Trump blows kisses, basks in love from supporters following $355M civil court decision, Navalny debacle
Donald Trump blew off steam, and some kisses, on Monday while celebrating President’s Day with admirers at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Donning his signature “Make America Great Again” hat, the 45th president looked jubilant as he appeared to acknowledge and wave at his supporters nearby.
The brief sighting follows close on the heels of a bruising week in court and ahead of a jam-packed schedule in the coming days for the 2024 GOP frontrunner.
Earlier in the day, Trump broke his prolonged silence on the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny with a Truth Social post that drew parallels to his own legal woes, feeding fodder to his rivals.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country. It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction,” Trump lamented.
Last Friday, Trump was slapped with a $355 million fine from a sweeping business fraud case out of New York.
He will also owe interest, which New York Attorney General Letitia James estimated could spike the total to north of $450 million. Furthermore, Trump is barred from running any business in the Empire State for three years.
That blistering ruling came weeks after another court ordered him to cough up $83.3 million in damages for advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
Trump is working to appeal both verdicts, but the price tag is proving very costly for the billionaire real estate magnate.
Forbes estimated last year that his net worth is hovering around $2.6 billion and he possessed around $640 million in liquid assets. Trump has long insisted his personal fortune is much larger than Forbes’ estimates.
To help ease his financial burdens, Trump attended Sneaker Con in Philadelphia over the weekend and unveiled a set of Trump-branded golden high-top shoes starting at $399 a pop.
They promptly sold out hours after being released.
Earlier last week, a New York judge also dealt Trump another blow by spurning his petition to delay the start date for the 34-count indictment over alleged falsification of business documents to conceal hush money payments.
That trial is slated to commence March 25.
In the week ahead, Trump’s legal team must juggle multiple fast-approaching deadlines and brace for other potential developments.
First, on Tuesday, his team must submit any additional material in the ongoing dispute with special counsel Jack Smith over documents that purportedly back up its claims of a “vindictive prosecution” in the 40-count Mar-a-Lago indictment case.
On Thursday, Trump’s team is required to submit motions detailing petitions for exclusions of evidence in the hush money case and file pre-trial motions for exclusion of evidence in the classified document case.
Then, by Friday, an Illinois judge is expected to rule whether to bump Trump off the state’s ballot under the Disqualification Clause featured in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Trump is facing a total of 91 criminal counts and has pleaded not guilty to all charges pending against him.
On Saturday, Republican voters in South Carolina will head to the polls and decide between Trump and their former Gov. Nikki Haley.
Trump is the commanding favorite to win.
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