Politics

‘Shocked’ Trump goes to dinner with Melania, then rages online after indictment

Former President Donald Trump made it business as usual after being “shocked” by his indictment Thursday — heading out for dinner with his supportive wife and posting angry messages through the night.

The somber-looking 45th commander-in-chief was spotted arriving for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with a smiling Melania, 52, by his side in an eye-catching red dress.

Pics shared by club members appeared to show guests standing to applaud the Trumps as they entered hours after the unprecedented confirmation that he was to be the first former president to face criminal charges.

Other images showed the couple at a large, round table with a group of friends for dinner, with insiders saying Trump greeted well-wishers.

“Beautiful evening here at the gorgeous Mar a Lago!” tweeted Trump adviser Gina Loudon along with images of the Trumps.

“Our REAL First Couple enveloped in the love of their friends and most loyal!” the conservative media personality known as Dr. Gina said.

Guests appeared to stand to applaud the couple as they arrived at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. Twitter / @RealDrGina

In a rebuke to the “corporate media,” Loudoun claimed that — despite the former president’s serious expression in her pics — they showed “a happiness you will never know, sadly.”

It was a clear show of support by the former first lady, given that the charges relate to hush-money payments her husband is alleged to have made to hide an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump has always denied having sex or orchestrating the payoff.



Follow The Post’s coverage on Trump’s indictment



Trump greeted well-wishers despite being “shocked” at the decision. Instagram / @lisastone12

Trump then stayed up until the early hours, sharing interviews and messages from pundits and politicians outraged at the indictment.

“So sad!” he wrote at 2:20 a.m., sharing a poll that suggested a majority of people think the case against him is motivated by politics and not the law.

His last post, just before 3 a.m., suggested that prosecutors should be looking at President Biden’s troubled family instead. “WHERE’S HUNTER?” he asked of the troubled first son.

The former president and his wife Melania dined at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Instagram / @realdrgina

He was back posting less than four hours later, again flooding his Truth Social page with reposts of outrage at the planned charges.

Despite Loudoun’s claim of “happiness,” Trump had looked downcast in the photos, and insiders told The Post that the mood Thursday at Mar-a-Lago had been “very somber.”

“Reality has settled in with a thud,” one source said of Trump, who is expected to surrender to law enforcement on Tuesday.

Later in the evening, Trump resumed posting on his Truth Social page.

Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told the “Today” show on Friday that the ex-president was “shocked” at the Manhattan grand jury’s decision to indict.

“[Trump] initially was shocked,” Tacopina said, adding, “After he got over that, he put a notch on his belt and he decided we have to fight now … He’s now in the posture that he’s ready to fight this.”

Trump’s once-loyal lawyer, Michael Cohen — who made the $130,000 payout to Daniels at the heart of the case — insisted that his old boss will be “seething.”

One late-night post suggested prosecutors look at the Biden family instead of him.

“To the world, he wants to appear to have this thick skin. He’s not thick-skinned,” Cohen insisted on CNN late Thursday.

“He’s actually very thin-skinned and he is a very fragile ego. This is his biggest fear — that he will be mugshotted, and he’s going to have an ‘f,’ a felony, next to his name.

“These are not things that Donald Trump ever thought in his entire life — nor I, for that matter — that he would ever be confronted with.

Trump’s once-loyal lawyer, Michael Cohen — who made the $130,000 payout to Daniels at the heart of the case — insisted that his old boss will be “seething.” CNN

“He’s seething right now because of all of the mistakes that so many people that were around him have made,” he said of “this whole clown car” of advisers “that paraded around him.”

“He’s seething because all the advice that they gave now landed him here.”