Jack O’Donnell, the former president and chief operating officer of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., said the guilty verdict in former President Trump’s hush money case is going to put a strain on his health.
“To other people’s point about the way he looked in court, I mean, his health, you know — this is going to put a strain on his health, and I hate to say that,” O’Donnell told CNN’s Erin Burnett Thursday evening. “That will be not interesting to see, but, you know, he’s not a very healthy man.”
“So, this is going to be very stressful for him, whether he puts on that face or not,” he said.
Trump made history Thursday by becoming the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a felony. The 12-person New York jury found him guilty on all counts of falsifying business records.
Judge Juan Merchan set the sentencing hearing for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention where he is slated to become the party’s official presidential nominee.
Burnett asked O’Donnell what he thinks Trump’s next steps and next reactions are going to be. The former president still faces a gag order in the case.
“Well, he got caught … you know, with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, so he’s not happy,” he responded.
O’Donnell worked for Trump for three years and released a book titled “Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump-His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall” with James Rutherford in 1991 detailing doing business with the billionaire.
He acknowledged to Burnett that they’ve spoken anecdotally for years about the way Trump ran his businesses, and how the former president will handle the verdict is not going to be a surprise.
“This is how the man runs his business, and I don’t think he’s going to change who he is, quite frankly,” O’Donnell said. “He’s never going to show remorse, you know, over this conviction. And … he’s going to continue to be Donald Trump.”