July 21, 2020

Why Did Trump Wish Ghislaine Maxwell Well?

Bryan Smith/ZUMA

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Ghislaine Maxwell is the alleged accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, the alleged billionaire sex trafficker who allegedly died by suicide in jail last year. Maxwell herself is now in jail charged with conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation and conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and two counts of perjury. In other words, being the “madam” for Epstein’s sex ring. So what does Donald Trump think of Maxwell?

This seems inexplicable. Why would Trump “wish her well” on national TV?

Answer: because he can’t help himself. One of Trump’s iron personal laws is that if you are nice to him, he is nice to you. If you attack him, he attacks you. It’s the transactional deal he makes with everyone in the world. In Maxwell’s case, she has been nice to Trump and has never attacked him, so Trump has no choice but to be nice in return. It’s practically built into his DNA. It’s really as simple as that. Political considerations just don’t enter into it.

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This is a big one for us. So, as we ask you to consider supporting our team's journalism, we thought we'd slow down and check in about where Mother Jones is and where we're going after the chaotic last several years. This comparatively slow moment is also an urgent one for Mother Jones: You can read more in "Slow News Is Good News," and if you're able to, please support our team's hard-hitting journalism and help us reach our big $350,000 goal with a donation today.

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