Trump calls for protest over arrest plot

In response to allegations that he paid hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election, former US President Donald Trump says he anticipates being "arrested" on Tuesday and urges his supporters to demonstrate.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday morning, citing a "leak" from the Manhattan district attorney's office: "Leading Republican candidate & former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week. Protest and reclaim our country!

The probe centered on $130,000 paid weeks before the 2016 elections to dissuade Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, from going public about an affair she alleges she had with Trump years earlier.

Speculation abounds as prosecutors consider whether to charge Trump in the case.

The 76-year-old Trump would become the first former president to be charged with a felony if the Manhattan district attorney were to file an indictment against him. That would also jeopardize his efforts to secure the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 general election.

On Friday night, Trump's attorney told CNBC that if his client were to be charged by a Manhattan grand jury, he would turn himself in to face criminal charges.

Trump has refuted a relationship between himself and Daniels and criticized the probe as being politically motivated.

In a post written in all caps, Trump claimed that the inquiry was "based on an old & totally disproved (by multiple other prosecutors!) fairy-tale" and included "illegal leaks from a corrupt & extremely politicized Manhattan district attorneys office."

On Wednesday, Daniels met with the prosecution and "agreed to make herself accessible as a witness, or for further inquiry if needed," according to her attorney Charles Brewster.

Trump was given the chance to testify earlier this month by the office of District Attorney Alvin Bragg, but it is anticipated that he will reject to do so in order to avoid possibly implicating himself.

According to experts, the invitation is a hint that he would most likely face charges.

Former Trump advisor and adversary Michael Cohen appeared before a grand jury in New York on Monday. Cohen made the payment to Daniels and said he was later reimbursed.

If the payment is not properly accounted for, a misdemeanor charge of falsifying business records may be brought against the defendant. According to The New York Times, this may be upgraded to a felony if the false accounting was done to hide a different offense, such a campaign financing infraction.

Many criminal investigations into suspected misbehavior before, during, and after Trump's first term in office are underway at the state and federal levels, and they pose a threat to his reelection bid.

A prosecutor in Georgia is looking into Trump's and his associates' attempts to rig Georgia's 2020 elections in favor of him. The forewoman disclosed last month that the grand jury in that instance had recommended several indictments.

Federal investigators are also looking into the former president's handling of sensitive information and any potential connection to the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.