Donald Trump's 'Reckless' Move Could Backfire

Donald Trump's "reckless" move on Tuesday could backfire in his civil fraud trial after he reposted a message calling for a citizen's arrest of Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

His current trial stems from a lawsuit filed last year by James, alleging that Trump and top executives at his family company, The Trump Organization, conspired to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans.

Trump, frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, testified last week and has denied any wrongdoing and has called the trial politically motivated. He took the stand after Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., sons of the former president and senior executives of The Trump Organization, also testified

On Tuesday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to speak on the ongoing trial against him by not only sharing his own words, but also reposting other users' posts about the trial.

One of those users, Von Ritter, called for both James and Engoron to be placed under citizen's arrest as part of a "fantasy" in a post, which Trump has since reposted to his own Truth Social account.

"My fantasy, I would like to see Letitia James and Judge Engoron placed under citizens [sic] arrest for blatant election interference and harassment," Ritter wrote on Truth Social.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump via email for comment.

In response to the former president's reshared call for a citizen's arrest, former U.S Attorney, Barbara McQuade told Newsweek in a statement, this move is "incredibly reckless" of Trump, explaining that someone can view this post and take violent action against James and Engoron.

"Trump's statement is incredibly reckless in light of the history of people responding to his dangerous rhetoric. Someone could take violent action in response," McQuade said.

McQuade said Trump may risk receiving consequences from Engoron, noting the former president's previous gag orders imposed by Engoron.

"In addition, Trump risks incurring the wrath of Judge Engoron in the New York civil case. Currently, the gag order imposed by the judge relates solely to comments about court staff, but this statement could prompt the judge to expand its scope.," McQuade added.

The court imposed a limited gag order on Trump October 3, the second day of the trial, barring him and other defendants from publicly discussing members of Engoron's staff. The order was prompted by a derogatory post on Trump's Truth Social account.

Engoron also issued another gag order in early November, prohibiting all lawyers working on the trial from "from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential communications, in any form, between my staff and me."

Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg also weighed in and told Newsweek that due to the limited gag order, Trump may not face real punishment citing that as the former president he has been given extra "deference."

"Trump continues his barrage of attacks against judges and lawyers, but the gag order in New York doesn't go beyond court staff, so I don't expect any sanctions for this until that changes.

"If any other defendant did this, they would face real punishment. As a former president running for the White House again, Trump has been given extra deference for his inflammatory words," Aronberg said in a statement to Newsweek via X, formerly Twitter.

Since the reposting, many have also taken to X to call out Trump's move while discussing the validity of the call for a citizen's arrest.

Executive producer at MSNBC, Kyle Griffin, said, "In a dangerous move, Donald Trump just reposted a statement calling for a citizen's arrest of AG James and Judge Engoron.

"New York law only allows for a citizen's arrest when a person has 'in fact' committed a felony in the presence of that citizen, according to @lawofruby."

In response, former litigator and MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin referenced the New York citizen arrest statue saying, "@SenGianaris has been fighting to repeal it—and earlier this year, the NY State Senate did just that. But it still remains law, not just a MAGA fantasy."

Meanwhile, when reached for comment, attorney and legal analyst, Jonathan Turley referred Newsweek to his own post saying, "Just in case anyone is taking such a statement as more than a fantasy, there is no basis for a citizen's arrest and such an effort to physically hold either the judge or the attorney general would most certainly constitute a criminal act."