By the middle of 2021, Donald Trump had survived the second impeachment, lost his voice on major social media platforms, and was slowly rebuilding from Mar-a-Lago. But a new and even more serious threat was emerging — a wave of criminal and civil investigations that would soon turn into formal indictments.

This is the story of how Trump went from former president to criminal defendant, facing multiple legal battles at once.

The legal pressure began to build almost immediately after he left office. Federal prosecutors and state attorneys began looking into several areas: Trump’s business practices in New York, his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, and his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

The first major case to gain traction came out of New York. In 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts related to hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors alleged that Trump had falsified business records to disguise the payments as legal expenses. Trump pleaded not guilty, calling the case a “witch hunt” and politically motivated.

Then came the classified documents case. Federal investigators discovered that Trump had taken boxes of sensitive government documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. When subpoenaed, some documents were returned, but others were allegedly missing or obstructed. In June 2023, special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on 37 felony counts, including willful retention of national defense information and obstruction of justice. Trump again pleaded not guilty, arguing he had the right to declassify documents and that this was another attempt to stop him politically.

The third major case landed in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and more than a dozen allies with racketeering and conspiracy charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. The indictment included a now-famous recorded phone call in which Trump urged Georgia’s Secretary of State to “find” 11,780 votes. Trump called this case election interference against him.

Throughout 2023 and into 2024, Trump found himself in courtrooms rather than at campaign rallies. He attended arraignments, sat through hearings, and faced the possibility of prison time. In many of these cases, he was required to post bond and faced gag orders limiting what he could say publicly.

Trump’s response was consistent and forceful. He called every single case a “witch hunt” orchestrated by Democrats and “radical left” prosecutors to keep him off the ballot and out of the White House. He turned the indictments into campaign fuel, raising millions of dollars from supporters who believed he was being targeted for political reasons. His poll numbers among Republicans actually rose with each new indictment.

The legal battles created an extraordinary situation. For the first time in American history, a former president — and leading candidate for the next election — was facing multiple criminal trials simultaneously. Court dates began to conflict with campaign events. Some cases were delayed, others moved forward.

To Trump and his supporters, this was lawfare — the weaponization of the justice system against a political opponent. They pointed to the timing of the charges, many of which came as Trump prepared to run again in 2024. To his critics, these cases represented accountability. They argued no one, not even a former president, should be above the law.

Produced by Chef Walters SimVal Media. Narrated by Ethan Clarke

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In our last episode, Donald Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021, under the shadow of a second impeachment and the chaos of January 6. Many believed his political career was finished. But the real test of his influence was just beginning.

This is the story of how Trump was suddenly silenced on the world's biggest platforms — and how he fought back by building his own.

Just days after the January 6 Capitol riot, the hammer came down hard. On January 8, 2021, Twitter permanently suspended Donald Trump’s account, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” Facebook and Instagram soon followed with indefinite bans. YouTube also restricted his channel. For a man who had mastered social media like no politician before him — using it to speak directly to millions and dominate the news cycle — this was a devastating blow.

Trump had built his entire political brand on Twitter. He posted at all hours, attacked enemies, praised allies, and broke major news with a single tweet. Now, overnight, that powerful direct line to his supporters was gone. Analysts declared it a turning point. Without social media, they said, Trump would fade into irrelevance.

But Trump refused to stay quiet. From his new base at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, he began testing other avenues. He released written statements through aides. He gave interviews to friendly outlets. He even held a few rallies. Yet nothing matched the reach and immediacy he had lost.

Then, in May 2021, Trump made a bold announcement. He was launching his own social media platform called Truth Social. He described it as a place where people could speak freely without censorship from Big Tech. The name itself was a clear message — this would be a platform for “truth” as he saw it.

The launch was rocky. Truth Social rolled out slowly at first, plagued by technical glitches and long waitlists. Critics mocked it as a vanity project that would never compete with Twitter or Facebook. But Trump’s loyal supporters signed up in large numbers. Within months, the app gained traction among conservatives who felt censored on mainstream platforms.

Produced by Chef Walters SimVal Media. Narrated by Ethan Clarke

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Welcome to Season 2 of Political Nightmare. [Ethan Clarke]

In Season 1, we followed Donald Trump’s chaotic journey from the golden escalator in 2015 all the way through four turbulent years in the White House, ending with the violence of January 6, 2021. Now we pick up the story exactly where we left off — in the bitter final days of his first presidency.

This is the story of Trump’s painful exit from power, the second impeachment, and the moment many believed marked the end of his political career.

January 2021 began with raw tension still hanging over Washington. Just days after the January 6 riot at the Capitol, the House of Representatives moved with extraordinary speed. On January 13, only one week after the attack, lawmakers voted to impeach Donald Trump for a second time. The charge was “incitement of insurrection.” Ten Republicans joined every Democrat in voting yes, making Trump the only president in American history to be impeached twice.

The article accused Trump of repeatedly claiming the 2020 election had been stolen, pressuring state officials, and then delivering a fiery speech on January 6 that encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol. Democrats argued his words directly fueled the mob that stormed the building. Trump’s defenders called the impeachment a rushed act of political revenge, insisting his speech had called for a peaceful and patriotic protest.

While the House acted quickly, the real drama shifted to the Senate. Trump’s second impeachment trial began on February 9, 2021 — after he had already left office. It was the first time in history a former president faced an impeachment trial. The proceedings were short but intense. House impeachment managers presented video footage of the Capitol riot, showing rioters chanting and breaking windows while lawmakers hid. Trump’s legal team argued that the Senate no longer had jurisdiction over a former president and that Trump’s words were protected political speech.

On February 13, the Senate voted. Fifty-seven senators found Trump guilty — including seven Republicans. It was the most bipartisan impeachment vote in history. But it still fell ten votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict. Trump was acquitted once again.

Even as the trial unfolded, Trump was already gone from Washington. On January 20, 2021, he boarded Air Force One one last time as president. He flew to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida instead of attending Joe Biden’s inauguration — breaking a long-standing tradition of the peaceful transfer of power. In a farewell speech at Joint Base Andrews, Trump told supporters, “We will be back in some form.” Many took those words as a promise.

The final days carried heavy consequences. Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, and other major platforms in the wake of January 6. Major companies cut ties with his businesses. Several high-profile Republicans distanced themselves from him. For the first time since 2015, Trump seemed politically isolated. Pundits and analysts across the spectrum declared his time in national politics over. Some even speculated the Republican Party would move on without him.

But Trump refused to fade away. From Mar-a-Lago, he began holding private meetings and issuing statements attacking the new Biden administration. He continued to insist the 2020 election had been stolen, keeping that message alive among his core supporters. Despite the bans and the legal clouds hanging over him, his grip on the Republican base remained remarkably strong.

The bitter farewell of January 2021 marked the lowest point of Trump’s political life up to that moment. He left office under two impeachments, with the Capitol riot hanging over his legacy. Yet even in defeat, the seeds of a comeback were already being planted.

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