Hush money case: Trump claims he will be arrested next week

Donald Trump said in a social media post that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday as a New York prosecutor is eyeing charges in a case examining hush money paid to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network early on Saturday that “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan district attorney's office indicate that “The far & away leading republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.” Messages left on Saturday with the district attorney's office were not immediately returned. Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Trump did not provide any details on social media about how he knew about the expected arrest. In his postings, he repeated his lies that the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was stolen and he urged his followers to “Protest, take our nation back!” That language evoked the message from the then-president that preceded the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Law enforcement officials in New York have been making security preparations for the possibility that Trump could be indicted.