On Mar. 30, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump on several charges related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to hide an alleged affair. The following Tuesday, he formally submitted himself for arraignment.

Trump flew into New York City the night before his hearing and was scheduled to turn himself in at that time. It was announced prior that Trump would not have a mugshot or be taken in handcuffs because of previous statements that Trump planned to make a “spectacle” out of his own arrest. Additionally, the media had very limited access to the processes of his first day in court.

After being fingerprinted and officially arraigned, Trump was led into the courtroom where he was joined by his attorneys. There, he was officially charged with 34 first-degree felonies with falsifying business records charges. Prosecutors maintain that the former president made an illegal payment to Daniels through his business to suppress negative information that could have damaged his 2016 campaign. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges.

Later that day, Trump returned to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and spoke to a few hundred staunch supporters decrying what he saw as a “fake case.” 

“The only crime I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” he said.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the man at the helm of the investigation, published a statement shortly after Trump’s arrest saying, “We cannot allow New York businesses to manipulate their records to cover up criminal conduct…As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law.”

During the arrest itself, demonstrators and protesters, such as Rep. Jamaal Bowman in support and Reps. George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene in dissension. gathered outside the Manhattan court building to either protest either the arrest or the former President himself. The fervor reached such a point where many of the pro-Trump protesters were drowned out and driven off.

In spite of his arrest, Trump remains the presumptive favorite for the 2024 Republican nomination. Colin Swearingen, associate professor of Political Science at John Carroll, spoke about Trump’s electoral chances in wake of these charges. 

“There is no doubt that this indictment and arrest is rallying Republicans around Trump,” Swearingen told The Carroll News. “While this doesn’t mean that they are all supporting him for 2024, it will have (and has already had) a positive effect on Trump’s standing in the presidential primary.  Based on the polling I’ve seen, his lead is up to 20 points over DeSantis.”

Yet, this does not guarantee a permanent popularity boost. Swearingen continued by saying that the primary is still up for grabs due to many factors.

“I caution anyone from reading too much into this bump as this may just be temporary.  In the absence of a rigorous campaign – debates haven’t yet started, not all candidates have declared – this does not equate to Trump wrapping up the nomination.  At this point, he is the favorite to win the GOP nomination, but there is a long way to go.”

While Trump is the first president to be criminally charged, he is not the first president to be arrested in United States history. That honor belongs to Ulysses S. Grant, who, in 1872, was arrested and fined for speeding his horse and buggy.