'In Trump I Trust': Horde of angry supporters descends on Mar-a-Lago in the hours following shock FBI raid of ex-president's Florida club
- Some came in their cars and were camped out in the beds of their trunks, almost entirely in a show of support for Trump
- Others held pro-Trump signs
- Donald Trump said his Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI earlier on Monday in a statement
- 'These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,' he said in shocking statement
Supporters of former President Donald Trump were spotted outside his Mar-a-Lago home Friday to back the ex-Commander in Chief after it was announced it had been raided by the FBI.
Trump confirmed the raid.
Some came in their cars and were camped out in the beds of their trunks, almost entirely in a show of support for the twice-impeached Trump.
Many held pro-Trump signs, including ones for a presumptive 2024 campaign.
Signs had slogans like: 'Make Votes Count Again' or 'Keep America Great' and 'In Trump I Trust'.
Some also held invectives against Joe Biden, with one wearing a t-shirt of the president's face saying 'Not my Dictator'.
One even stood by a reporter outside the estate with a sign that said 'Fake News is CNN'.
One woman, a Cuban exile, gave an interview to NBC6 saying that they didn't understand how the FBI could investigate Trump but not Hunter Biden or Nancy Pelosi's husband.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump were spotted outside his Mar-a-Lago home Friday to back the ex-Commander in Chief after it was announced it had been raided by the FBI
Trump confirmed the raid on Monday evening
Some came in their cars and were camped out in the beds of their trunks, almost entirely in a show of support for the twice-impeached Trump
Signs had slogans like: 'Make Votes Count Again' or 'Keep America Great' and 'In Trump I Trust'
Many held pro-Trump signs, including ones for a presumptive 2024 campaign and even one for Trump's previous campaign with former Vice President Mike Pence's name crossed out
A reporter is heckled by anti-media and pro-Trump protesters across the waterfront from Mar-A-Lago
Supporters of former President Donald Trump were spotted outside his Mar-a-Lago home Friday to back the ex-Commander in Chief after it was announced it had been raided by the FBI.
Trump confirmed the raid on Monday evening.
Some came in their cars and were camped out in the beds of their trunks, almost entirely in a show of support for the twice-impeached Trump.
Many held pro-Trump signs, including ones for a presumptive 2024 campaign and even one for Trump's previous campaign with former Vice President Mike Pence's name crossed out.
Signs had slogans like: 'Make Votes Count Again' or 'Keep America Great' and 'In Trump I Trust'.
Some also held invectives against Joe Biden, with one wearing a t-shirt of the president's face saying 'Not my Dictator'.
One even stood by a reporter outside the estate with a sign that said 'Fake News is CNN'.
One woman, a Cuban exile, gave an interview to NBC6 saying that they didn't understand how the FBI could investigate Trump but not Hunter Biden or Nancy Pelosi's husband.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump were spotted outside his Mar-a-Lago home Friday to back the ex-Commander in Chief after it was announced it had been raided by the FBI
Trump confirmed the raid - reportedly as part of an investigation into whether the former president took classified documents with him when he left the White House - on Monday evening
Some came in their cars and were camped out in the beds of their trunks, almost entirely in a show of support for the twice-impeached Trump
Signs had slogans like: 'Make Votes Count Again' or 'Keep America Great' and 'In Trump I Trust'
Many held pro-Trump signs, including ones for a presumptive 2024 campaign and even one for Trump's previous campaign with former Vice President Mike Pence's name crossed out
A reporter is heckled by anti-media and pro-Trump protesters across the waterfront from Mar-A-Lago
Some also held invectives against Joe Biden, with one wearing a t-shirt of the president's face saying 'Not my Dictator'
Trump was in New York on Monday and waved and gave his signature thumbs' up to the gathered as he got into his SUV, surrounded by Secret Service agents.
Trump, in his dramatic announcement of the raid, didn't say specifically what the federal agents were looking for, just that his Florida home was 'under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.'
'They even broke into my safe!' the former president complained.
Eric Trump, who was also spotted at Trump Tower on Monday, said he was the one that got the call on the raid and told his father about it.
'I was the guy who got the call this morning and I called my father and let him know it happened, and I was involved all day,' he told Fox News host Sean Hannity. 'Welcome to politics in the 2020s.'
'To have 30 FBI agents -- actually more than that -- descend on Mar-a-Lago, give absolutely, you know, no notice, go through the gates, start ransacking an office, ransacking a closet -- you know, they broke into a safe. He didn't even have anything in the safe. I mean, give me a break.'
He charged President Joe Biden's White House as the force behind the raid.
'This didn't come from a local FBI field office in Palm beach, Florida. You know this came from?This came from one place and one building, and that is the White House in Washington, D.C. They want to attack a guy who they view as his greatest threat, Biden's greatest threat,' Eric Trump said.
Lara Trump told Fox News 'look, my father-in-law, as anybody knows, who's been around him a lot, loves to save things like newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, photographs, documents that he had every authority to take from the White House.'
She called the raid an attempt to hurt him as her father-in-law may 'announce any day that he's running for president in 2024.'
President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower in New York City on Monday night after he announced he FBI had raided his Florida home
'They even broke into my safe!' Trump complained of the raid
Armed Secret Service agents stand outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday night
Eric Trump is spotted leaving Trump Tower; he told Fox News that he was the one who got notice of the raid and told his father about it
The raid comes as Donald Trump is considering another bid for the presidency.
It began Monday morning and took several hours. It is highly unusual for a federal raid to take place at the residence of a former commander in chief.
'These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,' Trump said in shocking statement released on Monday night.
'After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate.'
Trump, in his lengthy statement blasting the raid, called it 'prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections.
The Justice Department wouldn't say whether Attorney General Merrick Garland had personally authorized the search but it's highly unlikely a raid on a former president would take place without the AG giving it the stamp of approval.
The FBI gave US Secret Service agents at Mar-a-Lago advance notice and they cooperated letting them into the property, NBC News reported. But the Secret Service agents did not take part in investigation or search.
This meant the FBI did not have to break into the property or bust down any doors.
A search warrant does not suggest that criminal charges are near or even expected but it would have to be court authorized.
Garland and his DoJ are under heavy political pressure of their own - from Democrats who want the former president indicted to Republicans who blast the probe as election-year politics.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy warned Garland of payback. He pledged to investigate the raid if Republicans win control of the House in November, which they are expected to do.
'Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear you calendar,' he said in a statement on Monday night.
Trump's Florida home: Mar-a-Lago, where agents were investigating Trump
Trump supporters gathered in front of Mar-a-Lago on Monday night
In his statement, Trump said he was a victim of shadowy government forces.
Trump complained on Monday that 'such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before.'
'They even broke into my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States,' he said.
Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, when the raid took place. The former president was in New York City on Monday. He gave a thumbs up as he left Trump Tower that evening after he announced the raid.
He usually spends August at his golf club in Bedminister, N.J. Photos posted to social media show him there on Sunday, posing with a newly-engaged couple.
Some Republicans were immediately critical of the raid.
'Using government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships But never before in America,' wrote Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Twitter.
Donald Trump was at his golf club in Bedminister, N.J., on Sunday, according to this photo of him posing with a newly engaged couple that was posted to social media
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