Donald Trump's mug shot has been released after he was arrested at an Atlanta jail on more than a dozen charges as part of a wide-ranging criminal case stemming from the former US president's attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia.
An unsmiling Mr Trump - inmate n. P01135809, according to Fulton County Jail records - was captured glaring at the camera in the mug shot.
The image represented yet another extraordinary moment for Mr Trump, who did not have to submit to a photograph when making appearances in his three other criminal cases.
Mr Trump, who is running for president in the 2024 election, had already made history as the first former US president to face criminal charges - not once but four times.
This, however, was the first time he had to pose for a booking photo. Unlike the other authorities, who gave him a pass, Georgia opted to process him like any other criminal defendant, including fingerprints and a mug shot.
Mr Trump spent only about 20 minutes at the jail before heading back to his New Jersey golf club. Before boarding his private plane at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, he repeated his claim that the prosecution - along with the others he faces – is politically motivated.
"What has taken place here is a travesty of justice," he told reporters. "I did nothing wrong, and everybody knows it."
Mr Trump wasted little time using the mug shot for fundraising purposes, posting it on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, as well as on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
The X post was Mr Trump's first in more than 2.5 years, after his account was banned following the 6 January 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. Elon Musk reinstated Mr Trump's account last year soon after acquiring X.
Mr Trump also put the photograph on his campaign website alongside an appeal for donations, claiming he had been "arrested despite having committed no crime".
https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023
Mr Trump, aged 77, already has entered uncharted territory as the first former US president to face criminal charges, even as he mounts another campaign for the White House next year.
Far from damaging his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination, however, the four cases filed against him have only bolstered his standing. He holds a commanding polling lead in the Republican race to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.
Dozens of supporters, waving Mr Trump banners and American flags, jostled for a glimpse as Mr Trump arrived at the jail. Among the Donald Trump backers gathered outside was Georgia US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the former president's most loyal congressional allies.
Lyle Rayworth, aged 49, who is in the aviation industry in the Atlanta area, had been waiting near the jailhouse for 10 hours, since early yesterday morning.
"Yeah, I'm hoping he sees me waving the flags, showing support," Mr Rayworth said as he awaited Donald Trump's arrival. "He needs us."
The image is certain to be circulated widely by Mr Trump's foes and supporters alike.
'A more popular image than the Mona Lisa'
"We want to put it on a T-shirt. It will go worldwide. It will be a more popular image than the Mona Lisa," said Laura Loomer, aged 30, a Republican former congressional candidate who mingled with other Trump supporters outside the jail yesterday morning.
Judge Scott McAfee set a trial date of 23 October for one of Mr Trump's 18 co-defendants, attorney Kenneth Chesebro, after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis proposed that date in response to Chesebro's request for a speedy trial. The judge's order said the schedule does not yet apply to Mr Trump or any of the other defendants.
All 19 defendants faced a deadline today to surrender. Court records showed that Mark Meadows, who served as Mr Trump's White House chief of staff, was processed at the jail on Thursday.
The jail has a reputation for grim conditions that have inspired rap songs and prompted an investigation by the US Justice Department.
Mr Trump faces 13 felony counts in the Georgia case, including racketeering, which is typically used to target organised crime, for pressuring state officials to reverse his election loss and setting up an illegitimate slate of electors to undermine the formal congressional certification of Mr Biden's 2020 victory.
Trial date wrangling
Ms Willis originally proposed a trial date of 4 March but moved it up for Mr Chesebro after he asked that his trial start by October. Mr Trump's legal team has yet to propose a date but is expected to push for a much later start.
His newest Atlanta lawyer, Steven Sadow, yesterday asked for Mr Trump to be tried separately from Mr Chesebro.
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in the three other cases and denied wrongdoing. In the Georgia case, Ms Willis has requested that arraignments begin the week of 5 September, though defendants in Georgia are permitted to waive those appearances and plead not guilty via court filing.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed the first case, accusing Mr Trump of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to an adult entertainer who claims to have had a sexual encounter with him years ago.
Mr Trump also faces two sets of federal charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith - one case in Washington involving election interference and one in Miami involving classified documents he retained after leaving office in 2021.
He faces 91 criminal counts in total.
Republicans who control the US House of Representatives said yesterday that they would investigate whether Ms Willis improperly coordinated with federal prosecutors. They previously launched an investigation of Mr Bragg, who accused them of a "campaign of intimidation".
On Wednesday, Mr Trump's leading rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination met in Milwaukee for their first debate. Mr Trump skipped that event, instead sitting for a pre-taped interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson aimed at siphoning away viewers.
"I've been indicted four times - all trivial nonsense," Mr Trump told Mr Carlson.
