Trump has suggested that violence could break out if lawsuits don’t go his way

In recent days, former President Donald J. Trump has twice openly suggested that there could be violence if the Supreme Court were to rule against him in his dispute over the eligibility of his ballot, or if the federal case against him for plans to to overturn the 2020 election would continue, warning of “big, big problems” and “the bedlam in this country.”

Ominous language is not new for Mr. Trump, who has publicly called for the jailing of political opponents and the suspension of the Constitution, and has suggested that America’s top general executed.

But Mr. Trump’s latest statements have extra significance because both are related to lawsuits related to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — including the fact that he did little to stop his supporters as they marched through the building raged.

There has rarely been pressure on Mr. Trump to explain his words. He has refused to debate his rivals in the Republican presidential primary and has largely spoken to friendly interviewers. On Wednesday, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, face off in the final debate before the Iowa caucuses, he will participate in a town hall on Fox News.

Speaking in Iowa on Friday, Mr Trump addressed the Supreme Court’s decision to hear an appeal of a Colorado court ruling that ruled he could not appear in the state’s Republican primary because he was involved was at an uprising. ‘I just hope we get fair treatment’ he said. ‘Because if we don’t do that, our country will be in big, big trouble. Does everyone understand what I’m saying? I think so.”

On Tuesday, after federal appeals court judges appeared skeptical of arguments that he was immune from charges of conspiring to undermine the 2020 election, Trump claimed without evidence that the charges were a politically motivated ploy to keep him from returning return to the White House.

If the case succeeds in undermining his re-election chances, Mr. Trump warned: “It will be chaos in the country. It’s a very bad thing. It’s a very bad precedent. Like we said, it’s the opening of a Pandora’s box.”

The former president’s rhetoric comes at a time when 2024 is already notable for a climate of intimidation and intimidation of government officials, including those responsible for overseeing ballot access and voting.