Trump Arrives In Manhattan For Court Appearance

Former President Donald Trump‘s private plane took off from a Florida airport en route to New York City early in the afternoon on Monday, after announcing on Truth Social that he will appear at the courthouse on Tuesday. He will reportedly spend the night at his Trump Tower residence before heading to court in the morning.

Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday in a case related to hush money payments paid to a porn star who Trump allegedly had a sexual encounter with at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006. The payments were allegedly made in 2016, during the height of Trump’s presidential campaign.

“I will be leaving Mar-a-Lago on Monday at 12 noon, heading to Trump Tower in New York,” Trump posted. “On Tuesday morning I will be going to, believe it or not, the Courthouse. America was not supposed to be this way!”

In court, Trump will be fingerprinted and have his headshot taken, and then have his charges read to him by the judge. One of Trump’s lawyers, Joe Tacopina, told CNN that Trump will make a motion to dismiss the charges at a later point.

The event, despite its historic and political significance, is only expected to last 15 to 30 minutes. Trump will then be escorted out. Despite his own wishes, Trump is unlikely to be handcuffed or be involved in a “perp walk,” complicating his efforts to attract media attention and utilize the indictment as a political stunt.

“Whether you send the right or the left or you’re a supporter or detractor of Donald Trump, this should really bother you,” Tacopina said, reiterating Trump and his team’s position that the Manhattan indictment is a political attack against the former president.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, a veteran judge in Trump-related cases, will conduct the case. He presided over a criminal trial last year against Trump’s real-estate company last year, although Trump himself was not a defendant in the case.

Trump has reportedly hired Todd Blanche to lead his defense team, a former U.S. attorney who has represented other members of Trump’s inner circle such as his former campaign manager Paul Manafort. 

Article by Jakob Mieszkowski-Lapping