to two weeks.
After court adjourned Monday afternoon, Trump complained to reporters.
"As you know, my son is graduating from high school and it looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son, who has worked very, very hard," Trump told reporters Monday afternoon. "He was looking forward, for years, to that graduation with his mother and father there, and it looks like the judge isn't going to allow me to escape this scam."
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, alleging that he lied on documents to disguise payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors allege Donald Trump's ex-personal attorney and former fixer Michael Cohen facilitated $130,000 in payments to Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence over a 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump.
Trump has denied the charges.
Merchan didn't outright deny Trump's request to attend the ceremony, but did shoot down his second ask — to be able to attend April 25 arguments at the Supreme Court, where his lawyers will try to convince the justices he has presidential immunity as a defense against the election interference charges against him.