Donald Trump could arrive in New York City for his first visit since leaving the White House on Sunday night, according to several reports.
The former president was born in Queens and gained fame in Manhattan, but moved his primary residence to Florida in 2019 and has been at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach since he left Washington on January 20.
After reports of a visit to New York proliferated on Saturday, the local WABC-TV station reported that the police were preparing to increase security around the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The New York police department did not comment.
Trump’s New York home has been the subject of protests and a strong police presence from the start of his candidacy for the White House in the summer of 2015 to the end of his tenure in Acre after the January 6 Capitol attack.
In July 2020, amid national protests for racial justice and policing reform, city officials painted the words “Black Lives Matter” on the street in front of Trump Tower. Mayor Bill de Blasio said he had “released” that stretch of Fifth Avenue. The mural was repeatedly vandalized.
Trump was impeached a second time for inciting the Capitol insurrection, in which five people died, as part of his claim that his defeat for Joe Biden was the result of electoral fraud, a lie repeatedly expelled from the court. He was acquitted when only seven Republican senators voted to condemn him.
He maintains control over Republican politics, regularly leading the polls of potential presidential candidates for 2024, but this week demanded that the party stop raising funds using his name.
On Saturday, the New York Daily News quoted Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney and repairman, referring to a golden statue that made noise at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida last week when it said: “Human Donald must … be put on display for the crowd of New York followers. “
In fact, Trump remains a divisive figure in New York, a largely democratic city, amid two investigations that have increased his considerable legal risk since losing office protection. Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr and state attorney general Letitia James are investigating Trump’s financial affairs.
Cohen is under house arrest in the city, serving a sentence for offenses, including the payment of secret money to two women who claimed to have an affair with Trump, says Trump has denied it, although he admitted to knowing the payments.
Cohen spoke to Vance. The Daily News said Trump’s visit was unrelated to this investigation, which received a huge boost last month when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block access to Trump’s tax returns and financial records.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have also moved to Florida since the end of their time in power, with Ivanka likely preparing for a run for the U.S. Senate in the southern state.
Trump’s future in Florida has been questioned. Although he owns the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, a 1993 agreement says he cannot live there permanently. Last month, the former president obtained favorable comments from the city attorney, at a hearing involving residents who want to keep Trump in business. The decision is expected to be taken in April.