The former president of the United States Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to the 34 charges in relation to irregular payments to the porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, so that she would not make public a sexual relationship between the two.

Trump, who has become the first US president to face criminal charges, appeared before Judge Juan Manuel Merchan of the New York Manhattan court shortly after turning himself in to the Prosecutor’s Office, where he was reading his rights and was booked.

The former president entered the courtroom at around 2:30 pm local time (6:30 pm GMT) with a clear gesture of disgust and without handcuffs.

Dressed in a light blue suit and red tie, Trump was preceded by his team of lawyers, led by Joe Tacopina, and followed by two police officers. Immediately afterwards, he learned of the accusation charges, which has file number 71543-23, according to The New York Times, which adds that he did not want to answer questions from a journalist present in the room.

After his statement, he is scheduled to return to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he has promised to make a public statement tonight.

Shortly before arriving at the prosecutor’s office, Trump had time to write on his Truth Social network that the situation seemed “surreal” to him: “Wow, they are going to arrest me. I can’t believe this is happening in the United States ,” he wrote. from the vehicle that was transporting him there.

Next to the great headquarters of the Supreme Court in Manhattan there was an enormous expectation since morning that resulted in the presence of hundreds, if not thousands, of media journalists from this country and around the world.

However, two pro and anti-Trump rallies called this morning barely managed to attract a hundred people, much less than expected.

The central events for which he has been charged occurred in 2016, when through an intermediary Trump allegedly paid $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about a sexual relationship he had with her ten years ago.