Former President Donald Trump spent the night after being charged with throwing a party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he spent time DJing and partying with friends and family.
Trump flew back to his home in West Palm Beach, Fla., shortly after becoming the first former president to be indicted for a felony, leaving the immediate news post-indictment to his legal team.
The 45th President spent the evening at his private club with his youngest daughter Tiffany, her husband Michael Boulos and longtime adviser Roger Stone.
Trump took charge of the music at the party and performed the Village People’s campaign classic “Macho Man,” complete with a mix that cut into the song, with Trump’s voice reciting the pledge of allegiance.
At one point, he and the rest of the crowd got up to sing the Star-Spangled Banner by a group of people jailed at the Capitol for their role in the January 6 riots.
Former President Donald Trump spent the night after being charged with throwing a party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he spent time DJing and partying with friends and family
It was revealed Wednesday that Trump had raised more than $12 million in campaign funds in the days since the indictment broke, according to the New York Times, showing that his run to retake the White House in 2024 shows no sign of a collapse end shows.
In the ballroom, die-hard Trump supporters gathered under coffered ceilings and crystal chandeliers, with the usual Trump playlist refrains from Elton John and James Brown.
Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate who was backed by Trump and remains one of his staunchest allies, called the former president’s enemies the “worst people in the world.”
“I love the man for what he does for our country, but I love him even more when I realize: if you look at the enemies he has – they are the worst people in the world,” she told in Private Club.
“It looked like a bunch of copy and paste if you ask me,” she said of the charge. ‘Despair.’
Early arrivals included Mike Lindell, CEO of My Pillow, who advised Trump during his final weeks in the White House as the president fought to overturn the election results — another area Trump faces justice.
He was unfazed by what the unsealed indictment said.
“They didn’t do anything at the time. In fact, I think he got money from Stormy Daniels. It’s disgusting to bring up a misdemeanor and try to turn them into felonies,” he said of prosecutors’ decision to link the false business records charge to an underlying alleged felony alluded to in the indictment .
Donald Trump addresses his supporters in Mar-a-Lago after being arraigned in New York on Tuesday afternoon
Trump supporters filled the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago while waiting to hear from the former President
Trump will address his MAGA loyalists and the media now that he has been indicted
Trump Force One lands for landing at Palm Beach International Airport
Trump supporters line the route for his motorcade
He said he had it checked by his own lawyer and it was “a joke”. A crime covering a felony or crazy law. It’s just a reach. It’s an arming, an arming of our government, and quite frankly it’s a political motivation. It’s all for politics. That’s what they did to our country: FBI, CIA, everything.
Lindell admitted the enormous legal challenges Trump faces carry weight.
‘What do you think I’m doing?’ said Lindell, who is facing a massive Dominion lawsuit over his voter fraud claims, which were thrown out of court. “I have to do media. I have all these corrupt companies. You just have to put them down – it’s a distraction.’
“He has a thing. He wants to save our country,” he said of Trump. “It’s part of the fight. He gets hit. His focus – he loves this country. He loves people and he will keep going and he won’t let it stop him. Is it a distraction? Yes. But that’s all he’ll manage. It’s a distraction. He will use it positively, just as his numbers are up ten points today. It will be a big positive.’
“If you go back 20 years, you can pick anything and invent anything, and it would hurt someone. I know that — as do I,” said Lindell, writing about his struggles with addiction. ‘ I said everything so you can’t attack me. I wrote a book about it. I was a crack addict. So you couldn’t attack me.
Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone was in Mar-a-Lago Tuesday night
Mike Lindell, CEO of My Pillow, stands ready to cheer for Trump
Trump’s motorcade makes its way from Palm Beach Airport to Mar-a-Lago
Members of the party were unfazed by the case brought forward by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg
There was also Hogan Gidley, a former Trump White House spokesman who has no formal role in Trump’s camp.
“Polls are more solid in Trump’s camp than elsewhere as far as the country is concerned,” said Gidley, who joked days ago that Trump would be able to milk a mugshot if the NYPD took one and released it.
“The American people don’t like the arming of government, they don’t like the politicization of the justice system,” he said.
“I imagine you’re going to hear some information about how important it is to stand up and protect the people of this country,” said Gidley, who was at Mar-a-Lago but has no formal role in Trump’s camp .
A panel of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia ruled that key personnel, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, must testify in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s separate grand jury investigation into the election subversion effort.
Meadows was a key adviser who remained in close contact with Trump and a network of Trump allies during his final days in the White House – even traveling to Georgia to wreck the election.
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of forging business records Tuesday while facing a New York judge — becoming the first United States president to be impeached and charged with a crime.
“Not guilty,” Trump said when asked how he was pleading.
Trump, 76, sat next to his defense team in the Manhattan courtroom with his hands folded in his lap and a stony gaze for the unprecedented hearing in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
The charges relate to a $30,000 payout to a bouncer attempting to sell information about a child Trump allegedly fathered out of wedlock; $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and $130,000 to Daniels.
Prosecutors claim the incidents showed Trump planned to buy harmful stories about himself in order to keep them under wraps and improve his chances of winning the 2016 presidential race.
Donald Trump made history Tuesday when he stood before a Manhattan court and became the first former President of the United States in history to be indicted
“It’s not just about a payment,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference after the hearing. “That’s 34 business records — 34 false statements and business records. They concealed criminal behavior.’
All in all, the charges – falsifying first-degree business records – carry a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison under New York law, but even if he is convicted on all counts, Trump is unlikely to be sentenced to that much time. Each charge is a minor crime punishable by a maximum of four years in prison for each count.
There was no formal conspiracy charge, but the facts released by prosecutors describe how Trump “enacted a plan” with others “to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its release.” and to promote the defendant’s electoral prospects.’
During the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy argued the payments were part of “an unlawful plan to identify and suppress negative information that could have undermined Trump’s presidential campaign.”
The hearing lasted about an hour. Judge Juan Merchan did not issue a gag order on Trump, but warned him not to post anything on social media that might cause unrest among his supporters.
The former president was silent as he entered and then exited the courtroom. He was released at his own request. The next court hearing is scheduled for December 4th.
Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, told reporters after the hearing, “It wasn’t a good day.”
‘There’s nothing but the charges themselves. It’s Boilerplate. No federal crime or state crime is alleged to have been violated. It doesn’t state what the false statement is and it’s really disappointing. It’s sad and we will fight against it. We will fight hard against it.”
Tacopina said Trump was “frustrated.” He’s upset, but tell you what, he’s motivated. And it won’t stop him and it won’t slow him down.’
During the hearing, Judge Juan Merchan ordered both sides to calm down after prosecutors complained about Trump’s recent social media posts, including one of him holding a baseball bat to the chief prosecutor’s head in the case.
Dino Sajudin, a former Trump bouncer, claimed the president had a love child and received hush money.
Trump allegedly paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 to keep quiet about an affair – which he denies.
Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels – the case involves $130,000 in hush money payments to Daniels
President Trump with his defense team in court in Manhattan: (left to right) Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, Joe Tacopina and Boris Epshteyn
A stoned former President Donald Trump snubbed reporters and silently walked into the courtroom after he was fingerprinted and processed in New York’s Criminal Court Tuesday afternoon
Judge Merchan told the court, “I would encourage attorneys on both sides to speak to your witnesses, defense attorneys to speak to your client, and remind them not to make statements that are likely to incite violence and riots.”
“Do not engage in any words or conduct that could jeopardize the rule of law as it applies to these proceedings in this courtroom.”
Judge Merchan said he did not issue a gag order, as had been discussed, because Trump is a “candidate for President of the United States” and his “establishment rights are vital.”
He also noted that Trump is a “candidate for President of the United States” and that his “First Amendment rights are vital.”
But the judge disagreed that “certain language is justified by frustration.”
Trump attorney Todd Blanche had told the judge that some of the former president’s harsher comments on social media stemmed from his frustration because he “believes a grave injustice has been done.”
At Tuesday’s court hearing, Trump surrendered, was arrested and was fingerprinted. He avoided being handcuffed and put in a cell but stared at the cameras as he walked out of the booking area to face the judge.
He didn’t take his mugshot. And he didn’t have to pay bail to be released.