Image source, Getty Images

We are now closing our live page coverage of Trump's arrival today in New York ahead of his court appearance scheduled for Tuesday.

Thank you for tuning in. Here's what happened today:

• Trump left his Mar-a-Lago, Florida residence and boarded his private plane to New York
• The former president arrived at Trump Tower, where hordes of media, tourists and some protesters gathered
• Trump plans to stay at Trump Tower tonight to consult with lawyers
• He is scheduled to appear in court at 14:15 local time (18:15 GMT)

We will be resuming our live page coverage of Trump's arraignment tomorrow.

You can read more about Trump's journey to New York and the charges he might face here and here.

Katty Kay
US special correspondent

Don't trust anyone who tells you they know the political implications of this indictment.

I certainly don't, and nor do they. We don't know the charges, we don't know the evidence and we don't know how the trial will unfold.

Since the indictment was announced, I've heard from people close to the former president who've told me this is bad news for Democrats because this is a weak case, the weakest of all the potential cases against Trump.

I've also heard from Democrats who say the spectacle of Trump on trial is bound to weaken him as he runs for the White House, and the reminder of his alleged affair with a former porn star will turn off evangelical Christians who once supported him.

Two things can be true at once.

The political question will be in the raw numbers: does it win him more voters or lose him voters?

The more important question for America is whether this trial, whenever it occurs, can be removed from the political realm and be seen as a fair legal process.

You can catch Katty on Americast here

Image source, Getty Images

As Trump arrived in New York, some supporters had been waiting for him for hours in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan.

One supporter, Edward Young, said: “If he goes to jail for this absurd charge, then our country is over. We don't exist anymore. This is a travesty of justice."

Diana Morgan, another supporter, thinks he is being “politically persecuted”.

Norman Ross, on the other hand, thinks it’s not about “hating or loving Trump” and asks:

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking to reporters during a trip to Minneapolis earlier today, President Joe Biden said he was confident the New York Police Department would be able to handle any chaos surrounding Trump's court hearing tomorrow afternoon.

Flocks of media, as well as tourists and some protesters, have descended upon the Manhattan courthouse as well as Trump's midtown residence, Trump Tower, where he arrived earlier this afternoon.

Biden has remained tight-lipped on Trump's indictment so far.

Asked by reporters whether he had faith in the US legal system, the president gave a one-word answer: "Yes."

Image source, Reuters

Juan Manuel Merchan will be the history-making judge who will be presiding over the first ever case with a former US president as the defendant.

Merchan – a New York Supreme Court justice – is a veteran of the New York court system with over 12 years on the bench. Trump, who has denied all allegations, railed against the judge on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday, saying that Merchan “hates me”.

This isn’t the first time the two have crossed paths.

Merchan, 60, also presided over the trial last year involving Trump’s real estate company. The case led to a conviction of The Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to 15 counts including tax fraud.

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of Tuesday's arraignment, Trump reportedly plans to stay inside his Manhattan residence at Trump Tower tonight, where he is expected to meet his lawyers to prepare for his court appearance tomorrow.

Trump is "gearing up for a battle" ahead of his scheduled court hearing, his lawyer Joe Tacopina said over the weekend.

"He's someone who's going to be ready for this fight."

His arraignment will take place 14:15 local time (18:15 GMT) tomorrow, according to court officials, where he will be fingerprinted.

The former president's stay in New York will not be long - after the arraignment, he plans to fly immediately back to his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence, where he has said he will deliver remarks.

Gareth Evans
Reporting from London

Image source, Getty Images

The former president’s journey from Trump Tower to the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building tomorrow will be a major security operation involving large numbers of police and secret service agents.

The journey itself is about a 30-minute drive south through Manhattan - but that time could be much less if there’s a full police escort. It’s not clear if Donald Trump will make remarks to the media before he leaves Trump Tower or when he arrives outside court.

Regardless, there will be huge numbers of cameras and reporters waiting for him there.

New York police officers will secure the area surrounding the building and nearby roads will be closed off. Street parking will also be suspended.

Trump’s path in and out of the building has reportedly been carefully mapped by secret service agents who visited the courthouse on Friday to assess the various routes.

Agents and officers will surround Trump as he enters and leaves in order to separate him from members of the public, an anonymous law enforcement official told the Washington Post.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York

Image source, Getty Images

Trump’s arrival was so fluid and under the radar that few actually realised he’d arrived.

Police never shut down the bustling intersection around Trump Tower.

City buses and the usual traffic continued to surge by.

Meanwhile, Trump's detail surreptitiously deposited him at his skyscraper, where a few skilled professional photographers captured his entrance.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York

Bystanders are cramming the street corners around Trump Tower, phones aloft, ready to capture any excitement.

This is a word we hear a lot over in the US when it comes to legal cases.

An arraignment is basically a court proceeding - where someone is formally presented with the charges against them.

The defendant is then asked to submit a plea, which is whether they will plead guilty or not guilty.

A judge then decides whether they should be released on bail or taken into custody.

Trump's arraignment is expected to take place on Tuesday afternoon.

Image source, Getty Images

US media is reporting that Donald Trump has tapped a new lawyer to join his legal team ahead of his arraignment in New York.

Trump has hired Todd Blanche, a white collar defence lawyer who is familiar with Trump and his inner circle.

Blanche previously represented Paul Manafort, the 2016 Trump campaign's former chairman.

He has also represented Igor Fruman, an associate of Rudy Giuliani's who has been accused of trying to dig up damaging information on Trump's political opponents, and who was a key figure during Trump's first impeachment trial.

Lawyers Joe Tacopina and Susan Necheles will reportedly remain on Trump's legal team.

Image source, Getty Images

A motorcade carrying Trump has made its way to the former president's Manhattan residence, Trump Tower.

The president can be seen entering the building, where he is expected to spend the night before his arraignment on Tuesday.

Image source, Reuters

Maddy Carbery
Picture researcher

It's the plane that transported Donald Trump to New York - and with his name painted in giant lettering on the outside, the interior of the customised Boeing 757 aircraft is no less brash.

Photographs taken several years ago by a company that styles and fits out bespoke private jet interiors give us a glimpse of the opulence within the 31-year-old plane.

Image source, intljet.com

Image source, intljet.com

Image source, Getty Images

The former president has just touched down in New York, and you can watch his motorcade winds its way into the city live on the BBC channel by clicking Play above.

Our coverage features correspondents on the ground at Trump Tower where the former president will soon arrive to spend the night before his arraignment.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

It’s orderly chaos near Trump Tower in New York, where Donald Trump will stay on the eve of his court appearance.

While police have blocked off pedestrian traffic on the pavements that immediately surround the building with barricades, the nearby area is heaving with curious onlookers and press.

Several tourists have stopped to take pictures of the spectacle and a few protesters are out with Trump 2024 signs, making it extremely hard to walk around.

But street traffic is moving down Fifth Avenue and the New York Police Department says they are aiming to keep street closures and disruptions to a minimum.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Donald Trump's private plane - dubbed Trump Force One - has landed in New York. The former president will now prepare for his appearance on Tuesday in the courtroom as both a defendant and a candidate. Here's a quick recap of events so far today:

• Trump has flown to New York and is expected to spend the night in Trump Tower
• On Tuesday, he'll hand himself over to the authorities sometime before 14:15 (18:15 GMT), when his hearing is due to begin in Manhattan
• He'll turn himself in at the Manhattan District Attorney's office
• The charges - which relate to hush money paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels - will be put to him on Tuesday afternoon
• We still don't know the exact charges, but his lawyers have said he will plead not guilty
• Trump’s then scheduled to fly back to Florida, where he has said he'll make an address to some of his supporters at 20:15 local time
• He is the first ex-president to face criminal charges in the US

Donald Trump's plane has landed at New York's LaGuardia Airport after a nearly three-hour flight from Florida.

His return to New York, where he was once one of the world's most famous real estate moguls, comes in extraordinary circumstances.

On Tuesday, Trump will become the first ever sitting or former US president to be arrested and arraigned on criminal charges.

But for now, he will make his way to Trump Tower, his residence in Manhattan.

Image source, US Pool

Gareth Evans
Reporting from London

Image source, Getty Images

We expect Donald Trump to arrive at LaGuardia Airport any minute now. From there, he’ll head to Trump Tower in Manhattan where he’ll meet with his legal team before spending the night in his penthouse that spans the top three floors of the skyscraper.

He has a couple of options when it comes to travelling there - helicopter or car. If it’s the latter, it will be about a 40-minute drive through Queens, over the East River and then into Manhattan.

Given the fact he’s a former president and a large number of Secret Service agents will be travelling with him, we’d expect to see a large motorcade of vehicles. There may be a police escort, too.

The journey will no doubt be quicker if Trump chooses to fly. He does own a personal helicopter, and the BBC’s US partner CBS understands that it is available to fly him to Manhattan.

Image source, Getty Images

One of Trump's senior advisers is claiming the former president has raised $7m (£5.6m) since news of the indictment broke.

In a tweet, external, Jason Miller, a Trump aide, said the donations marked a record for the Trump team.

Trump has used the charges to try to rally supporters in campaign fundraising emails, claiming the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation amounts to a "witch hunt".

"With your support, we will write the next great chapter of American history," Trump's team said in an email last week.

His campaign team said it raised more than $4m in the first 24 hours after the indictment was announced. You can read more about the fundraising efforts here.

Sam Cabral
Reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

Alvin Bragg made history in 2021 as the first black man elected New York County district attorney.

Now his spotlight is about to grow brighter, as the first prosecutor - at the federal, state or local level - to bring criminal charges against a former American president.

Bragg, 49, took over the investigation led by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office two years ago.

The veteran prosecutor claims he helped sue the Trump administration more than 100 times during its four-year term.

Read more here.