Trump heads to New York on Monday to ‘believe it or not’ face criminal charges

New York is already bracing for his arrival with a heavy police presence and barricades erected around Manhattan Criminal Court where he will appear at 2.15pm on Tuesday afternoon

Donald Trump is heading to New York today ahead of Tuesday’s historic court hearing – where he will become the first current or former US president to ever be arrested and charged with a crime.

The former president announced on Truth Social that he will leave his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at noon ET on Monday to travel to Manhattan.

“I will be leaving Mar-a-Lago on Monday at 12 noon, heading to Trump Tower in New York,” he wrote.

“On Tuesday morning I will be going to, believe it or not, the Courthouse. America was not supposed to be this way!”

Mr Trump’s legal team had already confirmed that he would not fight extradition from Florida but would instead surrender willingly to New York authorities.

New York is already bracing for his arrival with a heavy police presence and barricades erected around Manhattan Criminal Court where he will appear before Judge Juan Merchan at 2.15pm on Tuesday.

Like all defendants facing criminal charges, he will be processed before appearing in court, with his fingerprints and mug shot taken.

At his arraignment, he is expected to plead not guilty to all charges, according to his attorney Joe Tacopina.

The former president has indicated it will likely only be a fleeting court appearance as he expects to be back at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to deliver a prime-time address just hours later at 8.15pm ET.

On Thursday 30 March, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Mr Trump on criminal charges over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels days just before the 2016 presidential election.

It is currently unclear what the charges are but multiple reports say that Mr Trump is facing more than 30 counts related to business fraud. The charges are expected to be unsealed at his arraignment.

President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he leaves Trump International Golf Club in his motorcade on Sunday 2 April (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Manhattan prosecutors have been investigating whether Mr Trump falsified the Trump Organization’s business records when his former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen made the payment of $130,0000 to Ms Daniels.

Prosecutors claim that the money was used to silence Ms Daniels about an alleged affair she had with Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has long denied having an affair with the adult film star.

Cohen was convicted of tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations related to the payments to Ms Daniels. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

In recent weeks, the probe ramped up with both Cohen and Ms Daniels testifying before the grand jury.

Mr Trump was also invited to testify. Though it was an invite he unsurprisingly turned down, it was a strong sign an indictment was on the way.

But – despite his rampant Truth Social posts and his legal team going on a media blitz over the past few weeks – Mr Trump is said to have been caught off guard by news of the indictment.

Since then, he has blasted the charges, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the judge expected to oversee his case in furious Truth Social posts.

The unprecedented indictment makes Mr Trump the first current or former president to ever face criminal charges in the history of the US.