Trump keeps it apolitical in first appearance since indictment comments

Former President Donald Trump received a warm welcome during his first public appearance since his comments about being arrested and charged by prosecutors in Manhattan earlier this week.

Trump was a guest of Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday. He was seated with Mullin and Governor Kevin Stitt, both of whom have endorsed him for his 2024 re-election campaign.

TRUMP SAYS HE EXPECTS TO BE ARRESTED NEXT WEEK IN STORMY DANIELS INVESTIGATION

Reporters were mostly kept away from the 2024 GOP frontrunner, though he briefly told the Tulsa World that there would be “no politics” that evening. He did not give a speech or participate in any fundraisers, hours after he posted on his Truth Social platform that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office would arrest him this week on charges related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

The crowd gave Trump a standing ovation as he entered the arena, where nearly 17,000 fans attended the tournament. Trump shook hands with and was photographed with national champions and others in the massive crowd.

“My boys actually made the ask down in Mar-A-Lago when we were down there,” Mullin told Tulsa World of how Trump ended up at the championship. “When he found out it was going to be in Tulsa, he said, ‘I’ll be there.’”

“The presidents coming here because he’s a big fan of wrestling, he’s always said that,” he told local station Fox 23. “I don’t know if you guys know this or not, but he wrestled a little bit himself and he wants to come here have a good night and leave politics out of it.”

Trump made his Saturday statement following increasing reports about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s intention to indict him on charges related to the Stormy Daniels case.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, testified before Congress in 2019 that he paid Daniels, an adult film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to keep her from disclosing an affair she claimed to have had with Trump in 2005. Cohen, who pleaded guilty and served time in connection with the alleged payment, told lawmakers that Trump reimbursed him through monthly installments.

It is unclear what charges Bragg’s office is considering against Trump. Prosecutors in the Cohen case accused the Trump Organization of “falsely accounting” for the monthly payments as legal expenses. Falsifying business records in New York constitutes a misdemeanor. Prosecutors must show that the conduct was committed in connection with another crime and the former president had “intent to defraud” to elevate it to a low-level felony.

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Trump’s post on Truth Social targeted Bragg and urged his supporters to “protest” and “take our nation back.”

Without directly mentioning Trump’s post, Politico reported that Bragg sent an email to employees on Saturday evening stating that “we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York. Our law enforcement partners will ensure that any specific or credible threats against the office will be fully investigated and that the proper safeguards are in place so all 1,600 of us have a secure work environment.”