Donald Trump is maneuvering in the shadows, more active than ever, powerful and eager for revenge
He's out of the spotlight, at least for now. But, in the shadows, Donald Trump is still there, he acts, he continues to influence his party, to influence the Republicans. And he should escape impeachment in the Senate in early February, where he still has many supporters. Trump may be gone, but "Trumpism" is not dead.
"We'll be back, one way or another. This sentence, launched Wednesday, January 20 by Donald Trump as he left the White House, was not just an empty promise, yet another provocation from the ousted president.
He intends to return - and not just at the time of the impeachment process that the US Senate is due to consider on February 9. Leaving Florida and its luxurious residence in Mar-a-Lago to return to the White House, in every sense of the word.
It is no coincidence that Trump - who is thinking of creating a new political party - has just opened an office in Florida, which will be responsible for managing his missions as former President of the United States and seeking to advance the political program of his administration.
"The office will be responsible for managing President Trump's public statements, appearances and official activities to advance U.S. interests and drive the Trump administration's agenda through promotion and public activism," is he writes in a press release.
The announcement came on Monday, January 25, the same day the House of Representatives formally sent the Senate the indictment against Donald Trump, who will be tried for "incitement to insurgency" as part of a second impeachment proceedings against him.
Tried… and condemned? No. Very little chance - or risk - of this happening.
Warnings and threat
Because, from his residence in Florida, Donald Trump continues to exert a strong influence on the Republican Party, supporting his allies in their electoral plans while trying to stifle, in the Senate, any desire to condemn him in his impeachment trial.
One of her congressmen, the newly elected ultra-Trumpist Marjorie Taylor Greene, had issued a clear "warning" to her colleagues on the day she left the White House.
“The vast majority of Republican voters, volunteers and donors are no longer loyal to the Republican Party and its candidates just because they have an 'R' next to their name. Their loyalty now belongs to Donald J. Trump, ”she tweeted on January 20.
Even deprived of his Twitter account and the spotlight on the White House, the billionaire still dominates US news, with the formal opening Monday evening of his historic impeachment trial. And he occupies the minds of the Republican senators who will be responsible for judging him in February.
All weekend long, Donald Trump’s entourage have been roaring with warnings and threats, all converging on one point: The real estate mogul is determined to maintain his influence.
He would have circulated the idea of creating a new party, the "Patriot Party," according to the Washington Post. A "threat" on the conservative senators, worried to see their voters join him in this case.
But Trump would also have made it known that he did not intend to create a new party, on the contrary to deeply imprint his influence on the Grand Old Party, according to Politico. It is also a way of signaling to those who would like to condemn him that he would encourage opponents to come forward against them in their next primary.
The Senate trial is "stillborn"
The hundred American senators were sworn in on Tuesday for the doubly historic trial, which will start on February 9.
Donald Trump, who is the first President of the United States to fall twice under an impeachment procedure, will also be the first to be tried after leaving the White House.
He is accused of instigating a murderous assault by some of his supporters on Capitol Hill on January 6, when Congress voted to certify Joe Biden's presidential victory. A victory that Trump had once again denied in front of the crowd.
Democrats now control the Senate by a very slim majority, and would need seventeen Republican votes to condemn the ex-president. A number that seems difficult, if not nearly impossible to reach, as Joe Biden himself admitted Monday night on CNN.
Although the violence has caused great unease, including among Republicans, very few are supporting the trial.
On Tuesday, 45 of the 50 Republican senators even defended an initiative to try to block the process, arguing that it is unconstitutional to try a former president in the Senate.
Among them, the powerful leader of the Republicans Mitch McConnell, who did not however rule out condemning Donald Trump in the end.
For Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky, this result means that the trial is "stillborn." And while some have stressed that this vote does not prejudge their final decision at the end of the trial, it at the very least testifies to the still strong influence of the billionaire on his party.
Trump's seal of approval is still valuable
The break is in any case pronounced between McConnell and Trump, two former allies: the senator said on Tuesday that he had not spoken to the former president since he had publicly acknowledged, in mid-December, Joe Biden's victory.
And while he did everything in the first trial of the 45th President of the United States to defend his acquittal, Mitch McConnell will this time let his ranks vote "in conscience."
Rare openly critical voice among the Republicans of Congress, Senator Mitt Romney defends the holding of the trial. Targeted by supporters of Donald Trump, he laughed back when an activist predicted he would face opposition around the time of the next senatorial primary in his stronghold of Utah.
The ex-president nevertheless demonstrated this weekend that he can still influence the election, by tipping the scales for a staunch supporter, Kelli Ward, to remain at the head of the Republican party in Arizona.
Donald Trump’s seal of approval is therefore still valuable to many candidates. Like her former spokesperson Sarah Sanders, who is running for Arkansas governor in 2022 and proudly posts on Twitter what amounts to a profession of faith: “Thank you President Trump for your support. "
