Former President Donald Trump has been stuck in court every day recently as he attends his trial over alleged hush money payments, but he has managed to carve out time for local campaign visits, including one to a New York City Fire Department (FDNY) station this week.
On Thursday just after court, Trump brought pizzas to an FDNY station, Engine Co. 8, Ladder Co. 2 in Midtown.
Trump brings pizza to FDNY firefighters after court … pic.twitter.com/z3nWNYHzp1
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) May 2, 2024
“Sir, save us please!” – firefighters of the FDNY 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ASwvKblvgc
— Margo Martin (@margommartin) May 2, 2024
Video from the visit, which happened around 5:30 p.m. shows the former president walking into the station carrying two pizzas, shaking hands, taking photos, and chatting with station officials. People can be heard cheering in the background. The Trump campaign had dropped off 10 additional pizzas for the firefighters before Trump’s arrival.
“You gotta win!” one firefighter told Trump as he arrived.
“Sir, save us please,” another told him.
“I love you all – special people,” Trump wrote in the station’s daybook.
Last month, Trump also visited a Manhattan bodega in West Harlem where a clerk was charged with murder after fatally stabbing an attacker in 2022.
“They want law and order … every week they’re being robbed,” Trump said of New York City businesses. “You know where the crime is? It’s in the bodegas.”
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Trump has been doing major campaign events like rallies on weekends and Wednesdays, the one weekday when the court is not usually in session.
President @realDonaldTrump stops in his tracks when he sees NYPD Officers… “I love you guys! You guys are the best!” ❤️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/z83BU2A5df
— Margo Martin (@margommartin) April 16, 2024
🚨Trump says he's filing a constitutional motion to remove Judge Merchans gag order
"This judge has taken away my constitutional right, and as the Republican candidate, I should be able to respond" pic.twitter.com/qnjM5aAILJ
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 3, 2024
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is fighting 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to allegedly covering up more than $130,000 in hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors claim the former president illegally paid Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair.
Trump has denied the allegations and pled not guilty.
Meanwhile, the judge in the case has slapped Trump with a gag order prohibiting him from commenting on potential witnesses, jurors, court staff, and attorneys. Earlier this week, the judge fined Trump $9,000 for violating the gag order several times and threatened him with jail time.
Trump is back in court on Friday for day 11 of the trial.
Trump has said he plans to “make a heavy play for New York” despite the state’s heavy Democratic leaning — New York has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1984 when Ronald Reagan was re-elected in a landslide.
“I think we have a chance. New York has changed a lot in the last two years,” Trump said on Fox News. “The people of New York are angry. People that would have never voted for me because I’m a Republican … I think they’re going to vote for me.”