Pence Says Trump Indictment Sends ‘Terrible Message’ About US Justice

Former US Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the National Review Institute's 2023 Ideas Summit in Washington, DC, US, 31 March 2023. (EPA)
Former US Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the National Review Institute's 2023 Ideas Summit in Washington, DC, US, 31 March 2023. (EPA)
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Pence Says Trump Indictment Sends ‘Terrible Message’ About US Justice

Former US Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the National Review Institute's 2023 Ideas Summit in Washington, DC, US, 31 March 2023. (EPA)
Former US Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the National Review Institute's 2023 Ideas Summit in Washington, DC, US, 31 March 2023. (EPA)

The indictment of former US President Donald Trump sends a "terrible message" to the world about American justice and will encourage dictators to abuse power, former Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday.

"There are dictators and authoritarians around the world that will point to that to justify their own abuse of their own so-called justice system," Pence, Trump's former vice president and a potential rival for the Republican Party's 2024 White House nomination, said during an interview at the National Review's Ideas Summit.

Trump is due to be fingerprinted and photographed in a New York courthouse next week as he becomes the first former president to face criminal charges, in a case involving a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump, who is mounting a comeback bid for the presidency he lost in the 2020 election, was indicted on Thursday in New York.

Pence has joined fellow Republicans and Trump's other potential 2024 rivals in condemning the indictment, calling it an "outrage."



Zelenskiy Lauds Common Ground with Trump after 'Best' Vatican Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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Zelenskiy Lauds Common Ground with Trump after 'Best' Vatican Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his brief meeting with US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican a week ago was the best that the two men have had together.

In comments released by his presidential administration, Zelenskiy said that he and Trump agreed that a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow was the correct first step towards peace in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

He said he raised the topic of sanctions with Trump at the meeting, and that the response of the US president on this question was “very strong”. Zelenskiy did not give specifics on this.