In a historic moment, former President Donald Trump became the first current or former commander in chief to be placed under arrest when he arrived at the Manhattan district attorney’s office Tuesday.

Under New York law, as soon as a defendant enters the building for an arraignment, they are under arrest and in the custody of the district attorney.

During his motorcade ride to the courthouse, Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”

Mr. Trump will be fingerprinted as part of the arrest. After being fingerprinted, Mr. Trump will be arraigned before a judge and officially charged with crimes.

The former president is not expected to be handcuffed as part of the arrest, reportedly at the request of the Secret Service. He will remain under constant law enforcement protection.

Mr. Trump arrived at the courthouse roughly before 1:30 p.m. and did not make any comments upon entering.

The arraignment is expected for about 2:15 p.m. when the indictment will be unsealed.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.