Attorney Roberta Kaplan said former President Donald Trump threw papers across a table and stormed off during a deposition at Mar-a-Lago after learning that his legal team had agreed to provide her lunch.

Kaplan, who has represented clients in high-profile cases against Trump, including E. Jean Carroll, said on an episode of the “George Conway Explains it All (to Sarah Longwell)” podcast recorded Thursday that she rejected the former president’s request that they work through a lunch break because he believed the deposition was “a waste of my time.”

“And then you could kind of see the wheel spinning in his brain. You could really almost see it,” Kaplan told Republican strategist Sarah Longwell and conservative attorney George Conway, a longtime Trump critic. “And he said, ‘Well, you’re here in Mar-a-Lago. What do you think you’re going to do for lunch? Where are you going to get lunch?’”

Kaplan said she told him that his attorneys had “graciously offered to provide” her team with lunch — a common civil practice between opposing legal teams.

“At which point there was a huge pile of documents, exhibits, sitting in front of him, and he took the pile and he just threw it across the table. And stormed out of the room,” Kaplan shared, adding that Trump specifically yelled at his lawyer Alina Habba for providing them lunch.

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    188
    ·
    11 months ago

    Kaplan continued: “He came back in and he said, ‘Well, how’d you like the lunch?’ And I said, ‘Well, sir, I had a banana. You know, I can never really eat when I’m taking testimony.’ And he said, ‘Well, I told you,’ — it was kind of charming. He said, ‘I told you, I told them to make you really bad sandwiches, but they can’t help themselves here. We have the best sandwiches.’”

    1. “I told them to make you really bad sandwiches.” He literally sounds like a toddler
    2. She was wise not to eat sandwiches, I think
      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        52
        ·
        11 months ago

        Yeah, that stuck out to me also. He had a flow in his mind for the conversation, and reacted to what she said inside his mind, while completely missing the totally different thing which she actually said. It was already clear that his brain works that way but it is an instructively candid example from his unscripted life.

    • AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      44
      ·
      11 months ago

      ‘Well, I told you,’ — it was kind of charming. He said, ‘I told you, I told them to make you really bad sandwiches, but they can’t help themselves here. We have the best sandwiches.’

      Charming?

      • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        47
        ·
        11 months ago

        Yeah, the closest Trump gets to genuine charm is when he accidentally starts to resemble a goofy Saturday morning cartoon show villain, “Ah, I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for my nincompoop henchmen! I tell you, it’s impossible for supervillains like me to find reliable evildoers these days, why is no one talking about this?”

        Like, he’s not trying to be charming, he’s trying to threateningly project power, but he’s so bad at it it comes off like a joke.

      • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        I loved Veep, it’s hilarious to me watching it now that basically any scandal on that show would be completely innocuous compared to what we have been dealing with since it ended.

  • dhork@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    154
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    Oooh, they buried the good stuff here:

    In a separate anecdote, Kaplan detailed the end of the deposition when she was set to leave, saying that Trump told her: “See you next Tuesday” – a phrase that is often used as a derogatory euphemism directed at women.

    Kaplan said that she was initially confused, as their next meeting was set for a Wednesday.

    I won’t quote all of that part, because it’s worth reading. Go ahead, click on it. Donald Trump is such a mean girl.

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      92
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      I won’t quote all of that part

      I will, because not everyone has the time or the desire to go to a news site and get blasted with ads and tracking cookies for an article they are only marginally interested in. So here’s the rest:

      “I wasn’t in on the joke, so I had no idea. Then we get into the car and my colleagues are like, ‘Robbie, do you know what that means?’ And I’m like, ‘No, what are you talking about?’ They tell me and I’m like, oh my God, thank God I didn’t know because had I known, I for sure would have gotten angry. There’s no question I would have gotten angry,” Kaplan said

      • dhork@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        42
        ·
        11 months ago

        You also missed the part when, after the deposition was over, Trump’s lawyers, who we all know now are incompetent and inattentive to details, immediately sprung up to confirm that they were now off the record. They knew what he was going to say.

        That means they had to plan it. Trump must have gone to them ahead of time and said “I’m gonna call her a cunt straight to her face, and there’s nothing you can do to make me stop”. So they had to enact a strategy to make sure it didn’t get into the record. And then, they probably had to snicker a bit to prove they thought the joke was totally OK and they really got her good.

        • Grimy@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          27
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          11 months ago

          I really do imagine that everyone of them has to fake laugh at all his jokes. I bet there’s always a stare and a long uncomfortable silence whenever someone doesn’t react quick enough, like you see in the movies.

          • mPony@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            12
            ·
            11 months ago

            Having to be a personal sycophant to that jerk is arguably close to selling your soul to the devil.

            • Cethin@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              11 months ago

              Devils at least hold up their end of a bargain. Sure, they may try to trick you, but they don’t withhold their end of am agreement. What do you think the odds are that these lawyers are going to be paid in full?

        • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          22
          ·
          11 months ago

          Similar story.

          After catching Covid, he wanted to leave the hospital wearing a Superman shirt. Someone had to talk the President of the United States out of acting like a child.

          • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            18
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            Man, I remember that. Then they lied to the country about how sick he really was. They had discussions about whether he should go to the hospital or not and ultimately they decided he was getting worse and worse and that he had to go right then so that he could be seen walking to the helicopter. If they had waited, he would not have then able to walk. Of course he was vaccinated and immediately got the best care, I wonder how many of his dumbass supporters died because they figured “well Trump lived without vaccinations or a mask, I will too.”

            • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              11 months ago

              Reminds me of a different story.

              After he noped out of the WW1 Centennial ceremonies because it was raining, they had to arrange a photo op of him going to Arlington in the rain to place flowers. Ignoring the fact that he could have gone to Arlington every day of his Presidency…

        • fine_sandy_bottom
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          11 months ago

          That means they had to plan it.

          I don’t think that’s true at all. It sounds like day 1 material for “lawyering for cunts school”. Like if you’ve just had a tense meeting with the opposition, and your client is a childish idiot, then of course he’s going to try a parting jibe. You would absolutely 100% pop up and say “that’s it folks off the record now LOL”

      • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        11 months ago

        I can’t imagine a better response even if she knew what he meant. “What do you mean Donald? Our meeting is Wednesday, did you forget?”

    • DharkStare@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      89
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      “See you next Tuesday” is a derogatory euphemism?

      Edit: I would have never figured out what it was supposed to mean on my own. I had never heard of that before and judging by all the quick replies it’s a more well known insult then I would have guessed.

    • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      According to urban dictionary:

      See You Next Tuesday

      A clandestine method of calling someone a cunt.

      Particularly effective when used prior to a three day week end.

      C: See U: You N: Next T: Tuesday

    • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      I know what C U Next Tuesday means in a derogatory way, but ngl if I really had a meeting scheduled for next week with the person who said it to me, I would just assume that’s what they were referring to.

      Yes, in this case the meeting was on Wednesday, but my initial thought would be to wonder if I was misremembering what day the meeting was supposed to take place.

      Even if you know about it, it’s not always obvious depending on the context. However, if I have a brief but unpleasant interaction with someone who I had never met before and never planned to see again, said it as I was walking away, then yeah - it would probably register that they were being a dick.

        • Asafum@feddit.nl
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          11 months ago

          And thank you for spelling it out again because my dumbass didn’t catch it again… Lol

          I was literally just assuming that he was calling her a prostitute that have regulars on specific days lol

    • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      11 months ago

      I hope it was referred to the judge; this exact type of behavior has resulted in findings of contempt and sanctions regularly.

  • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    120
    ·
    11 months ago

    It sounds like he wanted to deny them food as a negotiating tactic and got big mad when that was undermined? Sleazy.

    Can you imagine having … that… as a parent?

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        57
        ·
        11 months ago

        None of these fuckers have. I remember watching Jeff Sessions up there talking about how God wants him to put refugee children in cages and it just clicked in my head. The man has never once cared for a child in his life. Oh sure he provided the sperm, he used tax dollars to hire the nannies, but the actual effort of being a parent he has not performed.

        You never see any of these people struggling with a car seat, or telling a story about being late cause their kid threw up, or having to leave work to go see their kids school play.

      • SuperDuper@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        11 months ago

        The closest he’s ever come to being a good parent was when he told Waldo that he’s “the best son money can buy” in Little Rascals.

    • S_204@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      I know a guy, started as a company accountant and built a billion dollar business that Goldman Sachs bought.

      One of his negotiation tactics was getting a smoker into a room and not letting them out until they signed.

      Worked for him LoL.

  • paddirn@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    65
    ·
    11 months ago

    A supposed billionaire throwing a tantrum over buying lunch. If he is a billionaire, he has more money than most ordinary people will ever see in their lifetimes, yet I’ve seen more kindness from among impoverished folks who lived in cow-dung huts.

      • orbitz@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        35
        ·
        11 months ago

        That and he didn’t get his way to not have a lunch break. He thought he had the power to say no since they were at Mar a lago and they wouldn’t have option for a lunch if he said so, then got angry when he lost on that little decision. That’s the temperament of the GOP forerunner, can’t even be overruled on a lunch decision without being set off.

        • beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          11 months ago

          His main issue was that other people did not revere him as a god and consider everybody who is not 100% loyal to him their mortal enemy.

      • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        11 months ago

        Nah he was pissed because he had to share his stockpile of McChickens and McDoubles. He wanted to eat them all himself!

    • Doubletwist@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      11 months ago

      I’d bet good money that he was only furious because it ruined his (pathetic) attempt to bully her into skipping lunch, and made him look like a fool when it failed. That’s exactly the kind of thing that would make him furious.

    • Gloomy@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      11 months ago

      To be honest I have experienced the utter most kindness and hospitality in my life amongst people living in relative material poverty.

      It feels wrong to use them as the negative example, as you do here, altough I understand that you are not trying to belittle people living in cow-dung huts. Just hit me as a bit overly imperialistic in it’s tone.

      • paddirn@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        11 months ago

        You’re assuming the wrong thing. I’ve literally sat on the floors of cow-dung huts in Kenya and been fed better food than most any food I’ve eaten in America. I’m describing their houses as cow-dung huts because that’s what they lived in, it’s a common dwelling out there.

  • psycho_driver@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    62
    ·
    11 months ago

    I think Trump has just turned into the personification of the little foul goblin that comprises the soul of every billionaire.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    57
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    “And then you could kind of see the wheel spinning in his brain…

    DId the wheels make alarming grinding noises as it broke off the rust before seizing again?

  • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    ·
    11 months ago

    If he threw a stack of papers after being told he had to buy them lunch, I wonder what he did after being told he had to pay them $83.3 million.

    • wunami@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      35
      ·
      11 months ago

      It was probably less about money (though he definitely still cares about that) and more like his childish strategy where he thought they would get hungry and end the deposition so they could go get food was thwarted.

    • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      11 months ago

      if he throws stack o papers for lunch, he’s gonna throw an embolism when reality finally comes knocking.

      • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        28
        ·
        11 months ago

        First letter of each word spells out “cunt,” a rude term in the states for a “terrible woman.”

        “see you next tuesday” phonetically spells it out, and is a passable normal phrase. Its also a sexist joke that a 12 yr old would tell. The fact that it qualifies as humor/spite for a 77yr old ex president is sad as fuck.

      • fidodo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        11 months ago

        If you don’t understand the phrase, wouldn’t that make you Roberta Kaplan, not Trump?

    • VaultBoyNewVegas@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      26
      ·
      11 months ago

      Trump’s definitely the sort of person who doesn’t realize that Cartman isn’t meant to be relatable. I knew several people when I was a teen that unironically thought Cartman was the best character in South Park and would quote him endlessly.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        17
        ·
        11 months ago

        Everyone in South Park tells Cartman directly to his face that he’s a fat piece of shit that everyone hates and he still thinks they all love him so this tracks.

        “You guys really do think I’m cooooooooollll”

        • DrPop@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          11 months ago

          The one time I felt bad for Cartman was when they smashed all his electronics when someone else was leaking rumors. Them he still became such an asswipe his own mom chewed him out. He’s funny but he’s not relatable.

          Still think about how he fed Scott Tennerman his parents and they call back to our consistently.

      • DarkGamer@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        Well he’s arguably the funniest character but a total asshole and not someone you’d want to emulate