People Magazine has exclusive reporting on Donald Trump’s vibe following the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago. I’m genuinely surprised by how detailed People’s reporting is, but it’s worth noting that People Mag has always had pretty good Trump sources. Anyway, the general focus is “does the FBI raid damage Trump’s plans to announce that he’s running for president again?” Nevermind the fact that Trump literally incited an insurrection because he couldn’t admit that he lost the last election. Some highlights from this People story:
Trump hasn’t been in Mar-a-Lago since Memorial Day: The former president has been away all summer; he was last seen at Mar-a-Lago before Memorial Day Weekend. While the FBI conducted its search of the property, which reportedly focused on Trump’s office and personal quarters, the former president was in New York inside Trump Tower. There on Fifth Avenue, the energy was reportedly less calm.
Bigly mad: “Donald is furious yet scared,” a source close to Trump tells PEOPLE. “He feels victimized and is calling everyone he trusts to give him advice and reassure him that this is a witch hunt. He is buoyed by the Republican support [after the] invasion of privacy.”
Bigly scared: Monday’s development, which the source said frightened Trump, could affect his political calculations as he weighs a third run for the presidency in 2024. Trump has repeatedly hinted at plans to launch a campaign and has even said all that’s left to decide is when to announce. But the source suggests that could all be an act, telling PEOPLE that though Trump will act like he’s running, talk like he’s running and raise money like he’s running, he may not actually vie for the seat.
Trump doesn’t actually want to be president again: “He has a good life now and is enjoying it,” the source says. “He is definitely making the moves to run but, in the end, I don’t think he will unless he is convinced criminal charges are coming,” adds the source. As an active candidate for the presidency, Trump could further push the argument that the criminal investigations he’s facing are politically motivated.
This is insane: “If he wasn’t running before, he is now,” a person close to the former president told NBC News in the wake of the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search. “It pisses him off that they can do this to him. One way to get it to stop is to control the government again.”
Many Republicans suggested that Democrats (eyeroll) organized the FBI raid and specifically timed the raid to affect the midterms. Personally, that conspiracy falls flat – if Democrats were capable of timing FBI raids and controlling DOJ investigations, surely Trump would have been arrested and charged by now, regardless of the midterms or whatever else. That being said, I do think that it’s likely that the dominoes will really start to fall over the next six to twelve months. There are so many investigations, there’s so much out there already. And of course Trump wants people to think that he’ll run again – that’s the grift. That’s why he’s “fundraising.”
Update: Bigly pleaded the Fifth in his deposition today. LMAO.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
You’re right, there are so many investigations, most of them overlapping. Hard to keep track of who is doing what and when.
Today’s (8/10/22) NYT newsletter had a great overview of raid and the various investigations and potential implications. You’re right that there is so much going on its hard to keep track.
It wasn’t a raid. It was a lawfully-executed search warrant.
The argument that it is a plot by Dems to coincide with midterms doesn’t make any sense. If anything won’t it fire up the MAGA base to go to the polls? Maybe it’s just because I live in a red state that I see that wave of angry voters who would otherwise have stayed home now raring to go. 🙁
Trump isn’t on the ballot in the mid-terms so I don’t see how this impacts the election.
As for Trump being scared, he should be. He knows what was in the safe and he also knows someone in his inner circle has turned on him. Anyhoo, I hope Trump is enjoying his deposition this morning.
They will vote the people trump endorses into power.
That’s the worry about midterms.
Trump doesn’t have to be a ballot to do irrevocable damage to the US.
The US will take decades to recover if they lose the majority at midterms, & this might just do it.
They literally tried a coup for him.
Trump arrested? Civil war.
Trump himself is not on the ballot, but the Dems need to make it about him. I do think it may affect the midterms, but not sure in what way. The Dobbs decision, I think, had really energized the Dem base. Now, the MAGA crowd is energized. And with the MAGA GOP – Trump is ALWAYS on the ballot.
@ MeghanC, yes. Drumpf should be scared!! Drumpf should have fled the country so that his investigations can carry on without his ridiculous impediments on every legal matter. In addition, someone close DID turn on Drumpf and this is certainly rattled his foundation. He will now trust no one. My how the mighty have fallen!!
@ Kokiri, agreed!! His chosen candidate was elected this past week in Arizona and he is as criminal as Drumpf, with 2 or 3 FBI investigations as well as poor business dealings. He is running to be the State Secretary no less!!!
Trump’s candidates are largely in purple states, which means they aren’t a slam dunk to win. In the end this could completely backfire on Trump if independents consider his candidates too extreme.
MeganC, Trump espouses a whole belief system of Fake News, Rigged Elections, Putin was smart and the radical Left is running the country. Now Trump has skin in the game to elect politicians he personally endorsed and that will join him to denounce the Big Lie and say the election was rigged.
O/T If the alleged radical left was in control, why would they choose Biden? His career voting record is public. (I’m still pissed about Anita Hill, I don’t have to get over it)
Trump’s messes can also be a rallying cry for Democrats to vote to make sure the Dems stay in power. It would be the only way Trump is held to account.
I’m genuinely surprised that he hasn’t suffered a stroke or heart attack yet. With the FBI raid and all the pending cases, and given his health and terrible eating habits, it’s a miracle frankly. I’m not wishing it on him. Just surprised it hasn’t happened yet.
Well you’re a better person than I am because as much as I hate wishing anyone ill, I do. The very best case scenario is that he passes away peacefully from natural causes.
That would truly let him off way too easy. I wish him a truly degrading death– in prison.
@ Miss Jupitero, add me to that list!! I would love for his death to be long, painful with a tremendous amount of suffering.
I usually don’t wish ill on people, but for Drumpf, I will take that exception.
I don’t wish death on people, but if the stress of his crimes kills him, I guess that’s just karma.
A stroke that renders him unable to speak or swing a golf club would be true cosmic justice.
To clarify, it’s not that I don’t think he doesn’t deserve to rot and die in prison. It’s just that I fear him being made a martyr by his devotees.
Whether he strokes out now or later, he certainly looks ill. He doesn’t seem to be keeping up with the spray tanner, and his face is pale, puffy, and bloated. His neck in particular looks swollen. No idea if that’s a symptom of something, but it doesn’t look good. It won’t surprise me a bit if he does indeed suffer a stroke or heart attack in the coming months.
Yes! I look at t-Rump as the poster boy for “only the good die young,” right?
I think most people would have a stroke or heart attack but this monster actually loves it.
Ah yes, the invasion of privacy. There are people out there who feel the same about their uterus. This guy can get f*cked.
Exactly 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Brava!!!!
❤
He wants to ‘control the government again’. That’s not what being president is about!! That’s what he turned it into, but that’s not supposed to be how it works. He wants to run so that he can put off an investigation, then if elected (please by all that is holy, no), claim executive privilege again. It worked before, it would probably work again
Yes, that comment makes my blood run cold. That’s all the role is to him, being able to do things the way he wants to his own benefit. It’s terrifying.
His deposition is finally today. I bet he’S wondering, “Why is Marla never at the top of a flight of stairs when you need her to be?”
He just took the fifth!
Soooooo, if all goes well he says he will bid to run for POTUS and if the government goes after him he will bid too.
Please…..I do not believe he ever intended of running again in 2024. Melanoma would not allow him to. She has a lifestyle with which she will not give up now. She has her daily spa treatment as well as SS to take her wherever she wants to go.
His re-election campaign is nothing but a con. Once a con man, always a con man! He has been using these tactics to scam money from his deranged supporters. Nothing more!
Whatever he’s feeling I’m guessing it’s only going to get worse for him. For other reasons AND it’s just been said that the DOJ has Mar-a-Lago surveillance tapes too. Now that will be required viewing.
No matter how bad it gets, it won’t be bad enough for this vile human. Calling him an “animal” would insult animals.
His hair is looking fluffier than ever, so I guess every cloud has a silver lining with a hint of apricot.
The National Archives know exactly the documents that are missing. The big question remains, which are still missing? I honestly believe that Putin and the other autocrats gave Trump their shopping lists, and prices were set. Trump is so corrupt that he probably decided that it would be part of his retirement package. With the money he could get for America’s secrets he would truly be set for life.
What country would he choose to be set for life in? If he sticks around the US, the IRA alone could make his life a living hell. Plus there would be pro and con protests outside his home, no matter the state, 24-7, 365 days of the year.
The way I see it his options are the USSR, N. Korea, or the UAE. His snake of a son-in-law has been making inroads in Israel, maybe he can stay there?
That would be the cherry on top of all of his criminal action as well as being charged for treason/espionage added to his very long list of charges.
I hope he is prosecuted and sent to a Federal Prison and he is not allowed any favors. With the explicit addition of no longer being granted SS officers.
Drumpf can’t buy or talk himself out of these actions.
My comment is intended for @ Giddy.
His minions are foaming at the mouth. They are literally threatening civil war.
@ Carmen, let them! I am so sick of their cultish antics. They are beyond worthy to listened to. They all sound delusional.
I guess we can watch out for a run on UHaul trailers now? 😂
“Bigly Mad” “Bigly Scared” I cackled.
I read something on Monday about how if he runs for the presidency, he can no longer use the hundreds of millions of dollars his CPAC has raised (in theory). That right there is enough to make me think before this he wasn’t going to run. If he does declare, it will be because of that last sentence, to get control of the government again.
I will say I’m not feeling scared like I was when he was the president, or when he ran in 2016. Democrats should be doing more to protect voting rights, along with every other right.
Aww poor didums – guess he better stock up on the adult diapers then. He’s gonna need changing more regularly.
The irony here is Trump has previously criticized those who exercise their Fifth Amendment rights. “You see the mob takes the Fifth,” he said during a 2016 campaign rally in Iowa. “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” In any event, the criminal investigation by the Manhattan DA’s office continues. Maybe I’m a hopeless optimist but as all of these investigations pile up on him, there will come a time when it all implodes. What with everything from the missing national records to fomenting the attack on the Capitol to wire fraud to the Ukraine scandal to Georgia election tampering to E Jean Carroll’s defamation case to falsely inflating/deflating property values to avoid taxes there’s going to come a time when at least one goose will be cooked.
I just checked. The trial for her defamation case is on the calendar for next year in February. I really really really hope it actually does come before a judge & jury.
HE….I’m sorry…….HE, feels like a victim??!! After the 4 years of pure he!! you put Americans through- your a victim? Get F** d you orange POS! Sorry for the colorful words, but GAWD my blood boils with his pity party BS.
You guys select the best pictures! Elon Musk as the penguin and this one driving his golf cart that big overstuffed swollen body contrasting those tiny ankles and delicate bone spurs. I try not to body shame I mean, shoot none of us are perfect. But if that’s not the poster boy for when McRibs and Aspartame Go Wrong I don’t know who is.
When the rubber meets the road for the candidacy, I predict Bigly pulls a Thomas Markle level health scare stunt to dodge the nom (and also to continue fundraising).
TAKE-A-💩 really thought that he could run the country as though it was one of his (now defunct) corporations plus have SUBLIMINAL CONTROL over the masses–just as his idol HITLER did. He showed all of this from the start of the birther movement against Obama and the accusations about Hilary and those emails. Little did anyone know until, not only the course of his so-called presidency (if you can call it that–IMPHO, it was the WORST DEBACLE in US History!🤮) and now, that his shady/shiesty shenanigans were going on and has come to roost to haunt him. I’m soooo glad that he is getting his comeuppance. 👏🏽😀#GOODALWAYSTRIUMPHSOVEREVIL👆☝🏽
There is a fascinating yet horrifying and amusing article at the NewYorker about Trump and the Generals he employed. God it is so good, first person stuff. One day he was complaining to General Kelly that “you generals” never act like he wanted, he wanted them to act like the German Generals. Kelley asked “which ones?” Trump replied “the German Generals in WWll.” Kelley replied “You do know they tried to kill Hitler 3 times and one time they almost pulled it off?”
@Phaedra7. You have good things to say. Please don’t use the term “shiesty.” It is derived from “shyster” coming from “sheisse” which is “sh*t” in German. Its current use also seems to come from the horrible stereotype “Shylock” from Shakespeare’s “Merchant Of Venice.” Today, “shiesty” is a slur against Jews that most of us would never use. The New York Law Journal summarizes:“…bigoted people can, and frequently do, use code words to veil their prejudice. The Jewish people have long experience with such code words.” So, your choice, but take it from me, a retired journalist and Jew, I’d rather not see or hear that term.
“…and many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.”
I just read one of his quotes from today. Just remind me to breathe deeply. In ….. Out….
This is a random thought, related only because it pertains to this waste of skin’s loyal base. I just saw a man wearing a “Let’s go Brandon” t-shirt featuring a Seussian character stating a list of things he didn’t like. It looked to be a real t-shirt (professionally made, spelled correctly), so… how? Isn’t that copyright infringement? I now Theodore Geisel is problematic, but would his estate license this?
I just googled that because I hadn’t seen them before. Yikes! It’s the Cat in the Hat with Seussian language. That has got to be copyright infringement, unless…and I don’t want to think it’s true, unless his estate has OKd this. From what I’ve been able to find online, you have to have written permission from the estate to do things like this. Unless somebody claims it’s parody, in which case it’s OK? Not a lawyer, so I have a no idea. I’m repulsed by this.
Trump should be scared!
He knows what liar and a crook hie is, and his kids too.
I bet $5 if Trump goes down, Mel hits the divorce button so damn fast!