By Karen Freifeld and Rich McKay
NEW&nbsp;YORK/PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) -Donald&nbsp;Trump, the ex-president and frontrunner for the Republican 2024 nomination, flew into&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&nbsp;City on Monday&nbsp;for an&nbsp;historic&nbsp;court&nbsp;appearance to face charges stemming from a probe into hush money paid to a porn star.
With&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&nbsp;taking security precautions and the mayor telling potential "rabble-rousers" to behave,&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;was due to surrender at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Tuesday&nbsp;and will likely be fingerprinted prior to appearing before a judge for an arraignment where he will plead not guilty.
Trump, 76, is the first former or sitting U.S. president to face criminal charges.
Yahoo&nbsp;News late on Monday&nbsp;said&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;would face 34 felony counts for falsification of business records. Citing a single source briefed on Tuesday's arraignment procedures, Yahoo said none of the charges against&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;were misdemeanors.
Trump's plane - painted in red, white and blue with "TRUMP" in big letters on the side and an image of the American flag on the tail - arrived at LaGuardia Airport in Queens after a 3-1/2 hour flight from West Palm Beach near&nbsp;his&nbsp;Florida home.
Clad in a blue suit and wearing a red tie,&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;walked alone down a flight of stairs from the airplane and climbed into an SUV for a drive in a motorcade to&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;Tower in Manhattan, where upon arrival he waved to people and walked in without making public comments.
Beefing up&nbsp;his&nbsp;legal team,&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;hired Todd Blanche, a prominent white-collar criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor, to join&nbsp;his&nbsp;defense, two sources familiar with the matter said.&nbsp;
Trump's lawyers opposed videography, photography and radio coverage of the arraignment, where a defendant is brought to&nbsp;court&nbsp;to hear charges and have a chance to enter a plea, saying it would "exacerbate an already almost circus-like atmosphere around this&nbsp;case", detracting from dignity and decorum.
Judge Juan Merchan late on Monday&nbsp;ruled that five photographers would be admitted before the arraignment started to take pictures for several minutes until they must stop, with cameras allowed in the hallways of the building.
The Manhattan grand jury that&nbsp;indicted&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;heard evidence for months this&nbsp;year about a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the waning&nbsp;days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006.&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;denies having had any such relationship with her.
Blanche previously represented Paul Manafort,&nbsp;Trump's 2016 campaign chairman, when Manafort was hit with&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&nbsp;state fraud charges after being sentenced to prison for federal crimes.
The state charges were eventually dismissed and&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;pardoned Manafort before leaving office. Blanche also previously represented Igor Fruman, who was an associate of former&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;attorney Rudy Giuliani.
The specific charges in the indictment by a grand jury convened by Bragg, a Democrat, have yet to be disclosed.&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;has said he is innocent. He and&nbsp;his&nbsp;allies have portrayed the charges as politically motivated.
A motorcade of several vehicles took&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;at midday&nbsp;from&nbsp;his&nbsp;Mar-a-Lago estate to the airport in nearby West Palm Beach.&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;climbed out of an SUV before he and members of&nbsp;his&nbsp;entourage climbed a set of stairs to enter&nbsp;his&nbsp;plane.
"WITCH HUNT, as our once great Country is going to HELL!"&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;posted on social media right before he left Florida.
Trump&nbsp;said on social media he would head to the&nbsp;courthouse on Tuesday&nbsp;morning.
'OUR COUNTRY HAS FALLEN,'&nbsp;TRUMP&nbsp;CAMPAIGN ASSERTS
Trump's campaign raised $7 million in the three&nbsp;days after word of the indictment emerged last Thursday, senior adviser Jason Miller said. The campaign on Monday&nbsp;issued the latest in a series of fundraising emails, taking aim at the media's reporting on&nbsp;his&nbsp;indictment.
Remarks attributed to&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;in the email stated: "Our country has fallen. But I'm not giving up on America. We can and we will save our nation in 2024."
A&nbsp;court&nbsp;official said the arraignment was planned for 2:15 p.m. (1815 GMT) on Tuesday. Bragg will give a&nbsp;news conference afterwards.&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;will return to Florida and deliver remarks from Mar-a-Lago at 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday&nbsp;(0015 GMT on Wednesday),&nbsp;his&nbsp;office said.
The&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&nbsp;case is one of several probes&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;faces.
A few dozen&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;fans cheered at the Florida airport and along the route he took to get there, carrying signs and flags.
"Our country needs him," said Cindy Falco, 65, of Boynton Beach, Florida. "He's pro-God, pro-family and pro-country."
Falco predicted exoneration, saying: "Nothing is going to stick to him."
Trump's detractors also weighed in.
"Isn't it ironic that they couldn't get Donald&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;for all of the crimes he's committed, except payment to a porn star?" said&nbsp;New&nbsp;Jersey resident Robert Hoatson, 71, outside of&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;Tower. "It always comes down to the lowliest of charges."
"It's a terrific&nbsp;day. I hope it goes well and that he is eventually found guilty," Hoatson added.
But among Republicans,&nbsp;Trump's lead has widened over rivals in the party's presidential nominating contest, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, conducted after&nbsp;news broke that&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;would face criminal charges.
Some 48% of self-described Republicans say they want&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;to be their party's presidential nominee, up from 44% in a March 14-20 poll.
MAYOR CALLS FOR PROTESTERS TO BE ON 'BEST BEHAVIOR'
New&nbsp;York&nbsp;police over the weekend began erecting barricades near&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;Tower and the Manhattan Criminal&nbsp;Court&nbsp;building. Demonstrations were expected at those sites on Tuesday.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said there was no known specific security threat.
"While there may be some rabble-rousers thinking about coming to our city tomorrow (Tuesday), our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves.&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&nbsp;City is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger," Adams told reporters.
"As always, we will not allow violence or vandalism of any kind. And if one is caught participating in any act of violence, they will be arrested and held accountable no matter who you are," Adams added, specifically mentioning Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has announced plans to protest.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Be on your best behavior," the mayor said.
Asked whether he was worried about unrest around&nbsp;Trump's arraignment, President Joe Biden, touring a factory in Minnesota, said, &ldquo;No, I have faith in the&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&nbsp;Police Department."
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Palm Beach, Florida and Karen Freifeld in&nbsp;New&nbsp;York; Additional reporting by Tim Reid in Henderson, Nevada; Jonathan Allen, Jeenah Moon, and David Dee Delgado in&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&nbsp;and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Will Dunham and Costas Pitas; Editing by Howard Goller and Stephen Coates)

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