The Trump Trials:
A Legal Lineup
As our former president attempts to navigate his ongoing, ever-expanding series of significant legal challenges, it seems at times that even he has a hard time keeping track (and staying awake).
Not to worry, Donny.
We are here to give everyone a refresher on the various legal cases America’s most famous felon is currently facing.
1. Hush Money Case:
People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump
(Related to the Stormy Daniels hush money payments)
Ah, the classic “paying off your problems” strategy. On May 30, 2024, Trump made history as the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony (34 of them), thanks to a six-week trial that put a serious dent in his White House comeback tour. Trump's legal woes began when his former attorney, Michael Cohen, funneled a $130,000 hush payment to Stormy Daniels — yes, that Stormy Daniels — to keep her underwhelming sexual encounter with then-candidate Trump quiet during the 2016 campaign.
After a grand jury indicted The Donald on 34 felony counts, Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order, only for Trump to repeatedly ignore it, racking up fines and becoming the first U.S. president to ever be held in criminal contempt of court (another record!). In the end, a jury of his peers unanimously ruled that Trump was guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election.
Current Status: Judge Merchan delayed Trump's sentencing from Sept. 18 until Nov. 26, after the presidential election. The judge says he made the decision "to avoid any appearance -- however unwarranted -- that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election."
2. Federal Election Interference Case:
United States v. Donald J. Trump
(Charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results)
If at first you don’t succeed, try to overturn the election! In the chaotic two months between the 2020 election and January 6, 2021, Trump launched a desperate campaign to overturn Biden’s lawful victory, complete with wild claims of voter fraud and mafiosa-style calls to Republican officials with orders to throw out legitimate results. This fascistic circus reached its climax when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, aiming to derail the peaceful transfer of power - while Trump sat at the dining table, watching and ignoring pleas from his family and close advisors to urge his supporters to stop the violence.
174 police officers were injured that day.
Four officers who were attacked killed themselves.
Now Trump is facing four federal charges related to his antics, including a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and deprive citizens of their voting rights.
Current Status: On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court — by a 6-3 vote along ideological lines — declared that presidents have “absolute” immunity from charges stemming from their “core constitutional powers” and “presumptive immunity” for all other official acts. The special counsel then issued a superseding indictment that maintained the same four charges but omitted some specific allegations.
The trial is currently postponed indefinitely.
3. Classified Documents Case:
United States v. Donald J. Trump
(Involves the mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago)
In a plot twist that nobody saw coming (except, well, everyone), Trump allegedly decided to turn his Mar-a-Lago home into a classified document storage facility. Federal prosecutors, led by special counsel Jack Smith, accused Trump of swiping sensitive national security documents when he vacated the White House in January 2021 and then repeatedly obstructing the government’s attempts to retrieve them. Because nothing says “presidential” more than treating top-secret government files like a collection of nudie mags and keeping them stacked in the bathroom of your golf club.
Trump also reportedly showed some of these classified documents to random guests at his club, attempting to show off. There’s even a recording where he flaunted a top-secret U.S. military plan while bragging, “Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. This was done by the military and given to me.”
Because who doesn’t love a good secret?
Current Status: Trump was charged with 37 counts: 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information; one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations.
A trial was scheduled for May 20, 2024, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, postponed it indefinitely. For months, Cannon’s plodding pace and her unusual rulings on pretrial issues befuddled many legal experts and frustrated prosecutors. Then, in a brazenly partisan ruling on July 15, 2024, Cannon ordered the case dismissed. The special counsel’s office is appealing her ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
4. Georgia Election Interference Case:
State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al.
(Involves attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia)
Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss reached peak criminality in Georgia, where — despite multiple recounts that confirmed Biden’s victory — Trump and his allies peddled baseless claims of voter fraud, pressured state officials to reverse the results, and even hatched a scheme to send fake electors to Washington. On January 2, 2021, Trump infamously called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, urging him to “find” the 11,780 votes needed to flip the state.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 of his allies, alleging they formed a sprawling criminal enterprise to achieve their goals — like a much less successful, less stylish Al Capone (who Trump has called “great” by the way). The indictment contained a total of 41 state-law felony charges.
Current Status: In September, Judge Scott McAfee threw out three of the charges, saying the state did not have jurisdiction to bring them. In a separate ruling, the judge also upheld the felony racketeering charge against Mr. Trump and the 14 other defendants in the case — the centerpiece of the indictment — calling it “facially sound and constitutionally sufficient.”
The case will not move to trial until next year at the earliest.
5. Business Practices Case:
New York v. Donald J. Trump, et al.
(Civil fraud case brought by the New York Attorney General)
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and several senior execs for orchestrating years of financial fraud to gain all sorts of economic perks. The suit claims that Trump, along with his beloved children — Donald Jr., Ivanka, and, um, oh yeah, Eric — and top brass at the organization, inflated his net worth by billions to lure banks into offering better loan terms, secure insurance at lower premiums, and score tax benefits. Between 2011 and 2021, they allegedly cooked up over 200 false valuations in their annual financial statements, all to defraud financial institutions.
Art of the Deal, indeed.
Current Status: In February, Judge Arthur F. Engoron found Trump liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and ordered him to pay a penalty of nearly $355 million plus interest. The judge also barred Trump for three years from serving in top roles at any New York company, including portions of his own Trump Organization and imposed a two-year ban on the former president’s adult sons and ordered that they pay more than $4 million each.
“Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological,” Engoron said.
6. Sexual Assault Case:
E. Jean Carrol v Donald J. Trump
(Civil sexual assault and defamation suit)
In 2019, longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room during the mid-1990s - making her one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. Trump swiftly denied the allegations, labeling Carroll a "whack job" and claiming he’d never met her—an egregious claim he repeated in various public appearances, social media posts, and even in court. Carroll subsequently filed two defamation lawsuits over Trump's comments from 2019 and 2022, arguing that his remarks tarnished her reputation and subjected her to a barrage of threats.
Current Status: In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse, awarding Carroll $5 million. In January 2024, a jury awarded Carrol an additional $83.3 million in damages because Trump had continued to repeat false claims about Carroll.
District Judge Lewis Kaplan has also clarified that the jury found that Trump had raped Carroll according to the common definition of the word.
4,000+ Lawsuits
In addition to these current high profile court cases, Trump has faced legal trouble for decades as a businessman and politician. In total, Trump has been a part of more than 4,000 separate lawsuits — and counting.
Here’s a quick breakdown.
85 Branding and Trademark Cases
That’s what happens when you’re happy to slap your name on anything that pays.
17 Campaign Cases
From sending campaign text messages to people who never signed up to using photographs without proper rights, the Trump campaign is often at the center of controversy.
1,863 Casino Cases
Who else can say they bankrupted six casinos?
208 Contract Dispute Cases
Trump is famous for refusing to pay people he hires and not taking accountability when a project he’s developing fails.
130 Employment Cases
Trump himself has bragged that he doesn’t like paying overtime, so he doesn’t do it. Well, he’s been sued for that before.
63 Golf Club Cases
From sexual assault claims to personal injury disputes, all is possible at a Trump golf property.
190 Government & Taxes cases
Trump’s companies have been engaged in battles over not paying taxes almost every year for four decades now.
622 Real Estate cases
Slumlord status, achieved.
