Trump’s second arraignment: Watch how it happened
Donald Trump is marking his 77th birthday today as the first current or former president arrested on federal criminal charges in American history.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in a Miami federal courthouse on 37 charges over his handling of classified national security documents after leaving the White House.
Miami officials had braced for protests outside the courthouse but much of the Maga army of supporters failed to show up as expected. One anti-Trump protester jumped in front of the former president’s motorcade.
After the hearing, Mr Trump stopped by the famous Cuban restaurant Versailles where supporters sang him ‘Happy Birthday’.
He then flew back to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he gave a speech launching into his usual unsubstantiated narrative that he is the victim of political persecution.
In the remarks, he claimed that the boxes of classified documents discovered in his possession actually contained clothes.
The speech was widely lambasted by critics for its litany of falsehoods while also offering a possible preview of his roughshod defence to the charges against him.
