Donald Trump was in “very high spirits” at a dinner with top supporters shortly after he was convicted on all counts in his New York City hush money trial, Gristedes CEO and Trump camp insider John Catsimatidis said.
“It was a wonderful dinner,” Catsimatidis told 77 WABC’s Rita Cosby of the “triple A-list” gathering on Thursday evening.
The intimate roundtable was attended by about “15 people, plus staff,” including Trump’s son Eric, the grocery billionaire explained.
Trump, 77, “was in very high spirits” despite being fresh off his historic felony conviction, Catsimatidis recalled.
“Everybody in that room believes that if there is not a change in Washington, that it could be the end of the free world,” Catsimatidis insisted – adding that the dinner guests compared the trial to the 1992 comedy “My Cousin Vinny.”
“It’s a joke,” he said. “The entire world is laughing at the United States of America!”
Trump went around the table and chatted up each attendee, each of whom gave their two cents about who should be the Republican frontrunner’s vice presidential pick.
The top choices were South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Catsimatidis said.
Several attendees admitted that they “hated” Haley, but said she could be the ideal pick to help Trump clinch the White House, he added.
Catsimatidis compared Haley – who recently said she would back Trump in the November election, despite their well-documented differences – to Lyndon B. Johnson, saying that “John F. Kennedy hated [Johnson], but he won because he picked [Johnson].”
The grocery billionaire and avowed Republican recently made headlines when he axed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani from his radio show.
