Trump gives his strongman a day off from court

During his day off from a criminal trial pertaining to a previous election, Donald Trump cast a familiar and ominous shadow over the one that followed.

In a Wednesday interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the presumed Republican nominee did not state whether he would accept the outcome of his contest for the presidency against President Joe Biden in November. Instead, he cautioned that if the election was not “honest,” “you have to fight for the right of the country.”. “.

Telling the newspaper otherwise would be a disservice to the nation, according to Trump. “But no, I anticipate a fair election, and we hope to win, possibly by a wide margin. “.

The former president conveyed the impression, as he frequently does, that an election can only be considered fair if he wins. “However, I will definitely accept the results if everything is honest, which we anticipate it will be because a lot of changes have been made in the last few years,” he said. Not only was there no proof of widespread fraud, but Trump would not concede that the 2020 election was fair.

The former president was in court on Thursday in Manhattan for the resumption of his first criminal trial, which is about allegations that he falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult film star prior to the 2016 election. He was campaigning in Wisconsin and Michigan at the time.

His comments regarding the 2024 election were particularly concerning because he refused to acknowledge that he had lost in 2020 due to his fabrications about voter fraud. They also brought up his admonition to followers that they would lose their nation if they didn’t “fight like hell” prior to the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the US Capitol.

This week, Trump has continued to use extreme language to imply that his threats to American democracy are unabated. His warning is just the most recent example.

His unusually long red tie seemed to float on the wind as he imagined a strongman’s vision of a future America on a sun-drenched airfield in Michigan on Wednesday, making the nation’s founders shudder.

From the sullen former president who howls every day outside Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom over his hush money trial, Trump has become an unrecognizable figure. And on Wednesday, Trump staged his most fervent rally in months to demonstrate that a second term would put the law to even greater test than the first, seemingly to elude prosecutors attempting to hold him accountable in several cases.

With promises of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, crackdowns on higher education and bureaucracy, and targeting the Democratic Party’s “communists and criminals,” Trump declared, “When I return to the White House, we will stop the plunder, rape, slaughter, and destruction of the American suburbs, cities, and towns.”. While in Wisconsin earlier, he revised his illustration of a national hellscape depicting “American carnage” and issued a dire warning that “radical extremists and far-left agitators who are terrorizing college campuses” were laying siege to the country. “.

Trump asserted that “New York was under siege last night” and praised police for quelling a protest at Columbia University in an attempt to capitalize on the nationwide university protests. “Watching the best of New York was a breathtaking experience.”. He stated, “You saw them climb up on ladders; they’re breaking windows and getting in, and that’s dangerous.

He hasn’t done any large-scale rallies since the hush money trial began last month, but he has done fundraisers and small-scale political appearances. (A storm forced the cancellation of one event in North Carolina. However, on Wednesday, an ex-president and prospective future president made history by utilizing a midweek break in his criminal trial to race through swing states and win a reelection to the presidency. His enthusiastic welcome in front of a sizable gathering in Michigan served as a reminder that his popularity among supporters has not diminished despite days of potentially damaging testimony.

Recent polls indicate that Trump has an equal chance of winning the presidency, and his forceful comeback to a position of authority where he, and not Judge Merchan, is the one exercising it highlighted his political threat to President Joe Biden’s hopes of winning a second term. Regarding particular topics, polls indicate that Trump and Biden differ on the majority of them, such as immigration, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the economy. During a trip to Florida on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris hammered President Trump 21 times over the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, one of Biden’s few strong points: abortion rights. Wade, highlighting the recently implemented six-week prohibition in the state.

Following days of media coverage of a trial that in a different political era would have probably forced Trump out of the race, CNN political analyst David Axelrod—a former senior strategist for President Barack Obama—dispensed blunt advice on Wednesday. “The real question is, how is this whole thing affecting the campaign? I believe there isn’t much evidence at all that it’s affecting the campaign at all right now,” he stated.

Although Axelrod conceded that the decision might have an impact, he told CNN’s Erin Burnett, “This is a non-event in the eyes of many people.”. “.

a terrifying look at Trump’s plans for a second term.

With just six months to go before the election, Trump’s caustic campaign rhetoric is starting to sound more like a plan for a possible second term than a display of performative duplicity.

This is particularly the case in light of this week’s publication of an intriguing and occasionally spooky interview with Time. The magazine’s website has an 86-minute read of the transcript, which is the man’s most concrete personal declaration about how he would transform the nation if elected to a second term. He is advocating a form of quasi-autocratic governance that is driven by personal whims, a desire for vengeance, and a dearth of recognition that the presidency is a legally restricted office subject to the Constitution and the fundamental republican aversion to unchecked executive power.

Thus far, pro-Trump advocacy groups and think tanks have published policy manifestos outlining how Trump, if elected as the 47th president, would dismantle the administrative state, enact harsh immigration laws, and end long-standing US global leadership traditions by bringing back “America First” on an even larger scale. Trump’s staff has occasionally issued warnings that the former president alone speaks for himself. In contrast, Trump describes in the Time interview how he would act as president if he were to ever regain power after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow democracy.

With the words “We will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” he reiterated his promise to search for, jail, and deport millions of undocumented migrants, which he had made earlier this year. According to Trump’s statement to Time, he would be willing to fire any US attorney who refuses to prosecute someone. The sanctity of democratic elections was dealt a severe blow when Trump declared he would think about pardoning hundreds of supporters who stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to rig the 2020 election. Appearing to be prepared to overturn the limited exceptions on the use of the military on domestic soil, he threatened to deploy the National Guard to put an end to student protests and assist with immigration enforcement. More than a legally restricted reserve force, Trump referred to the Guard as his personal presidential militia.

Trump is becoming more and more vengeful.

The ex-president’s hours spent confined in a Manhattan courtroom appear to be igniting his desire for revenge against his political rivals as the implications of his solidifying intentions become more apparent. “Never forget our enemies want to take away my freedom, because I will never let them take away your freedom,” Trump blasted through a series of significant civil trial verdicts and four criminal indictments against him, addressing his Freeland, Michigan, crowd. However, it did not seem as though the former president had broken the gag order that forbids him from criticizing witnesses, court personnel, or even the judge’s own relatives. He was fined $9,000 on Tuesday for the infractions, and on Thursday, Merchan will hold another hearing on the matter.

Trump’s statements have greater weight than just the rapidly approaching election and his lead in the polls. Despite his claims that “bad” officials let him down during his first term, Trump comes across in the Time interview as self-assured and eager to learn from the mistakes he made. All of this is happening while the Supreme Court is debating his proposal to grant presidents nearly total immunity from prosecution for actions they take while in office.

At one point, Time reporter Eric Cortellessa questioned Trump about why he thought so many Americans were disturbed by his alleged past jokes about overthrowing the Constitution or becoming a dictator for a day. In one of the most candid and unsettling responses of the interview, the former president simply replied, “I think a lot of people like it.”. “.

He’s not inaccurate. Even after his embarrassing departure from Washington in 2021, two impeachments, and a legal maze that would be astounding for any defendant, much less a prospective president, Trump stormed to the Republican nomination, overwhelming his opponents. The strength of his position indicates that a large number of Americans are in favor of policies that, if put into effect, would undermine numerous checks on presidential authority and put the rule of law to the test. Trump’s election success thus far, therefore, is not only the story of an eccentric political force; it’s also a reflection of the opinions of millions of people in the world’s most significant democracy during a politically charged period.

Trump is always subject to qualification. A president with a short attention span and a tendency to appear at odds with his own administration, his first term was a festival of chaos. Trump occasionally exhibits an unexpected reluctance to take chances that might damage his reputation. Consequently, there’s no assurance that he could carry out his strict agenda. The interview served as a reminder of Trump’s tendency to come across as both dangerous and unintelligent. He was usually only vaguely aware of international affairs or policy. His possible responses to issues ranging from China to abortion rights appear to be more guided by preconceived notions and gut feelings than by thoughtful strategy. If he implemented some of his strictest immigration laws and fired all civil servants, he would also have to deal with the courts once more.

However, Trump would not be a newcomer to Washington in January 2025. “The advantage I have now is I know everybody,” he said to Time. I am familiar with people. I am aware of the good, bad, foolish, and intelligent people. I’m familiar with everyone. I was incredibly lonely when I moved to Washington. I needed to rely on others. “.

At the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association on Saturday, there was a focus on this sense that things are suddenly becoming serious. Biden emphasized his predecessor’s desire for “retribution” and recalled that Trump had made no secret of his “attack on our democracy.”. “Eight years ago, you could have written it off as just Trump talk,” he continued. But that’s not the case now. No, not after January 6. “.

The stakes for the 2024 election are becoming more and more obvious, to quote two presidents, only one of whom is expected to win a second term in November.

More information has been added to this story.