What next for Trump?

Trump has made history by being the first ex-President to become a convicted felon. Miles Salter looks at the latest drama.

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Donald Trump drags headlines behind him like fleas on a mangy dog. When biographers take on his life, they’re going to have a mountain to climb – marriages, rumours, allegations, scandals, court appearances – it’s one long circus with Donald. So what are the facts about the current situation?

Firstly, Trump is now a convicted felon in the US. The verdict was passed on 30th May when he lost his ‘hush money’ case. The jury took 12 hours before confirming their verdict.

Secondly, he is due to be sentenced on July 11th, just one week before the Republican National Convention.

Will he go to jail? We don’t know yet. Judge Juan Merchan will decide Trump’s fate. The 34 charges are all Class E felonies, which means they are the least severe level in New York. However, they each carry the possibility of up to 4 years in prison. But Trump could escape jail, if the judge gives a more lenient sentence.

Can he run for President?? The short answer is Yes. The US Constitution sets out three main requirements for being eligible to become president – and none of them reference being a convicted criminal. Candidates must have been born in the US, be over 35, and have lived in the US for at least 14 years.

"Nothing prevents him from running for president and being elected, even if he is in jail at the time of the election," Elizabeth Wydra, president of the progressive Constitutional Accountability Centre, told the LA Times.

There is now a possibility that Trump could be elected while serving time. This opens up more strange possibilities. Even constitutional experts are unsure of where will be in October.

"It's just guessing," Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law expert at the University of California, Berkeley, told the New York Times earlier this year.

"We're so far removed from anything that's ever happened."

Speculation has already begun about the way voters will already see Trump. Americans may now think twice about his suitability for repeating the role of President.

As Trump lost the court battle, outside, demonstrators cheered. His supporters are already suggesting that he is a victim of a system that is out to get him.

The controversy will continue. That’s just how things go with Donald Trump. His charged life is not good for US politics - the nation deserves calmer, more considered leadership.

Miles Salter is a writer and musician based in York. Need help with copy? Drop him

a line at [email protected]

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