THE FIRST FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT TO FACE a criminal trial and the judge overseeing it are both children of Queens. Donald Trump grew up in a faux Tudor house in Jamaica Estates, and Juan Merchan was raised a few miles down the Grand Central Parkway in Jackson Heights.
Their lives diverged sharply from there, before colliding recently in Manhattan, where Trump is relentlessly testing the limits of Merchan's authority in his own courtroom.
Trump has called Merchan a "certified Trump hater" and has insisted he's biased because his daughter has worked in marketing for Democratic campaigns.
People who've watched Merchan for years paint a different picture. He is known for being soft-spoken, well prepared, and efficient. Merchan has a reputation for not letting his courtroom be dominated by wild antics.
"He's just a no-nonsense individual," says Alberto Ebanks, a criminal-defense attorney who has argued cases in front of Merchan and graduated a year ahead of him at Hofstra University Law School on Long Island. Merchan is "fair" and "in full command of that courtroom," Ebanks says.
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