Are Trump's legal troubles fuelling his chances of re-election?

Donald Trump faces mounting legal troubles amid two different criminal investigations and an investigation over his alleged bid to overturn the 2020 election result in which he lost against now US President Joe Biden.

Nevertheless, Trump claims he is "not frightened" regarding a third potential indictment over criminal charges, after acknowledging receipt of a letter from prosecutor Jack Smith, noting he is the "target" of a grand jury investigation over his alleged bid to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump confirmed that he received a letter from Smith on Sunday, claiming he is being targeted in a probe into the January 6 insurrection when his supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to prevent the certification of Democrat Biden's 2020 election victory.

President from 2017-2021, Trump recently announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he had not been told to report to a grand jury in relation to the January 6 Capitol riot but typically it "almost always means an Arrest and Indictment".

An indictment would likely increase his legal difficulties ahead of another potential bid to enter the White House.

Officials have testified during Trump's last months as president that he put pressure on them to falsely claim voter fraud.

Over 1,000 people have been charged in relation to crimes with the riot with some convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is already facing criminal charges over allegedly mishandling highly secretive government documents after leaving office.

Nevertheless, while speaking with Fox News' Sean Hannity, he seemed desperate to dispel the narrative and appeared keen on debunking the allegations against him.

"They want to try to demean and diminish and frighten people. But they don’t frighten us because we’re going to make America great again. That’s all there is,” he said.

Trump went on to insinuate that he claims the investigations against him are a personal attack to prevent his political ambitions to re-enter the White House.

"This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement," Trump said. "It is a very sad and dark period for our Nation!"

The struggle to regain power

Amid Trump's mounting legal woes, his detractors claim his political strategy or so-called playbook is building a narrative to "play defence by going on offence" with Trump leveraging and propelling the narrative that he is being targeted in an unjust manner by his alleged political enemies who are endeavouring to bar his return to office.

Trump, who denies the charges and allegations against him, claimed that “there are two standards of justice in our country: One for people like you and me, and one for the corrupt political class, of which there are many.”

Among some conservative observers the consensus is that Trump is a victim of alleged political prosecution from Biden's party to "steal the election".

However, Ruth Ben-Ghiat told the Guardian that authoritarians typically claim to be victims facing witch-hunts. With the investigation regarding top-secret documents, the professor argued that “Trump had those classified documents and they were mixed in with golf balls and family photos is very typical of authoritarian type leaders who don’t recognize any divides between public and private. Everything is theirs to trade, to sell and to use as leverage.”

In an article for MSNBC, Ben-Ghiat opined that Trump is seeking to remould the federal government to gain "personal powers". Likewise if he returns to office he would likely seek to follow other authoritarian models whereby the executive branch holds significant power in relation to the judiciary and legislature.

"History teaches us that would-be autocrats who lose power and regain it are vengeful. And if plagued by legal proceedings that threaten them, they are doubly intent on remaking government so that they are never haunted by investigations, impeachments or indictments again," she argued.