Former U.S. President Donald Trump is set to travel from Florida to New York City today, Monday, ahead of expected criminal charges related to hush money payments to silence a porn star before the 2016 election, amidst heightened security measures in Manhattan. Trump is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges. He is scheduled to be arraigned, fingerprinted, and photographed in a Manhattan court on Tuesday. His lawyers stated that he will plead not guilty. The specific charges included in the indictment before the grand jury have not been disclosed. Trump's appearance tomorrow will be his first in court regarding the case.
In a social media post late Sunday, Trump mentioned that he plans to leave his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and head to "Trump Tower" in Manhattan before going to the courthouse. Over the weekend, New York police began setting up barricades along the sidewalks around Trump Tower and the Manhattan Criminal Court building downtown. Protests are expected at these locations, and the police have pledged to be prepared. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating both Trump's actions during the 2020 election and his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House, referred to as the "Mar-a-Lago documents," in 2021.
