Closing summary
New York judge Juan Merchan sentenced Donald Trump in his hush money case to unconditional discharge, which means the incoming president will serve no jail time and pay no fines after being convicted on 34 felony business fraud charges. Despite the leniency, Trump blasted the prosecution as a “despicable charade”, and proclaimed his innocence, while Republican lawmakers, including senator Lindsey Graham and House speaker Mike Johnson, rallied to his defense. Trump now has few unfinished pieces of legal business standing between him and inauguration on 20 January, but there does remain the question of whether the justice department will be able to release special counsel Jack Smith’s report into his aborted prosecution of the president-elect for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. A federal appeals court ruling yesterday offered some hope that it could come out, but obstacles remain.
Here’s what else has happened today
Merchan said Trump’s re-election was a major factor in his decision to let him escape any meaningful penalties after his convictions.
Trump supporters and opponents gathered outside the Manhattan criminal court during the president-elect’s sentencing, at which he appeared virtually.
The supreme court heard arguments over a law that could lead to TikTok being banned in the United States after 19 January, and appeared inclined to uphold it.
JD Vance is resigning from the Senate, ahead of his inauguration as vice-president in 10 days.
The Trump Hotel could rise again in Washington DC. The president-elect’s organization is reportedly looking to regain the lease on a Washington DC hotel it owned during his first term.
Panama’s leaders are taking seriously Donald Trump’s threats of seizing the Panama canal, Politico reports.
A former president who spoke to the publication says José Mulino may take the issue to the UN security council, should Trump continue to press his demands.
Here’s more, from Politico:
Panama’s president José Mulino said privately this week that if Donald Trump continues to threaten his country, he could take the issue to the UN security council, according to Panama’s former president Ernesto Balladares.
But Mulino said he was waiting until Trump takes office to assess whether the incoming US president will press the matter, according to Balladares.
“He said he will take more actions after 20 January … if President-elect Trump insists on the issue,” Balladares recounted in an interview at his office.
Balladares said that Mulino made the remarks to him during a Wednesday gathering at Panama’s presidential palace, where Latin American leaders met with Venezuela’s opposition leader Edmundo González.
Mulino did not specify any other actions he might take, according to Balladares.
“Like everybody else in this country he’s surprised,” Balladares said of his successor’s response to Trump’s rhetoric.
The Wednesday remarks came one day after Trump declined to rule out the use of military force to take back the Panama canal, which the US ceded to Panama a quarter-century ago.
Updated
