What Happens to Donald Trump’s Legal Cases Now That He’s President Again?

Donald Trump will officially become the 47th President of the United States on January 20, 2025, completing one of the most improbable comeback stories in the history of politics. From being twice impeached as the 45th president to surviving a couple of assassination attempts in 2024, Trump’s path back to the White House is truly unprecedented and historical.

However, there is also the fact that Trump is a convicted felon, another first for any POTUS, when he was found guilty on 34 counts in a New York courtroom earlier this year in relation to the Stormy Daniels hush money case stemming from the 2016 presidential election. Trump was supposed to be sentenced this month and jail time (up to 4 years) was a possibility.

But you had to be born yesterday to think that all-time weird situation of Trump running the country from a prison cell (or picking trash for community service) will ever see the light of day now that he is again the most powerful man in the world. Still, we are living in unprecedented times as no other ex-president had ever been criminally charged until Trump.

With a total of 4 cases against Trump, let’s review their current status before betting on them at top-rated sportsbooks and see what happens now that Trump has been reelected to office.

The New York Hush Money Case Sentencing

On May 30, 2024, Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in regards to the hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.

Sentencing from Judge Juan Merchan was supposed to happen in the summer. But in July, the Supreme Court ruled in a separate case that there should be presidential immunity for official acts by the seated president, a major concern for what Trump will be legally free to get away with in his 2nd term. But in the framework of this trial, some of the evidence included social media posts and communication logs from 2018 when Trump was in office.

Trump’s legal team kept delaying the sentencing as Judge Merchan had to weigh in on the immunity ruling and if it should dismiss the conviction, which would require the Manhattan DA to issue a new indictment for the case, taking things back to square one, which is unlikely.

Judge Merchan was supposed to have his immunity ruling on September 6, but he postponed it until November 12, a week after the 2024 presidential election. It was delayed again following Trump’s victory in the election and the impact that could have.

Trump was supposed to be sentenced this week on November 26, but it was canceled with no new date scheduled. Some believe there will not be any sentencing in this case until Trump leaves office, which isn’t scheduled to happen until January 20, 2029. But for as long as the conviction stands, Trump’s legal team cannot appeal it until he is sentenced. Perhaps the most important thing to note here is that Trump cannot pardon himself for this case as his pardon power only relates to federal offenses, and this is a state case in New York.

But chances are the conviction is either dropped on the basis of the new immunity ruling for presidents from the Supreme Court, or Trump is given a light sentencing (no jail time) or no sentencing at all after his 2nd term ends.

Florida: The Classified Documents Case

Another Trump indictment that is a federal case is the classified documents that were improperly stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump did not return the sensitive documents in an orderly fashion, and the case was brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

However, the case was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon in July, which Smith appealed. On November 25, Smith asked a federal appeals court to stop reviewing the case in Florida, putting an end to this one. Smith expects retribution from Trump, who said in a radio interview in October that “I would fire him [Smith] within two seconds” if he won the election and got to dismiss these federal cases.

Washington, D.C. Election Subversion Case

Another federal case brought by Jack Smith against Trump was for trying to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden. This was arguably the most serious of the 4 cases against Trump, but it also would have been one of the hardest to win.

But just as he did on November 25th with the documents case in Florida, Jack Smith announced this week that he has dropped these charges against Trump, citing the Department of Justice’s longstanding policy of not prosecuting a sitting president:

“After careful consideration, the Department has determined that OLC’s prior opinions concerning the Constitution’s prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” Smith wrote in his brief.

While Smith’s actions this week may look like he is running away from the wrath of Trump, some legal experts believe that is not the case at all. In fact, they believe what Smith has done will give these cases a chance to stay alive and that Trump can be prosecuted for both after he leaves office. Both cases can be filed against Trump once his term is over, and by doing this now, it will stop Trump’s new attorney general from blocking them permanently.

The only question is will any prosecutor or attorney general (Democratic or otherwise) want to pursue these cases against Trump in 2029 when he’ll be going on 83 years old and can no longer seek reelection. The answer to that likely depends on what kind of job Trump does for the country in his 2nd term.

Georgia Election Subversion Case

Finally, the 4th case for Trump is in Fulton County, Georgia when he tried to subvert the state’s election with that memorable phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking if he can find 11,000 votes.

This one is interesting as Trump was one of many defendants as prosecutors made it a RICO case, and several high-profile plea deals have already been struck by others who were in Trump’s camp.

However, the case has been embroiled in controversy due to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and the allegations that she had an affair with another prosecutor. It’s not clear if she’ll be allowed to prosecute the case, which hasn’t started, and that ruling won’t come until 2025.

It’s also not clear if a state-level prosecutor like Willis is even allowed to prosecute the sitting POTUS. That’s another case where Trump’s legal team will argue he has immunity and to dismiss the case. If Willis is denied from taking part in the case, it’s unlikely another prosecutor will want to replace her and deal with Trump’s legal argument against it.

So, this one will probably never see the light of day either, at least not while Trump is actually in office.

This is all troubling news for Democrats, but maybe they should have moved faster in the legal process to get these cases moving before the election. The only one that did was the Stormy Daniels one, which most people saw as the least important.