Trump is the first former US president to be charged with a crime. In New York, he pleaded not guilty.

Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, pleaded not guilty in New York City to a number of charges related to hush-money payments made before the 2016 election, including one to an adult film star.

Trump is the first former president in US history to be charged with a crime. On Tuesday, just before 2:30pm (18:30 GMT), he went to a Manhattan courtroom to hear the charges against him.

As the indictment was made public, the Manhattan district attorney's office said that the 34 felony charges against the Republican leader are for falsifying New York business records "to hide damaging information and illegal activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election."


The prosecutor in charge of the case, Alvin Bragg, said that the so-called "catch and kill scheme" involved three payments, one of which was $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

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Bragg told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, "As this office has done many times before, it is our solemn duty to make sure that everyone is treated equally before the law."


"No amount of money or power can change that long-lasting American value."

On Tuesday, Trump sat with his hands folded at the defense table. He was wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie. His lawyers were on either side of him. The 76-year-old man told the Manhattan court, "Not guilty."


He didn't say anything when he walked into court or when he left about an hour later.

Trump, who wants to be president again in 2024, has said he did nothing wrong and called the case a "witch hunt."


"I'm going to the Courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Wow, I can't believe they're going to ARREST ME. "Can't believe this is happening in the United States," he wrote on social media before going to court in Manhattan.

Less than a week before his arraignment, a New York grand jury voted to indict the former president. This was something that Trump's critics were happy about, but it made many top Republicans angry.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES