Donald Trump makes history as he's found guilty in court

Donald Trump outside courtImage source, Reuters

Donald Trump has been found guilty in his historic New York criminal trial, becoming the first former or sitting president to be convicted of a crime.

He was accused of hiding payments made to a woman he's alleged to have had a relationship while he was married, so that she would keep quiet about it as he ran for president in 2016.

A jury said he was guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records and he'll be given his sentence on 11 July.

Mr Trump denied all the charges, called the verdict a "disgrace" and said the case was led by his political enemies trying to stop him becoming president again.

Who is Donald Trump?

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Donald Trump is an American politician, businessman and former reality TV star.

He was the president of the United States of America from 2017 to 2021.

He is also famous for being the host of the American version of the TV show, The Apprentice, before he became president.

He lost the US presidential election in 2021 but is running for the top job again in 2024.

What was Donald Trump accused of?

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Donald Trump was accused of paying $130,000 (£100,000) to a woman to hide a secret relationship with her, while he was married to his wife Melania, just before he became president.

He says that he never had a secret relationship.

Records show that he did send the woman money, and prosecutors had argued that, by approving a plan to disguise the money as legal expenses, Trump broke election law.

Mr Trump will find out what his punishment is just days before the start of his political party's conference, when he is due to be confirmed as the party's candidate to face Joe Biden, in November's presidential election.

While he could face prison, experts say a fine is seen as more likely. For now, he has been released.

What did Donald Trump say?

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Speaking after the verdict, Mr Donald Trump said his his trial was "rigged", meaning it was unfair.

Outside the courthouse, he said he was a "very innocent man" and that the trial was a "disgrace".

"This is long from over," he added, before walking away without answering questions.

At a news conference, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who was in charge of the prosecution, said: "I did my job."

"Our job is to follow the facts without fear or favour, and that's what we did here," added the prosecutor.

Can Mr Trump still try to be president again?

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Donald Trump is running to be president in the election in November this year.

Trump blames the current leader Joe Biden for many of America 's problems and also says that the legal cases that he's facing are designed to stop him from winning.

This conviction does not prevent Mr Trump from standing in November's election, but he is expected to try to appeal against the verdict anyway.

Experts say it is unclear how this will affect the presidential race, although some polls have previously suggested voters in several key swing states would be less likely to vote for Mr Trump if he had a criminal conviction.