As former President Donald Trump faces threats of an indictment and several other criminal trials against him are still underway, the former president’s campaign team is seeking to shift its strategy under what it is calling a “new normal.”
Although Trump has not been issued an indictment or been pressed with charges, the former president’s campaign team is going on the offensive to capitalize on media coverage and to pressure GOP leaders for their support. His team has already managed to fundraise off reports Trump could soon be arrested, raking in more than $1.5 million since Saturday, according to the Washington Post.
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“This is the new normal. The president has been battle-tested,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said. “This operation has been fine-tuned since 2016. Dealing with these types of news cycles, you learn to get good at it. We have a full-spectrum response operation on the campaign that can deal with anything that comes our way.”
Central to Trump’s strategy is to frame criminal investigations against him as the latest “witch hunts” being used to target the former president, forcing Republicans either to back him or face possible blowback. Trump advisers have already lauded the support they’ve received from members of the party, hoping to keep the former president as the GOP’s dominant figure, sources told the outlet.
In doing so, Trump is hoping to ramp up pressure on his primary challengers, forcing his opponents to answer questions about him rather than about their own campaigns.
However, several advisers close to the former president have acknowledged some drawbacks to the strategy. For example, it’s still unclear how Trump’s team would manage a presidential campaign while juggling one or more criminal trials.
If Trump is hit with criminal charges, that could also deal a blow to his campaign by hindering donors from contributing. Those sentiments could extend to other Republican candidates in the general election, possibly costing the GOP in other races.
The shift comes as Trump faces a looming indictment in the hush money case. It’s not yet clear what charges the former president may face. Reports of a looming indictment emerged after former Trump attorney Michael Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury multiple times earlier this month.
Cohen was convicted in 2018 after pleading guilty to paying two women who accused Trump of sexual affairs to be silent, which included porn star Stormy Daniels. As part of the scheme, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 and was later reimbursed by the Trump Organization.
Manhattan prosecutors later opened an investigation into whether Trump falsified business records to list the reimbursement as a legal expense. Such a crime is a misdemeanor in New York but could be increased to a felony if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office argues the fraud was intended to conceal a second crime.
At the time of Cohen’s trial, federal prosecutors did not press charges against Trump due to guidance from the Justice Department that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime. However, prosecutors revived discussions about possible charges shortly before Trump left office in 2021.
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The case received increased attention after Trump posted on his Truth Social account over the weekend that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, urging his supporters to protest and "take our nation back." The call for protests has prompted increased security measures outside the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Capitol building, and Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago.
GOP lawmakers were quick to decry Trump's possible arrest, denouncing it as being a political attack ahead of a crucial election cycle. House Republicans announced on Monday they would be opening investigations into Bragg and his conduct surrounding Trump’s indictment.