Former president Donald Trump is ‘very, very angry’ about his ongoing court battles and potentially heading to prison, but his team feels confident about his chances of winning the 2024 presidential election, New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman says
During an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Haberman – who has a historically close relationship with the former president – said there is an ‘enormous amount of energy invested in Trump portraying himself as fine and nothing bothering him.’
In reality, however, Haberman says that Trump is ‘very, very angry’ and does ‘not want to be sentenced to prison.’
His campaign team, said the journalist, is focused on getting through the Republican primary. Trump is currently leading the pack of candidates by roughly 30 points in most polls.
His staff, however, ‘acknowledge that they have to get through Iowa, which has never been a great state for Trump,’ said Haberman. If the former president can eek out a win in Iowa, the seeming inevitability of his candidacy will become less disputable.
His prospects come as Trump not only faces a civil trial in New York but four pending criminal trials across the country for his roles in handling classified documents and alleged election interference.
Former president Donald Trump in court last week for his New York fraud trial. He not only faces the civil case, but four pending criminal cases
Furthermore, said Haberman, team Trump’s focus on winning is ‘in part as a means of dealing with these cases.’
Trump’s high-profile civil fraud case in New York that was brought by Attorney General Letitia James has featured several dramatic turns from Trump and various members of his family – something Haberman says will likely not be the case at his forthcoming federal trial.
Trump will be ‘quieted’ in federal court in a way that he hasn’t been during his civil trial, because he ‘can’t pull the same kinds of stunts’ in front of his next judge,’ Haberman stated.
Last week, Trump took the stand in New York, where he sparred with Judge Arthur Engoron and delivered long, campaign-style speeches. Engoron repeatedly told him to stop and answer the questions.
The case is civil, not criminal, meaning the judge will determine the case’s outcome instead of a jury.
Engoron has already ruled that some of Trump’s financial statements were filled fraudulently. This trial is to determine the punishment.
Part of determining that punishment is looking at the intent behind the filings.
The judge will determine whether the Trumps deliberately falsified financial statements for their family business to inflate the company’s value in order to obtain favorable terms for loans and insurance coverage.
In order to make that determination, the judge required several of Trump’s adult children to testify last week – including Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka.
Trump was warned to control himself on the stand during his civil trial as he slammed prosecutors and Democrats as ‘haters’ and claimed the judge always rules ‘against’ him
Judge Arthur Engoron admonished the former president multiple times for not answering questions from prosecutor Kevin Wallace as tensions flared almost immediately after he was sworn in as a witness last week
While Don Jr. and Eric remain part of the Trump business empire, Ivanka stepped away from her family business several years ago.
She and her husband Jared Kushner currently reside in Miami with their three children, where Ivanka is focused on her friends, family, and philanthropic work.
In their testimony last week, Ivanka’s brothers also attempted to distance themselves from the company. The two served as trustees of the Trump Organization after Donald Trump became president.
Don Jr. blamed the family company’s accountants who prepared paperwork for him to sign as a trustee. He said his signature attesting to the accuracy of the financials was ‘not a symbol of yes or no.’
Eric said he was not involved with the preparation of the financial statements and knew ‘nothing’ about them.