Former President Donald Trump plans to deliver brief comments — one short line, advisers tell CNN — before he enters the Manhattan courtroom this afternoon.
While his aides said they hope that is the extent of his remarks until tonight when he speaks at Mar-a-Lago, they note that he could chart his own course.
CNN reported earlier that advisers have urged him to hold off until he has the command of his own ballroom tonight, where hundreds of his supporters, surrogates and friends are expected to gather. Advisers have also warned Trump that any unplanned remarks put him at high risk of hurting his case. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech is expected to have legal eyes on it before he delivers it tonight.
Trump has spent the morning on the phone with Republican allies, his tight circle of political advisers and his legal team, with an intensifying focus on what specific charges are contained in the sealed indictment. He cannot fully assess the political or legal road ahead until he learns just what, specifically, is in the indictment.
As he prepares to leave the Trump Tower shortly after lunchtime today, the former president will lose a measure of control that he has wielded over every political battle, tabloid scandal and business dealing for decades in Manhattan. After he surrenders – even in his defiance and not guilty plea – he will be a criminal defendant, something he has spent a lifetime trying to avoid.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Kristen Holmes contributed reporting to this post.