Protesters, journalists and the NYPD descended upon Manhattan in the days leading up to an unprecedented event: the arrest of a former U.S. president. On Tuesday, Donald J. Trump was arrested and faced an arraignment in which he pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges of felony business fraud related to hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Here’s everything we know about the charges Trump is facing – and what happens next.
Why is Donald Trump facing charges?
Leading up to the 2016 election, Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in exchange for keeping quiet about her affair with Trump. While Cohen served prison time, federal prosecutors had previously decided not to charge Trump.
However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg revived an investigation into Trump’s finances earlier this year. The monthslong investigation concluded last week, when a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump, meaning that he is being officially charged with a crime. Trump pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Tuesday.
“These are low-level felony crimes in New York state no matter who you are,” Bragg said following Trump’s arrest. “We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.”
Trump is now facing 34 charges of felony business fraud for falsifying records that showed he reimbursed Cohen through 11 checks made between August 2015 and December 2017, the district attorney said. The payment to Daniels may have included campaign finances since the payment was presumably made to support Trump’s prospects of winning the election, Bragg said.
You can read the unsealed indictment in its entirety here.
Did Trump surrender himself?
He did. Here’s the timeline:
The former president traveled from Florida to lower Manhattan on Monday, where he stayed at Trump Tower. On Tuesday afternoon, he surrendered himself to state officials shortly after 1 p.m. Around 2:30 p.m., he heard the charges against him – to which he pleaded not guilty – read by Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan. Trump headed back to the airport around 3:30 p.m. to return to Palm Beach, Florida, where he delivered remarks.
“Virtually every legal pundit has said that there is no case here,” Trump posted on social media site, Truth Social while on his flight back to Florida.“There was nothing done illegally!”
He gave a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort later that night.
Were there any protests?
City officials planned street closures and security checkpoints while New Yorkers braced for a daunting commute and traffic on Tuesday. But for the most part, the day remained peaceful. Ahead of Trump’s arraignment, New York Mayor Eric Adams told would-be protesters to “respect the rule of law” in the city.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime supporter of Trump, led a short lived pro-Trump rally in Lower Manhattan. Counter protesters organized their own event nearby. Other Republican lawmakers publicly condemned, or made brief appearances, at the pro-Trump rally.
And despite the high-profile arrest, it was business as usual for the courtroom in Lower Manhattan. Other defendants, and their family members, also arrived at the Manhattan Criminal Court throughout the day, although with much less fanfare.
“He’s not special. He did crime, he should be treated the same way,” Shawnell Martinez told Gothamist on Tuesday. “If he did something wrong, he should be handcuffed going inside the courthouse.”
Other New Yorkers seemed to differ on their reactions to Trump’s arrest: some applauded the news, while others were clearly upset. Many remained bewildered that the yearslong saga had ended. Even outside the U.S., other nations dutifully reported on the unprecedented event.
What happens next?
It’ll be a while before Trump stands trial.
The judge needs to schedule dates for standard pre-trial procedure, including filing motions, the collection of evidence and selection of witnesses. There could be a jury selection process – or Trump could request a judge-only trial, otherwise known as a bench-trial.
Regardless, it’ll take some time.
Trump’s next in-person hearing for the case is set for Dec. 4. The prosecution had reportedly said it hoped to have a trial in January 2024, but Trump’s defense asked if it could occur in the spring of 2024.
“As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law,” Bragg said in a statement on Tuesday.
