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Former US President Donald Tump has become the first former president in history to be arrested and charged for breaking the law.

He appeared in court in New York on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of business fraud.

Mr Trump is accused of making false records to hide the fact he paid money to a woman that it's claimed he had a relationship with.

The ex-US president returned to Florida immediately after, where he told supporters the case was "an insult to our country".

Here's how the events played out in pictures.

After travelling from his home in Florida to New York, Mr Trump left Trump Tower shortly after 1:00 PM US time on Tuesday, waving to waiting cameras and making a fist, before getting into his car.

During the short drive to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, he posted on his social media website: "Seems so SURREAL -- WOW, they are going to ARREST ME".

He looked calm and serious as he walked into the courthouse, pausing to wave at the crowd.

After being brought into the courtroom, the former President sat with his legal team and listened to the charges against him being read out.

He entered his plea of "not guilty" - which is him officially saying he didn't do what he's accused of.

There will now need to be a trial to find out what actually happened, and if any crimes were committed.

Sources have said he had his fingerprints taken for the record.

Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide the fact he had paid money to a woman he's alleged to have had a relationship with when he was married.

He's accused of wanting to hide this relationship from people back in 2016 when he first ran for President because it could affect his chances of being elected.

Prosecutors say the way he did it, breaks the law.

In court, Mr Trump also heard accusations that he hid cash payments aimed at stopping other stories coming out which might have harmed his campaign, including to a doorman and another to a former model.

One of his lawyers, Joe Tacopina, told ABC News on Sunday that his team are "ready for this fight", and said he "look's forward to moving this thing along as quickly as possible" to show Mr Trump is innocent.

Trump's team will have until August to file any appeals against the case and the next court hearing is set for December.

After an hour in the courtroom, he left the courthouse just after 3:30 PM local time, and travelled to New York's LaGuardia Airport where the former US president boarded his private plane and departed for Florida.

Meanwhile, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who is leading the case against Mr Trump held a press conference setting out why Mr Trump had been charged and what he is alleged to have done.

"These are felony crimes in New York state no matter who you are. We cannot and will not normalise serious criminal conduct," Mr Bragg said.

In Florida the former president addressed a crowd in Mar-a-Lago in a roughly 25-minute speech, surrounded by members of his family and friends.

Mr Trump, who wants to run for President once more in the 2024 Election campaign, repeated many of his campaign talking points.

He argued that these charges have come from Democrat supporters who want to damage his chances of becoming US President again.

He claimed the court is biased against him, saying he hadn't done anything wrong and arguing that his opponents "seek to destroy" the nation