Former President Donald Trump spent the weekend before his history-making arraignment playing golf, posting on social media, meeting with advisers, and calling and texting allies to tout the political positives of his recent indictment.
He disclosed fundraising numbers and internal poll numbers in these conversations, and vowed to fight the charges, according to more than half a dozen people who spoke with the former president or members of his inner circle this weekend.
Despite the initial shock of the indictment that caught Trump and his advisers “off-guard,” Trump has remained surprisingly calm and focused in the days ahead of his court appearance, according to the sources. Some believed he was compartmentalizing the situation, while others believed he was convinced the case against him was weak and would only help him politically.
“[Trump’s] definitely pissed off and wants to take this on aggressively, but he has been pretty low-key for Trump,” one source familiar with the former president’s recent conversations said.
“As someone who has been present for a rage fit, this [response] has not been that,” another source close to Trump said, but stressed that the former president did not want to be indicted or paraded through court Tuesday. “He is being told by a lot of people that this is a weak case and he can beat it,” the source added, despite the fact that charges have not be revealed and will not be public until the indictment is unsealed.
The former president has seemingly saved his rage for his social media site, escalating his attacks on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and leveling threats. Last week, Trump also went after the judge he’s expected to appear in front of on Tuesday, claiming the judge “hates” him.
In between conversations with allies, the former president played golf at his Trump…
Read the full article here