Kayla Epstein
reporting from New York

Without a ruling from Judge Juan Merchan, nothing has materially changed in Donald Trump's New York criminal case for now.

But today's filing from the Manhattan district attorney's office gives us some hints about the future. Here's what we learned:

• DA Alvin Bragg said his office would oppose any attempt by Trump to throw out his conviction on the grounds of presidential immunity, or on the grounds that he was about to become president again.
• Prosecutors supported at least a temporary delay in sentencing Trump, asking the judge for a new deadline of 9 December for Trump's lawyers to file more motions.
• Should the judge agree, that would almost certainly delay Trump's 26 November sentencing.
• But prosecutors opened the door to Justice Juan Merchan potentially delaying the case even longer - until after Trump leaves office in 2029. They wrote that it should be included among the "non-dismissal options" the judge considers.

We're closing our live page coverage on the case for now. Thank you for joining us.

You can catch up with the latest below:

• Prosecutors back delaying Trump sentence until he leaves White House

Image source, Getty Images

While Trump's legal drama continues to play out in New York, the president-elect is attending a SpaceX launch in Texas on Tuesday.

Trump has become close allies with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in the weeks leading up to the election, nominating him and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a Department of Government Efficiency - an advisory body on governmental cost-cutting.

Musk and Trump have been repeatedly photographed by each other's sides since Trump won the presidential election earlier this month, including at a UFC fight in Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Saturday.

Kayla Epstein
reporting from New York

As we previously wrote, Trump has nominated members of his criminal and appellate defence team - Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, and D John Sauer - for high-ranking roles at the US Department of Justice in the president-elect's second term. Legal experts say that the three men's prior experience makes sense for these roles.

Their potential boss, however, is raising eyebrows with some of his other justice department picks.

Trump wants former congressman Matt Gaetz, a conservative firebrand who has been an unflinching supporter of the president-elect, as his US attorney general, despite the US House ethics committee investigating some of his conduct.

"It's quite a clear signal that he's taking the justice department in a direction of loyalty to him rather than independence, which has been the tradition up until now," said Rebecca Roiphe, a professor at New York Law School.

You can read more about the nominations here.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New York

Image source, Reuters / Jane Rosenberg

As Trump’s sentencing over his Manhattan conviction remains in limbo, Judge Merchan continues to find himself navigating uncharted waters.

Merchan faced a difficult decision even before Trump was elected to become the next president, weighing whether to sentence the first former president ever convicted of a felony to time in jail. He has so far decided to push back Trump's sentencing, with the latest date scheduled for next week.

Merchan is no stranger to high-profile cases. He oversaw a tax fraud trial against Trump’s company before the hush-money trial.

But there are few other legal cases for him to turn to for guidance when it comes to making these rulings.

"This is very much a make-your-own-adventure novel, which [Merchan] started working on pre-election," former Manhattan prosecutor Diana Florence says. "Now that he's won the election, we're in wholly uncharted territory, and what you have to do is find analogous situations."

Kayla Epstein
reporting from New York

Deep in the second page of the Manhattan district attorney's filing from Tuesday is a remarkable concession: that one option for Judge Juan Merchan would be to delay Trump's criminal proceedings until after his presidency ends - in 2029.

They asked the judge to consider "non-dismissal options" that could include "deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant's upcoming presidential term".

To one former prosecutor, that sentence is the whole ballgame.

"The DA is saying that the court should put off sentencing until after Trump leaves the White House. That's the headline," said New York attorney Mitchell Epner. "Don't drop the conviction - but don't do anything until after Trump leaves office."

Merchan still has to rule, but the prosecutors appear to have presented what they believe is their best-case-scenario in a truly unprecedented case.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

Prosecutors have now outlined what they believe are the appropriate next steps in this case now that Donald Trump - a convicted felon - will be the next occupant of the White House.

The Manhattan district attorney said no current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity requires dismissal of this case.

They said the court must balance competing constitutional interests - and preserve the independence of the presidency and the integrity of the criminal justice system.

In that regard, they suggested one remedy: instead of an outright dismissal of the case, it could be frozen - including Trump’s sentencing - until the end of his upcoming presidency.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Trump said this was a victory for the president-elect. The defence is eagerly seeking to have the case dismissed - which they said would avoid unconstitutional impediments to his ability to govern.

The judge still needs to weigh in.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New York

We don't have an exact timeline for when Judge Juan Merchan will respond to the prosecution's latest filings. It is up to the judge to determine what happens next with the case.

But former Manhattan prosecutor Diana Florence tells me Merchan is likely to take the prosecutors up on their suggestion - which is to set new dates on the calendar to address Trump's expected motion to dismiss the case entirely.

This means the president-elect's sentencing date would likely be pushed back again.

"I think there's less than half a percent chance that he’d be sentenced next week," Florence says, referring to the court's current schedule which has Trump's sentencing marked for 26 November.

Florence says we should hear from the judge soon.

Donald Trump's communication director Steven Cheung has just issued a statement on the New York criminal case.

He calls it a "witch hunt", which is the same wording Trump uses when talking about the criminal cases against him.

"This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide," Cheung says.

However, the judge has not made a ruling on Trump's sentencing yet. What happened today was the prosecution informing the judge that they will oppose Trump's motion to dismiss the criminal case, and that they do not oppose pausing sentencing.

At this stage, Trump has still been found guilty of 34 felony counts and is awaiting sentencing.

Cheung also says President-elect Trump’s legal team is "moving to get it dismissed once and for all”.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New York

In this new filing from Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney lays out the complex context that the judge now has to take into consideration when weighing whether to go forward with the sentencing of Donald Trump for his business fraud felony conviction, postpone the sentencing, or dismiss the case entirely.

In the filing, he suggests that Trump's sentencing may need to be delayed "until after the end" of his next presidential term.

Kayla Epstein
reporting from New York

Image source, Reuters

In their filing today, the Manhattan district attorney's office laid out their objections to Trump's argument that his conviction should be thrown out on the grounds of presidential immunity.

Essentially, they don't think presidential immunity applies, because the events at the centre of their case did not have to do with official presidential duties, and the trial and conviction occurred before the US Supreme Court decided this summer that presidents had broad protection from criminal prosecution.

But prosecutors said they would be open to a delay of the sentencing as Trump's team continues to litigate their case.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New York

This new filing from prosecutors does not yet change what's happening with this case - we still need a ruling from Judge Juan Merchan to decide that.

But for now, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is telling the judge that he intends to oppose Trump's motion to dismiss his criminal case, but does not object to pausing Trump's sentencing - which was originally scheduled for next week - until Trump's request is ruled on.

"The People believe that further proceedings before this Court should be adjourned to permit litigation," Bragg wrote in the new filing.

Bragg has asked for a deadline of Monday 9 December for Trump's legal team to respond to the matter.

Kayla Epstein
reporting from New York

The Manhattan District Attorney's office has written to Justice Juan Merchan that they intend to oppose Donald Trump's attempt to have his business fraud conviction thrown out.

They asked to extend the deadlines for both parties to file motions on the matter until 9 December.

Judge Juan Merchan now has to rule based on filings from both parties. But if he agrees with the prosecutors, it would mean that Trump's sentencing, currently scheduled for next Tuesday, would be delayed yet again.

Kayla Epstein
reporting from New York

Trump's New York hush-money case has an interesting intersection with the president-elect's plans for his next administration.

Trump has nominated Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, his lead defence lawyers on his New York criminal case, for top roles at the US Department of Justice next year.

Blanche, who represented Trump in three out of four of his criminal cases, will be nominated for the second-most powerful post at the Justice Department - deputy attorney general. That official is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation and executing the vision of his boss, the US attorney general.

Bove will will take on a high-ranking post in the department, principal associate deputy attorney general. He will also act in Blanche's stead during the Senate confirmation process.

In addition, D John Sauer, who won Trump's historic presidential immunity case in the US Supreme Court this year, will be his nominee for US solicitor general.

Image source, Getty Images

While we're waiting for the latest on Trump's sentencing in New York, let's check on another case involving the president-elect.

In Georgia, the state's election interference case against Trump is now delayed indefinitely after an appeals court cancelled oral arguments that were scheduled for 5 December.The ruling came in a one-line order without further explanation.

The case has been stuck in limbo since Trump and his team sought to appeal a ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case despite a romantic relationship she had with one of the prosecutors.

Willis has pledged to press on despite Trump's return to the White House. This and the other federal cases the president-elect faces are likely to be put to a halt until his term in office ends.

Trump and 18 others were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in August 2023 for allegedly working to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Four of the defendants pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors, but the president-elect and the others maintained their innocence.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that US presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for "official actions" they take while in office.

The court added that presidents do not have immunity for non-official actions.

Chief Justice John Roberts said “testimony or private records of the president or his advisers” are not admissible in court. But contact with private citizens will have to be considered by the courts as to whether they are unofficial actions.

“In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her opinion disagreeing with the court’s ruling.

Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records was based in part on evidence of meetings and communications that occurred while he was president.

Now Justice Juan Merchan will need to weigh up if the Supreme Court’s ruling is relevant to the evidence heard in his New York court room, where Trump was found guilty by a jury.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New York

Image source, Getty Images

Much has changed since Trump found himself sitting inside a chilly Manhattan courthouse for weeks on end in May.

It was a historic trial - the first time a former president has ever faced a jury of his peers over criminal charges.

My colleague Kayla Epstein and I were there to witness the drama every day, as former Trump allies testified in the case and as the former president's ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, accused him of committing fraud on the witness stand.

Tensions were high as jurors were sent away to deliberate over the former president's fate. Just days later, they came back with a verdict: guilty on 34 felony counts of falsified business records.

Trump has scored many legal wins since then. This summer, the Supreme Court ruled he had immunity from prosecution over official acts.

And just this month, he helped completely erase his legal issues when he comfortably won the 2024 presidential election.

While his federal cases could now go away, his conviction here in New York is now in limbo. With Judge Juan Merchan's expected ruling today, we will have our answer soon.

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Donald Trump has described the judge who oversaw his hush-money trial - where he was found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records - as a "certified Trump-hater".

Others say New York County Supreme Court Justice Juan Manuel Merchan is a tough and no-nonsense but fair jurist.

Before, during and since the trial ended, Trump relentlessly slammed Justice Merchan, both in public remarks and on social media.

Justice Merchan has served 17 years on the bench. He is also no stranger to Trump's contact with the justice system.

In 2022, Justice Merchan presided over the tax-fraud trial that led to the conviction of the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.

A president can only issue pardons in federal cases.

The 34 felony convictions in New York are a state case, so Trump would not be able to pardon himself.

Trump is also facing state charges in Georgia, over allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results there.

But there are two federal cases against the president-elect.

For those cases, in theory, he could pardon himself. A president has never pardoned himself before, so the move would be unprecedented.

The prosecution's key witness was ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who testified that his former boss knew about the elaborate scheme to disguise the payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

In days of heated cross-examination, Trump's lawyers sought to undermine Cohen and paint him as an unreliable witness and convicted liar.

The jurors deliberated over two days before finding the former president guilty of all 34 counts of fraud under campaign finance laws.

Trump has called the case politically motivated. His lawyers are requesting the conviction be overturned, citing the Supreme Court immunity ruling.

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

The trial earlier this year revolved around a payment made to the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

Daniels was paid $130,000 (£103,000) to keep quiet about her claim that she had sex with Trump, which he denies.

Providing so-called hush-money is not illegal. Instead, this case was more technical and centred on how Trump's former lawyer, who paid Daniels, had his reimbursement recorded as legal fees in Trump's accounts.