Trump receives hero’s welcome as he cries ‘political persecution’ after federal indictment

Former President Donald Trump received a hero’s welcome Tuesday night as he returned to his New Jersey golf club after pleading not guilty in Miami federal court to more than three dozen charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office in 2021.

After taking the stage at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster to the strains of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” Trump told a crowd of about a couple hundred supporters he had undergone “political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation.”

“They ought to drop this case immediately, because they’re destroying the country,” he added.