It was the city that made him, and that could now help lead to his undoing. Just hours after being arrested and arraigned Tuesday in Lower Manhattan, former President Donald Trump was ripping the Big Apple — railing against the city he long called home.
Addressing a crowd of supporters Tuesday night at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which is now his primary residence, Trump dubbed New York a “city that was so great just four or five years ago.”
What You Need To Know
- New York is where former President Donald Trump, who is a Queens native who became world famous as a Manhattan developer, grew his family business. It is also now at the center of his legal problems
- Addressing a crowd of supporters after his arraignment, Trump dubbed New York a “city that was so great just four or five years ago”
- He also blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is leading the hush money investigation, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading a civil suit
New York is where Trump, a Queens native who became world famous as a Manhattan developer, grew his family business.
It is also now at the center of his legal problems.
During his Tuesday remarks from Mar-a-Lago, Trump lashed out at state and local prosecutors back in his former hometown.
He blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is leading the hush money investigation that resulted in a 34-count indictment against Trump.
Bragg’s office has already successfully prosecuted the Trump organization in a tax fraud case.
He also took aim at New York’s Attorney General Letitia James. The mention of her name prompted “boos” from the crowd.
James is currently leading a civil suit, alleging Trump, his children and his company inflated their worth in financial statements.
“She should be focused on violent crime that’s driving people out of state,” Trump said, while invoking the attorney general’s past comments on the campaign trail, where she vowed to investigate him.
“This is persecution, not an investigation. She’s put our family through hell,” he continued.
But Trump did not stop there. He also assailed the judge overseeing the hush money case, and even the judge’s wife and daughter.
At the White House, when Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Trump’s comments, she said: “We condemn any type of attacks on any judge or our judicial system that we have seen over the last two years in particular as the president has been in office.”
On Tuesday in court, the judge urged Trump to refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest. He avoided issuing a gag order.