Trump indictment LIVE updates: Former US president claims charges of mishandling classified documents is 'political persecution'
Donald Trump has opened his address by claiming today's arraignment amounted to "election interference".
He falsely stated that it was "another attempt to rig and steal a presidential election", a reference to the conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 US presidential race.
Former US president Donald Trump speaks after his indictment. Credit: Nine News
"It's political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation," Trump said to jeers from the crowd.
"This thing will go down in infamy and Joe Biden will forever be remembered as not only the most corrupt president in the history of our country, but perhaps - even more importantly - the president who, together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits and Marxists, tried to destroy American democracy."
All the background to Trump's speech can be found here, courtesy of North America correspondent Farrah Tomazin.