At least for 4 years

Trump escapes criminal proceedings with comeback

Donald Trump on his way to court in Manhattan at the end of May, where he was sentenced for covering up a hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/CHARLY TRIBALLEAU)

With his comeback to the White House, Donald Trump will probably get rid of all his legal problems in one fell swoop. According to information from CNN and NBC News, special prosecutor Jack Smith is already in talks with the Department of Justice about dropping the federal charges against the 78-year-old.

In one case, Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, including his role in the storming of the Capitol by radical Trump supporters on 6 January 2021. In the second federal case, he is accused of storing classified government files in his private residence Mar-a-Lago. 

Trump wants to fire special investigator "within seconds"
According to the reports, the Department of Justice referred Smith to the long-established practice of not prosecuting a sitting US president. Trump has already announced that he will fire Smith "within two seconds". A US president does not have this power - but he could appoint an attorney general and instruct him to dismiss the special investigator. He could also simply instruct the Department of Justice to drop the two federal cases.

Will further trials be frozen?
Those processes that he cannot influence as President are also likely to be frozen for the time being. These include Trump's attempts to turn his election defeat against Joe Biden in the US state of Georgia in 2020 into a victory. In a phone call at the time, the unelected president asked election workers in the state to "find" the 11,780 votes needed for his victory there. Trump had to appear in Atlanta prison, where a famous police photo of the Republican was taken - a humiliating first for an ex-president.

Hush money payment: will sentencing be canceled?
At the end of May, Trump was found guilty in New York of covering up the hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels by falsifying business documents. The sentencing was postponed several times. Theoretically, there is the threat of a prison sentence, but more likely a fine and suspended sentence. However, it is now questionable whether the sentence will be announced at all.