Former President Donald Trump

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• Trump and his aides were surprised by the timing of his indictment, the NYT’s Maggie Haberman reports.
• Some advisors previously believed the decision wouldn’t come until late next month. 
• Trump and some advisors are currently mulling over next steps at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump and his aides were caught off guard by news of his indictment, believing the decision wouldn’t come for weeks,  according to The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman.

The former US president is currently at Mar-a-Lago planning his next moves after the New York grand jury’s decision to indict him, per the Times. Some advisors had been confident that the vote wouldn’t come until the end of April. 

Jeff Zeleny, chief national affairs correspondent at CNN, confirmed that Trump was surprised by the vote’s timing. 

—Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) March 30, 2023

Trump is the first former US president to be charged with a crime, although it’s currently unclear what Trump has been charged with.

“As with any other case, we are going to fight this right from the start,” Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, told Insider. “We will fight this miscarriage of justice immediately and aggressively.”

The grand jury was probing Trump’s connection to an alleged $130,000 “hush-money” payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.