Judge bars use of cameras in court – as former president arrives in New York | Trump arrest live

By Martha Kelner, US Correspondent, in Palm Beach

For Donald Trump’s most entrenched supporters this indictment is simply another cause to rally around. 

They gather on one side of the bridge which links the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate with Palm Beach, eagerly awaiting the passing of his motorcade on the way to the airport. 

Some wave Trump 2024 flags, others hold signs saying, “Impeach Joe Biden” and one lady has “Trump” written in diamanté stickers on her bottom. 

 If anything, these charges have galvanised Trump’s base, which believes this is a politically motivated pursuit. 

They call the District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who has secured this indictment, an “evil traitor,” following the lead of Trump himself, who refers to him as a “degenerate psychopath.” 

Bob Kunst, from Miami Beach, has brought his deck chair and waves at passing cars beeping in support. He says he is a registered democrat voter but believes Trump is being persecuted. 

“It’s like a new revolution is taking place”, he tells me. 

“The problem here is the public at large, whether they like Trump or not, realises what the Democrats are doing. 

“They’re weaponising the justice system, which could hurt everybody. It’s going to backfire big time.” 

Polling suggests views like Mr Kunst’s are mirrored across the Republican voting spectrum, where Trump’s advantage over other potential candidates is widening. 

 Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist who worked with Mitt Romney for 10 years, says these criminal charges help Trump, politically. 

“Charges facing Donald Trump do not dissuade Republican primary voters at all,” he says, “they rally his cause. There’s a very small sliver of the Republican Party that see Trump as problematic or is troubled by these charges. 

“But they already weren’t supporting Donald Trump anyways, so it’s really irrelevant. It doesn’t affect his standing with Republicans and actually it helps him.”