Donald Trump court appearance as it happened: former president pleads not guilty

Ok, well now that Trump has officially left the (court) building, we are going to wrap up our live coverage here. The Irish Times will continue to bring you full reaction and coverage of the proceedings in the weeks and months ahead, especially as they entangle themselves further in US politics and the coming presidential race. Thank you for joining us this evening.

Irish Times Washington Correspondent Martin Wall has this full report from today’s court appearance.

On RTE’s Prime Time, former White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Trump was always lackadaisical with confidential documents but doubted the affair will negatively affect his ability to seize the Republican presidential nomination.

“I fully expect his campaign to go on,” he said. “In my country you can run for office from jail, you can win office from jail, and you might even be able to serve from jail although we’ve never crossed that bridge before.

“I don’t expect this, believe it or not, to impact the politics very much yet.”

It didn’t take too long. Everyone seems eager to report on a quick stop-off at a restaurant. For prayers.

As everyone awaits news of where Trump goes next and what he will say about Tuesday’s proceedings (for surely he will have much to say in a country whose legal system is more forgiving of mid-trial comment), here is a good recap on what today’s charges were all about.

Martin Wall reports from the scene:

Donald Trump is now leaving the courthouse in Miami after pleading not guilty to charges relating to his handling of classified documents.

The former president waved and gave the thumbs up sign to his supporters standing on the street outside.

One man was apprehended by police as he tried to step in front of Mr Trump’s car.

The hearing is now reported to have ended for both Trump and his personal aide Walt Nauta who is also on charges. It lasted a little under 50 minutes in total.

So as it seems Trump is going through standard courtroom process, and as his supporters await his departure from the building, here are a few key points from today:

• He has entered a formal not guilty plea to the 37 charge indictment on his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
• This covers allegations of wilful retention of national defence information, conspiracy to commit obstruction and making false statements.
• Most of the proceedings have been in the dark, given media cameras are not permitted inside the courtroom. Trump may simply get back into his vehicle afterwards and be whisked away.
• Despite calls to rally to his support, and the security preparations made, local reports say the crowd was small if lively, initially at least.
• It has been reported that Trump is expected at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey after the court hearing to defend himself in public remarks

An interesting visual metaphor for the effects Donald Trump, and his actions, have on life in America.

And officially now from our Washington Correspondent Martin Wall: Former US president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges brought against him arising from his handling of classified documents.

An interesting insight from the New York Times which is reporting that one of Trump’s lawyers, Alina Habba, told reporters a little about the scene inside.

“President Trump is in a very unique position where he does not need to be given a mug shot, obviously,” she said.

“He’s not a flight risk. He is the leading candidate of the G.O.P. at the moment. He is going through a process that has been coordinated with the Secret Service, and it will all be handled seamlessly.”

Mug Shot. Flight Risk. Leading candidate of the G.O.P. Mitch McConnell must be an unhappy man. Tourists are reportedly being bussed past to take some pictures of the whole affair.

We can only wait to hear about what happened inside, and probably Trump’s take on this latest “witch hunt”.

No mug shot, but he was expected to be fingerprinted and to submit a plea at the arraignment, according to Reuters.

Fox News takes a different approach to Ms Habba’s courtroom comments, noting she described the indictment of her client as “the type of thing you see in dictatorships”.

“We are at a turning point in our nation’s history,” she said, according to its live feed. “The targeting prosecution of a leading political opponent is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela. It is commonplace there for rival candidates to be prosecuted, persecuted and put into jail.”

We are already running ahead of ourselves on what this prosecution might mean in the halls of power. According to Reuters, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he would not comment on whether he would support Trump if the former president won his party’s presidential nomination.

“I’m not going to start commenting on the various candidates we have running for president,” he said, just moments after one particular candidate arrived at a Florida courthouse.

It is making things uncomfortable for a lot of Republicans, this juxtaposition of a clear voter favourite leading the primary polls and yet appearing before a judge. As has been pointed out, Trump is the first former president, alive or dead, to be indicted by a grand jury in the country’s 247-year history.

There were equally tight lips over at the White House where press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to answer questions about what President Biden might think of the whole thing.

“We’re just going to be very mindful here with respect to the Department of Justice and just let them do their job,” she said in comments reported by the BBC. Next question!

In front of the court complex, continues Martin Wall, the US television broadcasters have erected awnings to protect electronic equipment and lights from the 90- degree heat. Correspondents and anchors are broadcasting from inside these awnings.

In many cases private security has been deployed to protect these awnings.

US media are not the favourites of Trump supporters.

Outside the court, one enterprising individual is selling “Trump - not guilty” T shirts to supporters of the former president.

Martin Wall has also sent us this state-of-play:

The process of “booking” Mr Trump at the courthouse was completed about 2 pm local time in Miami, about 7 pm in Ireland.

The number of people supporting Mr Trump at the courthouse increased significantly since before lunchtime.

The former president is expected to appear before a judge in about 45 minutes.

As the former president prepared to appear before a judge on Tuesday on 37 criminal charges, his followers descended on southern Florida to show support, writes Irish Times Washington Correspondent Martin Wall.

Interspersed among those backing Donald Trump, were a few individuals who would be more than happy to see him imprisoned.

You can read his full coverage from outside the courthouse here.

A motorcade carrying Trump arrived at the federal courthouse in Miami about 6.55pm Irish time and drove into an underground area of the building. That will be pretty much it from the Trump end for a while, with no live media reporting permitted from the courtroom.

And for those not on Trump’s alternative social media platform Truth Social, here is what he had to say/post about things shortly before his appearance:

“ONE OF THE SADDEST DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY.”

As Donald Trump becomes the first ever former US president to face federal criminal charges on Tuesday night (approximately 8pm Irish time), everybody has a sense of what will happen in court, if not what happens afterwards.

The tension is obvious in Miami, Florida where the legal drama is set to unfold - police officers have prepared for protests potentially involving up to 50,000 people.

Such an event would be in contrast to Trump’s recent New York court appearance on separate charges, which caused relatively little commotion .

However, the deeply divisive Republican figurehead, now facing 37 charges arising from his handling of classified documents, is a resident of Florida and things could prove different.

A total of 31 of the charges he faces on Tuesday relate to the wilful retention of national defence information, with others covering conspiracy to commit obstruction and making false statements.

He has vowed to continue his third presidential run if convicted, even though he could face years in prison.