Trump responds to criminal allegations from New York

The former US president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 criminal charges against him after surrendering for arrest in a New York City case stemming from his alleged 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He was arraigned on Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom, becoming the first president in US history to face criminal prosecution. His lawyers have denounced the indictment as a politically-driven “witch hunt” perpetrated by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who ran for office on a pledge to prosecute the former president and whose campaign was funded largely by billionaire activist George Soros. Trump critics have argued that the indictment shows that no one is above the law in America, but it may be the beginning of a new chapter for the US political system, as it marks the arrest not only of a former president, but also the leading opposition-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has decried the prosecution of Trump, arguing that US Democrats are using the legal system to block a political opponent from being