Donald Trump will appear in a federal courthouse in Miami Tuesday afternoon for an unprecedented and historic court appearance as the first former president to face federal charges in US history.
Trump is expected to be taken into custody and placed under arrest by US Marshals and arraigned during a 3 p.m. ET court hearing before a magistrate judge. He’s expected to plead not guilty to the charges.
Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in a 37-count indictment last week, alleging that the former president mishandled classified documents brought to his Mar-a-Lago resort and engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct justice. Trump’s aide, Walt Nauta, was also charged in the indictment and is expected to appear in court alongside the former president.
Trump was indicted in March by the Manhattan district attorney’s office on charges related to hush money payments to an adult film star, but Smith’s indictment marks the first federal charges against a former president.
The court proceedings are largely going to be routine, but the circumstances surrounding the indictment are anything but – and law enforcement is making preparations for large protests outside the courthouse in Miami. Trump is expected to speak Tuesday evening once he returns to his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort.
Here’s what to know about Tuesday’s court appearance:
What happens when Trump gets to the courthouse?
Once inside the building, Trump will be placed under arrest and processed. Deputy US Marshals are expected to take Trump’s fingerprints electronically but are not expected to take a mugshot of the former president.
Then Trump and his attorneys will appear before Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman for his arraignment and initial appearance. The magistrate judge will confirm with Trump that he understands his rights under the Sixth Amendment, including his right to a speedy trial.
Trump’s attorneys will likely waive a formal reading of the indictment, and the former president is expected to enter a plea of not guilty to all 37 charges.
Federal prosecutors are expected to ask the magistrate judge to limit Trump’s communications with any potential witness to guard against possible witness tampering. Trump will likely be released pending trial on personal recognizance.
Personal recognizance is a no-cost bond, which would not be a financial provision ensuring future appearances. Instead, the defendants are taken at their word they will return to court for future proceedings.
Future hearings will be held before Judge Alieen Cannon, who has been assigned to the criminal case going forward, and a preliminary hearing before Cannon could be scheduled during this initial appearance.
Unlike his arraignment in New York, it’s possible Trump won’t be seen entering or leaving the Miami courthouse Tuesday. Former Miami chief of police Jorge Colina told CNN Monday that the courthouse has an underground garage that Trump’s motorcade is likely to use.
Who’s on Trump’s legal team?
Trump’s legal team is still in flux after a significant shake-up last week that saw two of his attorneys, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, resign following news of the indictment.
Attorneys Todd Blanche and Chris Kise are expected to represent Trump in court Tuesday afternoon for his arraignment, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.
Although Trump spent most of Monday attempting to add another attorney to his team, nothing was finalized. Last week, Trump’s allies had expected a new attorney like Benedict Kuehne would be with them. For now, it’s Blanche, Kise and potentially Boris Epshteyn who will be in attendance.
CNN reported that Trump’s team has had difficulty retaining seasoned lawyers. Trump spent the day before his arraignment in Miami speaking with potential candidates, as he is privately pushing for his legal team to take a more aggressive stance against the Justice Department, sources told CNN.
Nauta is expected to appear with his attorney, Stanley Woodward, who is funded by Trump’s Save America PAC.
Who’s on the special counsel team?
Trump isn’t alone in beefing up his legal team with lawyers who have southern Florida experience. Smith has at least two prosecutors from the Miami US attorney’s office on his team.
One of them is Karen Gilbert, a seasoned Miami prosecutor who supervised the Mar-a-Lago national security case involving a Chinese national who trespassed at the Trump property. Gilbert also was part of the team that helped prepare for the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago last August as part of the classified documents investigation.
The special counsel’s team determined in recent months that they would bring the case in Florida instead of Washington, DC, where they initially used a grand jury to gather evidence, people briefed on the matter told CNN.
The complications over the venue made clear that prosecutors would have to bring any charges in the district based in Miami, which also includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the people said.
Who is Trump’s co-defendant?
Nauta is a Navy veteran who was a valet in the Trump White House and later became Trump’s executive assistant and personal aide. He was charged with six counts in the special counsel’s indictment. The charges include several obstruction and concealment related charges.
On Monday, Nauta traveled with Trump from New Jersey to Florida and had dinner with the former president.
According to the indictment, Nauta – allegedly following directions from Trump – moved boxes out of a storage room that was supposed to be searched by a Trump attorney in response to a subpoena and only moved some of the boxes back before the search.
Prosecutors alleged that Nauta made false statements to investigators that he didn’t know how boxes had arrived at Mar-a-Lago and whether they were secured.
What is the security situation?
Security agencies and local law enforcement have held multiple meetings in the lead-up to Trump’s appearance Tuesday, organizing the security in and around the building. Law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Miami Police Department continue to monitor any threats on social media.
As of Monday afternoon, the only visible security in place was law enforcement security tape, some plastic barriers and officers patrolling the area.
Miami Chief of Police Manuel Morales told reporters Monday that the department was working closely with local law enforcement and federal agencies in preparation for Tuesday and would have enough resources to handle crowd sizes of 5,000 to 50,000 people.
On Tuesday, the Federal Protective Service – part of DHS – will oversee the protection of the courthouse building, while the US Marshals Service will be in charge of protecting people in the building. The US Secret Service will oversee the protection of the former president.
What is Trump doing after his court appearance?
The former president is set to return to his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort following his court appearance Tuesday.
While Trump is not expected to speak publicly while in Miami, his campaign announced he will deliver a statement at 8:15pm ET from his Bedminster golf club.
Trump took the same approach following his arraignment in New York in April. Following that court appearance, he flew back to Mar-a-Lago and delivered a speech in front of supporters that night.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect when Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. It was in March.
CNN’s Kristen Holmes, Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, Paula Reid, Hannah Rabinowitz and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
