Former US President Donald Trump announced yesterday via the social media platform Truth Social that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday. In this context, Trump spoke of a leak from the Manhattan Attorney’s Office. He called on his supporters to protest and “take the country back”.
US media are locating a connection to investigations into an alleged hush money payment of $130,000 (around €122,000) that Trump’s private attorney at the time, Michael Cohen, is said to have made to US porn actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. She claims to have had a relationship with Trump before he became president, which he denies.
Medvedev appeal in favor of Trump
Meanwhile, Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev backed Trump’s call for protests. “Take back the country, Americans! To battle!” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel. How seriously the 57-year-old meant his demands remained unclear.
He concluded his comment with what was probably ironic: he wrote it at the request of the presidential candidate “Colonel Daniil Fyodorovich Trump”. He was probably alluding to speculation about the relationship between the former US President and the Kremlin. Medvedev has attracted attention several times in recent months with extremely sharp and sometimes bizarre attacks on the West.
Daniels ready to testify
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, met with the public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday (local time) in the course of the investigation into former US President Trump. “Stormy has answered questions and has agreed to be available as a witness or for further inquiries if necessary,” her attorney Clark Brewster said on Twitter. The meeting came about at the request of the public prosecutor’s office, it said.
Should Trump be indicted, it would be the first time a former US President has been indicted. The 76-year-old Republican announced a new presidential bid last November and wants to retake the White House in the 2024 elections. Trump is now citing leaks that his arrest is pending – and calling for protests in this regard.
