Omarosa Manigault Newman, a one-time contestant on Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” reality show who became a senior adviser in the Trump White House, decoded a courtroom scowl the former president gave to photographers while waiting for his hush money trial to resume on Monday.
“The look that he was giving, I mean the images, it kind of scares me a bit because that’s the look before Donald Trump does something totally and completely reckless,” Newman told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
“I looked at that, I’m thinking, he is plotting some type of way to get back at the judge to do something big over the weekend to distract from the fact that he is totally out of control and not able to in any way to shape his future in that courtroom,” she added.
“It will galvanize his base.”
Omarosa Manigault Newman thinks Trump wants Judge Merchan to put him in jail pic.twitter.com/w2abSJUVhP
— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) May 7, 2024
Trump earlier on Monday was found in contempt of court — for a tenth time — for violating a gag order in the trial. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the criminal case, fined Trump another $1,000 and warned the presumptive GOP nominee that further violations could force him to spend time behind bars.
Newman suggested Trump had “already made the strategic calculation” of how being locked up would play favorably to his base as it would feed into his claims of victimhood.
She also opined on potential future visits in court from Trump family members.
To date, only Trump’s son Eric Trump has attended court with him.
Eric Trump “won’t come” again, predicted Newman. The former president shouldn’t hold his breath for visits from his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, or his daughter Ivanka Trump, she added. Donald Trump Jr. may attend, she envisioned, but only out of a sense of duty.
Related…
Source Agencies
