Back in Trump Tower in his old stomping ground of Manhattan last night, Donald Trump was surrounded by the framed mementoes of a colourful career in the public eye, such as the cover of Variety when The Apprentice was the top television show in America and the photo of him shaking hands with President Reagan when the White House was still a distant dream.
Every inch of Trump’s 26th-floor office walls has his face grinning or scowling out from Playboy, The Economist, Newsweek, Time or People magazine. Today could bring the single image that tops them all — the historic first appearance by a US president in a courtroom under criminal charges.
As Trump, 76, huddled with teams of political and legal advisers, a leak reported from the Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested that the former president might have the book thrown at him but be spared the full indignity of handcuffs — normally applied to white-collar criminal defendants — and also the mugshot that could otherwise become the single defining image of the 2024 presidential election campaign.
Trump’s lawyers have been urging him to show some restraint after weeks of vilifying Alvin Bragg, the district attorney who is in charge of bringing the case against him, and more recently Juan Merchan, the judge for today’s historic arraignment hearing.
The former president held talks with the main two lawyers who have been preparing his defence so far — Susan Necheles and Joe Tacopina — amid reports that he has hired a new lead counsel for his defence, Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor.
Trump was accompanied by his son Eric, 39, who ran the Trump Organisation while his father was president, as well as a dozen aides including senior adviser Boris Epshteyn, longserving social media director Dan Scavino and head of operations Justin Caporale.
Trump is said to have left dinner earlier than expected and then unleashed on Truth Social, his social media site, a series of posts of favourable polls, a clip of President Biden that appeared to have been digitally altered and more attacks on Bragg: “D.A. BRAGG JUST ILLEGALLY LEAKED THE 33 points of Indictment. There are no changes or surprises from those he leaked days ago directly out of the Grand Jury. No Crime by Trump. What a MESS. Bragg should resign, NOW!”In another post, he called on Bragg to “indict himself” for breaking the law. Trump was referring to a report by Michael Isikoff, a veteran investigative reporter for Yahoo News, claiming that 34 charges would be brought when the indictment is unsealed today,