Former President Donald Trump posted on Facebook and YouTube on Friday for the first time since Jan. 6, 2021, and said hours earlier that he expected to be arrested next week on charges stemming from the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into his 2016 campaign .
His message was short: “I’m back!”
It came with a short video shot by CNN the night he was elected president more than six years ago.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” Trump says in the clip. “Complicated business. Complicated.”
Trump was ostracized on major social media platforms after the deadly 2021 Capitol riot when he refused to stop saying the last presidential election was “stolen” from him. Trump’s access to his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages has been restored in recent months; his YouTube page was just restored this week as he continues his campaign to win back the White House in 2024.
On Saturday morning, Trump posted a lengthy message in all caps on Truth Social, the Twitter knockoff he launched last year, suggesting he would be arrested on Tuesday.
He included an alarming call to action, writing: “PROTEST, BACK OUR NATION!”
The timing of any possible charges is unknown, and it’s not entirely clear why Trump thinks he will be taken into custody next week, alluding only to “ILLEGAL ESCAPE” from the New York County District Attorney.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office signaled earlier this month that the investigation into the former president — one of several in different jurisdictions across the country — is nearing completion. And officials told NBC News on Friday that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are logistically preparing to prosecute Trump.
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