Donald Trump says he has been indicted and summoned to appear in court next Tuesday.

On Truth Social – the network he created – the former US president suggested that the indictment is linked to his handling of classified documents.

Mr Trump said his legal team was informed of the indictment by Joe Biden’s administration.

He wrote: “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”

In a further post, he added: “This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!”

It comes after the FBI carried out a raid on Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August last year as part of an investigation into whether Mr Trump took classified records from the White House.

Officers seized 33 boxes containing more than 100 classified records during the search and found three confidential documents stashed in office drawers, a filing released last August also revealed.

Investigators conducting the criminal probe focused not just on why the records were stored at the estate, but also on whether the Trump team intentionally misled them about the unlawful presence of government secrets.

FBI and justice department officials had previously visited a storage room at the Florida estate in June, after issuing a subpoena for the missing records.

Mr Trump has denied wrongdoing.