Washington— Hours after a Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday afternoon to indict Donald Trump, the former president met with his wife Melania, his in-laws and conservative radio host Mark Levin on the patio of his private club Mar -a-Lago for a pre-planned dinner. Advisers to his 2024 presidential bid sat nearby, and Trump spoke to both groups, as well as members of the club who offered encouragement from him.
At one point, Trump showed off his soon-to-be-released book of letters between himself and celebrities and world leaders. In another, he began calling out Republicans in Congress, vowing to fight the impeachment and relishing statements of support from him.
However, in the immediate aftermath of the grand jury’s decision related to money being paid to an adult film star, Trump was not happy, a person with direct knowledge of his reaction said. Others described Trump as “upset,” “irritated,” “dejected” and “shocked,” though some noted that he, too, remained “very calm” and “rather stoic, actually.”
Trump, who played golf at his Palm Beach estate on Friday and plans to play again over the weekend, is expected to fly to New York at noon Monday. He will spend the night at his Trump Tower home before turning himself in in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday.
“He will do the Trump thing,” said David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser who is not working on his 2024 campaign. He will be outraged ”.
The playbook that Trump executed on the heels of an unprecedented moment in American history — the first former president in history to be indicted for a crime — is one that, for him at least, has become almost routine. Since he first posted, incorrectly, on his social media platform almost exactly two weeks ago that he would be arrested in a few days, Trump has gone through a variety of emotions and positions, both public and private.
He has been angry and even threatened, attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on his Truth Social site and warning of “potential death and destruction” if he is charged. He has been resigned and incredulous about a possible indictment, at times acting as if the ongoing investigation could disappear on its own through a combination of magical thinking and public pressure.
And he has finally turned defiant, portraying himself as a persecuted victim and leveraging controversy as a political weapon.
Trump, a former reality show host seeking to win a second term in the White House in 2024, has already privately begun reflecting on the indelible images likely to emerge from his day on court Tuesday, discussing everything from his photo police to a possible criminal walk – the act of walking into or out of a Police station or Courthouse in custody for the media cameras – and how you can use the moment to convey defiance.
This portrait of Trump facing a historic impeachment is the result of interviews with 15 Trump advisers, attorneys, confidantes and other officials, many of whom spoke anonymously to candidly share details of private conversations.
“He was initially shocked,” Joe Tacopina, a Trump attorney, said on NBC’s “The Today Show” on Friday. “After he got over that, he put a notch in his belt and decided we had to fight now, and he took a typical Donald Trump stance where he’s ready to be combative about something he thinks is an injustice. “.
“His knees don’t bend,” Tacopina added, “so now he’s in the stance that he’s ready to fight this.”
Another longtime Trump adviser was more blunt, describing the view among Trump aides that impeachment is “political gold in a primary” and “definitely political gold for fundraising.”
“No one wants to be indicted, but if you are going to be indicted, do you know how much that image is worth in a primary, for ads, and for fundraisers?” this person said.
Trump’s campaign and legal team had spent weeks preparing for an expected impeachment. They had investigated the lines of attack against Bragg and Michael Cohen, the former attorney and fixer for Trump who is believed to be one of Bragg’s key witnesses. They had drafted potential fundraising statements and appeals, as well as a sweeping plan for Trump’s allies, both legal and political, to cover the airwaves.
However, Trump’s lawyers were caught off guard when the news broke. Some were so sure there would be no movement in the investigation any time soon that they had been preparing to take time off, while others, including adviser Boris Epshteyn, who plays a leading role in Trump’s legal team, told him they had advised Trump that he would not be charged at all.
Trump’s legal team broke the news to him by phone Thursday and then began preparing for the days ahead.
The former president inquired about the logistics of being prosecuted and spoke with his lawyers about what the process would be like.
When initially preparing for Trump’s possible indictment, Secret Service agents had raised concerns that Trump might opt to be arrested; They didn’t like the security concerns posed by him being handcuffed by police instead of escorted by Secret Service agents, said a law enforcement official familiar with the planning. Since then, the Secret Service has taken solace in learning that Trump plans to surrender rather than be arrested.
Trump also met with his political advisers and spoke with members of Congress about how the charges could help him in a Republican primary.
However, Trump’s advisers and lawyers have also found some of Trump’s more extreme posts on Truth Social problematic, including one last month in which he shared an image of him wielding a baseball bat alongside a photo of Bragg. Trump later claimed to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he was unaware of the image he had shared.
The political disadvantage is likely to come in a general election, say many strategists, where the electorate — including some more moderate Republicans and independents — have long signaled that they are exhausted by the chaos and controversy on which Trump thrives. But for now, he stands tall, unconcerned that endless news cycles about hush money being paid to an adult movie star might hurt him politically.
“He has never been concerned with any story that portrays him as a moral reprobate,” said a Trump ally. “His whole life and his career have been filled with those stories and they have never hurt him, in his mind.”
On Friday, the Trump campaign distributed an email compiling statements from six governors, 26 senators, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and 63 other House Republicans, and 10 state attorneys general, proclaiming the “ united support” of the party. Trump’s super PAC released a poll that showed overwhelming support among Republican primary voters and posted a video that received more than 1 million views on Twitter.
His team also immediately began using the news to raise funds. In an email to his supporters on Friday, Trump warned that “our justice system has completely COLLAPSED.” He then asked for a $1 contribution “to cement his place in history and to accept YOUR membership of him as a FOUNDING ADVOCATE OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP AGAINST THIS WITCH HUNT.”
On Friday night, the campaign sent out a press release claiming that Trump had raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours after the impeachment, including more than 25 percent of donations from first-time donors.
In addition to the Manhattan District Attorney’s case against Trump, the former president faces three other ongoing investigations: one in Fulton County, Georgia, and two under the direction of special counsel Jack Smith. Trump’s allies and advisers believe Manhattan’s case against him is especially weak and will backfire both politically and legally. But some of his lawyers privately view the other cases as stronger and fear a situation where they are fighting multiple charges in multiple jurisdictions.
“This is the lowest point in the history of our criminal justice system,” said Chris Kise, one of Trump’s lawyers. “What was once the most respected and revered District Attorney’s office in the nation has been totally bastardized by a political opportunist seeking, like many others, to cash in on the Trump brand.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung added: “This is nothing more than political persecution and like every other hoax President Trump has been targeted with, there is no crime except election interference through the use of of our justice system as a weapon against President Trump and his supporters.”
Trump and his team have not yet decided which arguments to make or which lawyers will speak at their arraignment on Tuesday, in part because they have not seen the indictment or evidence.
Despite Trump’s desire for iconic images, his aides have been trying to convince him to make the trip to New York quick and avoid public appearances or press conferences, citing security risks, and so far, Trump seems willing. To do it. They also expect him to be back on the campaign trail at the end of next week.
When the news broke Thursday, many of Trump’s top advisers, including Cheung, Chris LaCivita, Jason Miller and Susie Wiles, were with him at Mar-a-Lago. But some of his team were due to leave the club this weekend and acknowledge that the current strategy may change.
“Trump is Trump,” one quipped.
But it seems likely that the defiant stance will continue. In a statement, Taylor Budowich, the head of MAGA Inc., criticized the allegation and vowed to give Trump another term in the White House.
“For the sin of putting America first, Democrats and billionaires are using the government as a weapon to try to stop it,” Budowich wrote. “They will fail, he will use this politically motivated impeachment to propel his campaign to a landslide, historic victory, and with four more years, he will save America,” he said.
