Donald Trump’s criminal trial verdict and cases produced one conviction and three dismissals. A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30, 2024, making him the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime. He was sentenced to an unconditional discharge in January 2025 — no jail, no fine, no probation — and is appealing. The two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Georgia state case were all dismissed before or shortly after Trump returned to office.
What the New York Jury Convicted Trump Of
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Each count corresponded to an invoice, check, or ledger entry in the Trump Organization’s books that prosecutors said disguised reimbursements as legal expenses. The underlying payment at the center of the case was $130,000 that Trump’s then-personal attorney Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election to suppress her account of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.1Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Bragg Announces 34-Count Felony Trial Conviction of Donald J. Trump
Falsifying business records is ordinarily a misdemeanor in New York. Prosecutors elevated the counts to felonies by arguing that the false entries were made to conceal a violation of a state election law prohibiting conspiracy to promote an election through unlawful means. Trump’s lawyers called the theory “convoluted” and said it improperly stacked time-barred misdemeanors into felonies.2The New York Times. Trump Hush Money Appeal
The trial before New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ran through 22 witnesses. Cohen testified that Trump directed the payment specifically to protect the campaign and later approved a $420,000 repayment scheme — covering the Daniels payment, a bonus, and tax gross-ups — in a meeting with Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. Prosecutors backed Cohen up with bank statements, text messages, phone logs, and meeting memos.3NPR. Trump Trial Michael Cohen Jurors also heard testimony from Daniels and an audiotape of Trump discussing a separate $150,000 payment that National Enquirer parent company head David Pecker had made to Karen McDougal to bury her account of an alleged affair.4PBS NewsHour. Michael Cohen Testifies Trump Directly Involved in Hush Money Payment and Coverup Trump’s defense attacked Cohen’s credibility, pointing to his prior guilty pleas for lying under oath, lying to Congress, and campaign finance violations.
On May 30, 2024, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on every count.5NPR. Trump Hush Money Trial 34 Counts Trump called the trial a “political witch hunt” and vowed to appeal.
The Sentence and What It Actually Means
Sentencing was pushed back twice — first by the Supreme Court’s July 2024 immunity ruling, then by Trump’s election win. On January 10, 2025, ten days before the inauguration, Justice Merchan imposed an unconditional discharge: no jail, no fine, no probation, no conditions of any kind. The 34 felony convictions remain on Trump’s record.6CNBC. Trump Sentencing New York Hush Money Case
Merchan called the unconditional discharge the “only lawful sentence” that would not encroach on the presidency, and said Trump would not have been entitled to that protection as a private citizen. Prosecutors had recommended the same sentence in light of the coming inauguration. The U.S. Supreme Court had cleared the way the night before in a 5-4 order, describing the burden of sentencing on Trump’s presidential responsibilities as “relatively insubstantial.”6CNBC. Trump Sentencing New York Hush Money Case
Even without a punishment, the conviction has real consequences. Trump is a convicted felon and is barred from purchasing firearms in both New York and Florida. He was able to vote for himself in 2024, because a Florida Division of Elections policy defers to New York’s rule that felony voting restrictions apply only during incarceration, and Trump was never incarcerated.7Politico. Trump Unconditional Discharge Sentencing What That Means The presidential pardon power reaches only federal offenses, so Trump cannot pardon himself for the New York conviction.8Congressional Research Service. Trump’s Felony Conviction: Presidential Eligibility, Incarceration, and Voter Implications
Merchan’s Immunity Ruling
Between the verdict and sentencing, Trump’s lawyers argued that the Supreme Court’s July 2024 immunity ruling required the verdict to be thrown out because prosecutors had introduced evidence they claimed were official acts, including testimony from White House communications director Hope Hicks and some of Trump’s social media posts. In December 2024, Merchan ruled that the immunity decision did not apply because all the trial evidence related “entirely to unofficial conduct.” A tweet’s “mere reference to the Justice Department,” he wrote, does not convert it into an official act.9ABC7 New York. Judge Rules President-Elect Trump Does Not Have Immunity Hush Money Case Merchan had also rejected three separate motions from Trump’s team demanding that he recuse himself over his daughter’s work as a political consultant for Democratic clients.10PBS NewsHour. Judge Merchan Rejects Trumps Latest Demand to Step Aside From Hush Money Case
Where the Appeal Stands
Trump is appealing on two tracks. In state court, his legal team at Sullivan & Cromwell filed a 96-page brief with the First Department of the Appellate Division on October 27, 2025. The brief argues the conviction was “fatally marred” by improperly admitted evidence, judicial errors, Merchan’s refusal to recuse, and a prosecution theory that “concocted a purported felony by stacking time-barred misdemeanors.”2The New York Times. Trump Hush Money Appeal It also contends prosecutors improperly used evidence of official presidential acts in violation of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision.11Politico. Donald Trump Appeal Hush Money Conviction
Separately, Trump is trying to pull the case into federal court. In November 2025, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s earlier refusal to consider Trump’s removal request, finding Hellerstein had failed to address important issues, and sent the matter back to him.12CNN. Hush Money Trump Appeals Court Hellerstein heard nearly three hours of arguments in February 2026 and appeared skeptical, telling defense lawyers they “sought two bites at the apple” by pursuing state relief first. No ruling has been issued.13Politico. Donald Trump Hush Money Conviction
The Federal Election Interference Case Was Dismissed
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. indicted Trump on August 1, 2023, on four felony counts tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Special Counsel Jack Smith alleged Trump used fake slates of electors, pressured Vice President Mike Pence to alter the electoral count, and pushed false fraud claims before the January 6 Capitol attack. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
After the Supreme Court’s July 2024 immunity ruling scrambled the case, Smith filed a narrower superseding indictment in August 2024. When Trump won in November, Smith moved to dismiss the case under the Justice Department’s longstanding policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted. Judge Chutkan granted the dismissal without prejudice on November 25, 2024, leaving open the theoretical possibility of refiling after Trump leaves office.14ABC7 New York. Special Counsel Jack Smith Files Motion to Dismiss Federal Election Interference Case
The Classified Documents Case Was Dismissed Too
A federal grand jury in Miami indicted Trump in June 2023 for retaining classified national security documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case on July 15, 2024, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution.15CNN. Trump Indictments Criminal Cases Smith appealed to the 11th Circuit, but arguments were never scheduled. After the election, Smith dropped the prosecution on November 25, 2024, again citing DOJ policy.16The New York Times. Donald Trump Classified Documents Investigation The Justice Department also dismissed the cases against co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira and formally withdrew its appeal of Cannon’s dismissal in January 2025.17WWNY-TV. Justice Dept Abandons Criminal Proceedings Against 2 Trump Co-Defendants Classified Records Case
The Georgia Case Collapsed
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants in August 2023 on 41 state charges, including racketeering, over alleged efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 results. District Attorney Fani Willis led the prosecution.
The case unraveled because of Willis’s romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she had hired. The trial court found “a significant appearance of impropriety” but let Willis stay after Wade resigned. In December 2024, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed, ruling disqualification was “mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence” and noting an “odor of mendacity” in Willis’s and Wade’s testimony about when the relationship began.18Georgia Court of Appeals. Roman v. The State (Case Nos. A24A1595 Through A24A1603) The Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’s appeal.
Peter Skandalakis, executive director of Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, took over in November 2025 after being unable to find another attorney willing to handle the case. He moved to dismiss, arguing there was no realistic prospect of compelling a sitting president to stand trial and that years of immunity litigation would follow. Judge Scott McAfee dismissed the case in its entirety on November 26, 2025.19Georgia Recorder. Fulton County Election Interference Case Against Trump and His Allies Is Dismissed
Why the Federal Cases Fell Apart: The Immunity Ruling
The Supreme Court’s July 1, 2024, decision in Trump v. United States reshaped both federal prosecutions. In a 6-3 ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court held for the first time that former presidents have significant immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken in office.20SCOTUSblog. Justices Rule Trump Has Some Immunity From Prosecution
The framework has three tiers. A former president has absolute immunity for actions within the “conclusive and preclusive” core of presidential authority, such as pardons or directing Justice Department investigations. Other official acts within the outer scope of presidential duties carry presumptive immunity that prosecutors can rebut only by showing prosecution would not intrude on executive functions. Unofficial acts carry no immunity.21Cornell Law Institute. Trump v. United States
Applied to the D.C. case, the Court found Trump absolutely immune for alleged efforts to weaponize the Justice Department, and at least presumptively immune for his pressure on Pence. Other conduct — dealings with state officials, private individuals, public statements, the January 6 rally speech — was sent back for case-by-case analysis. The ruling also barred prosecutors from using evidence of immune official acts to prove charges based on private conduct. In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that “in every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”20SCOTUSblog. Justices Rule Trump Has Some Immunity From Prosecution
Can a Convicted Felon Serve as President?
Yes. The Constitution sets three qualifications for the presidency: natural-born citizenship, an age of at least 35, and 14 years of U.S. residency. It contains no bar based on criminal history.22Congressional Research Service. Trump Felony Conviction and Presidential Eligibility Eugene V. Debs ran for president from a prison cell in 1920. Trump won in November 2024, becoming both the 45th and 47th president and the first convicted felon to hold the office.