At Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Camp Is Caught Off Guard
The former president’s aides had believed that any action by the grand jury was still weeks away.
At Mar-a-Lago on Thursday evening, former President Donald J. Trump was still absorbing the news of his indictment, according to several people close to him. Mr. Trump and his aides were caught off guard by the timing, believing that any action by the grand jury was still weeks away and might not occur at all.
Some advisers had become confident that there would be no movement until the end of April at the earliest and were looking at the political implications for Mr. Trump’s closest potential rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
What I thought.
George Conway
@gtconway3d
it's so good to see that the ol'-drop-it-in-the-mail-just-before-leaving-on-vacation trick is alive and well
6:04 PM · Mar 30, 2023
At his Palm Beach estate in recent weeks, Mr. Trump’s mood has ranged from optimism and bravado to anxiety about his future.
He has been keeping a relatively normal schedule at Mar-a-Lago, which he calls “my beautiful home” — dining with guests at the club, playing golf and telling nearly anyone he spoke to what a good mood he was in and how he believed that the case against him by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, had fallen apart.
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For all of Mr. Trump’s outward confidence, the reality is that he has feared and avoided an indictment for more than four decades, after first being criminally investigated in the 1970s. He watched in horror as his former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, surrendered to authorities, which was shown on television in 2021. Mr. Weisselberg is only slightly younger than Mr. Trump, who told aides he couldn’t believe “what they’re doing to that old man.”
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At the same time, a large group of former Trump Organization employees was quietly cheering the latest developments via text messages, a reminder of how many people have felt burned in various ways by Mr. Trump over the years.😂
