Former President Donald showed up in federal court in Miami on Tuesday for his first appearance in a historic criminal case against him.
With a large contingent of supporters outside, Trump pleaded not guilty to each of the 37 counts in the federal indictment that charged he hoarded classified documents detailing sensitive military secrets and schemed to thwart government efforts to get them back.
4:57 p.m. | Trump departs Miami
Trump’s red, white and blue Boeing 757, emblazoned with his name in gold, departed Miami International Airport at 4:57 p.m.
He’s on his way to New Jersey, where he has scheduled a campaign fundraiser and a speech at his golf club in Bedminster.
4:41 p.m. | ‘Thank you Miami’
Trump boarded his Boeing 757 at Miami International Airport at 4:41 p.m.
In the SUV on the way to the airport, he posted on his Truth Social platform: “Thank you Miami. Such a warm welcome on such a SAD DAY for our Country!”
Earlier, on his way from his Doral golf club to the Miami courthouse, he offered a similarly brief comment: “ON MY WAY TO COURTHOUSE. WITCH HUNT!!! MAGA.”
Both posts were unusual in their brevity and lack of attacks on political enemies.
4:21 p.m. | Trump on the move again
Trump’s motorcade is moving again after a brief stop at Restaurant Versailles. Expected next stop: Miami International Airport for his return flight to New Jersey.
Updated 4:19 p.m.; original post 4:09 p.m. | Trump stops at Versailles
Trump is stopping at Versailles, the iconic Miami restaurant in Little Havana.
Versailles is a must-do photo op for Republican candidates campaigning in Miami and gave Trump a chance to visit with supporters in the Cuban American community, where he developed a loyal during his presidency.
Trump walked into the restaurant at 4:09 p.m. Audio from TV cameras showed people cheering for him and people laying hands on him in prayer.
“Food for everyone!” he declared as he worked the dining room shaking hands. Supporters sang “Happy Birthday” to Trump, who turns 77 on Wednesday.
Trump smiled and gave a thumbs-up sign to people taking pictures. “We have a country that is in decline like never before. We can’t let it happen. I’m going to make a little speech tonight at Bedminster. And I hope you’re going to be there,” he said.
He didn’t stay long. Video from television news helicopters showed him getting back into an SUV at 4:18 p.m.
3:56 p.m. | Trump departs courthouse
Trump’s motorcade has departed the Federal Courthouse in downtown Miami.
Video from TV cameras on the ground and from television stations showed it left at 3:56 p.m.
He is presumably headed toward Miami International Airport. WPLG-Ch. 10 reported that Trump would stop at Restaurant Versailles in Little Havana on his way to the airport. That’s an iconic stop for politicians in Florida.
He is scheduled to hold a fundraiser for his presidential campaign and deliver a speech Tuesday evening from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where he is based during the summer when the weather is hot at his residence in Palm Beach.
3:08 p.m. | Trump pleads not guilty
One of Trump’s attorneys pleaded not guilty on his behalf in an appearance before a federal magistrate judge.
2:57 p.m. | ‘Man for the people’
Rose Rodriguez, 58, said her parents came to the U.S. from Cuba, and she believes if Trump doesn’t win the 2024 election, communism will come to the U.S. “I know what communism is,” she said.
Rodriguez said attended Tuesday’s gathering — it wasn’t her first pro-Trump event — to prove he has a support system.
“He’s a man for the people,” she said
2:51 p.m. | Vendors on hand
Vendors were outside the Federal Courthouse. One, was emblematic of Miami, selling tubs of sliced fresh fruit.
The kind of merchandise often seen around Trump events was also for sale. A vendor sold $20 hats, including a bedazzled one that said “Trump 2024.” Another pro-Trump hat expressed its sentiment via an obscenity and “God, guns and Trump” was also for sale.
2:40 p.m. | Trump has been booked on federal charges
Trump and an aide charged as a co-conspirator have been booked in Miami federal court. That’s according to the U.S. Marshals Service, which said Trump and Walt Nauta had been booked shortly after they arrived Tuesday afternoon.
2:22 p.m. | Trump lawyer attacks investigation
Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, appeared outside of the courthouse and claimed the indictment is not justified, making many of the assertions Trump has leveled.
“The people in charge of this country do not love America. They hate Donald Trump. What we are witnessing today is a blatant and unapologetic weaponization of the criminal justice system,” she said. “The decision to pursue charges against President Trump while turning a blind eye to others is emblematic of the corruption that we have here.”
2:16 p.m. | Looking out on the crowd
Many spectators were gathered outside the courthouse, but a few people could be seen looking down from the seventh floor of the courthouse through the windows out into the crowd.
2:10 p.m. | Anti-Trump regular on hand
Xavier Presley, 67, of Miami, is a regular fixture at any Trump rally. Despite the heat, he wore his typical outfit Tuesday afternoon outside of the courthouse: a suit jacket that has expletives and Trump’s name written in marker on it.
Presley, who stood alone underneath a palm tree with many neon colored signs with an obscenity and Trump’s name, said he typically attends the rallies alone to avoid any trouble with Trump supporters.
Presley said he’s long been an activist. But he stops short of calling himself political. “Because you can never win,” he said. “You have no winner in politics. Because they all are crooks.”
Even Trump supporters laugh, he said. “They do laugh. A lot of Trump people today, I was surprised, a lot of Trump people took pictures with my signs.”
1:59 p.m. | Supporters cheer Trump
As Trump arrived at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Miami to turn himself in and begin facing federal criminal charges, assembled supporters cheered, chanting his “Trump” and “USA! USA! USA!”
Laura Loomer, the internet provocateur and two-time unsuccessful candidate for Congress, led “We want Trump!” chants and led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday.” Trump turns 77 on Wednesday.
Kari Lake, the unsuccessful 2022 Republican candidate for Arizona governor, Trump supporter and 2020 election denier, was also on hand.
Some Trump supporters expressed their displeasure with President Joe Biden by chanting “No more Biden!” and “Let’s Go Brandon.” That’s a phrase popular among Republicans that directs an obscenity toward the president.
1:51 p.m. | Trump arrives downtown
Trump’s motorcade arrived in downtown Miami at 1:51 p.m.
Live images from TV cameras on the ground and helicopters overhead showed vehicles in the motorcade drive into an underground entrance on the west side of the Federal Courthouse.
1:32 p.m. | Trump on the move
Trump is en route from Trump National Doral, his golf resort in Miami-Dade County, to the Federal Courthouse in downtown Miami.
Live television reports at the resort entrance and news helicopters overhead showed his motorcade leaving at at 1:32 p.m.
Earlier dozens of motorcycle police officers were seen arriving at Doral. They’re used to block traffic when someone like a president – or former president – is driven someplace by the Secret Service.
At about 1:20 p.m. motormen began leaving the resort, blocking traffic near the entrance.
Trump’s motorcade means there will be some temporary traffic delays between the golf club and courthouse. Local television stations and cable channels were airing helicopter video showing the motorcade procession. One image showed the Palmetto Expressway, with traffic temporarily blocked by police as Trump’s motorcade entered the highway.
The motorcade, with about 15 vehicles including the Secret Service SUV in which he rode, is far smaller than the one used for a president, or even vice president, while they’re in office.
12:21 p.m. | Traveling long distance
Some of the people who showed up outside the federal courthouse in Miami in advance of Trump’s arraignment traveled a long distance to show support for him.
Katie Taylor, 76, traveled from Virginia, stopping in Sanford, N.C., to pick up Gloria Eck.
Eck said the indictment is “just proof to me how corrupt” the Department of Justice is. “If people don’t stand up we’re going to lose our country.”
She said she wasn’t concerned about the unattended item with wires that prompted police to temporarily clear an area near the courthouse. “We can’t be worried (about it). They want to push us out.”
Taylor said she is “not a protester here today. I’m a supporter of President Trump.”
Earlier Tuesday, several dozen Trump supporters boarded Miami-bound buses at an Orlando Walmart. Miriam J. Ramirez, president of the Puerto Rico Republican Assembly, said she and others in the Puerto Rican community are sticking with the former president. “We feel safe, like a daddy who’s taking care of us.”
Danette Chialtas, of Orlando, watched and voiced her disagreement. “Get on the bus, you traitors!” she said. “Your dictator is being arraigned today for espionage. Traitors!”
12:08 p.m. | ‘Blacks for Trump’
About two dozen people from “Blacks for Trump,” who turn out regularly for Trump events in different parts of the country, were at the event. They’re easily recognizable because of their t-shirts proclaiming their allegiance. The backs of the shirts proclaim “Trumpsters are not racist.”
Among them was the group’s founder, Maurice Symonette, whom the Miami Herald has reported was once the member of “a notorious Miami cult.”
Symonette said Trump didn’t commit any crime.
Overall, there were few Black people gathered at the event.
One Black woman and a white man got into a shouting match.
“Lock his ass up. He’s the worst president ever,” she yelled.
“Go now! Go now! Go now!” he told her.
Updated post 11:42 a.m., 1:12 p.m.; original post 11:06 a.m. | Unattended object
Police moved people away from an area near the courthouse after an unattended object was spotted. The suspicious package was a flat-screen television with wires coming out. It had a statement expressing intense displeasure for what the writer called “the Communist media.”
Miami Police said on Twitter they were assisting the Department of Homeland Security with an investigation at North Miami Avenue and Third Street. Video showed police cars temporarily blocking the street in the vicinity.
By about 11:40 a.m., the area was cleared and reopened.
11:16 a.m. | Homeless woman for Trump
Luimar Zibetti Garza, 60, a longtime Floridian who says she’s homeless, set up on a sidewalk outside the federal courthouse. She had an umbrella with a sign that said, “Homeless 4 Trump.” “I came out to support Trump because I know he’s being railroaded,” Garza said.
A woman from Port Charlotte donning a Trump hat walks by and stops to hand Garza a wad of cash. They hug. “We get Trump back in office, and we’ll get you a home,” the woman tells Garza.
10:53 a.m. | Back and forth
Trump opponents were shouting “Trump’s a dick. Trump’s a dick,” which prompted Trump supporters to shout over them, “We Love Trump! We Love Trump!”
Supporters of the former president then gathered and sang “God Bless America.”
10:30 a.m. | Where will trial take place
Trump’s arraignment is in federal court in Miami, but that doesn’t mean his trial will take place there.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, serving Tuesday as an unpaid legal analyst for MSNBC live coverage of Trump’s first court appearance, told viewers that West Palm Beach is a more logical location.
“There’s no connection between Miami and the Mar-a-Lago documents. It’s just they’re both in the Southern District of Florida,” he said, adding that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is slated to preside over the case, sits in Fort Pierce and the closest courthouse to the site of the alleged wrongdoing is in West Palm Beach.
Aronberg also said the federal government might have a better time persuading a jury drawn from Palm Beach County than one drawn from Miami-Dade County. (Aronberg, who is a former assistant state attorney general, handles state level prosecutions, not federal.)
That’s not just because Palm Beach County “is a bluer place,” he said. “Even though it’s in his (Trump’s) back yard, I think Palm Beach County has a better track record of convicting public officials for corruption. Miami-Dade County not so much.”
10:11 a.m. | Road closures
Miami Police said Northwest First Avenue between Third Street and Fifth Street is closed until further notice.
“We strongly encourage commuters to avoid the area and seek alternate routes, if possible,” police said in a news release Tuesday morning.
Television video showed Miami police cars blocking the street.
On Monday, Mayor Francis Suarez had warned commuters to expect some disruptions.
Additional temporary closures are certain when Trump travels from his Doral golf resort to Miami early in the afternoon.
.@aronberg providing legal analysis for @MSNBC live coverage of Trump federal court day. https://t.co/rIX3qtQvsA pic.twitter.com/pT42cHTvH7
— Anthony Man (@browardpolitics) June 13, 2023
9:54 a.m. | Republican chair urges peaceful protests
Christian Ziegler, chair of the Republican Party of Florida endorsed protesting in Miami, but he urged his followers on social media to avoid violence.
He asserted that anything violent would play into the hands of the political left by making demonstrators look bad.
“Yes – Peacefully protesting to ensure that your voice & support is heard,” Ziegler wrote on Twitter.
“NO – Taking The Left’s bait by acting like an asshole & breaking laws. Be smart. Don’t give The Left what they want.”
Updated 2:48 p.m.; original post 9:45 a.m. | People start to gather
A small group of demonstrators began showing up around the Federal Courthouse in Miami by 7 a.m., according to television reports. Some included protest veterans who show up for events all over South Florida where they’re likely to encounter protestors.
Others were dressed to garner the maximum media attention, including a man wearing prison stripes and holding a “lock him up” sign. Domenic Santana, a native New Yorker who now lives in Miami, was also present with the same outfit and sign on Monday.
“Trump is a rat who graduated from the school of rats and wound up in the White House. The New Yorkers know. He should have been locked up a long, long time ago,” Santana said.
Trump supporters included a person wearing an “I love Trump!” hat.
Television news helicopter video after 9 a.m. showed a large continent of media representatives and a line of people waiting to get in the courthouse.
Law enforcement agencies, and police dogs, already were keeping watch.
9 a.m. | Trump in DoralTrump spent Monday night at the golf club he owns in Doral, where news accounts said he was interviewing additional lawyers to join his legal team.He describes his Mar-a-Lago resort and club in Palm Beach — where the indictment alleges Trump intentionally retained hundreds of classified documents that he took with him from the White House — as his home.But Trump doesn’t typically spend the hot summer season there, staying instead at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. After the court proceedings Tuesday, he’s planning to return to Bedminster for an evening speech and fundraiser.
This report contains information from the Associated Press. Sun Sentinel staff photographers Joe Cavaretta and Mike Stocker and Orlando Sentinel staff writer Skyler Swisher contributed to this report.