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Events at Donald Trump’s Palm Beach resort were suspended for the weekend on Friday — as the former president was seen “huddling” with his legal team to hammer out a defense after a New York grand jury voted to indict him Thursday, The Post has learned.
Trump, 76, met with his advisors at Mar-a-Lago where, a source said, they are all “shaken” by the news.
The team is preparing for his arraignment before a New York City judge next week, on unknown charges related to hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“It won’t be business as usual,” the source told The Post regarding events at Mar-a-Lago.
“They expected this but there is shock now that it’s happened,” said the source.
“It’s real now. And they are worried about a surprise.”
Lawyers, including Susan Necheles, Joe Tacopina and Chad Seigel, are “chattering about whether there is something else in the indictment that people aren’t expecting,” said the source.
“There might be something else that has been overlooked.”
Among the issues Trump’s lawyers are hammering out with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office is whether the former president’s mug shot will be shown publicly and whether the former commander-in-chief will be seen in handcuffs, the source said.
According to the source, Trump wants to use the arrest to drum up political support and donations to his 2024 presidential campaign.
He’s said to be leaning on longtime aides such as Jason Miller, who left his role in February as CEO of GETTR, a conservative social media site, to work as a senior advisor to the former president.
“Trump wants the mugshot out,” the source said.
“The funds will start flying in.”
On Thursday, following news of the indictment, a somber-looking Trump was spotted arriving for dinner at the Florida resort with his wife Melania, 52, at his side.
Photos shared by club members Thursday appeared to show guests standing to applaud the Trumps as they entered, hours after the unprecedented confirmation that he was to be the first former US president to face criminal charges.Follow The Post’s latest coverage on Trump’s indictment
Mar-a-Lago is said to be the place he feels most comfortable. His office there, with views of palm trees, features a picture of Mount Rushmore on one wall and a gold-colored plaque commemorating the building of the southern border wall with Mexico on his imposing wooden desk.
There’s even what appears in photos to be a small brass statue of himself.
It’s also where he has been playing DJ on Thursday nights, usually from an iPad at his table while having dinner in the dining room.
On the menu: two-pound lobsters and “Mr. Trump’s Wedge Salad.”
“Of course he works the room for votes,” the source said.
“It’s always a very friendly room since Mar-a-Lago is serious Trumpland.”
As for the music, “He loves the ’80s and Broadway tunes — like ‘Phantom of the Opera’ — and Céline Dion, ‘Titanic,’” a source told Page Six. “ ‘YMCA’ is another favorite.”
Other images from Thursday showed Trump and Melania at a large, round table with a group of friends for dinner, with insiders saying he held court and greeted well-wishers.
“Melania has been with him, having dinner with him,” a Mar-a-Lago insider told The Post Friday.
