Trump says he’ll be arrested in NYC Tuesday; calls for protests to ‘take our nation back’

Ex-President Donald Trump’s says his upcoming trip to Manhattan will come with some heavy baggage: Criminal charges.

The Queens-born Trump, writing Saturday on his Truth Social website, announced he will return this Tuesday to face unspecified charges in the Manhattan district attorney’s long-running investigation of the 76-year-old former commander-in-chief.

“The far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” posted Trump. “Protest, take our nation back!”

Trump’s words echoed his calls to action of January 2021 when his fiery speeches and tweets spurred a riot at the U.S. Capitol.

If Trump is right about the Tuesday charges, his criminal case will mark the first against a former president in American history.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined “to confirm or comment” on any aspect of the Trump posting. The ex-president offered no details on how he learned about the supposed plan to arrest him.

But Bragg was believed to be on the cusp of nearing a charging decision in his office’s long-running investigation into Trump, his business dealings, and the infamous hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Daniels and two former Trump aides, Hope Hicks and Kellyanne Conway, are among witnesses who met with prosecutors in recent weeks. The ex-president’s former lawyer Micheal Cohen has said he funneled $280,000 from Trump to Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to insure their silence back in 2016.

In Saturday’s social media tirade, Trump said that Bragg is “funded by George Soros” and the investigation was “based on an old & fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale.”

He also took a swipe at Bragg’s handling of the state’s bail reform laws, claiming that his office “has allowed new records to be set in violent crime.”

State court officials and the NYPD on Friday were discussing how best to handle Trump’s arrest if a grand jury files charges against him.

Grand jury proceedings are confidential, and it is not known whether the group impaneled in January will vote to indict Trump.

If Trump is charged, he must surrender to New York authorities and appear in court to enter a plea. A judge could theoretically agree to conduct the hearing remotely, but no criminal defendants are being arraigned virtually at present, according to Lucian Chalfen from the Office of Court Administration.

Trump plans to turn himself in if the Manhattan district attorney criminally indicts him, his lawyer told the Daily News on Friday.

“There won’t be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago with Secret Service and the Manhattan DA’s office,” Joe Tacopina said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.