Former President Donald Trump is addressing reporters on Friday morning — the day after being found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush-money trial.
Trump is speaking from the atrium of Trump Tower just feet away from the golden escalator he rode down in 2015 when he kicked off his first bid for president.
Now, nearly nine years later, Trump is further responding to his conviction and the legal battles he faces that have been much of the focus of his third presidential bid. Campaign officials and some supporters were also expected to be present.
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Trump said as he kicked off his remarks. “These are bad people. These are, in many cases, I believe, sick people.”
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference, the day after a guilty verdict in his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, at Trump Tower in New York City, May 31, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
Trump then dove into some of his signature campaign rhetoric, going after migrants coming to the United States and economic competition with China.
His attention, though, quickly turned back to the New York criminal trial. He continued his false claims the trial was “rigged” with a biased judge and prosecutors.
“Nobody’s ever seen anything like it,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump returns to the courtroom at Manhattan Criminal Court, May 30, 2024, in New York.
Seth Wenig/Pool via Reuters
In the wake of his guilty verdict, Trump and his campaign have sought to center their focus back on the campaign trail, arguing that “the real verdict” will happen on Election Day and urging supporters to donate to Trump’s campaign.
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Trump has been attempting to turn the verdict around to his advantage by aggressively fundraising off of it, blasting out fundraising emails to smaller dollar donors, calling himself a “political prisoner,” and also attending a fundraiser with major Republican donors in Manhattan Thursday night just hours after the verdict dropped.
Trump currently doesn’t have any public campaign events scheduled for next week, however, he is expected to do a fundraising blitz through the West Coast.
The presumptive Republican nominee is facing additional criminal charges with two cases brought in federal courts and an additional one in state court. Trump is set to be sentenced on July 11 — three days prior to the Republican National Convention where he will become the Republican presidential nominee.
