It was reported yesterday that Trump is no longer on Forbes’ ‘400 Richest People’ list which must anger him to no end. I’m sure we all remember how much he relished telling all of us how rich he was. Too bad, Donald. Even though he is not as rich as he claims, he reportedly still has a net worth north of $2 billion. That’s not peanuts. Most of us could live nicely off of that.
Given that, one might wonder why Trump doesn’t just ride off into the sunset like other former presidents, plan a library, write a book, play some golf, do some public speaking and maybe get involved in some philanthropic activities. In my opinion, there are three major reasons why he is unable to do this and why he is hell bent on running again in 2024, which will once again put this country in serious peril if he is re-elected.
There is the most obvious reason. Trump loves to be loved. He is addicted to the adulation. He really, really cares what people think about him and his image. He has spent a lifetime cultivating an image that is, in many ways, a façade. He is not as rich as he has claimed all of his life. He is not a successful businessman by most metrics. He is not a self-made man and would not be where he is had it not been for his father (and an army of lawyers and toadies). He is very insecure which is why image means so much to him. The adulation and being the center of attention is like a drug to him. He needs it to survive. Campaigning for the presidency and being re-elected would work for him just like snorting coke.
Secondly, and perhaps not the most obvious, I firmly believe that Trump is very concerned about his mounting legal troubles and views being re-elected as president as the best shield for him, his family and others close to him who are also in legal jeopardy. A judge recently ruled that Trump will have to sit for a deposition in the defamation case against him brought by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on ‘The Apprentice’. This will be the first time that Trump will have to sit for a deposition under oath since he took office in 2017. The deadline for Trump submitting this deposition is Dec. 23, however, in typical Trump fashion he plans to counter sue. [I wonder how much money Trump has spent on attorney’s during his lifetime? I’ll bet it’s a staggering figure!] It will be most interesting to see how this plays out. Trump under oath – what a concept!
The CFO of the Trump organization, Alan Weisselberg, is under indictment and more indictments are expected for other people connected to the Trump organization. Trump is certainly very aware that if any of these people ‘flip’ and begin cooperating with the government, Trump’s exposure and that of his family members increases exponentially.
And then there is the Congressional committee investigating the January 6th insurrection which has subpoenaed several people very close to Trump. There is no doubt the vice is tightening. If Trump were to be re-elected, the legal shield of being president would be back up and he would, once again, have the power of the pardon at the stroke of a pen. He could protect himself and everyone around him. And he would most certainly, purge the government of anyone who is even suspected of not having sufficient fealty to him. That would virtually ensure that he could act with impunity.
Lastly, Trump has always been one to seek revenge. We saw some of that during his last tenure in the White House, but what happened then would pale in comparison to what would happen in a new Trump administration. He would install people in the DOJ that are Trump loyalists and try to commandeer the DOJ to do his bidding up to and including figuring out a way to prosecute anyone who crossed him. I’m sure it would be a very long list. I would offer that the United States has never seen anything like what will transpire. Many, many authoritarian leaders and dictators, were legally elected and then began using the courts and the justice systems available to them to secure their own power while going after all of their rivals. It is an age-old tactic. If Trump is re-elected, I suspect we will all get a front row seat.
I originally thought that Trump was pushing the ‘Big Lie’ in order to continue to raise money to cover his legal bills. However, I realized that having a pile of money will only protect him so much. As long as he is an ordinary citizen, he is still very vulnerable given all of the investigations going on. The only way he can truly protect himself is to once again sit in the White House. He knows that, and I believe that is why he is so desperate to return to Washington D. C. in 2024.
Trump is not interested in ‘Making America Great’. Trump is interested in keeping himself and his family from being indicted, convicted of crimes and/or having to pay huge fines or settlements. I think that was behind his desperate efforts to retain the presidency which led up to the January 6th insurrection. Of course, he doesn’t like to lose. That is no secret. But he knows that he has zero protection from the legal system now that he is just an ordinary American. The fact is, the emperor has no clothes right now – and my apologies for that visual!