America faces a crucial moment in time

The ex-president’s golf-course interactions and his fight against the indictment on charges of felony misdemeanoring

In between conversations with allies, the former president played golf at his Trump International Golf Course Friday, before joining his wife Melania Trump and members for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club, where he appeared quieter than usual, a source familiar with the events said, noting that Trump left the dinner scene earlier than usual that night.

According to several people who spoke with the former president or members of his inner circle this weekend, he disclosed poll numbers and fundraising data in order to fight the charges.

“As someone who has been present for a rage fit, this [response] has not been that,” another source close to Trump said, but stressed that the former president did not want to be indicted or paraded through court Tuesday. A lot of people believe that he can beat the case since charges have not been revealed and will not be public until the indictment is made public.

“[Trump’s] definitely pissed off and wants to take this on aggressively, but he has been pretty low-key for Trump,” one source familiar with the former president’s recent conversations said.

The former president has seemingly saved his rage for his social media site, escalating his attacks on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and leveling threats. Trump claimed in a last week that the judge hates him, and that he would be in front of the judge on Tuesday.

“[Trump] is thinking about how this can help him, sure, but he’s also spent a lot of time thinking about what this means in general, for 2024, and his future,” a source who has spoken to Trump in recent days said.

On Saturday, Trump was back on the golf course, where he stepped out of the club to wave at supporters gathered across the street and had staff bring the group MAGA hats, sources said.

The final plan for what Trump’s week would look like was not finalized until Sunday night, after the president and his advisers had spent the weekend working on it.

“A lot of this is hinging on Secret Service,” a source familiar with the planning said, stressing that Trump and his team would follow the security guidance given to them by the agency in charge of protecting the former president.

The Stormy Daniels Indictment, the People of the State of New York, and the Electoral Candidate Donald J. Trump

The indictment has already had an impact in the GOP presidential race, with leading potential challengers to Trump, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, joining the ex-president’s allies in Congress to blast the Bragg investigation as motivated by partisanship. It would be foolish to think that Trump’s legal problems will prove to be a long term rallying point for GOP voters, given his popularity with grassroots Republicans.

But sources familiar with the preparations were uncertain as to whether a mugshot would be taken, because Trump’s appearance is widely known, there are millions of pictures of him available, and authorities were concerned about the improper leaking of a mugshot, which would be a violation of state law.

After days of fundraising off the indictment, including a video plea from the former president in both an email and Truth Social post, the team released a memo from campaign heads Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita saying they had raised more than $5 million in the 48 hours following the indictment.

Steven Cheung said in a statement that the polls show that President Trump’s supporters have surged because of his political persecution. “Over $5 million in donations and more than 16,000 volunteer signups since the announcement of this witch-hunt hoax are key indicators that Americans from all backgrounds are sick and tired of the weaponization of the justice system against President Trump and his supporters.”

“The people know this is all political –Trump knows that,” an ally said before quickly agreeing with that sentiment. “This can only boost his support.”

The country was pushed to this somber moment by Trump’s norm-breaking behavior. He’s also being investigated over efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, and by a special counsel probing his hoarding of classified documents and conduct in the run up to January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The Stormy Daniels case has not been indicted, but in several of these cases, Trump could be in serious legal trouble.

The 45th president is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday in Manhattan, the stage where he built his legend as a brash popular culture figure and real estate magnate but which could now, in the case of “The People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump,” engineer his downfall.

In what will be extraordinary scenes, Trump will return to New York after a grand jury voted to indict him last week in a case involving a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. He will come as he fires up his campaign to become the president of the United States. Trump plans to make a make a speech when he gets back to Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night in which he will seek to leverage political advantage out of a perilous, personal legal crisis.

All of the cases have been denied by Trump. America’s legal and political systems are likely to be placed under enormous pressure once again because of Trump’s attempt to launch his campaign at the end of the escalator in Trump Tower.

Some legal experts, without having seen the still-sealed indictment, have questioned whether a case that appears to revolve around infringements of accounting practices and possible campaign finance violations is sufficiently serious to merit the historical step of indicting an ex-president who is already running again.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday, the Trump team prepared a robust defense that will unfold against the backdrop of a political campaign. The new GOP House majority is giving his loyalists the ability to use it to interfere with Bragg’s prosecution. The ex-president’s team would make a loud and proud declaration that they are not guilty and try to block the case from going to trial, according to an interview with Donald Trump’s lawyer.

While Trump’s critics have celebrated the indictment as a sign that no one is above the law, Tacopina argued that the ex-president was actually getting worse treatment than an ordinary citizen would because of his fame and political aspirations.

“Had he not been running for office right now, for the office of the presidency – which, by the way, the polls have shown since this has been announced, his numbers have gone up significantly – had he not been running for presidency, he would not have been indicted,” Tacopina said. Bragg has made no public comment on the case since the indictment came down last Thursday.

“Michael Cohen is a pathological, convicted liar, perjurer. He’s lied to banks, the IRS, Congress,” Tacopina said. Lanny Davis, the lawyer for Cohen, warned on the show that a Trump defense shredding his client’s reputation would not work. “My old friend Joe Tacopina … (has) a wrong strategy if he thinks he’s building his whole strategy on personal attacks on Michael Cohen,” Davis said.

There is intense security in New York due to the sensitivity of the case and after Trump warned of a possible death and destruction if he is charged. Many of Trump’s supporters have not come out in force to protest despite his calls.

Shadow Campaign: The Way to Make America Great Again Against the Scenario of the Indicted GOP Candidate Amy Hutchinson

A shadow campaign is being run by the man who has yet to declare a run, who is hoping to offer policies that won’t distract or chaos the ex-president. The indicted GOP nominee is a concern for many Republicans because it might be a problem in the general election. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who has called for Trump to step aside because of the indictment, made his own announcement on Sunday of a run for president.

In a statement on Thursday, Trump showed that he will respond to this brush with political fate in the same way he has lashed out at previous threats in his business and political career – with fury and by seeking to use his political power to stir up huge disruption and partisan anger.

He said that the witch-hunt would backfire on Joe Biden. “The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone is able to see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

His approach means that this Tuesday is likely to be just the start of a new, dramatic and divisive chapter in Trump’s political career and another extreme test for America.