Trump arrives in New York for an arraignment that will make history

NEW YORK — Donald Trump traveled to New York from Florida on Monday to face arraignment in the first indictment of a former American president, his trip monitored minutely from the moment he left his Palm Beach estate until he arrived at Trump Tower in midtown.

Live trackers followed his red-white-and-blue plane all the way to its arrival at LaGuardia Airport. Helicopters broadcast the motorcade that swept him to his Manhattan home, which was hemmed in by press, police and protesters.

On Tuesday morning, the din will give way to a solemn drama with historic stakes. The former president will be whisked downtown by police officers and Secret Service agents to surrender at the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He will then be arraigned in the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building, where his supporters plan a rally outside.

Mayor Eric Adams warned Trump’s supporters to keep the peace, saying that the dignity of the proceedings would not be disrupted. Barricades were deployed, and the Police Department sent a stand-ready order to its roughly 35,000 officers, a force larger and better trained than some national armies.

“While there may be some rabble-rousers thinking of coming to our city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves,” Adams said at a news conference Monday. “New York is our home and not a place for your misplaced anger.”

The indictment that set off the furor is linked to a payment made during the 2016 election to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels has said she had a brief sexual relationship with Trump in 2006. Trump denies the affair.

Bragg’s case against Trump has already roiled the national political landscape, and Trump has attacked the proceedings as a partisan move aimed at crippling his bid for the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

The indictment is the result of one of several investigations into Trump’s conduct. In Georgia, the Fulton County district attorney is examining whether he attempted to pressure state officials into swaying the state into his column in the 2020 election. A federal special counsel is looking into the case of classified documents found in his possession and his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol that was intended to block the certification of the vote.

But Bragg was the first prosecutor to move, turning himself into an immediate lightning rod for bitter criticism from Trump’s Republican allies and rivals alike. And the charges, which will be unsealed Tuesday, forced Trump’s dramatic return to a city where he grew up and rose to the fame that catapulted him to the presidency.

His appearance has put the city on edge, stoking concern over the possibility of unrest as Trump is fingerprinted and processed.

In warning protesters, Adams singled out conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a staunch Trump backer who has criticized the decision to indict Trump. She has advertised a demonstration planned for Tuesday with Jack Posobiec, an internet conspiracy theorist, and Graham Allen, a right-wing commentator.

“Although we have no specific threats, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is known to spread misinformation and hate speech, she stated she’s coming to town. When you’re in town, be on your best behavior,” Adams said.

Shortly after his comments, Greene riposted on Twitter: “Now Mayor Adams is threatening me. Unbelievable.”

President Joe Biden said on a Monday visit to Minnesota that he was confident that New York authorities could handle any trouble. “I have faith in the New York Police Department,” he said.

Although Trump encouraged protests last month to “TAKE OUR NATION BACK” in announcing that he expected to be arrested, he has not made any specific call to action for Tuesday comparable to his Dec. 19, 2020, post on Twitter that explicitly summoned supporters to a rally in Washington on Jan. 6.

It is not clear whether Trump plans to make a statement in New York after he is indicted. Even if he does, signs are scant that the overt coordination of mass protests that characterized the weeks and months before Jan. 6 has taken place.

On Monday, Trump left his estate, Mar-a-Lago, and landed in New York at 3:28 p.m. He was taken in a motorcade to Trump Tower, where at least four helicopters hovered. Dozens of police officers and detectives stood near the entrance, and photographers scrambled up ladders to gain vantage points for their shots. Trump waved briefly to supporters behind police barricades.

Ariel Kohane, 51, of Manhattan gathered with others behind pro-Trump banners. He said he showed up to “voice my outrage over what even some Democrats are saying is political persecution.”

“This has nothing to do with law and order,” he said. “It’s about stopping him from running and winning in 2024.”

Dion Cini, 54, appeared on the corner of East 56th Street and Fifth Avenue wearing a red “Make America Great Again” baseball hat and “Ultra Extreme MAGA” T-shirt.

“Give me liberty or give me death,” he yelled.

A protester in a black clown costume squeezed a horn to harass Trump supporters.

When one responded with his own air horn, an ensuing shoving match had to be broken up by police.

For some people simply trying to go about their day, the disruption fanned anti-Trump embers into flames.

“Good Lord, it makes you hate this guy even more,” said Nick Jones, 48, of Minneapolis, as he attempted to navigate the tight spaces on the sidewalk.