Trump warns of ‘death & destruction’ if he’s indicted next week

Former President Donald Trump warned Friday of ‘death & destruction’ if he’s charged next week in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case.

In an overnight Truth Social post, the ex-president again suggested violence could follow if he’s indicted, calling the man in charge of bringing the case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a ‘degenerate psychopath.’ 

While Trump initially said he’d be arrested on Tuesday – and encouraged his supporters to ‘protest!’ – grand jury proceedings have wrapped for the week, so a potential indictment won’t be coming until Monday at the earliest. 

A source told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Bragg is ‘having trouble convincing the jury to swallow the case. It’s a weak case and has caused divisions in the DA’s office.’  

‘What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?’ Trump posted to Truth a little after 1 a.m. Friday. 

Former President Donald Trump is photographed at his West Palm Beach golf club Thursday as he waits to find out whether he’ll be indicted over the 2016 hush-money scheme 

Former President Donald Trump warned Friday of ‘death & destruction’ if he’s charged next week in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case

Police with dogs stand outside Manhattan Criminal Court, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office investigates the hush-money payments given to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election 

‘Why & who would do such a thing?’ he asked. 

‘Only a degenerate psychopath that truely hates the USA!’ he said, pointing a finger at Bragg. 

Trump has deployed controversial rhetoric all week when he’s posted on Truth about the case. 

On Thursday, he pushed back on calls for his supporters to be ‘peaceful’ if he’s indicted – which would be historic, as no other former president has ever been charged in a criminal probea after leaving office.   

‘EVERYBODY KNOWS I’M 100% INNOCENT, INCLUDING BRAGG, BUT HE DOESN’T CARE. HE IS JUST CARRYING OUT THE PLANS OF THE RADICAL LEFT LUNATICS. OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED, AS THEY TELL US TO BE PEACEFUL!’

On Saturday, Trump encouraged his supporters to ‘protest!’ if he’s charged, echoing calls he made after falsely telling his supporters that the 2020 election was stolen from him, which resulted in the Capitol attack on January 6. 

Blockades surround Trump Tower in New York as the former president waits to find out whether he’ll be indicted next week 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is pictured Thursday arriving at his office 

That social media post factored into a U.S. District judge’s decision Thursday to keep jury members anonymous in a seperate Trump-related case, the defamation suit being lobbed at Trump by rape accuser E. Jean Carroll.  

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said an anonymous jury was appropriate ‘on the basis of the unprecedented circumstances in which this trial will take place, including the extensive pretrial publicity and a very strong risk that jurors will fear harassment, unwanted invasions of their privacy, and retaliation.’

The judge said Trump’s March 18 call for ‘protest’ and to ‘take our country back’ if he were indicted in the separate hush-money case has been viewed by some as an incitement to violence by the ex-president.

The ex-president was spotted at his West Palm Beach golf club Thursday, but is expected to travel to Waco, Texas for a campaign rally Saturday – his first Texas rally of the 2024 presidential cycle.