So why wouldn't Trump have destroyed everything?

[milestogo]

If Trump didn't want something to be seen, why would he keep it this long?

[Johnny2X2X]

1. It was valuable to him

He was either selling it or just wanted it around to show off to people. Or he had it to protect himself somehow.

[JuJuChen]

2. are you seriously relying on anything he does making sense?

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. I have no doubt he destroyed anything incriminating to HIM, but the rest is stuff

he uses for blackmail of con house and senate members and others.

Also, he is really dumb so he may not have destroyed everything, wonder what Cohen is saying today?

[Piratedog]

4. Hubris. Pure and simple. Hubris.

[milestogo]

6. In his case that would be aggravated hubris.

[Enter stage left]

5. Fucking low-flow toilet wouldn't flush...

[BlueIdaho]

7. Ego my friend, ego.

A smoldering cesspool of ego.

[fishwax]

8. you can only stuff so much stuff down the toilet, after all

[usonian]

9. Reply to me from BOSSHOG

He thought they belonged to him.

Probably still does.

[texasfiddler]

10. Hard to sell classified information to enemies

If you destroy them

[haele]

11. Because Jared told him how much he could sell those particular documents for.

What do you think that golf tournament in Bedminster last month was about.
Finding a buyer, of course.

Haele

[CanonRay]

12. a) Stupid b) Arrogant c) All the above

[musette_sf]

13. trophies

Rapists keep the underwear as trophies

[milestogo]

16. Well there's probably some of those in the safe too.

[EnergizedLib]

14. Well

Why didn’t Nixon burn the tapes?

[dameatball]

15. Money, and maybe potential blackmail in response to potential prosecution??

From what Rachel was describing there were some highly, highly classified documents involved, along with some just classified documents. I assume there was potentially dangerous or extremely embarassing stuff in there. That spells money and also smells of some type of protection to someone who has had a mob mentality all his life. Melania described him once as (paraphrase) "when someone hits him he hits back ten times harder." I don't recall where I read that. It was quite a while ago.

Hard to blackmail anyone or protect yourself with destroyed documentation.

Taking it a step farther, there may be some important figures breathing a sigh of relief and there may be some shitting bricks.

[tinrobot]

19. Very possible, or maybe information to use as a bargaining tool when indicted

[Blue Owl]

17. FBI agents with toilet plungers are on it

[uponit7771]

18. Blackmail

[Hekate]

20. Twisted ego. He likes things with his name in, and preferably photos of him too...

If he wasn’t so dangerous, he’d be pathetic.

[ecstatic]

21. I'm hoping his various mental disorders prevented him from seeing the logic

in destroying evidence. God knows he had plenty of time to do so.