Former President Donald Trump visited the iconic Versailles restaurant and bakery in the Little Havana neighborhood after leaving his federal arraignment in Miami on Tuesday, offering to buy lunch for revelers, who serenaded him with "Happy Birthday."
"I think we have a rigged deal here," Trump said in video shown on Newsmax. "We have a country that's corrupt. It's a country that's got no borders.
"We have a country that's got nothing but problems. We have a nation in decline, and then they do this stuff."
Supporters greeted him and laid hands on him in prayer and others in the room also sang "Happy Birthday" to the former president who will turn 77 on Wednesday.
"Some birthday," Trump responded to one reveler. "Some birthday: We've got a government that is out of control."
Versailles is a landmark that is a required stop for politicians visiting Miami. Cuban exiles gathered there to celebrate Fidel Castro's death in 2016.
Trump's aide and co-defendant, Walt Nauta, joined him at the eatery, helping people take selfies with Trump.
Just minutes earlier in the Miami court, Trump's staffer was admonished by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman to not discuss the case with his boss.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche objected to the judge barring the former president from talking to witnesses including Nauta.
Blanche said that some of the witnesses work for Trump and he needs to be able to communicate with them. After some back and forth, Goodman said Trump cannot talk to them about the case except through his lawyers, but he can talk to them about their jobs.
"There will be no communication about the case with fact witnesses who are on a list provided by the government," Goodman said.
Nauta, a Navy veteran who fetched Trump's Diet Cokes as his valet and served at the White House before joining him as a personal aide at Mar-a-Lago, was granted bond with the same conditions as Trump. He did not enter a plea, though, because he does not have a local attorney.
Nauta will be arraigned June 27 before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres but does not have to attend in person.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.