New YorkThe New York Times reported that former US President Donald J. Trump prepares to surrender to prosecutors in Manhattan next week as New York police gear up for protests and an intensely partisan backlash from Democrats and Republicans amid tumultuous times for a highly polarized nation. has started.
Metal barricades were erected around the criminal courthouse on Center Street in Lower Manhattan, a day after the grand jury indicted Trump and made him the first former president to face criminal charges. The New York Times reported that dozens of reporters and camera crews camped out on the street Friday, while 20 court officials stood guard at the courthouse entrance, monitoring activity.
People familiar with Trump’s preparations said Trump intends to travel to New York on Monday and spend the night at Trump Tower. The people said he has no plans to hold a news conference or address the public during his stay in New York.
Trump remained largely quiet on Friday at his resort Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where he spent the day talking by telephone with advisers. One of his lawyers, Joe Tacopina, said in a televised interview that the former president would not take a plea deal and was prepared to go to trial, a characteristically defiant stance that is likely to endear him to his supporters. Those who view the prosecution as a politically motivated vendetta by Democrats told The New York Times.
Later Friday afternoon, Trump wrote in all capital letters on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded, that Democrats were “indicting a completely innocent person in an act of obstruction and clear election interference.” ” He concluded that all this was happening “while our country is going to hell!”
The former president is expected to buy the silence of a porn star in Manhattan criminal court on charges related to payments made just before the 2016 presidential election, who he said he had an extramarital affair with. The former president, who has denied the affair, is listed in more than two dozen allegations in a sealed indictment, according to two people familiar with the matter, The New York Times reported, though the exact charges are unknown.
The case, which could drag on for months and whose outcome is unclear, is likely to test the country’s institutions and the rule of law. It will also have profound implications for the 2024 campaign for the White House, a race in which Trump remains the Republican front-runner.
Also read: Donald Trump accused of porn star hush money, first US President accused of crime
Even many of Trump’s potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination lined up behind him in the hours following news of the impeachment, looking more like allies than competitors.
The New York Times reported that the opportunity to criticize the former president was all passed up and few rushed to his defense of how reluctant the 2024 contender is and antagonizes his millions of supporters in the party.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential presidential candidate who clashed with Trump, rushed to his defense, posting on Twitter that the impeachment was “un-American” and amounted to “weaponization of the legal system”. .