'Donald Is Furious Yet Scared': Movement in FBI Investigation Complicates Trump's Plans

Mar. 15, 2025

Donald Trump.Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty

One day afterthe FBI conducted a searchofDonald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, the Palm Beach, Fla., resort was mostly quiet.

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The former president has been away all summer; he was last seen at Mar-a-Lago before Memorial Day Weekend. While the FBI conducted itssearch of the property, which reportedly focused on Trump’s office and personal quarters, the former president was in New York inside Trump Tower. There on Fifth Avenue, the energy was reportedly less calm.

Seth Wenig/AP

The FBI searched the property as part of an ongoing investigation into an allegedmishandling of White House records, including potentially classified materials,Politico,CNN,The Washington Postand other news outlets reported.

Monday’s development, which the source said frightened Trump, could affect his political calculations as he weighs a third run for the presidency in 2024.

A law enforcement officer stands outside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty

Trump has repeatedly hinted at plans to launch a campaign and has even saidall that’s left to decide is when to announce.

But the source suggests that could all be an act, telling PEOPLE that though Trump will act like he’s running, talk like he’s running and raise money like he’s running, he may not actually vie for the seat.

“He has a good life now and is enjoying it,” the source says.

“He is definitely making the moves to run but, in the end, I don’t think he will unless he is convinced criminal charges are coming,” adds the source.

As an active candidate for the presidency, Trump could further push the argument that the criminal investigations he’s facing are politically motivated.

As a sitting president, he could be even more protected from prosecution given the Justice Department’s long-standing practice of never charging a sitting president with a crime. He would also again be able to appoint and remove officials from the DOJ and FBI.

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“If he wasn’t running before, he is now,” a person close to the former presidenttold NBC Newsin the wake of the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search. “It pisses him off that they can do this to him. One way to get it to stop is to control the government again.”

source: people.com