Defiant Trump flies to Miami to face federal charges

A defiant Donald Trump has touched down in Miami, Florida after encouraging his supporters to remain “strong” ahead of his historic arraignment.

Donald Trump has touched down in Miami to face charges of hoarding classified documents, in a legal reckoning that goes far beyond misconduct accusations the former US president has largely ridden out in the past.

Mr Trump will appear in court Tuesday after he was indicted for allegedly that he lied and schemed to hang on to dozens of secret records he took to his beachfront mansion in Florida when he left the White House in 2021.

Former US President Donald Trump disembarks "Trump Force One" at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on June 12, 2023. Picture: AFP

The twice-impeached Republican - who is vying to win back the presidency next year -- struck a defiant note as he prepared to become the first of America’s 46 presidents to be arraigned in federal court, amid ramped-up security.

“Getting ready to head down to Doral in Miami,” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social network on Monday, as he flew to spend the night at his Florida golf course, a 25-minute drive from the courthouse.

“We must all be STRONG and DEFEAT the Communists, Marxists, and Radical Left Lunatics that are systematically destroying our Country,” wrote the former president, who was expected to meet with his legal team in Florida.

“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Supporters of US former President Donald Trump gather near his Mar-A-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florid on Monday. Mr Trump is expected to be arraigned in Miami on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump, the runaway frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary, said the latest indictment will not force him out of seeking a second term - teeing up a campaign like no other in history that will pit a legal contest against an electoral one.

“I’ll never leave. Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016,” Trump told Politico on his plane as he campaigned at the weekend.

Mr Trump, who turns 77 on Wednesday, is charged with willfully possessing documents clearly marked as government secrets, refusing to return them and conspiring to obstruct related investigations.

He is also accused of sharing sensitive US secrets with people who had no security clearance, in a much more serious case than any he has previously faced -- with the charges against him potentially carrying decades-long prison sentences.

The document included photographs showing boxes that were supposed be in the National Archives stacked in a “ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom and a storage room” at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach residence.

The former president rejected as “ridiculous and baseless” the 49-page indictment released by the Justice Department following months of investigation by a special prosecutor.

Security was expected to be intense around Miami’s Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Courthouse, with police bracing for protests including by a local chapter of the far-right Proud Boys group.

The Republican leader is expected to fly to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, afterwards to restate his innocence in a speech before supporters.

Mr Trump is expected to appear in court in Miami on June 13 for an arraignment regarding 37 federal charges, including violations of the Espionage Act, making false statements, and conspiracy regarding his mishandling of classified material after leaving office. Picture: AFP

MATT DAMON AND BEN AFFLECK RIP INTO TRUMP

Actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have hit out at Donald Trump over use of a monologue from the movie Air in a campaign ad.

The former US president pushed a fundraising video on his Truth Social platform last week that uses lines from Damon’s character in the film.

One of the lines used is “Money can buy you almost anything, but it can’t buy you immortality.”

Matt Damon in a scene from the movie Air.

Artists Equity (AE), the company co-founded by Damon and Affleck that produced Air, said they did not consent to the use of the monologues.
“We had no foreknowledge of, did not consent to and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from Air being repurposed by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use,” AE said in a statement.

Trump is now cutting web videos w/ Matt Damon’s Air monologue as narration… pic.twitter.com/cBMBOaUr0Q

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 10, 2023

“Specifically in terms of any & all rights available to us under U.S. copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent.” Air centres around the rise of Nike and the company’s pursuit of then NBA star Michael Jordan in what marked the biggest footwear deal of all-time.

Damon plays Nike exec Sonny Vaccaro.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at the AIR world premiere in Austin, Texas. Picture: Getty Images for SXSW

It’s not the first time Trump has landed in hot water over use of others material to promote himself.

He has previously landed in trouble for using songs including Hallelujah, Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It and Tom Petty’s I Wont’ Back Down. More recently he used the song and image of The Village People’s Macho Man during an event in Mar-a-Lago.

TRUMP VOWS TO STAY IN PRESIDENTIAL RACE IF CONVICTED

It comes as Trump vowed to remain in the 2024 presidential race even if he is convicted of a felony, a scenario which could see him campaigning from a jail cell.

The former US President is facing 37 charges, including violations of the Espionage Act, making false statements and conspiracy regarding his mishandling of classified material. Each charges carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. His arraignment is set for Tuesday, at a federal court in Miami.

“I’ll never leave,” the former US president told Politico in an interview carried out on his plane between two campaign events.

US law does not bar anyone from running while under indictment or as a convicted felon.

Mr Trump also downplayed the possibility of pardoning himself, telling the outlet: “I don’t think I’ll ever have to … I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Former US president Donald Trump delivers his speech at the Columbus Convention and Trade Centre. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

His lawyer Alina Habba echoed that Mr Trump had done “nothing wrong” and said he would not take a plea deal to minimise fallout from the case as he seeks his party’s nomination for the 2024 election.

“He would never admit guilt, because there was nothing wrong with declassifying documents,” Ms Habba told talk show “Fox News Sunday.”

“This is completely politically motivated. It’s election interference at its best.”

Ms Habba also portrayed Mr Trump’s opposition to federal agents searching and seizing materials in his Mar-a-Lago home as frustration over officials going through his personal effects.

“He has every right to have classified documents that he declassified … things that are mementos, things that he has a right to take,” she said.

“So if I’m someone with documents that I have a right to have as the president who left the White House, do I want people rummaging through my personal items? No.”

But the US attorney general under Mr Trump, one-time ally Bill Barr, said his former boss faces “solid counts” filed by the Department of Justice and that Mr Trump is not a victim of a witch hunt, as the former leader repeatedly insists.

“The idea that the president has complete authority to declare any document personal is … ridiculous,” Mr Barr told Fox.

If even half the indictment is true, “then he’s toast,” Mr Barr added.

“It’s very, very damning.”

His campaign announced Sunday that the former president plans to make remarks at his golf club in New Jersey Tuesday evening after the arraignment – some 2000km away from the courthouse in Miami.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said the city will have a press conference Monday to address security surrounding Trump’s court appearance.

All Miamians will “be able to express their First Amendment rights,” he told Fox, adding: “We’re going to make sure that there is no disorder.”

TRUMP BLASTS BOMBSHELL INDICTMENT

Mr Trump blasted the Democratic establishment in his first public appearance since the documents in his “joke of an indictment” were unsealed.

Mr Trump said the 37 felony counts were an attack on his supporters and an attempt by the Department of Justice to hurt his chances of returning to the White House as he campaigns for a second term in office.

“They’ve launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people,” he told Republicans gathered at the Georgia state convention in Columbus.

He added: “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you.”

The indictment, unsealed on Friday, charged the former US president with 37 felony counts in connection with his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The indictment includes allegations that he stored the classified documents in a ballroom and bathroom at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump supporters listen to the former US president’s speech. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

“The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponised Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” he told Georgia Republicans.

The speech comes just days before Mr Trump is due to appear in federal court in Miami to answer the explosive charges he put US national security “at risk” by wilfully retaining classified defence information, conspiring to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing documents, and making false statements.

Donald Trump called the indictment “baseless”. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The charges, brought by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, carry up to 20 years in prison each.

Mr Trump has already responded to the indictment with a string of posts on his Truth Social platform and a video statement, calling Smith “deranged” and a “Trump hater” and framing the prosecution as election interference orchestrated by Biden and his campaign.

“They come after me because now we’re leading in the polls again by a lot against Biden,” he said.

So far, the response of many Republicans — including some of Trump’s party nomination rivals — has been to rally behind the former president and amplify his sense of outrage.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who has had a rollercoaster relationship with Trump, said the indictment marked a “dark day” for the United States.

“I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump,” he said.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, seen as Mr Trump’s most viable challenger for the Republican nomination, echoed the claims of a “weaponised” Justice Department.

— with AFP

Originally published as Defiant Trump flies to Miami to face federal charges