‘Teflon’ Trump excited by impeachment and comparing it to The Apprentice, says aide

Donald Trump is reportedly in a relaxed mood at the start of the week in which his unprecedented second impeachment trial begins in Washington, DC, and has even compared his time away from the limelight in seclusion in Florida to the shooting schedule for his old NBC reality show. 

“He’s compared it to that time in between seasons of The Apprentice, building anticipation and wonderment for what’s to come,” a source close to the ex-president told Politico.

Rather than paying close attention to events in the Senate, Mr Trump is being tipped to spend this week playing golf as part of a calculated show of indifference, according to another aide, who told the same publication he is hitting the links “as a way of sort of saying, ‘Who cares?’”

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A third ex-campaign official said the recently deposed commander-in-chief is confident he will escape further censure by Congress over his part in the 6 January Capitol riot and believes he has the backing of the majority of GOP senators after just five voted to go ahead with the trial in the first place, following on from the House of Representatives’ 232-197 vote in favour of impeaching him for “incitement of insurrection”.

“He’s Teflon, right. It’s been a month since the Capitol riot and I would say, for the most part, the GOP has coalesced back behind him,” the official said.

CNN has meanwhile reported this morning that the ex-president has been spending his time since leaving the White House reaching out to Republicans to build bridges and fixating on punishing the 10 GOP congressmen and women who crossed the aisle to condemn him.

Mr Trump last month hosted House minority leader Kevin McCarthy at Mar-a-Lago in a visit apparently made to repair relations as it becomes increasingly clear that the former president will continue to play an influential role in the future of the Republican Party, either as kingmaker or even as a presidential candidate again in 2024.

Grassroots support for the likes of Trumpian congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and anger against those who backed his impeachment like Liz Cheney are just the latest indications that the 45th president will cast a long shadow.

A Senate vote to convict Mr Trump would require a 67-strong majority that looks unlikely to materialise as most Republicans are expected to opt for acquittal in the name of party unity and to avoid further inflaming the ex-president’s fabled base, his popularity still considerable after an election in which he commanded 74 million votes despite losing.

Perhaps the most surprising word out of Mar-a-Lago on the ex-president’s current state of mind is that he is not missing being on Twitter after his account was permanently suspended in the wake of the riot.

“He finally realises less is more,” an aide said of Mr Trump’s loss of his social media platform, which once enabled him to reach an audience of almost 90 million with a single tweet.

His wife Melania Trump is also said to be much happier as a result of the development.