New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman and CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins discussed former President Donald Trump’s behavior following his contempt of court ruling, questioning reports that suggest Trump might want to be jailed because he believes it would benefit him.
Trump was held in contempt by Judge Merchan after repeatedly violating a gag order in the ongoing Stormy Daniels hush money-election interference trial, facing fines and the threat of jail time for further breaches. The judge imposed the maximum fines and ordered Trump to remove the offending social media posts. If the violations continue, Judge Merchan warned, Trump could face jail time.
On CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Haberman and Collins discussed Trump’s actions and the idea that some in Trump’s circle believe he might deliberately test the limits, thinking a brief jail stint could generate sympathy or attention. However, Haberman emphasized that most people close to Trump do not think he actually wants to go to jail.
During the conversation, Haberman noted that Trump has a tendency to push boundaries and “touch the hot stove,” but then retracts when necessary. She pointed out that Trump complied with the order to take down the social media posts that violated the gag order. Despite some speculation that Trump’s actions might be calculated to provoke further legal consequences, Haberman indicated that the majority opinion among those who know Trump is that he would not find jail a comfortable experience, given his aversion to even staying in hotel rooms while traveling as president.
Collins agreed, mentioning Trump’s discomfort with hotel stays during foreign trips. The discussion closed with Haberman noting that while Trump avoided attacking witnesses and others connected to the case at his recent rallies, his behavior going forward remains unpredictable.
COLLINS: He also brought up Matthew Colangelo there, at the end. That is one of the prosecutors, on the Manhattan District Attorney’s team.
HABERMAN: Yes.
COLLINS: When Trump was going after him, that was found to be a violation of the gag order.
HABERMAN: Yes.
COLLINS: And the gag order was — or the gag order was expanded, I should say, to include the people on Alvin Bragg’s team, not Alvin Bragg.
HABERMAN: Right.
COLLINS: Because there was a concern about them being put at risk, for implications like that.
Trump’s got another gag order hearing, tomorrow.
HABERMAN: Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, I wonder what you’re making of how he’s reacting to being fined. $9,000 is not a huge fee for him. But being told by the judge, if you keep doing this jail is a real possibility.
HABERMAN: There are some people around him, who think that he is intentionally trying to see how far he can go, and that he thinks that being jailed will help him even if it’s for a day.
Most people I talked to, who know Trump pretty well, do not think that he actually really wants to go to jail. There’s — I don’t think he wants to sit in that courtroom every day. Did people think that jail is going to be a more pleasant experience for him?
But I do think that we see him often go up and touch the hot stove, and then he comes back a little bit. And sometimes, he goes up again. He is always testing the bounds of what he can get away with.
Now, he did take down the social media posts that he was ordered to take down yesterday.
COLLINS: Yes.
HABERMAN: He did not, as you note, attack witnesses, or people connected to the case, relatives of the court, et cetera, at his rallies today. But we’ll see what happens going forward.
COLLINS: Yes, Trump doesn’t even like to stay in hotel rooms.
HABERMAN: Correct.
COLLINS: I remember, on foreign trips, when he was president, he didn’t even like staying in other hotel rooms.
