His reaction – and everything else you want to know about Trump’s day in court

The preparatory skirmish

It will be a historic day in the United States, that much was already clear before Trump actually appeared in court: the 76-year-old is the first American president in the history of the country to appear in court for an alleged crime.

The attention for the spectacle was correspondingly enormous. The media, Trump supporters and Trump opponents besieged the New York courthouse early in the morning.

Leading up to the trial, Trump never tired of emphasizing that he was innocent and that the allegations against him were baseless and politically motivated. His supporters therefore vociferously protested against the procedure.

Due to the past, especially the storm on the Capitol in January 2021, New York authorities once again feared riots by supporters of the ex-president. Some 35,000 police officers and FBI agents were therefore deployed to ensure safety in New York.

Trump’s arrival in court

Almost an hour before the trial, the message sounds: Trump is on his way to court. In these minutes it was announced that there would be no “Mugshot”, a police photo. Trump reportedly would have liked one because he could have staged it as part of the presidential campaign.

Trump then arrived at the courthouse about half an hour before the trial began. He did not respond to questions from the numerous media representatives when he entered the court.

Trump enters the courtroom:

The accusation

Then the indictment is read. The prosecution put Trump the Forgery of business documents in 34 cases to the burden. He wanted to hide harmful information and illegal activities before and after the 2016 presidential election. Central to the allegations is the payment of hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Trump and others have systematically tried to uncover negative information about him, suppress it with money, and thus improve his chances in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump did everything he could to cover it all up by making dozens of false entries in business documents. Attempts to violate electoral laws are among the criminal activities he has tried to cover up.

Under New York law, it is a criminal offense to conspire to illegally advance a candidate in an election.

All 34 charges are so-called “Class E” crimes, the lowest level in New York State. The maximum prison sentence for this is four years.

As previously announced, Trump pleaded not guilty in court.

Prosecutor Alvin Bragg addressed the media following the indictment. He said:

The reading of the indictment was over an hour after the trial began. Trump left the courtroom again. As with his arrival, he refrained from commenting on the media.

However, his lawyer Todd Blanche did. He said the ex-president was “frustrated and upset” – the charges had gone exactly as Trump expected and therefore there was no basis for a conviction.

Trump kept his own statement — he traveled back to Florida to his Mar-a-Lago residence, where he later spoke.

Trump’s response

And he did it in the usual Trump fashion: The allegations against him were a “massive influence on the election to an extent our country has never seen before,” he railed during his appearance at Mar-a-Lago.

“I never thought something like this could happen in America,” Trump said, referring to the indictment and lamenting that the country went to hell under Democratic leadership. He portrayed the prosecution against him as a politically motivated attempt by his opponents to eliminate him before the 2024 election.

“Our justice system has become lawless,” Trump continued. The Democrats tried to abuse it to win elections. “We are a nation in decline. Our country is going to hell. And now these radical leftist lunatics want to use law enforcement to influence our elections,” he said. “We can’t allow that.” The audience acknowledged Trump’s words with applause and supportive bickering.

The Republican also called the charges ridiculous and prosecutor Alvin Bragg a failure.

The current developments surrounding the indictment against Trump are also available in the live ticker here:

How it goes on

The procedure after the reading of the indictment will now take a long time. Before a trial, there is a series of hearings and the opportunity to make various requests. Trump’s lawyers could try to delay the trials and burst a trial.

He himself must not appear in court again until December 4. A request to judge Juan Merchan not to appear in person due to high security costs was rejected. The same rules would apply to Trump as to all other defendants.

Prosecutors suggested January 2024 as a possible start date for Trump’s trial, but the defense has argued for a later date: late spring 2024. Judge Merchan said it would be wise to move as soon as possible. The next US presidential election is scheduled for November 2024. The internal party primaries are expected to begin in February 2024.

With material from the SDA and DPA news agencies.