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Trump takes office, leaving a long trail of legal battles in the rearview

President Donald Trump attends inauguration ceremonies in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday.
Chip Somodevilla
/
Getty Images
President Donald Trump attends inauguration ceremonies in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

President Trump takes office today, and in the process officially dodges a laundry list of legal troubles.

His legal team spent much of the past two years fighting to delay the four criminal cases he faced, and the strategy worked. He becomes president without a federal conviction or having spent any time behind bars.

Here's a quick rundown of the criminal cases Trump faced and how they (mostly) concluded:

  1. New York hush money — The only case of the four to reach trial, and the one that made Trump the first person convicted of a felony to be elected president. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg brought charges alleging that Trump falsified business records to cover up sexual relationships he had and protect his reputation during the 2016 campaign, and Trump was convicted in May of last year. He received no fine or prison sentence, however, as his sentencing came after he was elected president and the judge in the case ruled any other sentence would have interfered with his ability to govern.
  2. Federal classified documents — Maybe the most cut and dry of the criminal cases was also the one that ground to a halt before it got going.Special counsel Jack Smith accused Trump of mishandling classified documents, and Trump was even recorded on tape talking about a classified document he still had possession of. But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case a few months after it was filed, because Smith was unconstitutionally appointed, Cannon said. Smith appealed, but dropped the charges once Trump was elected.
  3. Federal election subversion — This case opened a broad debate over presidential immunity. Smith filed this case as well, accusing Trump of breaking the law in trying to hold onto power after losing the 2020 election. Trump's legal team argued that the president had immunity for many of the crimes he was accused of, and the Supreme Court eventually agreed the president is immune from prosecution for official acts but not unofficial acts. Smith filed a new indictment in August 2024, but dropped the charges after Trump was elected.
  4. Georgia election subversion — This racketeering case also centers on Trump's actions in the time following voting in 2020, including the infamous phone call where Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" votes. Several of the 19 defendants initially named in the indictment have already pled guilty, and this is the only case still active, as Trump does not have the power to end state prosecutions as federal executive. It has an uncertain future, however, as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is fighting a court order that removed her office from the case over impropriety accusations stemming from her personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Trump is unlikely to face trial in the case until 2029, if at all.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Miles Parks
Miles Parks is a reporter on NPR's Washington Desk. He covers voting and elections, and also reports on breaking news.