Today was the day that destroyed Donald Trump
Even as January 6th was unfolding, I wrote that we’d eventually look back on that day as the day that ensured Donald Trump would go to prison. In hindsight it’s easy to see precisely why this has indeed turned out to be the case. But if you’re looking for the day that we’ll ultimately look back on as the day that finally destroyed Trump and finished him off, I think it’ll end up being today, February 6th, 2024. Why?
Coming into today, Trump was already at a point where he was reduced to hoping against faint hope. There was a basically 100% chance that the U.S. Court of Appeals would rule against him on presidential immunity, effectively clearing the way for his criminal trials to get underway. All Trump could do was hope against hope that maybe there was a 0.01% chance the U.S. Court of Appeals would rule in his favor.
There was also a basically 100% chance that Judge Engoron was delaying his verdict in Trump’s civil fraud trial because new developments had created the potential for an even larger and more devastating verdict. All Trump could do was once again hope against hope that perhaps there was the tiniest chance that the delay was because Engoron had somehow changed his mind and was going to rule in Trump’s favor.
But as today unfolded, Trump’s slim hopes in both those matters went from basically nonexistent to literally nonexistent. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against him, as expected. Judge Engoron revealed that he was looking at potentially even larger damages, not smaller ones. And so Trump’s last narrow, unrealistic, delusional hope of escape just disappeared, on both the bankruptcy and prison fronts.
Remember when I wrote a couple years ago that the remainder of Donald Trump’s life would consist of bankruptcy and prison and little else? This is what I was talking about. The events of today were always going to happen. That’s been obvious ever since the minute Trump’s goons breached the Capitol. And now here we are, with Trump getting de facto confirmation that he’s heading for bankruptcy and prison on the same day.
Yes, Trump is still going to hold out delusional hope that it’s all somehow going to work out for him. He’ll now try to convince himself that the Supreme Court is going to save him in his criminal trial, which is laughable given how thoroughly this Supreme Court has tried to separate itself from Trump’s legal troubles. And Trump will try to convince himself that he’ll somehow survive these crushing financials blows.
But that’s the stuff of pure delusion. Back in the real world, Donald Trump came into today with nothing but straws to grasp at, and coming out of today he no longer even has the straws. As much as January 6th was the day that ended Trump’s future, we’re going to end up looking back at today – February 6th – as the day that ultimately saw Trump destroyed.
