Trump hits back at 'ridiculous indictment' in Mar-a-Lago speech after pleading not guilty

'I never thought anything like this could happen in America', former president says

Read the latest news on Donald Trump's arraignment

Former US president Donald Trump hit back at New York prosecutors and slammed their “ridiculous indictment”, hours after he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges on Tuesday.

Speaking in a ballroom packed with fans, family and political supporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Mr Trump said the criminal case against him was an “insult to our country”.

“I never thought anything like this could happen in America — never thought it could happen,” he said.

“The only crime that I've committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”

The 25-minute speech marked his first public comments since flying to New York on Monday ahead of Tuesday's arraignment on dozens of charges stemming from an alleged scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Daniels said she had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006 but he paid her off, via his lawyer Michael Cohen, so the story wouldn't come out ahead of the election. Mr Trump has denied the affair and any wrongdoing.

In his speech, a tired looking Mr Trump went through the laundry list of grievances that has become standard fare in many of his addresses, including the number of immigrants coming into America, the “radical left” and the “embarrassing” withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

He also spoke about several of the additional criminal and civil investigations he is the subject of, including a Georgia probe into a call he made to the secretary of state following his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

In the call, Mr Trump said the official should “find” thousands of extra votes.

“This fake case was brought only to interfere with the coming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump had flown back to his Mar-a-Lago estate immediately after his arraignment in Manhattan, leaving the city of his birth to return to his adopted home in Florida's Palm Beach.

Thousands of Trump supporters and anti-Trump protesters had thronged the public spaces around the Manhattan courthouse and Trump Tower.

Manhattan is a predominantly liberal New York borough and plenty of detractors turned out to gloat over and celebrate the former president's legal troubles.

In Palm Beach, however, most demonstrators were diehard Trump fans, many of whom lined the streets to welcome him home and catch a glimpse of his passing motorcade.