Donald Trump made the most of having to be in New York City for his criminal trial on Tuesday, leaving court in the evening to visit the bodega where a worker stabbed an ex-con to death last year to take a shot at the city's soft-on-crime leaders. 

The former president received a hero's welcome in Hamilton Heights, upper Manhattan, where Jose Alba knifed Austin Simon to death in July 2022. 

Simon had tried to attack him, climbing over the counter in a violent attempted robbery.  

Alba was famously charged by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg but was freed after widespread public outrage. He gave up on New York afterwards, moving to the Dominican Republic. It's unclear if he was invited to the meeting last night. 

Trump met with the two current owners and received a hero's welcome. Trump received a raucous welcome as he arrived at the bodega, with the crowd chanting 'four more years' and cheering his name. 

As the crowd sung the Star Spangled Banner behind him, Trump added: 'You know what we're going to be doing, right? We're going to be saving America.'