US President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced on Friday morning (2am Saturday morning AEDT) in a New York courtroom for his hush money conviction but the judge declined to impose any punishment.
The outcome cements Trump’s conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.
Yet, the legal detour — and sordid details aired in court of a plot to bury affair allegations — didn’t hurt him with voters, who elected him to a second term.
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan could have sentenced the 78-year-old Republican to up to four years in prison.
Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.
Just 10 days out from his inauguration, the 78-year-old was not present in court and watched the sentencing via a video link from Florida.
Trump appeared stoic and reserved as he waited for the hearing to begin, wearing a red tie with thin diagonal stripes.
One of Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, was seated to his right, with the pair sitting in front of a backdrop of American flags with American flag pins on both their suit jackets.
As prosecutors began their remarks, Trump shook his head, eyes darting around the screen. The camera view was framed tightly on him and Blanche, offering courtroom spectators a much closer view of Trump’s expression than during the trial.
Although Trump was in court for every day of the trial last year, the judge said the president-elect could attend the sentencing via video if he chose.
After remarks from prosecutors and Trump’s own lawyers, Justice Merchan asked the president-elect if he’d like to speak.
Trump took up the opportunity, marking the first time he’s addressed the courtroom during the trial.
“This has been a very terrible experience. I think it has been a tremendous set back for New York and the New York court system,” he said.
“It’s been a political witch hunt,” he said.
“It was done to damage my reputation so that I would lose the election, and obviously, that didn’t work.”
He argued that voters saw what happened in this courtroom and, like him, thought it was a disgrace and supported him overwhelmingly in the election.
“The fact is that I’m totally innocent, I did nothing wrong.”
During his address, Trump suggested the district attorney brought the case against him to hamper his re-election chances and highlighted his 2024 US election win more than once.
“I would like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly, and I thank you very much,” Trump said in conclusion.
Merchan says a judge must consider the facts of the case as well as aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” he said.
A handful of protesters had gathered in front of the Manhattan federal courthouse Friday morning.
Some carried signs reading “DESERVES THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE” and “34 FELONY CONVICTIONS.”
Meanwhile, at a park across the street, supporters unfurled a massive flag reading “TRUMP WON.”
Trump was convicted last May of 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes.
The jury found that he falsified records kept by his company to hide the purpose of reimbursements to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, who had made a $US130,000 ($195,000) payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign to silence her claim of an extramarital sexual encounter. Trump denies they had sex.
The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial.
Trump announces flood of new appointments to Pentagon and DOGE
Since his November 5 election, special counsel Jack Smith ended his two federal cases. One pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss; the other alleged he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
A separate, state-level election interference case in Georgia is in limbo after an appeals court removed prosecutor Fani Willis from the case.
