Trump Blasts 'Nation-Destroying' Immunity Ruling

Former President Donald Trump blasted the federal appeals decision rejecting his immunity claim as a "nation-destroying ruling" and urged the nation's courts to overturn the decision to avoid injuring the United States.

"A Nation-destroying ruling like this cannot be allowed to stand," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "If not overturned, as it should be, this decision would terribly injure not only the Presidency, but the Life, Breath, and Success of our Country."

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Trump is not immune from criminal prosecution, allowing Special Counsel Jack Smith to prosecute Trump on the four criminal charges related to the former president's alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The unanimous decision came from Judges J. Michelle Childs, Florence Pan and Karen LeCraft Henderson. Childs and Pan are appointees of President Joe Biden and Henderson was appointed by President George H.W. Bush.

In response, Trump said a president must be granted immunity in order to "do what has to be done for the good of our Country" and warned that without it, any American president would be "afraid to act for fear of the opposite Party's Vicious Retribution after leaving Office."

"I know from personal experience because I am going through it right now," he said. "It will become a Political Weapon used for Election Interference. Even our Elections will be corrupted and under siege. So bad, and so dangerous for our Nation. SAVE PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY!"

Trump's remarks echoed the reactions that his supporters and the MAGA community had to Tuesday's news.

Shortly after the ruling was issued, Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., described being unsurprised by the decision in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying the "partisan hackery" didn't shock anyone who had been following Trump's legal troubles. Trump-aligned strategist Alex Bruesewitz likewise suggested that the judges were "partisan hacks" and called the ruling unsurprising.

Conservative commentator Jack Posobiec accused the federal appeals court of throwing "the entire Constitution, and the truth, out the window," arguing that Trump should be immune from prosecution in the federal election interference case because he was still in office on the day of the U.S. Capitol riot, January 6, 2021.

"Try to make sense of the the [sic] Democrat DC court's ruling on presidential immunity 'For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump,'" Posobiec said, quoting Tuesday's decision. "Trump *was* President on January 6th."

Several Trump supporters, including Trump Jr., also urged the Supreme Court to "step in" to grant immunity.

"If POTUS doesn't have immunity they'll be incapable of action for fear of future partisan reprisal," the younger Trump wrote. "That endangers the United States and sets a terrible precedent. If this becomes the norm would a Trump DOJ prosecute Obama for droning an American? If not why not?"

Conservative Paul Szypula agreed, calling for the justices to "overrule this miscarriage of justice" and arguing that the lower courts "shouldn't even exist at this point" because they are "completely compromised and are just weapons being used by the Democrat Party to commit election interference."

"THEY HATE PRESIDENT TRUMP SO MUCH they are willing to DESTROY the OFFICE of the President! This decision will haunt future Presidential administrations and make this country less safe," Representative Ronny Jackson added. "What a HORRIBLE, misguided (but not surprising) decision on Presidential immunity that SCOTUS will hopefully overturn IMMEDIATELY."

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung has said that Trump intends to appeal the decision from the D.C. Circuit, although it is unclear if he will appeal it to the Supreme Court or ask for the appeals courts to reconsider the claim and have all 15 judges on the bench weigh in.