Yes. Donald Trump is the only former U.S. president ever convicted of a crime. On May 30, 2024, a Manhattan jury found him guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, making him the first person to have held the presidency and then been convicted in a criminal court.1Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Bragg Announces 34-Count Felony Trial Conviction of Donald J. Trump Other presidents have faced investigations, impeachment, and threatened prosecutions, but none before Trump was ever indicted, let alone convicted.2NPR. Past Presidents, While Never Indicted, Have Faced Legal Woes of Their Own
What Trump Was Convicted Of
The case centered on a scheme to hide damaging information from voters during the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, paid $130,000 to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. After the election, Trump reimbursed Cohen a total of $420,000, which covered the payment plus additional amounts for taxes and a bonus. The Trump Organization processed the reimbursements through 11 checks and recorded them internally as payments for legal services under a retainer agreement that did not actually exist.1Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Bragg Announces 34-Count Felony Trial Conviction of Donald J. Trump
Each of the 34 counts corresponded to a single false entry: 11 invoices from Cohen, 11 checks, and 12 entries in Trump’s general ledgers, dated February through December 2017. Each was charged as falsifying business records in the first degree, a class E felony under New York law. The trial took place in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan before Judge Juan Merchan.3USA Today. Trump Guilty, Convicted on 34 Counts Explained
The Sentence: Unconditional Discharge
Trump was sentenced on January 10, 2025, ten days before he was inaugurated for a second presidential term. Judge Merchan imposed an unconditional discharge on all 34 counts.4NPR. Trump Sentencing New York Under New York law, an unconditional discharge closes the case without prison time, fines, probation, or any other conditions. Merchan called it “the only lawful sentence that does not encroach on the office of the president.”5PBS NewsHour. Trump Was Sentenced to an Unconditional Discharge in His Hush Money Conviction Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office recommended that outcome to preserve the jury’s verdict without interfering with Trump’s ability to govern.
The lack of punishment does not erase the conviction. It remains on Trump’s record, and legal analysts have noted collateral consequences: as a convicted felon he is barred from purchasing firearms in both New York and Florida.6Politico. Trump Unconditional Discharge Sentencing: What That Means The sentencing also gave Trump the legal standing to formally appeal.5PBS NewsHour. Trump Was Sentenced to an Unconditional Discharge in His Hush Money Conviction
Is the Conviction Being Appealed?
Yes, and on two tracks. In October 2025, Trump filed a 96-page appeal with a New York state appellate court seeking to overturn the verdict. His lawyers argued that prosecutors improperly used evidence of “official acts” from his presidency at trial, including testimony from former White House communications director Hope Hicks and Trump’s social media posts. They also challenged Judge Merchan’s impartiality, citing small political donations the judge had made to Democratic causes and his daughter’s employment at a digital agency with Democratic clients.7Politico. Donald Trump Appeal Hush Money Conviction
Separately, Trump’s legal team has tried to move the case out of state court entirely, arguing that as a former president he has the right to be tried in federal court for conduct related to his time in office. Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein initially denied that request. In November 2025, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered him to reconsider in light of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.8NY1. Appeals Court Gives Trump Another Shot at Erasing Hush Money Conviction During oral arguments in February 2026, Hellerstein appeared skeptical, telling defense counsel they had sought “two bites at the apple” by first going to the state trial judge before turning to federal court. He said he would rule later.9Politico. Donald Trump Hush Money Conviction Federal Court As of early 2026, both efforts remain pending.10CNN. Judge Skeptical of Trump Trying to Move Hush Money Appeal to Federal Court
What Happened to the Other Cases Against Trump?
The New York conviction was one of four criminal cases brought against Trump. The other three were resolved without a trial after his 2024 election win, which is why the answer to the searcher’s question is one conviction, not more.
Federal Election Interference (Washington, D.C.)
Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in August 2023 with four felony counts related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. After Trump was reelected, Smith moved to dismiss the case on November 25, 2024, citing the Department of Justice’s longstanding policy that a sitting president cannot be federally prosecuted. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted the dismissal without prejudice.11ABC News. Special Counsel Jack Smith Files Motion to Dismiss Federal Election Interference Case
Federal Classified Documents (Southern District of Florida)
In June 2023, Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts related to retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office, along with obstruction and false statements. Two co-defendants were also charged.12PBS NewsHour. Read the Full Trump Indictment on Mishandling of Classified Documents In July 2024, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the entire case, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional. The Justice Department withdrew its appeal in January 2025, and the 11th Circuit formally dismissed the case against the co-defendants in February 2025.13CBS News. Trump Documents Case: Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira Case Dismissed
Georgia Election Interference
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants in August 2023 under Georgia’s RICO statute. The case was derailed when the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in December 2024 that District Attorney Fani Willis had to be removed due to a “significant appearance of impropriety” arising from her relationship with a special prosecutor she had hired.14Georgia Court of Appeals. Case No. A24A1595, Willis Disqualification Opinion The Georgia Supreme Court declined to review that decision in September 2025.15Lawfare. Georgia Supreme Court Declines Fulton County DA’s Appeal Pete Skandalakis of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia took over and moved to dismiss all charges, arguing the alleged conduct “was conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia” and that a trial could not feasibly occur until 2029 or later. Judge Scott McAfee granted the dismissal on November 26, 2025.16NPR. Georgia Trump Election Case Dismissed
Why No Earlier President Was Ever Convicted
Several past presidents faced serious criminal exposure. None ended up convicted, for reasons specific to each.
Richard Nixon came closest. He was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Watergate investigation and resigned on August 9, 1974. A month later, on September 8, President Gerald Ford issued Nixon a “full, free, and absolute pardon,” preempting any charges. Ford said that by accepting the pardon Nixon was “publicly acknowledging his guilt in the Watergate cover up.” The decision was deeply unpopular at the time, with polls showing 59% opposition, though public opinion softened over the decades; in 2001, Senator Ted Kennedy presented Ford with the Profile in Courage Award for it.17Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. Nixon Pardon
Bill Clinton faced potential criminal exposure for perjury and obstruction related to the Monica Lewinsky matter. The House impeached him in 1998, the Senate acquitted him, and he was never charged with a crime, though he was disbarred in Arkansas.18Stanford Law School. Stanford’s Robert Gordon on the History of Presidential Crimes and the Significance of the Trump Conviction
A widely repeated story holds that Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding his horse-drawn carriage while president. The National Park Service reports that the most famous version, involving an 1872 arrest by officer William West, is not supported by primary sources. Verified records do show Grant was detained and fined for fast driving twice in 1866, when he was a military officer, not president.19National Park Service. Was General Grant Arrested for Speeding in Washington, D.C.?
Two broader legal doctrines have long shielded presidents from criminal accountability. The first is a Department of Justice policy, laid out in Office of Legal Counsel memoranda from 1973 and 2000, concluding that a sitting president cannot be indicted because criminal proceedings would “impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.”20U.S. Department of Justice. A Sitting President’s Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution The policy is internal DOJ guidance, not binding law, but it was the explicit basis for Smith dropping the two federal cases against Trump and it shaped Judge Merchan’s decision to impose no punishment.21Cornell Law Institute. Criminal Prosecution and Former Presidents
The second is the Supreme Court’s July 1, 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States. The 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, held for the first time that former presidents have absolute immunity for actions within their core constitutional powers, presumptive immunity for other official acts, and no immunity for private conduct. The Court also barred prosecutors from using evidence of immune official acts to prove charges based on unofficial conduct. Justices Sotomayor and Jackson dissented, warning the decision placed a president “above the law” for official acts.22SCOTUSblog. Justices Rule Trump Has Some Immunity From Prosecution That ruling contributed to the delays that led to the federal election case being dismissed, and it is now central to Trump’s push to move his New York appeal into federal court.
Does a Felony Conviction Bar Someone From the Presidency?
No. The Constitution sets only three qualifications for the office: natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years. There is no disqualification based on criminal history.23Congressional Research Service. Criminal Conviction and the Presidency Trump won the 2024 election and took office on January 20, 2025, becoming the first convicted felon to serve as president.
One boundary is worth flagging, because it comes up often: Trump cannot pardon himself out of the New York conviction. The presidential pardon power under Article II applies only to “offences against the United States,” meaning federal crimes. A state conviction can only be addressed through the state’s own clemency process.24Congressional Research Service. Criminal Conviction and the Presidency