Tom Brady. Rupert Murdoch. Jeanine Pirro. And Michael Cohen.
Those were among the dozens of names — celebrities, politicians, media personalities, Trump relatives and more — that emerged at Donald Trump’s trial, when prosecutors displayed a list of the former president’s “close contacts” prepared by his former gatekeeper.
Included on the list were people whom Trump spoke to often or might have wanted to speak to around the time he took office following the 2016 election, a former White House staffer testified.
The list offered a clear look at the kind of celebrity-filled orbit Trump was interested in maintaining, one comprising people Trump had in many cases known for decades, some of whom looked at him differently after the election.
It was not clear how often any of the particular contacts were in touch with Trump, whose long-time assistant prepared the partial list and sent it to the White House gatekeeper, Madeleine Westerhout, after he became president in 2017.
But in questioning Westerhout last week, prosecutors focused on two names on the list, both of whom have testified that they were instrumental in helping to orchestrate the hush-money payment that is at the centre of the trial: David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer; and Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and the prosecution’s star witness.
Bret Baier
Fox News’ chief political anchor and Trump have had an up-and-down relationship, but Trump relied on the network throughout his presidency for positive coverage.
Thomas J. Barrack Jr.
A private equity investor and close ally of Trump, Barrack also served as his adviser.
Maryanne Trump Barry
Trump’s older sister, who died last year, was a federal judge in New Jersey until the Trump family’s tax practices came under scrutiny in 2019 and she was pressured into an early retirement.
Bill Belichick
The president once read a note of congratulations from Belichick, the longtime New England Patriots coach, aloud at one of his rallies.
Tom Bennison
An executive at a company that owns private golf clubs, Bennison told The Dallas Morning News in 2016 that he had played more than 100 rounds of golf with Trump.
Pete Bevacqua
The CEO of the PGA Tour held tour events at Trump’s golf courses.
Pam Bondi
The former Florida attorney general and White House adviser was long an ally of Trump. The president, through his nonprofit foundation, donated to Bondi’s 2013 reelection campaign for attorney general.
Tom Brady
The now-retired quarterback displayed a Make America Great Again hat in his locker when he was a star for the New England Patriots.
Skip Bronson
A business owner and real estate developer, Bronson wrote the book The War at the Shore: Donald Trump, Steve Wynn, and the Epic Battle to Save Atlantic City.
Mika Brzezinski
The MSNBC host and the former president had a “roller-coaster relationship” throughout his rise in politics, which culminated in June 2017 when Trump attacked Brzezinski in a series of early-morning tweets.
Mark Burnett
The television producer is responsible for shaping Trump’s public image as a strategic business owner by developing the Trump-led competition show The Apprentice.
Matt Calamari
A senior executive at the Trump Organization, Calamari rose through the ranks at the Trump family company, starting out as a bodyguard before eventually becoming the chief operating officer.
Michael Cohen
As Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Cohen paid hush money to Stormy Daniels, the porn actor at the heart of the falsified business records case against Trump.
Sheri Dillon
As a lawyer for the Trump Organization, Dillon oversaw the transfer of Trump’s assets into a trust when he won the White House — a move that left questions about whether the president would still personally profit from the organisation during his time in office.
Ari Emanuel
The brother of Chicago’s former mayor Rahm Emanuel, Emanuel is a well-known talent agent who was close to David Pecker, the publisher of The National Enquirer and a close friend of Trump.
David Friedman
A bankruptcy lawyer-turned-Israel-ambassador during the Trump administration, he left his post in 2021 after entirely overhauling White House policy toward the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Jerry Falwell Jr.
He led the influential evangelical Liberty University during Trump’s first term before being caught up in a sex scandal in 2020.
Mike Fascitelli
A former partner at Goldman Sachs and CEO at Vornado Realty who was also an investor in the startup founded by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Alan Garten
Another lawyer for the Trump Organization who defended Trump during an investigation into his taxes.
Larry Glick
An executive vice president of the Trump Organization.
Rhona Graff
The former personal assistant to Trump for almost three decades, Graff saw her role expanded to include many high-profile positions: media liaison, scheduler, spokesperson, fundraiser, co-star on The Apprentice and Miss Teen USA judge.
Sean Hannity
The Fox News host was an occasional confidant and sounding board for Trump during his presidency.
Steve Hilbert
An insurance industry executive from Indiana who helped connect Trump with his eventual vice president, Mike Pence.
Carl Icahn
A billionaire investor who served as a special adviser to Trump before he quit in 2017 after an investigation revealed his conflicts of interest.
Marc Kasowitz
A longtime lawyer for Trump who served as his outside counsel while he was in the White House.
Joe Kernen
A conservative news anchor and co-host of the financial morning news programme Squawk Box on CNBC.
Charles Kushner
The father of Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, was pardoned by the president in January 2021. Kushner served two years in prison for tax evasion and other charges.
Richard LeFrak
A New York real estate titan and long-time friend of Trump.
Harvey Levin
The founder of the gossip news site TMZ, who once interviewed Trump for a Fox News special and was then granted an Oval Office meeting shortly after he took office.
Randy Levine
The president of the New York Yankees baseball team and a long-time associate of the former president.
Howard Lorber
An investor and CEO of the holding company Vector Group who was an early supporter of Trump’s run for the presidency and worked as an economic adviser to the campaign.
Shawn McCabe
The general manager of Trump Florida Properties.
John Meyers
The contact list describes Meyers as the chair of “AG Asset Mgmt.” It is not clear what relationship he has with Trump.
Lorne Michaels
The creator and producer of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, a frequent thorn in Trump’s side.
Amanda Miller
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization.
Steven Mnuchin
A financier and Hollywood executive whom Trump named his Treasury secretary, despite his lack of government experience.
Rupert Murdoch
The media tycoon’s decades-long, up-and-down relationship with Trump improved before the 2016 election. After Trump took office, Murdoch called the White House at least once a week.
Jack Nicklaus
A golf champion who publicly supported Trump during his run for the White House.
John Nieporte
The head golf professional at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Bill O’Reilly
The conservative commentator, who was a mainstay on Fox News until a sexual misconduct scandal forced him to resign in 2017, was a loyal friend of Trump’s throughout his ascension to the presidency. Trump regularly appeared on O’Reilly’s prime-time show.
David Pecker
The former publisher of The National Enquirer, he testified at the beginning of Trump’s trial that he paid for Stormy Daniels’ story of a tryst with Trump in order to bury it.
Nelson Peltz
The billionaire investor and businessman was a key Republican donor who raised millions for Trump. Peltz stopped supporting Trump after the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, but recently told the Financial Times that he would vote for him in 2024.
Isaac Perlmutter
The former chair of Marvel Entertainment is a Mar-a-Lago member and Trump donor.
Jeanine Pirro
A Fox News host and former district attorney in Westchester County, her ex-husband, Al Pirro, had been a lobbyist for Trump’s business interests decades earlier. She has attended some sessions of Trump’s trial.
Lou Rinaldi
The contact list describes Rinaldi only as a “politician”, though it is not clear what office he might have held. A man by the same name appears to have won golf tournaments at Trump’s country club in Westchester.
Phil Ruffin
The casino magnate and a big-time donor to Trump’s campaigns is an owner of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
Joe Scarborough
The co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and a former Republican congressmember who was close to Trump before a public falling-out in 2017.
George Sorial
The managing director of the Trump Organization and a lawyer for Trump who wrote The Real Deal: My Decade Fighting Battles and Winning Wars With Trump.
Robert Trump
The president’s younger brother, who died in 2020, was described by Trump as his “best friend”. They were estranged for years before Trump made his run for the White House.
Tiffany Trump
Trump’s youngest daughter, and only child with his ex-wife Marla Maples, was a student at Georgetown Law School during her father’s presidency.
Peter Ward
The long-time president of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, whose members worked in Trump-associated hotels.
Allen Weisselberg
A long-time executive at Trump’s family business, he pleaded guilty to perjury in another case involving Trump, and is serving a five-month prison sentence.
Serena Williams
The tennis star who once faced off against Trump on the court for the opening of a tennis facility at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. During testimony in Trump’s trial, a former aide claimed the two “frequently spoke”.
Steve Wynn
A billionaire former casino mogul and former business rival of Trump who stepped down from his casino empire and his position as finance chair of the Republican National Committee after he was revealed to have a long history of sexual assault and harassment.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Maggie Haberman, Claire Fahy and Wesley Parnell
©2024 THE NEW YORK TIMES
