Almost immediately following his booking at Fulton County jailhouse on Thursday, and the publicization of his mandatory mugshot, Trump seized the opportunity to spread the image to as many as possible, making a surprise return to the social media app X, formally known as Twitter. Trump had used the site to bypass traditional methods of political communication.
Trump posted the image alongside a link to his campaign website and a request for donations.
"Today, at the notoriously violent jail in Fulton County, Georgia, I was ARRESTED despite having committed NO CRIME"
Donald Trump, former US President
"Today, at the notoriously violent jail in Fulton County, Georgia, I was ARRESTED despite having committed NO CRIME," he wrote on his campaign site.
US President Joe Biden on Friday said Donald Trump looked like a "handsome guy" in the mug shot taken of the previous President, taken at the jail in Georgia according to Reuters. An unsmiling Trump was photographed scowling at the camera in the mug shot.
Trump has faced three previous indictments
Trump has previously faced three other indictments in other US states but Georgia was the first to insist that the ex-President be fingerprinted and have a mugshot taken, like any other accused individual would be asked to comply with.
Trump, currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 US elections, has been facing a litany of allegations after a special council investigation was commissioned into claims that he, with his key staff, made attempts to undermine the results of the 2020 elections and prevent current-President Joe Biden from being declared the winner.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023
Trump is also accused of encouraging his supporters to storm the US Capitol building on January 6, 2022, in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from ratifying the results of the election.