Donald Trump has been flirting with another presidential candidacy for months. Just last weekend, at a conference of right-wing conservatives and conspiracy theorists in Dallas, Texas, the 76-year-old erupted in cheers when he said: "We're going to make America proud again. We're going to make America safe again. And we will make America great again. I ran twice, I won twice. Now we may have to do it again. We may have to do it again."
Trump is making a lot of speeches these days, and he makes these statements at almost every appearance — and gets a lot of applause for it. So far, however, he has not been more specific. The FBI raid on his Florida home may change that soon.
The US federal police searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday. According to media reports, the action was linked to documents — including potentially classified material — that Trump took with him to Palm Beach from Washington after the end of his presidency in January 2021, although they should have been handed over to the National Archives. It is a criminal offense under US law for anyone in possession of government documents or records to "willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove, mutilate, deface, falsify, or destroy" them.
"If he didn't want to run before, then he's doing it now," the US broadcaster NBC News quoted a person close to Trump who was not authorized to comment. "It pisses him off that they can do this to him. One way to stop this is to take back control of the government."
A candidacy would give Trump more ammunition for his accusation that the investigations against him were purely politically motivated. He could claim that the judiciary and police wanted to hurt him so that Joe Biden or whoever is running for the Democrats in the next presidential race has a better chance of winning.
Monday's search could change Trump's schedule with regard to a bid for the Republican presidential candidacy, the "Washington Post" also suspects. “Finally, his complaint that he was targeted as a potential Biden opponent for 2024 carries less weight than if he is actually a potential Biden opponent.”
Immediately after the raid, Trump described himself as a victim of political persecution: "This is misconduct by law enforcement agencies, the use of the judicial system as a weapon and an attack by the radical left-wing Democrats, who desperately do not want me to run for president in 2024," he criticized the police operation with the "Truth Social" network he co-founded.
"They are terrified that every day he will announce that he will run for president in 2024," Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump told Fox News. "And this is a very convenient way of throwing a little more dirt on Donald Trump, as if they haven't already done enough." It's about using the judiciary as a weapon against someone you don't like politically.
Moreover, should Trump actually make it back to the White House, he would regain the power to hire and fire the FBI and Justice Department officials, who have great influence over who they investigate and who they charge. Furthermore, another term would almost certainly protect him from prosecution, given the long-standing policy of the Justice Department of never charging an incumbent president with a crime.
Trump is well aware of these issues, the NBC source said, according to the broadcaster. This is also supported by what "Rolling Stone" reported in July. Accordingly, the Republican is said to have already consulted with confidants about the advantages of a candidacy and a subsequent presidency in terms of criminal prosecution.
He said "when you're the President of the United States, it's hard for politically motivated prosecutors to 'get to you,'" the magazine wrote, citing a person involved in the discussion. "He says that when he becomes president again, a new Republican administration will stop the Justice Department's investigation into what he sees as the Biden administration's attempt to prosecute him — or even jail him and his people." .
Quellen: NBC News I, NBC News II, Fox News, "Washington Post", "Rolling Stone", "New York Times"
