You know something weird is afoot when Donald Trump starts making strategically sound political decisions such as opting to skip next week's first Republican debate—which is exactly what he reportedly plans to do, according to The New York Times.
Instead of mixing it up with his 2024 GOP rivals next Wednesday in a Republican National Committee-organized debate on Fox News, Trump will join former Fox host Tucker Carlson for an interview on a platform yet to be announced.
On Thursday, Trump, citing his "extraordinary" polling in a Truth Social tweet, posited, “People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate? I’M YOUR MAN."
For once, Trump weirdly has a point: He's leading the GOP field nationally by some 40 points, voters do have a clear sense of his White House tenure, and debating a cohort of also-rans arguably has more downsides than upsides.
But since when does egomaniacal Trump live in a rational world?
A real “alpha” male would show up and slay his inferiors live on national television, campaign operatives be damned. But instead of putting all his chips on the table, Trump is playing it safe—kind of like he did when he got five deferments for military service in Vietnam, but different.
Taken in isolation, one might chalk up Trump's low-energy move to a fluke—except that the news is clustered among several other revelations this week suggesting Trump has caught a case of the indictment blues.
On Thursday, Trump abruptly canceled a press conference scheduled for next Monday, where he had originally promised to release a "Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT" proving Georgia's 2020 election was indeed rigged.
"There will be a complete EXONERATION!" Trump claimed on his media platform.
But once again, Trump appears to have heeded the advice of his lawyers, who clearly told him holding such an event would undoubtedly increase his legal exposure.
Trump's cancellation announcement was even lawyered to assert that he believed the report offered incontrovertible evidence of fraud.
"Rather than releasing the Report on the Rigged & Stolen Georgia 2020 Presidential Elections on Monday," Trump tweeted, "my lawyers would prefer putting this, I believe, Irrefutable & Overwhelming evidence of Election Fraud & Irregularities in formal Legal Filings." [italics added]
Like that addition wasn't awkward.
But even that announcement came on the heels of news Thursday that Trump’s lawyers are seeking an April 2026 trial date in the federal election subversion case against him (yes, more than two-and-a-half years from now)..
The suggestion was so laughable that MSNBC legal analyst Neal Katyal remarked, "I'll eat my hat if Judge [Tanya] Chutkan accepts it."
Indeed, the ridiculousness of Trump's ask reeks of a man who is finally terrified of the intractable mess he's created and, as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie explained, is haunted by the thought of the jail cell door closing behind him.
While Americans have grown numb to Trump's daily torrent of bloviation, his niece Mary Trump has noticed a subtle change in the way her uncle is conducting himself.
“The way in which he is presenting himself in social media, the attacking nature, the aggressiveness. That used to be strategy for him, you know, [he] used to throw temper tantrums strategically to get his way," observed Trump, a clinical psychologist, on MSNBC. "It’s not strategy anymore.”
She continued, "The unconscious fear, terror, and especially fear of humiliation is so strong that he cannot course-correct and realize that doing what he’s always done is, this time, not going to get him what he wants.”
Trump's lawyers may have momentarily gotten his attention this week, but it won't last. In this primal state, Trump will inevitably do Trump, and his natural instincts will prove disastrous.
Did anything happen while we were all taking a well-deserved break? Something about Donald Trump being indicted not once, but two times! Also in the news: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign collapse. So much is happening!