Trump to challenge conviction ‘as soon as possible’

Donald Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche said the real estate mogul would appeal his guilty verdict after becoming the first former US president ever convicted of a crime Thursday in his hush money trial.

Blanche indicated on CNN that Trump would push forward with post-trial motions and "if that is not successful, then as soon as we can appeal we will. And the process in New York is there's a sentencing, and then we appeal from there."

Donald Trump on Thursday became the first former US president ever convicted of a crime after a New York jury found him guilty on all charges in his hush money case, months before an election that could see him yet return to the White House.

The jury found him guilty on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels. He could in theory be sentenced to four years behind bars for each count but is more likely to receive probation.

The 77-year-old Republican, who was released without bail, is now a felon -- a historic and startling first in a country where presidents are frequently described as the most powerful man in the world.

Trump, however, is not barred from continuing his battle to unseat President Joe Biden in November -- even in the unlikely event he goes to prison.

His lawyer, Todd Blanche, said his team was eying an appeal "as soon as we can."

And Trump himself voiced immediate defiance.

"I'm a very innocent man," Trump told reporters, vowing that the "real verdict" would come from voters on election day. He branded the trial "rigged" and a "disgrace."

Biden's campaign issued a statement saying the trial showed "no one is above the law." It added that "the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater."

Judge Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11 -- four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party's formal nomination.

The 12-member jury had deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days before the foreman read out the unanimous conclusion within a matter of minutes.

Merchan thanked the jurors for completing the "difficult and stressful task."

Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often seen in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.

Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, and for hoarding secret documents after leaving the White House.

However, those trials -- on far weightier alleged crimes -- are unlikely to get underway before the presidential election.

- Election conspiracy -

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign against Hillary Clinton.

The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult performer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in graphic detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.

Prosecutors successfully laid out a case alleging the hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment was part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump's behavior.

Cohen, who was the key witness as a tainted former aide who had turned on his old boss, called the verdict "an important day for accountability and the rule of law."

Trump has denied any sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels, but did not testify in his own defense. His lawyers argued that any payments made to the performer were entirely legal.

- Campaigning from courthouse -

The trial has distracted Trump in his campaign to unseat Biden. However, he milked the media attention throughout.

Shortly after the verdict was issued, Trump's campaign put out a fundraising appeal, titled "I am a political prisoner!" He also announced he would make a public statement to journalists early Friday.

Keith Gaddie, a political analyst and professor at Texas Christian University, said the political impact of the shocking events has yet to be determined.

"It probably doesn't move a lot of votes, but in particular states with particular swing votes, it could matter around the margins. So in particularly tight races, it can tip things back from one direction to the other," he said.

Trump, who made his name as a brash real estate mogul before a stunning ascent to the nation's highest office in the 2016 election, most likely faces probation, because he is a first-time convict.

An appeal is all but certain, but could take months to complete.

Should he win the presidency he will not be able to pardon himself, given that the case was brought not by the federal government but by the state of New York, where only the governor could clear his name.

Biden hopes Trump verdict speaks for

If anyone expected Joe Biden to be celebrating the fact that election rival Donald Trump is now a convicted felon, they were disappointed.

Instead the Democrat's campaign issued a sober warning that the only way to prevent Trump returning to the White House remained the ballot box.

The challenge now will be for Biden to extract political gain for Trump's historic criminal conviction, but in such a way that he avoids fueling Trump supporters' belief that the prosecution itself was political.

"In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law," Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement.

"But today's verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box."

The White House was even less keen to get its hands dirty after the former occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was convicted on all 34 counts in his hush money case.

"We respect the rule of law, and have no additional comment," Ian Sams, White House Counsel's Office spokesperson, said in a curt statement.

From Biden himself there was no comment on Thursday.

The president was at his home in Delaware on what was already a hugely significant day for him -- nine years to the day after his son Beau's death from brain cancer in 2015, aged 46.

Trump's historic conviction -- which would have been a knockout blow in any other election year -- is undoubtedly a brighter spot for Biden after weeks of polling showing him neck and neck nationally with Trump who leads the Democrat narrowly in most of the key swing states.

Biden has previously made occasional jokes about Trump's legal plight, including mocking him for falling asleep at the trial and saying he's been too "busy" to be on the campaign trail.

But he's largely stayed muted on the issue, and the question is now whether he keeps a presidential distance above the fray or opts for a more aggressive approach.

- 'Big deal' -

Biden will be hoping that the verdict can sway even a small number of independents or wavering voters who could be crucial in one of the closest White House races in living memory.

"It helps Biden for this reason: I'm Joe Biden and I'm not a convicted felon," said Democratic strategist Rachel Bitecofer.

Biden has already launched a social media fundraising drive off the back of the verdict.

Trump's conviction "speaks for itself," David Karol, who teaches government and politics at the University of Maryland, told AFP.

"I don't think this is the kind of thing that Biden needs to talk about to bring it to voters' attention. It's a big deal, it's historic."

Biden would also be keen to "avoid the impression that he is directing the prosecution of his opponent," he added.

Karol said however that he "wouldn't be surprised" if Biden found it hard to resist bringing it up in his first election debate with Trump, which is scheduled for June 27, two weeks before the Republican is sentenced.

David Axelrod, a former top aide to President Barack Obama, meanwhile warned Biden against being "tempted to flood the zone about the conviction."

"While Trump wallows in his own troubles, the right play for Biden may be to lean even more into the day-to-day concerns of people. The contrast would be powerful," Axelrod said on X.

Biden may also be reluctant to comment given his own family situation.

With surviving son Hunter due in court next week on gun charges "he may want to avoid talking about court cases at all," said Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science at Brown University.

Verdict sparks outrage, elation

Donald Trump's historic conviction in his hush money trial drew angry reactions Thursday from supporters of the Republican former president, and elation among his detractors.

"I think it's going to make him more popular with the American people because they're seeing how he's being targeted and mistreated," said Matthew Turner, a New York resident.

"They're targeting this man because he's about to be president again," Turner told AFP outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump was found guilty by a jury of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

John McGuigan, another Trump supporter, said he was "outraged."

"They convicted an innocent man today," McGuigan said. "Meanwhile, rapists and murderers are running around the streets of New York."

Vivica Jimenez, who was among a group of anti-Trump protesters at the court, had a far different reaction, saying she was "happy and relieved" with the guilty verdict.

"It's been a long time waiting for this," Jimenez said. "It's very emotional."

Jamie Bauer, another anti-Trump protester, also praised the verdict.

"Justice is being served and Trump is being held accountable," Bauer said.

Edith Silva, 23, a banquet worker in Houston, Texas, also welcomed the conviction of the 77-year-old former president, who faces additional charges in a separate case of seeking to overturn the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.

"I'm glad. He's getting exactly what he deserves," Silva told AFP. "And I hope he doesn't get to run for office again."

Katelyn Hagen, 28, a medical device manager in Houston, vehemently disagreed.

"I think the entire thing is corrupt and is a witch hunt since day one," she said. "They want to do everything in their power for Trump not to run against Biden because they know that he will beat Biden."

- 'Beautiful!' -

Lee Downey, 58, interviewed on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, welcomed the guilty verdict.

"Beautiful!" Downey told AFP. "He has been a criminal for decades. They finally got him."

Michelle Carter, 44, who was also in Los Angeles, said she believed Trump's conviction was "justified" but "nothing's going to come of it."

"He won't see any time," Carter said.

Thomas Poundstone, 65, a professor from California, told AFP outside the White House in Washington that the evidence against Trump was "pretty clear."

"But I can't see this ultimately being able to dislodge that loyal Republican base," Poundstone said.

Susan Prolman, a 59-year-old Washington resident, said Trump has been "committing crimes his whole life, and it wasn't until recently that it finally caught up with him."

The conviction may hurt Trump's reelection hopes, said Diane Normandin, a tourist visiting the capital.

"Are the American people going to want to elect a convicted felon as a president?" she asked.

Several Miami residents of Cuban origin interviewed outside a Cuban restaurant which Trump visited last year declared their undying support for the brash tycoon.

"I am going to vote for him a hundred times," said Mickel Perz Ruiz, 47. "He is the only one who can move the country forward."

Miguel Zambrera, 58, another Trump supporter, alleged that the case was brought by Democrats and "the jury was majority Democrat."

"We are full of communists here and if America does not wake up communism will come here and destroy it," Zambrera said.

'I'm a political prisoner'

Donald Trump's campaign website began redirecting visitors to a fundraising page Thursday declaring he was a "political prisoner" moments after he was convicted in his New York hush money trial.

"I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial: I DID NOTHING WRONG! They've raided my home, arrested me, took my mugshot, AND NOW THEY'VE JUST CONVICTED ME!" the message read.

The page crashed within minutes of launching, however, as a surge of Trump supporters overwhelmed WinRed, the official Republican Party donation platform.

The site was down for around an hour, reverting to a message telling visitors that "something went wrong" and that engineers had been notified.

"The American people see through Crooked Joe Biden's rigged show trial. So many Americans were moved to donate to President Trump's campaign that the WinRed pages went down," the Trump campaign posted on X.

A New York jury convicted Trump of 34 counts of false accounting in his hush money case in a development that could have major repercussions in his bid to unseat Biden.

The verdict makes Trump the first criminally convicted former US president but does not prevent him from campaigning for another term. He will be sentenced July 11.

Biden, who has been reluctant to discuss the New York case, took advantage of Trump's legal woes to do some fundraising of his own.

"There's only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," his campaign posted on X. "Donate to our campaign today."

Trump regularly characterizes his legal woes as a battle against the evil forces of the "deep state" and Biden's White House, casting himself as a martyr willing to sacrifice his liberty to stand up for his supporters.

In April he compared himself to South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, sparking quick and virulent criticism from Biden's campaign team as he welcomed the prospect of going to jail for violating a gag order in the New York trial.

"If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the 'clink' for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela – It will be my GREAT HONOR," Trump posted on his social media platform.

Trump had  previously compared himself to Mandela at a 2023 rally, and has also likened himself to Jesus Christ.

"Imagine being so self-centered that you compare yourself to Jesus Christ and Nelson Mandela all within the span of little more than a week: that's Donald Trump for you," Team Biden said in a statement.