Which of Donald Trump’s criminal cases remain active as of January 2026 and what are the next legal milestones?
Executive summary
As of January 2026, several criminal matters tied to Donald Trump remain active across federal and state venues, even as other prosecutions have been dropped, resolved or put aside since his return to the White House (AP; WABE) [1] [2]. Reporting from trackers and specialty outlets shows an evolving docket: the federal special‑counsel prosecution for classified documents, the Georgia Fulton County election‑interference investigation, state prosecutions tied to bogus electors and related schemes in places like Nevada and Wisconsin, plus a larger constellation of cases that media projects continue to monitor (Britannica; Politico; Wikipedia; Lawfare) [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. The classified‑documents prosecution — active federal case being tracked by DOJ
The federal criminal prosecution initiated by special counsel Jack Smith for alleged unlawful retention and obstruction tied to classified documents taken to Mar‑a‑Lago is explicitly listed among the criminal cases reporters continue to track, and remains a central active federal matter dating to June 2023 (AP; Britannica) [1] [3]. Lawfare and other specialist outlets have devoted sustained coverage to the proceedings and strategic motions that characterize federal prosecutions of this kind, underscoring that discovery disputes, pretrial briefs and appeals over privilege or procedure are typical near‑term milestones even when precise calendar dates vary by docket (Lawfare; AP) [6] [1].
2. Fulton County, Georgia — election‑interference allegations and local criminal exposure
Fulton County’s investigation and charging decisions tied to efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 result remain on the map in national tracking projects; AP’s tracker summarizes allegations ranging from pressuring state officials to assembling false electors and other local offenses tied to the post‑2020 campaign (AP) [1]. Politico’s coverage of Jan. 6 litigation and parallel state‑level efforts notes that many state criminal matters have altered shape over five years, but that prosecutions of low‑ and mid‑level figures and the Fulton County allegations continued to generate litigation and press attention as of early 2026 (Politico; AP) [4] [1]. Reporting indicates ongoing litigation tactics include motions to dismiss, venue fights and fee petitions, with prosecutors and defense counsel jockeying over next steps that commonly include indictment decisions and scheduling hearings (AP; Politico) [1] [4].
3. State‑level cases outside Georgia — electors, prosecutions in Nevada and Wisconsin
Coverage from Politico and national trackers highlights that criminal cases tied to the fake electors effort and other post‑election schemes persisted in states such as Nevada and Wisconsin, where prosecutions of lower‑level operatives continued to move through courts even as some broader claims faltered (Politico) [4]. The landscape is fragmented: some state matters have advanced to indictment or trial stages, others face dismissal or protracted pretrial litigation, and sources emphasize that developments can vary dramatically by jurisdiction (Politico; AP) [4] [1].
4. What has been dropped, resolved or paused — the changing tally
Multiple outlets report that since Trump’s reelection and return to office several criminal matters that were prominent earlier either were resolved, dropped or set aside; WABE summarized that four separate criminal matters, including the so‑called “hush‑money” conviction and other allegations, had been dropped, resolved or put aside by late 2025 (WABE) [2]. Media trackers like AP and Wikipedia continue to catalog hundreds of Trump‑related civil and criminal matters, noting explicit categorizations (pending, partially blocked, closed) and emphasizing that the overall docket is large and dynamic (AP; Wikipedia) [1] [5].
5. Next legal milestones and limits of public reporting
Across the federal and state files, the predictable next legal milestones are standard: indictments (or decisions not to indict), arraignments and plea negotiations where applicable, pretrial motion practice, trial scheduling, and appeals—with many milestones determined case‑by‑case by judicial calendars and interlocutory rulings (Lawfare; AP) [6] [1]. Public trackers (AP, Lawfare, Britannica, Wikipedia) provide ongoing rollups but do not uniformly publish a single consolidated calendar of imminent dates across every docket; therefore, while the broad categories of next steps are clear from reporting, specific court dates or guaranteed milestones for each active criminal matter are not comprehensively available in the sources provided (AP; Lawfare; Britannica; Wikipedia) [1] [6] [3] [5].
6. The political and institutional context shaping litigation outcomes
Reporting emphasizes that the litigation map is affected not only by legal merits but by politics and institutional shifts—prosecutorial priorities, election results, and executive actions influence whether cases advance or stall—an implicit agenda acknowledged in coverage that tracks the post‑election legal realignments and their effect on cases linked to the former president (Politico; WABE; Wikipedia) [4] [2] [5]. Specialist trackers and outlets remain the best available sources for real‑time status changes; they show a docket that is smaller in some respects than a year earlier but still contains active federal and state criminal proceedings with the ordinary judicial milestones ahead (AP; Lawfare; Britannica) [1] [6] [3].