Why do you think Trump kept classified information on our military, and defenses and nuclear programs ?

I think that he wanted to go to trial to exploit hate from both political parties. Or he wanted an excuse for not to run or win a second term in office.

From your details:

he was being childishly petty and thought it would hinder Biden for him not to have it on hand. Or simply to make him feel like a big shot and show them off to donors because of his personal insecurities. Especially after losing the election.

I think he was selling it. The guy isn’t nearly as wealthy as he has people believing.

1) money – although I am not sure how it would keep it secret

2) to give to his friend Putin

but @janbb makes a good point (feeling like a big shot)

Are sociopaths and narcissists also stupid? If he for whatever reason gave access and allowed Russian and Chinese spies to see those files then he is one stupid sociopath and narcissist. Not to mention the most pathetic sore loser in the entire history of US politics so far. Unable to accept the reality that Biden beat him he is now in a pathetic state of self-denial and thinks he is still the President.

Also, as I have posted months ago…he knows his reality TV business. He knows how to keep the show going. What episodes need. What a good season ender would be. A master showman. And a master in shamelessness.

By the nature and quantity of the documents he had (detailed military capabilities of various countries, other military secrets, military plans, espionage network details), none of it was for his own use. He had no practical use for it. It would be pretty useless in a war or coup of his own. The clear practical value of those documents, was to sell or trade them (for asylum, influence, covert support, etc), and to continue servicing his ongoing obligations, to powerful entities that did not have access to them: for example, the governments of Russia, China, Iran, India, etc. And maybe, as a last resort, to hold hostage as a bargaining chip, threatening to have them released unless he is pardoned or at least allowed to leave the country alive, etc.

As for showing them off to others to preposterously aggrandize himself, yes, that too.

As for not letting Biden have them – that’s not how military documents work. There isn’t just one copy of such things, so he wasn’t denying them to anyone by having these copies.

He thought he could use it as leverage with foreign countries he wanted to do business with, and if that didn’t work, he could sell them back to the government “like Nixon did” (which is ridiculous).

Yeah,but,but what about Hillary’s emails, or Hunter’s lap top that is where the real crime is.

Well… it’s been confirmed that Russia interfered with the 2016 election to benefit Trump. Maybe this was the payment…

Just as the very wealthy used to display the heads of the animals they had shot on the walls of their stately homes I think Trump kept these documents as a kind of trophy to show off to visitors and remind him of his days in power. America first? No, Trump’s ego is bigger than the United States of America.

I think he felt like a big shot having access to the documents, and also, just in case the information ever came in handy to bribe or extort someone.

From what I read he does have two years to sort through his stuff from the White House, and I have moved before so I can understand procrastinating and having some documents mixed up in odd boxes. Except, we are talking about highly classified documents! Not the closing papers to a house I bought 5 years ago.

It is possible he removed documents he wasn’t allowed to take and held onto them for fear of getting in trouble or giving ammunition to Democrats. The problem is the recording of him actually showing information to someone else is pretty damning. He also wouldn’t allow the CIA, or whatever agency, access to go through the papers, and I don’t care if it is inside of the 2 years, if it is brought to his attention that some documents are highly sensitive then he either should have returned the paperwork right away (I would say 48 hours) or allow the agency access to go through everything. That is all he had to do was give access.

Trump says he can declassify the papers so it doesn’t matter. It does matter that he is willing to risk that type of information getting into the wrong hands. It doesn’t matter that he has the power to recklessly declassify.

Selling it, of course

I have no idea, but he was in good with Putin and Kim for a reason. Maybe he scared them with his knowledge of our military capabilities. I don’t think he’d sell them but anything is possible.

It was just a trophy to him if you ask me. A bragging point.

Regardless of all his blubber, he is a VERY insecure man!!! Although he won’t admit to it, he’s NOT a self-made man…just a man born into wealth!!! If you go back & do a deep look into his life, he’s LOST more money than he’s made. He, personally, has not filed bankruptcy; however, he has run numerous businesses into the ground. One of the first ones that he killed, the BOD put him on a ½ million dollars a day budget. He whined that he couldn’t live on $½M because he had too many expenses. This money was NOT his salary but his expenses charged to the company. He lived in the penthouse yet had NO income!!!

He cannot show his value so he deceives others as to his worth. In holding on to the classified docs, he could show them to someone he valued as better than himself & say “Look at what I have. I could show them to you but I’m NOT because I’m MORE IMPORTANT than you.” It inflates his ego!!! His entire life is smoke & mirrors!!!

I have no idea why Trump intentionally did what he did. Perhaps the only answer to that is located somewhere down deep within the twisted and feeble mind of Trump.

I don’t understand why trump didn’t simple make digital copies of the classified documents that he wanted. He could have put everything on a thumb drive or two.

“I don’t understand why trump didn’t simple make digital copies of the classified documents that he wanted. He could have put everything on a thumb drive or two.”
Pretty sure that would have been just as illegal.

@ragingloli It would have been just as illegal, but it would have been easier to store.

I don’t understand why trump didn’t simple make digital copies of the classified documents that he wanted. He could have put everything on a thumb drive or two.

In his mind, he’s MORE IMPORTANT holding the original in his hand. A thumb drive is demeaning!!! It’s like the difference in hanging an original Andy Warhol on the wall or having an NFT hanging there.

@ragingloli and @LadyMarissa – if he had copied the contents to thumb drives (assuming the Trumpster would know how to copy a file on a PC in the first place), he would be doubling the crime and the penalties.

Making unauthorized copies of secret documents – even to a thumb drive – is a whole additional crime -> duplication of secret documents. It doesn’t matter what the intent is.

Power trip.

Better trophy to have the original copy

@ragingloli Of course. But it would be a lot more difficult to detect or prove.

The reason, as I said before, is that Trump is a jerk. Becoming president was one big ego trip for him, and the documents were souvenirs. If he wanted to sell the information, it would have made much more sense to copy the documents and then return them. Remember, Trump was caught on tape bragging about how he could get away with grabbing women’s crotches. He claimed that memorizing, “woman, man, person, camera, TV” showed what a genius he was. If you don’t find Trump to be a complete jerk then I don’t knew who else that term could be applied to.

@gondwanalon BINGO!!! He didn’t want it to be a lot more difficult to detect or prove. He wanted to be caught so he could get he attention that he hadn’t been receiving. It also gives him a reason to send out a request for cash to his base & rake in ALL that money when the fidiots send him their hard earned dollars. Early on he had collected over $200 million. He hasn’t had to give a record of this “tax free” income, but I guarantee you that it went into his bank!!! That’s why his PAC didn’t support any other Rep candidates.

@LadyMarissa It must be nice to be so sure that you know so much about Trump’s MO.
I know nothing mote than my own mistakes and not to trust anything from the “news media” or from the internet.

I go with big shot and trophy.

Because he could.
https://reason.com/2023/06/13/the-my-boxes-theory-is-all-you-need-to-explain-trumps-behavior/

^I hope he gets as possessive with his jail cell as he is with his boxes.