Donald Trump Set to Speak from Florida after Arraignment

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. (AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. (AP)
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Donald Trump Set to Speak from Florida after Arraignment

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. (AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. (AP)

Former US President Donald Trump will speak in Florida on Tuesday evening, his office said, after his arraignment in New York City on historic charges brought after an investigation into a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump is expected to be arraigned, fingerprinted and photographed in a New York courthouse on Tuesday afternoon as he becomes the first former president to face criminal charges.

Joe Tacopina, a Trump lawyer, told CNN's "State of the Union" program on Sunday that it was likely his defense attorneys will move to dismiss the charges, after they see them.

Word of the indictment surfaced on Thursday though the specific charges against Trump arising from an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, have not been made public. Susan Necheles, a Trump attorney, said on Friday Trump will plead not guilty.

Trump, who has launched a 2024 campaign to regain the presidency, plans to fly to New York on Monday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and spend the night at Trump Tower before appearing in court on Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.

The former president plans to return to Florida after the court appearance and will deliver remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach at 8:15 p.m. (0015 GMT on Wednesday), his office said in a statement on Sunday.

The Trump campaign declined to comment on what he would say on Tuesday night. A source familiar with the matter said the Republican businessman-turned-politician was likely to focus on what he feels is his political persecution and "the political weaponization of the justice system to manipulate an election."

Trump is expected to appear on Tuesday before Justice Juan Merchan of the criminal court in Manhattan. Merchan also presided over a criminal trial last year in which Trump's real estate company was convicted of tax fraud, though Trump himself was not charged.

Trump has lashed out at both Bragg and Merchan.

"We're not doing anything at the arraignment because that would be showmanship and nothing more - because we haven't even seen the indictment," Tacopina said. "We will take the indictment, we will dissect it. The team will look at every, every potential issue that we will be able to challenge - and we will challenge."

"And of course I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there's no law that fits this," Tacopina added.

Ahead of the indictment, a grand jury in Manhattan heard evidence about a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied that this encounter took place.

The former president's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having had sexual relationships with either woman, but has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump's direction.



Israel's Netanyahu Heads to Hungary, Defying ICC Arrest Warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Israel's Netanyahu Heads to Hungary, Defying ICC Arrest Warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a four-day visit to Hungary on Thursday, defying an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza as Israel has expanded its military operation in the enclave.

As a founding member of the ICC, Hungary is theoretically obliged to arrest and hand over anyone subject to a warrant from the court but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made clear when he issued the invitation that Hungary would not respect the ruling.

Netanyahu is due to meet Orban ahead of a press conference at around 1000 GMT.

In Budapest, workers were constructing a stage in the Buda Castle on Wednesday, where Orban was scheduled to welcome Netanyahu in a ceremony with military honors on Thursday morning and security forces could be seen near the central Budapest hotel where Netanyahu will be staying, The AP news reported.

The visit will be only the second he has made abroad since the International Criminal Court issued warrants to arrest both him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last November, but details of his program have been limited apart from a planned visit to a Holocaust memorial.

He visited Washington in February to meet close ally US President Donald Trump. Neither Israel nor the United States are members of the ICC, with Washington arguing the ICC could be used for politically motivated prosecutions.

Orban invited Netanyahu to visit a day after the ICC issued its arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, where Israel launched an offensive following a devastating attack by thousands of Hamas fighters on the October 7 attack.

Since then, the Israeli campaign has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and devastated the Gaza Strip, triggering protests worldwide and prompting South Africa to launch separate legal action in the International Court of Justice, a different body to the ICC, accusing Israel of genocide.