In an historic first, the US government has charged a former president, Donald Trump, with a federal crime. Trump recently surrendered to US Marshals and appeared in a Miami courtroom where he pled not guilty to 37 counts of illegally retaining classified documents and preventing government officials from reclaiming them. The former American president, real-estate businessman and reality TV star has pleaded not guilty to the charges. This is already the second time that Trump has been in a courtroom this year, having been charged in New York with falsifying business records in April. The charges follow an FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in which authorities found more than 100 classified documents. The former president stands accused of illegally removing these documents upon leaving office in 2021, sharing national secrets with people lacking the proper clearance and trying to prevent the government from getting the secret documents back. In typical style, Trump remains defiant in spite of the seriousness of the charges and has dismissed the indictment as “ridiculous” while his legal team has hinted that the charges might be politically-motivated, another familiar Trump tactic.
It would be an understatement to say that Donald Trump has been no stranger to legal troubles throughout his business and political career, leaving many utterly bewildered at how American voters could entrust a man with his track record to the most influential office in the US and, arguably, the world. Trump also holds the unenviable distinction of being the only US president to have been impeached twice. While most other public figures would have crumbled under this mountain of legal woes, Trump has displayed an uncanny ability to transform his legal troubles into an asset. He has become notorious for questioning the honesty, impartiality and patriotism of his accusers, particularly those involved in government.
In an increasingly polarized America – something painfully familiar for those here in Pakistan – with declining levels of trust in institutions, these narratives have helped make Trump a cult-hero among those who feel left behind by a globalized USA. Indeed, the latest charges have done little to dent Trump’s popularity as he remains the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the upcoming presidential elections, with 81 per cent of Republican voters backing his claims that the charges are politically motivated. The fanatical nature of some of Trump’s following was on full display when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington DC, after Trump falsely claimed his defeat in the 2020 presidential elections was illegitimate. Such displays of political turmoil are considered unprecedented in a nation that considers itself to be the world’s custodian of democracy and human rights. Ultimately, Trump’s enduring popularity underscores just how alienated most Americans have become from their government and how little concepts like rule of law matter in the face of widespread disaffection and a powerful personality cult.