Trump thanks supporters, police at courthouse during his arraignment

Former President Trump handed down his gratitude to his supporters, police officers and court attendants after his arraignment in New York, saying they represented the city well and calling them “great patriots.”

“The great patriots inside and outside of the Courthouse on Tuesday were unbelievably nice, in fact, they couldn’t have been nicer,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday. “Court attendants, Police Officers, and others were all very professional, and represented New York City sooo well.”

Trump was arraigned on 34 felony charges related to the falsification of business records, in an alleged scheme to pay off Stormy Daniels and others to keep potentially damaging information about then-candidate Trump from going public. He became the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges.

His arraignment was surrounded by a heavy police and media presence, including crowds of dueling anti- and pro-Trump demonstrators. The former president entered the courtroom through a side door and waved to demonstrators.

After the proceedings, Trump traveled to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he made a speech in which he blasted the indictment, the prosecutor and the judge in the case. He and his allies have framed the prosecution as a “witch hunt,” with liberal prosecutors trying to block him from becoming president again.

The next court date in the case is slated for December, signaling that the proceedings will bump up against the Republican primary calendar. Trump has already launched his campaign for the White House in 2024.