Testifying in court is stressful, even under the best of circumstances. Testifying when you are the defendant and your future and freedom are being decided by the court, is even more anxiety-producing. For a person like Donald Trump, someone who is mentally unwell, the stress and pressure caused by a courtroom is likely cataclysmic.
The fact that he is being held accountable for his obviously criminal behavior by people whom he deems to be beneath him as a rich white man appears to be especially maddening for the ex-president. As the pressure of accountability grows, in these last few weeks and days Trump has defied the court’s gag orders and fines by continuing to threaten court officials, witnesses, and his other “enemies." He has been disruptive, being so bold and contemptuous of the proceedings that he even went so far as to storm out of the courtroom while chased down by his Secret Service detail. He also let out a deluge of posts on Truth Social in apparent response to the civil trial and his children being forced to testify, where he raged and appeared to be having a tantrum.
