Donald Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts

Donald Trump, the immediate past president of the United States, has been arrested in Manhattan, New York.

He was arrested over his alleged role in paying hush money to adult entertainment star, Stormy Daniels, in the days preceding his election victory back in 2016.

Mr Trump voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities and is now facing a number of criminal charges, all of which may be made public.

Mr Trump’s arrest is a historic one as this marks the first time a former president will walk into a courtroom as a criminal defendant after a grand jury in Manhattan indicted him last week.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records in Manhattan criminal court Tuesday afternoon.

The indictment against Trump alleges that the former president sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign.

The reason Trump committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy,” the indictment alleges.

The former president’s voice was measured in the courtroom. He walked in slowly scanning the reporters in the courtroom and looked at the judge when he was speaking.

Trump had arrived at the Manhattan district attorney’s office earlier Tuesday afternoon, where he was placed under arrest and in police custody before the arraignment.

The arraignment in the Manhattan courtroom Tuesday represented a surreal and historic moment in US history.