Donald Trump had an eventful Tuesday to say the least.
His first stop of the day was a Miami courthouse, where he was arraigned and fingerprinted after being indicted on 37 felony counts for storing dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
His next stop was in Little Havana, where he made an appearance at the iconic Versailles restaurant, a pillar of the Cuban-American community and a favourite among politicians looking to curry favour with local voters.
Inside, Trump fans sang Happy Birthday to the former president (he turned 77 on Wednesday) and gathered close for a group prayer.
Then, Trump announced to the restaurant, “Food for everyone!”
But according to reports, Trump and his team left without picking up the tab.
A source told the Miami New Times, the first outlet to report the gaffe, that the Trump team was in and out in 10 minutes, “leaving no time for anyone to eat anything, much less place an order.”
A Versailles spokesperson said, “As far as I know, everyone who was there paid for their own meal,” in an interview with the Miami Herald.
Trump didn’t even eat any Cuban food at the restaurant, the New York Times reported, opting instead for McDonald’s on his flight back from Miami to New Jersey.
A Trump spokesperson told Insider that the former president did indeed offer to buy food, but his supporters “followed him outside” when he left “and did not place orders themselves.”
The spokesperson said that Trump’s campaign team paid for to-go meals ordered. No details were given on what those to-go orders were, however.
Before leaving Versailles, Trump made time to address TV cameras about the “rigged election” and how America is in decline.
Trump is barrelling forward with his 2024 presidential campaign despite the recent felony charges. He pleaded not guilty in response to 37 criminal counts detailed in an explosive indictment that was unsealed on Friday, which detailed his alleged mishandling of classified materials after he left the White House.
Trump, who reportedly sat silent and stone-faced throughout the hearing, was allowed to leave court without conditions or travel restrictions and no cash bond was required.
This is the second time in three months that Trump has faced a judge on criminal charges, after he was arraigned in April in Manhattan.
Unlike those charges involving hush money payments to cover up an alleged affair, the federal charges are considered much more serious, with prosecutors alleging Trump endangered national security by holding onto top-secret information and failing to properly secure it. Some of the charges, filed under the U.S. Espionage Act, carry the prospect of a significant prison sentence.
— With files from Global News’ Sean Boynton
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