Closing summary
This blog is closing now but you can read all our coverage of the trial here. Here’s a rundown of the key developments:
Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The verdict in Manhattan came after a jury deliberated for less than 12 hours.
Trump will be sentenced on 11 July at 10am ET. The sentencing date is just days before the Republican party is scheduled to formally nominate Trump for president ahead of the 5 November election.
Trump is unlikely to be sentenced to prison, experts say. He is a first-time offender, and the crime he has been found guilty of is a non-violent paper crime. Any punishment is likely to consist of fines, probation, community service or some combination of those.
Trump denied wrongdoing, calling the trial a “disgrace”. “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt,” Trump said at the courthouse after the verdict was read. “This was a rigged trial, a disgrace.”
His lawyer, Todd Blanche, said Trump would appeal the verdict and complained that his client had not been able to get a fair trial in New York. “Every single person on the jury knew Donald Trump as president, as candidate, from The Apprentice so I don’t accept that this was a fair place to try president Trump,” he said.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said “the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury”. At a news conference after the verdict, Bragg noted that “this defendant might be unlike any other in American history” but that “ultimately today this verdict in the same manner as every other case.”
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and who was one of the key prosecution witnesses, said he was “relieved” by the verdict. “Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law. While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters,” he said.
The lawyer for Stormy Daniels, the porn star at the centre of the case, said she was “relieved that this case is now over”, in a statement shared by the New York Times. Daniels’ lawyer Clark Brewster said: “She always had great faith in our justice system and in the solemn oath jurors take in undertaking their service. No man is above the law, and the selfless hardworking service of each of these jurors should be respected and appreciated.”
Trump’s conviction set off a political firestorm in Washington. Republicans furiously lambasted the verdict as a miscarriage of justice while Democrats commended New York jurors for rendering a fair judgment in one of the most historic trials in American history.
Joe Biden’s campaign said “no one is above the law”. “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box,” Michael Tyler, Biden’s communications director said.
Republicans rallied around Trump, reiterating baseless allegations that the Biden administration had engaged in political persecution of the former US president. “Today is a shameful day in American history,” said House speaker Mike Johnson. Congressman Jim Jordan, chair of the House judiciary committee, bemoaned the verdict as “a travesty of justice”.
Some of Trump’s advisers and family members were even more blunt. “Such bullshit,” Donald Trump Jr, the former president’s eldest son, wrote on X.
Crowds gathered outside the Manhattan courthouse erupted into simultaneous applause, cheers and groans. A heavy sense of shock and relief appeared to hang in the air, with many protesters, counterprotestors and onlookers wearing a look of surprise on their faces.
Updated
Michael Cohen has said he was “relieved” by the guilty verdict. In an interview on MSNBC he said, “This has been six years in the making,” adding:
As we like to state, nobody is above the law, and today’s verdict demonstrates that.
He also called Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche “Sloat” – the “stupidest lawyer of all time” – after Blanche called him “Gloat” – “the greatest liar of all time” – in his closing arguments.
