Melania Trump skips New York indictment trip as Eric joins father’s flight

Former president pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges over Stormy Daniels hush money payment

Melania Trump skipped Donald Trump’s indictment trip from Florida to New York as the former president was joined by son Eric Trump.

The one-term president left his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday to fly to New York City ahead of his historic arrest and appearance in court on hush money payment charges on Tuesday afternoon.

The former first lady was not named among the group who travelled from Florida to New York onboard Mr Trump’s private plane by The New York Times.

Former US President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court on April 4, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images)

The newspaper’s Maggie Haberman reported that the former president was joined by a host of campaign aides on his New York trip, including his son Eric Trump, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, longtime communications aide Jason Miller, former White House aide Dan Scavino, and Boris Epshteyn, who was on the team of lawyers who launched a spurious legal effort to overturn 2020 results.

After being placed under arrest and fingerprinted Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Prosecutors say the charges stem from payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from revealing an affair he had allegedly with her a decade earlier, before the 2016 presidential election.

The twice-impeached former president’s plane landed at LaGuardia Airport in Queens and headed straight to his Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue where he stayed overnight on Monday before his court appearance downtown on Tuesday afternoon.

Law enforcement was on high alert and barricades have been erected around Trump Tower and Manhattan Criminal Court, where Mr Trump appeared before Judge Juan Merchan at 2.15pm on Tuesday.

Following the appearance, Mr Trump returned to LaGuardia Airport in Queens and returned to Florida on his private jet.

This is far from Mr Trump’s only legal troubles, with The Washington Post reporting that the US Department of Justice is pursuing an obstruction of justice case against the former president over the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.