Crisis communicators say Trump should smile for his perp walk. He may even want to stage his own.

• Trump is reportedly wondering if he should smile for his perp walk and whether he can be handcuffed.
• Crisis communicators say "yes" to the smile and "no" to cuffs if he is indicted in New York.
• They fully expect a brash and defiant performance from Trump if charges are pressed.

Ever the showman, former President Donald Trump is reportedly pondering the big questions as he awaits a potential indictment. If prosecutors decide to march him in front of news cameras for a "perp walk," should he smile? Can he be handcuffed to up the spectacle?

Crisis communicators speaking to Insider weighed in on the smile — yes — and the handcuffs — not a good look — and said they fully expect a brash and defiant performance from Trump if he becomes the first former president ever to face criminal charges. 

"He is a very specific type of personality, and he can't know shame, and he can't avoid a spotlight, so that's why I think he's going to make it a spectacle regardless," said Max Marcucci, a senior vice president at the crisis firm Levick.

'His golden escalator of 2024'

Trump is expected to soon be indicted in New York for an alleged hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He told advisors he wants to be handcuffed when he makes his appearance in court, according to The Guardian. The New York Times reported he has "mused openly" about whether he should smile for news cameras.

But it's unlikely that the Manhattan district attorney's office will arrange a perp walk for Trump if he's indicted and turns himself in. In that case, Marcucci said he could see Trump organizing a perp walk on his own. 

"He'll want people there for the photo op because this is going to be his golden escalator of 2024," Marcucci said.

Texas-based crisis communications expert Matt Mackowiak gave a green light to smiling, saying "a scowl makes it appear you are nervous or concerned."

"If you are confident, then smiling in your mug shot is a way of conveying that confidence," he wrote in an email. "I do expect Trump to smile in his photo and to be defiant in public. These images will be viewed by hundreds of millions of people, so they matter – for now and for history."

Mackowiak cited the example is former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who flashed a smile in his mug shot at the Travis County Sheriffs' Office in 2014 after he was indicted in an abuse-of-power case that was later dismissed.

'It would be really silly to bring your own handcuffs'

Trump and his team understand that public opinion won't change depending on his post-arrest demeanor given that most Americans have an opinion about him, good or bad, said Brian Walsh, a partner at FP1 Strategies.

"I expect we will see exactly what we've been seeing as the investigations have swirled around him – a brash, confident, and defiant former president who will walk in with his head held high and on the attack against his political opponents which now includes the Manhattan District Attorney," Walsh wrote in an email. "It's a style that his opponents hate, but his supporters love, so I expect he will only double-down."

Whether he smiles or not, a perp walk would be a "net positive for him" because he'll demonstrate that he's being targeted in some way, Marcucci said. "It's classically in his nature because it's almost like a rally," he said.

They'll want to have people around him supporting him, creating a spectacle, as he walks into the government building. He'll want "a visual" and "if you're his strategist, that's the best move," he said.

But the handcuffs are a different story.

"I think it would be really silly to bring your own handcuffs, you know, BYOC," Marcucci said. "That, I think would be actually a little bit too theatrical."