EXPERT COMMENT: DONALD TRUMP'S INDICTMENT

Dr Mark Shanahan, Associate Professor of Political Engagement at the University of Surrey said:

“America is waking up this morning as a nation seemingly more polarised than ever. And the agent of polarisation is expresident Donald J Trump. Yesterday was a most surreal game of two halves. First came the Manhattan court appearance with an angry and brooding Trump silent before the world's media, facing 34 felony charges. It was more and more serious than his legal team anticipated, yet the mundanity of the white-collar crime charges: 'Falsifying business records with the intent to defraud' left pundits a little deflated and with less to chew over across the hours of rolling coverage before Trump took the stage at Mar-aLago later in the evening.

“Trump in Mar-a-Lago was back among the adoring. His opponents would paint them as sycophants, grifters and enablers, while the faithful see themselves as holding the true soul of America. Trump was not presidential as he drifted off the set script and attacked the New York judge and his family and ripped into not just the Manhattan DA, but other law officers across the country who may yet bring charges in much more difficult cases for Trump. Much of the speech was simply a campaign stump: a rehash of the 'poor-me' narrative based on the foundation-less lie of a mythical election steal. It will have cemented the fervour of his base, but convinced no one else of either his innocence, or his standing as a credible candidate for the presidency in 2024.

“Mar-a-Lago offered up Trump's parallel universe last night - a Camelot of kleptocracy where the 45th President of the United States was above the law and should not be tried legally or morally. Elsewhere in the United States, the world turned. The Democrats made significant strides in Judicial elections in the key swing state of Wisconsin, while Chicago is set to elect a distinctly left-leaning Democrat mayor. Trump-world remains frozen in aspic. But beyond his base bubble, Trumpism is beginning to crack.”