Donald Trump has announced he will be making a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort the same day he is expected to surrender to authorities in New York following his historic grand jury indictment.
The former president's office said that Trump will deliver remarks at his home in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday, April 4, at 8:15 p.m.
No further details about the events were released, but Tuesday is expected to be the day that Trump will hand himself in to the authorities to be arraigned as part of the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into hush money allegedly paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump, who would be the first president in U.S. history to face criminal charges, is not expected to be held in custody once he is arrested on Tuesday, nor is he expected to be placed in handcuffs or made to do a so-called "perp walk" outside the court in front of the press.
"I don't see any way that the judge will order Trump to remain in jail. Trump will almost certainly be released on his own recognizance," criminal defense attorney Joshua Ritter told Newsweek.
"Aside from the political implications of keeping a former president in jail, he's not facing a charge for a crime of violence and it's hard to argue Trump is a flight risk," he said.
Trump, who denies all wrongdoing, is reported to be possibly facing more than 30 criminal charges relating to business fraud under the investigation. The probe is said to have focused on allegations of falsified company records and whether the $130,000 paid by Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen to Daniels, which he claimed was intended to keep an alleged affair between the adult film star and the former president a secret ahead of the 2016 election, amounted to a campaign violation.
Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, has frequently attacked Bragg and the investigation. Despite his legal difficulties, polls suggest that his support has grown, with the former president's office claiming he also managed to raise more than $4 million in donations in the 24 hours after the news of his indictment emerged.
According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll, Trump has more than tripled his lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to confirm his 2024 bid in the coming weeks, in a head-to-head match-up among registered voters who are Republicans or Republican-leaning independents.
The most recent survey showed Trump leading DeSantis by 57 percent to 31 percent in a hypothetical primary race. In a previous Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted two weeks ago, Trump's lead over DeSantis was just 8 percentage points (47 to 39).
"I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support you have given me against this assault on our Nation," Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
"Our once beautiful USA is now a Nation in Decline. Radical Left Thugs & Insurrectionists have taken over our Country, & are rapidly destroying it. They are using the levers of Law Enforcement, and have completely Weaponized the FBI & DOJ to Interfere with, Rigg, and Steal our once SACRED ELECTIONS. We are now living in a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY, but we will Come Back & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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