Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to historic charges of mishandling sensitive files at a federal court in Miami, Florida.
Trump is the first US president – current or former – to be hit with a federal criminal indictment.
He was spared a mugshot, but was expected to be digitally fingerprinted and submit a DNA sample by swab.
This was the second time Mr Trump has appeared in court this year, but yesterday’s case was more serious.
“We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” BBC quoted the attorney, Todd Blanche, to have told the judge.
The former president appeared sombre in court, sitting in a dark suit and red tie with his arms crossed.
Trump’s co-defendant, Walt Nauta – a close aide charged with six criminal counts in the case – was sitting at the same table as the former president and also pleaded not guilty.
The former president, 76, was allowed to leave court without restrictions, according to CNN, after prosecutors told Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman the defendant was not considered a flight risk.
Trump – frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – was driven to court by motorcade from the Trump National Doral resort where he spent the night.
During the drive, several messages were posted to his account on the social media platform Truth Social, including one in all capital letters saying: “One of the saddest days in the history of our country. We are a nation in decline!!!”
Alina Habba, a lawyer attorney for the former president, repeated the former president’s claims that the charges were politically motivated as she addressed media outside court.
“We are at a turning point in our nation’s history, the targeting prosecution of a leading political opponent is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela,” she told reporters.
“What is being done to the President Trump should terrify all citizens of this country,” she added.
Instead of facing the humiliation of a booking photo, the US Marshals Service – which secures federal courts – will use a previously taken photo of Trump, officials at the court briefed journalists on Tuesday morning.
Trump, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, is expected to return to his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he will make remarks to the media.
Small crowds of Trump supporters and counter-protesters gathered outside the court.
City authorities had prepared for possible unrest, but Mayor Francis Suarez told reporters on Tuesday afternoon there had not been any security problems.
The charges, which were made public on Friday, came after FBI agents found more than 100 documents with classified markings at Trump’s private Florida estate Mar-a-Lago in August.
They allegedly contained information about the defence and weapons capabilities of both the US and foreign countries, as well as plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.
Prosecutors accuse him of hoarding the files, storing some in a ballroom and a bathroom, and of engaging in a conspiracy with an aide to obstruct the FBI’s inquiry.
Trump’s legal troubles appear not to have diminished his support among Republican voters.
A poll by the BBC’s US partner CBS found 76% of likely Republican primary voters were more concerned about the indictment being politically motivated than about the documents posing a national security risk.
In an interview with a Spanish-language radio programme on Monday, Trump accused the Biden administration of weaponising law enforcement agencies against him.
