Trump breaks silence on arrest with message condemning charges and insulting Stormy Daniels

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Donald Trump has broken his silence following his historic arrest and appearance before a New York judge with a message condemning the criminal charges brought against him and insulting Stormy Daniels.

The former president, who pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, posted a combative message to Truth Social from his private jet.

Mr Trump is making his way back to Florida where he will make further comments when he arrives at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

“Alvin Bragg shut down New York City, brought in 38,000 NYPD officers, and will spend an estimated $200,000,000 of NYC funds, for a totally legal $130,000 NDA. On top of all that, the 9th Circuit Court just awarded me $122,000 — over the $500,000 already awarded, from Stormy “Horseface” Daniels!” wrote Mr Trump on Truth Social.

Mr Trump then told his followers he would be speaking from his home later in the evening.

“The hearing was shocking to many in that they had no ‘surprises,’ and therefore, no case. Virtually every legal pundit has said that there is no case here. There was nothing done illegally!” he wrote.

Earlier, Mr Trump appeared grim-faced as he walked into the Manhattan Criminal Courtroom after being placed under arrest and fingerprinted. He refused to speak to reporters as he made his way into and out of the court.

Meanwhile, the New York prosecutor who has charged Mr Trump says he brought the case to prevent “normalising criminal conduct.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters after the former president’s historic arraignment in the city on Tuesday that he had a fundamental responsibility to file the case.

“We cannot and will not normalise serious criminal conduct,” Mr Bragg told a news conference.

And he added: “At its core, this case today is one with allegations like so many of our white-collar cases. Allegations that someone lied, again and again, to protect their interests and evade the laws to which we are all held accountable,” he said.