Former President Donald Trump took to Facebook and YouTube on Friday for the first time since January 6, 2021, and just hours before announcing that he expects to be arrested next week over allegations from the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into his 2016 campaign.
Short message: “I’M BACK!”
It came with a short video taken from CNN the night he was elected president more than six years ago.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” Trump said in the clip. “Complicated business. Complicated.”
Trump was kicked off major social media platforms after the Capitol riots in 2021, when he refused to stop saying the latest presidential election had been “stolen” from him. Trump’s access to his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages has been restored in recent months; his YouTube page was only restored this week as he continues his campaign to retake the White House in 2024.
On Saturday morning, Trump sent a long and detailed message to Truth Social, the Twitter knockoff he launched last year, indicating that he would be arrested Tuesday.
He included an alarming call to action, writing, “PROTEST, BRING BACK OUR NATION!”
The timing of any indictment is unknown, and it’s unclear why Trump believes he will be arrested next week, citing only “ILLEGAL LEAKS” from the New York County district attorney.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office reportedly signaled earlier this month that the investigation into the former president — one of multiple jurisdictions across the country — was nearing a conclusion. And officials told NBC News on Friday that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are preparing the logistics for Trump’s indictment.