11 p.m. Thursday update
Former President Donald Trump returned to Twitter, now known as X, after a two-year hiatus Thursday night.
Trump posted a link to his website and a photo of his mugshot in his first new post on X since Twitter banned his account after the U.S. Capitol incident on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Never surrender!” the caption under the mug shot read.
New owner Elon Musk reactivated Trump’s account in November, saying it was a mistake to close it down.
10:30 p.m. Thursday
Trump appeared on Newsmax and was asked what it felt like to be arrested at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.
“Terrible experience,” Trump responded. “I came in, I was treated very nicely, but it is what it is. I took a mugshot, which I’d never heard the words ‘mugshot’ — they didn’t teach me that at the Wharton School of Finance,” he added.
7:20 p.m. Thursday
Former President Donald Trump reacted to his arrest and release after arriving at the Atlanta airport.
“It’s a very sad day in America and should never happen,” Trump said on the tramac. “I thought it was a stolen election. I should have the freedom to challenge it. What they’re doing is election interference. I did nothing wrong. I had every right to challenge what we thought was a dishonest election.”
Trump is the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
6:56 p.m. Thursday update
After being arrested and booked on felony charges, Donald Trump was released.
He reported on his booking form that he was 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds.
The Fulton County sheriff’s office confirmed a mug shot was taken of the former president.
His inmate number was listed as P01135809.
Trump’s motorcade pulled out of the jail complex and started driving back to the Atlanta airport, where he will fly back to his home in New Jersey.
There is a possibility Trump will make a statement at the airport.
6:34 p.m. Thursday
Former President Donald Trump’s motorcade pulled up to the Fulton County Jail Complex, and he went inside to be booked in the Georgia case against him.
Trump was expected to be arrested and booked before being released on a $200,000 bond.
Trump’s Secret Service agents went into the jail with him while aides remained in their vehicles.
6:04 p.m.
Former President Donald Trump’s plane touched down in Atlanta on Thursday as he travels to the Georgia capital to surrender at the Fulton County Jail.
Trump’s plane departed at 4:20 p.m. CT from Newark Liberty International Airport and landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination has said he expects to check in at the jail around 6:30 p.m. CT.
5:45 p.m.
Harrison Floyd III, a former 2020 Trump campaign staff member, remained in custody Thursday evening because he showed up to his booking without a lawyer,
Floyd did not work out a bond agreement ahead of time. He might have to spend time in the infamous Rice Street jail.
The Washington Post reported Floyd had been arrested in February for an alleged assault on a federal agent.
4:44 p.m.
Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff under the Trump administration, has been released from the Fulton County Jail. He surrendered Thursday afternoon.
Meadows was granted a $100,000 bond shortly before he surrendered. He is being charged with violating the state’s RICO Act and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.
4 p.m.
A Georgia judge on Thursday signed off on a quick turnaround to the start of the trial for Kenneth Chesebro.
Chesebro, an attorney, requested a speedy trial as one of 18 defendants charged alongside former President Donald Trump in connection with alleged election interference charges.
The trial will start October 23.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked Judge Scott McAfee to set October 23 as the start of the trial for all defendants.
“President Trump also alerts the court that he will be filing a timely motion to sever his case from that of co-defendant Chesebro, who has filed a demand for speedy trial, or any other co-defendant who files such a demand,” Trump’s attorney Steven Sadow wrote in response to Willis’ motion.
3 p.m.
Former President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to turn himself in later in the afternoon to face charges in Georgia’s election interference case.
Trump was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on August 14, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
He is accused of conspiracy to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. Eighteen other defendants were also brought up on charges by District Attorney Fani Willis.
Before posting a $200,000 bond, Trump will be processed at the Fulton County jail, where he will be measured, weighed, fingerprinted, and have his mug shot taken.
Law enforcement officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that security will be boosted ahead of Trump’s visit. A “hard lockdown” was being implemented around the jail. Security officers have been patrolling the area, the newspaper reported, and federal officials restricted flights over the jail.
The jail, located just west of the Georgia Tech University campus, has been plagued for years by overcrowding, inmate deaths, and violence, the AJC reported.
Crowds of Trump supporters began to assemble around the jail Thursday morning, according to the newspaper.
Ahead of his surrender, CNN and CNBC reported that Trump is replacing one of his lawyers. Taking the place of Drew Findling will be Steven Sadow, an Atlanta-based attorney whose website profile describes him as a “special counsel for white collar and high-profile defense,” CNN said.
“I have been retained to represent President Trump in the Fulton County, Georgia case,” Sadow said in a statement reported by CNBC. “The president should never have been indicted.”
Instead of participating in Wednesday night’s GOP debate in Milwaukee, Trump recorded an exclusive interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Carlson asked the former president if he thought his political opponents would attempt to end his life if impeachments or indictments did not stop him.
“They’re savage animals. They are people that are sick. Really sick. You have great people in the Democrat Party; you have great people that are Democrats,” Trump said, per the Associated Press. “But I’ve seen what they do; I’ve seen the lengths that they go to.”
Trump also commented on the events of January 6, 2021, praising those who attended his speech before going to the U.S. Capitol.
“People in that crowd said it was the most beautiful day they’ve ever experienced. There was love in that crowd. There was love and unity,” Trump said of his supporters.
Trump told Carlson he did not show up in Milwaukee because of his wide lead in the polls.
“You see the polls have come out; I’m leading by 50 and 60 points,” Trump said. “And some of them are at one and zero and two. And I’m saying, ‘Do I sit there for an hour or two hours, whatever it’s going to be, and get harassed by people that shouldn’t even be running for president? Should I be doing that? And a network that isn’t particularly friendly, frankly.’”
