Donald Trump, who was fined for financial fraud, compares his legal treatment to that of Alexei Navalny

Former President Donald Trump in Greenville, South Carolina, on February 20, 2024. Former President Donald Trump in Greenville, South Carolina on February 20, 2024. CHRIS CARLSON / AP

Sentenced on Friday to a $355 million (€330 million) fine for financial fraud, Donald Trump on Tuesday, February 20, compared his treatment to that reserved for Alexei Navalny, who was imprisoned in Russia on February 16 died.

“It’s a form of Navalny. “It is a form of communism or fascism,” he said during a public meeting in Greenville, South Carolina. Donald Trump calls judge who convicted him 'crazy', adds 'This guy decided I was guilty before the trial started.' » The former president was fined this Friday for fraud by inflating the value of his real estate empire enormously in order to obtain cheaper financing from banks.

Re-launched by a Fox News journalist, Mr. Trump made no mention of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He simply praised Mr Navalny as a “very brave man” who “probably would have been better off staying away and speaking from outside the country” rather than voluntarily returning to Russia in January 2021. “This is also happening in our country.” “He warned: “I have eight or nine trials behind me because (…) I am active in politics (…). We are becoming a communist country in many ways. »

Donald Trump was indicted on 91 counts

The comments followed initial controversy sparked by the former president's silence on Mr. Navalny's death in a Russian prison on Friday. “The fact that he says nothing about Navalny [montre] “Either he is on Putin's side and likes him killing his political opponents, or he just doesn't think it's an important issue,” his rival for the nomination, Republican Nikki Haley, said on Sunday.

Also read Sylvie Kauffmann's column | Article reserved for our subscribers “Donald Trump turns away from his own country’s history and makes short work of Vladimir Putin”

Complete your selection

The ex-president is now using this affair to denounce an intrigue against him nine months before the presidential election. On Monday, on his network Truth Social, he expressed his silence in defense of this thesis, denouncing the “CROY judges of the radical left.”

In addition to this civil conviction over his real estate empire – a decision he has appealed – Donald Trump is also facing charges in four criminal cases involving his electoral pressure after the 2020 election, his management of confidential documents or his hush money payments to a former porn actress, who claims to have had an extramarital affair with him. In total he has 91 charges.

Also read | Article reserved for our subscribers “Eight months before the presidential election in the United States, it is a bad bet to declare the victory of Donald Trump”

Complete your selection

The world with AFP