"The jury is going to take notice": Melania Trump missing in the courtroom and on the campaign trail

About a month into the former president’s hush money trial, there’s no sign of Melania Trump anywhere — not on Donald Trump’s campaign trail and certainly not in the courtroom.

Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House official, told a CNN panel on Tuesday that Melania’s absence from her husband’s side speaks volumes, especially given the circumstances of the trial itself: a criminal case for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush payment to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump allegedly had a sexual encounter.

Matthews noted that both Daniel’s and Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen’s, stated in their testimony that the former president didn’t particularly care about his wife would react to his alleged cheating.

"It flies in the face of Trump's defenses that he was solely concerned with the opinion of his wife," Matthews said. "And what I will say too is that I think the biggest piece of evidence is that Melania Trump isn't here. She's not going to be, probably, attending the trial and I think that the jury is going to take notice of that."

Cohen, testifying Monday, said Trump shrugged off concern about Melania finding out about his extramarital affairs. "'Don’t worry,' he goes. 'How long do you think I will be on the market for? Not long.’”

Cohen clarified through his testimony that Trump was not thinking about Melania, just his campaign. Daniels’ testimony likewise pointed to Trump’s indifference. When she asked about her, Daniels said Trump reassured her by saying he and his wife don't sleep in the same room.

Said Matthews: "I definitely would not really expect her to show up and be in the courtroom, especially when all of these kinds of salacious details are coming out. But I do think that the jury is going to take notice of that and I don't think that bears well for him."