Trump: "Isn't it amazing?
Trump: "This thing just came up. This was him. [General Mark Milley] This was the Defense Department and him."
Woman: "Wow."
Trump: "Isn't that incredible?"
Trump: "It's so cool."
It helps to listen to the tape, not just read a transcript. It is two minutes long.
If for some reason that link doesn't work for you, here is a link to a CBS site with the audio.
The tape helps explain Trump's motive. What in the world was Trump thinking when he collected documents to take home, hide from the National Archives, lie about, get lawyers to lie about? In an earlier blog post I suggested we did not need to overthink this. He collected souvenirs. Once things were "his," he didn't want to let go. It is a human emotion. It explains two-car garages with no room to park a car. You can never tell when something might come in handy.
This recording is of informal conversation around a table, taped because he is meeting with biographers. It is casual and unguarded. Trump appears to be his genuine, unfiltered self. He is showing off, waving a document he says shows that war plans with Iran were the initiative of the Defense Department, not him. He says it vindicates him from any claim that invading Iran was his idea. (See? The stuff he kept came in handy.)
One also hears the pride of possession and one-upmanship. I am reminded of a boy with a new bike. He has something special. It is secret, and his. I can show it to you, so you can see I have it and wish you could see it, but you can't. It is so juvenile. So show-off.
The woman's "Wow" must have been music to Trump's ears.
I suspect Democrats think this is a knockout blow to Trump. It should be. I consider the audio tape devastating to Trump. He establishes the elements of a serious felony. Trump's defense is to ignore the content of the tape. He asserts he is totally innocent and that it vindicates him. Look at Anthony Weiner, he says. Trump is giving Republicans a reason to hear what they want to hear. He isn't documenting criminality. He is documenting that he is a change-agent unconcerned about constraints, willing to break eggs to make omelettes, and appoint Federalist Society judges. He doesn't care about legal nitpicks. A great many voters hear and like that.
The law overlaps with the election season. The relevant jury will be the voters even if he is tried and found guilty. A guilty verdict will be somewhere in appeal. Trump will be out campaigning, saying he is the guy picked on for being an innocent American. The real jury is the American people. Who would they rather have as president, Trump or Biden? The choice is between the self-confident promoter, the swashbuckling Republican shake-things-up agent of change, or the old normal guy who will keep the status quo going. Biden talks about the "rule of law" as if it is a good thing.
I am not at all sure people won't take another chance on crazy, so long as it is "strong." The 2024 election will be a "change" election. I hear the voice of a needy child in that tape; Trump is the opposite of "strong." But others hear a man who is unrestrained by laws, facts, restraints, and norms. They want change, and are indiscriminate about how they get it. Again, the poll I described two days ago:
“Strong” does not equate with conning people with lies, enraging the populace with blatant hate speech or with hatred of 2/3 of Americans who don’t like him. He is not strong enough to get over himself to serve the people of this country. He’s a millionaire tyrant who begs the ignorant & poor people to give him money if he whines loudly enough. Trump doesn’t have a strong bone in his body.
I think you are right when you point out that many people weight the need of a Strong Leader over a capable leader.