A defiant Donald Trump was sentenced to no punishment for covering up hush money paid to a porn star, cementing his status as a felon on the cusp of his return to the White House.
The proceeding took place in the same drab New York state courtroom as his more than monthlong criminal trial. The president-elect and his lawyer, Todd Blanche, were in Florida, sitting with American flags behind them. The judge, Manhattan prosecutors and one of Trump’s lawyers sat in the courtroom. The packed gallery was filled largely with reporters.
The court hearing was unprecedented, making Trump not only the first former president to be found guilty of a crime, but the first president to be sentenced for one. It was also a formality.
Before handing down an unconditional discharge, which carries no punishment, Justice Juan Merchan said the sentence was appropriate because of the extraordinary protections of the presidency.
“Donald Trump, the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump, the criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections,” Merchan said. But, he added, those protections “do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way.”
Trump in rambling remarks told the judge the business records in question were accurately marked as legal expenses. “It’s been a political witch hunt,” Trump said, wearing a dark suit and striped red tie. “It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election.”
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said that he supported the expected sentence because of the coming inauguration. But he said Trump was being far from remorseful, and engaging in a coordinated effort to attack and retaliate against the prosecutors and judge.
“This defendant has caused enduring damage to the public perception of criminal justice,” Steinglass said.
An unconditional discharge is a rare sentence for someone convicted at trial of even a low-level felony, lawyers said. Merchan must recognize the impracticality of probation officers searching the White House or ordering a sitting president to do community service, said Effie Blassberger , a former state prosecutor who isn’t involved with the case.
“This is someone who is going to take office in 10 days, and you can’t ignore that fact,” Blassberger added. “There is no other sentence the judge could have given him.”
Trump in 2023 was indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for covering up hush money paid to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels . She had alleged a sexual encounter with Trump, which he denied.
During a trial last spring, Manhattan prosecutors argued that then-candidate Trump conspired to influence the 2016 election by buying up negative stories about him that could hurt his candidacy. Trump’s lawyers denied he did anything illegal, and said seeking to sway voters was allowed under the law. In the court hallway, Trump railed against the prosecutors and the judge, saying they sought to hurt him politically.
Jurors found Trump guilty of all 34 counts he faced. The conviction carried no mandatory prison term, although such a sentence was among the options available to Merchan.
Trump has said he plans to appeal the verdict. That process begins after sentencing.
In a surprise ruling last week, Merchan ordered Trump to appear for sentencing before his Jan. 20 inauguration. The ruling kicked off a week of last-minute legal maneuvering by Trump’s legal team, who asked an intermediate New York appeals court, the state’s highest court and the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the proceeding.
The Supreme Court on Thursday evening declined to put the sentencing on hold, saying the burden on Trump was insubstantial and that his challenges to evidence submitted at trial could be addressed on appeal.
