Trump Claims Presidents Without Immunity Will Find It ‘Hard’ to Appreciate 'Golden Years of Retirement'

Former President Donald J. Trump has once again stirred controversy by leaping into the debate about presidential immunity. In a series of all-caps posts, Trump argued that without presidential immunity, the court would be 'opening the floodgates' to prosecuting former presidents. In a recent series of all-caps posts on his Truth Social platform, the former POTUS expressed concerns that threaten his presidential immunity.

The post read, "WITHOUT IMMUNITY, IT WOULD BE VERY HARD FOR A PRESIDENT TO ENJOY HIS OR HER ‘GOLDEN YEARS’ OF RETIREMENT. THEY WOULD BE UNDER SIEGE BY RADICAL, OUT OF CONTROL PROSECUTORS, MUCH LIKE I AM, BUT WITHOUT THE RETIREMENT!!!” He continued his rant by saying, "IF A PRESIDENT DOES NOT HAVE IMMUNITY, THE COURT WILL BE ‘OPENING THE FLOODGATES’ TO PROSECUTING FORMER PRESIDENTS. AN OPPOSING HOSTILE PARTY WILL BE DOING IT FOR ANY REASON, ALL OF THE TIME!"

As per The Hill, in a second post, Trump added, "IF THEY TAKE AWAY MY IMMUNITY, THEY TAKE AWAY CROOKED JOE BIDEN’S IMMUNITY. WITHOUT IMMUNITY, IT WOULD BE VERY HARD FOR A PRESIDENT TO PROPERLY FUNCTION!" 

During the recent court hearing regarding this case, one of Trump's legal representatives contended that he should be shielded from criminal charges, pointing to the Senate's failure to convict him of similar offenses during his impeachment trial three years prior, as per NBC News. This line of defense created a notable contradiction, as during the 2021 impeachment trial, Trump had argued the opposite—that the Senate could not convict him because he was already out of office—emphasizing the criminal justice system as the legitimate avenue for accountability.

This apparent flip-flop on the issue caught the attention of a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit during Tuesday's hearing on the election subversion case charges. The judges expressed skepticism and asked D. John Sauer, Trump's lawyer, to dive in for further clarification. Judge Florence Y. Pan pointed out the inconsistency in Trump's stance during the impeachment proceedings, stating that there was a record of him acknowledging the option for criminal prosecution later. 

Trump firmly maintained his belief in the imperative nature of presidential immunity, asserting straightforwardly, "I feel that as a president, you have to have immunity, very simple." Simultaneously, he restated his innocence, declaring, "I did nothing wrong." Yet, the judges exhibited skepticism towards this position, probing further into the motivations behind what seemed like a shift in Trump's legal strategy.

Nonetheless, in a recent development, making a significant stride towards his potential third consecutive GOP presidential nomination, the former President claimed victory in the Iowa caucuses despite evidence to the contrary. Addressing the media at Hotel Fort Des Moines, Trump asserted, "We’ve won it twice, as you know, two elections, and I think we’re gonna have a tremendous night." This statement is partly false since the fact remains that, while he emerged victorious in the 2020 Iowa caucuses as the incumbent President, Trump was defeated by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2016 in Iowa.