The campaign says he will be spending his weekend at his home in Palm Beach and plans to return once cases are completed at the courthouse. Over the weekend, he will maintain his usual schedule – which almost always includes dining on the club terrace with his family and associates and golf at his nearby clubs.
Trump has been indicted on charges related to the Manhattan District Attorney’s grand jury investigation into alleged silent money payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels. The exact charges are still under seal.
His campaign has no other public events scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Trump, according to his campaign, will be “back” on Wednesday. So far, the only major event on his schedule is a speech at the National Rifle Association conference in mid-April in Indianapolis.
Since the indictment was announced, the Trump campaign has been scrambling to garner support with fundraising appeals and coordinating surrogates and television attorneys. They are preparing for what will likely be a media spectacle as Trump surrenders.
In a sign of the success of Trump’s appeals, his campaign announced on Friday that it raised $4 million in the first 24 hours after the indictment was announced. A campaign press release noted that “25% of donations came from new donors” and that the average contribution was just $34.
The Trump campaign is also watching others who try to profit financially from the indictment. Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump campaign adviser, called candidates and campaigns to raise funds on the news and told them to stop, according to a person familiar with campaign talks.
Law enforcement officials in Manhattan have braced for potential unrest next week around Donald Trump’s impeachment, stepping up security in and around Lower Manhattan. Officials were discussing blocking the streets around the courthouse and removing all cars in the event of a bomb threat, according to a police source.
About 40 press vehicles parked outside the courthouse since last week would make it difficult to secure the area, according to the source, who added that the former president planned to arrive by motorcade.
Dozens of court officers as well as NYPD units were stationed outside Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday, where the district attorney has his office. Inside the courthouse, court officers patrolled nearly every floor, with the 15th floor where the trials take place closed to reporters and the public.
“At the end of the day, everyone is working overtime, it’s a stressful situation, there are a lot of crazy people there. A woman pulled a knife on someone the other day, so we’re on high alert,” said Dennis W. Quirk, president of the New York Court Officers Association, referring to a Trump supporter who pulled a knife on a family with young children on Wednesday. . “Our job is to do this as quickly as possible and to ensure that no one gets hurt.”
The former president’s remarks ahead of the indictment as well as more recent protest calls from Republican leaders have added to the concern.
“New York, put on your MAGA hats. Under our constitutional rights, we will support President Trump and protest bullies. I’ll see you on Tuesday,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said. in a tweet Friday.
Greene’s tweet came after Trump called on his supporters to protest the indictment and predicted “potential death and destruction” if indicted for his alleged role in a 2016 silent payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels.
Additional reporting by Erica Orden and Alex Isenstadt.
Politico