Trump to Address Nation on Tuesday Night From Mar-a-Lago Just Hours After Arraignment

Trump to Address Nation on Tuesday Night From Mar-a-Lago Just Hours After Arraignment
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower the day after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home, in New York on Aug. 9, 2022. (David 'Dee' Delgado/Reuters)
Jack Phillips
4/2/2023
Updated:
4/3/2023
0:00

Former President Donald Trump will hold a speech on Tuesday night at his Mar-a-Lago resort, a senior 2024 campaign adviser confirmed on Sunday morning.

Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed to Newsmax on Sunday he would deliver the speech at his Florida residence after he is arraigned by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg following a grand jury indictment last week.

“Trump is going to be giving a speech on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago 8:15 p.m. I think the entire world will be watching just how strong and just how fervent he is, that we must continue this Make America Great Again movement, because you can’t have Trump policies without President Trump,” Miller told the channel.

Miller did not elaborate on the contents of Trump’s speech. The former president delivered his 2024 campaign announcement at Mar-a-Lago in mid-November.

“Nobody wants to go see the tribute band when the Rolling Stones are still playing,” he added. “They’re here for President Trump and the Republican Party is solidly behind him.” Miller also said that recent polls show that Trump “has a decisive lead over Joe Biden” in the general presidential election.

Bragg’s office is investigating Trump regarding payments he made to adult performer Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign and whether he misclassified those payments as business expenses rather than campaign expenses. The former president and his lawyers have criticized the case as politically motivated and an attempt to harm his 2024 chances.

The indictment, however, has not been unsealed by Bragg’s office. Legal experts have said that in New York, those court documents are unsealed after a defendant appears in court for arraignment.

A lawyer for the former president, Joe Tacopina, told The Epoch Times last week that he will surrender for his arraignment in New York City on Tuesday, April 4. It’s not clear if Trump will also make a statement then or how it will be handled as some have speculated that the former president would have to get his mugshot taken.

There were reports indicating that his arraignment would be planned at around 2:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, but Miller suggested that the president could be taking a morning trip to the courthouse. It takes about two hours to travel by plane from South Florida to New York City.

Since it was reported that Trump would be indicted, the former president has not kept a low profile amid his third presidential bid. The president, who frequently criticizes Democrats including Bragg and President Joe Biden, has been using it as a campaign fundraising opportunity. Reports say he generated at least $4 million in contributions in the 24 hours after he was indicted.

Trump has also criticized the judge assigned to the case as another example of the investigation being part of a political witch hunt.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 15, 2022. (Alon Skuy/AFP via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 15, 2022. (Alon Skuy/AFP via Getty Images)

“The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case, a ‘Case’ that has never been charged before, hates me,” Trump said on Truth Social Friday. The judge, acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, was “hand picked” by the Democratic district attorney, Trump alleged.

“They only brought this Fake, Corrupt, and Disgraceful Charge against me because I stand with the American People, and they know that I cannot get a fair trial in New York!” the former president also wrote on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, Tacopina told ABC News on Sunday that he does not know what to expect during the Tuesday arraignment.

“I’ve done a million arrangements in that courthouse with celebrities and whatnot, but this is a whole different thing. We have Secret Service involved,” he noted. “I understand they’re closing the courthouse for the afternoon. I just don’t know what to expect to see.”

But the attorney said he hopes that Trump can “get in and out” of the courthouse “as quickly as possible.” He predicts that it will be a “typical arrangement, where we stand before the judge, we say, not guilty, we set schedules to file motions and whatnot or discovery and we move forward and get out of there.”

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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