What are the 34 felony charges brought against Donald Trump and what does each count allege?

1. What the 34 counts are, in plain terms: identical statutory charges for different entries

The indictment filed in Manhattan charged Trump with 34 separate counts of falsifying business records in the first degree under New York law; each count corresponds to an alleged false or misleading entry in business records tied to reimbursements and payments related to a Stormy Daniels hush‑money matter and associated expenses ^{[1] [2]}. News and encyclopedia summaries consistently describe the package as 34 counts of the same offense rather than 34 distinct criminal theories ^{[1] [4]}.

2. The factual nucleus prosecutors relied on

Prosecutors alleged the payments (including a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels and other related disbursements that brought totals discussed in reporting to roughly $420,000 when costs were included) were concealed through false company bookkeeping entries and disguised business purposes; those allegedly falsified records are what formed the basis for each count ^[1]. Sources state the counts were aimed at concealing the true nature of payments made weeks before the 2016 presidential election ^[1].

3. How counts map to acts and entries — prosecution versus defense framing

Manhattan prosecutors treated each falsified entry as an individual felony count—so multiple payments and multiple ledger entries produced the 34-count indictment—while defense coverage and public statements framed the matter as business‑record bookkeeping disputes wrapped in political context ^{[1] [2]}. The available summaries do not list each line‑by‑line record that corresponds to each count in this set of sources; they report the broader charge and its link to the hush‑money scheme ^{[1] [4]}.

4. Trial outcome and sentence reported in sources

A jury in April–May 2024 found Trump guilty on all 34 counts, making him the first former U.S. president convicted of felony charges in that reporting ^{[1] [2]}. Sentencing was later conducted on January 10, 2025, at which time reporting says Trump received an unconditional discharge rather than jail time or fines ^{[3] [2]}.

5. What sources do not provide here (limits of current reporting)

The provided sources do not publish a verbatim, count‑by‑count indictment text within these snippets; they describe the 34 counts as multiple falsifying‑business‑records charges tied to the same underlying scheme but do not enumerate each individual ledger entry or the precise wording of each count in full (available sources do not mention the verbatim language or a count‑by‑count list) ^{[1] [2]}. For line‑item statutory language or the exact correspondence of each charged count to a named document or date, one would need the full indictment or court docket, which are not included in the supplied materials (available sources do not mention that level of detail) ^[1].

6. Competing perspectives and legal context

Prosecutors presented the counts as a coherent criminal scheme to hide election‑related payments via false business entries ^[1]. Defense advocates and Trump characterized the case as politically motivated and argued the bookkeeping issues were non‑criminal or mischaracterized; the supplied summaries note the political and legal stakes but do not reproduce detailed defense arguments in full (available sources do not mention a comprehensive defense brief in these snippets) ^{[2] [4]}. Different outlets emphasize either the historic nature of the conviction or subsequent procedural developments, such as post‑conviction litigation and appeals noted in later summaries ^{[4] [5]}.

7. Why the charge type matters legally

Falsifying business records in the first degree is a New York felony when the alleged false entries were made with intent to commit, or conceal, another crime; prosecutors argued the entries concealed crimes related to the scheme, which upgraded misdemeanor record‑falsification to a first‑degree felony across the charged counts (this is how the prosecution framed the theory summarized in reporting) ^[1]. The supplied reporting underscores that the aggregate of entries and the claimed intent were central to turning bookkeeping accusations into felony counts ^[1].

Bottom line

All 34 counts in the New York case as reported in these sources were felony counts alleging first‑degree falsification of business records tied to payments around the 2016 campaign and efforts to conceal them; the materials here summarize the indictment, the guilty verdict in May 2024 on all counts, and the January 10, 2025 unconditional discharge at sentencing but do not provide a public, count‑by‑count transcript of the indictment in the excerpts provided ^{[1] [2] [3]}.