Donald Trump and His Team Accused of Plotting to Have Ex-president Look 'Defiant' in Mugshot

A CNN reporter told news anchor Jake Tapper that former president Donald Trump's team carefully planned his mugshot pose to send a clear message to Fulton County, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The politician's booking photo as Inmate No. P01135809 was released moments after he walked out of the jail on Thursday night, showing a stern Trump frowning and flashing a bold glare.

Trump was charged with 13 counts, for which he has denied wrongdoing, including violating the state's racketeering act, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, conspiring to impersonate a public officer, conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree, and conspiring to file false documents.

Journalist Alayna Treene traveled with the former commander-in-chief's motorcade yesterday, revealing Trump and his team "dissected" the media coverage en route on Thursday night's edition of CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins.

Trump ultimately decided that he wanted to look "defiant," Treene shared while relaying a statement from his advisers. "And he chose purposefully not to smile."

"Now, of course, you can tell that the former president and his team are taking a lot of attention to this mugshot. They're sharing it. The former president just rejoined Twitter, also recently rebranded as X, to share that mugshot. And, I think, you can expect them to fundraise off of it, as they have fundraised off of fake mugshot, in the past."

"I think you're going to continue to see them try to monetize, off of this, and get as much media attention, as they can, from that mugshot," she explained, suggesting his team will use the image to help boost him in the polls as he continues to be the GOP frontrunner.

A fundraiser email sent out after his arrest echoed that message, reading, "This mugshot will forever go down in history as a symbol of America's defiance of tyranny."

Treene said his team was overall "happy" with how his photo turned out. "Of course, that is what they are telling us. There's always a different picture, behind-the-scenes."

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"On the way here, his team, as well as Trump, was watching cable news coverage of his surrender, as well as the debates, dissecting it, as they often do, on these trips," she shared. "And he's continuing to watch it on his way back."

After his fourth indictment, Treene noted that sources said Trump has, meanwhile, been "frustrated" about having to make the trek to Georgia and "go through another process, like this, yet again."