He Thinks It Went Great – Rolling Stone

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Donald Trump thought he had a crush on his Fox News interview. The rest of the world thinks he’s screwing it up.

In the hours after his interview with Brett Baier aired Monday, Trump privately boasted about how well he thought he had performed. As he asked others if they had gotten the interview and what they thought of it, the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner said the tension and feud with Baier made him look tough, creating a buzzy, of attention television, two sources with knowledge of the situation tell Rolling Stone.

During the televised sit-down, Trump arguably admitted to deliberately withholding classified government documents during his post-presidency; Fox’s appearance comes a week after his arrest and arraignment in a federal investigation into his possession of classified material and possible obstruction.

Where Trump saw buzz, people hoping to keep him out of legal jeopardy saw trouble. Some of the former president’s current and former legal advisers are watching with outraged sighs, and in some cases fear, according to three people familiar with the matter.

A lawyer working in Trump’s orbit messaged Rolling Stone shortly after the interview first aired, predicting that the Fox clip would be brought up by prosecutors at trial.

“It’s a disaster, if you’re his lawyer,” Ty Cobb, a former top Trump White House lawyer, said during a different special counsel investigation. “And they’re going to have more of that, because they can’t silence him…Trump has given the government a tremendous gift [in that Fox interview]and they can use what he said to help them prove the former president’s intent on almost all of the accusations at Mar-a-Lago.”

During the Baier interview, the Fox host asked the now twice-indicted former president, “Why not just hand them in?” Trump responded, “Because I have boxes – I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal stuff out. I don’t want to give that to NARA. And I’m very busy, as you can see…very busy i…[So] Before I send boxes, I need to get all my stuff out. These boxes are mixed with all kinds of things — golf shirts, clothes, pants, shoes. There were many things.” Editor’s pick

As many experienced, looking lawyers – including some who have advised Trump directly – have pointed out, this is not a sufficient legal defense in a criminal trial.

However, many of the former president’s personal lawyers and senior aides have long since resigned themselves to the fact that Trump will generally not heed their warnings about keeping his mouth shut in public. This is true, even during a high-stakes special counsel and Espionage Act investigation, and even as legal experts argue that Trump is largely incriminating himself, willingly.

“Like [his lawyers] would he rather not do it? Of course. But good luck with that,” said a person close to Trump.

Even after his latest indictment, the former president has not clarified his media appearances with his lawyers, according to a source familiar with the matter and another person briefed on it, leaving Trump to wage war with his communication in the court of public opinion – even if it means giving federal prosecutors “a huge gift.”

A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

It’s unclear whether, in the day since Trump’s interview aired, public reaction has shaken his self-confidence, as the criticism has been loud and bipartisan. Democratic politicians and commentators have declared that Trump has committed a crime on cable TV. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign trashed Trump in the interview. On Tuesday morning, conservative Fox News hosts warned Trump to zip it. And legal experts across the political spectrum are, of course, calculating the damage done by Trump, at the stroke of an interview, done in his own defense.

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“It’s very bad in the abstract,” said Ken White, a criminal defense attorney and a former federal prosecutor. “But, as applied to Trump, it’s kind of bouncing on the rubble. In other words, this level of admission may have been priced in. It may not be new. Sooner or later his embarrassing admissions will compiled. But this one is perhaps the worst of the admissions so far, because it is in the specific context of the specific allegations against him. Trending

White added, “For anyone, endgame. For Trump, Monday. Strengthen the prosecution’s case? Yes. Boost it to the same level it would for a normal person? Not allowed.”

As the second part of the interview began airing Tuesday night, Trump posted on Truth Social about the previous night. “Interview, Part 2, by Bret Baier, tonight at 6:00 on FoxNews. Great reviews from part 1, last night. Enjoy!”

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