UPDATE: Former President Trump has pled not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Former President Donald Trump surrendered Tuesday at a courthouse in Lower Manhattan, waving briefly to supporters as he arrived just before 1:30 p.m. ET.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, entered a Manhattan courtroom to be formally charged Tuesday in a watershed moment as his supporters and detractors noisily rallied outside.
He reportedly had been fingerprinted in the booking process, but did not take a mug shot.
Despite reports he would make an appearance before reporters before the arraignment, video showed Trump, his lawyers, and campaign advisers walked out of the booking without making remarks.
“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse,” Trump posted on Truth Social while he was in the car. “Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”
Wearing a dark blue suit and red tie, Trump, 76, exhibited little emotion on his face as he waved to a crowd assembled outside the courthouse after he was driven in a motorcade from his New York residence at Trump Tower.
Trump, who has said he is innocent and is due to plead not guilty, surrendered to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg before an arraignment proceeding before Justice Juan Merchan. The arraignment, where Trump will be in court to hear charges and have a chance to enter a plea, was planned for 2:15 p.m. ET.
Here is an estimated timetable for Trump’s movements today:
- Just after 1 p.m. (all times Eastern): Trump’s motorcade left Trump Tower.
- Around 1:24 p.m.: Trump arrived at Manhattan County Court.
- Speaking to media cameras before arraignment.
- 2:15 p.m.: arraignment and declaring “not guilty.”
- Speaking to the media after entering his plea.
- 3 p.m.: Trump leaves for LaGuardia airport.
- Around 5:15 p.m.: Arrival at Palm Beach International.
- Trump leaves for Mar-a-Lago.
- 8:15 p.m.: Trump address, which will air live on Newsmax and in its entirety.
The cameras will be running along with Trump’s movements today, but he will be off camera and only still pictures will be allowed in the courtroom during the arraignment, according to Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling Monday night.
“That this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance cannot possibly be disputed,” Merchan wrote last night. “Never in the history of the United States has a sitting or past president been indicted on criminal charges.
“Mr. Trump’s arraignment has generated unparalleled public interest and media attention. The populace rightly hungers for the most accurate and current information available. To suggest otherwise would be disingenuous.”
Hundreds of onlookers, protesters, journalists and a few politicians swarmed into the confines of Collect Pond Park, which sits across the street from the criminal courthouse where Trump was to be arraigned.
Metal barricades separated Trump supporters from anti-Trump protesters, and police stepped in to break up small skirmishes. Journalists, some of whom had taken turns waiting in line all night to reserve a coveted seat in the courtroom, pressed in on notable figures who appeared.
New York police had said they were ready for large protests.
A different sort of tension ran high around the courthouse and park Tuesday as news media jostled for position. Television networks hired security personnel who pushed people away. Some reporters had begun lining up for a seat in the courtroom Monday afternoon, and stayed there all night or paid others to hold their place.
WATCH THE CLIPS BELOW: