Trump threatens possible challenger DeSantis

Donce Trump has Ron DeSantis‘ Statements about a possible impeachment of the former American president as an opportunity to address his potential competitor for the Republican presidential candidacy. On his short message service Truth Social, Trump referred to a media report on Monday, according to which the governor of Florida is said to have consumed alcohol with underage students when he was a teacher. He wrote that DeSantis will probably also “make his experiences with false allegations and lies”.

For example, if he was “unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman or even classmates who are ‘underage'”. “I’m sure he would fight these misfits like I do!” Trump wrote. He again referred to DeSantis as “Ron the hypocrite,” in a corruption of his name. Trump had already threatened DeSantis in November 2022 that if he ran for office he would say things about him “that are not particularly flattering”.

DeSantis, unlike many leading Republicans, initially declined to comment on Trump’s claim Saturday that he would be “arrested” Tuesday on a politically motivated charge. On Monday, he also described the investigations by the Manhattan Attorney’s Office into a hush money payment to the porn actress Stormy Daniels 2016 as politically motivated. The investigation was “fundamentally wrong” and a “fabricated circus by a Soros-funded prosecutor”. DeSantis said he had “no interest” in getting involved. The naming of the Hungarian financial investor George Soros, who comes from a Jewish family, is popular with Republicans to discredit Democrats.

DeSantis then said he didn’t “know how you would pay a porn star to keep quiet about an alleged affair.” He has “real issues here in the state of Florida that I have to deal with.” He couldn’t waste his time with such things. Trump denies both the affair with Daniels in 2006 and the payment of hush money. A spokeswoman for Trump, Liz Harrington, wrote after DeSantis’ appearance on Twitter that DeSantis is okay with a “third world country that arrests its opposition number one”.

Police expect protests

In New York, the police were preparing on Tuesday for possible protests that Trump had called in connection with the alleged impeachment on Tuesday. On Truth Social he had written in similar rhetoric as before the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021: “Protest, take back our nation!”

Officials erected barricades in front of Trump Tower and the District Courthouse in Manhattan. However, the security authorities involved, including the FBI, emphasized that all plans were made as a precaution. According to American media reports, the grand jury wanted to hear another witness on Wednesday. This suggests the jury’s work is ongoing.