Why Donald Trump May Take the Stand at His Own Trial: State Attorney

Former President Donald Trump may have to take the stand at his own trial to try and prove an advice of counsel defense or first amendment right defense against new federal charges, State Attorney for Palm Beach County Dave Aronberg said.

The former president's two most recent felony indictments were the result of Department of Justice (DoJ) special counsel Jack Smith's federal investigations into his handling of classified documents and attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. Trump's first criminal indictment, and the first for any president in U.S. history, was issued in March for felony charges of falsifying business records in New York state, stemming from an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

While speaking on MSNBC's Way Too Early with host Jonathan Lemire on Thursday, Aronberg said, "Even though he [Trump] will say advice of counsel John Eastman said, 'it's ok,' and Sidney Powell said, 'it's ok,' and Rudy Giuliani said, 'it's ok.' Well, two of those three are considered part of team crazy," Aronberg continued, "He [Trump] doesn't have any great defenses." His comments were related to Smith's most recent indictment against Trump related to his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

"If Trump wants to go down that road and say it's an advice of counsel defense, or I have first amendment protections, he's got to testify, got to take the stand and that's walking into a perjury trap," Aronberg added.

Aronberg concluded that Jack Smith has Trump in a "trick bag" with these new indictments.

Meanwhile, Trump has been an outspoken critic of Smith on his social media platform Truth Social saying on Wednesday, "I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M. Why didn't they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!"

Trump also told his supporters during his speech at a Republican event in Alabama on Friday, that he was thankful for all three of the indictments maintaining that they were "truly great" for him.

"Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists and fascists indict me, I consider it a truly great badge of honor," Trump said. "Because I'm being indicted for you. Thanks a lot, thanks a lot. I appreciate that."

While speaking about if Trump's indictments could be good for him long term, political analyst Craig Agranoff told Newsweek on Saturday, "I think there are a few possible explanations for why Trump's poll numbers have gone up after each indictment. One possibility is that his base of supporters sees the indictments as a sign of persecution. They may believe that Trump is being targeted by the deep state or by his political enemies. This perception of persecution could lead his supporters to rally around him even more."

Agranoff continued: "Another possibility is that Trump's supporters view the indictments as a sign of strength. They may believe that Trump is a fighter who is not afraid to take on the establishment. This perception of strength could make Trump more appealing to his base. It's also possible that the indictments have simply energized Trump's supporters. They may be more motivated to vote for him now that he is facing legal challenges."

However, according to the latest Economist/YouGov poll taken from July 29 to August 1, before Trump was indicted for a third time, Trump's net favorability slipped to 41 percent versus the 56 percent unfavorable opinion. An additional 4 percent said they don't know when asked about their opinion of the former president. This poll surveyed 1,500 U.S. adult citizens and has a 3.2 percent margin of error.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday also found that nearly half of Republicans, 45 percent, would not support Trump if he were to be convicted of a felony. Another 52 percent said that they would not support him if he were serving time in prison.