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Mar-a-Lago events suspended as Trump huddles with ‘shaken’ advisers Donald Trump huddles with advisers after initial surprise of indictment
(about 11 hours later)
Former president prepares for New York court appearance at Florida resort after news of indictment caught him by surprise Trump said to be buoyed by favorable polling after charges
Weekend events at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, were suspended on Friday as the former president was “huddling” with his attorneys after being blindsided by the grand jury indictment handed up against him after payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels. Donald Trump huddled with his closest advisers on Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago resort over political strategy after being caught by surprise about the news that a Manhattan grand jury had indicted him on criminal charges connected to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Trump, the New York Post reported, is meeting with advisers who were said to be “shaken” by the news of dozens of criminal charges related to a $130,000 payment given to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Gregory Clifford. The former president was buoyed, according to a source familiar with the matter, over new post-indictment polls that placed him far ahead of his expected 2024 rival, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and other Republican primary challengers.
“It won’t be business as usual,” a source told the Post. “They expected this but there is shock now that it’s happened. According to a Yahoo news poll, Trump was beating DeSantis 57% to 31% in the one-to-one contest, and was attracting majority support at 52% when pitted against a wider, 10-candidate field including DeSantis at 21% and the UN ambassador in the Trump administration, Nikki Haley.
“It’s real now. And they are worried about a surprise.” Trump also improved his lead over DeSantis in polling done for his campaign by McLaughlin and Associates, which surveyed 1,000 likely 2024 general election voters and found Trump beating DeSantis 63% to 30%, improving his lead from January when Trump was at 52% and DeSantis at 40%.
Separately, a source told the outlet that Trump had been “a little nervous and somber” about the indictment, but he has since “become more upbeat and thinks public opinion is on his side and that this will help him win the election”. The sharp uptick in polling numbers – and a corresponding reversal by potential 2024 rivals trying to come to Trump’s defense over the indictment after previously trying to distance themselves – was so sudden and marked that it took some of Trump’s own advisers by surprise.
Trump received formal notification of the charges, which have yet to be unsealed, stemming from a grand jury empaneled by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg. Confirmation of the indictment came on Thursday after reports suggested that the grand jury would not sit again until May. Trump took the reluctance of his nearest rivals to directly confront him over the charges as a sign that he remains the steadfast frontrunner for the Republican nomination, the source said, and reinforced their difficulty in getting voters to renounce him, while trying to be his successor.
On 23 March, Trump indicated that he believed he had beaten the rap when he shared a now-deleted post on his Truth Social network of himself holding a baseball bat next to a photo of Bragg and later warned of the potential for “death and destruction” if he was charged. The strongest reflection of Trump’s durability with his core Maga base came in fundraising numbers. The Trump campaign said on Friday that it had raised more than $4m in the 24 hours after news of the indictment, and that more than 16,000 people registered to volunteer for the campaign.
Days later the charges were filed, and now Trump is due to enter a plea in the case at a hearing in New York on Tuesday afternoon. Trump is expected to plead not guilty. The case centers on $130,000 that Trump paid to Daniels through Cohen in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Trump later reimbursed Cohen with $35,000 checks using his personal funds, which were recorded as legal expenses. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal crimes.
An attorney for Trump, Joe Tacopina, told NBC’s Today show that his client would not consider taking a plea deal after becoming the first former president to be criminally charged. With the charges under seal, it remains unclear what charges the district attorney Alvin Bragg might seek against Trump, though some members of his legal team believe the most likely scenario involves a base charge of falsifying business records elevated to a felony.
“There’s no crime,” Tacopina argued. An attorney for Trump, Joe Tacopina, told NBC’s Today show that his client would not consider taking a plea deal after becoming the first former president to be criminally charged. “There’s no crime,” Tacopina argued.
Preparations for the ex-president’s arraignment at Manhattan’s criminal courthouse at 100 Centre St have been under way for 10 days, with barriers being erected for crowd control.Preparations for the ex-president’s arraignment at Manhattan’s criminal courthouse at 100 Centre St have been under way for 10 days, with barriers being erected for crowd control.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, told agents that the agency will take “the necessary steps” to protect Trump from harm, including placing agents in a “bubble formation” to separate him from the public. Indictments and criminal trials scheduled for Tuesday at the same courthouse include: burglary for taking paintings from a West Village townhouse; a thwarted terrorist attack on a Jewish community; the illegal selling of firearms; murder for an East Harlem hammer attack; murder and attempted murder for attacking multiple homeless men; murder and criminal possession of a weapon for shooting into a car in East Harlem; and a grand larceny case involving sim-card swapping.
But Cheatle also said the service had not sought any special accommodations in the court’s standard procedures for processing and arraignment. The former president will nonetheless find himself in company he probably did not anticipate.
Indictments and criminal trials scheduled for Tuesday at the same courthouse include: burglary for taking paintings from a West Village townhouse; a thwarted terrorist attack on a Jewish community; the illegal selling of firearms; murder for a deadly East Harlem hammer attack; murder and attempted murder for attacking multiple homeless men; murder and criminal possession of a weapon for shooting into a car in East Harlem; and a grand larceny case involving sim-card swapping.
New York police have issued a memo instructing all officers to wear their uniforms and prepare for mobilization, according to local news reports. That came after Bragg acknowledged in a memo to the DA’s 1,600 staff members that the office had been receiving offensive and threatening phone calls and emails.New York police have issued a memo instructing all officers to wear their uniforms and prepare for mobilization, according to local news reports. That came after Bragg acknowledged in a memo to the DA’s 1,600 staff members that the office had been receiving offensive and threatening phone calls and emails.
Bragg said the safety of his staff remained a top priority, and he thanked them for persevering in the face of “additional press attention and security around our office”.Bragg said the safety of his staff remained a top priority, and he thanked them for persevering in the face of “additional press attention and security around our office”.
Trump will not be handcuffed at his arraignment or subjected to a “perp walk”, and discussions are still being held about whether his booking photo will be publicly circulated. Trump reportedly “wants the mugshot out” because it could harness donations to his presidential campaign.Trump will not be handcuffed at his arraignment or subjected to a “perp walk”, and discussions are still being held about whether his booking photo will be publicly circulated. Trump reportedly “wants the mugshot out” because it could harness donations to his presidential campaign.
“The funds will start flying in,” a source told the Post.
Melania Trump is not expected to join her husband on his trip to New York, where he will reportedly stay at his triplex in Trump Tower. She plans to “lay low”, according to reports.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka issued a statement on her Instagram page on Friday saying “I love my father, and I love my country. Today, I am pained for both.”