Trump claims he'll be arrested on Tuesday in Truth Social post

Former US president and 2024 candidate Donald Trump has claimed he will be arrested on Tuesday and called on his supporters to “protest” and “take our nation back”, amid an investigation into Stormy Daniels’ allegation she was paid “hush money” by the Republican.

As a reminder, Ms Daniels, an adult film star, previously made headlines after claiming Trump had an extramarital affair with her beginning in 2006 before being given a “hush” payment during his 2016 presidential campaign not to talk about it.

In 2018, Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including tax evasion and campaign finance violations. The case was in relation to his paying money to Ms Daniels to prevent her from claiming she had an affair with Trump.

Trump continues to deny Ms Daniels’ allegations.

In 2022, Manhattan’s new district attorney Alvin Bragg tasks his office with investigating the situation, and earlier this week it was reported Ms Daniels had met with prosecutors as they continue looking into the claims.

Meanwhile, earlier this month The New York Times said prosecutors offered him the opportunity to testify before a grand jury about the case – something the outlet says “almost always [indicates] an indictment is close”.

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Hence Trump taking to his Truth Social platform on Saturday, penning a post expressing his anger at potentially being arrested next week – in classic all caps, of course.

He wrote: “Now illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime … indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors) fairytale, the far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.

“Protest, take our nation back!”

He also made the baseless claim that the leader of the district attorney’s office is “funded by George Soros”, the Jewish businessman frequently cited in far-right, antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Following Trump’s post, people have taken to Twitter to gloat at the prospect of the president’s arrest, while others have expressed concern at the rhetoric used in his statement:

Now to see what Tuesday brings…

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