The outcome cements Trump’s conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.
Yet, the legal detour — and sordid details aired in court of a plot to bury affair allegations — didn’t hurt him with voters, who elected him to a second term.
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan could have sentenced the 78-year-old Republican to up to four years in prison.
Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.
Just 10 days out from his inauguration, the 78-year-old was not present in court and watched the sentencing via a video link from his Florida home.
Trump appeared stoic and reserved as he waited for the hearing to begin, wearing a red tie with thin diagonal stripes.
One of Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, was seated to his right, with the pair sitting in front of a backdrop of American flags with American flag pins on both their suit jackets.
As prosecutors began their remarks, Trump shook his head, eyes darting around the screen. The camera view was framed tightly on him and Blanche, offering courtroom spectators a much closer view of Trump’s expression than during the trial.
Although Trump was in court for every day of the trial last year, the judge said the president-elect could attend the sentencing via video if he chose.
After remarks from prosecutors and Trump’s own lawyers, Justice Merchan asked the president-elect if he’d like to speak.
Trump took up the opportunity, marking the first time he’s addressed the courtroom during the trial.
“This has been a very terrible experience. I think it has been a tremendous set back for New York and the New York court system,” he said.
During his address, Trump insisted he committed no crime and again pilloried the case, the only one of his four criminal indictments that has gone to trial and possibly the only one that ever will.
“It’s been a political witch hunt. It was done to damage my reputation so that I would lose the election, and obviously, that didn’t work.”
He argued that voters saw what happened in this courtroom and, like him, thought it was a disgrace and supported him overwhelmingly in the election.
“The fact is that I’m totally innocent, I did nothing wrong.”
Trump called the case “a weaponisation of government” and “an embarrassment to New York”.
“I would like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly, and I thank you very much,” Trump said in conclusion.
Merchan said that like when facing any other defendant, he must consider any aggravating factors before imposing a sentence, but the legal protection that Trump will have as president “is a factor that overrides all others”.
“Despite the extraordinary breadth of those legal protections, one power they do not provide is that they do not erase a jury verdict,” Merchan said.
He added: “Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances.”
With Trump 10 days from inauguration, Merchan had indicated he planned a no-penalty sentence called an unconditional discharge, and prosecutors didn’t oppose it.
Prosecutors said on Friday that they supported a no-penalty sentence, but they chided Trump’s attacks on the legal system throughout and after the case.
“The once and future President of the United States has engaged in a coordinated campaign to undermine its legitimacy,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.
Rather than show remorse, Trump has “bred disdain” for the jury verdict and the criminal justice system, Steinglass said, and his calls for retaliation against those involved in the case, including calling for the judge to be disbarred, “has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has put officers of the court in harm’s way.”
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche – who he’s tapped to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official in his incoming administration – reiterated Trump’s intention to appeal the verdict.
“Legally, this case should not have been brought,” Blanche said.
A handful of protesters had gathered in front of the Manhattan federal courthouse Friday morning.
Some carried signs reading “DESERVES THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE” and “34 FELONY CONVICTIONS.”
Meanwhile, at a park across the street, supporters unfurled a massive flag reading “TRUMP WON.”
Trump was convicted last May of 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes.
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The jury found that he falsified records kept by his company to hide the purpose of reimbursements to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, who had made a $US130,000 ($195,000) payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign to silence her claim of an extramarital sexual encounter. Trump denies they had sex.
The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial.
A separate, state-level election interference case in Georgia is in limbo after an appeals court removed prosecutor Fani Willis from the case.