Trump’s Indictment: Beyond Farcical to Dangerous Levels
Former President and 2024 presidental candidate Donald Trump.
Gage Skidmore via Flickr
Donald Trump is one of the most fascinating political figures in the history of the United States. Trump's story is of his privilege being the son of a billionaire, who took up an empire of business before propelling himself into reality television and pop culture. He built himself into an image of wealth, as his most famous property, Trump Tower, is surrounded by golden everything. This was his representation of the expanding network of businesses he owned and the wealth it granted him. Combining all this with his ridiculous appearance and extremely straightforward communication (which frequently involves lies and tangents), he became one of the most controversial figures of the 21st century.
Trump announced his campaign in the most fitting way possible on June 16, 2015. The Trump Tower lobby was plastered with a phrase that would follow his entire political career: “Make America Great Again” (a phrase that never really explained which time period Trump wants to return to). Trump appears on a shiny balcony, gives a big thumbs up to the crowd and slowly descends to the ground floor on a golden escalator, all while “Rocking in the Free World" by Neil Young plays. Everyone treated it as a joke and publicity stunt, but later, Trump became president.
The Trump presidency was a trainwreck. It was an unstable, chaotic, confusing and at times, so-bad-it's-good presidency. It had several wacky moments like Trump trying to buy Greenland, launching paper towels to a crowd in Puerto Rico, the mountain of insane tweets and mocking “Parasite” for winning Best Picture. However, Trump’s presidency was often full of terrible decisions. Examples include his rejection of climate change, unresponsiveness to mass shootings, botched COVID response, the George Floyd Protests, his rejection of the 2020 election and starting an insurrection at the Capitol. Trump’s administration is one that changed the politics of the early 21st century, mostly for the worst.
Since his loss in 2020, Trump has stayed in the spotlight to try to bolster himself to become president once again. However, Trump’s presidency has not only brought him back into the spotlight of the American public but the American legal system. This culminated in the recent indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office after a several-year investigation charged Trump with 34 felonies. Most of the charges aren’t the expected crimes of a modern-day politician, but since this is connected to Trump, there is a level of ridiculousness to the whole situation.
The charges are all related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels as well as other individuals. As described by BBC News, “The charges all relate to a $130,000 hush-money payment by lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before 2016 election in order to prevent her from talking about her allegations that she had an affair with Mr. Trump in 2007.”
The Manhattan D.A. believed Trump had these hush-money payments, which aren’t illegal in New York City, listed under “legal fees” – which is illegal. Furthermore, the Manhattan D.A. is trying to link the campaign finance fraud of his lawyer, Micheal Cohen, who pleaded guilty, to the payments concerning these 34 felony charges.
The indictment of Trump has brought both the political and social media discourse that would be expected of Trump. The internet just wanted a mugshot of Trump and many memes ensued, all while media outlets capitalized on the history-defining news. Trump is using it to boost himself for the next election, and he is already placing blame on “the Radical Left Democrats - the enemy of the hard-working men and women of this Country...”
The fact that he is the first president to be indicted for a crime, especially multiple felonies, is an important step showing that even the most powerful person in the country isn’t free from the legal system. However, the second thing that comes to mind is a resounding: really? Previous presidents have committed truly awful crimes that they were never charged for. This ranges from Reagan's involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War and Obama’s expansion of drone strikes. Trump getting charged for using campaign funds to cover up a relationship with an adult film star is so ridiculous that it's only something that he is capable of.
Although this is an important step, these charges against Trump will be hard to prove for many reasons. These range from the statute of limitations, which will probably force the charges down to misdemeanors and many of these felony charges require proving Trump will commit these crimes again. Overall, the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, and his office have a lot to prove in this case and it doesn’t seem as simple as the media portrays it.
This isn’t the only legal problem facing the president; he has three large possible cases being investigated against him. The first one is the investigation of Trump’s attempt to overthrow the result of the Georgia presidential election. Trump called the Georgia secretary of state, to find “11,780 votes,” just enough to beat Joe Biden and win Georgia. The second case is the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. For being such an unprecedented event still under investigation, a case against Trump would become another massive political divide between Republicans and Democrats. The final major case is the investigation into Trump’s stolen documents that were recovered by the F.B.I. on August 9., 2022, that contained information on nuclear weapons and possible intelligence related to Iran and China.
Trump is increasingly boxed in by various U.S. agencies, with the Georgia case being the most damning, as there is clear evidence showing Trump’s intent to commit a crime. However, Trump is still in the public spotlight appearing at the most recent UFC event. Trump’s own social media platform, Truth Social, recently posted t-shirts of himself in a poorly edited mugshot with giant text saying “NOT GUILTY,” as well as a strange run-on post on Easter.
President Trump has always thrived on attention, using it to build his vehement fanbase. However, we are entering a completely new chapter of Trump’s political career. His fight to win the Republican nomination will be a hard one, with candidates such as Ron DeSantis eyeing the spot and his separation from much of the Republican base. This feedback loop from his fanbase, combined with his loss in the 2020 election and the increasing investigations is creating a dangerous blend that will make Trump a more radical, intense and resentful candidate compared to candidate Trump in 2016 and 2020.
Donald Trump has treated the current U.S. political sphere as a pedestal to cement himself in the history of the United States, however, he now has more attention, power and vitriol than ever before, and with that comes the possibility of a more divided American future. Combining all of this with Trump’s recent indictment by the Manhattan D.A., the case against him has extreme importance. In the end, the Manhattan case against former President Trump isn’t just about the make-or-break effect on Trump’s political career but has paramount importance to America’s future in the coming decades.