![Bill Belichick Donald Trump]()
Looks like 45 was a Patriots fan.
Former President Donald Trump is on trial right now in New York City, this one alleging that he made criminal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to influence the 2016 election.
Honestly, I haven't paid a ton of attention to the trial. But apparently last week, some interesting testimony came out about who the former president (and 2024 Republican candidate) kept in his close contacts list.
The list was revealed during testimony from Madeleine Westerhout, who was the former Director of Oval Office Operations from 2017 to 2019. The 30-year old Westerhout was fired in 2019 after allegedly revealing confidential information about Trump's family and White House operations to the press while intoxicated.
Westerhout had reportedly said that she had a better relationship with Trump than his daughters, and that the former president didn't like being photographed with his daughter, Tiffany Trump, because she was overweight.
After her firing, Trump tweeted his support for his former assistant:
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1167782135786332161
But anyway, that's not really relevant here, I just thought it was interesting.
During her testimony in Trump's trial, Westerhout revealed a list of close contacts that had been prepared for Trump at the beginning of his term back in 2017.
Of course some of the names were what you'd expect, including Fox News anchors like Bret Baier and Sean Hannity, some business associates, family members, and others who worked for the billionaire businessman.
But there were also some interesting names on the list.
Former New England Patriots QB Tom Brady was on the list, as was his former coach Bill Belichick. I guess Trump preferred the Patriots over his hometown New York Jets or Giants?
Now, it probably had less to do with sports than it did the two supporting Trump, with Brady being spotted with a Make America Great Again hat in his locker while playing for the Patriots and Belichick being appointed to Trump's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition.
But back in 2022, Brady said that he hadn't spoke to Trump in "a lot of years," and Belichick also declined President Trump's offer to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021, citing the events of January 6th. So who knows how close Trump and the former Patriots are at this point.
Also included on the list is tennis legend Serena Williams, and retired PGA champion Jack Nicklaus, who has publicly supported Trump in the past and recently said that he hasn't ruled out endorsing him again in 2024.
And Trump didn't completely forget about New York sports: Also on his list of close contacts was Randy Levine, the president of the New York Yankees who was once rumored to be a candidate to serve as Trump's Chief of Staff during his presidency.
Of course none of these names were the ones that prosecutors were focused on during the trial. But it's an interesting look at who the former (and possibly future) president considered to be his close contacts.
