Donald Trump arraignment on New York indictment

No mugshot was taken of Trump during his court appearance in New York, a source with direct knowledge told NBC News.

— Jacob Pramuk

Trump’s plane took off for Florida after he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts at his arraignment in New York.

The ex-president will return home to his Mar-a-Lago club. He is expected to deliver remarks in the evening.

— Jacob Pramuk

Trump’s newest attorney, Todd Blanche, said after the arraignment that his client is “upset and frustrated and disappointed and mad that this happened.”

Blanche, speaking to reporters outside the courthouse alongside Trump’s other lawyers Joe Tacopina and Susan Necheles, called the 34-count indictment “boilerplate” and lacking surprises.

“It’s really disappointing, it’s sad and we’re going to fight it,” Blanche said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is speaking after the arraignment of Trump on 34 charges of falsifying business records in relation to hush money payments to two women.

Trump pleaded not guilty.

— Jacob Pramuk

Trump departed criminal court after pleading not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

The arraignment lasted 58 minutes. Trump then left without providing a comment to the press and entered a motorcade that began traveling up a highway on the east side of Manhattan.

— Kevin Breuninger

The 34 felony counts against Trump in Manhattan criminal court center on his alleged role in making hush money payments to two women — not just porn star Stormy Daniels — while he was running for president in 2016, NBC News reported.

Much of the focus of District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation has been on the $130,000 payment Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen made to Daniels, who alleges she had an affair with Trump years earlier.

Cohen, a key witness in Bragg’s probe, said he paid Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, at Trump’s behest. Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.

Karen McDougal, an ex-Playboy model who alleges she had an affair with Trump years ago, said she was paid $150,000 by the then-publisher of the National Enquirer for the rights to her story. But the company never published it.

The company, American Media Inc., in 2018 admitted it paid the hush money to McDougal “in concert” with Trump’s campaign to prevent her from publicly airing her allegations ahead of the 2016 election.

— Kevin Breuninger

Just before Trump’s arraignment on criminal charges, the former president’s 2024 campaign posted a new item to its store: a T-shirt featuring a fake mugshot.

The shirt, which Trump’s joint fundraising committee said comes with a $47 campaign contribution, depicts a black-and-white photo of Trump’s face in front of a wall with lines suggesting he is six feet, five inches tall. (Trump’s actual height has been reported as six-foot-two or six-foot-three.)

In front of Trump’s head is a placard reading “President Donald J. Trump, 45-47, 04 04 2023.”

Below the photo are two words in all caps: “NOT GUILTY.”

NBC News reported that Trump will not actually have his mugshot taken.

The White House is maintaining its silence and withholding comment on the Trump indictment. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked several times during Tuesday’s press briefing about the case and she declined to comment.

“It’s an ongoing case, we’re just not going to comment on the case itself,” Jean-Pierre said. “Look, the president’s going to focus on the American people like he does every day. This is not something that is a focus for him.”

Jean-Pierre said she has not spoken with Biden on any of the developments. She reiterated that the White House was not given prior notice of the indictment and learned of it through news reports.

— Emma Kinery

The historic court proceedings make Trump the first ex-president to face criminal charges. Trump also faces separate criminal investigations in Georgia and at the federal level.

The indictment was unsealed in a brief proceeding before New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump is seen in this photo appearing in Manhattan Supreme Court before the start of his arraignment on a grand jury indictment.

Trump is expected to plead not guilty.

Cameras were barred from taking photos or video during the arraignment after it got underway.

— Dan Mangan

Trump just entered the Manhattan courtroom where he will be arraigned on charges stemming from a probe into a 2016 hush money payment.

Watch the moment below:

Trump’s arraignment began around 2:30 p.m. ET, in the first time in history a former American president has appeared in court to face a criminal charge.

Trump is expected to plead not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court. He also is expected to be released without bail.

— Dan Mangan

A grim-faced Trump walked into the courtroom without speaking to reporters on his way in.

His arraignment was set to begin just before 2:30 p.m. ET.

Trump’s legal team walked into court before he did.

— Dan Mangan

Trump’s arraignment was delayed for 15 minutes, NBC News reported.

Trump was due to appear in a Manhattan Supreme Court courtroom at 2:15 p.m. ET.

That time came and passed, even as District Attorney Alvin Bragg was seen on cameras set up in a hallway outside the court.

— Dan Mangan

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement before Trump’s arraignment that “there’s no place in our justice system for any outside influence or intimidation in the legal process.”

“I believe that Mr. Trump will have a fair trial that follows the facts and the law,” Schumer said. “As the trial proceeds, protest is an American right but all protests must be peaceful.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump lost an appeal to block multiple former White House aides, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, from testifying to a federal grand jury investigating his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, NBC News reported.

In late March, a federal district court judge ruled that the aides would have to testify. In addition to Meadows, they included former White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, former national security advisor Robert O’Brien, former senior aide Stephen Miller, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, former deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, former assistant Nick Luna and former White House Presidential Personnel Office director John McEntee.

A three-judge panel on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected an emergency motion seeking to stay the lower court’s ruling, a court docket entry reveals.

— Dan Mangan

Trump arrived at a courthouse in lower Manhattan to be arrested and arraigned on criminal charges.

Watch the video of his arrival below:

Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina told NBC News that if prosecutors give defense lawyers a copy of the indictment against the former president during the arraignment, they may ask Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan for a brief recess.

Tacopina’s potential timeout would give the defense team time to review that charging document, which remains sealed for now.

— Dan Mangan

Trump did not make an audible statement as he entered Manhattan criminal court to surrender to authorities.

Video of the heavily guarded area shows Trump walking straight from a motorcade into the building.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump called the moment he was heading to the courthouse for his arraignment “surreal.”

Trump, as he arrived to the courthouse to turn himself in, wrote on Truth Social: “Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”

The comments were the first Trump made during his trip to the courthouse for an arraignment, following an indictment by a New York grand jury.

— Brian Schwartz

Trump arrived at Manhattan Supreme Court to surrender to authorities on the grand jury indictment.

Trump was taken to the court in a motorcade from Trump Tower in Midtown.

— Dan Mangan

Trump has departed his midtown Manhattan skyscraper and is headed south to the courthouse where he will become the first former president in U.S. history to be arraigned on criminal charges.

Trump emerged from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue around 1:08 p.m. ET. Clad in a dark suit, white shirt and signature bright red tie, he briefly waved and raised a fist to onlookers watching from beyond a barricade before he left.

— Kevin Breuninger

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., defended his decision to quickly depart from the area around the Manhattan courthouse prior to the pro-Trump protest he was reportedly planning to attend.

“Say what you want, I showed up what about you?” Santos tweeted early Tuesday afternoon, adding the hashtag “#TrumpArraignment.”

Santos left the area around 10 a.m. ET, telling NBC News at the time that he won’t be returning because of “media chaos.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Melania Trump will not be in court when her husband is arraigned on criminal charges related to a hush money payment to a porn star who says she had sex with him.

Donald Trump has denied having sex with Stormy Daniels in 2006, months after Melania gave birth to their son Barron.

But he reimbursed his then-personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen for the $130,000 Cohen gave Daniels to keep her quiet shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

— Dan Mangan

The upper floors of the Manhattan courthouse where Trump will soon be arraigned are being cleared of all operations in advance of a security sweep, NBC News reported, citing senior security officials.

Once the sweep is complete, members of the press and other people who have obtained the tickets required to attend the court proceedings will be let into the building, according to NBC.

— Kevin Breuninger

New York police officials estimate that there are about 300 pro-Trump protestors near Manhattan Supreme Court, compared to about 150 people demonstrating their displeasure with the former president, NBC reported.

Several hundred members of the media.

— Dan Mangan

While running for Manhattan district attorney in 2020, Alvin Bragg said that while there were a “staggering” number of cases around then-President Trump, he was struck by one involving a hush money payment made to a porn star by Trump’s former personal lawyer.

“You know, we haven’t talked about Michael Cohen yet and the campaign finance part,” Bragg told BS News in an interview, referring to Trump’s one-time fixer.

Bragg said at the time he had followed press reports about Cohen’s federal criminal case. The former Trump lawyer pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation related to paying $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels at Trump’s direction.

As DA, Bragg resurrected the criminal probe into Trump in connection with that payment, which resulted in a grand jury indicting the former president on Thursday.

— Dan Mangan

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said in an interview that she plans to go Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s private Florida club, after he gets arraigned.

Trump is scheduled to address the nation from Mar-a-Lago this evening after his arraignment in New York on an indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.

Greene, in that same interview with Right Side Broadcasting after she abruptly left a pro-Trump rally outside the courthouse where Trump will appear, seemed to compare Trump to Jesus.

“President Trump is joining some of the most incredible people in history being arrested today. Nelson Mandela was arrested; served time in prison. Jesus. Jesus was arrested and murdered by the Roman government,” Greene said.

— Brian Schwartz

Trump’s Republican presidential rivals, both those who have declared candidacies and those who are expected to join the race, have largely opted to respond to Trump’s indictment by attacking the Manhattan DA’s probe.

But the former president’s primary opponents may sharpen their tone against the current GOP frontrunner as the contest heats up, Republican operatives predicted to NBC News.

That move could be a fraught one for any Republican presidential contender, as attacking Trump could risk alienating swaths of the GOP electorate. Some GOP sources told NBC that a shift in tone could be months away, possibly during a primary debate.

Trump has appeared to gain ground in recent polls of the possible primary field. A Republican strategist told CNBC in a recent interview that the charges could unify GOP voters against DA Alvin Bragg. One operative told NBC, however, that the former president’s legal troubles could drag Trump down in a general election.

— Kevin Breuninger

The Conservative Political Action Conference blasted the Trump indictment as “little more than politics dressed up as prosecution and it should end.”

CPAC also said that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “at minimum … should recuse himself” given his purported connections to billionaire investor and Democratic megadonor George Soros.

A Soros-funded group boosted Bragg’s campaign, but Soros “has never met or spoken to Alvin Bragg,” a Soros advisor has told CNBC.

Matt Schlapp, the married head of CPAC, was accused in January of fondling the genital area of a male aide to former Georgia GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker after a night of drinking in Atlanta. A lawyer for Schlapp called the claim a “false allegation.”

— Dan Mangan

Just hours before his expected arrest, Trump netted an endorsement from Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., for his 2024 presidential campaign.

Hyde-Smith, whose state voted for Trump over President Joe Biden by more than 16 percentage points in the 2020 election, explicitly tied her endorsement to his pending surrender on reported charges of alleged document fraud.

“The prosecution of President Trump in New York is a political stunt by a prosecutor whose campaign was funded by George Soros,” read the senator’s statement shared by the pro-Trump MAGA PAC. She was referencing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who did not receive any direct funding from billionaire donor George Soros, contrary to repeated Republican claims.

“That charade is all about self-promotion by the prosecutor and has nothing to do with justice. I believe the whole affair will backfire on the prosecutor and Democrats,” Hyde-Smith’s statement said.

She also expressed support for Trump’s policies and leadership during his term in the White House, and vowed to work “to assist him in winning the Republican nomination for President in 2024.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump’s social media posts calling Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg an “animal” and Judge Juan Merchan “Trump Hating” during the indictment process might earn him a gag order from the district attorney’s office — a possibility roundly criticized by Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and James Comer of Kentucky.

The Republican lawmakers and Trump backers say they are “deeply concerned” about reports of what they called an “unconstitutional gag order” from the DA.

“To put any restrictions on the ability of President Trump to discuss his mistreatment at the hands of this politically motivated prosecutor would only further demonstrate the weaponization of the New York justice system,” Jordan and Comer said in a statement. “To even contemplate stifling the speech of the former commander in chief and current candidate for President is at odds with everything America stands for.”

— Chelsey Cox

Georgia congresswoman and far-right provocateur Marjorie Taylor Greene briefly visited the area outside Manhattan Supreme Court, where the Republican was completely drowned out by hecklers with whistles and drums protesting against Trump.

Greene quickly left scene after reporters swarmed her and protesters verbally castigated her.

Police officers yelled at journalists to back away from Greene before she hopped into a car and drove off.

— Dan Mangan

A brief altercation broke out between apparent pro-Trump and anti-Trump protesters amid the frenzy outside the Manhattan courthouse.

A woman wearing a red MAGA hat crossed over to a group of protesters who had laid out a large black banner reading “Trump lies all the time” and were shouting “he lies.”

The Trump supporter tripped and fell and then was told by an anti-Trump demonstrator that she was on the wrong side.

A scuffle followed in which a demonstrator threw a punch, though it was not clear who threw it.

— Kevin Breuninger and Contessa Brewer

Embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., departed from the area near the Manhattan courthouse ahead of the pro-Trump protest that he was reportedly planning to attend.

Santos left around 10 a.m. ET, telling NBC News that he won’t be returning due to “media chaos” in the area. During his brief appearance, Santos said that his message for Trump was to “Stay strong. The people are with him.”

A spokeswoman for Santos did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

— Kevin Breuninger

Judge Juan Merchan will allow five pool photographers to take photos from the courtroom just
“prior to the commencement of the arraignment,” the judge wrote in an order.

But Merchan denied a request by media outlets to have photos and video recording allowed during the proceeding itself. Cameras will be allowed in the hallway of Manhattan Supreme Court.

Trump’s lawyers opposed the request for cameras in the courtroom, saying it would contribute to a “circus-like atmosphere.”

The news outlets whose cameras will take pool images in court are the Daily Mail, The New York Post, the Associated Press, Reuters, and Getty.

— Dan Mangan

Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign continued to leverage his looming arrest in Manhattan as a fundraising tool, this time sending a solicitation with the subject line, “My last email before my arrest.”

The email from Trump’s joint fundraising committee, written in the style of a letter from the former president, lamented “the loss of justice in America.”

“Today is the day that a ruling political party ARRESTS its leading opponent for having committed NO CRIME,” read the message, which also conflated Trump’s self-perceived plight with a wrongdoing against the nation.

The bottom of the email asked supporters to “please make a contribution peacefully” to the committee.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump wants his criminal case transferred to Staten Island, calling Manhattan Supreme Court a “very unfair venue.”

“This case should be moved to nearby Staten Island — would be a very fair and secure location for the trial,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

Staten Island is also the only one of New York City’s five boroughs that the Republican won in his doomed 2020 re-election bid against President Joe Biden. Trump won 57% of the vote on Staten Island.

Biden had his biggest margin of victory over Trump in Manhattan. The Democrat won 86.7% of the vote.

Trump in his post also blasted Manhattan court Judge Juan Merchan, who is handling his arraignment. He contended “the highly partisan judge & his family” are “well known Trump haters.”

Trump is angry about Merchan’s handling of the criminal trial of his business the Trump Organization, which was convicted in late 2022 of a tax avoidance scheme.

— Dan Mangan

Trump might speak to reporters going into and coming out of his arraignment.

Trump floated that idea Monday night as he prepared for his Manhattan court appearance, CNBC has learned.

The former president has not scheduled a formal press conference.

— Dan Mangan

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and George Santos, R-N.Y., are set to appear at a pro-Trump protest near the Manhattan courthouse where Trump will be arraigned on criminal charges.

Greene, whose past and current fringe views and penchant for courting controversy have not stopped her from rising to prominence in the GOP, is the top name in the protest organized by the New York Young Republican Club.

Santos, the embattled, under-investigation freshman lawmaker who has faced calls to resign from his fellow New York Republicans after admitting he lied about key details of his life on the campaign trail, is not slated to speak at the protest, NBC News reported.

The protest is set for 10:30 a.m. ET, less than four hours before Trump’s scheduled arraignment.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump fired off some of his harshest attacks yet against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a series of late-night posts on the eve of his historic arrest and arraignment.

The ex-president, who is reportedly facing dozens of criminal counts related to alleged document fraud stemming from Bragg’s probe of a 2016 hush money payment, asserted without evidence that the DA had leaked the “complete information” of Trump’s indictment.

Trump called on Bragg to “INDICT HIMSELF” and “resign, NOW!” He claimed there was “no Crime by Trump.” The former president has repeatedly vented rage at Bragg in recent weeks, going as far as to call him a “Soros-backed animal” — an attack that prompted accusations of bigotry.

— Kevin Breuninger

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrived at the courthouse where Trump is set to be arraigned later in the day on charges stemming from the DA’s hush money probe.

Bragg arrived outside the lower Manhattan building in a black SUV at about 8:06 a.m. ET. He quickly made his way through the heavy security presence by the entrance and moved out of view.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign raised more than $8 million in the four days since the Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him, according to a top campaign aide.

That windfall, reportedly Trump’s best fundraising stretch since leaving the White House, rolled in as the ex-president prepared for his arrest and arraignment on charges stemming from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s hush money probe.

On the day Trump flew to Manhattan from his home in Palm Beach, Florida, his campaign raised $1.1 million, Trump aide Jason Miller tweeted Monday night. That’s in addition to the $7 million that had already been collected since his indictment last Thursday, according to Miller.

— Kevin Breuninger

Three defense attorneys for Trump will be present in the Manhattan courtroom for the former president’s arraignment, one of the lawyers told NBC News.

The three attorneys are Joe Tacopina, Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, who announced his decision to join Trump’s legal team just a day earlier.

Tacopina confirmed to NBC that all three will be with Trump during his appearance before New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan. The arraignment is set for this afternoon.

Trump was accompanied by his son Eric Trump and top aides and campaign officials when he traveled to Manhattan from Florida on Monday in advance of his arrest and arraignment. Those officials include senior advisors Jason Miller and Boris Epshteyn, aide Dan Scavino and campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, according to the news outlet.

— Kevin Breuninger