Trump’s first (and low-key) visit to New York since leaving the White House

For Donald Trump, they braved the winter cold. This Monday, the Republican was back in his native New York for a first visit since leaving the White House. For once, the former president, not really a prophet in his country, was discreet and was only seen briefly, on his arrival late Sunday evening: a photo of the New York Post shows him waving from the back of a car.

Monday at midday, twenty of his supporters, however, moved peacefully at the foot of the skyscraper, flanked by dozens of police. Some held up a banner “We Love Trump” (“On adore Trump”), while others unfurled a giant flag “Trump 2024”. “For two weeks, Trump has been teasing us“on a possible candidacy in 2024,” said Dion Cini, one of the organizers of the rally. “No more joking, let’s be serious: we want him to be a candidate in 2024, we want him to serve two terms”, he added, while the former president has indeed raised the possibility of representing himself in front of his supporters, in Orlando, on February 28.

Wearing a cap “Make America Great Again”, this supporter kept his eyes riveted on the top of the tower, in the hope of seeing the ex-president or one of his sons, Donald Jr. or Eric. No one among those supporters seemed to know whether the 74-year-old ex-president, who stepped down on January 20, would come down to greet them, as he has often done with his supporters.

The return of the real estate mogul to New York – Democratic stronghold where Joe Biden won a large majority of votes in November – is for the moment discreet: no official communication on the visit, of which the agenda, nor the duration, have been specified. Asked, the Secret Service, responsible for the protection of former US presidents, did not disclose any information.

Via social networks, some anti-Trump said they hoped to see the tycoon have differences with the justice during this stay: the Manhattan prosecutor as the New York State prosecutor are investigating in parallel suspicions of bank fraud, tax fraud or insurance fraud targeting the billionaire.

At the end of February, after a long legal battle, the Manhattan prosecutor said he had finally obtained the eight-year tax returns he was demanding from Donald Trump. But nobody knows when the investigation will end or if it will lead to an indictment of the former president.