A mob of die-hard Donald Trump supporters stormed the streets outside his Mar-a-Lago home after the FBI searched his estate as part of a criminal investigation.
Demonstrators thronged around the Florida manor lifting signs and flags declaring their support for the ex-president.
Some hoisted banners calling him to run in 2024, while others lifted placards slamming Joe Biden and rejecting his 2020 win.
Another protester lifted a sign from his previous campaign but with former Vice President Mike Pence's name crossed out after the VP was branded a "traitor" by some sections of the American far right.
One of the men gathered identified himself as a member of the neo-fascist Proud Boys group.
Supporters say the raid is a brazen attempt to derail Trump from an upcoming presidential run, which he has yet to confirm.
His followers on social media have predicted the uproar could trigger a second civil war - with some geared up to take on their political nemeses.
Disclosing the search in a lengthy statement, the former US president said agents opened up a safe at his home and described their work as an "unannounced raid" that he likened to "prosecutorial misconduct".
The news has angered Mr Trump's supporters in the US, some of whom were involved in the infamous Capitol Hill riots in January last year.
Many turned their ire on the Democrats despite the fact the current FBI director was installed by Trump.
The White House also claims it had no knowledge of the raids.That hasn't stopped the fury in some parts of the country. One person on social media said: "The American Civil War 2.0 just kicked off".
Another wrote: "They really are pushing us toward a civil war, aren't they? This will not go well."
While another said: "Is this the "first shot" of a Civil War? Is this the tyranny mentioned in the 2nd Amendment? The Founding Fathers would have started shooting a long time ago."
Incredibly, some even welcomed the prospect and boasted about having already picked up ammo. But most were widely ridiculed.
One person said: "There will be no civil war. What will it take to make people realise that the American right has no capacity or will to take up arms (even if they are the ones who own guns)? People with actual jobs and families have too much to lose."
Trump said of the raid: "These are dark times for our nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.
"After working and co-operating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate."
And today it emerged Trump raged at his staff for not being more like the war criminals who served Adolf Hitler in World War II, according to a new book.
The former President of the United States was said to have told his White House chief of staff, retired Marine Corps general John Kelly: "You f***ing generals, why can't you be like the German generals?"
The claim is made in new book The Divider: Trump in the White House by journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser.
Mr Kelly questioned the explosive remarks and asked which generals Trump meant, to which he replied: "The German generals in World War 2."
Mr Kelly then, according to an excerpt of the book published in the New Yorker, said to the president: "You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?"
Trump was dumbfounded and said: "No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him."
The book reveals a number of episodes that shows a tense relationship between Mr Trump and his most senior military commanders.
In one conversation from the book, Trump reportedly told Kelly he didn't want any injured veterans involved in the Independence Day parade as it "doesn't look good for me", the former President said.
Trump cited the Bastille Day parade where there were injured veterans, with lost limbs.
"Those are the heroes", Kelly said, not feeling brave enough to mention that his own son Robert was killed in action in Afghanistan.
"I don't want them," Trump repeated.
