On the whole, color me less than impressed with the American judiciary in 2025.
Nonetheless, President Donald Trump had every reason to gloat a little while surrounded by people who support him.
In a clip posted Thursday to the social media platform X, Trump spoke to a group of law-enforcement agents in Washington, D.C., and shared news of his court victory over loathsome, Trump-hating New York state Attorney General Letitia James, who brought civil fraud charges against the Trump Organization, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in fines in a case with no victims.
“They stole $550 million from me with a fake case,” the president said. “And it was overturned; they said this was a fake case. It’s a terrible thing.”
Then, Trump showed off the understated manner of speaking he often uses in the company of friends. Indeed, he reserves his trademark bombast for Democrats and others who hate America.
“But that’s a nice victory,” he added. “I mean, it’s not bad.”
President Trump takes a victory lap after NY appeals court tosses penalty in Letitia James civil case: “They stole $550 million from me with a fake case, and it was overturned. They said that this was a fake case… But that’s a nice victory.” pic.twitter.com/ohUP60Ep7p
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 21, 2025
According to Fox News, the New York Appellate Division ruled that the massive fine violated the Eighth Amendment.
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” the Eighth Amendment reads.
Democrats, of course, despise the Bill of Rights, particularly the First and Second Amendments. So it stood to reason that they would also ignore the Eighth.
Unfortunately for Trump, the appeals court did not actually deem this a “fake case.”
In fact, the court did not remove Trump’s liability. Nor did it rule that James had acted beyond her authority. It merely struck down the massive fine as excessive and, therefore, unconstitutional.
Justice David Friedman summarized the problems in his partial dissent.
James’ “ultimate goal was not market hygiene,” Friedman wrote, but “political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business.”
The dissenting judge also characterized the issue in question as one that involved “successful, private, commercial transactions, negotiated at arm’s length between highly sophisticated parties fully capable of monitoring and defending their own interests.”
Thus, the appeals process will continue.
Indeed, the legal process always seems to continue.
Will Letitia James be convicted of mortgage fraud?
For instance, earlier this year federal judges usurped power in order to derail an elected president’s agenda. The Supreme Court finally had to chastise the activist lower courts.
Moreover, the New York Appellate Division did right by ruling in Trump’s favor on Eighth Amendment grounds. But leaving Trump’s liability in place legitimized an absurd and tyrannical proceeding.
On the other hand, if courts want to uphold liability in politically-charged fraud cases, then perhaps we should thank them. After all, both James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California now face their own legal troubles pertaining to alleged mortgage fraud.
Nonetheless, as the lawyers continue to make their arguments, Trump continues to show why so many people love him.
The president made his understated “nice victory” and “not bad” comments while holding a microphone and speaking to police and National Guard members, people who put their lives on the line to protect the public.
Trump spoke to them as peers. He didn’t use political jargon. Instead, he talked to them as he would had he walked into a bar and bought them a round.
Indeed, his tone and message were relatable, for he essentially said to them, “Can you believe how unfair that was?”
But his understated remarks also allowed him to avoid self-pity while reminding his listeners of his unflappable nature. “They tried to get me,” he might as well have said, “but they can’t because I fight the same way you do.”
What a powerful message from the coolest customer ever to serve as president.
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