Trump returns to New York to face charges in criminal probe

Former President Donald Trump flew Monday from Florida to New York for his historic booking and arraignment on hush money charges, as the nation’s largest city bolstered security and warned potential protesters it was “not a playground for your misplaced anger.”

Trump’s motorcade ride from his Mar-a-Lago club to his red, white and blue Boeing 757, emblazoned with his name in gold letters, was carried live on cable television. It took him past supporters waving banners and cheering, decrying the case against him — stemming from payments made during his 2016 campaign — as politically motivated.

Trump is already months into a third campaign to reclaim the White House he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, and he and his advisers seemed to relish the attention. Cable networks followed his plane at airports in Florida and New York with video from the air, and Trump was joined aboard by a small group of senior campaign aides as well as his son, Eric Trump, who eagerly posted photos of the wall-to-wall TV coverage from his seat.