PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Donald Trump compared President Joe Biden\u2019s administration to the secret police force of Nazi Germany in remarks at a private, closed-door donor retreat on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former president\u2019s comments came as he was talking about his legal troubles, attacking the prosecutors in the cases and bemoaning the recent indictments in Arizona of several of his former top aides, along with 11 so-called fake electors<\/a> from the 2020 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese people are running a Gestapo administration,\u201d Trump said, according to audio of the luncheon provided to NBC News. \u201cAnd it\u2019s the only thing they have. And it\u2019s the only way they\u2019re going to win in their opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce I got indicted, I said, well, now the gloves have to come off,\u201d Trump added, saying Biden is \u201cthe worst president in the history of our country. He\u2019s grossly incompetent. He\u2019s crooked as hell. He\u2019s the Manchurian candidate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former president added that he doesn\u2019t let his legal troubles bother him too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you care too much, you tend to choke. And in a way, I don\u2019t care. It\u2019s just you know, life is life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He did admit, however, that he was surprised when he was indicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce I got indicted, I said, \u2018Holy s—, I just got indicted. Me. I got indicted,\u2019\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also called Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting two federal cases against Trump, an “evil thug” and “deranged.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer slammed Trump and the retreat as underscoring that the former president’s campaign “is about him. His fury, his revenge, his lies, and his retribution.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Trump is once again making despicable and insulting comments about the Holocaust, while in the same breath attacking law enforcement, celebrating political violence, and threatening our democracy,” Singer added later in the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump made his remarks at his Mar-a-Lago Club on Saturday afternoon, as hundreds of donors are gathered down here for the Republican National Committee\u2019s spring retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former president has had limited time to campaign as he’s had to spend four days a week sitting in a Manhattan courtroom for his criminal trial<\/a> there, related to hush money payments to an adult film star around the 2016 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the featured guests at the retreat this weekend are a number of potential vice presidential candidates<\/a>, including Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump has yet to move past the early stages<\/a> of vetting a running mate, as NBC News has reported. Top contenders have not yet received detailed questionnaires or other requests for information to help finalize a shortlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the luncheon, Trump brought all these guests onstage \u2014 except Noem, who left early, according to two people in attendance \u2014 along with a number of other elected officials, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy the end of it, there were a lot of people onstage,\u201d one Republican source who attended the luncheon told NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump, according to the audio recording, praised Stefanik for her role in challenging former Harvard University President Claudine Gay, who resigned<\/a> after facing scrutiny for testimony she gave at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism and after allegations of plagiarism in her academic work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou destroyed her,\u201d Trump said. \u201cShe did so well, everyone said \u2026 she\u2019s going to be the vice presidential candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vance, who had been a prominent Trump critic in 2016 while promoting his \u201cHillbilly Elegy\u201d memoir, \u201cturned out to be incredible,\u201d the former president said. The senator is scheduled to hold a fundraiser<\/a> with Trump this month in Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou know he wasn\u2019t a supporter of mine,\u201d Trump said of Vance. \u201cHe was saying things like, \u2018The guy\u2019s a total disaster!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott, whose campaign for the GOP presidential nomination fizzled before the Iowa caucuses, \u201cdid a good job,\u201d Trump said. \u201cBut as a surrogate He\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd you know what he said to me? He said, \u2018I never felt comfortable talking about myself.\u2019 There\u2019s something nice about that. It never bothered me to talk about me. I\u2019m the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump also acknowledged Rubio and Donalds, his potential VP picks from Florida, where he also resides. The Constitution prohibits<\/a> electors from voting for both a president and a vice president from their own states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rubio, Trump said, is \u201ca talented guy\u201d and \u201cabsolutely\u201d being considered, \u201ceven though we do have a little problem. It\u2019s a minor Florida problem with these Florida guys, I have to be honest with you \u2014 including that guy right there, Byron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Burgum, a former software entrepreneur who became the first of Trump\u2019s high-profile rivals to endorse him, drew raves for his personal wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\u2019s a very rich man, he\u2019s made a lot of money,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI would always say, \u2018That guy\u2019s really impressive.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump also offered a shoutout to Noem, though she did not make it to the stage, calling the South Dakota governor \u2014 who has been under fire<\/a> since revealing in a forthcoming book that she shot and killed a family dog \u2014 \u201csomebody that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s been with me, and a supporter, and I\u2019ve been a supporter of hers for a long time,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump also said he\u2019d allow anyone who donated $1 million on the spot to come up to the stage. Two people took him up on the offer, including one woman who declared: \u201cDonald J. Trump is the person that God has chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n