Donald Trump Jr. is now trying to steer his father toward resigning
Donald Trump Jr.’s legal troubles got even worse today when the Senate Judiciary Committee sent him a formal letter demanding that he testify and turn over documents and communications in the Russia scandal. It’s not a coincidence that Junior is now sending a clear message to his father. He’s doing it through a friend, by way of the media, but it’s still nonetheless clear: Trump Jr wants his dad to resign the presidency, and he wants it to happen now.
People Magazine has a new cover story on the Trump family (link). In the story, a close friend tells People that Donald Trump Jr is “miserable” and that he wants Donald Trump’s presidency to be over. There are some important things to understand about how these things work. When a friend of a major public figure gives this kind of quote to a major media outlet, it’s always because the individual in question wants the information out there but doesn’t want it to come from his own mouth. For instance James Comey used a friend to put the story out there of his memos about Trump.
So Donald Trump Jr. is trying to get across to his father that he wants him to resign. He just doesn’t want to say it directly to his face, or be seen in the media as having said it himself. Junior knows that this message will get back to his dad, because Donald Trump always pays attention to these kinds of headlines about himself and his family. And Junior’s reasoning for trying to nudge his father out of office is fairly apparent.
Trump Jr. is betting that if Donald Trump resigns now, at a time when it would still mean something, the American public just might place less pressure on investigating bodies to see it all the way through to the bitter end. If Trump walks now, just maybe Trump Jr. doesn’t end up in prison. And it’s why he’s begun trying, indirectly yet unmistakably, to steer his father toward resigning.
