"The crime is against me, because we have a corrupt District Attorney, a corrupt Attorney General, and it all comes down from the DOJ [Department of Justice], they’re totally coordinated," Trump said during remarks outside the courtroom. "This has to do with election interference, it’s plain and simple."
Trump appeared at a courthouse in New York for the first day of the civil trial against him. New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump of committing fraud by inflating asset values. The trial will be overseen by New York Judge Arthur Engoron, whom Trump also criticized.
Last week, Engoron issued a partial summary judgment in the case, finding Trump and other co-defendants liable for fraud.
Trump said prosecutors could have brought this case years ago, but they waited until he was in the middle of his 2024 re-election campaign. The New York case and other federal indictments are all coordinated by the corrupt Justice Department, Trump added.
Trump holds the support of 54.8% of Republican Party primary voters, despite not having attended the first two debates with the other contenders for the party's presidential nomination, according to FiveThirtyEight primary poll averages published on Sunday. Trump is trailed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 14.1% support, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 7.1% and former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley at 6.9%.