The former president is now a convicted felon. A Manhattan jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a payoff to a porn star.
The former president gave remarks moments after the verdict.
Trump made remarks following the verdict, according to the pool report:
"This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt as a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn't give us a venue change. We were at 5 percent or 6 percent in this district, in this area. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial."
"The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people. And they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here. You have a Soros-backed D.A. and the whole thing, we didn't do anything wrong. I'm a very innocent man."
"And it's OK, I'm fighting for our country, I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden administration in order to vote to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent. And I think it's just a disgrace."
"And we'll keep fighting. We'll fight till the end and we'll win. Because our country's gone to hell. We don't have the same country anymore. We have a divided mess. We're a nation in decline, serious decline."
"Millions and millions of people pouring into our country right now from prisons and from mental institutions, terrorists. And they're taking over our country. We have a country that's in big trouble."
"But this was a rigged decision right from day one with a conflicted judge who should have never been allowed to try this case, never. And we will fight for our Constitution. This is long from over. Thank you very much."
Trump’s one-time primary rival is among the wave of Republicans condemning the former president’s conviction.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict, calling the conviction “the political agenda of some kangaroo court.”
“Today’s verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America—all in an effort to 'get' Donald Trump,” DeSantis said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
DeSantis ran against Trump during the Republican presidential primary, but endorsed Trump when he dropped out. DeSantis has since tried to make amends with the former president, raising money for his reelection effort.
"It is often said that no one is above the law, but it is also true that no one is below the law,” said DeSantis. “If the defendant were not Donald Trump, this case would never have been brought, the judge would have never issued similar rulings, and the jury would have never returned a guilty verdict."
In brief remarks in the hallway outside the courtroom, Trump called the trial "rigged" and a "disgrace." The former president, who had just been convicted of 34 felony counts, said the American voters would be his true jury in the upcoming presidential election.
"The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people," he said.
The Trump campaign has repeatedly sought to turn legal troubles into fundraising surges.
Within minutes of the guilty verdict being read in the New York court, the Trump campaign’s official website redirected to a fundraising page declaring he was a “political prisoner.”
“I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial: I DID NOTHING WRONG! They’ve raided my home, arrested me, took my mugshot, AND NOW THEY’VE JUST CONVICTED ME!” the page said.
Trump was convicted of 34 counts and will be sentenced July 11.
The fundraising page also included Trump’s mugshot from when he was arraigned in Georgia last year in a case accusing him of participating in a scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. The page asked for donations of $20.24 and up for Trump’s joint fundraising committee.
Since Trump was first charged in the New York case last year, his legal woes have been a massive fundraising driver for his campaign. His political operation has sought to capitalize on the trial for fundraising purposes, regularly sending emails with subject lines such as, “I stormed out of court!”
As he exited the courtroom after being found guilty, Donald Trump grimaced slightly, inhaling as he surveyed the gallery on his way toward the doors.
It will take place on July 11.
Former President Donald Trump is set to be sentenced on July 11 after being found guilty in the Manhattan hush money case.
That’s just four days before the Republican National Convention is set to begin in Milwaukee, where he will officially become the GOP’s presidential nominee.
Justice Juan Merchan scheduled the sentencing to begin at 10 a.m.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche is asking for a sentencing date in mid-to-late July.
Blanche launched a final, extreme long-shot bid for the case to be thrown out. Merchan denied it from the bench in a matter of seconds.
Merchan's first words to jury after the verdict: “I want to thank you very much for your service in this case. You were engaged in a very stressful and difficult task."
Merchan said he will meet with the jurors personally to thank them for their service and get their feedback on how the process worked.
Merchan says the jurors are now free to discuss the case with anyone they wish.
"You are also free not to," he adds.
Merchan says he will now meet with the jurors in an adjacent room to personally thank them for their service.
In Trump’s case, he’s running up against a ticking clock.
Trump is staring at jurors as they individually confirm they agree with verdict.
He’s not the first convicted criminal to run for office.
As the jury foreperson read the verdict, Trump looked over toward the jury box. After the foreperson finished reading the verdict, he looked straight ahead, appearing somewhat red in the face.
The jury has found Donald Trump guilty on ALL 34 felony counts.
The former president is now a convicted felon. A Manhattan jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a payoff to a porn star.
The jury is entering.
Justice Juan Merchan is back on the bench. As we await a verdict, Trump is mostly sitting quietly in his seat at the defense table, occasionally chatting with his lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg just entered the courtroom.
Justice Juan Merchan said the jury gave him a note saying it has reached a verdict. The jurors want an extra 30 minutes.
The judge has stepped out of the courtroom for a few minutes. While waiting in the courtroom, Trump and his attorney Todd Blanche have been engaged in an extensive, seemingly lively conversation. They're leaning over and talking to each other, and they've both repeatedly laughed and smirked over the course of the discussion.
Before he walked into the courtroom, Trump briefly stopped in the hallway and told cameras and reporters gathered there: "I want to campaign."
Justice Juan Merchan said he's going to excuse the jury at 4:30 p.m. today.
Trump and his lawyers are back in the courtroom.
After a long period of quiet, prosecutors are entering the courtroom. We don't yet know why. So far this afternoon, there has been no indication of a jury note or any other jury activity.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who is among Trump's possible running mate contenders, arrived to the courthouse midday and is the only elected official here with him today. Trump's son Eric arrived with Trump this morning.
Burgum gave an interview to Newsmax outside the courthouse, and has another scheduled this afternoon with Fox News. But he is currently inside the courthouse, according to a spokesperson for the governor.
Trump’s attorney Alina Habba, who is not representing him in the New York case but has frequently attended court with him, has been making the rounds for interviews this afternoon outside the courthouse. Each time she has been asked what Trump is up to while waiting for the verdict, Habba has simply said he is “working.”
That likely includes drafting social media posts. By my count, Trump’s account has posted to Truth Social three dozen times so far today.
The jurors have been excused and are back in the jury room to resume deliberations.
The court reporters have completed reading back all the testimony from David Pecker requested by the jury and are now reading testimony from Michael Cohen. The testimony is about the 2015 meeting in Trump Tower, in which prosecutors allege Donald Trump, Cohen and Pecker agreed to a conspiracy to kill negative stories about Trump and push positive ones. The meeting is a key event described at trial that allegedly shows Trump’s involvement in the conspiracy to undermine the 2016 election.
The transcript portions that jurors requested are being reenacted by two female court reporters with heavy New York accents — a bit different than jurors would have heard it the first time, when prosecutor Joshua Steinglass was questioning David Pecker on the stand.
It's also a bit halting and devoid of the inflection/emotion that was evident in some of the actual testimony. It's a bit hard to follow at times, though jurors of course have heard the original exchanges.
Merchan has finished rereading portions of the jury instructions. The jury will now hear requested portions of witness testimony.
By the way, our deliberations clock is back and restarted for day two:
Merchan is now reading the requested portions of the jury instructions back to the jurors.
We're back in session at the courthouse today, and Justice Juan Merchan said he received a jury note this morning clarifying which parts of the instructions the jurors want read back to them.
They asked for a read back of the instructions regarding how the jury considers the evidence and instructions on inference. In particular, jurors want to hear:
— Merchan's metaphor regarding rain, which describes how one can infer that it rained overnight if the sidewalks and ground are wet upon waking
— A description of the law with respect to the first count against Trump
Additionally, jurors asked for headphones they can use with the laptop they were given containing the trial exhibits.
This morning, the judge is expected to respond to a pair of notes the jury sent yesterday.
The 12 New Yorkers who will decide Donald Trump’s fate in the hush money case will continue deliberations for the second day today, after weighing the former president’s guilt for about four and a half hours yesterday without reaching a quick verdict.
The start of deliberations has brought an air of quiet to the trial, as lawyers remain largely silent — and Trump waits in the courthouse — while the jurors who were empaneled more than a month ago discuss the case behind closed doors.
The only peep yesterday was a pair of notes the jury sent to the judge before being excused for the day. First, the panel requested to review testimony from several key moments in the trial, all of which relate to the allegation that Trump directed a conspiracy to undermine the 2016 election with Michael Cohen and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. Second, the jurors requested a read-back of the instructions that Justice Juan Merchan delivered before they began deliberating yesterday.
This morning, the judge is expected to respond to both notes. Prosecutors and defense lawyers spent more than two hours yesterday arguing about which excerpts of testimony are relevant to the jurors' request in the first note.
As with all trials, deliberations are secret, and no one outside the jury room should know how the dozen New Yorkers feel right now about Trump’s guilt or innocence. Trial watchers are thus left trying to read tea leaves for any hint of how the jurors are leaning, including the language in their notes and how frequently — or rarely — they write to the judge.
The former president’s advisers and allies plan to situate any outcome within the same grievance narrative he’s been cultivating for years.
